THE COMPANION

English Monthly

October 2011
Executive Editor

Vol:06

Issue:05

contents A drop of ink may make a million think...

FEATURES

Khan Yasir
(editorcompanion@gmail.com) Asst. Editor

Jaffer Kashif
Manager

Mohammed Siddique Khan

(managerrmgp@sio-india.org)

Realisation
8 9

Dawah Focus on Journalism

Dawah : The Duty of every Muslim Journalism: Because pen is mightier than reign Development of Indian Journalism When media becomes the Campaigner... Alternate media-A happening reality Rendezvous of Islam and Muslims with Media Advertisement Journalism as a Career The Science of Marketing & its Social Impact

Misfortune

Asst. Manager

Mujahed Ansari
DD/Cheques should be in favour of

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Habeeb Haris on behalf of StudentIslamic Organisation of India A P Zone. Printer Publisher & Editor Mohd Salimullah Khan.Printed at Bharat Offset 2034/35 Qasim Jan Street, Delhi-110006, Published from D-300 (Old 230) Abul Fazal Enclave,Jamia Nagar, Okhla New Delhi-110 025. The opinions ex pressed in the columns of THE COMPANION contain positions and viewpoints that are not necessarily those of editorial board or the Students Islamic Organisation of India. These are offered as a means for SIO to stimulate dialogue and discussion in our continuing mission of being a student and youth organisation.

Marketing

Short Stories
Falsehood Perished Shame for Satan

Last Word d
34 Notes on Nationalism REGULARS 4 5 7 31 32 Gleanings Editorial Letters Horizon: the JAC Corner SIO News
October 2011 3

THE COMPANION

GLEANINGS

The Moral Code

God commands you to deliver whatever you have been entrusted with to their rightful owners, and whenever you judge between people, to judge with justice. Most excellent is what God exhorts you to do. God hears all and sees all. (Al-Nisa: 58) These are the main obligations placed on the Muslim community and these sums up its moral code: 1. Fulfilment of trust The basic and most important trust is that which God has implanted in human nature. This is the one which the heavens, the earth and the mountains refused to accept, but which man undertook. It is that of willingly and deliberatelyrecognisingDivineguidanceandbelievinginGod.GivingtestimonyinfavourofIslamisanimportantwayof delivering this trust. Another trust which is implied in the above is that of dealing with people and delivering to them whatever they have entrusted to us. That includes honesty in daily transactions, giving honest counsel to rulers and ruled, taking good care of young children, protecting the interests of the community and defending it against hostile forces, entrusting positions of responsibility only to those who are capable of shouldering the burdens of such positions, and observing all duties and obligations outlined by the Divine code. 2. Maintaining justice The order to maintain justice is stated in the most general terms so as to make it obligatory between all people. Justice is due to every individual human being. Hence, justice should be extended to all: believers and non-believers, friends and enemies, white and coloured, Arabs and non-Arabs, etc. This verse makes it clear that both orders to be true to ones trust and to maintain justice between people are part of Gods admonition. Good and greatly beneficial indeed is whatever God directs and admonishes us to do. Moreover, the order to do both comes from the One who hears and sees all things. God is certain to hear and see all matters related to the fulfilment of trust and maintaining justice. Compiled From: In the Shade of The Quran - Sayyid Qutb, vol 3, pp. 193-195

Allah does not judge you on how bad you have been in the past, But rather how good you strive to be now. (Yasir Qadhi)

Revelation and Reason

As revelation ended with the death of the Prophet and reason was accorded a greater importance, to the extent of considering its proper use (ijti had) and act ofibadah(worship)...reason has an important role in conducting this life. Reason has no role to play if there is a clear-cut revealed statement, since revelation supersedes reason. If there is no specific revealed statement on a given issue, then reason must be used to distinguish between good and bad and to direct man to the right path. Over time, the strong pressures of life led some people to regard all revealed statements as non-conclusive, thereby nullifying and voiding revelation. This might have been the result of confusing the two levels of the intellectual approach to revelation: understanding revelation and establishing rules. If those who fell under the pressures of life had merely questioned the applicability of conclusive revealed statements to life, their positions would have been regarded as ijtihad.Instead, they challenged the definite understanding of revelation, claiming that it should be changed. They believed that they were pursuing the way of Umar ibn al Khattab, who they thought had voided thehadd(punishment)fortheft(cuttingoffthehandsof thieves) during the Year of the Famine. In fact, he neither changed nor suspended that punishment, which remains conclusive; rather, he believed that the punishment lacked the conditions for it to be applied at that particular time. Therefore he applied ijtihad; he did not change the definite understanding of revelation. (Abd al Majid al Najjar) October 2011 4

Path to Paradise
Paradise is surrounded by trouble and tribulation, and Hell is concealed in pleasure. (Bukhari & Muslim) Paradise and Hell are, in essence, blessings for humanity. Fear of Hell causes us to observe Gods prohibitions so that we may go to Paradise. However, being saved from Hell and becoming deserving of Paradise requires great self-discipline and strict intellectual and spiritual training. Hell is an abode of torment placed within an attractive setting of enticing lures and pleasures. If we are captivated and live only to satisfy such desires, we are lured toward Hell. To reach Paradise, we first have to train ourselves to ignore worldly attractions. Hell is part of the way to Paradise, for we must travel to Hell without allowing any of its attractions to seduce us. To reach Paradise, we must persevere, endure affliction, perform what is obligatory, avoid sin, and thank God for His bounties and blessings. Such virtuous acts are hated by our carnal desires.
Compiled From: The Messenger of God: Muhammad Fethullah Gulen, pp. 113, 114

THE COMPANION

EDITORIAL

Lets Reinvent the Wheel

Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. Thats relativity. (Albert Einstein) t happens sometimes that hands of watch seem to be moving faster than the wings of fan. It happened this month a month full of happenings. For some it was a hot stove of routine as usual; for others it was company of the pretty-girl-of-revolution at Ramlila ground. It was neither for me, and yet full of happenings, that too at such an unprecedented pace that flummoxed me beyond my imagination. In a hangover of confusion I chose one topic after another for special analysis only to trash it after momentary flirtations. This happened till I decided to pause in this column, breath for a moment and peep through different kiosks towards the events that bombarded this month so generously, and to find a common thread from them, if possible. Task, is to engage myself with these events, and this should be clear from the very outset. Anna-konda? I hate auto-rickshaws. This hate, I think, emanates more from my pocket than my heart. But I found myself in search of one, due to oversleep of a few hours that made me miss the one-&-only direct bus to the university. And now as I was haggling over the price, I realised that only if the soul of Michael Schumacher would dwell in the skinny auto-rickshaw driver can I think to reach in time. I agreed on his dictate: meter se bees rupye jyada, as I had no alternatives. The moment I sat, Ravi rang me and we started quarrelling like spoilt fellows on Anna Hazare movement. Citing mainly Arundhati Roy and Prabhat Patnaik and epitomising my study of the Janlokpal bill I was debating over the personality of Anna and his team, role of media and RSS in the movement, stubbornness of Anna, movements impact on democracy etc. I noticed that as my voice pitched up and discussion progressed, I was dangling miserably like a pendulum upside down. The speed went from dawdling to enthralling to frightening. My auto-rickshaw was overtaking BMWs as if in fulmination. I disconnected the call with a promise to pursue it from where we left and inquired, Whats wrong? Driver revealed that he was hurt over my diatribes against Annaji. Taking interest I apologised and asked more about Annaji. He explained how aam aadmi was suffering from corruption until an avatar of Gandhi arrived on the scene. He enlightened me that with the arrival of Lokpal, corruption will vanish as if horns from a donkeys head. He narrated his visit to Ramlila ground where a second freedom struggle was unleashed by Baba (not Ramdev he was referring to Anna). He nostalgically thought aloud the songs which were played from the stage and enumerated the film stars who graced the venue. On my question what was the difference between government Lokpal bill and Janlokpal bill, he fumbled as I expected. On my question what did he like most at the Ramlila ground, he could just recall after a long pause, Kachodiyan badi achchi theen. In the class a discussion was organised over Anna Hazare movement. My classmates spoke both in favour and against. Ravi spoke vociferously against Anna movement, this was stunning as just a couple of hours ago I was unpatriotic according to him for critiquing the Janlokpal bill. On my inquisitive eyes he whispered, Professor is anti-Anna. I deliberately chose to speak in last; professor allowed just three minutes as his slot was ending. I began from the corrupt autorickshaw driver who was a devotee of Anna, but felt no wrong in extracting extra twenty rupees from me. After setting the pace with the story, I proceeded with a clich so often uttered, so seldom meant, by accomplished orators, I do not intend to give a long speech but just to share with you... Then I went on a rampage like this,
It is argued here that Anna movement was a middle class movement or a movement led by right wing Hindutva forces but counter argued that people belonging to every caste, class and community were thronging Ramlila Maidan. But havent as a student of Political Science we realise that a movement could be patriarchal with the largest possible participation of women, it could be Brahmanical with largest possible concentration of Dalits. So the core question is not who thronged the Ramlila Maidan but that who led the movement, in which direction it proceeded, whose interests it served, whose corruption it castigated, from where funds were raised etc. Keep these questions in mind and think over the objection once again! It is argued that this movement was a media-construct, but countered that it is the job of media to report and even support good cause. The problem my friends, is not with medias reporting or even supporting good cause. The problem is with their gross exaggeration in reporting, in vilifying even the sincere dissent1 and ominous omissions of other significant events2 etc. It is argued that Anna has been idolised rather than idealised but countered that there is nothing wrong in idolisation of a good ideal. But I disagree. A good ideal does not need idolisation, it has arguments. Who can forget scorning of

THE COMPANION

October 2011

dissent from Janlokpal bill, misleading of the masses with hyperboles3, and the manner in which terms were dictated to the parliament. This cult and hero-worship is the source of all the nasty things in the world Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lastly I would like to point out that a movement with as quick-fix an objective as installation of Lokpal for as complicated a problem as corruption, would never have served any purpose other than jargoning an already intricate system of bureaucracy. To effectively counter corruption whats necessary is an ethical environment and educating the masses in moral values. After all, it is futile to protest against corruption on one hand and charge 20 undue rupees on the other.

Blasts to irrigate Islamophobia? 7 September another blast jolted Delhi. Needle of suspicion pointed predictably towards a certain direction. Fortunately terrorists these days are very cooperative, they hate the very thought of our slothful investigating agencies working, they email their elaborate confessions for convenience. Such affinity between terrorist organisations and investigating agencies is enviable. If only such harmony could be replicated in our plural society!!! But this time everything was, I think, poorly planned. There was utter confusion. The email of HuJI that promptly claimed responsibility for the blast and taken sacrosanct by investigating agencies was rebutted the next day by another email of Indian Mujahideen. As if this confusion was not enough that mail was followed by a spree of emails that forced our agencies to really investigate them.4 Investigating agencies kept claiming indisclosable breakthroughs on one hand and kept multiplying the reward money on the other. Media kept drawing parallels between NIA and FBI and our Prime Minister kept reminding the investigating agencies that they should shun their communal biases, with if any meaningfully added. But thats not enough. Communal bias or more explicitly, Islamophobia, is not confined to investigating agencies or right wing Hindutva forces. Islamophobia as we painfully pointed out in the previous issue of The Companion has taken deep roots in Indian soil. I was shocked to learn that the very day of the blast PK Basu a visiting professor in Jamia Millia Islamia while lecturing MBA class abused teachers & students of JMI and JMI itself. He linked Islam to the blast and especially admonished a Muslim girl for her veil.5 When SIO unleashed a campaign against the calumnious remarks of the professor, it found people unanimously supporting it across the barriers of religion. The sole opposition however came from a leading Muslim personality whom otherwise we revere from the depth of our hearts. His argument was that we were making a mole into a mountain, that its professors habit to say nasty things like this, that he is most capable and teaches for free etc. To our gladness students took strong exception from buying this defeatist mentality as this was not a personal battle against Mr. Basu but against what he said; no matter what his qualification, credibility or salary was. Shock of the month was still in my ambush. It was I think on 11 September that my friend Ahmed (name changed), a convert to Islam was called to Police station in connection with Delhi High court bomb blasts. His boss, where he worked earlier, was a Brahmin. He disliked Ahmed when he prayed Zuhr during lunch break. Later his behaviour grew more antagonistic when he learnt about Ahmeds conversion. He loathed Ahmed for discussing Islam with his colleagues. He didnt let go any possible opportunity of insulting and embarrassing Ahmed. Though the meagre salary too was a reason, this hostile environment forced Ahmed to leave that job. May be to teach Ahmed a lesson, or to earn cheap reward money, by framing Ahmed; his former dreaded boss called up the police that, the sketch of suspects resembles the face of Ahmed, who worked previously with me and was a jihadi. Police called Ahmed to the Police station. Later when nothing was found against him after an inquiry that went on for more than 10 excruciating hours, he was released. ................... Now its obvious that in our country the self-proclaimed largest democracy of the world fear and hate reign supreme. When will we realise that crossbreeding of laws and institutions could never resolve the problems of our society, or any society for that matter? Corruption of values is the primary cause behind every corruption, and rebellion from God is the cause behind every discontent & chaos prevailing in the society. You would say that I am taking the developed, enlightened and modern society to the primitive stage. If you think I will deny this allegation, you are wrong! Because I believe that even at the highest stage of modernity and mechanisation, if somehow mankind forgets the wheel, it is best service of mankind to smilingly endure every allegation of taking the humanity back to the primitive stage... and reinvent the wheel. Khan Yasir
1. For e.g. both Aruna Roy & Swami Agnivesh were portrayed as traitors for genuinely disagreeing with Team Anna. 2. For e.g. killing of the RTI activist Shehla Masud 3. For e.g. 60 to 65 percent corruption would vanish when Janlokpal would come, or Anna is India and India is Anna, or government's Lokpal bill is a bill for enhancing corruption etc. 4. All except the first one proved to be concocted. I guess a little more investigation would have proved even the first email false; but, someone has to be blamed for the blast then why not HuJi? 5. Details on p. 33

