High Court Questions Broadcast Legality of Indian Channel ‘Republic Bangla’

Reading Time: 3 minutes The Bangladesh High Court has issued a rule asking why the Indian television channel Republic Bangla should not be banned from broadcast in the country. The development signals a growing disquiet within Bangladesh over the cultural and political influence of foreign media, particularly Indian news networks that have previously been accused of inflammatory and misleading reporting on regional affairs. The order was passed by Justice Fahmida Kader’s bench following a writ petition filed by lawyer Ekhlas Uddin Bhuiyan, which called for the imposition of a ban under the Cable Television Network Operation Act 2006. The petition alleges that Republic Bangla has repeatedly aired content that is “provocative, factually incorrect, and detrimental to national unity and cultural harmony.” The court has sought formal responses within four weeks from the Ministry of Information, the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), and the local cable