At least a thousand Muslims were killed in Gujarat in 2002. An original dataset of killings in 216 towns and rural areas of Gujarat in 2002 is statistically analyzed to investigate variation. Killings were most likely in places where the ruling BJP faced the greatest political competition. Police chiefs in districts where violence was severe were more likely to […]
Several neighbourhoods had remained peaceful in Gujarat despite politically sanctioned violence. An ethnographic investigation in Ahmedabad demonstrates the interplay of geographic space with individual and group decisions. Rioters exploited spatial layouts to carefully select targets and ensure escape routes were readily available should the attack go awry. Attackers rarely abandoned reason even amid heightened emotion. Photo Credit: Raheel Dhattiwala
A puzzling political phenomenon was seen in the aftermath of the anti-Muslim pogrom of 2002: the public and electoral support of Sunni Muslims of Gujarat for the BJP. Interview and polling booth data across four elections demonstrates a discrepancy between public support for the party and electoral voting patterns. . Photo Credit: Yogesh Chawda
Stories of courage and friendship abound during mass civilian violence. However, perpetrators of mass violence are often neighbours. Whom, then, do you consider your ‘neighbour’? In new research, I build upon field data from Ahmedabad and introduce new data from Delhi in 1984 to emphasize the complexities underlying spatial proximity and the nature of contact with peace and violence