THE COMPANION

October 2011

LETTERS
earlier. Though I understand the constraints upon you & difficulty in having such a degree of flexibility, at the same time is a fact that now the nation and student fraternity are more concerned with issues like - Corruption & the Anna Hazare Movement, the upcoming statehood bid of Palestine to name a few, which all deserve much coverage and dissection by The Companion. I am not trying to imply that the issue of Islamophobia is an old or irrelevant one, but that maybe there are more relevant issues capturing the minds of the youth today, and we as ardent followers of The Companion expect to read on such issues at the earliest, while the matter is still hot. We expect more from our favourite magazine! Uzair Belgami, Karnataka. ...... The article by Ibn Budan gives an account of an Islamic campus life. Though what he says sounds very outlandish and difficult to attain, like forming a parallel Islamic morality in college, though it is not totally impossible. The article reminds me of our time in the campus where praying namaz in the campus was banned since it was not a Muslim institution. But after we spoke to the principal and explained to him the importance about Salah in Islam, he not only agreed to let us pray but also arranged us a separate prayer room with provision for clean space for Wudu since the public toilets were not clean. This experience gave us the lesson that standing for ones beliefs boldly regardless of the outcome often gives us fruits. Abid Mohd Muzammil, Hyderabad ...... Pathetic Pupils, Torpid Tutors & a Sickly System by Abu Arsalaan Yaghi deals with the ills in the education system of our country. He rightly says that Devoid of spirit of a mentor, a compassionate shepherd and a resourceful patron; the teacher has become a salaried employee. I would like to add a point to this well written article. Real teachers these days have ceased to exist. We as a nation erased the framework and the climate to create good teachers. We created engineers, doctors, techies but we forgot to create good teachers who would have been at the forefront in the process of nation building. Ahmed Pasha, Guntur, AP

and making of the minds of Breivik(s)

Yet another ghastly attack near the very nerve of India, this time at Delhi high court. Like always, series of allegations, political accusations, teetered assurances of strong actions, heated media debates, and then very soon people forget. Aam Admi wonders, will the real culprits of these heinous killings ever be brought to book? Moreover the timing of the attack is significant. At a time when the whole polity was facing the strong wave of peoples anger and discontent for rampant corruption, and many high profile politicians were being put behind the bar, can it be a ploy to turn the tide? The history is evident, this cannot be ruled out. Will our agencies prove their worthiness? Mulla Sadaqat Faqih, Karnataka ...... It is with reference of article the potter effect written by Areesha Sakeen, indeed our children are badly addicted to action movies and they all are living in an utopian world, and movies like Harry Potter lead them to follow fictional view point. Apart from entertainment these movies taking our generation towards darkness, in which our children fail to lead practical life. Children should build the habit of reading some good books (story of prophets etc) rather than books like Harry Potter series. It develops neither our personality nor our traits. Mustaq Kunnur, Hubli, Karnataka ...... The September issue of the Companion, was quite comprehensive and presented a wide array of views and opinions on the recent terrorist (yes, it was a terrorist) attack on Norway and Islamophobia. I would like to congratulate you and your team for the effort. However, with all due respect, I would like to point out something I believe is quite important we must be more in sync with time and space, if we wish to stay relevant. An issue on the above incident should have been released at least a month

Have they not looked at the heaven above them-how We structured it and adorned it and (how) it has no rifts? (Quran, 50:6)

QUTUB
Constructions Mangalore
October 2011 7

THE COMPANION

REALISATION
GOD, SELF, WORLD, HEREAFTER

Misfortune
Dr. Syed Shahid Ali*
Whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought. (42:30) No evil befalls on the earth nor in your own souls, but it is in a book before We bring it into existence; surely that is easy to Allah: So that you may not grieve for what has escaped you, nor be exultant at what He has given you; And Allah does not love any arrogant boaster. (57:22-23) The notion of a safe life is an illusion for man on this planet. No human being has, or had, or will have an absolutely secure life. The quest for a life without misfortune is pointless. All misfortunes that befall man may be placed in the following two categories: 1. Invited-Misfortune 2. Determined-Misfortune A young man drove rashly and as a result, his car met with an accident. An old man over-ate and consequently became the victim of food poisoning. Such misfortunes are invited by the man himself. And thus they are Invited Misfortunes. Now, the father of that wounded young man borrowed money for the treatment of his son. The wife of that ill old man took great pains in taking care of her husband. Such kinds of misfortunes befell the father and the wife without any fault of their own. And they may be named Determined Misfortune. The first kind of misfortune is the result of mans own bad deeds. But the second is a trial and test for him. Allah wants to see that when a person is trapped in determined misfortune, will he keep patience or would he be annoyed/ irritated with what he knew to be Almightys judgement? The patient one would be rewarded while the latter would be punished. The key for safety from invited misfortune lies in the statement - precaution is better than cure. But, on the contrary, no matter how clever you are, you can never escape from determined misfortune. Only increased resistance enables you to face it and can reduce the pain. However, there is a formula that helps in such a situation. We may understand it from the statement that A big problem makes a small problem seem trivial. Thus, more one remembers the death and hereafter, more the problems of the worldly life are belittled and reduced. Moreover, a man should always remember: We (Allah) do not impose on any soul a duty except to the extent of its ability. (7:42) According to the Quran, all misfortunes that befall man have the following three factors behind them: As a punishment of sins: Whatever affliction befalls you, it is on account of what your hands have wrought. (42:30) As a warning: We seized them with distress and affliction in order that they might humble themselves. (6:42) For the test & trial of man: And We (Allah) will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits. (2:155)
(*Associate Professor, Jamia Millia Islamia)

MISFORTUNE
INVITED DETERMINED MISFORTUNE

PRECAUTION

RESISTANCE
October 2011 8

THE COMPANION

DAWAH

Dawah : The duty of every Muslim

Shaik Khaleel
hese days we find Muslims of two categories. the first category of Muslims are those who are Muslims in name, even though they are educated, they don't have the concept of God in their minds their acts are unrelated to Islam and they are leading their lives according to the changing culture of the society where they are living. If we observe the second category of the Muslim Ummah we will find them as having the concept of God in their mind but they have limited this concept to some extent, they will offer regular prayers, performing some good deeds and even spend some of their money for poor people in the way of Allah. They feel that they are completely discharging their duties as a Muslim. They are correct up to some extent, but they are excluding the most important obligation on Muslims - Dawah. They think that offering regular prayers and performing some good deeds is enough for them. But its not enough for the success of mankind here or hereafter. Some will think that Dawah is the duty of some organisation or some jama'at. When people think so that means that they are excusing themselves from this task. Muslims are duty bound to convey the final message of their lord, which is in their posession in the form of Islam. This obligation is binding on every individual Muslim as well as it is a collective obligation upon the Ummah as a whole. Allah tells us in Qur'an: Thus have We made of you an Ummah justly balanced, that ye might be witnesses over the nations, and the Messenger a witness over yourselves.(2:143) What this witnessing is about? To put in simple words , it means pronouncement or proclamation of truth as such before the human society, by the person and the community that claims to have faith in the truth. We can observe with bare eyes that Islam is the most misunderstood religion and Muslims are the most misunderstood community in the world, today. Both the religion and its followers are victimised by a wilful and calculated campaign of disinformation and misrepresentation. This evil campaign is being carried out mainly by the biased media and by hostile publications world over. The media invariably associates the name of Islam and Muslims with each and every negative event, developments and traits like war, terrorism riots ,etc., terms such as 'Islamic terrorism' etc., are frequently used in media and publications generally all over the world and

particularly in the west. There is no doubt that those who originally coin these terms and innovate such vocabulary and also those who deliberately make use of them, do so to create a particular image of this religion and its followers, in the minds of the ingenous masses. Obviously such persistent maligning campaign has played a vital role in deeply imprinting an ugly and detestable image of Islam and Muslims. The false image thus created in the minds plays a crucial role in shaping the attitude of non Muslim masses towards this religion and its followers. Ironically, the impact of the widespread negative propaganda against Islam has been so deep and enormous that it has infected the minds of Muslims themselves. Especially such an impact can be noticed in a sizeable section of the new generation. They suffer from a severe kind of inferiority complex. Their infected minds make them view their own religion with suspicion and gullibility. Sometimes they might even feel guilty and ashamed for taking birth with a Muslim identity. Tragedy indeed! If this pathetic state of affairs does not suffice to awake the Muslim community, what else will? This situation obviously makes it incumbent upon Muslims to begin an all round struggle to present the truth before the world and to fight the false propaganda. Now the only choice before us is to work hard to propagate and popularise Islam and to install the right images in the minds of people while erasing the wrong ones. We need to fulfil this obligation because we are going to be asked about it on the day of Judgement. The people around us with whom we are spending our life time whether they may be our friends, neighbours, the persons with whom we do business transactions, even the person who becomes our fellow partner in the journey. We are responsible for them to convey the message of Truth. Otherwise they will definitely argue regarding this that, our friend or neighbour who is spending most of the time with us he didn't told us about the Truth of Islam if he would have told us we must had obeyed the Truth. Then definitely we are in a danger at the time of Judgement. Then verily We shall question those unto whom (our message) has been sent, and verily We shall question the messengers.(7:6) Besides feeling the Dawah work as the profound duty we also need to observe the promise of great reward if as a result of our effort if someone is led the right path. Allah for this work. (Continued on p. 32) October 2011 9

THE COMPANION

FOCUS ON JOURNALISM

JOURNALISM
Because pen is mightier than reign
ournalism today is dead as it is living the Goebbelsian ideals. Gone were the days when journalism was a mission; when a journalist while uncapping the pen, considered himself no less proud than a warrior unsheathing his sword; when journalists dared defying deathly storms of repression but kept afloat their vessels of freedom of speech and conscience. And so, its not a coincidence that an intellectual like Marx, a statesman like Churchill and a mass-leader like Gandhi were all journalists at one point or another in thir lives. Even in Islamic world the likes of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Shakeeb Arsalan, Mohammed Ali Jauhar, Abul Kalam Azad, Abul Ala Maududi, Syed Qutub, Ameen Ahsan Islahi, Mohammed Asad were all journalists. This venerability however, over the years, has paved way for vulnerability to more than one kind of corruption in journalism. Journalism was a call of awakening and social reform1, journalism was an intellectual exercise2, journalism was a call for political awakening3, journalism was a weapon to spread peace4, journalism was a call to revolution5, journalism was this and much more than page three, sensationalism, deception and tiptoeing the dictates of governments or industrialists for advertisements. Many of the journalists mentioned above were child-prodigies. In the biographies of nearly all of them we find that their fans, who had mental image of old and experienced journalists, were dumbfounded to find that their favourite writers that have not just impressed but changed their lives were children. To acquire such a capability those exalted children had really worked hard, indefatigably. Many of them couldnt go to proper schools but learnt at home with the help of elders and even mastered languages through self-study. They didnt kill their time in fruitless pastimes. They were encyclopaedic in their knowledge and broad in their worldviews, with better insights in matters of significance than their respected elders. With such capabilities they would have easily opted for the most luxurious of the professions of their times. But they discarded the splendour and opulence of this life for that life, and chose to tread on the thorny path of journalism. They bore the brunt of authorities, but this was an ordeal about which they all knew from the day one. Now too, many students aspire for a career in journalism, but they eye on the glamour of it, opportunities to dine with politicians, to interview films-stars etc. They learn a few lessons in writing and venture out as qualified journalists. To hide their lousy language, they consistently refer to thesauruses to make their already confused reports more complicated by replacing simple words with their heavy but incongruous equivalents. To become famous they could indulge in any wrong, could report any filth irrespective of the consequences on the society, or humanity at large. I agree, many have professional competence but am sorry their lacklustre pieces too lack creativity, pain... and life. We have too many dead journalists walking in our midst. Now we need journalists that are alive. You can be one if you have 1) Purpose 2) Interest 3) Guts and 4) Pen. Believe me, photographers can capture both ideals & ironies; writers can right the wrongs; and editors can edit the world itself. In the parlance of Syed Qutub,
Writers can do anything. But only on one condition that they readily perish to keep their thoughts alive, they irrigate their thoughts with their blood, they shout the truth from their housetops... even if they have to lay their life for this. Our thoughts and our writings are dead, until when we sacrifice our life, our blood for them; only then a life-current runs through them and they come alive. Editor 1 2 3 4 For e.g. Tehzeeb ul Akhlaq by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, Raja Ram Mohun Roys Miratul Akhbar & Samvad Kaumodi, or different papers that were started by philosophers that triggered Renaissance in Europe. For e.g. Al-Manar by Rashid Rida and research articles in Maarif by Shibli Nomani on contemporary and historical themes. For e.g. Al-Urvatul Wuthqa by Jamaluddin Afghani, Al Hilal of Abul Kalam Azad, Hamdard & Comrade by Mohammed Ali Jauhar. For e.g. one of the earliest instance of investigative journalism when Mohammed Asad risked his life to investigate about the truth of rebellion against Ibn Saud in northern areas of what now is Saudi Arabia & Kuwait. His investigations proved that British Empire is the hand-in-glove behind these rebellions with lavish supplies of arms, ammunitions and funds to rebels, for its vested interests in the region. After publication these articles in Austria that were subsequently translated in other European and Arabian countries, British Empire stood exposed and let the plan of Basra-Haifa railway line (for which the dispute was all about) to lapse into oblivion. For e.g. Tarjuman ul Quran by Syed Abul Ala Maududi.

