Identity politics in India: Gujarat and Delhi riots

Abstract

Muslims in India have lived alongside Hindus peacefully for many centuries. Yet in the contemporary period some politicians have orchestrated division for political ends, for example, during the Godhra-Gujarat riots in India in 2002 in which there were many Muslim casualties. Critics allege that the ruling party in Gujarat, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and its leader Chief Minister Narendra Modi (now the Prime Minister of India) were responsible for the Godhra-Gujarat riots. Once again, in 2020, under Narendra Modi’s Prime Ministership, riots against the Muslims took place in Delhi. Within the framework of identity politics in India, where religion seems to dominate the social, economic and political spheres, based on my participants interviews, this paper mainly focuses on how the 2002 Gujarat riots impacted on Muslims in Gujarat. Based on other primary sources, this paper also briefly examines the recent 2020 Delhi riots. I conclude that, in the era of identity politics when Muslims form a disadvantaged minority, national and international policy makers should promulgate policies that would improve social cohesion in India.

RAS ID

32568

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2020

Funding Information

University of South Australia in Adelaide

School

School of Arts and Humanities / Centre for Research in Entertainment, Arts, Technology, Education and Communications

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Comments

Kabir, N. A. (2020). Identity politics in India: Gujarat and Delhi riots. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 40(3), 395-409. https://doi.org/10.1080/13602004.2020.1813990

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1080/13602004.2020.1813990