Research Article | Open Access
Coverage of Ram Janambhoomi and Babri Masjid Dispute: A Case Study of The Hindu
Dalip Kumar
MediaSpace: DME Journal of Communication, Vol. 1, 2020, Page 138-151
Published Annually by Delhi Metropolitan Education (Affiliated to GGSIP University)
Research Article | Open Access
Dalip Kumar
MediaSpace: DME Journal of Communication, Vol. 1, 2020, Page 138-151
Journalism is very intricately tied with the fabric of our nation. Socio-cultural issues in a country as diverse as India when get the public eye, becomes volatile and can affect the peaceful situations in a dynamic unhealthy way which can give rise to riots. Communal courses are hence to be dealt with in such a manner that it is objective and has an informative human appeal to it. Press Council of India has even issued certain guidelines. Accordingly, in this research the researcher, tried to analyses and identify the patterns of Journalism in The Hindu on the coverage of the Ayodhya – Babri Masjid dispute.
Keywords: Journalism, Communalism, Media Coverage, Religion and Media
The relationship between the press and socio-political developments has been analysed and debated all over the world and has been a recurrent theme in media effects studies
Even though the term “press” is now somewhat outdated and has largely been replaced by the more common “news media” to refer to both print and electronic journalism, its role has been no less controversial or fascinating than it was near the end of the 18th century when the English statesman Edmund Burke deprecatingly coined the term “the Fourth Estate”, Since then the news media have never been far from controversy.
While the role of mass media in a conflict situation is well-documented, there is a need to understand their role in specific national crisis like what India encountered in the last quarter of 1990. Did the news media’s response stand up to the expectations of at least their audience, if not the masses at large? Did they provide The Ram Janam Bhoomi and Babri Masjid Case is in the Public Eye and constant forum of discussion since the date of demolition. The coverage of this case is rather long and the discussion has shifted from “A Dispute of Property” to a “Dispute of Faith”. Media has not only acted as a forum of discussion but also sensationalized the issue bringing forth only the concerns of one party at a point of time. A poster of Delhi Journalism read about the case, necessary information vital for comprehending the issues facing them? Did media coverage help in creating more awareness about the problem of caste and communalism, or did they helped in inflaming the passions of different groups? How objective was their coverage?
These and many other questions immediately come to the fore. Answers are not easily forthcoming. The two basic problems being, the diverse nature of events occurring in different parts of the country, relating to the same issue, and the inherent pluralism present in India’s media structure.
Communalism becoming news is not Dangerous, News becoming Communal is.
According to Mukul Sharma, “The Hindu Right and The Narrative of Hindutva was created on the myth of a continuous, thousand year struggle of Hindus and Muslims and the treatment of Muslims as aliens and is massively contributed and exaggerated by the Media and News.” The biased role played by Hindi newspapers in reporting and documenting the Ram Janmabhoomi- Babri mosque controversy damaged their image. Many studies show clear linkages between the Hindi press and the production and sustenance of a communal discourse (Nandy et al 1995, Engineer 1991, Rajagopal 2001, Hasan 1998). In its December 1991 Ayodhya Judgment, the Press Council of India also criticized the Hindi press for & quote offending the canons of journalistic ethics; (Press Council of India 1991: 338-39).
Some have criticized the then prevalent media for fanning communal flames, and this includes the Press Council of India and several senior journalists, while others have lauded the bravery of those journalists who stood their ground in Ayodhya while being under constant, mortal attack.
One news item, dated March 21, 1987, reports that Hindu religious gurus are travelling in Punjab appealing Hindus to take up arms for Ram Mandir. But the report also goes on to state that people there didn’t really show any warmth to these ideas.
An edit piece in a Hindi newspaper names outfits like ‘Bajrang Dal’ and ‘Shiv Sena’ and holds them responsible for spewing ‘a certain type of hatred in society.’ In the article titled ‘Hindutva ko samajhna zaruri hai,’ published on September 5, 1986, the writer says that these outfits ‘have neither studied Hindutva, nor Islam nor Humanism nor any other type of thought.’
The Ram Janam Bhoomi Case is an extremely sensitive case and it’s reporting and coverage should be done in an extremely sensitive manner so as to not incite communal violence and disharmony in the country and amongst the population. Some of the implications of the sensationalising of the case would include:
Political: The Ram Janam Bhoomi case gained mileage only after a Rath Yatra done by L.K. Advani. Even today Political Leaders in their different speeches use this as “an issue” for votes. It really isn’t a question of Heritage.
Sociological: The Ram Janam Bhoomi case will somewhat, shift the sociological thread of the country as this case has become about faith and unity and is not as isolated as one would think.
The Case is in court for years and is to be decided this year. A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi heard the matter February 26 and advocated an amicable resolution to the Ram Mandir case through mediation.
