Nation, gender and the killing of an Indian journalist

Abstract

In this paper, I examine representations of nation and gender in newspaper coverage of the murder of a prominent Indian journalist, Gauri Lankesh, in September 2017. Using a transnational feminist and postcolonial lens, I analyze different portrayals of her murder by juxtaposing newspaper articles by major U.S and Indian English-language newspapers. My analysis reveals that both media articles circulate representations reminiscent of transnational discourses that rationalize political projects in the name of saving women or, in this case, saving journalists. My analysis shows, on the one hand, U.S. depictions present a linear progress narrative portraying India's democracy as failing and inefficient. In addition, these accounts employ rescue narratives of Indian democracy and journalists. On the other hand, my analysis also reveals that liberal Indian media depict Lankesh as a martyr killed in the struggle against Hindutva nationalism. I examine how a vernacular press journalist like Gauri Lankesh could become a martyr for English-speaking intellectual liberals and the English-language media. While both media present different narratives of the murder and its aftermath, they both downplay its gendered implications. Using the case of Lankesh, I raise questions about the effect of such coverage on women journalists today.

Keywords:

• democracy
• gender
• India
• media representation
• nation
• transnational feminism

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Ghassan Moussawi for his support and feedback on earlier drafts of the article. I also thank the anonymous reviewers for their feedback and comments which helped me strengthen and refine this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Shwetha Delanthamajalu

Shwetha Delanthamajalu is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Her research interests include gender and sexuality, postcolonial and transnational feminism, and intersectionality. Her work deals with examining women’s experiences with moral policing in south India with respect to politics of respectability and, their access to public spaces.