[Reader-list] Book on Gujarat

[Monica Narula]

  Gujarat: The Making of a Tragedy

Edited by Siddharth Varadarajan

Penguin, 2002, pp 472, Rs 295/-

The events at Godhra and the ensuing communal carnage in Gujarat, 
like the Babri Masjid demolition and the 1984 massacres, constitute 
an ugly chapter of our contemporary history. For the sheer brutality, 
persistence and widespread nature of the violence, especially against 
women and children, the complicity of the State, the ghettoization of 
communities, and the indifference of civil society, Gujarat has 
surpassed anything we have experienced in recent times. That this 
happened in one of India’s most ‘well off’ and ‘progressive’ states, 
the home of the Mahatma, is all the more alarming.

This book is intended to be a permanent public archive of the tragedy 
that is Gujarat. Drawing upon eyewitness reports from the English, 
Hindi and regional media, citizens’ and official fact-finding 
commissions – and articles by leading public figures and 
intellectuals – it provides a chilling account of how and why the 
state was allowed to burn.

With an overview by the editor, the reader covers the circumstances 
leading up to Godhra and the violence in Ahmedabad, Baroda and rural 
Gujarat. Separate sections deal with the role of the police, Sangh 
Parivar, media and the tribals, the international implications of the 
violence, the problems of relief and rehabilitation of the victims, 
and, above all, their quest for justice. The picture that emerges is 
deeply disturbing, for Gujarat has exposed the ease with which the 
rights of citizens, and especially minorities, can be violated with 
official sanction. The lessons of the violence ought to be heeded and 
acted upon by the public. For, in the absence of this, can another 
Gujarat be prevented from happening elsewhere?

The royalties and a matching share of the proceeds from the sale of 
this book will go towards relief for Gujarat riot victims.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Chronicle of a Tragedy Foretold Siddharth Varadarajan

The Violence: The Carnage at Godhra Jyoti Punwani * A License to 
Kill: Patterns of Violence in Gujarat Nandini Sundar * Narratives 
from the Killing Fields * When Guardians Betray: The Role of the 
Police Teesta Setalvad * An Open Letter to My Fellow Police Officers 
Vibhuti Narain Rai *  ‘Nothing New?’: Women as Victims Barkha Dutt, 
Women’s Panel,  PUCL-Vadodara and Shanti Abhiyan *  Tribal Voice and 
Violence G.N. Devy *  The Violence in Gujarat and the Dalits Mohandas 
Namishray *  The Truth Hurts: Gujarat and the Role of the Media 
Siddharth Varadarajan, Rajdeep Sardesai,  PUCL-Vadodara and Shanti 
Abhiyan, Anil Chamaria

The Aftermath: Little Relief, No Rehabilitation People’s Union for 
Democratic Rights * Apart, Yet a Part: Ghettoisation, Trauma—and Some 
Rays of Hope * The Elusive Quest for Justice: Delhi 1984 to Gujarat 
2002 Vrinda Grover * India’s Reaction to International Concern A.G. 
Noorani

Essays and Analyses: The Dialogue of Vali Gujarati and Hanumanji 
Ranjana Argade * Genocide of the Idea of Gujarat Shail Mayaram * The 
Pathology of Gujarat Achyut Yagnik * Caste, Hindutva and the Making 
of Mob Culture Ghanshyam Shah * The VHP Needs to Hear the 
Condemnation of the Hindu Middle Ground Ramachandra Guha * Where Will 
it End? Mahasweta Devi * Modi and Kalinga? Thrice Impossible, Brother 
Gill Prakash N. Shah * Just Another Day in Ahmedabad Gurpal Singh * I 
Salute You Geetaben, From the Bottom of My Heart Siddharth Varadarajan

Appendices: Prime Minister Vajpayee’s speech at Goa/A Brief 
Chronology of Events/Akshardham and After





-- 
Monica Narula
Sarai:The New Media Initiative
29 Rajpur Road, Delhi 110 054
www.sarai.net