Delhi shows India's new direction. An election defeat of the Bharatiya Janata Party which tried its best polarise the electorate. It gives two important lessions, first, service delivery pays and second, polarisation is not always secures electoral dividend. However, the North East Delhi riot which began in 23rd February is indicative to the heavy price that people need to pay in name of politics. Its extremely difficult to write or to know the reality through the news reports in India. More so, because the one sided accentuation of the news channels. News doesn't display what is happening but display perspectives and the public sphere can then decide on which one to follow to form their own opinions and participate in a debate. It happens to be the worst kind of a situation where no matter how hard you try, its extremely difficult to stand on your ground based on the information you are getting. I have been relying on a particular news channel NDTV partly because it poses critical questions without getting emotional about it and partly because it still delivers a lot of contents.
However, a relatively more powerful tool which I use is ethnography. Along with my like minded friends at AAMRA ek Sachetan Prayas Forum, I am conducting ethnographic research on the issues such as political violence, grassroots politics for over a decade now. However, his experience is relatively confined mostly to my home state of West Bengal. Because I do not have the fund or am not allowed to go on long vacation for conducting fieldwork in other parts of the country. While, I was closely following the communal riots in my own state through ethnography, I am taking a close look at Delhi incident through news channels mostly by NDTV and through a particular news paper The telegraph.
My reading and field experience reveals a striking similarity in "Manufacturing the polarisation" in West Bengal and also recently in Delhi
Let us see the design of such a manufacture.
A. The Construction of Others:
It is seen that there are different 'successful' mechanisms to construct the "us/them" boundary, or rejuvenate such boundary principals. It is partly based the primordial identity sentiments stemmed from 'different' cultural practices and partition memory and party based on newly founded hoaxes like Hindurashtra, Ghusbethiya (Infiltrators), Job eaters, illegitimate occupants (person who is not supposed to live here, because of some weird reason ranging from having skull-cap to participating in a particular rallies). Because, a section of public intellectuals have actually supported the cause of such 'others' they are also branded as others in innovative connotations like 'urban naxal', 'anti-nationals.'
Once such connotation/category is widely popularised it becomes a portable tool to identify a wide section of the populace to be confronted with. So, now you have a handy device to construct the 'other' through the degree or extent of their otherness and then based on the available resources you can decide on what can be done on the other. Such actions range from online bullying to murder (remember Gauri Lankesh), from lynching to riot.
Accordingly, in order to operationalise the grand scheme you need resources.
B. The Resources:
Although, there is an attempt in each of the riots that has taken place in West Bengal to project them as a spontaneous outcome of the hatred (Dhulagarh), religious procession (Asansol, Naihati-Hajinagar), or viral facebook post (Baduria-Basirhat), in each of the interveiws people commonly expressed that there were 'outsiders' and there were 'insiders' explaining the 'geography' to them. The outsiders are the organised forces that successfully conduct the riots both in Bengal and now as it appears from several direct responses by the citizens, in Delhi as well. See the Prime-Time news cover by Ravish Kumar on 27.02.2020 on Delhi riot. Especially at the section where his team finds out the people who saved each others and common people who mentioned the presence of the outsiders.
The contention becomes even clearer as one gets to know that country-made guns and other weapons entered Delhi from Western Uttar Pradesh (https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/delhi-violence-countrymade-guns-from-west-up-weapons-of-all-shapes-used-in-riots/story-uVOk0GaAkHZCj7UHox8C3M.html)
Although I have limited understanding of the nature of these goons and their mode of operation, I have however interviewed a section of goons like this during the end of Left Politics in West Bengal, when there were armed mercenaries (popularly Harmad) were posted in different villages in the forested districts of West Bengal. These are a section of uneducated, unemployable, notorious youths. Who are usually ready to do anything in exchange of money, liquor and women. You have them they are yours. I failed to see any ideological orientation of these goons, but yes they had a hatred towards the Maoists. That partly because they were supposed to fight them and partly because they were rejected by the villagers many of whom actually had sympathies towards the Maoists.
There is a rough similarities between the goons that I had encountered in my fieldwork about ten years ago and now. They are young, notorious and has little care for social order or any sort of ethical principles.
Who are they?
Trust me, they are not alien from a different planet. They are living among us. You might have encountered one of them today while crossing the road or buying vegetable from the local shop. You might have seen him in the underconstructed apparent in your neighbourhood.
They are specialists, specialised in rootlessness, uselessness and lack of baggages (familial, local or ideological).
C. Use of Resources:
What happens when you can connect the otherness with the resources to be used in annihilation? Delhi is a perfect example of such a connect. Its an organised move towards such annihilation. The goons we are watching on television screen, forwarded through our whatsapp and facebook videos are the outcome of what happens when such a connection is established. Shaheen bagh protest model which was a kindle to an otherwise darkness engulfed country has been systematically targeted by the administrative mechanisms, in different ways. First, during the Delhi election Shaheen Bagh protest has been shown as the reason for choking of Delhi traffic. Common people ranging from Auto drivers to workers made to feel disgusted as the popular narrative of sad traffic condition due to the protest was floated. Meanwhile reports (Click here) have come that there are alternative roads which could help traffic go smoothly but not allowed to be opened. The image below is an example.
