Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T08:09:00.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Secularism and the Gujarat State: 1960–20051

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 November 2008

NIKITA SUD
NIKITA SUD*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Secularism has been a defining norm for the modern, liberal Indian state. The constitutionally secular Gujarat state is believed to have undergone a paradigmatic shift in 2002, when it supported a massacre of Muslim citizens. This article investigates the empirical as well as normative state in situations of inter-religious violence. It traces the journey of the secular norm over a 45-year period, in the context of contests over identity, political ideology and socio-political dominance. The picture that emerges is much more nuanced than that projected by stark pronouncements of paradigm shifts and the inauguration of a Hindu rashtra.2

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 42 , Issue 6 , November 2008 , pp. 1251 - 1281
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

Dr. Edward Simpson, Dr. Rochana Bajpai and Mallarika Sinha Roy read and commented on a draft of this article. Professor Megan Vaughan was the discussant in the panel on ‘Norms, Ideologies and Identities’ at the 50th Anniversary Conference of Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford, at which the paper was presented in July 2005. I alone am responsible for any remaining inconsistencies.

References

All India Federation of Organisations for Democratic Rights, Then They Came for the Christians. A Report to the Nation (Bombay: AIFOFDR, 1999).Google Scholar
Akbar, M.J., Riot After Riot: Reports on Caste and Communal Violence in India (New Delhi: Penguin, 1991).Google Scholar
BBC,‘Gujarat riot Muslims ‘eliminated’, in BBC Web Edition, April 14, 2005, at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4445107.stm. Accessed April 15, 2005.Google Scholar
Balashankar, R., ‘“Hindu-Muslim riots were Jinnah's contribution to Indian Independence”. Don't give Jinnah a second chance’, in Organiser, Vol. LVI, No. 49, June 19 2005, pp. 2–3.Google Scholar
Basu, A., ‘Reflections on community conflicts and the state in India’, in The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 57, No. 2, May 1997, pp. 391–397.Google Scholar
Bhargava, R. (ed.), Secularism and its Critics (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998).Google Scholar
Bhatt, C. and Mukta, P., ‘Hindutva in the West: Mapping the antinomies of diaspora nationalism’, in Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3, May 2000, pp. 407–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bidwai, P., ‘Paradigm shift’, in Himal South Asia, May 2002, at http://www.himalmag.com/2002/may/commentary_in.htm. Accessed April 3, 2004.Google Scholar
Breman, J., ‘Communal upheaval as resurgence of social Darwinism’, in Economic and Political Weekly, 37 (16), April 20, 2002, pp. 1485–88.Google Scholar
Census of Gujarat, ‘Table C9—Religion’, Census of Gujarat, 2001, at http://censusgujarat.gswan.gov.in/. Accessed February 20, 2005.Google Scholar
Chaudhary, A., Mukhyamantri Shri Amarsinh Chaudharyni Prajajog Appeal, Public Circular SS 1083 (Gandhinagar: Information Department, Government of Gujarat, 1986) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Chenoy, K.M., Violence in Gujarat. Test Case for a Larger Fundamentalist Agenda’, in Report of the Citizen's Commission on persecution of Christians in Gujarat (Delhi: National Alliance of Women, 1999).Google Scholar
Chenoy, K.M., Shukla, S.P., Subramanian, K.S. and Vanaik, A., Gujarat Carnage 2002. A Report To the Nation, 2002, at http://www.sacw.net/Gujarat2002/GujCarnage.html. Accessed June 6, 2005.Google Scholar
Dave, Mr. Justice V.S., Report of the Commission of Inquiry into the incidents of violence and disturbances which took place at various places in the state of Gujarat since February, 1985 to 18th July, 1985. 2 Vols. (Ahmedabad: Government of Gujarat, 1990).Google Scholar
