Comparative Framing of Islam and Muslims by Indian Press in Congress (2009-2014) and BJP (2014-2019) Led Era

Abstract

This paper aimed at comparatively analyzing the framing of Islam and Muslim in the Indian press, as Muslims are one of the prominent minorities of India, having a population of more than 201 million. 10 years of data collected from Times of India and Hindustan Time through LexisNexis database with the search terms "Muslim" and "Islam". Qualitative framing analysis performed on collected news stories with the help of qualitative data analysis software QSR Nvivo. The findings reveal significant differences in the framing of Muslims and Islam in selected eras of Congress and BJP. The newspapers tend more aggressive and hostile towards Islam and Muslims in the BJP era than the Congress era with the association of Muslims and Islam to Hindutva, conflict, Islamic radicalization, nationalism and minority affairs. Moreover, BJP marked news coverage of Islam and Muslims in the context of India's internal affairs. Albeit the coverage in the Congress era remains predominantly hostile towards Islam and Muslims, the press discussed in a broader frame of Clash of Civilizations, Islamic radicalization and Kashmir movement. The study concluded that India is no more a secular or liberal country as the prevailing violent nationalistic sentiments, the lynching of Muslims and Christians, burning down mosques and churches, demolishing Babri mosque, and campaigns like "GharWapci" are the indicators of Hindu radicalization and terrorism.