State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India

252 Pages·2018·5.12 MB·English

by  Santana Khanikar

Title Pages
State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
Santana Khanikar
Print publication date: 2018
Print ISBN-13: 9780199485550
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2019
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199485550.001.0001
Title Pages
Santana Khanikar
(p.i) State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
(p.iii) State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
(p.iv)
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Endorsement
State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
Santana Khanikar
Print publication date: 2018
Print ISBN-13: 9780199485550
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2019
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199485550.001.0001
Endorsement
Santana Khanikar
(p.ii) ‘This unusual book asks an unusual question—how and why do
people find state violence acceptable and even desirable, even when that
violence is turned against them? Khanikar finds her answers in the lived
experiences of ordinary people which embody a curious mix of repulsion,
resignation, a need to incorporate state power to their own ends, and a
craving for respectability. This fascinating book will challenge all those
interested in questions of state power, policing and democracy to rethink
their concepts and strategies.’
—Nandini Sundar, professor of sociology, Delhi School of Economics, New
Delhi, India
‘This is a rigorous ethnographic account of violence which is authorized by
the state and gives it legitimacy. Focusing on people’s memories of state
violence, and violence imbricated in law and order functions of the state,
the author crafts a vivid account of the everyday state and the diverse
imaginations of the political community.’
—Anupama Roy, professor of political science, Jawaharlal Nehru University,
New Delhi, India
‘The book relies on rich ethnographic research to ask difficult questions
about the place of state violence in a constitutional democracy. The
locations that it chooses—a ‘peripheral’ village in Assam and the heartland
that is the capital of Delhi—allows for a remarkable study in the contrasts
and collusion between the extraordinary armed violence of armed
militancy and the Indian army and the more everyday violence of the Delhi
police. Such a study has not been attempted before and is therefore a
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Endorsement
singularly important contribution towards understanding the inextricability
of state violence and constitutional democracy in contemporary times.’
—Sanghamitra Misra, assistant professor, Department of History,
University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
‘What is the threshold of state violence that leads to a loss of its
legitimacy? Santana Khanikar’s wonderful book reminds us of the urgency
to study state violence, policing practices, and legitimacy of political
authority as central problems in political theory, and contemporary
scholarship on India. Khanikar brilliantly dissects the distinction between
police violence in routine contexts and army violence in conflict areas
pointing to the centrality of violence in everyday lives of people across
India. Through powerful ethnographic work, and insightful textual
analysis, Khanikar both details the foundational violence and chillingly
explains how political authority gets legitimized in conditions of
normalized violence.’
—Jinee Lokaneeta, associate professor, Drew University, USA
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Map and Figures
State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
Santana Khanikar
Print publication date: 2018
Print ISBN-13: 9780199485550
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2019
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199485550.001.0001
(p.vii) Map and Figures
Santana Khanikar
Map
5.1 Upper Dihing Reserved Forest 140
Figures
5.1 News versus rumours 154
5.2 ULFA by unlawful assembly 155
5.3 Suspect revolutionary 155
5.4 Terror of indigenous explosive device 156
5.5 Business as usual 156
5.6 Militancy and jobs 158
5.7 Gestures of goodwill 158
5.8 War tourism 159
5.9 Anti-insurgency strategizing 159 (p.viii)
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Acknowledgements
State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
Santana Khanikar
Print publication date: 2018
Print ISBN-13: 9780199485550
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2019
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199485550.001.0001
(p.ix) Acknowledgements
Santana Khanikar
The journey through this work, which began as a doctoral project, had allowed
me to gather several friendships, and a lot of debts which I would never be able
to repay. I want to thank the Sonowal family in Laupoti village, Deepak Gogoi
from Pandhowa, Sewali Neog, Durga Dutta, members of the Digboi regional
committee of the Moran Chatro Santha, Lalit Chandra Gogoi, and the numerous
other people in and around Lakhipathar who I have failed to name here but who
hosted me warmly at their homes, who agreed to reopen and narrate their
difficult pasts to me, who often took my work as seriously as if it is their own,
and trusted me enough to tell their life-stories.
The fieldwork in Delhi too was possible because of the cooperation of various
people. I thank the Deputy Commissioner of Police of the North West district of
Delhi for permitting me to observe the daily working of a police station very
closely. The numerous officers, men and women, of various ranks serving in
different police stations of Delhi, whom I cannot acknowledge by name due to
requirements of anonymity, took me as a friend despite not being sure what I am
going to write about them. The families and acquaintances of custody death
victims, and other sufferers of police violence, had spoken to me, a stranger that
I was, letting me peep into their private lives, which many of us would guard
very fiercely.