If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. (Joseph Goebbels)

THE COMPANION

October 2011 10

FOCUS ON JOURNALISM

Development of Indian Journalism

A Critical Analysis
Ajmal V
Journalism is the one solitary respectable profession which honours theft (when committed in the pecuniary interest of a journal,) & admires the thief.... However, these same journals combat despicable crimes quite valiantly when committed in other quarters. (Mark Twain) ndian Journalism was totally an 'Oriental Phenomena', it was introduced and flourished by English patronage. Englishmen's intention to start journalism was mainly to acknowledge the events to English people who were working in India and introduce European culture in India. The first person, who tried to make newspaper, Augustus Hicky, clearly stated his objective for his newspaper, 'in order to purchase freedom for my mind and soul... a weekly political and commercial paper open to all but influenced by none.' His newspaper comprised mostly announcements of marriages, engagements and gossips about the upper class English people. Bengal Gazette strictly confined to Englishmen and their close loyal Indians. There was a rapid increase of newspapers in Indian cities just after Hicky's initiative. Majority of them prospered under English patronage and played as hardcore supporters of government rule. English government also aided Vernacular journalism. Large number of newspapers in various Indian languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu etc., started publishing. Early Indian reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy used newspapers to propagate their agenda. His Mirat-ul-Akhbar published in Persian mainly focused on evils in Society primarily among Hindu community. Revolt in 1857 also called 'first Indian freedom struggle' brought the Gagging Laws on Indian press. It attacked all anti-government newspapers, majority of them were Indian language press. The main topics of discussion in English and Vernacular press before and after revolt were sati, caste, widow remarriage, polygamy, crimes, and opposition to the teaching of English in school and colleges. Bombay's Gujarati press, in particular, excelled in the defence of the Indian way of life. The Vernacular Press Act 1876 resulted to shut so many Indian language papers. Moreover, it brought lots of restrictions on vernacular newspapers and most provisions in this law were rigorous. However, this law has led the elevation of fully government controlled English press such as The Times of India and Madras Mail, and served the

interest of English educated people. The English press played down the inaugural meeting of the Indian National Congress on December 28, 1885 in Bombay, but it was reported at length by Vernacular papers. Amrit Bazar Patrika and Kesari were the prominent Indian language newspapers in the end of 19th century and they played as a role of Opposition party. They aggressively criticised all ruthless government policies and formulated general opinion in Indian society. In the era of freedom movement the press was a major weapon for National leaders with which they could raise their voices against government's cruel rule. Especially in the times of Partition of Bengal, all newspapers both national and local, criticised and came forward against the then Viceroy Lord Curzon. At last government compelled to surrender in front of large scale protests of Indian people and press. This movement however resulted in passing of the strictest act, Indian Press Act 1910. More than 300 newspapers were confiscated by government under this law. The Gandhian era was remarkable for Indian journalism. The open mass struggle against British government afforded journalists more confidence and strength to express their views openly; it also provided them more popularity. Therefore, most of the national leaders were either editors or founder of newspapers, journals, magazines etc. Gandhi himself used journalism as his means for propagating his ideas among masses. Thus, Noncooperation Movement took the press by storm. Gandhi was to remain front-page news for years to come. Vallabhai Patel, C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru were leaders of Swaraj Party, launched its own publication. By the Civil Disobedience Movement in 1930, the government started to react aggressively against press. The Indian Press Ordinance (1930) and Indian Press (Emergency Power) Act of 1931 tried to suppress press brutally. The Indian Press Ordinance gave power to the government in dealing with act of terrorism, and inflammatory literature. The Hindu, Bombay Chronicle and Pratap were suffered severely in this Acts and rapid raise in deposit securities October 2011 11

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and fines, and gave Magistrate the power to issue summery action. Several other Acts passed in thirties, forced the closure of many press and publication houses. Meanwhile, the Free Press of India, which began as a news agency, started The Indian Express and Dhenamani in Madras, the Free Press Journal in Bombay, and Gujarati and Marathi journals. The news agency collapsed after it forfeited Rs. 20,000 securitie under the Indian Press (Emergency Power Act), but its publications continued under different owners, and the Free Press editors started a new agency called the United Press of India (UPI). During Quit India Movement and World War II, Indian press including English language press and that in the Indian Native States played a commendable role in reporting the struggle for freedom fairly. It opposed communal riots and partition of country and when partition did take place in the glorious year of Independence, lamented it. According to Keval J. Kumar the press played no small part in India's victory of freedom. The Nehru Government passed in October 1951 the Press (Objectionable Matters) Act which was reminiscent of earlier press laws enacted by the colonial rulers. The 'objectionable matters' were quite comprehensive. So fierce was the opposition to it that in 1956, it was allowed to lapse, and the first Press Commission was formed. The national and regional press covered the campaigns of the first national elections of 1951-52 with professional skill. Mrs. Indira Gandhi had never been at ease with the press. Her government was harshly attacked by the national dailies, especially on the question of nationalisation of banks, privy purses, the Congress split, but joined forces with her during Bangladesh war of liberation. National Emergency created a miserable situation for newspapers. Pre-censorship imposed in a draconian manner. The government suppressed transmission of news by imposing censorship on newspapers, journals, radio, TV, telex, telegrams, news agencies, and on foreign correspondents. Even teleprinter services also were subjected to precensorship. The underground press was, however, very active. Seizure of underground printing presses and publications was usually carried on in the emergency period. The post-Emergency period too was witness to attempts by the Congress Party to control the press. There were lots of effort has taken to control press in central level as well as state level but all efforts were withdrawn in front of strong protest of journalists. Today, the condition of newspapers is much better. But, globalisation and liberalisation shifted the objectivity of newspapers from an instrument of nation development to profit making enterprises. Locally important news largely marginalised and global news from western developed countries got strong position in newspapers. Current analytical articles lost its relevance and commercial valued materials came to existence. Indian newspaper industry totally neglected the existence of minor Indian language Press, gave important to English and Hindi journalism and commercial vernacular Press. Even though other, minor language, Press are still struggling for existence in the face of this new trend. News items which are to be published in newspapers also lost its ethics. Biased, irrelevant, middle class oriented news is getting more space in newspapers. Nudity, gossips, fashion and marketing ladies as ad-stars has become common in national dailies and weeklies of significance. Indian newspapers have reserved lots of space for sports news, business news, classifieds, entertainment etc. It is actually challenging the objectivity of journalism itself. Urdu Journalism growth and fatigue Urdu has a great heritage in journalistic field. As a prominent language in the 19th and 20th century, Urdu gained great attention of different classes, thus Urdu newspapers got great attention too. The grand contribution of Urdu newspapers is still out of our history. The first Urdu daily newspaper was Awadh Akhbar started by Navel Kishor Kumar in 1858. It was the first newspaper got licence after Mutiny of 1857. Awadh Akhbar was a complete supporter of British government. Soon Urdu press gained popularity in society. There was great number of Urdu dailies

Investigative journalism
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years, researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism is a primary source of information. Most investigative journalism is done by newspapers, wire services and freelance journalists. Practitioners sometimes use the terms "watchdog journalism" or "accountability reporting." An investigative reporter may make use of one or more of these tools, among others, on a single story: Analysis of documents, such as lawsuits and other legal documents, tax records, government reports, regulatory reports and corporate financial filings. Databases of public records. Investigation of technical issues, including scrutiny of government and business practices and their effects Research into social and legal issues Subscription research sources such as LexisNexis October 2011 12

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and magazines in northern India, its number always greater than that of Hindi. Urdu could keep its excellence in journalism in the discussion of various issues other than conventional issues of Indian society. They questioned political structure of English rule, they opposed fiercely the anti-social laws of government and also criticised exploitative rule of the English government. Interestingly, the well known 'drain theory' of Dadabai Naoroji, was borrowed from an Urdu press of Maulavi Abdul Baker in 1860s. This proves the intellectual level of Urdu journalism (both editors and readers) in that period. The Vernacular Press Act 1876 drastically affected Urdu press. Maulavi Baker was also victimised by this vindictive law. Still a number of Urdu newspapers continued to play a great role in the national movement by motivating society to the path of struggle. That's why a large number of Urdu Press was forced to close and editors were persecuted by government. Every press act adversely affected Urdu language Press. Urdu Press, which had served the cause of freedom movement tremendously, is ironically ignored from history of Indian journalism. Al Hilal and Al Balagh of Abul Kalam Azad, published from Culcutta, created a centre of attention of people especially in the time of Khilafat movement and off course victimised by brutal attack of government. The present conditions of Urdu journalism also lost its relevance and popularity in Indian newspaper industry. It is now only an inferior enterprise. There are several reasons for the inferiority of Urdu journalism. In transition period of Urdu language (by the

end of 19th century to first decade of 20th century), public approached Urdu as a literary language and language of elite north Indians, so they kept a distance from it. In modern period in the existence of any language depends upon three pillars, education, media and administration. The rise of Hindi and its increasing patronage by national leaders as a popular language also influenced the decline of popularity of Urdu. Hindi was promoted in all the above mentioned pillars education, media and administration. Moreover, Urdu was deliberately given a tag of Islam and it this had its consequences. Muslim League used Urdu as their official language, and non-Muslim Urdu speakers gradually departed from this language. Another major issue for decline is that Urdu hadn't any specific region, in the post-independence India the regional languages got more patronage and it ultimately led to linguistic states. Unlike these regional languages, Urdu never has its own region rather than scattered through all of the north India, especially urban areas. Assimilation with other languages unlike Hindi, is so difficult for Urdu. All these issues adversely affected Urdu journalism and confined it to the Muslim ghettos. A critical analysis of the history of Indian journalism leads us to the conclusion that the mainstream media has always kept its oriental identity, even though there were some efforts to be different or to come out of this cocoon. But, this strong crust still exists in Indian journalism in various forms is so unfortunate a fact. Only when our media can come out of these shackles of western imitation, our journalism would fulfil its aims.

Business journalism
Business journalism is the branch of journalism that tracks, records, analyses and interprets the economic changes that take place in a society. It could include anything from personal finance, to business at the local market and shopping, to the performance of wellknown and not-sowell-known companies.

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When media becomes The Campaigner

Mirza Kamran Baig
wo-three years back across the streets, from classrooms to public transport everywhere we saw people covering their mouths and noses with medical masks, it was all the havoc created by swine flu which was hyper publicised by both print and electronic media. The continuous hammering had such an impact that people were terrified even if a single person coughed or sneezed in the public, the whole life of Pune stood still for weeks, the medical shops went out of stock for masks, we could see lots of vendors selling masks as it was the 'biggest Hit' across the city (country?). Also a reminding incidence of a boy name Prince who fell into the freshly dug hole in 2006 when he was playing in Aldeharhi, a village in the northern state of Haryana. The shaft, covered only with an empty jute sack, was just wide enough to fit the boy and too narrow for an adult, it was the 24X7 media coverage of the rescue operation which made the whole nation sit with awe in front of the TV and many people organising special prayers for the successful rescue of the boy a very obscure sensational story became the sensation of the whole nation within hours Yes that's the power the media has today...

it can turn the dark to light... light to dark villain to hero... hero to villain... An old man in his 70's sat on hunger strikes for 14 times in Maharashtra for various demands but never saw the overwhelming support from his own home state. Rarely the young generation knew about him except those who studied seriously about him in one Marathi textbook, suddenly he finds overwhelming support from across the hook and crook of nation from the young to the old all in one voice We are Anna again we saw people wearing the khadi topi with an imprint I am Anna that is the power of media If we ponder a little and do a bit analysis we realise that specially the electronic media has much hyperpublicised the whole Anna movement. The whole nation was swayed by the electronic media whereas the print journalism did focus more on the nuances of the issue involved. Print Journalism gave space to critics of this movements as well, special mention is the article of Arundhati Roy in The Hindu whereas the electronic was swayed by the Populist mood... and also it was good time

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to create sensation and increase TRP. By its very nature, television is a very biased medium. Whenever a big issue or a campaign like this crops up, news channels try to be on top of it. This is the trend that prevails everywhere, says Bhaskar Rao, Director, Centre for Media Studies. But unfortunately in the Anna Hazare case, I think TV channels have overdone it, Rao told PTI. The main issue here is corruption, which is the elephant, but the media has given extensive publicity to the elephant riders, which is Anna Hazare and his team, he said succinctly. In her recent interview Arundhati Roy called this as 'Media-Corruption'. Now firstly to me that's a form of corruption in the first place where presumably, a broadcast licence as a news channel has to do with reporting news, not campaigning. But even if you are campaigning and the only reason that everybody was reporting it was TRP ratings, then why not just settle for pornography or sadomasochism or whatever gives good TRP ratings. How can news channels just abandon every other piece of news and just concentrate on this for 10 days? You know how much of spot ad costs on TV, what kind of a price would you put on this? Why was it doing this? Per se if media campaigns had to do with social justice, if the media spent 10 days campaigning on why more than a lakh farmers have committed suicide in this country, I'd be glad because I would say okay, this is the job of the media. It is like the old saying to afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted said writer Arundhati Roy to CNN IBN. Vinod Mehta, Editor-in-Chief of Outlook magazine, said, I think the electronic media was just carried away by the populist mood and failed to be critical on some aspects of Team Anna.Team Anna played several tricks, including using the life of the Gandhian (Hazare) for some sort of leverage. The media should have revealed and discussed those to make their coverage a balanced one, Mehta said. They (TV channels) have been less than comprehensive in exploring the divisions or contradictions in Anna's side. They did not expose several of Anna's demands which may create serious constitutional problems, said noted television commentator Karan Thapar. According to Thapar, what the media did was to project the deep national concern over corruption. It reflected the anger and frustration of the people. But in terms of critical, objective and balanced coverage, it gave the impression of siding with Anna and of not fully

representing the view points of the government. Thus media has power to control opinions, it manipulates emotions. In contrast, one may cite the example of Irom Sharmila, the Manipur lady who has been on fast for more than 10 years demanding the repeal of the draconian Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). But it is barely known to people because of media ignorance of it, the media is nakedly class-biased is an axiom today. It projects itself as supporting the anti-corruption struggle, but is itself a conduit of corruption. The corporate sector, media, which is essentially a part of it, and NGOs, which are the special vehicles of neo-liberalism, are the veritable sources of the current phenomenon of corruption, but skilfully escape the attention of people. In his book Believing Bullshit Stephen Law writes that there is a good chance if you apply control, repetition, emotional manipulation that is, tools of brainwashing the focus group will eventually accept what you say. In recent times, we have witnessed this modus operandi being used quite effectively not only by Team Anna but also by the electronic media. But as the American comedian Jon Stewart says: If we amplify everything we end up hearing nothing. An observation Indian news channels are well advised to pay serious attention to, if they are not to lose their own credibility and voice.

Medical journalism
Medical journalism is the dissemination of health-related information through mainstream media outlets. Medical issues are widely reported, and these reports influence doctors, the general public, and the government. The coverage is often criticized for being misleading, inaccurate, or speculative. Several web sites and journals review medical journalism.

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Alternate media A happening reality

Mohd Jaffar Kashif
ne of the criteria of the U.N to classify a developed nation is how free its press is. True that India guarantees freedom of expression and on paper, our press and media seem to be better off than many nations of the world. But if we give a closer look, we discover that with a few exceptions our media is not altogether free. Even if it dresses up like a free entity, it has by will or by force entered the race of higher TRP ratings and serving masala for higher readership. The recent discovery of the nexus between the Corporates and Media had opened a can of worms with many big names accused of Corporate Lobbying. This article will deal with few exceptions that are not a part of the mainstream media by choice, but they can be equally effective in communicating and reporting without sensationalising and bias. The recent Anna Hazare episode at the Ramlila ground could arguably serve as a litmus test that separates the responsible media from the headless. The tide was so overwhelming for the mainstream media that only a few could pause and question the fundamentals of JanLokpal bill in the first place. Only a few had the courage to do a background check of Team Anna and a very few could criticise the revolution at Indias Tahrir Square. Some television channels were so carried away by the tide that any criticism against the JanLokpal bill meant being unpatriotic and cold. Hence we feel the need of news agencies and television channels which will have a fresh and balanced approach to professional journalism. Here are some examples of some players who decided to swim upstream. 1) Two Circles. Two Circles was founded by the guiding statement of Mohammad Ali Jauhar which says; I belong to two circlesofequalsize,butwhicharenotconcentric.Oneis India, and the other is the Muslim world. According to its Editor, In increasing commercialised media, TwoCircles.net (TCN) will be a voice of sanity. We will cover news from marginalised sections of India. Our main focus is on Indian Muslims but we will be covering and reporting whole range of issues affecting Indians, Muslims and International issues. The website has played a great role in bringing to light the plight of many Muslim youth who were picked up by the Indian police on the basis of suspicion and tortured. The group is also actively involved in bringing forth many issues that plague the Muslims of India and the world which find no place in the mainstream media.

