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Indian media is waging a holy war against Muslims. It acts like hyenas

Indian media is not doing journalism. Channels from Zee News, Aaj Tak to Network18 add ‘jihad’ to everything, which bigots on social media then use to target individual Muslims.

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Activist Kavita Krishnan’s video tirade against India Today channel’s news editor Rahul Kanwal for his coronavirus show titled ‘Madrasa Hotspots’ is spot on. The one thing Indian media is not doing is journalism. In fact, very few people are doing journalism today. Channels from Zee News, Aaj Tak to Network18 like to add the word ‘jihad’ to everything. Corona jihad or zameen jihad, love jihad, arthik jihad, and whatnot. But if anyone is waging a holy war today, it is Indian media’s jihad against Indian Muslims and Islam.

The year 2014 was a watershed moment in India. Not just because Narendra Modi became the prime minister with an absolute majority but because the Indian media, as it functioned until then, metamorphosed from a pigeon — a messenger of truth and facts — to a hyena, one that serves its own interest fuelled by an insatiable greed that drives it to devour its prey alive, sometimes ripping it apart, while it sniggers. Today’s news media, especially the prime time debates, is brutal, almost barbaric, with little to no regard for ethics and morality. 

Journalism is now endangered and what’s masquerading in its name is business — with open display of bigotry and hate against Muslims and other minorities. It not only builds its viewership base by hook or crook to more advertising money but it also doubles up as a PR firm, serving the interest of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to show it as the saviour of India. 

And what’s the flavour of the season in the Indian media’s bid to do the bidding for the BJP? An extra large scoop of Islamophobia with some sprinkling on top — Tablighi Jamaat conspiracy theories (from spitting to shitting), a dash of anti-nationalism reserved for Muslims who are called more Pakistani than Indian, a huge dollop of ISIS connection (especially in the land of Malayalis), and a generous serving of demonisation through constant use of rhetorics like jihad, halala, triple talaq, beef eaters, and anything that a devious mind can conjure (‘Muslims in India are deliberately spreading the coronavirus’).

Of course not every media house is like this. Some try to be trailblazers of truth and investigation. But media is a capital intensive industry. It needs money, especially to compete with the dazzling HD-quality channels or publications with subscribers in millions. Besides, the government can cut it off anytime or withhold advertisements to make it go bankrupt. It’s really a choice between Scylla and Charybdis.


Also read: Lockdown may contain Covid-19, but it can’t curb the virus of Islamophobia in India


Govt encroachment

Let’s compare this to the past when things were not so bleak. Except during the Emergency, Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) used to air news without any opinion. In fact, Section 12 (2) (b) of the Prasar Bharati (Broadcasting Corporation of India) Act, 1990 makes the duty of public broadcaster very clear: to safeguard “the citizen’s right to be informed freely, truthfully and objectively on all matters of public interest… and presenting a fair and balanced flow of information including contrasting views without advocating any opinion or ideology of its own.”

Although dubbed as the central government’s mouthpiece, Doordarshan’s DD National (formerly DD1) was not a perception changer like today’s news channels that primarily depend on sensationalised ‘breaking news’ with a lot of confirmation bias. 

But Doordarshan has not been without the blemish either. It edited out portions of Narendra Modi’s pre-election interview in 2014 and then telecast it in full when Modi took umbrage at it. But the broadcaster refused to telecast then Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar’s pre-recorded 2017 Independence Day speech even after the CPM leader called its act “undemocratic, authoritarian” and “also (an) expression of intolerance”. 

Now, Doordarshan appears to be buckling completely under pressure, with the Narendra Modi government considering dissolving Prasar Bharti and converting both DD National and AIR into public sector units to keep the majority stake with itself.

When print publication dominated the media sphere, things were still authentic because reportage was given more weightage than opinion. But that also died with the emergence of social media. Today, anyone with a camera phone is a journalist and everyone has a ‘journalistic’ opinion to air. A video is more easily consumable than an 800-word article. Full-page political ads and increase in the number of classified pages are a sign of how print media’s independence has taken a hit in the past six years during which a large number of people have moved to social media that Modi and his BJP have used like a magic wand.


