Region, Religion and Riots: Exploring the Cartographies of Communal Violence in Anees Salim’s Vanity Bagh
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.48048/ajac.2027.161Keywords:
Riot, Religion, Region, Hindu nationalism, Differentiated citizenship, Indian Muslims, Spatial exclusionAbstract
Heightened interconnectivity and the negation of the social, political and cultural borders of the nation states have not diluted the evilness of colonial sponsored nationalism in India. In the introduction to The Case of Colonialism Gilley Bruce observes that colonialism can shapeshift into the governing style of post-colonial nations only if the colonized permit. (Gilley 2017:2) The rise of Hindu nationalism in India amidst the strong wave of transnationalism vouch for the long surviving evilness of colonialism. Salim states that religious imperialism is the base of governing style in India, which is anti-secular and brutal in nature. The growth of Hindutva forces and their agenda to create a national religion seems relentless ever since India’s independence. Appeasement of majoritarian religion is a signature practice of colonialism; the Hindutva forces in India ultimately facilitated the rise of religious nationalism through the very same classic colonial method. This method helped them fund and win electoral battles by creating friction between majorities and minorities. Salim places Vanity Bagh at the epicenter of religious polarization that has plagued Indian minorities for decades, with their communities experiencing frequent rioting and sociopolitical turmoil. The paper categorically analyses religious nationalism, problematization of Indian Muslim identity and socio-economic milieu of small towns to investigate the proliferation and rapid normalization of communal riots in India.
Highlights
• The paper investigates the less explored trajectory of communal violence in India.
• The paper analyses Anees Salim’s novel Vanity Bagh through major sociological theories on riots in India
• The study emphasizes on how Indian small towns become a conducive environment for the rapid normalization of riots.
• The factors contributing to the growth of communal disharmony is categorically delineated in the study.
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