Contents

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Dedication v
3. Contents vii
4. Abbreviations Used in This Book ix
5. Maps, Figures, and Tables xi
6. Preface and Acknowledgments xv
7. PART I: Introduction
8. 1. Explaining Communal Violence 1
9. PART II: Communal Riots in India and Aligarh
10. 2. Aligarh: Politics, Population, and Social Organization 43
11. 3. Hindu-Muslim Violence in India and Aligarh 60
12. 4. The Great Aligarh Riots of December 1990 and January 1991 116
13. 5. The Control of Communal Conflict in Aligarh 132
14. PART III: Demographic, Social, and Economic Factors in the Production of Riots
15. 6. The Geography and Demography of Riots 149
16. 7. The Economics of Riots: Economic Competition and Victimization 199
17. PART IV: Riots and the Political Process
18. 8. Riots and Elections 219
19. 9. The Practice of Communal Politics 240
20. 10. Communalization and Polarization: Selected Constituency-Wise Results for Aligarh Elections 262
21. 11. Communal Solidarity and Division at the Local Level 286
22. 12. The Decline of Communal Violence and the Transformation of Electoral Competition 296
23. PART V: The Process of Blame Displacement
24. 13. Riot Interpretation, Blame Displacement, and the Communal Discourse 305
25. 14. Police Views of Hindu-Muslim Violence 328
26. 15. The Role of the Media 344
27. PART VI: Conclusion
28. 16. The Persistence of Hindu-Muslim Violence: The Dynamics of Riot Production 355
29. Postscript: Aligarh and Gujarat 385
30. Appendices 393
31. Notes 413
32. Index 463
33. Index of Mohallas 475