Under Western Eyes: A Critical Consideration of Fictitious Muslim Stereotyping in English Fiction
English fiction pertaining to the British rule in India marked Indian Muslims intovisibility through the portrayal of their stable stereotypical identity, and since its publication, A Passage to India has gained the status of authentic imagining of Muslims asconservative religious ‘Other’ of the West. As such, they are analyzing this text as an instance ofcolonial fixity necessitates the identification and consideration of those discursive strategies used bythe text for the projection of abrasive Muslim images. The focus of this paper is to critically approachA Passage to India through the application of Fairclough’s threedimensional model so as to validate the claim of stereotypicalrepresentation of Muslims in India during colonial rule. Largely amatter of despotic manipulation within the text, the narrator doteson the anecdotal treatment of Muslim characters with a purpose tojustify. By adhering to colonial discursive binarism, this noveldepicts colonized Muslims as dehumanized and caricatured othersin essentialist terms by shelving their political, historical andcontextual identification.
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Colonial Discourse, Foreground, Image Construction, Stereotypical Representation, Colonized Muslims
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(1) Kanwal Zahra
Assistant Professor, Centre for Languages and Translation Studies, University of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Aisha Jadoon
Assistant Professor, Department of Humanities, COMSATS University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Hindus Us, Muslims, and the Rest Others in Roy's the Ministry of Utmost Happiness
This study explores self and othering in Roy's novel The Ministry of Utmost Happiness. Roy took twenty years to complete this political romance. The narrator of this political romance talks about the others of Indian society, i.e., religious minorities, political traitors, and low caste groups. These others are always striving to secure a place in a biased Indian society. Their quest for identity has often led them to a blind alley where they have found themselves helpless and oppressed evermore. The situation has become worse under the government of the right-wing Hindu party BJP. This study is an attempt to explore the ways how the weaker part of the society is treated as another and outcast in a so-called secular state. Roy has presented the true face of India. This research tries to comprehend her mind and investigates The Ministry of Utmost Happiness multidimensional and multi-layered tale.
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Hindus, Islam, Muslims, Others, Politics, Racism, Us
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(1) Syed Maqsood Alam
Assistant Professor, Department of English, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Zahoor Hussain
Lecturer, Department of English, Bahaudin Zakariya Uinversity, Layya Campus, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Muhammad Ahsan
Lecturer, Department of English, Ghazi University, Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s Nationalistic Policies under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and its Impact on the Indian Muslims
In 2019, Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India for the second term. Since his first term in 2014, there has been a surge in Hindu nationalism and a declining secular ethos. Due to these changes in the political landscape of India, there has been enactment of several discriminatory laws against Muslims in Indian Occupied Kashmir and India. Right after coming to power in 2019, Modi revoked articles 370 and 35-a which granted Indian-occupied Kashmir autonomy under the Indian Union. Moreover, the promulgation of the Citizenship Amendment Act has created insecurities for millions of Muslims. These structural policies have shrunk the space for the largest minority of India: the Muslims. There is limited knowledge of the structural policies against Muslims and how it affects them. This study will use the structural violence of Johan Galtung's violence triangle to contextualize the discriminatory policies put in place to marginalize Muslims.
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Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Hindu Nationalism, Indian Muslims, Structural Violence, Citizenship Amendment Act, Article 370
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(1) Fatima Ahmed
Independent Research Scholar, Pakistan.
(2) Tabish Munir
MPhil Scholar, Faculty of Social Sciences, Quaid e Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
A Critical Constructivist Analysis of Global Media Framing of Hindutva Narratives and Their Impact on Indian Muslims
The current research analyzes how global media frames Hindutva ideology, the political tactics of the BJP, and their influence on Indian Muslims. Employing a Critical Constructivist framework that combines Fairclough's (1992) Three-Dimensional Model of Critical Discourse Analysis(CDA) with Wendt's(1992) Constructivist theory of International Relations, the study analyzes video coverage by BBC, Al Jazeera, and ABC News, 2024. Through text, discursive, and social-practice analysis, the research uncovers how global narratives produce Modi as both a democratic reformer and authoritarian nationalist, commonly equating Hindu cultural identity with state power. The analysis illustrates that international media are not mere observers but active agents in shaping India's global identity and perceptions of its democratic integrity. The critical analysis of language, representation, and ideology highlights how media discourse legitimizes or resists political majoritarianism. The implications focus on the global media's framing of domestic ideologies and call for more critical literacy to decode international news narratives.
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Hindutva, Narendra Modi, Indian Muslims, global media framing, Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), Constructivism, Secularism, Democracy, Religious Nationalism, Minority Rights
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(1) Ahmed Osama Tahir
PhD Scholar, Department of International Relations, Muslim Youth University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Memona Mujahid
PhD Scholar, Department of English, International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.