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Chapter 2 Contextualizing the Rise of Hindu Nationalism WestminsterResearch http://www.westminster.ac.uk/research/westminsterresearch The politics of representation in Indian media: implications of the portrayal of Hindus and minority groups Roji Alex Faculty of Media, Arts and Design This is an electronic version of a PhD thesis awarded by the University of Westminster. © The Author, 2015. This is an exact reproduction of the paper copy held by the University of Westminster library. The WestminsterResearch online digital archive at the University of Westminster aims to make the research output of the University available to a wider audience. Copyright and Moral Rights remain with the authors and/or copyright owners. Users are permitted to download and/or print one copy for non-commercial private study or research. Further distribution and any use of material from within this archive for profit-making enterprises or for commercial gain is strictly forbidden. Whilst further distribution of specific materials from within this archive is forbidden, you may freely distribute the URL of WestminsterResearch: (http://westminsterresearch.wmin.ac.uk/). In case of abuse or copyright appearing without permission e-mail [email protected] The Politics of Representation in Indian Media: Implications of the Portrayal of Hindus and Minority Groups ROJI ALEX A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY June 2015 ABSTRACT This thesis explores the politics of representation in Indian media with special focus on news television’s portrayal of issues concerning Christian community. The portrayal of communities is studied in relation to the dynamics of engagement between India’s rapidly expanding news television and the growing Hindutva (Hinduness) movement which espouses an exclusivist and majoritarian ideology, demanding a Hindu nation for Hindus. In its endeavor to understand this complex issue it focuses on India’s two national news networks – Aaj Tak in Hindi, the country’s most popular news broadcaster, and Headlines Today, a leading English-language network – locating their ways of engagement with the Hindutva movement. The thesis, which looks at the nationalist movement’s involvement with the print media and cinema in India, claims that the socio-political situation in the country helped the Hindutva groups to realign the threads of nationalism with that of Hindu nationalism by re-organizing and redefining their ideology to suggest a particular version of national identity and citizenship. The news television, while passing through various stages of evolution, has been engaging with a number of dominant ideologies. In recent decades, the right-wing Hindu ideology has been a powerful force in Indian politics and its engagement with news television, particularly Hindi language television, has been visible in the media narratives on various socio-political and cultural issues. The thesis claims that news television’s treatment of communal issues has helped the creation of a Hindutva public sphere. In the process, the thesis argues, India’s minority communities have been threatened, having to bear the brunt of this new alignment, undermining the secular tradition of India and contributing to anti-minority rhetoric. Drawing on a range of methods – including focus groups of news consumers, face-to-face, in-depth interviews with media personnel, as well as detailed content analysis of news reports, the thesis argues that Hindi news television, driven by market values, created new avenues and vistas for the Hindu nationalists to engage with the public. News television’s association with the Hindutva groups, it is suggested, helped construct a new national identity and a new Indian-ness, conforming to Hindutva ideology. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the help and support of various people. This thesis has been influenced by the ideas, suggestions and life experiences of so many people whom I encountered during my work in last four years. First of all, I would like to thank my supervisory team. I am grateful to Professor Daya Thussu, whose brilliant advice, guidance and encouragement helped me in my journey through this complex subject. I am thankful to Professor Jean Seaton who helped me with valuable suggestions and useful contacts. I am also grateful to the participants of focus groups and interviews and various people who helped me with translation and accommodation during my research explorations in Uttar Pradesh and Noida. DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I, Roji Alex, hereby declare that this thesis is my own work. