The Role of Media in Conversion and Representation of Kalasha Minority Towards Islam

Abstract

This study reveals media role in the presentation of Kalasha ethnic and religious minority and their religious conversion towards Islam living in District Chitral, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This indigenous community encounter problems and challenges in maintaining their separate distinctiveness and preserving their ancient and unique culture. An ethnographic qualitative research method is used for the conduction of this study, and the Interview guide is a tool to collect data from 31 respondents to reach saturation point. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques are used to select respondents from the entire population. Thematic analysis is carried out to draw conclusions. The findings reveal that media is associated with both negative and positive imageries of indigenous Kalasha minority community. However, the negative representation in media overrides the positive one. Media defines culture of Kalasha as traditional, unique and primeval, and it is the only religion and culture that can be found exclusively in Pakistan. These attributes of media make them separate and distinct from others. On the contrary, on the issue of conversion of Kalasha media is silent, which is speedy and rapid in the Kalasha community towards religion Islam. Additionally, Youtubers and social media influencers target culture of Kalasha and defame it by presenting their women as immoral being engaged in the act of prostitution. Besides, such social media influencers propagate the concept of wine, which is allowed in the Kalasha religion but forbidden in Islam.