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Sikh and Hindu leaders have complained that a disproportionate
number of programmes have been made about Islam, at the expense
of programmes on their own faiths. An analysis of programmes
from the BBC's Religion and Ethics department claims that since
2001, the BBC has made 41 programmes on Islam, five on Hinduism
and one on Sikhism.
The Network of Sikh Organisations media monitoring group,
which obtained the numbers, said Sikhs were shocked by the
perceived bias.
Ashish Joshi, chairman, told The Independent newspaper: "We
are licence fee payers and we want to know why this has
happened.
"The bias towards Islam at the expense of Hindus and
particularly Sikhs is overwhelming and appears to be a part of
BBC policy."
Indarjit Singh, editor of the Sikh Messenger and a regular
contributor to Thought for the Day on Radio 4's Today programme,
said Sikhs felt "brushed aside".
He said: "I think it's probably unthinking, or inadvertent,
but the bias is there.
"I do know that within the Sikh community especially there is
a feeling of concern over the lack of portrayal of their
religion on television."
He added: "Of course it is important to educate non-Muslims
about Islam, but it is also important to provide informative,
open and respectful programming on all religions."
A spokesman for the BBC said the broadcaster was committed to
representing all of Britain's faiths and rejected any claim of
bias.
He said: "In the autumn we will be covering Diwali from a
Sikh perspective and we have a major new series for BBC Two in
early 2009, including features on Hinduism and Sikhism."
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