BBC says omission of Kulbhushan remark from Asad Umar interview 'not an act of censorship'
Dawn.comUpdated December 13, 2018
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A screengrab from Finance Minister Asad Umar's interview on BBC's Hardtalk programme.
After criticism from Pakistani Twitterati, the
BBC on Thursday stated that the omission of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav's mention from its
interview with Finance Minister Asad Umar was "not an act of censorship" and that it was edited out because the programme was too long to be broadcast on TV.
In an interview to
BBC’s Stephen Sackur for the well-known show
Hardtalk, the minister answered questions regarding various issues of national importance. The TV version of the interview, however, did not contain his mention of Jadhav, who was sentenced to death in 2017 by a Pakistani military tribunal for his involvement in espionage.
See:
Who is Kulbhushan Jadhav?
"The reason Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name was deleted from the TV version of the HARDtalk interview with Asad Umar has a simple technical explanation," said a tweet from the programme's Twitter handle. "The recorded interview was too long for our broadcast slot and so had to be edited."
BBC HARDtalk
✔@BBCHARDtalk
The reason Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name was deleted from the TV version of the HARDtalk interview with Asad Umar has a simple technical explanation.
The recorded interview was too long for our broadcast slot and so had to be edited. This was done separately for radio and TV. 1/2
382
9:34 AM - Dec 13, 2018
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The channel said Jadhav's name had been omitted from the TV version of the interview and not the radio version, and that it was not done to censor the minister's words.
Because "clearly confusion has been caused", the broadcaster said it would restore the omitted "short section" to the programme and air the new TV version again tonight as well as tomorrow morning.
BBC HARDtalk
✔@BBCHARDtalk
His name was omitted from the TV version. This was not an act of censorship, but clearly confusion has been caused, so we are happy to restore that short section to the TV broadcast and we’ll give the new programme an extra airing tonight as well as tomorrow morning. 2/2
BBC HARDtalk
✔@BBCHARDtalk
The reason Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name was deleted from the TV version of the HARDtalk interview with Asad Umar has a simple technical explanation.
The recorded interview was too long for our broadcast slot and so had to be edited. This was done separately for radio and TV. 1/2
936
9:35 AM - Dec 13, 2018
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In the
radio version, while answering a question regarding alleged threats to Chinese investment in Balochistan and the "anger" generated by it among some people in the province, Umar states: "This is not anger of the people of Balochistan, these are activities of sponsored terrorists who receive training, funding [and] material from outside Pakistan. And is there a serious attempt to try and destabilise Balochistan and through that, try and subvert CPEC [China-Pakistan Economic Corridor]? Of course, there is. There is a concerted effort to do that."
When pressed by the host on who these external forces were, the minister responds: "Led by India, of course. Pakistan arrested a senior operative from India, his name is Kulbhushan Jadhav; he is in the custody of Pakistan and he gave details of how the Indian intervention in Balochistan and others parts of Pakistan is taking place. So is there terrorist intervention in Balochistan? Absolutely yes, [but] what the people of Balochistan thought has been expressed through the free will of those people by electing a government of Balochistan which stands by CPEC, which wants greater engagement of CPEC in their province."
The part "
Pakistan arrested a senior operative from India, his name is Kulbhushan Jadhav; he is in the custody of Pakistan and he gave details of how the Indian intervention in Balochistan and others parts of Pakistan is taking place" was omitted from the
TV version of the interview by the
BBC.
stephen sackur
✔@stephensackur
To everyone who watched and listened to my interview with
@Asad_Umar.... an important clarification from
@BBCHARDtalk
BBC HARDtalk
✔@BBCHARDtalk
The reason Kulbhushan Jadhav’s name was deleted from the TV version of the HARDtalk interview with Asad Umar has a simple technical explanation.
The recorded interview was too long for our broadcast slot and so had to be edited. This was done separately for radio and TV. 1/2
189
9:39 AM - Dec 13, 2018 ·
Paddington, London
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'Typical bias'
Earlier on Thursday, human rights minister Shireen Mazari had sharply criticised the
BBC for allegedly censoring the interview and deleting the part about Jadhav, terming it "typical bias" on the part of the broadcaster.
"Shameful how BBC censored and chopped off Asad's mention of Indian spymaster Jhadav! Typical bias of BBC!" she wrote on Twitter.
Her tweet led to journalists and social media users questioning show host Stephen Sackur on Twitter whether the interview had indeed been censored.
Zarrar Khuhro@ZarrarKhuhro
https://twitter.com/ZarrarKhuhro/status/1073182415470907392
Hi
@stephensackur is this true? Would appreciate a response
Shireen Mazari
✔@ShireenMazari1
Shameful how BBC censored and chopped off Asad's mention of Indian spymaster Jhadav! Typical bias of BBC! https://twitter.com/BBCHARDtalk/status/1072899737278402560 …
343
4:46 AM - Dec 13, 2018
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Columnist Mosharraf Zaidi wondered if the Indian government had influenced the
BBC's decision to delete Jadhav's mention.