2) Beyond Headlines: The website of Beyond Headlines gives us this info about their philosophy of work. Beyond headlines is a news portal dedicated to alternative news. It is all about going beyond headlines of mainstream news reporting, as the name suggests. We aim at becoming a platform for all those voices that are often ignored in the humdrum of scoops and breaking news by mainstream media. In Shakespeares play Hamlet, while the protagonist is dying he pleads to his close friend Horatio who knows much more than others, and certainly more than what Hamlet is reported to have said to report me and my cause aright to the unsatisfied. We at BH aim to do just that an attempt to report a cause aright. Hamlet dies with these words on his lips, the rest is silence. So will we! We are a dynamic team of young journalists, researchers, academicians and activists who have come together to report what is not being reported and to voice their opinion about the important events that unfold across the world. However, some renowned columnists too opine on this platform of BH. This makes us, a sound fusion of old and new yet, promising faces. All through the lokpal episode, they played a very important role in bringing news without sensationalising and getting too carried away by the drama at the Ramlila ground. 3) Newsfirst : I had the opportunity of interviewing the Chief Editor of Newsfirst Mr Musab Iqbal and this is what he had to say about the organisation. Newsfirst according to him stands

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for News for Action and it suggests that it is not an alternate media but peoples media. The mission of the organisation is to provide honest news, fearless views and to empower people with Environmental information so as to aid informed decision making, that will shape the future of the country. To report on issues journalism that affect people, societies and nations. Environmental journalism The primary target, the audience and the readers is the collection, verification, according to the Editor comprise of Youth, Policy Makers, Activists/Civil Society and NGOs. And they have planned production, distribution and exhibition to do so by creating a Network model. Newsfirst according of information regarding current events, to him reports peoples concern like violence, hunger, trends, issues and people that are deprivation and fundamentalism beside aiming to be Peoples narrative. It also aims to make the voice of the associated with the non-human world with under privileged to be heard by the privileged class which humans necessarily interact. To be an through their narrative. environmental journalist, one must have an One of the bold claims that makes it stand out from the rest of the Newsmakers is the will to be out of the understanding of scientific language and domain of the narrative of power. Newsfirst believes that practice, knowledge of historical in the age of breaking news and manufactured consent, environmental events, the ability to popular media mostly serves a recipe of sensation to the elite. The real issues li ke displacement, poverty, keep abreast of environmental policy malnutrition, healthcare, unemployment, human rights decisions and the work of environmental violations, economic disparity and injustices are sought to organizations, a general understanding be brushed under the carpet. The intellectuals who do not toe the line of the rich and the powerful are muffled. The of current environmental concerns, poor and the downtrodden have been rendered voiceless. and the ability to communicate all Instead of providing a platform for action through of that information to the public information, media houses are guilty of indulging in the in such a way that it can be malpractice of paid news. The three steps that are followed at Newsfirst is easily understood, despite educating the youth about the actual problems and doing its complexity. so by Youth engagement: By creating a Network Model and dedicating Media for action. When it comes to international issues, Newsfirst reports Human rights violation anywhere in the world. It is supportive of all Democratisation processes in the world and it is also supportive of Regional and Emerging Powers. When we talk of Alternate media, we must understand that mainstream media is a business which generates and creates a lot of wealth by selling news. The aforementioned Two Marketing Executives (one each for North three examples are news websites which tend to create an alternate media for a change. and South India) are required for Rafeeqe Manzil They use minimum or no advertisements to Group of Publications. Minimum qualification run their operations and depend on funds from just individuals and organisations. They should be B.Com. Salary would be as per the have a very long way to go to match the giant newsmakers of the day. All I can say is that market standards. Interested people may contact it is a humble beginning but a happening at 08447510540 reality.

Required

Marketing Executives

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BOOK REVIEW

Rendezvous of Islam and Muslims with Media

Khan Yasir
t is in vain to argue that rendezvous of Islam and Muslims with media is more complex a phenomenon in India than many other countries due to baggage of history for e.g. partition; that was further accentuated by riots and blasts afterwards. In this scenario the attempt of Ather Farouqui in compiling Muslims and Media Images: News versus Views should be appreciated. As the book claims, it is an attempt to analyse How does the media view Indian Muslims in an age of global Islamic extremism? How far is jihadi panIslamism a part of the popular Indian Muslim consciousness? How are Indian Muslims dealing with media distortions of a delicate, nuanced issue? This effort would have been more fruitful if the editor would have been immune from the preconceived notions (ironically flourished by media itself) with which he sets upon performing the onerous task mentioned above. Thats precisely the reason that the book (exceptions apart) has generally become an upper-class-glance over the issue. It require nothing beyond the commonest sense that coverage of this issue demanded how Muslims i.e. notable Muslim individuals, organisations and population in general feel neglected (rather out-casted) by media and how media i.e. commentators, editors, anchors etc look upon Muslims and Islam. However only 6 or 7 writers are professionally engaged with the Indian media (though it is not to discredit the research scholars that have contributed articles) and there is not a single writer presenting the Muslim side of the story as a subject. Rajni Kothari is perhaps the only writer in the volume who has raised this pertinent question in the debate of Muslims and media when he asks, Who represents the genuine Muslim reality? Who enjoys credibility among the masses? Unfortunately he too does not provide answers but he surely meant that any such debate will be deficient if true representatives of Muslims are denied a voice. This vacuum has diminished the objectivity of the book. The continuity (read consensus) about which Farouqui talks about on Muslim populations generally being illiterate and therefore easy target of religious bigotry is in fact result of this vacuum, because if there would have been representation of Muslim voice in this study on/about Muslims then this consensus could not have been reached so effortlessly and naively and debate would have been richer. Wrong premises: Before proceeding further I would like to elaborate upon the wrong premises of the editor behind collection

of this volume that he has discussed in the Introduction. When he says, My Muslim identity was not of my choosing he does not make a simple statement; it has many connotations, many implications. The most relevant implication about this study is that the editor looks at the problem of Muslims and media as an external and not as an internal so one need not be bluffed by his name that insinuate otherwise. He talks about a clear choice between either being anti-Muslim or being pro-jihadi that according to him a common Muslim has to make in a polarised environment. He says that although most Muslims do not at all subscribe to the extremism of militant Muslim groups, these groups are growing alarmingly. He then sets upon finding reasons for this growth primary being the aforementioned clear choice which they cannot escape. Academically before making this claim he should have taken pains to define what he meant by militant Muslim groups. Without this definition he is practically saying nothing, meaning nothing. The causes are predictably as dubious as the effect we have seen. He says, no one can define the Islamic culture for which these Muslims are supposedly fighting. He exposed the paucity of his knowledge about Islam when he finds that on the question of definition of Muslim. Surprisingly, there were no two ulema who would agree on any one definition. He went on to characterise these undefined militant Muslims as so-called Muslims and accuses that they, want to destroy the modern civilised world to the development of which they have contributed little. If I narrate here what Islam and Islamic civilisation over these 1400 years has contributed to the development of the modern world he can simply retort back that he is arguing not against Islam, not against Muslims but against so-called Muslims that are militant. This is the beauty of such dubious statements you can say anything and when caught you can show that it meant everything except the thing on which the objection is being raised. But the editor has exposed himself in the next few lines in which he says, it is difficult to imagine that these militant Islamic groups are advocating a world compatible with a desert culture of 1400 years ago. He goes on about the inadequacy of Islam even in those days when he says, even in those times Islam was already divided, resulting in the murder of three caliphs out of four immediately after the demise of the Prophet Muhammad! then he accuses Muslims of ideological confusions and being divided in hundreds if not thousands sects since the advent of Islam. Two things emerge clear from these statements. First; that those are militant Muslims who

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want to go to the desert ideals of 1400 years ago; as one will be a fool to imagine that anyone could opt for a 1400 years ago lifestyle (for e.g. no electricity, no internet, no mobiles etc) so it has to do with ideals. And secondly, that the ideal age to which Muslims look for inspiration was matter-of-factly not an ideal. And hence when he says that these militants have nothing practical to offer as a constructive alternative to what they want to destroy he is actually arguing that Islam has nothing to offer to the modern world. As I have argued earlier that it is not a place to criticise these premises here, what is relevant is to show that these are the premises because it is never overtly stated in the book. He was obviously right in arguing that the idea of Pakistan was propounded by feudal sections of the Muslims in colonial India but he is certainly wrong like many other scholars that creation of Bangladesh was the failure of two-nation theory. One need not be a believer in two-nation theory to opine that if partition of India was not a failure of Indian freedom struggle and all that for which it stood then partition of Pakistan too was not a failure of the ideology on which it was based. Another thing which in the name of scholarship he falsely argues is that, Despite the claim of Muslim religious theoreticians that Islam has no room for caste, the social ethos of Muslims and Hindus in India is similar . This ghastly intellectual crime of equating caste in Hinduism and other religions is not the original theory of Ather Farouqui but is a RSS and sangh propaganda to which only Ambedkar gave a fitting reply when he said, caste among Non-Hindus is fundamentally different from caste among Hindus one need to go through the complete argument in his Annihilation of Caste to counter this poisonous brahmanic propaganda that does nothing but justifies the stigma of caste on the face of Hinduism. Ironically for Ather Farouqui in the same volume we find Rajni Kothari arguing, Muslims are more of a civil and political community than are the diverse social strata known collectively as Hindus. Ather Farouqui also exposed his bias towards some Muslims when he traced the progress of English journalism in India. He mentioned Nation Chronicle (1989), Milli Gazette (2000), Muslim India (1983) but forgot to mention Radiance (1961). Fundamentalist is never shy of his identity. But Ather Farouqui contradictorily thinks that Indian Muslim middle class is shy of its identity, which he consider the reason that middle class is dancing to the tunes of fundamentalists. Market compulsions: Vinod Mehtas article is one of the most comprehensive articles in the volume. He argues, Much of the problem begins because there is a lack of understanding on the part of common Muslims of the compulsions of Indian society. He argues about the professionalism and media as a business industry, and so the expectations of Muslims according to him are misplaced due to this constraint. We do not agree with his philosophy but we appreciate his candidness. He says, There is a politicopsychological angle to this. The impression and assurance given to Muslims at the time of partition was that their interests and identity would be safeguarded in a democratic country,

irrespective of the fact that India is a Hindu-majority nation. However, the harsh fact is that even for the majority of Hindus there are many constraints in life, and they will have to exert themselves to overcome them. I am not debunking the expectation, but we must also remember that media is a business. The media would not exist, it would go bankrupt very quickly, if it did not take its business responsibilities seriously. While being a business does not mean it should exclusively devoted to making money, it is not feasible for any such venture to be purely idealistic. In fact he seems to justify the media between the lines. He is giving an important lesson to Muslims in the media, it is possible at one and the same time to be a media house interested in making profits (though not solely dedicated to this) yet also fulfilling its social responsibilities. He continues, This market place competition has its own compulsions, and an editor or editorial that pretends otherwise does so at its own peril. This must be the basic premise and everything else, including the medias presumed social responsibility towards Muslims or any other issue must be seen in this context. Kuldip Nayar did a commendable job by sharing his journalistic experiences during partition, uncertain future of the Urdu press in India after the partition and his joining of English press afterwards. His comments are on the mark, the Urdu pres is pegged to a few areas and to a limited circulation. Its finances are mostly from government advertisements, which have strings attached to them. Bridging social distance: Mrinal Pande shares an important point, young are often more conservative and the old show a greater understanding... Our senior journalists, who have been witness to the build-up of events that led to Partition, remember clearly the harmony and perfect understanding that existed among the Hindus and Muslims before politics intervened. They are, therefore, less likely to be carried away by the rhetoric of right-wing political groups, and are more sympathetic to the minorities. She argues that there is a need for both communities to be exposed to debate, since social discourse is a great influence on the media, Hindus and Muslims need to be exposed to and made more receptive to each others ideas and dreams and fears, and the newspapers have to be more willing to debate them without partisan point-scoring. She also minds of Indian tragedy, some conscientious stringers, who may still risk life and limb to expose crime and injustice, end up like Aziz Qureshi of Amar Ujaala and Umesh Dhobal of Jansatta, both of whom were killed by unknown assailants. We can well remember the brutal killing of J Dey recently in this regard. How journalists can perform their duties if they are not ensured of their own security? She argues that, professional norms can be sustained only by professionally dedicated people. Portrayal in films: Moinuddin Jinabade analysing the portrayal of Muslims in Bollywood and the role of Urdu politics says that, Today the common complaint of Urdu speakers is that even pure Urdu films are blatantly called Hindi films. I can personally endorse this grievance as many of my non-Muslims Hindi-speaking friends over the last five years have asked me about the

