Problems of Narratives and Counter Narratives regarding misleading journalism
Click and listen Shakil's Talk HERE
A
good effort Shakil and i need to add some points. Hope this will help you in developing it further. Points regarding critical thinking and fact checking are well taken and appreciable. Urdu press is game changer
and that is why it always remain scrolling between power players. You can write many things in English only because it is language of new Pandats yet during last three decades expansion of English has created new spaces and even middle classes are reading and writing in this language. Urdu Press and Urdu textbooks are major propaganda weapons so it is important to criticize them with little care. Rise of Urdu/Hindi and Indian English press has a
legacy and unfortunately you missed that legacy. Press or media was raised in
2nd half of 19th century while it groomed in first half of 20th century. we
knew very well how Urdu, Hindi and English press praised false prides and
spread hate. Partab and Zamindar were worst examples in this regard. even
English press played very bad role and in her recent book Farahnaz Isfahani quoted bad editorials of Dawn since late 1940s till recent past. If you read the book Across the Seas by Syed Hasan Khan you can trace politics of Civil & Military Gazette well. He mentioned how Ram Krishan Dalmia
purchased C&M gazette, Lhore and Daily Gazette Karachi just before
partition (P.47) and remember same Dalmia had owned Times of India too. You knew
that C&MG was a pro colonial master newspaper started in 1872 from Lhore and
Simla. One of its legend contributor was Rudyard Kipling who according to Alex
von Tunzeleman (in her book Indian Summer) contributed in a fund for infamous
General Dyar of jillanwalla fame. After partition F W Bustin was editor of
C&M Gazette in Pakistan. Syed Hassan Khan met him at this time . Interestingly he was the same editor who hired Hans Raj Vohra, an
official approver in Bhagat Singh case as reported in The Martyr: Bhagat Singh-Experiments in Revolution By Kuldip Nayar . During early phase of
Kashmir dispute Sir Owen Dixon appointed UN representative and his duty was to resolve Kashmir Dispute. Ironically C&M Gazette
published a story claiming that Dixon had prepared a plan for partition of
Kashmir. So you can imagine that situation and kept legacy of that newspaper in
mind. Had C&M Gazette not published it, Kashmir issue would resolved at
that time but its publication proved fatal. Publication of that news suited both old masters and those local players in both countries who were ready to devlop conflict base narratives in newly formed countries. So in my view Empire played its
game through that story and Kashmir is still a bone of contention between two
States. In a recent book Luv Puri too mentioned a secret agreement for Gilgit
Baltistan between Mharaja Kashmir and Empire in 1929. In my march 26th post at same blog I mentioned genesis of bad narrative in Pakistan and mentioned Luv's book Across the LoC too.You may criticize joint
editorial but you also must share all detail including bad policies of masters too. You listen the question and answer session again and you will find that participants used that gape mischievously but it is because of some weaknesses in your own narrative.
All nation Sates have
their media as well as deep State. Example of BBC is enough to understand State
sponsorship and service of media for rulers. What Subhash Chandar Bose said
about BBC is on record and Sughata reproduced it in the biographical book about
Naita ji published in 2011. I reviewed the book in June 2012. Newyork time apology is good gesture but it is the only
example among more then 100 important newspapers/channels of Europe and US. so
it is a rare case. Calling a media Hindu press, Jewish press is bad but calling
a media Muslim press is also misleading. Using religion is an old colonial
legacy and you can map it since James Mill times who divided history in Hindu
and Muslim periods in 1824-32. Romila Thapper pinpointed it timely in 1960s yet we are not ready to take lead from this. Use of religion in State craft continued during cold war where US/West declared communism as Anti God. In Pakistan religious right used that mantra extensively with the help of new masters but you did not mention it too. Afghan Jihad was a recent example in this regard. Remember palace intrigues and conspiracies are part of power politics since ages and after the invention of Nation States it got more space then ever. Their new name is security establishment and in many ways it is larger then State even in so-called developed world. Linking conspiracy theories with every development may be problematic but ignoring conspiracies and palace intrigues must be criminal. Last not the least, Religious right and racist
right have same mindset either in US, Europe or in Asia or Africa. Example of JO's killing in UK is enough and statements of Bush and Trump are on record. I want to write
more but let us think about it. Thanks
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