SECTARIANISM, POLITICS AND DEVELOPMENT

This compilation of eleven essays by academics, social workers and human rights activists examines the impact of sectarianism on politics and development with a focus on Gujarat. The politics in the name of religion has been a major phenomenon in India in general and in Gujarat in particular. This sectarian politics has had great impact on various aspects of civic and political life in the state. The essays present a backdrop of political developments in the state during the last five decades. The dynamics of social classes has seen a major transition during these decades and the emerging upper caste/affluent sections have dominated the lower caste/deprived sections of society through various social-economic mechanisms. These new dominant castes have assumed the role of subjugating the weaker sections of society by resorting to politics in the name of religion. This politics has affected the lives of Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalized sections by further marginalizing them in the process of development. It has also affected the ecology of the state very adversely. The impact of violence on the lives of women, particularly minority women, is also examined. The human rights of the large sections have been pushed back and the process of marginalization and resultant insecurity of minorities has intensified. In this scenario, the process of rehabilitation and reconciliation has also been examined. The essays are in-depth studies and also cover the pattern of land acquisition and agrarian struggles in the state.

Uday Mehta is a sociologist with broad interdisciplinary background. He received his SSA and Ph.D. from TISS and Mumbai University respectively. He has made immense contribution to the field of sociology through many of his books, such as Agrarian Strategies in India, State Secularism and Religion: Western and Indian Experience (co-editor: Asghar Ali Engineer), and Modern God Men in India. He has also contributed articles in various anthologies. Presently, he is involved in various social movements like Housing Rights and Preservation of Secular Values in the country.

Ram Puniyani, former Professor, IIT, Mumbai has been working for the promotion of plural, secular democratic values since 1992. He has been writing on these issues regularly, and also conducting workshops and delivering lectures on themes like threat of fundamentalism, communalism, and terrorism. He has written several books, viz., Contours of Hindu Rashtra, Communal Politics: Facts versus Myths, Religion Power and Violence, Mumbai Post 26/11, Second Assassination of Gandhi and Dalits and Social Justice.

He has received many awards for promoting communal harmony and is also associated with Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, Mumbai.