Pogrom in Gujarat: Hindu Nationalism and Anti-Muslim Violence in India 1st Edition, Kindle Edition

How could an unstable truce between Hindus (the majority group) and Muslims (a barely tolerated minority) erupt into mass ethnic slaughter? In this beautifully written ethnographic account, anthropologist Parvis Ghassem-Fachandi offers an eye witness glimpse into the defining tragedy of recent Indian history: The 2002 massacre of more than a thousand Muslims by Hindu right wing activists in the state of Gujarat. Because he was doing fieldwork in Gujarat’s major city at that time, the author takes full advantage of being in its malignant eye as this hurricane unfolds. He artfully educates the naïve reader (me) about multiple strands propelling the massacre: Rage at centuries -long Muslim conquest beginning in the late middle ages; fears of supposed Muslim hyper- masculinity, accompanied by mythic tales of oversexed males raping Hindu girls; disgust for daring to violate the Hindu imperative not to eat meat (more about this soon).Based on riveting interviews with WELL EDUCATED academic friends and roommates, we see these cardboard stereotypes immediately get activated after a fire at a provincial train station engulfed Hindi pilgrims. We learn how the writer’s close (!) colleagues closed ranks to justify the carnage by saying “they deserved this”. We are horrified to witness Gujarat’s right- wing chief minister Narendra Modi cleverly link the fire to international terrorism (9/11 had happened several months earlier), transforming this local tragedy into a world- wide threat. As the slaughter got going Modi gave the police orders to stand by as a mob invaded Muslim sections of the city, torturing and killing, taking particular delight in raping and impaling women and girls. Though months of conversations with his pious roommate, Bharat, the author shows how easily the Hindu principle of ahimsa (nonviolence) was turned on its head. In one memorable scene Bharat explains how he got sick for days after entering a Muslim shop where raw chickens were displayed. Disgust, fear, and rage made killing the defiled “other” a noble act. Being born into India’s backward classes, Bharat had another motivator: He could satisfy his yearning to feel like a “real” Brahmin by becoming more religiously Hindu than anyone else. As a psychologist (I write textbooks in developmental psychology), I found these analyses fascinating. (I’m taking a reading course in India, a country I knew nothing about several months ago). My only criticism is that- as the author got farther away from his concrete observations- some material became overly abstruse (even for me!).It’s depressing to read this book a day after the El Paso massacre, to know Modi became India’s Prime Minister in 2014 and got re-elected in a landslide in May 2019. So I encourage you to read this book as an example of ethnography at its best, the emotional dynamics of a major Indian city, and, most of all, a cautionary tale for today’s US.Janet Belsky

A bit too academical sometimes but I am already at page 50 and I liked the book so far..Its special because I haven't seen any conspiracy theories in the book so far which has become like a commonplace in books of this genre..Will update this review as I go..5 stars!

Peaceful Religion playing victim card by MSM, throughout the world. Never satisfied & happy anywhere in the world. History knows why they cannot be trusted.