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'Miscal.
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Exploring Ramadan Part IV
Revelation of Quran and fasting in Ramadan:
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Full
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Fasting is prescribed so that you may learn self-restraint
Part II Offer
prayers in Ramadan nights to seek forgiveness
Part III
'Fasting is Mine and it is I who give reward for it' |
Manmohan, Mulayam, Rajnath, Thackeray play together here:
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The unusual hosts at Manmad Junction
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Supreme Court stays CBI
investigations into Hari Masjid firing case:
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Ayesha Ashmin in Sri Venkataramana Swami College!:
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The only Hindu Unani doctor in Maharashtra learnt Urdu to crack BUMS
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First Lady MPSC of Malegaon devotes herself to poor
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Book Review:
Muslims and Media Images: News versus Views
Tuesday, September 08, 2009 04:14:32 PM,
Salman Khurshid |
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More Book Reviews |
Saiyid Hamid - Muslim
Face of India - Celebrating Greatness:
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The question of the Muslim identity is indeed complex and in India
it is further complicated by the diversity of Indian society and the
large Muslim population. Despite the fact that Muslims form
one-fifth of the world’s population, their identity is shaped more
by regional than pan-Islamic factors. Samuel Huntington’s theory of
the clash of civilizations appears even more irrelevant in the
Indian context because it entirely ignores variations not only
within religions, but also among castes and sub-castes—virtually
autonomous entities—without which little is possible by way of
social analysis in India.
9/11 has so crowded the Western media with negative images of this
community that the Muslim question is inevitably accorded lopsided
treatment. The Indian story has a special homegrown twist.
Mainstream English media is now the dominant medium, where
Muslim-controlled media houses are virtually non-existent. In
principle, the role of the media in depicting reality is invaluable
in the formation of public opinion, but this is mere rhetoric if we
carefully examine the role and impact of the Indian media. In the
case of Muslims in India, the media has repeatedly stressed the
reality of bomb blasts, flag burning, misconduct of Muslim
fathers-in-law, and the quintessential mullahs and their fatwas.
With regard to actual changes, or the need for these changes
(rather, transformation), in Muslim society, the Indian media has
done precious little. The liberal argument, on the other hand, is
that the media has actively aided in the alienation of the community
and created cynicism about the existence of plurality. Both
arguments are extremely complex and multidimensional, and the book
under review examines their various strands.
The volume explores the shabby image of Muslims in the media from
the international as well as domestic perspective in 19 stimulating
articles. Dr. Ather Farouqui, a Marxist and former member of the
CPI, has worked tirelessly on this subject for some years now. This
book, though an edited volume, sets forth the views of experts,
sociologists, journalists and intellectuals from around the globe,
reflecting the editor’s determination to engage serious minds on a
very sombre and complicated issue that has always been
oversimplified, if at all discussed. The Introduction to the volume
is exceptionally blunt and borders on the blasphemous. However, it
displays a deep understanding of Islamic history, which allows the
editor to touch upon many contentious issues without ever actually
crossing the line.
Among other matters, the editor has examined the causes of animosity
against the Muslims not as a new phenomenon, but as a stubborn relic
of history. Citing anti-Muslim sentiments from renaissance Europe to
the Huntington dogma of modern times, Farouqui has argued for and
against the opinion that the majority of the world populace holds
about the Muslim community. In the best traditions of self-critical
intellectualism, he has also pinpointed the ills that plague this
community and the causes of its stagnation.
The book has been divided into sections to better facilitate an
understanding of the lines along which the Islamophobia debate has
proceeded. The primary focus in the first section is on the English
media, with articles by some veteran journalists and intellectuals
such as Vinod Mehta, Siddharth Varadarajan, Rajni Kothari, Kuldip
Nayar, Mrinal Pande, Howard Brasted and Chandan Mitra.
‘Muslims and Media Images: Where Things went Wrong’ by Vinod Mehta
examines the principal reasons for distorted Muslim images in the
Indian media without seeking to apportion blame. Mehta argues that
there is a lack of understanding among Muslims of India about the
media in India and examines where Indian Muslims stand in the common
civic space of India in 2006. He asserts that the media is a
business like any other and can be equated with selling soap or ice
cream. I would rank Mehta’s essay as one of the best-ever writings
on the media-related problems faced by Indian Muslims. Other essays
in this section also reflect the lack of understanding among Muslims
about the media and what it can do for them. The truth is that
widespread illiteracy, underdevelopment and an excessive dependence
on theology have shaped the common Muslim psyche, which is the root
cause of their remaining on the fringes. Many admirers of Siddharth
Varadarajan will be
disappointed with some parts of his essay which is on the whole a
good piece but lacks consistency. Paradoxically, considering his
openly rightist leanings, Chandan Mitra’s essay is a remarkably
perceptive one.
