Orientalism, terrorism and Bombay cinema

Abstract

This paper critically assesses the usefulness of the “new-Orientalism” thesis in understanding the discourses around the idea of “terrorism” and of “the terrorist”. It observes that critiques of “new Orientalism” provide important insights into the ways in which “Islam”, “the Muslim” and “terrorist” have come to be constructed. However, it also argues for the importance of the density of historical context and specificity of locality in understanding how these categories are formulated. The case of Bombay cinema is particularly instructive here. The paper argues that Bombay cinema – which has engaged with these concerns in some form since its inception, and is going “global” in unprecedented ways – exemplifies both the play of these two distinct discursive tendencies and also the tensions that arise because they are not identical. Post-9/11 films like Aamir (2008) and New York (2009) manifest these discursive mechanics and the tensions that result from the play between “new Orientalism” and the local.

Keywords:

• Indian cinema
• Hindutva
• terrorism
• Indian Muslims
• Orientalism

Notes

1. Recent films on terrorism include Fanaa, Sarfarosh, Zameen, Mumbai Meri Jaan.

2. In 2008, Anil Ambani’s Reliance Big Pictures and Hollywood icon Steven Spielberg signed a $825 million deal to make films for global audiences (“Media” n. pag.).

3. Even though the long-standing demand for the corporatization of the industry was initiated in 2000, 9/11 significantly boosted LPG and its implications for the organization of the media.

4. They are premeditated, carried out by individuals belonging to a subnational group and their objective is intimidation. Despite Hindu nationalist claims, “Hindus” do not constitute a national group in India any more than “Christians” or “Muslims”, because, while “Hindus” may constitute a majority in terms of overall aggregates, they are not a majority in many other parts of the country. Vibhuti Narain Rai, former Indian Police Service officer, notes that since the 1960s “there has probably been no single [communal] riot in which less than 90% of those killed have been Muslims” (Rai).

5. While Enders, Sandler, and Gaibulloev provide strong statistical evidence to prove this, the Gujarat genocide of 2002, the situation in Iraq or Afghanistan and now in Libya present somewhat counter-intuitive, counter-factual cases to this argument.

6. Bernard Lewis is a typical new Orientalist. See Lewis and Alam.

7. Both the global imperial struggle for oil and local struggles for resources: land, forests, water, minerals, etc. These are exemplified vividly by the pronouncing of “recalcitrant” oil producing countries – Iraq, Iran, Libya – as “terrorist states”, in the first case; and the characterization of tribal resistance to the illegal corporate plunder of mineral resources from constitutionally protected tribal lands, as Maoism, or “red terrorism”.