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meanings of the Urdu lyrics of Hindi (sic) films that they so ecstatically sing (yell?) in laughable pronunciations, without understanding a single word, only due to sheer magic, sugariness and musicality of the words. Describing the menial role ascribed to the Muslims in films Jinabade asks rather helplessly, was it absolutely necessary to make those gangster characters Muslims? John W. Hood on the same theme argues similarly, Although India produces an exceptionally high number of films on average well in excess of seven hundred a year the Muslim community is intentionally represented in cinema to a considerably lesser degree than its proportion of the population. This is particularly tragic for India as in his views, It is impossible to think of Indian culture devoid of its Muslim influence. He complains that Muslim community in films is portrayed as the constant other. Citing examples of films like Amar, Akbar Anthony and Mr. India he argues that it is not a coincidence that upholder of the law, guardian of society was respectable and awesome Hindu in earlier mentioned movie and in the later it was task of Mr. India to save India (Hinduism?) by devastating a conspiracy to steal an archaic golden idol from a temple. Castigation: Chandan Mitra in his article as expected has pounced upon Muslims and declared; expectations among Muslims [from media] are unfair. Then he went on to say some hotchpotch things which are indiscernible for e.g. though I do not fully agree with the perception of Indian Muslims as far as their media image is concerned, I will not directly contest their perception. Does he agree fully? Partially? Doesnt agree at all? If he doesnt agree at all why he will not directly contest such a wrong perception among Muslims? These are the questions that come to mind only because he doesnt want to clear his position. At one point he seems to confess, It is true that the English media picks up wrong Muslim voices that do not represent the community and I agree with the view that most of the people working with the English media, including Muslims, do not know Muslim society at large. But he also justify this and again returns back to square one when he suggests, the bias, if any, is a product of ignorance (emphasis mine), he despondently suggested nothing concrete to eradicate this ignorance of journalists. Urdu press &Deeni Madaris: Estelle Dryland argued how Urdu was suppressed in India, quoting someone approvingly he mentioned that All India Radio in 1940s had compiled a list of Urdu words that could not be used in any broadcast but when Sardar Patel broadcast over AIR on the occasion of independence, he used 37 of the prohibited words. Robin Jeffrey too has researched on the topic of Urdu newspapers and readership patterns in India the article is worth reading. Wahiduddin Khans article invokes Muslim press for a rigorous self-introspection. Very academically he argued about two aspects of journalism namely presentation and content and suggests, ...our yardstick for presentation should be the western press, and our criterion for content should be Quran. If his controversial claims like equating Quran to a periodical

are avoided, his article is very insightful and gives food for thought. He complains that Muslim press is plunged in negativism, is motivated by reaction and has devoted itself entirely to the ferreting of difficulties, mainly plots and conspiracies of others against them, in short it is worse than opium. In his witty tune he argues, hundreds and thousands of newspapers and periodicals are brought out by Muslims but although they all appear under different titles, they might well be lumped together under the single title of protest. If we substitute Protest Daily, Protest Weekly and Protest Monthly, for their original titles, this would in no way be inappropriate for their contents. In short he gave the message of self construction and regeneration to Muslim press. However I dont consider it positivism (as against negativism of Wahiduddin Khan) to unnecessarily take the blame for Bhagalpur, Bombay and Afghanistan it is not negativism to say the truth. Wahiduddin Khan either does not believe in media-bias against Muslims or do not think it unjustified: whatever is the matter he has not dealt with this topic in his otherwise well-argued article. Chandan Mitra too finds problem with Urdu press and links it with Deeni Madaris; he suggests, the issue of script has now arisen in the context of the dini madarais. If children whose mother tongue is Urdu get an opportunity to study Urdu within their school curricula, the entire sociology of the dini madaris will undergo a sea change; it would mark their decisive decline. Arshad Amanullah too came up with a must-read research work on Urdu media in his article: Is Urdu journalism in India a lost battle? However positive he pretends to be; he tends to be answering the question in the affirmative. He too seems to share the negative mainstream view of the madrasas when he says, until there is no arrangement for teaching of Urdu in... schools, the Urdu-knowing population would remain confined to madrasas and therefore Urdu newspapers, though unwillingly, would continue to publish only what madrasa graduates would like to read. Both Mitra and Amanullah (and even Vinod Mehta) have taken it as a given fact that Madaris are something abominable that should be exterminated. It is a tragedy that those analysing the media are themselves prey of its onslaughts. Free, fair and fearless: The most to-the-point, iconoclastic and pungent article of the volume is that of Siddharth Vardarajan. He harshly criticised the media coverage of some specific event for e.g. Operation Bluestar, Ramjanambhoomi, Bangladeshi immigration etc. He describes various what could be referred to as unwritten codes of the media, for e.g. if a Bangladeshi migrant is Muslim he would be called as infiltrator, if a Hindu he would be simply referred to as refugee. He says that it is a norm while covering riots to hide the name of communities as not to incite the communal violence but, whenever the victim of an outrage is a Hindu and the perpetrator a Muslim, helpful clues such as names, dress, and type of facial hair are often supplied, even if the fiction of not naming the communities is maintained he has substantiated his point through examples. How media distorts the facts, he has given an example, in Malegaon, Maharashtra, some leaflets were distributed after

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9/11 entitled Be Indian, Buy Indian in which Indians were asked not to buy goods from companies belonging to countries that were waging war against Afghanistan. They called for a boycott of Coca Cola and other companies. The police put a forcible stop to the leaflets, and some people died in the firing. When this news reached Delhi and Mumbai from Malegaon, it was simply reported that Pro-Osama bin Laden leaflets had been distributed. He ponders over the question that why in case of a riot media reports generally and falsely loom large over alleged aggressiveness of the Muslims? And then describes three reasons for that, first, medias over reliance over police reports, second, high logistic costs to gather news, third, (that was avoided by likes of Vinod Mehta and Chandan Mitra) is the prevalence of newsdesk bias. And finally, pressure of space and deadline. In his view, detailed, truthful reports are required most when the violence is at its peak. He also talks about a phenomenon what he refers to as phenomenon of self-censorship, I quote him at length as he has raised some of the most important points relevant to the debate yet overlooked by others, he says, a correspondent in Kashmir may think twice before writing the truth about human rights violation for fear that he could be dubbed an anti-national on the ISI payroll. In case that correspondent happens to be Muslim, the pressure of self-censorship may be trebled. It is my view that had I been a Muslim, it may not have been possible for me to say and write whatever I have been these past few years on communalism because there are pressures which operate. Another more important point mentioned by Vardarajan is that it is a misplaced expectation by majority and other communal forces that it is the duty of Muslims to raise a voice against all incidents of violence by Muslims he explained at length on the stupidity of this very notion. He also exhorts that we should not write-off whole media as totally biased, when he says this we have no chance but to accept because of his sincerity is dripping from his ink but when likes of Ather Farouqui & Chandan Mitra exhort this we have no option but to doubt their intentions. Case studies: Howard Brasted analysed scholarly different Muslim images in Australian press and explained in depth through examples about the treatment of different incidents and their media portrayal for e.g. six day war, Iranian revolutions. He also talked about different phases of Australian media and changing imageries i.e. 1950-67, 70-80, 79-92, 91-2000. He quotes Barry Lowe in approval that, every Muslim depicted as a potential Gaddafi or admirer of Khomeini, the press primed its readership to regard all Arabs and even all Muslims as the recognisable foe. He concludes in postscript, politics of stereotyping continue in one form or the other. Sabya Sachi in her analysis of media and culture of West Bengal argues very pungently that, it is the media that makes a perfectly normal man a fanatic. She was talking specifically about the rise of sangh parivar in Bengal and laments that, press is the voice of society, and the voice that screams loudest is heard the most and so it was only after the demolition of the mosque that the BJP gained a foothold in Bengal. She has

several problems with the media for e.g. according to her, Nonissues and nonsense are telecast everyday, she also points out towards medias communal bias, Muslim culprits of petty crimes are invariably found, and the reporters of those channels go to the extent of researching their background, psychology and everything possible, and then lay them bare in front of the camera. These channels have turned the viewing public sadistic. She also complains of the portrayal of Muslims in the Bengali films (on the patterns of Bollywood) in all sort of shoddy characters. Whats to be done? The book as is a debate includes some useless suggestions for e.g. by Vinod Mehta when he argues Muslims have to fight both the socialites and the imam or... all religious institutions who are exploiting them and some as vague as they should work for social and political empowerment. However the book is full of message for those who want to excel in the media and also to present the other side of the story. Muslim media houses should not forget their market responsibilities besides their idealistic commitments as highlighted by Vinod Mehta and Kuldip Nayyar. Kuldip Nayyars diagnosis that, seemingly anti-minority community approach in the press is due to the scarcity of Muslim journalists should be addressed as soon as possible at community level. Nayyar urges both the press (to encourage participation by Muslim journalists) and Muslim youth to come forward and make career in journalism. Scholarships for graduation and diploma in journalism for Muslim students should be provided and if they exist then adequately advertised. There should be concrete steps taken for combating what Chandan Mitra refers to as ignorance of journalists. Dryland complains of less than quality writings in English by Muslims and about general Indian journalists that they often tend not to be research-oriented. Both these concerns should be addressed and it is up again to our youngsters. Arshad amanullah relates the success-story of Rashtriya Sahara that is inspirational; similar stories about twocircles.net and other media successes should be looked at for inspiration and for further course of action. A quality English national daily and news channel to a voice to the voiceless is the need of the hour. Susan B. Maitra rightly asserts, the only source of wealth in a society is the creative capacities of its population. And so younger generation has the responsibility to penetrate within the existing media, create avenues for alternative media, use constructively the Facebook, Orkut, Twitter and other medias that are devoid of the pangs of censorship. Frequent letters to editor, questions in the programme like We the People, mediagenic efforts by our organisations etc can well assuage the effects of the bias of the so called mainstream media. For e.g. if truly representative Muslim voices are responsive and mediagenic then Vinod Mehta would not get an opportunity to complain next time; that, journalists are fundamentally extremely lazy people and so If a sound-byte is readily available from the imam of jama masjid, for example, why should the TV reporter go looking for the not-so-easily-available moderate voice, which anyway makes for dull copy?

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FOCUS ON JOURNALISM

Advertisement
A tool to kill women's modesty!
Syed Kazim
e live in an age that glorifies immodesty and immorality. On almost every commercial advertisement, whether it is on a billboard, television, newspaper or in a magazine, and regardless if the advertised product is food, clothing, perfume, or automobiles, the allurement is not the product itself, but also the women who are dressed immodestly. Immodesty has become so commonly accepted that it doesn't bother the majority public. Many people feel no shame if they see someone on television or in public who is dressed immodestly. The exploitation of women in advertising industry is from the beginning, although the level to which women have been exploited has changed drastically. Advertising is a highly visible and seemingly controversial agent of socialization. Indeed, it appears everywhere in our lives, on television, on the internet, on buses, in our mailbox, in magazines, and now in the toilets of restaurants and nightclubs too. Jean Kilbourne, one of the best known advocates who raised this issue of exploitation of women in advertising, claims that, we are exposed to over 2000 ads a day, constituting perhaps the most powerful educational force in society. But the problem is that it often exploits women as sex objects and adornment strips women off their individual identities. Women are viewed as things, objects of male sexual desire or part of the merchandise rather than people. Body exposure and frequency of these ads have increased at an alarming rate over time. One reason for the increase in the level of immodesty in advertisement is because the corporate world feels that Sex Sells. The science behind using attractive women is actually more in-depth than it might seem. It is simply to get a male's attention and to generate greater publicity. Through these ads, young girls are being taught that starving yourself, dying your hair and showing skin is the only way to get ahead. In the recent years we have noticed a paradigm shift in the field of advertisement. Shari Graydon, former president of Canada's Media Action Media, argues that women's bodies are sexualized in ads in order to grab the viewer's attention. Women become sexual objects when their bodies and their sexuality are linked to products that are bought and sold. Media activist Jean Kilbourne agrees.

She notes that women's bodies are often dismembered into legs or thighs, reinforcing the message that women are objects rather than whole human beings. When we analyse the current ads, it looks like modesty has just flown away and it has paved way of immodesty and indecency. When we see the current billboard ads they are filled with immodesty and indecency. Let's see for example, Liza Ray in the Rado (Watch) ad, Priyanka Chopra in the Nikon (Digital Camera) ad, Deepika Padukone in Sony (Digital Camera) ad, Malika Serawat in 8 PM (Alcohol) ad, Katrina Kaif in Bolly Feet (Air Conditioners) ad, Kareena Kapoor in Sony (Laptop) ad, Aamir Khan with a model in Titan (Watch) ad, models in Manappuram Jewellery and Neelkanth Jewellers ad, etc. The companies advertise it boldly and the public watches it happily. After seeing all this, it leaves me with one question. Are these stars taking money to promote the product or are they taking money to strip of their cloths? The case is same for the print ads too. Let's take for example of Kareena Kapoor in Sangini Diamond Jewellery, Celina Jaitley in Diya Diamond Jewellery, Priyanka Chopra in Asmi Diamond Jewellery, Katrina Kaif in Nakshatra Jewellery ad, a model in Roca Bathroom Fittings ad, a model in Cera Bathroom Fittings at, a model in Spring's Towels ad, a model in Kerala Tourism ad, etc. All of them are dressed immodestly and an individual with moral values would not prefer these types of ads. This raises a question in my mind that, is our greed for money reached such an extent that we are ready to pose in any manner?

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When we see the current scenario, we can almost find every advertisement features a women and more astonishing is that we also find women featuring in advertisements and promoting products with which they have no relation what so ever. Say for example, the use of women in a swimming suit by JK Cement, in Castrol Oil, in Amul Macho, in Vi-John Shaving Cream, in SF Sonic Batteries, in Savsol Oil (for Lorries), in Brylcreem Hail Gel, etc. This just leaves me with one question, how do we relate women with shaving cream, battery, cement and engine oil for lorry? In any activity which we perform, bother means and ends are very important. PETA is an organisation which mainly focuses on animal's suffering, factory farms, clothing trade and in the entertainment industry. They also work on a variety of other issues, including the cruel killing of beavers, birds and as well as cruelty to domesticated animals. It also does public education, cruelty investigations, research, animal rescue, special events and protest campaigns. Which the organisation is into such noble acts, it uses immoral and indecent means to promote its campaign and communicate its message to the general public. It mostly uses nude or semi-nude women in its publicity events. Definitely they might be able to communicate the message to the masses but it is also necessary to analyse the damage it is causing to the society by adopting such means for is awareness and promotion. Thanks to the western advertisements who have given concept and ideology to use sex and immodesty in their ads to sell the products. Products like Calvin Klein Jeans, Miller Lite Beer, Coors Light Beer, Axe Perfume, BMW, Robbins Diamonds, Heineken Beer, Bud Light Beer, Alpin Plastic Society, Federice Ice Cream, Subway, Dolce & Gabbana, Agra Camera, Ikea Furniture, Blaupunkt Speakers, etc, have promoted sex and immorality in their advertisements. And appreciation for the Indian companies for exactly imitating as to what the west does. What a tragedy and moral bankruptcy indeed.

The pressure being put on women through advertisements, television, film and new media to be sexually attractive and sexually active is profound. This type of advertisements put pressure on the women to possess a sexual appeal in order to be recognized in the society. These types of advertisements also instigate the sexual desires in men which later leads to acts like women molestation, sexual abuse, rape, etc. The National Eating Disorders Association reports that one out of four TV commercials sends some kind of attractive message. After seeing all this, I get only one question in my mind. Are we trying to sell a product or are we trying to sell women? Today's advertisements have reduced women to a mere commodity, judged by the attributes of their bodies rather than who they are, as a person. The current advertisement triggers me to make a formula. Current Advertisement = Women + Immodesty. Women are diamonds; our mothers, sisters and wives should be treated as Queens rather than market commodities. They should be given the respect which is their right. Bashfulness is a special characteristic of women. If they lose it, they lose all charm. The modern condition of women has become such that they have lost all their shame, decency and delicacy. The current advertisement is a tool of killing women's modesty, tantamount to killing the women herself. Definitely one would not prefer one's mothers, wives and daughters in those advertisements and in those poses, but they are ready to use other women just to lure men and increase their sales. In order to stop this immorality and indecency the problem should be solved from the grassroots level. This can only be stopped when one strongly believes in God and fears his punishment on the Day of Judgment. I sometimes wonder, what are the women folks doing? What are the feminist organisations that stand against every form of what they call 'patriarchy', are doing? If they have any sense of women's dignity will they step forward against this customary commodification of womankind?

