A few weeks ahead of the Christmas Celebrations, hundreds of people gathered at the community centre of New Delhi’s Sacred Heart Cathedral. The occasion was the book release function of Aadhunik Bharat Nirman mein Esaiayat ka Yogdan (The Contribution of Christianity to the Making of Modern India). Archbishop Anil Joseph Thomas Couto released the book on Monday. The book is the fruit[Read More…]
After a day-long conference of ‘Indian Intellectual Muslims Meet’ held in New Delhi last week, the cardinal questions remain unanswered. Why do the Indian Muslims find it hard to collectively agree on a way out, even though they share the threat of the communal frenzy and a large section of them is mired into socio-economic backwardness? Why is the[Read More…]
Several students of mine on Saturday came to meet me. Since I stay near JNU, we decided to go to the campus. For those who may not know, I am teaching a paper on political science at Moti Lal Nehru College, University of Delhi. Please do not think that I am a permanent teacher. Nor am I an ad-hoc teacher.[Read More…]
In a secular democracy, the mainstream media has become a zealous fundraiser for the construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. While it has often opposed the appearance of any religious symbol belonging to minority communities in the public sphere, it has never restrained itself from campaigning for the Hindutva forces. A recent example is the ongoing fundraising campaign[Read More…]
The last week too, the mainstream media published a large number of articles and opinion pieces, dismissing the farmers’ protests (2020-21). While arguments have been offered in support of the farm laws, the opposition parties have been slammed for indulging in petty politics. From attacking subsidies on agriculture and MSP (Minimum Support Price) to praising the technology, completion and[Read More…]
As the assembly elections near in West Bengal, the media is busy constructing and spreading a new narrative that the TMC Government under Mamta Banerjee has failed to maintain law and order in the state. The recent incident of the alleged hurling of stones at convoy of the BJP National President J P Nadda not only became the big[Read More…]
Instead of listening to the grievances of the farmers and objectively reporting the concerns raised during more than half a month-long farmers’ demonstrations being held around the areas in and around the national capital Delhi, the media is busy maligning them. The pages of newspapers are filled with the negative stories and anti-farmers opinion pieces. The farmers continue to[Read More…]
Several Hindi newspapers continue to support “Love-Jihad” law, carrying stories and opinion pieces in upholding it. “Love-Jihad” is an unproven conspiracy theory designed and propagated by the Hindutva forces to demonize the Muslim men for feigning love for the Hindu women. According to the Hindutva narrative, Muslim men marry Hindu women and later convert them into Islam for changing[Read More…]
While the farmers continue to hold demonstrations near the national capital against the recently-enacted Farm Laws that have facilitated the entry of big corporate players in the agricultural sector, several Hindi newspapers are busy demonizing the movement and linking it to the Khalistani terrorists. Several narratives are being constructed by the media to portray the Farmers’ Protests as unruly, violent,[Read More…]
Several leading Hindi newspapers have brazenly mouthed the Hindutva narrative of anti-woman and anti-Muslim “Love-Jihad” conspiracy theory and justified the proposal of the BJP ruled state to come out with a strong law against it. “Love-Jihad” is a conspiracy theory designed and propagated by the Hindutva forces to demonize the Muslim men for feigning love for the Hindu women.[Read More…]
The mainstream media has again shown its upper-caste character in analyzing the result of the Bihar Assembly Elections 2020. While it has hailed “the Modi magic” for helping the NDA win the state assembly elections, it has blamed the collective memory of Jungle Raj for the defeat of RJD-led Mahagathbandhan. The term ‘Jungle Raj’ means a collapse of law and[Read More…]
The BJP leaders have failed to make development an electoral plank in the recently held Bihar Assembly Elections 2020. The Hindutva leaders, instead, have invoked Muslims, terrorism, and Pakistan in their electoral speeches. Last week the elections for the second (94 seats) and the third phase (78 seats) were held for 243-member Bihar Legislative Assembly. During this period, the top[Read More…]
The BJP and the JD (U) are allies during the Bihar Assembly Elections 2020 and they are seeking the mandate of the people. However, their languages and strategies are often contradictory. While the BJP is playing the communal card and invoking Pakistan during the election rallies, the JD (U) is trying to woo Muslims. Even when they converge coming down[Read More…]
Several leading newspapers published from Patna appear biased in favour of BJP. In their coverage, they are giving a large share of space to the BJP. Their major focus is the speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Several reports have come, singing praises for him. In return, the newspapers are rewarded with big advertisements. For example, several newspapers carried a[Read More…]
