"The Fascism will come to India, in the form of communalism,"

warned, Jawaharlal Nehru, first Indian Prime Minister.

•India is and was always first in incorporating various religions

into its Culture and traditions

•Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism collectively make 2.6 to

3 billion followers

•Hinduism and Buddhism 3rd and 4th largest religions respectively

in the world Today

•All religions in the world are practiced in India with considerable

number of followers

•India also has a long and vast history on Communal violence

Media and various acts

incorporated in constitution Article 25 embodied in the Constitution the fundamental

guarantees of freedom of conscience, practice and propagation of religion.

Article 28 freedom at religious instruction in certain educational and cultural institutions

Article 28 and 50 the protection of the cultural and educational rights of minorities

Article 19 (1) embodies the faith our constitution framers had in the press of the country in promoting the above principles.

Press (Objectionable Matters) Act, 1951

Delivering of Books and Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act, 1954

Working Journalists (Conditions of Services) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955

Newspaper (Price and Page) Act, 1956

Parliamentary Proceedings (Protection of Publications) Act, 1960.

Media as Stenographers

Innocent people framed and acquitted with the help of media

Dhaula Kuan encounter case

RTI enquiry

No Punishment for Officials

Mis - Interpretation of facts in records

History of Religious violence in India

Communal violence in India is rarely spontaneous. It is mostly engineered

Partition of British India (1947) Karnataka Riots Gujarat communal riots (1969) Anti-Sikh Riots (1984) Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus Religious involvement in North-East India Militancy Anti-Muslim violence Anti-Christian violence Anti-Hindu violence

Comparison between media reports

and ground reality during communal

violence

Assam Riots

Hyderabad Riots in 1990’s and 2010

Kandhamal Riots

International human rights

reports

Criticised the functioning of Indian Secularism and the rise of

Communalism in India

Problems, short comings and

solutions for Indian Media

Political ownership

Lack of training

Excess of media houses and coverage

Less participation of Minorities in Journalism

Paid news

Theories from two sides have to be taken.

Conclusion In a country like India with the kind of freedom the media

houses enjoy, media has to be independent, secular and

unbiased and because media is considered the 4th pillar of

democracy it has to play a major role in finding the culprits

behind caste and communal riots with the help of its

investigation teams and help the victims and the government in

serving Justice which is not the case with Indian media.

Thank you

BLESSON ABRAHAM

DEL 12- 2232