Sports journalism
Sports journalism is a form of journalism that reports on sports topics and events. While the sports department within some newspapers has been mockingly called the toy department, because sports journalists do not concern themselves with the 'serious' topics covered by the news desk, sports coverage has grown in importance as sport has grown in wealth, power and influence.

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FOCUS ON JOURNALISM

Journalism As a Career
Nazneen Adil Khan
n this age of information, everyone wants to be aware about what is happening around them in the world. It is the media that is the source of all that information, be it print media like the newspapers and magazines; electronic media like the Internet or Audio/ Visual Media like TV, Radio. And it is the 'journalists' who are the ones actually responsible for all that information. Believe it or not, they hold the power to influence the whole crowds with the first hand information that they possess. It is their prerogative to either be a part of the news that makes a difference or just throw utter rubbish in the name of information, for the people to tolerate. As it is evident, journalism is a highly responsible job, and highly interesting at the same time. If someone is looking for a career in journalism, they should have a presentable and confident personality, along with the ability to write and present information accurately and concisely. Other essential requirements that highlight a good journalist are: an inquisitive bent of mind, good writing and communication skills, ability to differentiate between fact and fiction, tact, intelligence, awareness, and interest in current affairs. Most importantly, one must be capable of handling the unforeseen situations efficiently. Politics, art, economics, business, history, sports, entertainment and many other areas are covered by journalists. If you are talented and hard working, a career in journalism is for you. It will take you to a good salary package and perhaps even fame. With the growing importance of media today, the opportunities in the field are numerous and the job is also demanding and exhilarating at the same time. Ahead is the list of the various aspects of journalism that one can choose from along with the necessary requirements for them. Journalism is broadly divided into two categories: Print, which consists of newspapers, journals, magazines, digests and news agencies; and Electronic, which consists of television, radio and the internet. The career options are as follows: PRINT JOURNALISM NEWSPAPERS: The newspapers never really fade away. Even when everything has gone digital, literally, the spread of literacy and modern printing technology ensure that newspapers continue to shape opinions in the global village of today. The career options available are as follows:

1. ASSOCIATE EDITOR: An associate editor needs to direct the preparation of a section of the newspaper or magazine. Preparation of news, featured articles and critical reviews, planning the layout and assigning the reporters and photographers is the job. Requirements: one needs to be aware and have the ability to write, edit and question constructively. 2. SUB EDITOR: It needs you to sort the contents of the material to be printed, rewriting the articles to make them suitable for the paper, improving the language and giving appropriate and attractive headlines. Requirements: Imagination, understanding, command over language and sense of news. 3. EDITOR: He is the key head who ensures consistency and continuity of the newspaper or magazine. The job of the editor is to present the newspaper in an attractive manner and assure that it is highly utilitarian. It also includes appointing juniors, writing the editorial section and leading the team. 4. PROOF READER: A proof reader compares the proofs with the edited copy. It involves completing the final text accurately. Requirements: Detailed knowledge of grammar, spelling and punctuation. 5. REPORTER: It is the job of a key operator of a newspaper, magazine, news agency, radio or a TV channel which requires one to report with speed, clarity and accuracy. Requirement: Sense to recognize a story, objectivity. 6. CORRESPONDENT/ SPECIAL REPORTER: It requires detailed knowledge in a single field like politics, economics, sports etc; along with the ability to interpret and explain the news on the basis of the awareness. 7. WRITER: It involves choosing subjects and themes, conducting researches and assembling materials to write. There are also Feature writers who write detailed stories and commentaries on specific topics; and Leader writers, who express their ideas and views on news topics through editorial columns. 8. COLUMNIST 9. CRITIC 10. PHOTOJOURNALIST 11. CARTOONIST ELECTRONIC JOURNALISM In this age of electronic media, TV and Internet ensure that we are in touch with the information and news 24/7; with speed and accuracy. This area has a lot to offer when it comes to career options. 1. RESEARCHERS: They do all the work for the channel or the site. Requirements: Inventive, inquisitive and imaginative. 2. PRODUCTION WORKERS: Requires good organizational skills, ability to work independently, October 2011 24

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confidence to deal with crisis situations and sensitivity. 3. FLOOR MANAGERS: Requires good communication skills, leadership qualities to guide and instruct others. 4. TRANSMISSION EXECUTIVES: Requires knowledge of the art of public relations, good levels of concentration and dedication. 5. REPORTERS: They are the primary source of news. To be a reporter one requires a good communication skill and ability to search and elaborate on all that is important. 6. SOUND TECHNICIANS: It requires creativity, communication skills, a sense of sound effects and technical knowledge. 7. CAMERA WORKERS: Requires artistic sense, technical knowledge, ability to work in difficult situations and adaptability. 8. PRESENTERS: Requires good communication skills, skilled command over speech, diction and language, general knowledge, intelligence, the ability to be articulate and composed in stressful conditions and a good quality of expression. WEB JOURNALISM The internet is fast emerging into an influential medium which promises updated news content at no cost. The news has to be made sharp and interesting. Editing, presentations, attractive captions are necessary and key facts have to be mentioned. FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN JOURNALISM AS CAREER OPTION: One can do a course in journalism right after passing the senior secondary examination. There is an option of doing a professional degree after completion of an undergraduate course in any subject. A background in humanities is generally preferred. The courses are offered in English, Hindi and regional languages as well. (The writer is a student of Jounalism from Villa Marie College, Hyderabad)

Political journalism
Political journalism is a broad branch of journalism that includes coverage of all aspects of politics and political science, although the term usually refers specifically to coverage of civil governments and political power. Political journalism is a frequent subject of opinion journalism, as current political events are analyzed, interpreted, and discussed by news media pundits and editorialists.

Journalism ethics
Journalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as applicable to the specific challenges faced by journalists. Historically and currently, this subset of media ethics is widely known to journalists as their professional 'code of ethics' or the 'canons of journalism'. The basic codes and canons commonly appear in statements drafted by professional journalism associations and individual print, broadcast, and online news organisations. While various existing codes have some differences, most share common elements including the principles of truthfulness, accuracy, objectivity, impartiality, fairness and public accountability as these apply to the acquisition of newsworthy information and its subsequent dissemination to the public. Like many broader ethical systems, journalism ethics include the principle of 'limitation of harm.' This often involves the withholding of certain details from reports such as the names of minor children, crime victims' names or information not materially related to particular news reports release of which might, for example, harm someone's reputation. Some journalistic Codes of Ethics, notably the European ones, also include a concern with discriminatory references in news based on race, religion, sexual orientation, and physical or mental disabilities. The European Council approved in 1993 Resolution 1003 on the Ethics of Journalism which recommends journalists to respect yet the presumption of innocence, in particular in cases that are still sub judice.

Technology journalism
Technology journalism is a branch of journalism that uses the art of reporting to deliver information about technology to the public. It ranges from reviewing a new electronic gadget in the market to reporting ground breaking advances in technology.

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MARKETING

The Science of Marketing & Its Social Impact

Sohel Sachora
arketing has developed as a Science in the 20th Century and has flourished in the last few decades. The impact is such that there is virtually no business organisation around which does not have a marketing department. For smaller organisations too there are dedicated personnel for Marketing and even independent entrepreneurs are having a lot of marketing inclination. Marketing can be understood as a process of understanding your selling environment. Philip Kotler, the legend in Marketing has coined a phrase called 4Ps viz. Product, Price, Place & Promotion. Looking at these 4Ps, one can get a very fair idea of the Marketing Mix of any selling organisation. Product refers to goods or services which are on offer. Price refers to the selling price of the product or service on offer. Place refers to the point of sale i.e. the place at which the selling transaction happens between the buyer and the seller. Promotion refers to the efforts undertaken by the selling organisation in order to educate the customer about its offerings. Let us apply this Marketing concept to our magazine The Companion. Take first P i.e. Product. The product on offer is a monthly magazine in English. It is a collection of informative as well as thought provoking articles targeted to students and youth community. Price: The product is being sold at an annual price of Rs.180 for 12 issues. Place: One can buy this magazine through its authorized agents or through online subscription. Promotion: The magazine is promoted through the network of SIO and word of mouth. Although all these 4PS are not exhaustive in understanding the marketing mix but give a very fair idea about the marketing approach. Many management scientists have tried to improve the Kotler Model and have floated their own theories. Marketing as such is not a disruptive Science which has completely changed the fundamentals of doing business. However, none can deny the fact that it has changed the way people look at their business and has also had a great impact in defining the priorities of their business. The underlying object of the Marketing still remains selling and selling more. The objective of the marketing is consistent with the objectives of Finance Management as well as Management Science which is Wealth Maximisation. First lesson imparted to any management science student across all the business schools in the globe is that you exist for maximization of the shareholder's wealth. This Marketing Approach has had a lot of impact on the collective as well as individual behaviour in the Society. Consumerism: Marketing can be directly held responsible for an excessive consumerist orientation of the

society. The Marketers in order to sell more of their products apply a lot of energy in finding more buyers of their products and also try to sell more to their existing consumers. Just to cite an example, a shampoo marketer would try to find more and more buyers by way of making his products available at maximum number of outlets. Moreover, he will communicate that in order to have better hair one must use shampoo daily. This would help him to sell more to his existing set of buyers. This phenomenon leads to a creation of a new class called consumerist class. There are hundreds of examples around us who are having a dozen cars, tens of houses, hundreds of pair of clothes, shoes, sun-glasses and what not. Then there is this is aspiration class which wants to consume as much as this consumerist class is consuming. One can list thousands of ills of this consumerist orientation of the society. Nature has endowed us with limited resources but this consumerism ensures that everyone wants to have more and more, thus creating conflict of interests among human beings. This conflict of interest is not only damaging human relationships but is also proving to be a disaster to environment. Thousands of species have got extinct from the earth due to this desire of consuming more and more. This love for consumption ensures that everyone out there is fighting to control finite resources. If one analyses the reasons of wars within the human civilization over the recorded history of centuries, one can infer that the underlying reason for these wars for desire to consume more. Experts have also suggested that recent gulf wars and the US war against Iraq and Afghanistan were desperate attempts to control their rich natural resources. Pestering: Marketers in order to achieve their goals have found a very shrewd way of using pester power to their advantage. Targeting Children and using their influence over their parents and guardians has been the new mantra of marketers. To communicate with children, they have created a highway of cartoon channels and characters. Through these cartoon icons they try and sell their products. A large number of parents are forced to bow down to this pester power in varying degrees. This pestering not only exerts undue pressure on parents but also create an inferiority complex among them for not being able to fulfil their wards' demands. The children on the other hand tend to develop negativity about their parents. There have been a few reported cases of even suicides by the children. To quote one such example, a teenage girl committed suicide when her mother did not allow her to put on western outfits. The constant exposure to these cartoon channels also creates a dream fancy world to children. Reality then October 2011 26

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becomes so bitter to them that they are seldom prepared to face the harsh realities of life. Compromise on Social Values: Most Marketers believe that everything is fair in love, war and business. For them all the techniques which help them to sell more are successful techniques. They have used Advertising to plant their version on the consumers' mindset. To capture the mind space of their consumers, Marketers don't even shy away from using obscene advertisements. Continuous bombardment of nudity through TV and other media have ensured that nudity and all are no longer taboo word for a large number of people. They start feeling that everything is fine. This casual approach is having a very detrimental effect on the society. Human Exploitation: Marketers in their pursuit to sell more and more go to any extent. In order to differentiate their products and services, they try to walk an extra mile over others. Retailers for example now keep their shops open for almost 365 days a year and for more than 12 hours a day. This really takes a toll on the employees. Although there are some statutory regulations like week-offs, the marketers try and ensure maximum utilisation of manpower by compensating with meagre amounts. Same stands true for those who are involved in producing goods and transporting goods. There is a huge class of these people who are busy in producing and distributing goods while others make merry during holidays and festivals. This mad pursuit to sell more reduces human beings to mere economic machines deprived of human values and ambitions. Precisely, this approach of the marketers (read capitalists) created a new class of people which was hell bent on killing their masters. The venomous idea of Marxism arose from this exploitation and has inflicted huge damage to human lives. Creation of Cartels: Marketers also found out that it is easier to sell when there are fewer sellers. This idea led to a concept called Cartel which means that competition is systematically killed and only a small set of sellers then control the market. The biggest criticism of the globalisation was the idea of killing competition. The existence of cartels is now evident in a large number of sectors. If one analyses the number of organisations present in sectors like Mining, Information Technology, Chemicals, Iron & Steel, Pharmaceuticals, Paints, Industrial Raw Materials etc there are very few sellers. They all come together to virtually dictate the market place. If one analyses how Bill Gates and his Microsoft did grew to a multibillion dollar enterprise, then this idea of killing the competition was the underlying driver. Microsoft never allowed flourishing of small organisations which came up with powerful ideas and values. He used to buy these small organisations through hostile acquisitions and bundled the entire computing system within his domain. The similar phenomenon has also been witnessed in the Advertisement Business. The ad agency business is so integrated across the globe that majority of the ad agencies belong to one of the four big groups. These groups just like