Also read: Bigotry over Tablighi Jamaat is a familiar pattern. All Muslims will be blamed for acts of few


The Muslim angle

While it’s here on social media that bigotry against Muslims is more pronounced, it takes inspiration, and content, from the news channels that engage in hate 24X7. So, the question remains, why does India media detests Muslims so much? Why don’t news anchors like Sudhir Chaudhary, Arnab Goswami, Deepak Chaurasia, Amish Devgan, Anjana Om Kashyap, Rohit Sardana and their types ever get tired of demonising Muslims day in and day out?  Is it that majority Hindus have always hated Muslims and after 9/11, the advent of Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, ISIS, and 2014, it just became the new normal to do so publicly? Or has the persistent propaganda to reinforce fanatic beliefs about Muslims as being violent and irrational led majority Hindus to inculcate them in their daily lives, even if they have personally never experienced any of those propagated beliefs?

The Tablighi Jamaat fiasco is a good example. Like a herd of cattle that cannot think on its own, the 1500-odd men who were stuck at Delhi’s Nizamuddin Markaz continued to stay there while their spiritual shepherd — Maulana Saad — didn’t think it necessary to empty the premises despite the fear of the coronavirus. But were they the only religious groups who did this? No.

The Tablighi Jamaat congregated between 13 and 15 March, but temples like Siddhivinayak and Mahakaleshwar were not closed until 16 March. Shirdi Saibaba Mandir and Shani Shingnapur Temple were closed only on 17 March, Vaishno Devi on 18 March, and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple was operating until 20 March — a day after Prime Minister Modi had addressed the nation and called for ‘social distancing’. Some news channels pointed these anomalies out but for the most part, the narrative to demonise and blame the entire Muslim community — and not only the Tablighi organisers — played on a loop. What did it lead to? Muslims began to be targeted, assaulted, beaten up, abused on streets by nameless goons and the police without any action against anyone. The same media that helped propagate it conveniently ignored all the attacks on Muslims.


Also read: Coronavirus was a test of secular nationalism. Then Tablighi Jamaat became the scapegoat


Is this new?

Fake news has been used rather assiduously in India to create a sense of unity within the majority. A feeling of unity to hate a common enemy and defeat that enemy by voting a Hindu nationalist political party that will safeguard their rights.

The ‘us vs them’ elixir has always worked. And so a premier liberal institute like Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) can be projected as the land of condoms and ‘anti-nationals’. Or media can blithely express entitlement over Ayodhya by crooning: “janmabhoomi humari, Ram humare, Masjidwale kahaan se padhare” (The land is ours, Ram is Ours, Why have the people of the mosque arrived here). Or that the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC) were being funded by foreign entities. Why isn’t anyone talking about the gaumutra and gobar parties thrown by superstitious Hindus to fight the coronavirus? Why aren’t these unscientific and unhygienic practices being called out? Why isn’t anyone outraged by pilgrims stuck in gurdwaras and temples? Because no one is bothered by “non-Muslim” folks doing anything wrong.

From the looks of it, Indian media is winning the war being waged against Muslims and Islam. Have you read the news? A “Muslim” man — Dilshad Ali — has been lynched. Dilshad, badly beaten up by goons over accusations that he had plans to deliberately spread the coronavirus, is alive. But since he survived the brutal attack and didn’t join Mohammed Ahlaq and Junaid Khan and Pehlu Khan among others, there’s nothing to feel outraged about what’s going on.  

The author is a political observer and writer. Views are personal.

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298 COMMENTS

  1. Just take the name of single Muslim majority country where they are safe, prosperous, free from violence, free from terrorism no not a single place where they are.

    Think 🤔why

    Any clue?

    If you don’t have still then just turn over the pages of qur@n. And read the verses:

    What it says about Jewish and Christians.
    What it says about non Mu$lims.
    What it says about terr0rism.
    What it says about s€x slaves.

      • Uneducated people like you just only know how to destroy nature even you don’t know the power of trees
        Ah.. I got you
        You people only know how to destroy and disrespect someone
        And I wanna tell you that first know about what is cow dung and for what it is use for
        U people see everything like a shit
        And you can never get the knowledge of Ayurveda
        You people just know how to kill not how to save

  2. There is no war against Islam in Indian media for India was already declared jewel of the British Empire. The Indian Independence Act is history and will repeat itself. This is said and done. The new wave is about hum do hamare do. You must figure it out.

