Hindu nationalism and media violence in news discourses in India

ABSTRACT

The mainstream media and communication discourses in India in the present times engender ‘media violence’ embedded in the dominant productions of ‘Hinduism’ together with aspirations for neoliberal development. The media violence engenders indigenous forms of racism and colonialism. This article attempts to examine the nature of these productions through critical theories of postcoloniality and decolonial approaches put into conversation with theories of journalism. Through the examination of the instances of selective silencing of journalistic voices, and erasures embedded within the journalistic practices, this article argues for critical theories of press freedom. The productions of racial superiority and internal colonialism in India only begin to make sense when read together with the interplays of religion, class, caste, and global reach of the privileged sections of Indian society, namely the civil society. Against the backdrop of the historical role of the press in India in freedom struggle against colonial rule, the history of press censorship after independence, the civil society voices that are amplified in the neoliberal restructuring of news media, and the Dalit movements that expose the Brahminical dominance in the imaginary of the ‘Indian culture’, the meanings of race and coloniality in India unfold.

KEYWORDS:

• Free speech
• decolonial approaches
• Hindu nationalism
• media violence

Notes

1. Bhatt and Mukta, “Hindutva in the West,” 413–4.

2. Omvedt, Dalit Visions, 1–16.

3. Ibid.

4. Ibid.

5. Bandopadhyaya, “Class Struggle,” 2.

6. Weiner, “The Struggle,” 193–225.

7. Bhatt and Mukta, “Hindutva in the West,” 408

8. Ibid., 414

9. Rao and Mudgal, “Introduction,” 617

10. see Dutta-Bergman, “Civil Society,” 267–8.

11. Sonwalkar, “Indian Journalism”, 633–634

12. Merriam, “Freedom,” 10

13. Dutta-Bergman, “Civil Society,” 267–8.

14. Ibid.

15. Ibelema, “The Press as a Watchdog,” 7–8.

16. Ibelema, Powell, and Self, “Press Freedom,” 98–100.

17. Kumar, “Journalistic Subcultures,” 320–4.

18. Rao and Seow Ting, “Globalizing Media,” 101–12.

19. Rao, “Postcolonial,” 91–111.

20. Dutta and Falnikar, “The 24/7 English Newscycle,” 290–3.

21. Pohjonen and Udupa, “Extreme Speech,” 1174.

22. Banaji and Bhat, WhatsApp Vigilantes, 4–5.

23. Ibid., 32

24. Doron, “Mobile Persons,” 414–33.

25. Tacchi, Kitner, and Crawford, “Meaningfully Mobile,” 528–37.

26. Ibid.

27. Murthy and Seshu, “Silence in the Valley.”

28. Osuri, “Imperialism, colonialism and sovereignty.”

29. RSF, “How India’s Government.”

30. Ibid.

31. See note 9 above, 617.

32. Prasad, “Digital disruption?”

33. Sen and Nielsen, Digital Journalism Start-Ups.

34. See note 32 above.

35. Kumar, “Journalistic Subcultures,” 319–20.

36. Kumar, “Journalistic Subcultures,” 319.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ashwini Falnikar

Ashwini Falnikar is currently an Assistant Professor at Christ (Deemed to be University). Her research interests include development and social change and media practices. Her new research project combines the existing research interests aimed at contributing to health communication.