A controversy erupted after Rebulic Bharat broadcasted a program featuring an allegedly offensive and disrespectful depiction of Seyyed Ali Hosseini Khamenei, Twelver Shia Marja, and the supreme leader of Iran.
The programme broadcast on the channel depicted the Iranian supreme leader as an octopus.
Khamenei’s head is purportedly seen placed on an octopus captioned “Iran’s terror network” with the names of various groups and organizations written in the Hindi language on its legs, such as Iraq, Islamic Regime, Syria SIS, Palestine Hamas, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Lebanese Hezbollah, Bahrain Saraya Al Ashtar, Pakistan Zainebiyoun Brigade, and Afghanistan Fatemiun Division.
Pertinently, the caricatures of octopuses are often used in a political way which symbolises greed, manipulation, and control.
The Shia community members have flagged concern on social media. While sharing the posts they claimed that the programme is seen as hurtful to the community and perpetuates harmful “stereotypes and misinformation”.
Republic Bharat, which is a Hindi news channel affiliated with Republic TV, has faced criticism in the past for its radical Hindutva and pro-BJP stance.
The channel has been reprimanded multiple times for similar breaches. It has often been engaged in rhetoric that scapegoats Muslims, particularly its role in spreading misinformation and propaganda against the community during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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