Sudarshan News ‘bureaucracy jihad’ report is hate speech, say civil servants, demand action
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India

Sudarshan News ‘bureaucracy jihad’ report is hate speech, say civil servants, demand action

Civil servants condemn Sudarshan News Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke after he posts teaser video of report, to be aired Friday, that claims ‘infiltration of Muslims’ in the services.

Unnati Sharma    
File photo of Editor-in-chief of Sudarshan News Suresh Chavhanke

File photo of Sudarshan News' Suresh Chavhanke | Facebook

New Delhi: Several civil services officers and the IPS Association Thursday joined the chorus of outrage on social media against Sudarshan News Editor-in-Chief Suresh Chavhanke, a day after he teased an alleged exposé of the “infiltration” of Muslims in the civil services, in what he termed as “bureaucracy Jihad”.

The officers demanded action against Chavhanke for the teaser of the report, which is scheduled to be aired Friday. The officer said it amounts to “hate speech” and questioning a constitutional body like the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), which selects the civil servants.

The IPS Association, which is the central body of the Indian Police Service officers, “condemned” the “communal and irresponsible piece of journalism” in a tweet.

The outrage came after Chavhanke tweeted a video Wednesday, in which he can be seen questioning the “infiltration” of Muslims in the civil services.

“How come suddenly the number of Muslims has increased in IAS and IPS? What is the secret of them getting the highest marks and ranks in one of the toughest exams?” he asks in the video.

“Imagine if the ‘jihadi of Jamia’ will be your district collectors and secretaries in ministries, what will happen then? Watch our biggest expose on ‘Naukarshahi jihad’ (bureaucracy jihad) this Friday,” he adds.

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IAS, IPS officers condemn Chavhanke

After the video was shared widely, social media users protested against the video, calling for the suspension of Chavhanke’s Twitter account, by using the hashtag #SuspendSureshChavhanke.

A number of serving and retired civil service officers too joined in to condemn the video.

“By casting doubts on the integrity and impartiality of a constitutional body like the UPSC in the selection of officers for All-India Services, he is spreading disaffection for the constitutional scheme of governance,” said retired IPS officer N.C. Asthana.

“A despicable attempt at hate mongering. To question the credentials of officers on the basis of religion is not only laughable, but should also be dealt with strictest legal provisions. We are all Indians first,” said IPS officer Niharika Bhatt.

Several others also made similar remarks.

Najmul Hoda, an Inspector General in Chennai, told ThePrint that this should be referred to as “hate speech”. “Comments like these are an attempt to dehumanise an entire community,” he said.

The Indian Police Foundation, an independent think-tank on policing, condemned the video and said it won’t retweet it because it is “pure venom” and “dangerous bigotry”. It also urged the News Broadcasting Standards Authority (NBSA), Uttar Pradesh Police and concerned government authorities to take strict action.

Meanwhile, RTI activist Saket Gokhale started a campaign urging people to register a police complaint against Chavhanke for the video.

Political analyst Tahseen Poonawalla wrote to the president of the News Broadcasting Association to stop the telecast of the programme scheduled for Friday.

In his defence, Chavhanke posted several tweets standing by his claims and adding that all queries will be answered when the exposé is aired.

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