105Reviews

Muslims and Media Images: News Versus Views
Ather Farouqui, ed.

New	York:	Oxford	UP,	2011.	pbk.	368	pages.

Ather	Farouqi’s	edited	book	 Muslims and Media Images: News Versus 
Views	examines	the	Hindi	and	Urdu	press	as	well	as	Hindi	and	regional	lan-
guage	films.	The	uniqueness	of	the	collection lies in the grounded approach 
taken to study the topic of media images of Indian Muslims. Along with an 
introduction and two appendices, this volume consists of nineteen mainly 
short	chapters	organized	in	four	sections	that	highlight	the	experiences	of	
media practitioners, who provide their own accounts and testimonies. Con-
sisting	of	journalists,	newspaper	editors,	filmmakers,	and	academics	‒	the	
contributors	to	this	volume	are	writing	from	the	field,	while	incorporating	
historical components in a tone embedded in a storytelling style. Although 
certain	generalizations	and	scattered	links	between	chapters	might	distract	
readers, such grounded conversations are valuable to academics interested 
in generating theory from the practice of making media. Most authors pro-
vided vivid examples here from their own involvement in the process of 
writing or editing news, while relying on a minimal use of citations, which 
presents an interesting alternative format to standard academic studies. 
This book offers relevant reading to scholars of Islamic studies, commu-
nication, journalism, cinema, political science, and readers interested in 
Indian media and Muslim representations. 

The	first	part	of	the	book,	“English	Media:	Image	and	Perception,”	
provides a contextual overview of some of the main issues, including the 
constraints within which Indian media operates, such as the imperative to 
make	a	profit	that	effectively	dilutes	social	responsibility	(Vinod	Mehta).	
In this context, fringe extremist voices present particularly saleable mate-
rial,	and	“liberal/moderate”	voices	are	not	as	easily	available	and	often	not	
as media savvy as the voices of conservatives. In addition, television pro-
ducers	operate	under	the	assumption	that	a	polarized	dialogue	of	the	deaf	
improves television ratings (this relates more generally to the talk show 
debate	genre	in	television).	Other	contributions	provide	a	useful	historical	
grounding, such as explanations of the role of the Partition in shaping the 
Urdu	press	in	India	(Kuldip	Nayar, Siddharth Varadarajan). In this light, 
Varadarajan describes how the process of nation building in the aftermath 
of	colonialism	strengthened	cultural	and	religious	identities	‒	and	intensi-
fied	communal	politics	from	the	1970s	onwards,	as	exemplified	in	the	re-
porting of riots in the country that invariably placed the blame on Muslim 
Indians. 



            The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 29:2106

From	a	gender-centric	perspective,	Mrinal	Pande	denounces	the	chau-
vinism	and	failure	of	the	English	language	media	in	India	to	be	a	watch-
dog	to	protect	the	rights	of	minorities	and	women	‒	something	English-
language journalists here describe to be far removed from the everyday 
concerns of the majority of Indians. Chandan Mitra similarly contends that 
the	English	language	media	of	India	negatively	portrays	Islam.	From	mak-
ing connections to Muslim representations in the global media by looking 
at	the	Australian	press’	construction	of	Islam	(Howard	Brasted)	to	looking	
at	the	national	Indian	press	(Rajni	Kothari),	the	first	part	of	the	volume	
outlines the main issues and challenges currently facing the Muslim press, 
while	historicizing	and	contextualizing	media	images	of	Indian	Muslims.

Part	2,	“Transcending	Boundaries,”	explores	regional	specificities	in	
order to explore the topic of the representation of religious minorities and 
of the Muslim Indian press. Writers examine the formation of the regional 
identity	within	Bengali	Hindu	and	Muslim	communities	after	the	Partition	
‒	particularly	exacerbated	by	limited	access	to	civic	spaces	and	quality	
housing for Bengali Muslims (Sabya Sachi), and the coverage of Muslim 
issues in the Goan press (Charles Borges). Dagmar Markova and Susan 
Maitra’s contributions, on the other hand, shift the attention toward how 
Western	representations	of	Muslims	influence	local	media	productions.	

