Riot Politics

On February 27, 2002, a train coach caught fire just outside a railway station in Gujarat, killing fifty-eight. The incident initiated one of the worst outbreaks of Hindu-Muslim violence since India's independence. As mobs of Hindus thronged the streets of Gujarat's cities and villages, local and state-level politicians made inflammatory speeches and distributed weapons for revenge, excusing the police from their responsibility to protect. In the end, the bloodshed claimed the lives of more than two thousand people. Based on an extensive ethnographic study of Gujarat's local politics, this volume introduces a novel approach to the processes that foster communal violence. Ward Berenschot argues that the difficulties these Indians face, especially the poor, in dealing with state institutions that enable political actors to incite communal violence with ease. Guiding readers through Gujarat's shadowy local politics, Berenschot identifies the capacity that enables various types of rioters, from local criminals and Hindu-nationalist activists to neighborhood leaders, politicians, and the police, to organize and perpetrate violence. Specifically, he explains how different positions enable some to take advantage of patronage networks that supply access to state resources.