A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PAKISTANI & INDIAN ENGLISH DAILIES EDITORIALS ON THE COVERAGE OF DETERIORATING CONDITIONS OF INDIAN MUSLIMS

Authors : Muhammad FAHİM

Pages : 501-532

View : 21 | Download : 2

Publication Date : 2021-04-01

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This research examines the stance/slant and the magnitude of media coverage given to the deteriorating conditions of Indian Muslims. Minorities in India, especially the Indian Muslims, enduring an institutional and systematic bias and neglect in all walks of life. Though the Indian constitution bestows equal rights to all its subjects, however, the ground reality is telling completely an opposite story. The Indian Muslims fell victim to communal violence myriads of times since the inception of modern India. Moreover, since Modi's assertion into the throne, the situation worsened. Two Indian (Times of Indian & Hindustan Time) and two Pakistani (Dawn & The Nation) English dailies were selected for this study. Six months (Aug 11, 2019, to Feb 11, 2020) of editorial coverage of the said dailies were examined through content analysis. A total of 57 editorials were found published about the deteriorating conditions of Indian Muslims and examined through content analysis. 23 editorials of Times of India, 14 of Hindustan Times, and 10 each of Dawn and The Nation were found published and examined. In the Time of India, 7 (30.43%) editorials were found favorable, 0 (0.0%) unfavorable and 16 (69.56%) editorials were found neutral. In the Hindustan Times, 3 (21.42%) editorials were found favorable, 0 (0.0%) unfavorable, and 11 (78.57%) editorials were found neutral. In Dawn, 7 (70%) editorials were found favorable, 0 (0.0%) unfavorable and 3 (30%) editorials were found neutral. In The Nation, 5 (50%) editorials were found favorable, 0 (0.0%) unfavorable and 5 (50%) editorials were found neutral. In total all four newspapers, 22 (38.59%) editorials were found favorable, 0 (0.0%) unfavorable, and 35 (61.40%) editorials were found neutral.
Keywords : Indian Muslims, Deteriorating Conditions, Indian Media