Media Debates, Asymmetrical Argumentation, and The Nature of Violence In Indian Politics

Abstract

Dialogue is often considered as a solution to reduce violent conflicts between different competing parties. Applying this logic of dialogue to reduce the possibility of violence holds validity. On the other hand, empirical evidence show that dialogues also resulted in violent conflicts, instead of ameliorating the situation. This paper focuses on this unique problem of applying dialogue as a remedy to violent conflicts in India with a special reference to media debates. Extended media including both mainstream and social media provided large space for dialogues regarding issues in the contemporary world. India is no exception to this fact. This paper critically analyses this entire discourse of media debates on contentious issues in India to test the hypothesis regarding the validity of dialogue as a remedy to prevent violence and chaos in Indian political context.