BetweenTheLines

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook A significant section of the Indian media have been among the most formidable allies of ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They have over the years amplified and focussed on issues that boost the BJP’s main election-winning strategy of projecting India’s Muslim minority as the threatening other and fifth columnists that only the governing party is capable of dealing with. The prime-time debates on Indian television channels mostly focus on the Hindu-Muslim binary. Issues are often twisted and distorted to keep the focus on demonising the beleaguered minority.  ALSO READ: Ignorance About It Is Biggest Crisis Islam Faces The Taliban take over in Afghanistan was just another excuse for the media to continue vilifying Indian Muslims. While the Indian media were busy doing what they do best, they were also egging on a potential resistance against the Taliban in Panjshir Valley, the only Afghan province that did not immediately

Sameer Arshad Khatlani Follow  on Facebook T he Taliban claim to have retaken 85% of Afghanistan as they threaten to recapture power in Kabul two decades after being ousted from power following the 9/11 attacks. The Afghan government has disputed the Taliban's claims that are in any case unlikely to be verified independently. With the exit of the western forces, the Afghan army is putting up a valiant fight to prevent the Taliban from overrunning Afghanistan again, turning the clock back to the 1990s and reversing the gains such as a degree of women empowerment achieved over the last two decades. The Taliban may well be unable to take power again. But the usual suspects have found a fresh handle in their imminent return to power to stoke Islamophobia by emphasising the Taliban's obsession with their form of “Sharia”.  ALSO READ: Seven-Decade Arab-Israel Schism Is A Historical Aberration Afghanistan is a deeply religious country and can clearly do without the Taliban's brand