Communal Violence

  • Assam: Ethnic Communal Divides to the Fore

    Ram Puniyani The recent (May 01, 2014) violence in Kokrajhar, Baska killing 32 Bengali speaking Muslims is one more reminder of the seeping Bodo-Muslim tension in the region. This violence is being attributed to Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), whose legislator Pramila Rani Brahma allegedly stated that her party candidate and Assam minister may not win…

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  • Polarization with a difference: Muzaffarnagar Violence

    Ram Puniyani Communal violence has been the bane of Indian society, more so from last three decades. One can see its coming up prominently from 1893 to begin with and then it went through different phases. It became stronger after 1937, peaked in 1946 and then the post partition holocaust shattered the lives of lakhs…

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  • Kandhamal Violence -5 Years Later

    Ram Puniyani This August 25, 2013, it will be five years, since the biggest anti Christian, violence, biggest communal violence in the Adivisi area, will complete five years. What has been the plight of the victims of the violence after this ghastly tragedy? What is the state of justice to the victim? Kandhamal violence began…

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  • Communal Violence: Who is to be blamed?

    Ram Puniyani A friend with dogged determination to show that the BJP is a lesser culprit of communal violence and that Congress is the major party to be blamed, listed the major communal riots in India and showed that most of the time when violence took place, it was Congress which has been the ruling…

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  • Myanmar Communal Violence- a Set back to Democratic Process

    Ram Puniyani Most of the countries of South Asia have faced the barbaric problem of violence targeted against religious minorities. The form of this may have been different, but the outcome has been similar, the brutality against religious minorities, violence against innocent human beings. The current times (Mid 2013) may be one of the worst…

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  • Dhule Violence: Changing Anatomy of Communal Violence

    Ram Puniyani The violence in Dhule Maharashtra seems to be the new face of communal violence in India. As per the report of a major national daily (Jan 26, 2013), the evidence with the newspaper shows the evidence of police looting and destroying the property. The video clips in possession of the civil society groups…

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  • Babri Demolition: Two Decades Later

    Ram Puniyani Twenty years ago (December 6, 1992) on this fateful day, Babri Mosque was demolished. This demolition remains a major blot in the history of India. It was the act of demolition by communal forces which reflected the changing polity of India and it in turn further changed the polity in a very adverse…

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  • Persistence of a Sore: Communal Violence Today

    Ram Puniyani The events taking place in different parts of the country in October-November 2012 have been very disturbing to say the least. It is the continuance and recurrence of communal events, communal violence in different parts of the country, in UP, Assam and Hyderabad in particular. In UP since the Akhilesh Yadav Government has…

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  • Striving for Just Society

    Ram Puniyani The verdict of magistrate Dr. Jyotsna Yagnik, sentencing Dr. Maya Kodnani, Babu Bajrangi and others to long imprisonment (31 August, 2012) has come as a big relief to the victims of Naroda Patiya, for whom it was like return of Eid to their houses. Naroda Patiya had witnessed horrific carnage and acts of rape in…

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  • Riot with Many Contrasts

    Ram Puniyani India has been the victim of divisive-sectarian violence from more than a century, more particularly after the British implemented their policy of ‘divide and rule’ and encouraged communal formations to flourish. These communal formations, Muslim and Hindu both, in turn spread hatred against the ‘other religious community’ and violence in the name of…

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