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………1 2. Contextualizing the Rise of Hindu Nationalism ………………………11 India, a Nation-state ………………………………………………………...11 The Nationalist Movement in India ………………………………………...12 Hindu Nationalism ………………………………………………………….14 Hindutva and Religious Conflict ……………………………………………16 Reasons for the Growth of Hindu Nationalism ……………………………..17 The Media and Hindu Nationalism …………………………………………21 The News Media and Hindu Nationalism …………………………………..24 Television and Democracy in India …………………………………………27 Television and the Public Sphere ……………………………………………28 The Media and ‘Imagined Community’ ……………………………………..29 Transnational Hindu Nationalism ……………………………………………30 The Media in Times of Conflict: ‘Othering’ the Minorities …………………31 News for Propaganda…………………………………………………………36 Social production of news ……………….......................................................37 Hegemonic constructions of the media ………………………………………38 The Danger of Live, Exclusive and Breaking News …………………………39 3. Television in India ………………………………………………………..41 Mapping the Media Landscape ………………………………………………42 Regional Television ………………………………………………………….43 Television and Print Media …………………………………………………44 The Genesis of News Television in India …………………………………..46 Instant News: India’s 24-hour Breaking News ……………………………..47 Paid News- A New Form of Media Manipulation ………………………….50 The Television News Revolution and Transformation of Public Life ……...52 Indian News Media – A Bull Horn for Middle Class Interests ……………..54 India’s Reserved Newsrooms ……………………………………………….56 News Television for Political Power ………………………………………..57 India’s Public Sphere and News Television …………………………………59 Hinduization by Television News Media ……………………………………61 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………..64 4. Saffronizing Bollywood: Cinematic Manufacturing Of Hindu Identity ………………………………………………………….66 Cinema in India ……………………………………………………………..68 Religion, Caste and Ethnicity in Indian Cinema ……………………………69 ‘Nation’ in Films ……………………………………………………………72 Bollywood: India’s Cultural Image …………………………………………73 Bollywood and Hindutva ……………………………………………………74 Hindi: Language of the Nationalists …………………………………………76 Diaspora Communities ………………………………………………………77 Bollywood and Imagined Nation ……………………………………………78 Stereotyping in Hindi Films …………………………………………………80 Stereotyping: ‘National’ versus ‘Anti-national’ and ‘Foreign’ ………………81 Christian Stereotypes …………………………………………………………82 Julie (1975) …………………………………………………………………...82 Trikal (1985) ………………………………………………………………..87 Christianity, Religion of the Colonizer …………………………………….89 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………90 5. A Hindutva Public Sphere? Analyzing the Tele-visual Formations in a Digital World ……................................................92 The Significance of Habermas in India ……………………………………93 Media and the Public Sphere ………………………………………………94 The Public Sphere and Civil Society in a Mediated world ………………..96 India’s Pluralized Public Sphere …………………………………………...97 Television and the Middle Class Public Sphere ……………………………98 Audience and the Public ……………………………………………………99 Middle Class Public Sphere and the Public ……………………………….100 Television as Public Sphere ……………………………………………….102 Participatory Television …………………………………………………...103 Spectacle and Visibility …………………………………………………...104 The Networked Public Sphere …………………………………………….105 Religion in the Public Sphere ……………………………………………..106 Television and the Hindutva Public Sphere ……………………………….109 Counter Public Spheres and Violence ………………………………………110 The Digital Public Sphere and Imagined Communities …………………...111 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………..113 6. Methodological Framework …………………………………………….115 Focus Group Interviews ……………………………………………………..116 Choice of Location …………………………………………………………117 Interviews: Media Professionals …………………………………………….118 Content Analysis – An Overview …………………………………………....119 The Path Followed in the Project …………………………………………….121 Case Study …………………………………………………………………...122 Conclusion …………………………………………………………………...123 7. Facts From the Field: Measuring the Media Might …………………...124 Understanding the Audience …………………………………………………124 Audience Research: An Overview …………………………………………...125 Focus Group Interviews ……………………………………………………...126 Conducting the Sessions ……………………………………………………..130 A Note on Rural Life ………………………………………………………...132 How India Watches Television ………………………………………………132 Television News: A Popular Genre? ………………………………………...133 News Television and New Media ……………………………………………136 Religion Still Matters ………………………………………………………...137 Television Says It! …………………………………………………………...138 Urban Youth and News Television ………………………………………….140 Case Study: Violence in Orissa ……………………………………………...140 Family Viewing ……………………………………………………………...141 Interviews: Media Professionals ……………………………………………..142 What Makes News? …………………………………………………………142 News Television: Trends and Issues………………………………………….143 Is the Indian Media Anti-Christian?
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