Pro-BJP Zee News TV has faced one more round of public shaming after the Arunachal Pradesh government caught it of spreading fake news on the Tablighi Jamaat. The latest round of public humiliation for Zee News has come just days after the UP Police had caught one of its sister TV channels of peddling similar fake news about the Muslim group in Firozabad.
According to the publicity department of the Arunachal Pradesh government, Zee News had claimed that 11 members of Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive for coronavirus in the north-eastern state. But the Arunachal IPR termed it a fake news as it wrote, “This is to clarify that Arunachal Pradesh has got only 1 COVID-19 positive case till date. The reporting by Zeenews is false and does not carry any authenticity.”
This is to clarify that Arunachal Pradesh has got only 1 COVID-19 positive case till date.
The reporting by Zeenews is false and does not carry any authenticity. pic.twitter.com/d74hBGDWbd— ARUNACHAL IPR (@ArunachalDIPR) April 9, 2020
The role of the Arunachal IPR is to disseminate ‘Government News /programmes /schemes /policies to the general public timely and effectively.’
According to the health ministry data, only one person has tested positive for coronavirus so far.
Earlier, the UP Police had caught Zee Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand of falsely claiming that members of Tablighi Jamaat had pelted stones on a medical team. The Firozabad Police in Uttar Pradesh had called it fake news peddled by Zee Media.
Days later, the Noida Police had caught news agency ANI of peddling similar lies as it claimed that four members of Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive in Noida’s Sector 5. The DCP Noida had shamed the news agency publicly terming the claim ‘fake news.’ This had prompted ANI to delete the news and issue correction.