Bill Gates kept on acquiring small agencies. If we look at our own Reliance Industries, it systemically killed all the yarn producers and dominated the textile space. If one speaks of US there are only five to six leading retailers which control 80% of the market space. Same case is true in Fast Food Joints like McDonalds, Starbucks Coffee chain etc. These cartels are created over a number of years and a point comes when they start dictating the consumption pattern of their consumers. The consumer interest takes a back-seat when cartels raise their ugly face. All the hue and cry against FDI in our country is owing to the prospects of creation of these cartels and killing of local competition thereof. False Promises & Propaganda: The Marketing Approach has had a very detrimental effect on the gentleman virtue of delivering the promises. The Marketer in desperation of selling their goods or services don't even shy off claiming false promises to their consumers. This phenomenon is not just restricted to local vendors who is trying to sell his inexpensive goods in a local market set up, but also holds true for large conglomerates. There have been numerous instances of banks, financial institutions, tour operators, white goods sellers etc making unrealistic promises and then betraying their consumers. The Marketers also don't shy away from planning long term actions in order to achieve their objective of selling more. One example can be sited of an Intel funded education program. The microprocessor major Intel whose chips go in almost all the computing devices, has started a literacy program in schools through its funded NGOs. Their underlying objective is to promote computer literacy across the globe which would in the long run serve their selling interests. There are host of such propaganda going across the world. One more such example was creating a hype around bird flu across the globe. While the apprehensions may not be completely misplaced, but all those who were crying hard were those who wanted to ensure sale of their medicines. Same thing is true for sale of many types of pesticides, vaccines etc. All this propaganda has an economic as well as social cost. Not only does these things make living a costly affair but also adds lot of doubts to individuals. Before conclusion, I must clarify that all marketing is not bad marketing. Marketers don't just exist for exploitation but to serve the needs of fellow human beings. It definitely may be having some marginal success stories like empowering consumers, but one cannot deny the adverse social impacts it is having. All the budding marketers and management students before stepping into the business world must always ask a question to themselves. What value am I adding to the society? If he finds positive answers then he must definitely walk that path but when he finds that his actions has more prospects of social damage then he must stop, ponder and may be change his course of action. October 2011 27

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SHORT STORY

Falsehood Perished
Asad Yar Khan
(In a secret meeting of planners and organisers of communal riot, arrive their master-killer whom they revere for his butchering abilities. The story captures the emotional trajectory of some killers if not all Ed.) t was a night terrible nights with thunder, the lightning, the rain, and the gushing wind as, described by many writers, of both the East and the west, specifying them as Sparrow nights. It was one such night, just after that first phase of those deadliest massacres, which made it into one of the most dreadful ones, for the spectators if there were any, but fortunately, were none. To tell you that painful and tumultuous tale, lets travel back in time to that part of the riot-torn city, which was quite still and deserted, on account of one of those worst upheavals in human histories, involving many innocents who were roasted alive to death. It hardly saw anyone on the roads, and in the streets. The shops were all closed; only through a big gate shouts or drunken abusive outcries of rioters could be heard again and again; not a sign of a soul was to be seen there, or anywhere. Only Inside that big gate, in the great hall like room of the bungalow, which had been plundered with all it contained was a small gathering of 13 men. Of them, one was the moustachioed addresser (who was sitting back resting his elbows on an arm chair reflecting leadership) with two sleepy gunners standing, on his left, and on his right. And others, his 11 drunken addressees were seated in front. Addresser had rebuked his addressees [all rioters] a few moments ago for their heavy drunkenness on duty. Drunk, obviously to the extent of losing control of their faculties. And then, Political and massacre related Questions and Answers were heard echoing. How many them were killed yesterday, in all?, asked the moustachioed addresser. Something like 101 in a row, we actually had killed 100, but when I joked that its not considered as sacred then he slaughtered one more, slaughtered!, answered drunkenly the most robust man among the rioters standing tall at 6 feet, who had led them in yesterdays great destruction. But sorry to inform you that, we also had to kill, some of our own brethren, who were rescuing but in vain, their friends, and their neighbours in a stupid brotherly act, sahib! And their figures? Asked the Addresser, raising his eyebrows and tapping his fingers, simultaneously. Like 15 or, so!, Responded the Drunk head rioter recalling the exact figures, shrugging his broad shoulders, stumbling and staggering, simultaneously. And,anyguesseswhokilledmostnumberofourenemies? Dadar,andwhoelse,sahib?Our,superhero!...Thistime he replied quicker than before. And with his reply, the voices of all other rioters echoed like a storm with Dadars unstoppable praises. All praising:

Hes swift like, a cheetah, sahab! What a man sab! No! Call him superman! Yes, he is sir. I too love his swift cheetah like instinct, a lot, muahh (kiss in the air, in admiration) siiiiir! Hes a devastator sir! He kills as capably with a twinkling of an eye, even with a blunt knife as with a sharp one!... And, with Addressers right hand up as a symbolic, to keep all the voices low, all voices lowered down to a state of silence. Only then, the addresser continued Dadar!... Who is Dadar among you?...Such a killer, and Ive never heard of him before!: asked the addresser with a grin of excitement and appreciation. Hes a new entry in the sena sahab, from north. But he knows our mother tongue well!, The drunk head of the other drunk rioters, stumbles, imparting information. Then wheres he? Hes entitled to receive our sahibs cash prize, set for the first category. The addressers strange grimace of excitement had now turned to pleasurable anticipation, to perceive with his own eyes, that killer, whom 10 of his own murderous kinds were certifying as an extraordinary one. The addressers strange excitement concerning him, now, moved to much anticipation to see him. The Head rioter quickly took out his phone and started pressing his keypad. Just give me a second sir! Ill have to ring himyetagain.TheproblemisIvebeencontinuouslycallinghim for a few hours, and what Ive been listening, He stumbled. ... is that same old shit ..Dha-numba youa-Kallin eh switch-aav. [The number youre calling is switched off.] The same old rhyme. Ha ha hasir... Now that, sweet devil is not picking up the phone... I think, hes still busy along with our men in cleansing those bastards who tried to support their neighbours during the killings, one of them was a well known sucker Professor Amanwala, the betrayer of our religion. Yesterday, we set his car on fire but when we tried to roast him, he and his daughter, were sheltered by their neighbours. And right now, where they must have been? Digging his and his neighbours graves. And suddenly, his lips discontinued speaking. He kept quite, keeping a strange silence for a brief period of time. But why? Because, he keeping his big right palm on his ear tried to listen something, like a desert fox. And when his eardrum vibrated in response to some weak sound waves, he uttered excitedly: Never mind sir, well instead call him personally! And he signed other drunk rioters, with his symbolic gestures which were quite familiar to them all. Eyeing that, some stumbling rioters roared wildly, and seeing them others all of them started clapping and singing, and whole roam broke into sea of shouts: When the father of your father Dadar comes, Thentheenemyfleesandneverreturns. Dadar!Dadar!Dadar! And then, at that very moment, when they were expecting his act of entering. All of a sudden, on the Gate, behind those ten rioters, and in front of the addresser, appeared a dwarf, haggard, bumpkinish and a brown middle-aged man wearing shawled kurta pyjama, his hands awkwardly under the shawl, a four feet tall man, with a rugged long face having a pug nose, shining between his fearless catlike blue eyes. It was none other than Dadar dada, who appeared to be the exact opposite of what one would guess, and what the Sahib had. All the Drunk rioters enthusiastically eyed those fearless catlike blue eyes, full of fire, below his excessively perspiring

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October 2011 28

forehead. And, now, again began to sing that non-literary Dadar poem, shouting the odds, in even more enthusiasm. And again, with Addressers right hand up as a symbolic to keep all the voices low-all voices lowered down to a state of silence. Surprisingly, that dwarfish rioter, while walking over to the addresser walked briskly with a forward leaning gait, moving with strength of purpose, and lifting each foot clearly off the ground with an expressionless face. And before passing all through the gathering appeared taller than those actually taller than him - may be because of his specific jumping kind of a walking style. Anyway, the addresser was giving his full attention to this annoying looking dwarf like amazing brown man, who while walking was looking straight into his eyeballs. Are you Dadar?, asked the addresser, raising his eyebrows. Yes its me!, The annoyed looking dwarf man proudly announced. Hey!... Im totally amazed seeing you...I know its not an impossible a task, to kill hundreds of men in a single night, tearing their windows and breaking their doors down. And that too with holding a knife in ones hand carefully enough so that it may not send you to the heavenly abode with the one who need to be sent to hell, and simultaneously stabbing with it, with might, only if youre powerhouse, but in your exceptional case, Ill be pretty glad to know, how do you [his expressions stressed great emphasis on the word you] managed to kill, as Ive been informed, kill most, with such a?, inquired the addresser raising his eyebrows and shrugging his shoulders. Sir! He killed most, in front of, our eyes. We are the eyewitnesses, to his deadly instincts!, interfered the 6 feet head rioter, stumbling with alcoholism between Dadar and the addresser, resulting in keeping 4 feet tall Dadar out of sight of the addresser, for a few seconds. Let the man speak!, Warned the addresser chewing his lips. So...? The addresser again enquired, How did you manage? Just like, Im here, to manage it right now!, retorted Dadar sweeping the sweat repeatedly from his excessively perspiring forehead. His eyes flashed fire. Right now! What? How?, The addresser in a state of perplexity wrinkled his forehead. Like this!, He, in a twinkling of an eye, showing his swift cheetah like instinct (which he was renowned for, among other rioters) removing his shawl, took out a 38 calibre carbine placed very adroitly under it, and one by one, aiming at bulls eye, killed all. And there now, neither political, nor massacre related questions and answers were heard anymore. He left only one from them, who had been his admirer for the past few days, a young stammering boy having all sorts of fears in his eyes on that catastrophic event, closed his eyes in extreme fear. Then he boldly opened his eyes. He, somehow, stammering, daringly and sorrowfully asked Dadar in a fresh pain that started piercing his heart and soul with constancy, Da..Dadardada!...Wwhy d..did you, kill them, after..all they were all our bro...brothers, th..they were A-Aryas like..us!

No! He shrieked turning his whole body to answer in a movement which would have appreciated by claps if it were a theatre show, like them? who used us, engaged us, in a cruel struggle that serve their own purposes... got innocent people killed...through us! Like them? who got killed ones own, and pertaining to another, just in the name of religion, but actually for politics. And they now are being killed by their own. Who made me a criminal? Who made you a butcher? Who spread myths? Who create hatred among the natives of the same motherland, in the name of faith, area, culture, and race? Who brainwashed you, make you not more than a mare political tool to be a part of bloodbath...Whoever trust them for the sake of religion, is a devil? Bullshit! This was not a revenge of our religion, of our dead people as we were being told, if it was true we must have not killed so many innocents. It was just didnt we see these killings were a pre-planned, calculated, wilfully executed massacre of the people living with us for long. This is not what our religion is all about. Is this? They blind us, for their own ulterior motives! And they sow a seed of hatred in our hearts! And motivate us, to pull the hair out of their beard, merely for political and financial gains. They dont care if their own people are killed, all they care about is money, money, money and power. They, who speak of a Nation, and create violence in the name of God are upper caste, they all love the good life, theres not a public concern in them. They merely exploit religious feelings, maintain their lifestyles!The country is being ruined by there scoundrel issues. It is only going to weaken the country. They make men kill men, then motivate it, praise it. They are anti-nation: They do not believe in the our Constitution, and instead of using democratic means to put forth their views, they resort to violence, openly flout the orders of the law and openly utter that verdict will not hinder their plan, oppose the very fundamental principle of equality and liberty upon which our State is based, and demonise an entire community based on the actions of a few people who happen to claim the same religion. Does this mean that any of our brother anywhere should be called to task for such heinous acts committed by any other brother? Would they scoundrel leaders, be willing to stand trial for the murders committed by us? Damn these terrorists! Dadar had tears in his eyes. There was a pain in his voice. Ba..But, wwho, told you sso...?, asked the boy hesitatingly. ... Professor Amanwala, our brother in religion, whom I went to kill on evil orders. He is a great patriot, his house we attacked after injuring his neighbours, who yesterday had sheltered him from us. They are all our true brothers and sisters who save their neighbours, come what may! The frightened boy remained silent, and listened attentively. So they..., He pointed his finger on the dead bodies lying like scattered cloths on the dirty floor. They all deserved it, what has befallen them...Why dont you speak, isnt it as I say?, He shrieked. I too-I too deserve it. Take this gun, and kill me! The boy got more frightened. Seeing it, Dadar dada calmed down a bit. Remember? what they told us, that with it Peace will come, terrorism will diminish, but now my inner self is cursing me, saying, It was you who are the real terrorist, how can peace prevail with violence and by Killing in just one day, I turned devil, and killed

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October 2011 29

SHORT STORY
my soul! His eyes and face showed his heart had filled with anger that can never die out. Yesterday, I didnt sleep for the whole night, and whenever I closed my eyes, I saw those young men, shrieking, whom I had shot, inflicted injuries... And Ill not commit suicide for my misdeeds... But, I dont know how Ill live, For, whenever I close my eyes I see myself killing people, or sometimes, I find myself, swimming in the blood-river with the head-missing, arm-missing, leg-missing severely cut bodies...exactly like those, which... O God! How, how wretched I am! They propagate a narrow, distorted version of religion, and at its core, are profoundly anti-religious. Nor do these groups care for the country, its citizens. Curse to me, who ignored that five of our own religious orders of our religion were against them, just because, they lied, lied and lied about patriotism, about them who are responsible for fanning hatred and bloodshed in this entire historic city where they and us for the most part lived together peacefully. Communal tensions have been actively stoked by these groups turning men into vultures or even worse! BBut, Said the boy, ththe Sahib, sahib will try to gget you killed...yyou shhould r-un away to the presss, meedia! Hearing it, he began walking to and fro. His face still was burning fiercely with anger. Damn him! He will get me killed?... Yes... a man like me must die he must die, but before it, Im going to become sahibs own death, and, it will be my last journey as a patriot, this time a true patriot!..., Answered Dadar dada with an extremely painful voice. As he ceased his lips, his face turned pale. His eyes were tear-stained. He looked like as if he had lost his all senses. He looked exasperated and went out, banging the same big gate he had entered through, in such a pace that fit youngsters would tire trying to keep up. And while getting out of the same, he once again turned around in the same fashion turning his whole body and pointing his open hand so as not to offend that young boy, shouting and clinching his right fist with tears felling from his fearless eyes, I once heard, their Saints rightly sung which today proved, but its too late, Truth has now arrived, and falsehood perished for falsehood is by its nature bound to perish! There was a strange silence in the drawing room, inside the house, intermixed with light smell of burnt gunpowder, which was passing through the nostrils of that young stammering boy, who stood despondent, and silent, still in all sorts of fear ever defined by men. But still, no offence for his favourite hero Dadar dada, and still hearing that same unstoppable song which was now coming by way of a roshandan located high on a rooms wall, allowing heated air to escape while bringing inside a voice (retaining a relatively cooler air with the stammering boy) in a slow tone, telling again, And the truth has come and falsehood perished... But, the boy whose brows even now were lifted was still confused with what is the ultimate Truth, and What Falsehood is, wrinkling his forehead in nervousness and frustration, and shaking his head in disagreement, to what had befallen him. And, after a few minutes, an ominous silence seemed to have descended in the room.

