Onaiza Drabu | University of Oxford (original) (raw)
Independent researcher, freelance writer
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Book Reviews by Onaiza Drabu
A cursory look at Indian prime-time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people ass... more A cursory look at Indian prime-time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people associated with it. Exaggerations, hyperbole, and tempers run wild, and news anchors flail in theatrical rage. News channels and news editors display their ideological affiliations subliminally. These affiliations—a factor of personal political stances, funding bodies, and investors—lead to partisan bias in the framing of news and, in some cases, can easily translate into racial prejudice. In this paper, I examine news coverage related to Muslims in India. I study the coverage of two issues specifically—love jihad and triple talaq—in prime-time English news of two channels: Times Now and Republic TV. Love jihad is a term used to describe alleged campaigns carried out by Muslim men targeting non-Muslim women for conversion to Islam by feigning love. Triple talaq is a form of divorce that has been interpreted to allow Muslim men to legally divorce their wives by stating the word “talaq” three times. My analysis of the content, tone, and tenor of their coverage shows that these channels propagate associations between Islam and backwardness, ignorance, and violence through consistent employment of the following tropes: “Muslim women need to be saved from Muslim men”; “Hindu women need to be saved from Muslim men”; and, “Muslims are not fully Indian—they are anti-national”. I place this study of news media within the current political climate in India and briefly touch on the conversations it guides and provokes. This is a first step in detailing a problem. It is also a call for further analysis on this subject to examine and evaluate if and how discourse manipulates public conversations and policy decisions.
Papers by Onaiza Drabu
A cursory look at Indian prime time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people ass... more A cursory look at Indian prime time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people associated with it. Exaggerations, hyperbole, and tempers run wild and news anchors flail in theatrical rage. News channels and news editors display their ideological affiliations subliminally. These affiliations — a factor of personal political stance, funding bodies, and investors — lead to partisan bias in the framing of news and, in some cases, can easily translate into racial prejudice. In this paper, I examine news coverage related to Muslims in India. I study the coverage of two issues specifically– love jihad and triple talaq –in prime time English news of two channels – Times Now and Republic TV. My analysis of the content, tone, and tenor of their coverage shows that these channels propagate associations between Islam and backwardness, ignorance and violence through consistent employment of the following tropes – ‘Muslim women need to be s...
Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014
Kashmir has been the subject of much coverage and conversation the past few months, as it has for... more Kashmir has been the subject of much coverage and conversation the past few months, as it has for the past 70 years. The current unrest that began early July still hampers normalcy in the valley, although the word normalcy has always had different definitions in Kashmir 1 . Every few years, as political seasons change, normal is redefined. A hundred and something days into the curfew, it is now a way of life; the new normal. The resilience to adapt is admirable.
Drafts by Onaiza Drabu
This dissertation explores national identity in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir. It exa... more This dissertation explores national identity in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir. It examines the demand for azaadi [freedom] from the perceived occupation by the Indian state and links it to claims of a distinction in ethnicity.
The work analyses everyday conversations and speech acts to gather local perspectives on what it means to be Kashmiri versus being Indian. By looking at verbal articulations, protest slogans and racial epithets, it shows how Kashmiris engage in a very telling other-ing of India and Indians in ordinary conversations. Kashmiris have a historical lineage of oppression by alien rulers and a collective memory of struggle against them. This sentiment of memorialisation continues in resentment towards India. Through decoding a unique speech register that has come about in the years of the conflict, the dissertation examines the image of India as the oppressor as well as an ethnic other in the minds of Kashmiris.
A cursory look at Indian prime-time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people ass... more A cursory look at Indian prime-time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people associated with it. Exaggerations, hyperbole, and tempers run wild, and news anchors flail in theatrical rage. News channels and news editors display their ideological affiliations subliminally. These affiliations—a factor of personal political stances, funding bodies, and investors—lead to partisan bias in the framing of news and, in some cases, can easily translate into racial prejudice. In this paper, I examine news coverage related to Muslims in India. I study the coverage of two issues specifically—love jihad and triple talaq—in prime-time English news of two channels: Times Now and Republic TV. Love jihad is a term used to describe alleged campaigns carried out by Muslim men targeting non-Muslim women for conversion to Islam by feigning love. Triple talaq is a form of divorce that has been interpreted to allow Muslim men to legally divorce their wives by stating the word “talaq” three times. My analysis of the content, tone, and tenor of their coverage shows that these channels propagate associations between Islam and backwardness, ignorance, and violence through consistent employment of the following tropes: “Muslim women need to be saved from Muslim men”; “Hindu women need to be saved from Muslim men”; and, “Muslims are not fully Indian—they are anti-national”. I place this study of news media within the current political climate in India and briefly touch on the conversations it guides and provokes. This is a first step in detailing a problem. It is also a call for further analysis on this subject to examine and evaluate if and how discourse manipulates public conversations and policy decisions.
A cursory look at Indian prime time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people ass... more A cursory look at Indian prime time news tells us much about the tone and tenor of the people associated with it. Exaggerations, hyperbole, and tempers run wild and news anchors flail in theatrical rage. News channels and news editors display their ideological affiliations subliminally. These affiliations — a factor of personal political stance, funding bodies, and investors — lead to partisan bias in the framing of news and, in some cases, can easily translate into racial prejudice. In this paper, I examine news coverage related to Muslims in India. I study the coverage of two issues specifically– love jihad and triple talaq –in prime time English news of two channels – Times Now and Republic TV. My analysis of the content, tone, and tenor of their coverage shows that these channels propagate associations between Islam and backwardness, ignorance and violence through consistent employment of the following tropes – ‘Muslim women need to be s...
Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 2014
Kashmir has been the subject of much coverage and conversation the past few months, as it has for... more Kashmir has been the subject of much coverage and conversation the past few months, as it has for the past 70 years. The current unrest that began early July still hampers normalcy in the valley, although the word normalcy has always had different definitions in Kashmir 1 . Every few years, as political seasons change, normal is redefined. A hundred and something days into the curfew, it is now a way of life; the new normal. The resilience to adapt is admirable.
This dissertation explores national identity in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir. It exa... more This dissertation explores national identity in the Indian-administered region of Kashmir. It examines the demand for azaadi [freedom] from the perceived occupation by the Indian state and links it to claims of a distinction in ethnicity.
The work analyses everyday conversations and speech acts to gather local perspectives on what it means to be Kashmiri versus being Indian. By looking at verbal articulations, protest slogans and racial epithets, it shows how Kashmiris engage in a very telling other-ing of India and Indians in ordinary conversations. Kashmiris have a historical lineage of oppression by alien rulers and a collective memory of struggle against them. This sentiment of memorialisation continues in resentment towards India. Through decoding a unique speech register that has come about in the years of the conflict, the dissertation examines the image of India as the oppressor as well as an ethnic other in the minds of Kashmiris.