[Reader-list] Qamar Rabbani Chechi: a portrait of typical 'Indian Muslim'

[Taha Mehmood]

Dear All.

It is not surprising to find that mainstream media is only remotely
interested in Qamar Rabbani Chechi's electoral battle, maybe except of a
lone blog post by our own Shivam at Kafila, there is no other write up which
looks at the Chechi phenomena critically.

It appears, that media first propagates a stereotype about these mythical
'Indian Muslims' and then buys into it own propaganda.

I want to briefly analyse how media constructs this man, Chechi', who falls
outside the purview of filter and compare it with someone, like say, Abdul
Nasser Madani, who, like Chechi, is also trying to mobilise political power
on caste lines.

Lets look at Qamar Rabbani Chechi. A google search for Qamar Rabbani
Chechi's name yields 108 entries. Lets now look at how big players in mass
media represents him.

1. CNN-IBN.  A Kashmiri Gujjar. (
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kashmiri-gujjar-makes-dausa-poll-contest-interesting/89912-37.html)

2. The Hindu- Kashmiri Gujjar leader (
http://www.thehindu.com/2009/04/21/stories/2009042157330500.htm )

3. The Times of India- a Kashmiri Gujjar (
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4294790.cms )

On the other hand a google search for Abdul Nasser Madani yields 12,700
entries. So Madani's presence is magnified by 11759% over Chechi's.

Whereas CNN-IBN dubs Madani as The fiery preacher while other media sources
characterize him as 'A Jihadi preacher', 'An Islamist' and so on.

The dilemma for me is this- why does the media choose not to portray Qamar
Rabbani Chechi as an Indian who happens to be a Muslim? Why is it that only
his caste is highlighted in the primary description?

and why is it that in case of a person like Madani who is running a wider
coalition of Dalits and other lower caste Hindus, the portrayal is
restricted to an overarching banner of 'Islamist' only and why there are no
mention of his caste, sub-regional or sub religious identity?

When, it appears, as if, Madani too like Chechi is responding to and trying
to mobilise people belonging to various localised castes for political
power. Madani like Chechi are small regional players. They have very niche
spatial influence. Yet they get portrayed differently. Chechi the archetypal
'Good Muslim' gets limited presence while Madani the archetypal 'Bad Muslim'
gets wider coverage. Bad news sells!

Chechi's coverage makes his representation individualistic and caste based
thus alienating and localized while Madani's representation make all Indians
who happen to be Muslims uneasy and answerable to this phenomena. While in
case of Chechi the question of caste identity is explored clearly. That he
is a Kashmiri Gujar is clearly known to all. While in case of Madani it is
not know to us, as to what brand of Islam he follows and why? We do not know
who was 'influential Maulvi', he listening to when he was growing up? What
made him change his name, an intrinsic part of one's identity from Abdul
Manaf Nazir to Abdul Nasser Madani? We do not know who was he reading? His
brand of Islam, is represented as a  homogeneous and overarching, I wonder,
why?

Who are these input and output editors at major news papers and electronic
news channels and why do they choose to have a filter on in one case and off
in another?

In case of television I can understand that by its very nature it simplifies
things. It needs audio and visual. A sound byte. Some drama. Clear
identifiable characters. A hero. An anti hero and so on.  But still,  I
wonder how do these editorial filters work? And can it justify such a
portrayal?

With warm regards

Taha