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NEW DELHI, INDIA, September 4, 2003: Private television networks are turning to religion to tap a massive Hindu viewership, but say the religious channels are neither a platform to grab votes nor an attempt to peddle faith. TV channels like Aastha and Sanskar beam 24-hour religious programs to millions of homes, especially in states like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. “India is a democracy, and we are free to air religious opinions and discourses by learned gurus. But we do not have any political content in our programming,” said Lalit Purohit, marketing chief of Sanskar TV. “We do not have any stand on issues like the Babri mosque or Ayodhya temple,” added Purohit. “We stay clear of all such issues.” Aastha says on its official website that it eschews politics and its “chaste blissful viewing” only portrays India’s “strong heritage which has sustained and outlived various onslaughts while emerging stronger.” “Today, when the whole world is under the dark clouds of terrorism, spirituality is the only flame that can throw light on world peace and hope,” said Santosh Kumar Jain, director of Aastha TV in a statement. “I am glad that the Aastha channel is playing an inspiring role. “These religious channels are not purveying a militant Hindu line or polarization of Indian society. There is no evidence of a party or ideological line,” said Iqbal Malhotra, director of Delhi-based AIM Television. “There is a revival of spiritualism both in India and abroad. These niche channels are tapping into a lucrative market where there is a search for blending Eastern spiritualism with Western precepts.”

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