The mainstream media has once failed to critically examine Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement in which he claimed that “the happiest Muslims are indeed those of India” (Sabse adhik sukhi musalman Bharat desh ke hi hain”). Some of them have even published a few articles in praise of Bhagwat and the RSS. Ironically, at the time of[Read More…]
The media, which holds the flag of uprightness, is now reluctant to talk about the dirt defacing its own image. The immediate context is the claim of Mumbai Police that news channels including the Republic TV have indulged in the malpractices of boosting TRP (Television Rating Points). A day after the police allegation, The Telegraph (Kolkata, October 9, 2020, p. 5)[Read More…]
Lord Rama, one of the major deities of Hinduism, was born at the very place of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. The mosque was built after the “Muslim invaders” had demolished the Ram Temple. With these historically unsubstantiated narratives, the Hindutva forces, led by the top leaders of the BJP, the VHP and the RSS created frenzied mobs, culminating in[Read More…]
The Farm Bills – which pave the way for private companies to buy farmers’ produce and go for contract-farming- have been vigorously opposed by the opposition parties and the farmers. While covering the issue, the mainstream media, particularly the Hindi press, not only largely ignored the concerns of the opposition parties but also pliantly toed the government’s line. Worse[Read More…]
The youth of the country observed the 70th birthday of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘National Unemployment Day’ (Rashtriya Berozgari Diwas). The mainstream media, which was busy celebrating Modi’s birth day, not only paid scant heed to the youth unrest against unemployment but also maintained a conspicuous silence on the ensuing police crackdown. While the Hindi dailies prominently covered several[Read More…]
The mainstream media – particularly Hindi newspapers – has reproduced the police version while covering the news related to the naming of opposition leaders, activists, scholars in a supplementary chargesheet in the February 2020 Delhi riots. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Swaraj Abhiyan leader and scholar Yogendra Yadav, JNU economist Jayati Ghosh, Delhi University professor and social activist Apoorvanand[Read More…]
The mainstream newspapers have given very little space to the story of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) shirking by the steepest ever 23.9 per cent that it deserves. In their reporting, they have ended up solely blaming the corona pandemic for the steepest decline. Hardly has any newspaper dared to link the sharpest fall in the GDP to the Government’s economic[Read More…]
The mainstream media has diluted the concerns of seven chief ministers about an assault on federal structure, misuse of central agencies, financial injustice, etc. Instead, the entire media coverage has reduced the whole issue to party politics and differences over holding medical and engineering entrance exams (JEE-NEET). Congress president Sonia Gandhi held a virtual meeting of these seven chief ministers[Read More…]
The mainstream media — particularly Hindi newspapers — has again concealed, underreported and suppressed the Bombay High Court ruling. In its Friday judgment, the High Court has said that Tablighi Jamaat was made “scapegoat” during the corona pandemic. It has also quashed the FIR against 29 foreigners and 7 Indian nationals who are associated with the twentieth century Muslim reformist[Read More…]
Veteran journalist and author Jaspal Singh Sidhu has argued that the Punjab crisis of the 19070s and 1980s is the result of “the unfinished agenda of Partition”. Explaining his argument, Sidhu says that the Sikh community in India supported the Congress at the time of Partition, believing the “pledges” of the grand old party. The promises were made that[Read More…]
Several newspapers have struck a hyper-nationalist tone while covering Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on the occasion of the 74th Independence Day. The highlights of his speech, in the media’s coverage, were his “fitting” reply to “trickster” (chalbaaz) China and warning to Pakistan. Hindi Daily Dainik Jagran (National, August 16, p. 1) sensationally reports the PM’s address. “On 74th[Read More…]
The mainstream media — particularly Hindi newspapers — instead of critiquing the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for performing Bhoomi pooja (groundbreaking) of Ram Temple in Ayodhya, is chanting Jai Shri Ram. It has again failed to uphold the constitutional principle of secularism. On August 6, a day after Bhoomi pooja ceremony, almost all Hindi newspapers carried pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi[Read More…]
Early on Monday morning Telegraph brought us a story that Mahatma Gandhi is all set to become the first non-white to feature on the UK money. The Royal Mint Advisory Committee has taken this decision following a campaign in the UK. The campaign advocates giving space to black, Asian, and ethnic minorities (BAME) on the British money in recognition of their “profound[Read More…]
The media – particularly Hindi newspapers – has taken a blinkered view to the arrest of Delhi University Professor Hany Babu Musaliyarveettil Tharayil by National Investigative Agency (NIA) on Tuesday, July 28. The 54-year old English Professor is the 12th person to have been arrested in the Elgar Parishad case. The Elgar Parishad case is related to the Bhima Koregaon[Read More…]
