Portrayal of Indian Muslims on Urdu Satellite TV channels in India: A study of different shows of ETV Urdu, Zee Salaam and DD Urdu Moin Arif Research Scholar, D/O MCJ Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad (Telangana) Online published on 2 September, 2019. Abstract With the growing demand of informative Television content by Muslims in their mother tongue Urdu, different Urdu TV channels in India are trying to meet their aspirations. Theses Urdu channels are depicting the Muslim minority in a more presentable way by raising their voice and giving proper coverage to their issues. These Urdu channels are raising the regional, national and International Issues related to Muslim minority the world over with fairness and precision. With 1.21 billion people, India is the second most populous democratic country in the world. As per 2011 census of India there are, 79, 80 per cent Hindus while Muslims account for 14.23 percent and Christians 2.30 percent respectively of the total population of the country. In India Muslims form the largest religious minority in the country, which is around 174 million people. Muslims in India are the third-largest population anywhere in the world, after Indonesia and Pakistan. Other religious minorities in India are Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis apart from Muslims and Christians. According to Oxford Dictionary, minority is a smaller group in a community; nation etc differing from other in role, religion, language (Oxford Advance Learner‘s Dictionary. 1992, p. 570). Muslims in India are playing an effective role in all walks of life in our country, thus helping in development of the nation. Muslims are an important part of the society and without the collaboration of all members of a society, a society cannot work. In the present era of Information technology, media is an important means of disseminating information to the society because of its strong power and potential to effect and hold people‘s mind due to its reach and diversity. Media is considered as the agent of social change. One of the great achievements of India is our free and vibrant press and TV Channels.. After independence, India has made a tremendous progress in the field of Mass media specially Television. At the close of 90‘s, there were 58 million TV sets in the country, with around 15 million connected to neighborhood cable networks. A decade later, this number rose to 210 million sets with over a third looked up to cable and/or satellite network; about six million sets were tuned to DTH services like DD-Direct, Dish TV, Tata sky & Sun direct (Communication in India by Keval. J. Kumar, p. 301). Currently, India is one of the largest broadcasting industries in the world. The country today has the third largest TV market with close to 183 million TV households in 2017, and it is expected to touch 200 million by 2020. Viewers have access to a variety of channels from local to foreign, which provide them an opportunity to watch all types of programmer. India‘s Television industry was estimated at $ 9 billion in 2015 and is projected to grow by 17 percent cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $ 16 billion by 2019. This research paper presents a content analysis of the different shows regarding Portrayal of Muslims on different Urdu Satellite Television Channels in India. The purpose of this paper is to identify current Portrayal of Indian Muslims on Urdu Satellite TV channels in the country with special reference to ETV Urdu, Zee Salaam and DD Urdu. This study aims to investigate the image and portrayal of Muslims on Urdu TV channels regarding the depiction and role providence. by focusing on how the portrayal of Muslim men and women on these Urdu TV channels marks a separation from the stereotypical representation of Muslim characters in Indian cinema and on other television channels. Top Keywords Religious Impact, Religious shows, ETV Urdu, Indian Muslims. Top |