Media should not be unduly provocative against any Faith

The recent demonstration in Dar es Salaam calling for religious justice was uncalled for because in Tanzania there is a religious freedom allowing every citizen to follow his or her belief. Moreover Islam has also taught its devoted followers to exercise tolerance to believers of other faiths and to avoid the atheists who do not even believe in a Creator.

The concept of peace and non-violence in Islam is not only limited to civil strife but also stretches to wars. The holy Prophet used to instruct his army groups not to attack civilians, not to harm old people, children and women. The only target was to attack only those who had come out to fight against them. Unmitigated terrorism is not only unIslamic but also an offence against humanity at large.

The demo was meant to demand justice in the case involving a Muslim who publicly insulted Christianity. Considering that he was a first time offender and the fact that in some congregations such religious debates for or against any religion is common, one would have expected a much lighter sentence or a stern warning to the accused if it could be decisively proved that he was causing a breach of peace. The fact that he was released on the day the demonstration took place raises eyebrows on the severity of the first sentence.

Irrespective of the validity or severity of the sentence, the right approach should have been to seek redress through the court of law rather than causing chaos in the city. Ironically in the name of seeking religious justice, the demonstrators kept on breaking other Islamic laws. Islam does not under any circumstances allow civil unrest that leaves innocent by passers injured or that causes damage to buildings, or that causes business to come to a halt. Similarly how does one explain the burning of vehicles, theft of possessions, all in the name of religion?

While all this happened the print media had a responsibility of covering the incident in an unprejudiced and fair way without inciting religious hate. Some newspapers did this well but others fell prey to creating an air of animosity in expectation of better sales. For example one Kiswahili paper categorized Muslims as being scared of the Government threat of pressing down any unrest – was it the Muslims who were scared or was it the demonstrators? 

Since ours is a multi-religious and multi-communal and cultural society, any provocative writing or reporting can lead to distrust and disaffection among the people. In view of the very sensitive composition of the Tanzanian social and communal set-up provocative and sensational headlines should be avoided; the headlines must reflect and justify the matter printed under them; news reports should be devoid of comments and value judgments; and the language used in writing the news should be temperate and such as may foster feelings of amity among communities and groups.

From the individual reader to society at large, the print media performs multi-faceted functions with remarkable reach and immense influence. If the television informs through images, newspapers enlighten through words. The print media enjoys a very special place in the collective consciousness of any civilised society and those who pen columns or report the news have a responsibility of being unprejudiced and objective.

Since the media and the society are intrinsically and inextricably inter-linked with each other, a healthy balance between the two pillars of society is imperative, lest the one should dictate the other for very untenable reasons. If too much domination of the media, both electronic and print, is undesirable and uncalled for, it is equally unethical if the media becomes a slave of society and to cater for its transitory tastes rather than highlighting the real problems of the people.

An increased interaction between both the media and the people can help enlarge their territories and thus keep at bay certain forces that are out to malign and make a fool of both. Lest the media should consider its liberty as license, the Press Council issued a set of guidelines a few years ago. Since ours is a multi-religious and multi-communal, linguistic and cultural society, any provocative writing or reporting can lead to distrust and disaffection among the people. In view of the very sensitive composition of Indian social and communal set-up, it was enjoined upon the press that provocative and sensational headlines be avoided; the headlines must reflect and justify the matter printed under them; news reports should be devoid of comments and value judgements; and the language used in writing the news should be temperate and such as may foster feelings of amity among communities and groups.