Research Articles

Mediated Nationalisms and ‘Islamic Terror’: The Articulation of Religious and Postcolonial Secular Nationalisms in India

Author: Srinivas Lankala (Department of Communication University of Massachusetts Amherst)

  • Mediated Nationalisms and ‘Islamic Terror’: The Articulation of Religious and Postcolonial Secular Nationalisms in India

    Research Articles

    Mediated Nationalisms and ‘Islamic Terror’: The Articulation of Religious and Postcolonial Secular Nationalisms in India

    Author:

Abstract

Drawing on Mahmood Mamdani’s analysis of the ‘good Muslim-bad Muslim’ dichotomy within American political and cultural discourse, this article analyses Hindu nationalists’ violent campaigns against India’s Muslim minority through a discussion of the reportage of two significant instances of this violence in Indian English-language newspapers. To explain the contradictory responses of the Indian press to these instances, the article argues that the prevalent liberal consensus of Indian nationalism, of which the press is a part, is responsible for the ambiguity that characterises mainstream responses to majoritarian violence against Muslims.

Keywords: terrorism, Indian newspapers, Islam, Hindu nationalism

How to Cite:

Lankala, S., (2017) “Mediated Nationalisms and ‘Islamic Terror’: The Articulation of Religious and Postcolonial Secular Nationalisms in India”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 3(2), 86-102. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.32

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Published on
13 Jun 2017
Peer Reviewed