Desai, D., ‘Driving the wedge’, in Indian Express, Ahmedabad Edition, March 3, 2002.Google Scholar
Engineer, A.A. and Shakir, M. (eds.), Communalism in India (Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1985).Google Scholar
Engineer, A.A., Delhi-Meerut Riots: Analysis, Compilation, and Documentation (Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1988).Google Scholar
Engineer, A.A. (ed.), Communal Riots in Post-Independence India. 2nd edn. (Sangam Books: Hyderabad, 1991).Google Scholar
Galanter, M., ‘Secularism East and West’, in Bhargava, R. (ed.), Secularism and its Critics (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1965), pp. 234–267, reprinted 1998.Google Scholar
Galanter, M., ‘Hinduism, secularism, and the Indian judiciary’, in Bhargava, R. (ed.), Secularism and its Critics (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1971), pp. 268–293, reprinted 1998.Google Scholar
Golwalkar, M.S., We, or Our Nationhood Defined (Nagpur: Bharat Publications, 1939).Google Scholar
Government of Gujarat, Resolution No. SBIII/COI-1071, Home Department (Special) (Gandhinagar: Sachivalaya, Government of Gujarat, 1971).Google Scholar
‘Dangerous escalation in Gujarat’, in The Hindu, Delhi Edition, May 4, 1987.Google Scholar
Hindu Suraksha Samiti Jaher Nivedan [Pamphlet] (Ahmedabad: 1989) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
‘Four killed in fresh Gujarat violence’, in Hindustan Times, Delhi Edition, April 11, 1987.Google Scholar
Human Rights Watch, ‘We Have No Orders To Save You’ State Participation and Complicity in Communal Violence in Gujarat (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2002).Google Scholar
Human Rights Watch, Discouraging Dissent: Intimidation and Harassment of Witnesses, Human Rights Activists, and Lawyers Pursuing Accountability for the 2002 Communal Violence in Gujarat (New York: Human Rights Watch, 2004).Google Scholar
IIJ, Threatened Existence: A Feminist Analysis of the Genocide in Gujarat, Report by the International Initiative for Justice, December 2003, at www.onlinevolunteers.org. Accessed February 11, 2004.Google Scholar
‘Violence in Virpur claims two lives’, in Indian Express, Ahmedabad Edition, April 11, 1987.Google Scholar
‘Exposed: Diary shows how Modi govt slept while Gujarat was burning’, in Indian Express, Delhi Edition, March 6, 2005a.Google Scholar
‘PP has a saffron hue’, in Indian Express, Ahmedabad Edition, May 29, 2005b.Google Scholar
Information Department, Taziyanu Julus Bandh Rakhwani Mukhyamantrishrini Apealne Madelo Saaro Pratibhav, Circular 1774 (Gandhinagar: Information Department, Government of Gujarat, September 5, 1986) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Iyer, V.R.K., Sawant, P.B., Suresh, H., Kannabiran, K.G., Roy, A., Subramanian, K.S., Shah, G. and Sarkar, T., Crime Against Humanity. An Inquiry into the Carnage in Gujarat. 2 Vols. (Mumbai: Concerned Citizens Tribunal, Citizens for Justice and Peace, 2002).Google Scholar
Jani, I., ‘Aa sarkarne thayu che shun’, in Naya Marg, Vol. 3, April 1988 (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Jat, C., Patel, D. and Parmar, M., Samajik Arthik Bahishkar [Pamphlet] (Ahmedabad: Ramji Printing Press, c. 1987) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Jayal, N.G., Democracy and the State. Welfare, Secularism and Development in Contemporary India (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2001).Google Scholar
