| Popis: |
The Ahmedabad riots represented a decisive moment in the evolution of relations between Hindus and Muslims in India. It is worthwhile, despite the attention these riots have already received in the literature, to return to the subject because of the exemplary character of the Ahmedabad flare-up.As has typically been the case with communal disturbances in India, a multitude of causative elements were involved. Social and economic factors connected with the industrial character of Ahmedabad and its recent development as a state capital had undoubtedly contributed to the development of a difficult situation. But it was above all a concatenation of political events which served to set off the troubles at a given moment. On the international scene the fire in the El-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem was to be followed by an Islamic Conference in Rabat. Within India the heightened competition between political tendancies which led to the split in the Congress was accompanied by the growing importance of the Hindu extremist Jan Sangh party.A brief historical treatment of the background in Ahmedabad and in Gujarat introduces a fairly detailed account of the successive phase of the riots. On the basis of the Report of the official Enquiry Commission and of interviews with leading citizens of Ahmedabad, the author attempts to bring out the degree of responsability of the different individuals and groups. The nature and extent of the various short-term and long-term measures which were proposed for reducing the tensions between Hindus and Muslims are also examined.It is worth noting that the calm has been subsequently maintained except for a minor incident in 1973. Whether because the least-privileged elements of the population were satisfied with the promises made to them or with actual improvements in their position, or because of a determination by the leaders of all groups to avoid the risks of a repetition, the waves of agitation which have traversed Gujarat from 1974 to the present have been completely free from any communalist overtones. |
