The Delhi High Court on Friday directed television channel Sudarshan News and social media platforms to take down a video and news reports on allegations against a Muslim man of forcefully converting a woman to Islam, Live Law reported.
In a petition, Azmat Ali Khan told the court that the Delhi Police was investigating the allegations against him. He contended that the Sudarshan News report was hampering the inquiry and putting his safety at risk.
At Friday’s hearing, Justice Prathiba M Singh took exception to use of the word “jihadi” in the Sudarshan News report about Khan, Bar and Bench reported.
The judge observed that the threat to Khan’s life was evident from the comments on social media posts of the news report. Justice Singh directed Sudarshan News and its Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke to immediately remove the video of the news report from its website. She also asked YouTube, Twitter and government authorities to take steps to block the video.
The use of the word “jihadi” by Sudarshan News is not a one-off incident. Hindutva supremacists have repeatedly propagated the debunked idea of “love jihad”, which claims that Muslim men lure Hindu women into romantic relationships in order to convert them to Islam.
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In Khan’s case, a woman had alleged that he tried to forcefully convert her to Islam after being in a relationship for seven years. The Delhi Police had booked Khan in a first information report registered on April 19.
Advocate Rajiv Bajaj, appearing for Khan, on Friday told the Delhi High Court that his client had already been granted anticipatory bail in the matter, Bar and Bench reported.
The lawyer said that reporters of Sudarshan News were harassing Khan and his family members, and that Aaj Tak news channel had also held a debate on the matter on Thursday night.
After the order, Karan Prakash, a lawyer who was part of the team representing Khan, told Scroll that four of the six links in question have been pulled down from the internet. This includes one on YouTube, Prakash added.
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