Centre for the Study of Social Systems
School of Social Sciences
CSSS Colloquium
TANWEER FAZAL
(Associate Professor, CSSS, JNU)
Will be presenting a paper on
The Production of ‘Truth’ and the culture of Impunity: State Practices in Times of Collective Violence
Date & Time: October 30, 2018 (Tuesday), 3.30 pm
Venue: CSSS Committee Room (No: 13), SSS-II
Abstract: What follows most cases of mass violence is the institution of a riot inquiry commission to ascertain the cause or the trigger, to identify key perpetrators, assess the scale and magnitude, spot administrative lapses and to explore the possibilities of justice. For Blom Hansen, the appointment of a commission serves the state’s sublime functions as opposed to its more profane ones and helps in the restoration of its lost credibility amongst the victims of violence. In this paper, I intend to study the two reports of the Bhagalpur Riots Inquiry Commission, one by the chairperson and the other by the members of the Commission. In October-November, 1989, Bhagalpur, a district town in South-east Bihar, was in the grip of mass violence directed largely against its Muslim populace. The three member Commission of Inquiry was instituted in 1990 to investigate the origins, perpetrators, complicity of the state functionaries and the role of political parties in the carnage. The Commission examined 126 witnesses, found that the riots had engulfed more than 250 villages, and left more than 900 dead. It is interesting to note that despite the commonality of procedure, evidence and witnesses, the Commission ended up submitting two different reports— utterly opposed to each other. With this as the backdrop, the paper quizzes the practices of the state in the process of the making of truth, particularly in conflict situation, the costs at stake and the dynamics of power at play. Ultimately, the truth so produced serves to extend impunity to the perpetrators and the complicit officials.
Bio: Dr. Tanweer Fazal is Associate Professor at Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a political sociologist, he specializes in sociology of nationalism(s), community formation and identifications with specific focus on their implications on discourse of rights and entitlements. He is the author of Nation-state’ and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities, published by Routledge (London), 2015 and Minority Nationalisms in South Asia (ed.), Routledge(London), 2012. In addition, he has edited special issues of journals, South Asia History and Culture (2012), Seminar (2016) and Indian Anthropologist (2017). Email: fazaltanweer@yahoo.co.in