If Shaheen Bagh protest was a positive hope for many, the regressive righ wingers easily projected it to be a threat towards Hindu majority and that Muslims are going high-handed. Following is a list of four such hatespeeches on record which the Delhi High Court played and ordered FIR against all such hatespeeches been delivered.
Even after a defeat in the Delhi Assembly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) continued to spill the hate mongering, inspiring its followers to become more aggressive.
Such aggressive hatespeeches do have consequences. In each of the riots that has happened in West Bengal, there is a significant presence of hatespeech delivered by people occupying the positions of power. In Baduria-Basirhat, there were instances of hatespeech delivery by locally influencial leaders. People alleged a cross border influence, as they have heard that there were instances of hatespeech delivered from Mosques located on the other side of the river Ichhamati, however, during the riot there were instances of hatespeech. Similarly, in Rejinagar, Murshidabad the attack on Pir-panths by the Sharia panths was organised and channelised by the local Mosques through hatespeech. Apart from that, the rallies, filled with competing politico-communal forces are always mutually exclusive and echoed with hatespeech that often resulted in the violence, like what has happened in Asansol-Ranigunj and the dynamics of Ram Navami celebration.
If Shaheen Bagh protest was a positive hope for many, the regressive righ wingers easily projected it to be a threat towards Hindu majority and that Muslims are going high-handed. Following is a list of four such hatespeeches on record which the Delhi High Court played and ordered FIR against all such hatespeeches been delivered.
Such aggressive hatespeeches do have consequences. In each of the riots that has happened in West Bengal, there is a significant presence of hatespeech delivered by people occupying the positions of power. In Baduria-Basirhat, there were instances of hatespeech delivery by locally influencial leaders. People alleged a cross border influence, as they have heard that there were instances of hatespeech delivered from Mosques located on the other side of the river Ichhamati, however, during the riot there were instances of hatespeech. Similarly, in Rejinagar, Murshidabad the attack on Pir-panths by the Sharia panths was organised and channelised by the local Mosques through hatespeech. Apart from that, the rallies, filled with competing politico-communal forces are always mutually exclusive and echoed with hatespeech that often resulted in the violence, like what has happened in Asansol-Ranigunj and the dynamics of Ram Navami celebration.
d. The Geography of violence:
There is a geographic feature of the Delhi violence which is roughly parallel to what happened in many places in West Bengal in recent past. The following image (by National Herald) clearly reflects the violence has a connection with the borders of the Uttar Pradesh and are the pockets where 'incidentally' BJP has the majority.
When I was conducting fieldwork on the communal violence in West Bengal a geographical feature was notable in several cases. For example in Naihati-Hajinagar which was one local teachers mentioned "mini-India" because of its population dynamics. With the Jute-mill concentration these are the places where people all over the India has immigrated and eventually settled down. There is a high concentration of so called 'hindi belt' population as well. Same is the case with Kankinara-Bhatpara where the politico-religious conflict continued for months before, during and after the Parliamentary election. Once one reaches there one can easily see the compressed co-existence of Hindu-Muslim living with extremely inhuman condition. The community toilet doesnt have privacy and people are supposed to excrete openly in a confined place one of which once blasted killing three. The community bathing system will remind you of a concentration camp and filthy drainage will not let you have your meal properly. Yet, instead of raising voices against such exploitation which is continuing since the British period they keep on fighting an impossible Hindu-Muslim battle. The communal upsurge in Delhi has happened in places which roughly correspond to the geography in Bengal where construction of identity fault line is relatively easier.
Hence, in such places in Bengal has seen a sudden upsurge in 'invented traditions' - performances which were never part of wide popular tradition in Bengal. The examples include Ganga Aarati in smaller scales and Ram Navami rallies in larger scale. These, along with numerous temple based organisations have formed a living display of political religion and brought back the identity issues in public discourse. Such pockets as Naihati-Hajinagar, Chandannagore, Dhulagarh, Baduria-Basirhat can reflect on the manufacturing polarisaiton in pockets of North-East Delhi.
Hence, in such places in Bengal has seen a sudden upsurge in 'invented traditions' - performances which were never part of wide popular tradition in Bengal. The examples include Ganga Aarati in smaller scales and Ram Navami rallies in larger scale. These, along with numerous temple based organisations have formed a living display of political religion and brought back the identity issues in public discourse. Such pockets as Naihati-Hajinagar, Chandannagore, Dhulagarh, Baduria-Basirhat can reflect on the manufacturing polarisaiton in pockets of North-East Delhi.
e. Administrative Delay:
In each of the cases in West Bengal, there was a great absence of administrative intervention. In each of the cases in West Bengal police reached at least two to three hours after the riot has started and then it took days for them to contend the situation. In some cases like Baduria-Basirhat the violence continued for months because it became unpredictable for the administration to even sense where the new violence might erupt. Meanwhile, shops are looted, and set ablaze, people are injured and killed. Delhi has shown worse form of administrative inaction. The Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal demanded army intervention (click here) to contend the situation which only reflects the helplessness of the police administration in contending the situation.In each of the cases in West Bengal wherever the riot expanded, it could expand primarily because of the delayed response from the administration. AAMRA in several cases has requested to interview the local police in order to know their response, but were always rejected by them.
The ray of hope in otherwise gloomy situation is in Ravish Kumar's report which mentions several instances of communal harmony from within the residential colonies, which reinforces the designed nature of violence which shook the entire nation of a terror that has all probabilities to be unfolded at large scale.
