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Community Conflicts and the State in India. Edited by AMRITA BASU and ATUL KOHLI. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1998. xi, 287 pp. $29.95 (cloth).
This edited volume addresses the issue of intranational violence, a problem plaguing numerous countries in the aftermath of the Cold War. Whether it is ethnic, religious, or caste based, India has experienced its share of these conflicts. However, where there is diversity and disparate views, violence does not inevitably follow, and when it does, it does not necessarily follow a set pattern. This book, the product of a conference on violence in India held in 1995, explores possible explanations for the varying paths these community conflicts may take.
The volume consists of eight essays covering most of the major conflicts in postindependence India. The one exception, the question of Sikh nationalism in the Punjab, is touched upon only briefly in Atul Kohli's piece. The articles are all case studies, except for the Kohli essay, which sets out a broader theory and, as he notes, "is pitched at a fairly high level of generality" (p. 8). The authors all begin with the assumption that these...