Category Archives: Journalism

Indian Muslim Perspective on Indian Journalism

How The Urdu Press Covers The Middle East

Columns and editorials were written for the whole week and Israel was termed as ‘unholy’, ‘inhuman’ etc. The incident was duly condemned as ‘unprovoked aggression’ and ‘barbaric’. But in this zest not to leave an opportunity to criticize Israel, Urdu journalists forgot to analyse the issue from an unbiased perspective. It is extremely unadvisable to react in such childish manner to issues of international importance. Need of the hour is to understand any important international issue from international politics perspective rather than from just emotional and historical point of view. Continue reading

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Soccer girls

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net When FIFA World Cup Soccer Final match is played on Sunday, there will be at least a billion people will be watching it around the world. Going by the two pictures that I will present to you, … Continue reading

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Will The Hindu Reader’s Editor Please Listen?

The credibility of the ‘renowned terror expert’ of The Hindu, Praveen Swami, has now come down to near-zero, risking the credibility of the paper itself. Trusting the fake stories Swami files, both the editorial section of the news paper and the readers are getting misled. One example is the Mecca Masjid bombing at Hyderabad. It pays to read The Hindu editorial of October 15, 2007. The editorial, as authentic a record of the paper’s stand as is ever possible, overtly hints that the Ajmer and Mecca Masjid blasts were the deeds of “Islamist terror” groups, while investigations have now brought out the fact that they were the handiwork of Hindutva groups like Abhinav Bharat. Praveen Swami has not yet confessed to his past mistakes. Also, he has not shown the courtesy of apologizing to readers and victims of the fake news. Continue reading

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Fatwas: The Big Picture

Fatwas have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. Headlines and news reports give readers the impression that muftis who issue these fatwas are working against heavy odds to keep Muslims backward and that most of their energy is spent on keeping women in check. The realty is far from what media, liberal Muslims or even Muslim scholars would like to admit. Most will be surprised to know that the majority of Muslims have never asked for any fatwa in their life. Out of 11 thousands Deoband fatwas online, only 2% are categorized as “Women’s issues.” Journalist and researcher Nasiruddin Haider Khan who has studied Muslim women issues was able to get fatwas against female foeticide, sex selection, and in favor of family planning from many different sources. Continue reading

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Everybody Loves A Bad Fatwa

A mufti issues a fatwa or opinion based on his understanding of the question and Islam. Just as different medical doctors will have a difference of opinion regarding a diagnosis and treatment plan. At least once every year, on a slow news day, some enterprising journalist finds a fatwa that will fit the stereotype about Muslims being backward or Muslim scholars being ignorant or out of touch with the real world or all of the above reasons, and will publish a news story based on this ‘prized’ fatwa. Continue reading

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Masses Swayed By Sensational Media Gossips

In the recent times media’s love for sensationalism has been boundless.The media is selling “hot cakes” to the public and minting money, the celebrities involved are getting some free and much-needed publicity, but hats off to the masses who in spite of all their sufferings are more interested in keeping themselves updated about such utterly idiotic gossip. Continue reading

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Milli Gazette: Ten Years Of A Community Newspaper

Milli Gazette has made a name for itself. It is probably the most referenced Indian Muslim publication. It is a must read for any one interested in Indian Muslim affairs.Publishing a community magazine for ten years and that too without much community support and advertising is no mean achievement. Continue reading

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HT Paid For Shoddy Journalism

Kashif argues that Hindustan Times got paid for a shoddy piece of journalism. Source of inspiration for this post and its title comes from a very creative piece of journalism as exemplified by an HT story titled ‘Yahoo! paid for Peerbhoy’s training to hack networks’. Continue reading

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Nellie Still Haunts

Journalist Hemendara Narayan witnessed the Nellie massacre of February 18th, 1983 and the death of hundreds if not thousands killed in a matter of hours. The memory of dead and those who survived haunted him for years and after 25 years he prepared this booklet to preserve the memory for future. Continue reading

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Flagging TimesNow

When there is no news what a 24/7 news channel got to do? Of course, they are going to make up the news. The role of Times Now TV channel in promoting a story without checking the facts is just irresponsible journalism. Continue reading

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