The apex court in its observation favoured peaceful dialogue to solve the contentious issue. Justice S A Bobde proposed the suggestion while hearing the case and quoted that we are considering the possibility of healing relations between the two communities. We, as a court, can only decide the property issue. He also mentioned media should play a responsible role and motivate communal harmony rather than the opposite.
Guidelines Issued by the Press Council on January 21-22, 1993 in the Wake of the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid Dispute Guidelines for guarding against the commission of the following journalistic improprieties and unethicality.
In an interview with journalist Karan Thapar, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee details the events that followed after the Babri Masjid demolition in December of 1992:
“I wanted to resign from the Lok Sabha because I had to defy the Chair. It never happened that when a Speaker was on his feet I persisted in saying something but it happened that day. Congress, Left, friends of Left parties did not allow me to speak,” Vajpayee says while talking about the day after the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992. “The Speaker wanted me to make my submission. But the next day, the situation reached such a boiling point that on behalf of the party I had to say something. Because I became the spokesperson after the arrest of Mr Advani. But the Speaker did not allow me and in a way I defied him.”
The Ramjanmabhumi-Babri Masjid issue prove to be much contentious for about a decade in Indian politics of mobilizing Hindu votes. It fractured and polarized the Indian voters along religious lines as never before. The BJP used it for winning and never tried to build the temple once it came to power. Also, the judicial processes are so tardy in our country that despite great urgency it never delivered its judgement on time.
Religious imagination and fervour have served to make up for a deficit of rationality, logic and historical evidence, with clerics turning into historians and judges becoming clerics. A close examination of the judgment shows much of it stands on flimsy legal grounds, and it would hardly be tenable if not supported by some very specious reasoning.
With great respect to the Allahabad High Court, it is not the presence of Marxists, real or suspected, but the absence of non-Marxists like Sankalia, excelling in their craft and undoubtedly independent, that holds the key to understanding the crisis that the archaeology of Ayodhya faces today. “I had not intended to be an iconoclast”, Sankalia writes in his memoir Born for Archaeology, “nor am I a self-appointed critic of century-old beliefs of our people, but the distortions of truth I hate”.
“The role of the media in preventing the escalation of social conflict Instead of merely reporting and analysing it once it erupts has been sadly neglected, certainly in situations of communal tensions”.
Even a seasoned journalist like N. Ram of The Hindu, speaking on the present role of the media feels:
“…the role of the media has been characterised by a great deal of froth and dilettantism in relation to what is clearly media’s business – reporting, providing background on and analysing and, indeed, providing some kind of value judgement or assessment of the prevailing communal situation… many of us (journalists) are dis-satisfied and share some of the serious misgivings about the journalistic response to the communal phenomenon and the challenge of building harmony and secularism” (N. Ram)
News Media are instruments for gaining public attention and, therefore, are seen as a resource by the different segments of the community seeking to gain or maintain a particular position of social and political power.
Questions of legitimacy often become central to a controversy. Newspapers and other mass media, if they report a conflict at all, contribute to the legitimation of the conflict and/or certain points of view that are part of the conflict. In effect, any mention of a conflict by a newspaper has consequences for legitimation (Nnaemeka, 1976). The very recognition of a conflict confers a new status to the issue, even if the news story (or editorial) contains negative references to individuals or groups that are party to the controversy.
How the news media could be used for the sake of gaining legitimacy could be seen in the way many English and Hindi dailies and periodicals gave the names of the ‘Kar Sevaks’ who died in police firing in Ayodhya on October 30, 1990 and later on November 2, 1990, during the storming of Babri Masjid. These people were termed as “martyrs”. Now, Frontline has come out with an investigative story “When the ‘dead* came back” describing how the VHP list of “martyrs” given to the press and lapped up by them, included many names of persons who were actually alive, and some who died later, but not on the day claimed by VHP and reported by the Press. This report by Venkitesh Ramakrishnan and S.P. Singh, brings to light the fact that in the heat of the controversy, the news media can also fall prey to such jugglery.
Religion and symbols related to religion in India is a sensitive topic and should be dealt with great care. A lot of criticism is done of the way Indian media treats issues related to communal harmony in the country. This research aims to analyse the way Ayodhya-Babri Masjid issue is dealt with in Print Media for which The Hindu is selected.
To examine the treatment of the story as covered in Hindu and apply it on the norms issued by the Press Council of India related to coverage of an issue with communal colour to it.
I have done the content analysis through a log sheet based on pre decided paradigms. Paradigms are chosen on the basis of previous researches.
Berelson (1952) suggested five main purposes of content analysis as follows:
On the basis of the research done by, Campell Pennebaker (2003) and Maring (2005) following parameters were selected:
Analysis is done of a print media medium i.e. The Hindu. The Hindu is selected because it is considered to have an objective reporting style and is prescribed for the preparation of various Competition Exams like CSAT and other exams.
