Instead of questioning the narrative, news television and some print
outlets have instead blatantly beaten the drums of confrontation, hyping
even relatively calm statements by the army chief into belligerent
displays of national machismo. Coming at a time when the government is
attempting to move forward on dialogue with Pakistan that is very much
in the national interest, the question should be asked: are some of
India’s news channels, and their pursuit of eyeballs, turning into a national security hazard?
A handful of bellicose television supremos cannot be allowed to dictate a
foreign policy that hurts the interest of India’s citizens.
Editorial in Business Standard. Here
The Kerala unit of the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind is getting into
production of commercial films and serials, which will be telecast on
its new venture, Mediaone TV. The Malayalam-language news and
entertainment satellite channel is to go on air next month.
This is the first time a state unit of the Jamaat-e-Islami is
venturing into visual media. Incidentally, Jamaat mouthpiece Madhayamam
itself does not publish film advertisements, a policy it has followed
since its launch 25 years ago.
The channel would be floated by the Kozhikode-based Madhyamam
Broadcasting Corporation. A tie-up has already been worked out with Al
Jazeera.
Jamaat’s ‘assistant amir (Kerala)’ Sheikh Mohammed Karakunnu, an
Islamic scholar, said Mediaone would follow the same principles
practised by Madhyamam. “Like the daily, the TV channel will give due
space to issues of minorities, Dalits and the marginalised. The TV
channel will also have regulations on accepting advertisements, (and on)
content of the programmes,” he said.
Karakunnu confirmed that Mediaone would also produce its own
films apart from sourcing films from outside. “Work on a film has
begun,” he said.
Mediaone group editor O Abdurahiman said their aim was to give
voice to the voiceless. “We want to develop an alternative media culture
as our daily has done. Mediaone TV has entered into a tie-up with Arab
broadcaster Al Jazeera, mainly for sharing content on world affairs. The
channel would be hived into news and entertainment after six months.”
Noting that the bar on film advertisement in Madhyamam had no
link with Mediaone airing films, Abdurahiman pointed out that the Jamaat
mouthpiece didn’t skirt film news either. “Our daily gives film reviews
and covers film festivals exhaustively,” he said.
Among the film proposals the channel is considering, Abdurahiman
said, was one based on the life of Kunhali Marakkar, a local king’s
naval chief who had fought against Portuguese invaders after Vasco da
Gama’s arrival on the Malabar Coast in the 15th century. The story falls
neatly in line with Jamaat’s pet campaign: anti-imperialism.
Writer and social critic Prof N M Karassery said that as it
strives for more space in the mainstream, it was but natural for the
Jamaat-e-Islami to turn to new media. Films, which could be used for
ideological campaigning, were an obvious choice. “The Jamaat is not a
mere religious outfit, but a political one in disguise,” he noted.
Karassery, however, added that the move could also backfire on
the Jamaat. “I do not think that the channel would make that
organisation more liberal, but may expose their anti-women approach and
their capitalistic intentions,’’ he said.
Prof Hameed Chendamangaloor, who studies Muslim organisations,
too isn’t surprised by the Jamaat’s foray into TV media as it wants to
wield more political clout and foster Islamic politics. “No Muslim
organisation can stick on to the days when watching TV or enjoying music
was taboo. Even if the ideology is for conservatism, political motives
would spur the Jamaat and other organisations to embrace changes, he
said.
A report by Shaju Philip in Indian Express Here.
One evening, I walked into a small Internet café near my hotel. Two
young Indian men managed the café. After I had answered my e-mails, I
bought a coffee and we chatted. They were from Faizabad, a small town in
the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.
Sohail, the younger, a wiry man who served coffee and tea and cleaned
the place, had been working there for a year. When I told him that I
had been to his town several times as a reporter, his eyes brimmed with
tears. “I worked in a garage as a mechanic, but I didn’t make enough. I
got married and had a child. So I came here. I thought I am going to
Mecca. I will get to perform the Hajj and earn a lot more than I ever
would,” he said. “I didn’t know people here would treat us like dirt.”
He pointed to a chubby Saudi boy, who was a regular at the café and
called himself “Funky Monkey” (his video-game username). “Every time he
feels like, he would slap me. It is the same with other local customers.
You are a little late complying an order and they bark at you, slap
you.” He added, “Here you can’t appeal to anyone. My passport is with my
kafeel and I can only go home when he allows me to.” Imran,
the older counterman, consoled him. “You are here now! Get used to it.
Do I cry? I haven’t been able to return home in three years,” Imran
said.
“Why not?” I asked Imran.
“My kafeel has my passport. He keeps making excuses, delaying
it. He doesn’t want to lose business if I go away. And he has to pay all
my money that is with him and buy me the return ticket home.”
And yet, Imran said, “We still have it easy. Working here is much worse for the maids.”
There are about one-and-a-half million female domestic workers in Saudi Arabia.
Basharat Peer in The New Yorker. Here
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