Jhaveri, H., ‘Arthatna sandarbhma Gujarat sarkarna abhigame anek payana prashno fari ubha karya che’, in Jansatta, April 19, 1988 (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Joshi, U., Parekh, N., Shukl, Y., Bhayani, H., Sheth, P., Parekh, M.G., Patel, J.K., Amin, R.J., Jani, B.B., Thakar, C., Bhatt, S.N., Vora, P., Shukla, D., Shah, V.P., Desai, D.B., Kanhere, U., Shah, A.R., Dave, P.K. and Raja, M., ‘Vichar swatantraya temaj akhbari swatantraya upar Gujarat sarkarno kutharaghat’, in Jansatta Loksatta, Ahmedabad Edition, April 15, 1988 (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Kabir, A.J., Violence, History and the State: Gujarat 2002 [Mimeo], Report of a meeting organised by the Common Security Forum, 6th August, 2002, King's College, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Karat, B., ‘Reaching out to Gujarat’, in Frontline, Vol. 19, Issue 14, July 6–19, 2002.Google Scholar
Kohli, A., Democracy and Discontent: India's Growing Crisis of Governability (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990).Google Scholar
Mehta, G., ‘Gujarat carnage: A turning point. strategy for pro-active secularism’, in South Asia Citizens Wire, 2002, at http://sacw.insaf.net/Gujarat2002/GaurangMehta.html. Accessed May 16, 2005.Google Scholar
Myrdal, G., Asian Drama. An Inquiry Into the Poverty of Nations. Vol. I (London: Allen Lane The Penguin Press, 1968).Google Scholar
Nandy, A., Trivedy, S., Mayaram, S. and Yagnik, A., Creating a Nationality. The Ramjanmabhumi Movement and Fear of the Self (Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1995).Google Scholar
National Human Rights Commission, Suo motu complainant, Case No. 1150/6/2001–2002, April 1, 2002, at http://nhrc.nic.in/Publications/gujarat.htm#no1. Accessed June 7, 2005.Google Scholar
Nussbaum, M.C., ‘Genocide in Gujarat. The international community looks away’, in Dissent Magazine, Summer 2003, at http://www.dissentmagazine.org/menutest/archives/2003/su03/nussbaum.htm. Accessed May 18, 2005.Google Scholar
Puniyani, R., ‘Godhra's truth. Manufacturing explanations for communal agenda’, in Issues in Secular Politics, 2005, at http://insaf.net/pipermail/insafny_insaf.net/2005-January/000856.html. Accessed May 16, 2005.Google Scholar
Mr. JusticeReddy, P.J., Vakil, N.K and Sarela, A.S., Inquiry into the communal disturbances at Ahmedabad and other places in Gujarat on and after 18th September 1969 (Ahmedabad: Government of Gujarat, 1970).Google Scholar
Rudolph, L.I. and Rudolph, S.H., In Pursuit of Lakshmi. The Political Economy of the Indian State (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987).Google Scholar
Sanghavi, N., Gujarat. A Political Analysis (Surat: Centre for Social Studies, 1996).Google Scholar
Sarkar, T., ‘Semiotics of Terror: Muslims, Children and Women in Hindu Rashtra’, Economic and Political Weekly, 37 (28), 13 July, 2002. pp. 2872–76.Google Scholar
Sharma, J., ‘I was given unconstitutional directives’, in The Hindu, Delhi Edition, April 14, 2005.Google Scholar
Sheth, P., Political Development in Gujarat (Ahmedabad: Karnavati Publications, 1998).Google Scholar
Smith, D.E., ‘India as a secular state’, in Bhargava, R. (ed.), Secularism and its Critics (New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1963), pp. 177–233, reprinted 1998.Google Scholar
‘Message from Virpur’, in Times of India Editorial, Ahmedabad Edition, April 15, 1987.Google Scholar
‘BJP Defends Modi in House’, in Times of India, Ahmedabad Edition, May 13, 2005a, p. 1.Google Scholar
‘Vajubhai Vala elected state BJP chief’, in Times of India, Ahmedabad Edition, May 30, 2005b, p. 3.Google Scholar
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Hindu Yuva Sammelan [Unpublished Pamphlet] (Ahmedabad: 1986) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shri Ramjanmabhoomi ni Vyatha Katha [Unpublished Pamphlet] (Ahmedabad: 1987) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shun Joyie Che . . . Ramrajya ke Darul Islam? [Unpublished Pamphlet] (Ahmedabad: 1989) (in Gujarati).Google Scholar
Yagnik, A. and Sud, N., ‘Hindutva and beyond: The political topography of Gujarat’, Paper presented at the Conference on State Politics in India in the 1990's: Political Mobilisation and Political Competition, India International Centre, New Delhi, December 16–17, 2004.Google Scholar