This section of the book includes divergent explanations concerning 
the	contemporary	state	of	Indian	mediated	affairs.	For	example,	whereas	
Maitra links the negative portrayals of Muslims in the Western press to 
geopolitical interests and historical antecedents such as the Iranian revolu-
tion,	Estelle	Dryland	seems	to	contend	that	Muslims’	location	“in	the	past”	
negatively	impacts	their	media	images	‒	an	argument	that	also	surfaces	in	
the writings of other non-Muslim writers of this collection, who appear to 
not	have	cultivated	a	sensibility	to	heavily	loaded	terms	such	as	civilization	
and	modernity.	For	example,	Sachi’s	analysis	simply	links	civilization	to	
such material acquisitions as electricity and the telephone, while Dryland 
speaks of Muslim reticence to embrace modernity, which depicts Muslims 
as	inherently	less	“civilized”	than	other	communities.	Moreover,	the	omni-
present notion of the “backwardness” of Indian Muslims appears in many 
parts	of	this	collection.	These	notions	and	generalizations	carry	particular	
connotations and are the hallmarks of colonial discourse, although mean-
ing can always be shifted (given that one is conversant with the preferred 
readings and interpretations). 

The third part, “Muslim Journalism: A Phenomenal Dichotomy,” out-
lines	the	challenges	facing	the	contemporary	Urdu	Press	in	India.	Robin	
Jeffrey highlights the problem of the limited circulation of Urdu newspa-



107Reviews

pers and links it to the lack of state support for the Urdu language (predom-
inantly spoken by Muslims) and the advertising investment, since adver-
tisers regard Muslims to constitute one of the poorest segments of Indian 
society.	However,	he	maintains	that	the	popular	desire	and	religious-based	
incentives have helped maintain the language alive within Muslim com-
munities. Wahiduddin Khan further highlights the precariousness of this 
press, as he explains its dependence on the international press for news 
coverage	‒	although	his	analysis	launches	with	some	broad	and	potentially	
troubling	generalizations	and	statements	regarding	the	superior	“model”	
of the Western press, here juxtaposed to descriptions of Muslim “inabili-
ties.” This type of rhetoric can readily be associated with anti-Muslim hate 
speech.	Nonetheless,	reading	between	the	lines	of	this	analysis	offers	use-
ful insights into how the Muslim press can convert itself into a medium of 
protest (by becoming reactionary), or about how professional journalism 
does not currently represent an attractive career choice in India.

Extending	on	some	of	the	shortcomings	of	Urdu	journalism	in	post-
independent	India,	Ather	Farouqui	contends	that	it	failed	to	assist	Mus-
lims to adjust as a large minority group because it put the emphasis on 
“provocative” writing and sentimentality, leading to the reinforcement of 
communal leadership. This section of the book ends on a hopeful note as 
Arshad Amanullah predicts that Urdu journalism in India will eventually 
attract the interest of large media houses. 

The last section, “Popular Images and the Story of Stereotypes,” takes 
interest in the realm of the popular, with a particular focus on vernacu-
lar cinematic productions. Whereas Moinuddin Jinabade examines Bolly-
wood	films,	John	Hood	tackles	the	topic	of	independent	Indian	art	cinema.	
Nonetheless,	the	two	contributions	denounce	Muslim	underrepresentation.	
As Jinabade	emphasizes	the	superficial	inclusion	of	one	or	two	Muslim	
characters to hastily quench the demand of viewers thirsty for such repre-
sentation,	Hood	points	out	the	lack	of	Muslim	filmmakers	and	the	insuf-
ficient	interest	(and	support)	for	“provocative”	themes	for	films.	Jinabade	
details the limited representations and caricatures of Indian Muslims in 
Bollywood	productions,	characters	who	often	appear	as	a	devout	ʻālim	
(Muslim scholar trained in Islam and Islamic law), a threatening gangster, 
or	an	Urdu	poet.	However,	Hood	describes	how	some	exceptional	indepen-
dent	films,	which	revolve	around	Muslim	characters	and/or	issues,	have	
been made, in spite of the overall climate of lack of support.

In conclusion, what this volume lacks in nuanced language it makes 
up for in a grounded contribution to the area of media images of Islam, 
with a particular focus on representations of Indian Muslims. This volume 



            The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 29:2108

incorporates a wealth of detailed accounts and testimonies of media prac-
titioners invested in the work of making news and creating media. Since 
it	is	written	in	English	and	addresses	Western	academics,	readers	with	a	
postcolonial and critical race orientation could notice some broad gener-
alizations	and	loaded	terms	used	to	qualify	Indian	Muslims.	Nonetheless,	
this volume constitutes an innovative collection, which inspires interest 
in the everyday challenges of making media and of being invested in the 
long-term project of gaining some control over the dominant north-south 
flow	of	information.	

Kenza	Oumlil
Doctoral candidate

Concordia University
Montreal, Canada