Strong anti-Modi editorials in Urdu newspapers do not accurately reflect the views of its readers
Newspapers look at general elections through the eyes of their readers. Since much of the Indian Press is regional, the manner in which different language dailies cover the polls can be indicative of their audience’s electoral preferences. For instance, English and Hindi newspaper contents are directly affected by the regions that they are circulated in.
The Urdu Press, however, is unique. It does not belong to any one particular State and has readers in every corner of the nation. The number of readers may be a point of debate but one cannot ignore the fact that Urdu papers are present in virtually every nook and corner of the country.
Inspite of this, the Urdu Press has a stereotypical (even if not always uniform) outlook towards national events. One aspect essential to understanding the Urdu Press is that the editorial and management responsibility usually lies with the same person.
Also, most owner-editors of Urdu papers have hidden political ambitions. This is not a mystery because the reach through the paper gives a certain amount of recognition to the editors and owners. Understandably, their paper projects sympathetic candidate or parties.
However, the idea of projecting the benefit of Islam is a compulsory point in the reporting and presentation of news. Interestingly, most Urdu papers claim to uphold the ideals of Islam alongside national interests.
So even if there is no support for the BJP in the Urdu Press, the Congress is also criticised for not been able to give the confidence of safe-guarding Muslim interest. That leaves voters little choice. The Aam Aadmi Party now is more of a spoil sport without any actual plan of action. Regional parties are important but they do not have the clout that the Muslim community needs.
At this juncture, the vacuum in the Muslim leadership is clearly visible. The Urdu Press may project certain personalities as community leaders but there is none who can claim to have the support of the community or even a large section of it, in any part of the country.And herein lies the tragedy of the Urdu Press. It has the capacity to determine the agenda but because it treats the national debate from a religious view, it reduces its own serious contribution.
It is evident that the Urdu Press would like to call for a Government which is sensitive to its readers’ needs and sentiment. Yet it has no means to further this point. All action is religion-oriented and furthers the interest of only a small sect.
It will be correct to assume that the Muslim community privately wants a stable Government, no matter if it means Mr Narendra Modi as Prime Minister in a BJP-led regime. Of course, there are few who will say this in public at this juncture, but Gujarat has shown that it is possible to have such a scenario that allows for a level of quiet acceptability.
The strong anti-Modi news and editorials in the Urdu Press are nothing but the expressions of self-leadership by the writers seeking importance from their readers. This is not the picture that the Urdu Press should present.
Of course, not all Urdu papers can be clubbed together — many are run professionally and they well serve their readers. However, when the Urdu Press is discussed in the corridors of power, the reference is usually to papers that sensationalise religion and have narrow interests.
Despite its pan-India base, the Urdu Press seems to be constrained by religion and region. It must come out of this and the general election offers a perfect opportunity. The Urdu Press must give an unbiased and fair picture of the electoral scene to the Urdu-reading community, so that the latter can take electoral decisions with clarity. At present, the Urdu Press is driven by a shallow thought process. This is damaging the image of a vibrant and truly secular Press that the language itself is representative of.
(The author is the editor of The Daily Milap, India’s oldest Urdu newspaper)