Last week the media – particularly Hindi newspapers – prominently covered the news of the construction work of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. At times it appeared that the Ram Temple issue for media was a much bigger issue than the sufferings of people reeling under the corona pandemic. The fact that the media is celebrating the beginning of[Read More…]
The mainstream media – particularly Hindi newspapers – has downplayed the news about the release of a fact-finding report by Delhi Minorities Commission on February Delhi riots, 2020. Releasing its report on Thursday, the commission has faulted the role of top BJP leaders in giving hateful speeches and inciting the violence. It has also accused the police of inaction[Read More…]
While covering the encounter of the gangster Vikas Dubey by Uttar Pradesh (UP) police, the mainstream Indian media – particularly Hindi newspapers – appears to have condoned the extra-judicial killing. They have again failed to act as a defender of civil rights. The diseased, Dubey’s, criminal life spanned 30 years. He has been accused of 62 criminal cases. The criminal charges[Read More…]
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) student leader Sharjeel Usmani has been victimized because of his Muslim identity. A bright youth leader, emerging scholar, and asset of the country as well as the community has been picked up from his house in Azamgarh by the U.P. Police and sent to judicial custody. The media reports suggest that he has been accused[Read More…]
Amid India-China border standoff, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday made a “surprise” visit to Leh and indirectly referred to China by saying that “the era of expansionism is over”. Making a mountain out of a molehill, the mainstream media used the occasion to indulge in an act of hero-worship. It turned blind to critical questions and concerns raised by the[Read More…]
On Tuesday the Delhi High Court granted bail to anti-CAA activist and Jamia Millia Islamia research scholar Safoora Zargar. The mainstream media – particularly Hindi newspapers – downplays the bail story. This is in sharp contrast to the wider coverage the media gave to other stories than her bail. For example, the media widely covered the stories when she was[Read More…]
If questioning Narendra Modi Government by the opposition parties about the “sensitive” border dispute with China amounts to “demoralizing” the nation and its soldiers, is the ruling BJP ready to apply the same yardstick to its ideologue Deendayal Upadhyaya who slammed the Jawaharlal Nehru regime during the Sino-India conflict? In the late 1950s when India-China relations were fast deteriorating,[Read More…]
For the last few days the criticism of the Indian mainstream media — particularly the Hindi media — has been oscillating between China and the opposition parties. While earlier the media narrative trained guns at China for killing 20 Indian soldiers, the later narrative — synchronizing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s refusal of the Chinese incursion into the Indian side[Read More…]
With India Nepal relations entering a deep freeze, a section of Indian media, particularly Hindi, has turned ultra-nationalist, uncritically toeing the establishment’s line. Ever since Nepal opposed India laying a road on the border and claiming Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh, and Kalapani as parts of its territory, the media has failed to analyse the situation critically. Instead of taking the matter[Read More…]
Do you know that the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights has written a letter to Home Minister Amit Shah, expressing deep concern about the arrest of activists and intellectuals such as Gautam Navlakha and Anand Teltumbde? Are you aware of the fact that Amnesty International (India) has demanded the release of 11 human rights activists who have been jailed[Read More…]
“I can’t breathe…”. These were the last words of forty-six-year-old black African American George Floyd. He uttered them when he was being strangled to death by the white American police. His “crime” was his accidental birth in a community that is not a white race. Similarly, Dalits, Adivasis, lower castes and minority Muslims get strangled in India. Their “crime” is[Read More…]
Just a week after the nation-wide lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24, Tablighi Jamaat, a twentieth-century reformist Muslim organisation, was blamed for spreading coronavirus. The national media, particularly Hindi news channels and newspapers, were at the forefront of selling the establishment’s agenda of putting all blame on this organization (read Muslims) for the spread of[Read More…]
The country-wide lockdown was announced on March 24. Within the four hours of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcing the lockdown, it was to be put in place. A well-known newspaper aptly calls the measure “the most severe step taken anywhere in the war against the coronavirus”. Most of the people had no clue what was going to happen. They were told to[Read More…]
