Targeting Deoband: Media's biased approach towards Muslim institutions

Just a reel of camera that was brought to a photo studio in Deoband sent the newspapers crazy and the politicians started blaming the Muslim dominated area of Western UP as a breeding ground for the militants.

The photographs were quite amateurish and its quite common for visitors to often get themselves photographed in fancy dresses in Kashmir with gun in hand. Also, why would terrorist want to bring them in focus and send the reel to an ordinary studio.

But the respected Islamic seminary of Deoband was targeted and the newspapers screamed, 'Deoband in terrorist frame' etc. The next day it was disclosed that the youths were not terrorists but the members of Village Defence Committees in Kashmir and the reels were the possession of army.

So this chapter was closed but what about the harm done to the reputation of the Islamic seminary that took lead in freedom struggle. Ironically it is easiest in India to blame the Muslims for all sort of fundamentalism and terrorism though not one Indian Muslim has been found to be a member of Al Qaeda or any international terrorist network.