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Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life: Hindus and Muslims in India |
Author: Ashutosh Varshney
Published: 2003-02-08 |
List price: $19.95
Our price: $15.56
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As of: January 08th, 2009 04:45:49 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Excellent book!!
This very compelling book tells the story of Hindu-Muslim violence in India not by relying on a hunch, or ideological predisposition, but by drawing on hard data. Tightly written, the book will make you think about ethnic violence in a systematic and intelligent manner. The author's significant argument that civil society is implicated in preventing riots in certain Indian cities has important implications both at the personal as well as the political level. For it makes us ask ourselves, as citizens how does our participation or non participation in civic life impact Hindu-Muslim relations in our cities? Furthermore, how can the state and international agencies encourage and entrench the kind of civic behavior that diminishes the prospect of conflict turning into riots? Should be read by all concerned citizens.
 Biased and incorrect historically... must be at least sympathetic to their co-citizens
Mr. Ashutosh has taken a very controversial subject but the high ground he had to take with integrity in dealing with such a sensitive subject is missing.
He is blaming Muslims for the riots. Nothing can be further than the truth. Muslims are not in power hence can do nothing with no administration and police support. They don't make policies nor laws and have practically no say in any thing. One wonders how one can orchestrate riots that Mr. AShutosh is accusing the Muslims of. Defies logic.
The problem is they have been sidelined from all departments of Indian and State Governments as a matter of State Policies. They have been singled out for discrimination in all walks of life. Without State Policy helping them to be driven out of the mainstream this could not happen.
Muslims are also Indians and must not be discriminated at any cost. Their presence must be made to be felt in all Government and Private services, only then can we say that we are a great secular democracy. They are a sizable chunk of the Indian population. Rajiv Gandhi at least had realised the need to uplift Muslims and was thinking in the right direction until Narasimha Rao took over and derailed the process yet again.
The problem is Muslims do not read the constitution and take people like Narasimha Rao and Narender Modi to courts.
I plead with Mr. Ashutosh to be more sympathetic to their co-citizens and understand their needs and plight. It hardly matters what religion one propheses in a secular India. Or does it?
Book does not deserve schlorship
Mr. Varshney seems to have some agenda with this book.This book with it emphasis tries to blame muslims for the instigators of all riots . May I suggest another book called "The production of Hindu muslim violence "by Paul Brass . This book is more balanced and deals very well the real issues of riots . Infact Mr. Varshney was so critical of this book that he misquotes the authors intention and harshly critisizes his schlorly work in his review with the Times of India.In reply, Mr. Brass posts his objections and analysis about criticism from Mr. Varshney in a poignant and subtle manner.
Groundbreaking research
I've worked and taught in the field of peacebuilding for 25 years and consider this book the single most important research that has been done in the field. Varshney breaks new ground in conducting indepth research into why some cities in India into fell into violence and some did not during times of high national tension. He presents clear and extremely useful findings about what is useful and what is not useful in resisting violence. Specifically, his research shows that creating structures that bring people together to work for a common cause or benefit(such as Hindu-Muslim traders cooperatives, joint community development committees, peace committees, etc.) has a marked effect in reducing violence. I present Varshney's findings in a variety of settings worldwide and find audiences always highly responsive. My students love the book and find Varshney's ideas so clear and insightful that the often refer back to him later. This book in my view is an example of scholarship at its best: well-designed, provocative, clear in its conclusions. On top of that is it unusually lucid in writing style. I consider it a "classic" - a book that will endure for many years and that deserves to be on the shelf of any serious student of ethnic or religious violence. You can read the first and last few chapters and get the real benefits of the book. Ron Kraybill
Professor of Conflict Transformation
Eastern Mennonite University
Disappointing!
Varshney had the opportunity to examine the Hindu-Muslim divide in India using fresh glasses, and he has failed at it. His book is a litany of hackneyed generalizations and simplistic arguments.
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