Islamophobic Discourses in India During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case of Tablighi Jamaat

ABSTRACT Islamophobia is a hot issue in the world nowadays. This study aimed to analyse the discourses which were produced against Muslims and Islam during the novel coronavirus outbreak in India, where the Muslim minority group Tablighi Jamaat was targeted and held responsible for spreading the virus. The study employed Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse selected tweets from Indian politicians, government dignitaries, and common Indian users to find out Islamophobic themes and ideological structures in their discourses. The researcher hypothesizes that Islamophobia is an integral feature of Indian political communication which is also obvious in their discursive and rhetorical devices. The researcher purposively selected 50 of the most controversial tweets by Indian politicians, government officials, and common Indian Twitter users against Muslims and Islam and carried out a critical discourse analysis through political discourse strategies by Wodak’s (2014). The findings of the study reveal that Indians use discriminatory language against Muslims and Islam to create a difference of “us versus them” and by using anti-Islamic strategies and Islamophobic remarks against the Muslims of India and propagating a common belief in Indians that Muslims and Islam are the main culprit of the COVID-19 outbreak in India.