Log toot jate jain ek ghar banane mein, tum taras khate nahin bastiyan jalane mein. This couplet, written by the famous Urdu poet Bashir Badr after his house was burnt in a communal riot in Meerut in 1987, reflects the sentiments of a large number of Indians who have suffered communal prejudice in one form or the other. Communal riots have become a part of Indian psyche; we live with it, albeit with a feeling of pain and remorse.
The Allahabad High Court’s judgment on the 60-year-old Ayodhya issue on September 24, 2010 may trigger another round of communal frenzy if we do not bury the past. Why is it that six decades since Independence, the country still suffers from communal riots and we are not able to do much about it? Why has the problem of communal riots not been resolved with the passing of the years? People are killed, women are raped, children are burnt alive, houses are set ablaze, and the country witnesses all this with a sense of loss.
As such, it is important that this recurring and entrenched problem has attracted the attentions of P K Lahiri, who has had a distinguished career in the civil service as an Indian Administrative Service officer spanning 36 years. Lahiri, who served as secretary in the ministries of mines and finance, had earned a reputation for being upright, fearless and honest. Lahiri has several encounters with communal riots during his career, and his experiences and sharp sense of social responsibility in dealing with this problem have probably prompted him to explore the subject. He does so with both objectivity and a personal touch that lend greater credence to his arguments. Thus, Decoding Intolerance: Riots and the Emergence of Terrorism in India is a very different kind of book that provides a hands-on analysis of a social reality that India and Indians need to understand and face.
Lahiri explores the situation and raises many startling questions — to which he also provides credible answers. From an insightful description of the nature of “communalism” and its “use” and “misuse” in India to a dispassionate description of Hindu-Muslim riots with their various dynamics, the book does not shy away from the underside of social coexistence, finding hope even in an inveterate problem. It is that supple movement between gloom and sanguinity that makes this loaded analysis of a social issue exciting and readable.
As an insider, Lahiri discusses several archetypal Hindu-Muslim riots in an interwoven narrative that is by turns expressive, striking and shocking. The narrative has a human touch and it displays the author’s concern for human life and dignity. As a result, the reader gets a unique insight into how these riots occur, how they spread and what lessons we can draw on to deal with them more effectively.
The book is of interest to all kinds of readers — civil servants, academics, students, professionals and businessmen — simply because it deals with something that is of importance to all of us. The author does not see the problem of communal riots in isolation and recognises that it is a multi-dimensional issue. As a result, he attempts to deal with it holistically. The book talks of the struggle between liberalism and fundamentalism in Islam; the so-called clash of civilisations; macro issues related to communal conflict in Indian society; and the emergence of terrorism in India. The book, therefore, presents the issue of communal divide between Hindus and Muslims in a broader social framework that helps the reader understand the issue with all its associated complexities.
The author deplores the myths created by far-right politicians and political thinkers about India’s largest minority. Myths such as the demographic danger due to the growing Muslim population, the dangers posed by the rising population of Bangladeshi infiltrators, and the immediate need for a uniform civil code for the social well-being of the nation are not only exposed, they are plainly rejected on the basis of factual data. Lahiri being a rationalist raises several fundamental questions about these issues and provides answers that will be difficult to reject for their truth and honesty.
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However, the most striking feature of the book is not the boldness with which Lahiri asserts that the Hindutva movement has by design damaged the Hindu-Muslim fabric like nothing else by creating an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and hostility, nor his bold assertions about the dangers of narrow and sectarian variety of any religion. The most remarkable feature of the book is, in fact, the hope and positivity that he tries to impart by encouraging us to develop a sectarian consensus and understand the need to revive and re-establish harmonious relations between Hindus and Muslims. His observation that despite the large number of killings in communal clashes, communal violence is still an urban phenomenon, provides considerable hope and solace. The fact that the communal venom is not as widespread in the country as is generally believed is soothing.
All in all, Decoding Intolerance: Riots and the Emergence of Terrorism in India is a book worth reading for several reasons. At places, it touches the heart but most of the time, it explores the issue with singular objectivity. It raises pertinent social questions but provides satisfactory answers, all of this in a style that is engaging and readable.
DECODING INTOLERANCE
Prateep K Lahiri
Roli Books
286 pages; Rs 395
