Exercise caution on portrayal of SCs, STs: BCCC to TV channels

New Delhi: The Broadcasting Content Complaint Council (BCCC) on Tuesday asked entertainment channels to exercise “extreme caution” while portraying the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in television programmes to avoid hurting the sentiments of the members of the two communities.

The channels, while depicting the stories of the members of the scheduled caste (SC) and scheduled tribe (ST) communities, must ensure that the “nuance and humanness” of the stories are communicated “sensitively” and that the violence displayed does not lead to “re-traumatisation” of the communities or victims, the council said in its advisory.

While portraying stories which are based solely on social evils such as untouchability and casteism, the entertainment channels should not engage in “victimisation” of the people belonging to SC and ST communities, the self regulatory body of non-news entertainment channels said.

It said it understands that many stories possess a moral or ethical dimension requiring portrayal of the “good” and the “evil”, including depiction of characters doing “evil deeds”.

“However, while doing so, the channel must ensure that it doesn’t use language that is unlawful and which might hurt the sentiments of a particular community,” it added.

The BCCC asks channels to be “cautious and balanced” while depicting scenes pertaining to these communities as even an isolated episode scene taken out of context can cause unrest among these communities, the council said.

The channels should “exercise extreme caution in order to avoid hurting the sentiments of people belonging to the SC and ST communities”, it added.