Results
Date | Number of Articles | Metaphor/Adjective | Tone | Viewpoint | Statement | Human element |
6 Nov 2019 | 1
News Piece |
– | Informative | Objective
Peace Appeal |
Informative
Directive |
No |
7 Nov 2019 | 1
News Piece |
– | Informative | Objective
Peace Appeal |
Directive, affirmative | Yes |
8 Nov 2019 | 2 News Pieces | “vulnerable area”, “Riot control scheme”
“Access Control” “Transportation Plans” “Ram ki Nagri” “Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb” |
Peace Appeal | Informative
Objective |
Informative
Directive Affirmative Emotion Provoking
|
No |
9 Nov 2019 | 2 News Pieces | “to heal hearts and minds”
“fear” |
Informative | Objective
Directive |
Emotion Provoking,
Directive |
Yes |
10 Nov 2019 | 33 News Pieces | “Rule of Law”
“Public Workshop” “Jai Shri Ram” |
Informative
Objective Directive |
Objective
Informative Peace Appeal |
Emotion
Provoking Affirmative Directive |
Yes |
11 Nov 2019 | 2 Editorial
1 News |
“religious leaders and intellectuals” | Critical
Informative Peace Appeal |
Critical View
Analytical view |
Informative
Analytical Directive |
No |
12 Nov 2019 | 1 News
1 Opinion 1 Editorial |
– | Informative
Directive Critical |
Informative
Objective Critical Analytical |
Informative,
Comparative, Emotion Provoking Affirmative
|
Yes |
13 Nov 2019 | 1 News piece | Religious Character
Martyr Dharmik Senani |
Informative | Peace appeal
Informative
|
Peace
Directive |
Yes |
14 Nov 2019 | 1 News
|
Peethadishwar
|
Information
Objective |
Request Appeal | Emotion Provoking | Yes |
15 Nov 2019 | 1 Editorial | “Garbha Griha”, “a preponderance of probabilities”, “miracle of complete justice”, “matsya nyaya” | Critical | Critical
Informative |
Informative
Critical Emotion Provoking |
Yes |
The articles were based on:
News/Information
The news pieces published were based on and objective informative tone. Crisp objective headlines were written, for instance the banner headline, read, “Temple at dispute site, mosque within Ayodhya, rules SC” which summarises the situation. Sentences like, “The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Saturday permitted, the construction of a temple at the site where the Babri Masjid once stood, and asked the government to allot a permanent and suitable, 5 acre plot to Muslims to construct a Mosque in Ayodhya. Most articles were objective in nature and trying to summarize the situation with facts.
Peace Appeal
Understanding the seriousness of the issue various articles were written in a manner, where Peace was appealed for. Statements issued by authorities were published, were written in the similar manner, for instance, the statement by Vijender Gupta, “A very old legal dispute has come to an end… We hope that the implementation of this judgment will promote religious harmony and brotherhood between all communities. Advisories were also issued both in the form of one liners and an article, For instance, an article was published, with the headline, “Police keeps an eye on Social Media for rumour mongers.” The sub headline was, “The Force is also using drones to monitor situation in sensitive areas of the city.”
Timeline
The edition, traced the timeline of the property of dispute from the year, 1528, when Babur is believed to have built the Babri Masjid to October 16 2019 when it had been 40 days of the Constitution Bench Judgment.
Judicial Voice
A Special Section was done where, judicial voices were covered, and various dignitaries gave their statement. Statements given by, Bhupesh Baghel, Pramod Sawant, Sumitra Mahajan, Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal were published. Excerpts from the judgment were also published in key points.
Invitation for Discussion
Statements, were given in a manner that invited discussion. Aspects like majoritarianism, Liberalism were debated. Writers wrote their opinion piece invited discussion. A news Piece titled, “Ayodhya Verdict echoes at literally fest.” A sub headline was quoted, “Panelists explored theme of, ‘India moving towards an illiberal democracy.'”
On the basis of the research done the reporting done by ‘The Hindu’ is done mostly in an objective manner. The team tries to put forth the issue in an objective, analytical manner. They have used human appeal.
When applied on the norms, issued by PCI, it was found that reporting was well within the norms and hence followed the prerequisites of covering a sensitive issue. Nothing was exaggerated, people were kept informed and the integrity of the rule of law was maintained. Though certain editorials and opinion pieces were critical in nature, none seemed to emotionally sway the audience or disrespect the court, they simply opened the forum of public discussion by sharing facts objectively and then analysing them, presenting a balanced point of view.
There was no exaggeration of facts. Most of the days the tone of reporting was objective in nature with a rather analytical approach. Some days the tone selected was directive and tried to convince people to maintain peace on human grounds. All in all not much exaggeration was seen within the reporting.
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Venkitesh Ramakrishnan & S.P. Singh, “When the ‘dead1 came back”. Frontline, May 11-24, 1991, Madras: pages 12-16.
Author’s Information:
Dalip Kumar: Student, GGSIP University, Delhi, dalipkumar1920@gmail.com