Shame for Satan

Md. Tariq
blis announced in a meeting with his subordinate Satans that if anyone of them forces a Muslim into big sin then he would reward him with a crown. All the Satans after involving many Muslims into big sins assembled in the court of Iblis and presented their reports to get the crown. One Satan told Iblis, I continued to linger over a Muslim till he divorced his wife. Iblis said, You didn't do a big job because that person will remarry again. Another Satan said, I made a Muslim disobedient to his parents. Iblis spoke, it's possible that he will again be obedient to them in future. It's nothing special. Third Satan presented his report, I remained with a Muslim so long that he committed an act of shirk. Well done! Iblis expressed his joy and said, You did something big but still it's not big enough for a crown as he can repent. Then a Satan came in the court of Iblis and started, My Lord! I remained with a Muslim and whispered him so much that he killed an innocent man. Iblis became so happy that his eyes glittered with joy and he spread his limbs and said, Wow! Great this is really a big sin. You are worthy of this crown. My Lord! He is telling a lie. Said one Satan opposing the claim of the last one and suddenly all the Satans rose up in his opposition and said, He didn't work on a Muslim and he didn't sway him towards this sin. Muslims have been committing this since long ago. They have been fighting within themselves and killing and cutting each other like carrot and radish since ages. Now it's no longer a sin big enough for a crown. No you are wrong! I deserve that crown. No, you don't, I deserve it. No, I want that crown. All the Satans started quarrelling and claiming their right over the crown. Silent! Iblis thundered. A silence ensued. You are fighting like humans for a petty crown. Don't you feel ashamed? You are Satans and not humans. Satans should remain united among themselves. Did you understand? he continued after a pause I had asked you to sway the Muslims towards sin and you You yourselves got swayed... You are fighting within yourself. What a shame! Get lost from here. All the Satans shook their heads in regret and left. (Translated from Urdu by Kamranullah Khan) October 2011 30

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HORIZON : THE JAC CORNER

PRESENTED BY : ASIF NAWAZ FALAHI

Delicious Food and the Foolish Challenge

A young man in a village refused to believe that Allah has total control of everything. He claimed that Allah cannot make him eat food if he didn't want to eat. To prove his point, he decided to stay hungry for a day and see if Allah can make him eat. His mother tried her best to stop this foolishness but he paid no attention. Annoyed of his mother in the evening, he decided to climb a tree and isolate himself there. Being compassionate, his mother decided to leave the food under the tree incase her son finally gives up and wants to eat. When the night fell, a group of robbers were passing by that tree. They noticed a plate of delicious food placed under the tree. They looked at each other in amazement and thought that someone must be playing a trick on them. May be someone is trying to poison them with good food. They looked around to see if there was anyone nearby and noticed the young man on top of the tree. The robbers got him down and told him to eat the food to see if it is poisoned. But the young man refused to eat as he is still carrying on his challenge against Allah. The robbers became suspicious and started beating the young man to eat. He gave up and started eating. Seeing that the food was not poisoned, the robbers left him and went away. Finally, the young man admitted that yes, Allah has total control of everything!

Famous Revolutions of the World - 1

Renaissance: It is a name given to the Revival of Learning, which started in Italy in the early 14th century and slowly spread throughout Europe in the late 15th century. It was a cultural movement that affected areas, such as art, literature, education and spread of science and technology. The Glorious Revolution: A revolution in England in 1688-89, that resulted in the overthrow of the unpopular King James II and declaration of William of Orange (a Dutch) and his wife Mary, daughter of King James as joint sovereigns of England. The American Revolution: It is the name given to the struggle by which England's 13 colonies in North America declared their independence. The declaration of Independence was issued on July 4, 1776. Its author was Thomas Jefferson.

Mathemagic !
Numbers are fascinating, especially when we can discover relation between them. For e.g. one number is 792. Take single digit number (up to 9) and put it before 792. Now add all the numbers. Now add put the digits of the double digit answer you get, and it will be the original number you thought of! For example, take the single digit number 4. Put it before 792, and you get 4792. Add them up 4+7+9+2 and you've got 22. Now add the two digits 2+2 and.. We're right back where we started!

Easy-peasy English
Patient: doctor, doctor, I can't sleep at night. Doctor: don't worry, lie on the edges of the bed and you'll soon drop off. The phrase to drop off means to fall asleep gradually. It also means to fall Sent by: Mustaq Kunnur October 2011 31

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SIO NEWS FLASH

Dear Brothers in Islam! Assalam Alaikum Hope you receive this letter in high spirits and with the zeal of taqwa. The first attribute of every movement is that it constantly reflects over means for attaining its declared objectives. The second attribute of a movement is that its cares painfully to transfer its legacy to new blood. For this reason Students Islamic Organisation of India has decided to organise a nationwide associate-making campaign with special emphasis on northern India. Details of the campaign are as follows: Caption: STUDENTS COMMUNITY - SHOW UNITY SIO YOUR GUIDE YOUR PARTNER Associates Making Campaign 7 - 17 October 2011 Objectives: Large scale introduction of SIO in the students community Large scale participation of Muslim students community in SIO Utilise a large chunk of student community for fulfillment of the organisations objectives Target: Every member would make at least 10 new associates Active associates would make two new associates Compulsory programs: Personal and collective meets Tea parties and corner meetings Introduction of SIO and the campaign in campuses and hostels Student conventions Cultural programs Squad work for new areas Even your SMSes and emails can help this good cause. For every plan to be successful besides willpower, constant efforts are required; without this any target could not be achieved. Plan ahead, and prepare the cadre to invest their time, abilities and money in this campaign. May Allah grant us success in both lives. Ameen. MD ASIF ALI National Secretary, SIO of India es@sio-india.org

Protest Rally against Batla House fake encounter, SIO in forefront

New Delhi (18 Sep): Peoples rally to demand judicial enquiry in Batla House Encounter organised by a group of civil rights movements on the eve of third anniversary of the fake encounter. Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO) Jamia Millia Islamia Zone was at the forefront of this rally. Zonal President Ajmal V delivered a speech and expressed deep solidarity of SIO in the battle of Justice. Indian minorities especially Muslims live here as secondary citizens. Muslims name, dress, appearance and everything is suspected. This is indeed an emergency without declaration. We should resist this undeclared emergency, said Ajmal. ZAC member Ansar Kareem said, The government imposes terror culture in society through these type of encounters. They always divert from ground realities and conjure minorities as terrorists. Only humanitarian ideology like Islam can resist these realities, other isms have lost their relevance at all. So such movements are in need of great support of conscious people. Lots of people from various organisations participated in this rally. It started from near Khaleelullah Masjid, Batla House and then police barricades stopped it at the end of Jamia Millia Campus. (Continued from p. 9) Hadith:By Allah,even if a single person is led to the guidance by Allah through you, then that will be better for you than the red camels.(Bukhari) Dawah helps us in a great way to reform ourselves. People would not come to us if we don't practice what we preach. If we do so, it will lead us to improve our own character and behaviour both individually as well as collectively. Guiding people to Allah's religion and establishing worship of Allah Alone, was the primary task of the prophets and messengers. And I (Allah) created not the jinn and mankind except that they should worship Me (Alone). (51:56) The aim of Muslims in Dawah is the same, calling all of mankind to the worship of Allah Alone and submission to Him according to the Religion that He chose for His prophets to convey. At the same time we should realise that the actual results of our efforts in guiding people to Allah's religion are not in our hands, as it is only Allah who guides. May Allah bless us to fulfil this obligation solely for His pleasure, make us the medium of guidance to others and accept it from us. Aameen. October 2011 32

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SIO won the struggle against the Islamophobic professor

New Delhi (9 Sep): Students Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), Jamia Millia Islamia Zone demands immediate dismissal of Prof. P.K. Basu who (during class) abused students of MBA (Sem-I), JMI and the Muslim community as a whole, on the day blasts rocked Delhi High Court. His statement is an attack on the credibility of Jamia Millia Islamia as an educational institution, and cannot be tolerated in any circumstances whatsoever. He said; Jamia Millia Islamia is a third class minority institution and you (students) are idiots, stupids, illiterate fools . I can see the quality of professors, who are teaching here. He pointed towards a girl who was wearing burqa and said you black head girl, why you are wearing this dress while it is being banned in some countries. His acrimonious attacks made the girl cry. He pronounced many other abuses on Islam and Muslims that better not be quoted here for the sake of decency. Ajmal V Zonal President of SIO JMI said, This only proves how badly he suffers from pressacquired Islamophobia. Why he did bring in these comments in the class is still unknown, but the kind of mind he has is no less than that of myopic saffron communal bigots here in India. SIO believes that such hateful remarks are indeed unfortunate by a professor who in ideal circumstances should have fought against such irrational-hatred directed against a particular community. We are sorry for his contaminated thoughts and prejudiced mind. And of course such racism and intolerance could not and should not be allowed to wantonly go on in the campus. We demand his immediate sacking from all public positions he upholds, and off course his apologies to students, JMI and the Muslim community as a whole. In the end students won the struggle as the Jamia authorities decided to dismiss the Professor (and as we rush to the press Ed.) Jamia authorities are also contemplating legal action against him.

EID at Orphanage

Mumbai (4.09.11): Celebrating EID with relatives is history,a step ahead SIO Mumbai visited Dreams Homes (Orphanage for children) and celebrated EID with literally abandoned community of Indian society. The Program was conducted by SIO Malwani and IFC (Junior Wing of SIOMs south) Br.Anwar (Sec. SIO Mumbai division) discussed in short about Ramadan & Eid. Gifts and sheerkurma were distributed in children. Children were very happy in company of local group of children, which rarely were scene around there. SIO & IFC Malwani also greeted Mr.Vijay (Manager Dreams Homes. Nearly 60 children board the orphanage home. Children informed their routine activities and schedule. A poem also presented by one of the students of dreams homes. Mr.Siddiqui (Principal Rose Mary High School) was also present at the occasion. Mr.Siddiqui and Mr.Vijay Apprecited SIO Malwani for such kind of program and promised their support for future programs.

SIO CADRE MEET

Guwahati:A cadre meet of SIO Assam Zone (N) was held at the Zonal office of the organisation. The meeting was held to accelerate the awareness of the organisational works. The powerful lecture on The unity, power generation and the duty of the members was delivered by the ex-zonal president & the sub-editor of Saptahik Mujahid Safiul Islam. A zealous lecture on the Policy Programme of the organisation was delivered by the state Secretary JIH Assam (N) Abdul Basit. A precious lecture on The role of SIO to generate Human Power was delivered by the chief Editor of the Saptahik Mujahid Omar Ali Ahmed. Moreover the cadres were also encouraged by the Zonal President Saiful Alom Siddique, About 50 cadres attended the meet. October 2011 33

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LAST WORD

Notes on Nationalism
(May, 1945) George Orwell

By nationalism I mean first of all the habit of assuming that human beings can be classified like insects and that whole blocks of millions or tens of millions of people can be confidently labelled good or bad. But secondly and this is much more important I mean the habit of identifying oneself with a single nation or other unit, placing it beyond good and evil and recognizing no other duty than that of advancing its interests. Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. Both words are normally used in so vague a way that any definition is liable to be challenged, but one must draw a distinction between them, since two different and even opposing ideas are involved. By patriotism I mean devotion to a particular place and a particular way of life, which one believes to be the best in the world but has no wish to force on other people. Patriotism is of its nature defensive, both militarily and culturally. Nationalism, on the other hand, is inseparable from the desire for power. The abiding purpose of every nationalist is to secure more power and more prestige, not for himself but for the nation or other unit in which he has chosen to sink his own individuality. So long as it is applied merely to the more notorious and identifiable nationalist movements in Germany, Japan, and other countries, all this is obvious enough. Confronted with a phenomenon like Nazism, which we can observe from the outside, nearly all of us would say much the same things about it. But here... Nationalism, in the extended sense in which I am using the word, includes such movements and tendencies as Communism, political Catholicism, Zionism, Anti-Semitism, Trotskyism and Pacifism. It is also worth emphasizing once again that nationalist feeling can be purely negative. There are, for example, Trotskyists who have become simply enemies of the USSR without developing a corresponding loyalty to any other unit. When one grasps the implications of this, the nature of what I mean by nationalism becomes a good deal clearer. A nationalist is one who thinks solely, or mainly, in terms of competitive prestige. He may be a positive or a negative nationalist that is, he may use his mental energy either in

THE COMPANION

boosting or in denigrating but at any rate his thoughts always turn on victories, defeats, triumphs and humiliations. He sees history, especially contemporary history, as the endless rise and decline of great power units, and every event that happens seems to him a demonstration that his own side is on the upgrade and some hated rival is on the downgrade... Nationalism is power-hunger tempered by self-deception. Every nationalist is capable of the most flagrant dishonesty, but he is also since he is conscious of serving something bigger than himself unshakeably certain of being in the right. ... those who feel deeply about contemporary politics, certain topics have become so infected by considerations of prestige that a genuinely rational approach to them is almost impossible. Out of the hundreds of examples that one might choose, take this question: Which of the three great allies, the USSR, Britain and the USA, has contributed most to the defeat of Germany? In theory, it should be possible to give a reasoned and perhaps even a conclusive answer to this question. In practice, however, the necessary calculations cannot be made, because anyone likely to bother his head about such a question would inevitably see it in terms of competitive prestige. He would therefore start by deciding in favour of Russia, Britain or America as the case might be, and only after this would begin searching for arguments that seemed to support his case. And there are whole strings of kindred questions to which you can only get an honest answer from someone who is indifferent to the whole subject involved, and whose opinion on it is probably worthless in any case. ... Political or military commentators, like astrologers, can survive almost any mistake, because their more devoted followers do not look to them for an appraisal of the facts but for the stimulation of nationalistic loyalties. And aesthetic judgements, especially literary judgements, are often corrupted in the same way as political ones. It would be difficult for an Indian Nationalist to enjoy reading Kipling or for a Conservative to see merit in Mayakovsky, and there is always a temptation to claim that any book whose tendency one disagrees with must be a bad book from a literary point of view. People of strongly nationalistic outlook often perform this sleight of hand without being conscious of dishonesty. [Orwell here cites example of G.K. Chesterton proponent of Political Catholicism that] his almost mystical belief in the virtues of democracy did not prevent him from admiring Mussolini. Mussolini had destroyed the representative government and the freedom of the press for which Chesterton had struggled so hard at home, but Mussolini was an Italian and had made Italy strong, and that settled the matter. Nor did Chesterton ever find a word to say about imperialism and the conquest of coloured races when they were practised by Italians or Frenchmen. His hold on reality, his literary taste, and even to some extent his moral sense, were dislocated as soon as his nationalistic loyalties were involved. October 2011 34