Part Two of the book incorporates observations by the late K.M.A.
Munim, Sabyasachi, Charles J. Borges, Dagmar Markova, Estelle
Dryland and Susan B. Maitra about the world that surrounds Muslims
and their relationship with other peoples. The general ignorance
about Muslims and their stereotypical images in the press the world
over are held responsible for the emerging clash between Muslims and
others. Maitra, in particular, describes the press as the
‘handmaiden in this sinister business’. The roots of this clash have
been traced back to the era of colonialism, which resulted in the
fragmentation of nations and the rise of geopolitics based on
economic interests.
Section Three discusses the counter measures taken by Muslim
intellectuals with respect to journalism and awareness building. The
contributors to this section—Robin Jeffrey, Ather Farouqui and
Maulana Waheeduddin Khan—hold the demise of the Muslim journalistic
temper, particularly of the Urdu media, to be a direct consequence
of the relegation of Urdu to the background of cultural change.
Robin Jeffery statistically analyzes Urdu journalism in India and
the direction in which it is headed, vividly portraying the decline
of the Urdu press:
‘Urdu in Perso-Arabic, however, has a predicament: the social
factors that ensure its survival—primarily the madrassa education
available to Muslim children--have so far limited its potential as a
vehicle for capitalism.’
Its heavy dependence on madrassa education makes Urdu the language
of Muslims, which means that publishers in Urdu produce magazines
and newspapers geared overwhelmingly to Muslim interests and
particularly aimed at cultivating madrassa alumni. Since major
advertisers regard Muslims as India’s poorest community, there is
some bias involved in the attitude of business houses, which
hesitate to commit large sums of advertising money to the Urdu
media.
Ather Farouqui traces the decline of Urdu and Muslim journalism to
the selfish interests of Muslim intellectuals and the overdependence
of poor Muslim families on madrassa education owing to government
policies that have been influenced by language politics in India. He
believes that Urdu journalism in post-Independence India has failed
to live up to the expectations of the Muslim populace. This is due
to reasons:
‘…inherent in the nature and character of the Urdu readership, as
well as because of the political and economic proclivities of
individual Urdu journalists and their links to political parties.
Urdu journalism has more often than not been prone to reinforcing a
sectarian and emotional outlook among readers. At any rate, Urdu
journalism has often disturbed Muslim positions on substantial
issues of concern to the community.’
The book concludes with the cultural aspect in two essays—by
Moinuddin Jinabade and John W. Hood—of the agents who have helped to
strengthen the stereotypical image of the Muslims. Since cinema is a
strong medium of social change, Jinabade has argued that Muslims are
repeatedly caricatured. Writing on the same theme, Hood’s is a very
compelling piece. In a discussion on films one is immediately
reminded of Anita Desai’s acclaimed novel In Custody, which is the
basis of Ismail Merchant’s film with the same title in English, and
Muhafiz, in Urdu. Unfortunately, both the novel and the film are
oversimplifications, portraying Muslims and the literary tradition
of Urdu and the Urdu-speaking community in an extremely poor light.
Undoubtedly, stereotyping in Indian films is not limited just to
Muslims, but Muslims are certainly its worst victims. A Wednesday is
the first refreshing effort by popular media in recent years that
attempts to analyze the issue of the relationship between Muslims
and terrorism.
The oversimplification and caricature of Muslims has invaded even
the most popular mode of mass communication—television—with no
Muslim family being depicted in popular Indian soap operas. It is as
if the entire Muslim population of India exists on the fringes of
civilization, relegated to identities as pickpockets and bicycle
thieves. Hood has also assessed parallel cinema where quality
productions depict Muslim characters as normal people. Nevertheless,
such films are few and far between and are inadequate to counter the
shoddy images in popular cinema.
The book, which falls in the category of a must-read work, is
Farouqui’s tribute to the residues of sanity that have so far held
out against an overwhelming propaganda. Cause and effect apart, the
pluralistic structure of the world is at a crossroads, and an
analytical work of this kind will issue a credible challenge to
negative impressions. It also urges Muslims to look around
themselves and identify the anomalies that plague their community.
Civil society requires that contradictions and conflicts within
society be dealt with in a civilized manner and be analyzed
objectively.
Book
Muslims and Media Images: News versus Views
Edited by Ather Farouqui
Pages: XIV+354
Published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi (2009)
Review published in the IIC Journal, quarterly magazine of India
International Centre, New Delhi, summer 2009, Volume 36, Number 1,
pp 180-184
The reviewer who has taught law at the Trinity College, Oxford, is
now the Minister of State with independent charge for Corporate
Affairs and Minority Affairs. His play ‘Sons of Babur’ has brought
him acclaim as a creative writer.
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