I am thankful to the newspapers, The Assam Tribune and the Dainik Asam for
permitting me to use cartoons originally published in their newspapers and for
making arrangements for me to access them. (p.x) I thank Sunil Sejwal,
cartographer in the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru
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Acknowledgements
University, who has beautifully recreated a faded map that I collected from
Assam State Archives.
Journalist and democratic rights activist Ashis Gupta had shared with me his
vast knowledge of the political history of Assam and introduced me to several
people in Assam whom I interviewed for this work. Pranjit Saikia contributed
right from the beginning of the work, helping me to choose Lakhipathar as one
of my field-sites, through discussions on various aspects of politics in Assam, and
with logistics until the final preparation of the work. Utpal Tahbildar has helped
with collection of material from Guwahati. Debajit Nath took me to Lakhipathar
for the first time. The community of friends at Peoples Union for Democratic
Rights (PUDR) has been a guidance and support in many ways.
I discussed my work at various stages with Nandini Sundar, Nivedita Menon, P.K.
Datta, Anupama Roy, and Jinee Lokaneeta and received very helpful feedback. I
thank them for their constant encouragement.
Parts of the work were presented at seminars and workshops at Political Science
department of Delhi University, at Gadjah Mada University, at Indraprastha
College, Delhi, the CSSS cultural studies workshop, at a symposium and a
conference of LASSNet, the BIARI workshop at Brown University, and at the
University of Liverpool. I benefitted from the interactions and feedback received
at all these places.
I thank the staff of the following libraries for their support: Political Science
Departmental Library, Delhi University; Ratan Tata Library, DSE; Central
Reference Library and the South Campus Library of Delhi University; Nehru
Memorial Museum and Library; District Library at Guwahati; library of the
Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati; the
library of the Sadin newspaper group; Central Library JNU; Sydney Jones Library
at the University of Liverpool; and the British Library, London. The staff at the
Assam State Archives was also very helpful.
The research fellowship received from University Grants Commission and the
UTA-ship provided by the University of Delhi, gave me the much needed
economic independence to focus on this research and to complete my PhD. A
postdoctoral fellowship, which I availed briefly from the Institute of Economic
Growth, Delhi, and my stint as an India (p.xi) Fellow at the University of
Liverpool also helped by offering time and resources for research and writing.
Friendships of both academic and personal nature have played an important part
in sustaining me through the difficult journey of doing a PhD and preparing the
dissertation for publication. I thank Anusha, Anushka, Indrajit, Kamal, Kasturi,
Mithilesh, Neelam, Preeti, Shefali, Subarta, Tarangini, and Vikas.
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Acknowledgements
Ujjwal Kumar Singh, my doctoral supervisor, has been a tower of support
throughout and beyond my PhD research. Apart from being a great teacher and
guide, his humility, friendship and encouragement, and the very fact that he
listened to me with so much patience and attention every time I had to tell a
story, gave me the courage to write.
My sisters Juri and Mamun have given me immense love, support, and
encouragement. My brothers-in-law Utpal and Pranjit have not only offered
brotherly love, but have also saved me from many familial concerns while
burdening themselves with those. I thank my parents for their faith in me, and
for teaching all three of their daughters through example to be courageous and
perseverant. I thank my parents-in-law, aunt-in-law Bhani piti, and sister-in-law
Hironmoyee for their encouragement in my academic endeavours. I thank
Abhigyan, Misi, Emon, Jun, Dhan, and Dhunu for their love. My husband
Shantanu has shared the pains and happiness throughout the process of what at
times seemed to be a never-ending project, and often bore with my seven-days-a-
week work schedules. Without his unflinching love and friendship, the pleasure
of writing this book would have been much less.
Last but not the least, I extend my gratitude to the team at Oxford University
Press for their support at various stages of the manuscript and for seeing it
through to the end. (p.xii)
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Abbreviations
State, Violence, and Legitimacy in India
Santana Khanikar
Print publication date: 2018
Print ISBN-13: 9780199485550
Published to Oxford Scholarship Online: March 2019
DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780199485550.001.0001
(p.xiii) Abbreviations
Santana Khanikar
AASU
All Assam Students Union
ACP
Assistant Commissioner of Police
AFSPA
Armed Forces Special Powers Act
AGP
Asom Gana Parishad
ASI
Assistant Sub Inspector
ASTC
Assam State Transport Corporation
ATO
Anti Terrorist Operations Officer
BC
Bad Character
CCTV
Closed-circuit television
CP
Commissioner of Police
CPI (M)
Communist Party of India (Marxist)
CrPC
Criminal Procedure Code of 1973
CRPF
Central Reserve Police Force
DCP
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Abbreviations
Deputy Commissioner of Police
DD
Daily Diary
DDA
Delhi Development Authority
DO
Duty Officer
FIR
First Information Report
IO
Investigating Officer
IOC
Indian Oil Corporation
IPC
Indian Penal Code
LP School
Lower Primary School
MCD
Municipal Corporation of Delhi
ME School
Middle English School
NAGP
Natun Asom Gana Parishad (p.xiv)
NCRB
National Crime Records Bureau
NHRC
National Human Rights Commission
POTA
Prevention of Terrorist Activities Act
PLP
Purbanchalio Loka Parishad
PS
Police Station
PSI
Probationary Sub Inspector
PSU
Public Sector Undertaking
PUDR
Peoples Union for Democratic Rights
SHO
Station House Officer
SI
Sub Inspector
SP
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