KRISH SHAR AGAINST RNZ

RNZ published a BBC story on 22 January 2024 headed Ayodhya: India PM Modi inaugurates Hindu temple on razed Babri mosque site.

The story said the temple replaced a 16^th century mosque razed by Hindu mobs in 1992, sparking riots where nearly 2000 people died. It covered the controversy around the involvement of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. It outlined some of the history of the site and said the movement to build the temple helped propel the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to prominence. There had been a protracted legal battle but in 2019 the Supreme Court gave the land to the Hindus and Muslims were given a plot outside the city.

Krish Shar complained that there were potential inaccuracies or misleading information in the story and asked for the article to be reviewed. He suggested there were discrepancies relating to the Babri Masjid's history, its demolition in 1992 and the Supreme Court's decision, which considered evidence from the Archaeological Survey of India suggesting a non-Islamic structure beneath the mosque.

RNZ said it could not find any breaches of the Media Council’s Principles. The complainant might have wished other information had been included in the story but the omission of information was not in itself a breach.

Mr Shar asked the Media Council to review the article, without explaining why he thought the summary of the temple’s history was inaccurate or misleading. The Council is not a forum for reviewing, investigating or adjudicating on historical arguments – its purpose is to consider complaints about media standards and ethics.

In the absence of a specific and detailed complaint and any obvious inaccuracy or lack of balance there are no grounds to proceed.

Decision:  No grounds to proceed.