Since my childhood I wanted to be a journalist. I began my journey with an Urdu newspaper. Some of my first articles were about cricket. I wrote on cricket after watching it on TV and playing it with friends. Soon, I started working as a correspondent from my home town Raxaul. After coming to the field of journalism, I realised[Read More…]
In the past, pandemics have spread far and wide and have killed many. The deadly coronavirus, similarly, has been causing havoc. It is, however, unique in a sense that it has engulfed almost every part of the world, killing hundreds of people with each passing day. The mighty states of the world appear helpless before this ephemeral virus. The[Read More…]
Dr. Zafarul Islam Khan is the Chairman of Delhi Minority Commission. For a few days he has been a victim of severe attack from the Hindu communal forces as well as a section of media. They are targeting him for posting a tweet. The communal forces have alleged that he had threatened them of taking up the issue of Indian[Read More…]
Shamsul Islam is a former professor of political science at University of Delhi. He is known in academia as a leftist scholar. Apart from academics, he has also been involved in theatre and other cultural activities. He mostly writes on religious fundamentalism. His work on the RSS has been cited by many scholars. But the discussion here I would like to[Read More…]
My friends advised me to avoid the issue of Sharjeel Imam. They said that it was not the ‘right time’ to show solidarity with him. I know they were concerned about my safety. But how could I ignore the safety of my friend for the sake of mine? My conscience compels me to stand with Sharjeel Imam. Those who have[Read More…]
It was late in the evening inside JNU campus. Two Muslim students were engaged in a fierce debate. Close to them were standing two girls and a boy. They were silent and holding placards against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor was already late by several hours. But the students were patiently waiting for him. Even the cold wind[Read More…]
What if the Ram temple were demolished on December 6, 1992 instead of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya? Do you think the Supreme Court judgment would have been the same? Do you think the demolished structure would have been given to the party that was involved in razing it to the ground or supporting its demolition? These questions are unlikely[Read More…]
Hours before the beginning of the counting of the General Elections 2019, my article published in a Urdu daily. Here I argued that the prediction of the exit polls survey would not match the final result. But as things stand now, Narendra Modi-led BJP is likely to better its own big performance of the 2014. My prediction was proven wrong.[Read More…]
Early morning on Friday, I was eagerly waiting to read ‘Dastavez’ published in “Roznama Rashtriya Sahara”, Urdu. I was shocked to find a sentence added to my original draft in the published copy, calling surgical strike ” necessary” Dastavez is published every week on Friday in almost all editions of Roznama Rashtriya Sahara. For last one year, I have quite[Read More…]
Normalcy at the historic Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) is yet to be restored. Like yours, my heart also trembles at the latest bolt of lightning that has struck AMU. Around 14 students, including the former and current office-bearers of AMU Students’ Union, have been booked under sedition charges. In the FIR filed on Wednesday, it is alleged that they had[Read More…]
My JNU friend Atif Rabbani has been beaten up in Muzaffarpur town, Bihar. As the information has reached us so far, the attack on him took place on Saturday. He has sustained injuries. But he is said to be safe. Saturday’s attack is seen as a fallout of an earlier incident of misbehavior and intimidation. Last week, some persons, collecting[Read More…]
On November 11, 1888 Abul Kalam, better known as Maulana Azad, was born in Mecca and two years later his father came to Calcutta to consult a surgeon. Since then his family never went back and stayed in India. It is here that Maulana Azad was educated in traditional knowledge. He never went to any university and did not[Read More…]
Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led regime took charge of Jawaharlal Nehru University by appointing M. Jagadesh Kumar as its new vice-chancellor, it has demonized this prestigious university as a “den of anti-nationals”. Other Hindutva blows included attempts to dismantle its secular and progressive character, accelerate the already ongoing privatization and scuttle the already shrinking democratic and dissenting spaces. Moreover,[Read More…]
The ABVP activists are hopeful that their “achievement” of having the library renamed after Dr Ambedkar will help them woo lower-caste students, particularly Dalits. With the JNUSU elections approaching, the Hindutva organization is desperate to broaden its social base by such acts of appropriation and tokenism This is the latest ABVP’s poster put up on the wall of SIS building[Read More…]
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Our beloved K.P.Sasi is no more. Filmmaker, cartoonist, writer, mentor, friend and above all tireless activist championing the cause of every underdog, Sasi breathed his last, mid-afternoon this Christmas day – after battling a medical condition for months. I remember the last time I met him, almost exactly a month before he passed away, at the ayurvedic healing center in[Read More…]
