Minutes after Janta Ka Reporter carried the report on former army officer, RSN Singh, made obnoxious comments on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during a live debate, the channel has issued a full statement expressing ‘regret.’
In his statement, the channel’s editor-in-chief, Rahul Shivshankar, said, “It has been brought to my notice that during a particularly heated debate on an expose by Times Now, one panelist went on to insult the Prophet (PBUH). I condemn the sentiments expressed by Col. RSN Singh. I have been always been a strict votary of unity. Any attempt to undermine the unity of our society is abhorrent to me. I must take this opportunity to, therefore, express regret and disassociate myself from such commentary.”
The channel has been running the statement continuously on its screen. The YouTube link to the programme in question appears to have been deleted. This was a part of three-programme series the channel had conducted on what it called was an expose on the forceful conversion of Hindu girls. While the links to two programmes are there, the programme in question has vanished from their YouTube channel.
A video from a recent debate on Times Now with a former RAW official, RSN Singh, insulting Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) had now gone viral on social media platforms causing considerable anger among Muslims.
In the video, Singh, who’s known for his bigoted views and a regular panelist on Times Now on debates concerning Kashmir, Pakistan and anti-Muslim issues, uses derogatory language for the most revered personality in Islam after God.
Although the video was doing the rounds for several days, the matter came to light only after Janta Ka Reporter reported it on Monday. Within minutes our story had gone viral with an overwhelming majority of civil society members and social media users condemning Singh’s words.
Several Muslim groups are now contemplating filing FIRs against Singh and the channel.