  3. As a common observer, In India, not only muslims but also christians are converting hindus into their religions. The reason behind this activity is to destroy our culture, our identity, and our history. What is the outcome? Outcome is separating our country based on religion. Because, indian muslims and indian christians can’t tolerate any other religion. It favours destruction of remaining temples, and they can enjoy temple wealth (It is huge). In india, already most of the land is under the control of christian churches. Such assessts wealth is more than Indian railway assessts only in terms of lands. In history, ancient indian universities were destroyed by muslim invaders. Later, our gurugul education system was distrupted by english men. So, how an Hindu faith on them.
    In this news, many local mosques tried to hide illegal foreigners, (muslims) to save from the legal action. Such people are not ready to cooperate with government to control the COVID19. Definetly they are not good minded people. At covid initial days, most of the victims are muslims and they are tried to spread the covid to non muslims. Over the centuries, their mindset is not changed and they are trying to kill other religious people in the name of jighad. It is true.

  4. y doesnt print cover the muslim appeasement this country does to them-most scholarships, halal loot on stamping of products, the autocratic wakf board, the free pilgrimage before 2014, f**kin looters who get aid from taxpayer to further their propganda while we pay taxes

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  6. GOOGLE HAS MADE AN ALGORITHM, YOU CANNOT SEARCH CALIFORNIA UNIVERSITY SYLLABUS MOCKS HINDU GODS HINDU PARENTS TAKE THEM TO COURT. WEST CONTINUES TO COLONIZE INDIA USING UNIVERSITIES AND MEDIA AND SOCIAL MEDIA.   

  7. Jihadi Left never gives up. All these years when they were in power thanks to their benefactor Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, they terrorized Hindus as if Aurangzeb was still ruling. Now that the Hindu oppression is reduced thanks to Modi and the BJP. the Jihadi Left’s Goebbels like campaign is continuing.

    • Once bitten twice shy. India was invaded, looted and people were forcibly converted by the Islamic invaders. The Hindus behavior towards Muslims and consolidation is an act of restraint to avoid repeat of the bad history.

  8. Non Indian will spread dirtiness because they want to proof themselves clean… Pointing Indian Muslim will make you only hindu, Gujarati, Sikh or christian but not Indian. Some people will still don’t understand the concept of crime… Criminal don’t have any cast and even a spreading mind shit Is a crime too because It show you simply want entertainment and not peace…

  9. Punyabhoomi hamari. Dharam hamara. Tum Islam wale kaha se padhare? Saudi se? waapis jao. This is India not Saudia. And all the problems you have with media, I have exactly OPPOSITE problem. They are always trying to sheild muslim abuse hindus and force secularism down my unwilling throat. You say they are anti-muslim? I say they are anti=hindu.

  10. Tell me a good muslim country to live in ? they tune there own country to shit and move to a good one there like parasites

    • Indonesia, Morocco,Kosovo,Albania, Dubai, Oman, Turkey,Iran(travel ban makes it a teeny tiny bit less attractive), Maldives
      if we are talking about safety well let me tell you most of these countries are safer than the United States ! The homicide rate In Iran is 4.62 per 100000 just a teeny tiny bit more that US of 4.58 ( about the same of India)
      Now let’s talk about economy right. well there is a country where tax is like non existant and still is the most developed country with the highest tourism rates ! wow what can that be ?
      DUBAI obviously ! well yeah most of these “islamic” countries are way way safer than India. I’d totally liv ein anyone of them instead of India

      • Islamist change the demography of the region. This happened in Kashmir when they drove Kashmiri Pandits out of Kashmir. It is unfortunate the western press and the leftist are blind to this. High time the westerner understand. Islamisation has already started in Europe. Yes India wont allow you people to make it an Islamist country. GOOD YOU AVOID LIVING IN INDIA. WE WILL BE PEACEFUL.

  11. Sorry, you could not create a big enough ripple. Bask in your own self-created glory. J’had is the preserve of the J’hadis. It is no secret J’had has become synonymous to t’rism. It is going to end soon. The J’hadi world is crumbling. J’had (t’rism) is directly proportional to the demand for oil. “J’had aur J’hadion ki kabr khud rahi hai”. Would pseudo-J’hadis like to follow, is the question…

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