Living with Violence: An Anthropology of Events and Everyday Life

106 Pages·2007·30.9 MB·English

by  Deepak Mehta, Roma Chatterji

Critical Asian Studies

Series Editor: Veena Das
Krieger-Eisenhower Professor of Anthropology
Ichns Hopkins University

Critical Aslan Studies ewoted to in-depth studies of emergent
ssc andaiui pene in the counts othe rn, We
Gpasing the Import may in which the specie and ofen
weer hitore of te tion state hee inuerced the socal
Toumations in this region, the books inthis series leo examine
the procersel of aration, exchange, boundary cossngs inthe
Inge ienties and storie of fae counties ofthe eon. The
thors in this series engage with aocial theory through
Sthmogapicaly grounded feserch and archival Work

Living with Violence

An Anthropology of Events and
Everyday Life

ALTERNATIVE LAW FORUM
LIBRARY
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ACC No. 5) fora.

Meet.

Roma Chatter
‘Deepak Mehta

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4

Contents

ornare by Veena Das
Adbnoulegements

Lis of Abbr

Nation, State and Vislence in Dharavi

Documenes and Testimony: Violence, Winessing
and Sojectivigy inthe Bombay Riots, 1992-93
Boundaries, Names, Aerts: The Rot in Dhar
‘Communal Vitence, Public Spaces and she
‘Unmaking of Men

Pan, Habitation and Shum Redevelopment

The Production of Communiey

Governmental Technologies and lrstintiona Practice
NGOs and the Sha-dnellers Voice

Biography
Inder

181
Foreword

Tris a great pleasure to join my words to those of Roma Chatter
and Deepak Mehta in their orginal and stimulating book, Living,
iuith Violence: Ax Anthropology of Fvents and Sveryday Lif
Tex have been significant debates on communalism.secuarsm,
and the state inthe social scieace literature as well as in public
febetes in Indi. The book makes a critical intervention in ths
tebate fom the unique perspective of evesyéay life: the level of
the local.

‘Chante and Mehta have conducted cenilod ethnographic work
among residents of Dharavi in Bombay (Mumba over the last
‘Several yearsand tracked how whatis often rendered as ‘communal
violence Leas the traces of different kinds of social ranging ftom
that of everyday life in cordlitions of scarcity to rational and
transnational political relations. Their argument is that the
‘commonly held belief that te rot isan expression ofa form of
consciousness particular to India as summarized in the term
‘communal vilence’—encapsulaes the colonial idea of so called
native mentalities and serves to ion out factors that are local,
specific and heterogeneous It also renders the everyday as already
[Bven rather than something thats mae, Its not tha: tke authors
fee 2 seamless continuity between Hindu-Muslim relations in
creneay life and wha is called communal violence in official
prlance and in public debates; nor ¢o they assume thatthe latter
fs purely an exension of the former. The isu as Chatter and
‘Mehta see iti to analyze how suspicion, ost, distance, or
‘hat the philosopher Stanley Cavell calls che ‘small deaths of
terenjday if’ takes lethal forms in the course ofthe unfolding of
vwolence, one expression of whichis the “communal” rot. tis not
‘eisy to delineate clear temporal boundaries of an event such as 2
‘ot for itis not easy to say when it egan and when it ended,
Events, unlike objects, do not have clear boundaries, for acts of
imerprettion and unstable temporalitis are essential to their
definition. For example, the authors show that memories get
‘sedimented into local peographies and in frayed social relations in
Dhara so shat diferent soca! groups come to rely on different
versions of the story ofan event. Thus tis typical that what one

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speciichistory of India and Pakistan orn relation othe demolition
‘ofthe Babri mosque is produced through local practices of naming
‘that simultaneously enact a past and produce a future

‘Along with the stories about the nation, practices of
_governmentality might aso be tacked within the local by listening
to the language in which testimony is offered, fer instance tothe
Srerishna Commission of ingiry. While some of the testimony
escapes the genre in which rots are typically represented in offiia|
discourse, other pars clearly cary the aces of language stabilizes
‘through the colonial archive. Asan example of teformer, Chat
and Mehts show that the analogy’ of epidemics with its artendant
Sites of ancety such as the credulous public and the breakdown
of order, informs the analysis of the Jearned justice—wha’ is
‘emarksble is that this also ges embeded in public speech such
3s that of jouralistie reporting. People ir the locality also talk
About the riots in the course of thei testimony through similar
framing sentences. Chatter and Mehra carefully deploy the tem:
ddangsthtoughout their analysis because this term both absorbs
the officiel notioa of the riot and goes beyond that. Other
Tocutionary utterances that tack the imagination of the state ane
‘ofpractices of governmentlity circulate in the locality in the mode
ofirony. For nstance, one resent tells them how hand he had to
‘wort have his son's deat recorded inthe eyes ofthe government
even though it was already ‘recorded’ in the eyes of God, and
comments that the history of undivided India (and Barat i,
afer all, written in ‘certificates’, The use of irony nowhere
iminishes the sense of being endangered and the ever-present
possibilty that events happening elsewhere such as bomb bless
by hadi or militant groups wil ead to local patterns of relation,
‘Nor do want to suggest that authors present the Muslims ving
in these localities as pure victims or a bate leat the disposal of
the state, Rather there compex interplay between being Misi:
and being Indian that defines thei pace in the Lacal world

“The book establishes the impertance of ethnography conducted
‘over a period of tine, We see how fortunes of residents have gone
Lup oF down. We see how projees of government and the politics
around them have taken place in the gap between policies enc
implementation both for the better and the worse. ‘The book
neither makes a fetish of the local nor dees it rey the idea of
presence, What does show eectiely isthe importance of long:

Herwoed ie

tem ethnography conducted in the same place. The suspicion of
the local in some recent anthropological theory unforeunateiy
feonfuses the ertique of presence as a metaphysical ea with the
frotion of being present w something, The multiplicity of sites
here i present in the local whether in forms of language, or in
documents that circulate, orn the imaginares of tat and NGOs.
‘The notion ofthe emergent actin various theories of action such
as thote of Herbert Mead, Hans Joas and Michael Fisher allows
the authors to show the local as emergent rather than as given
dad thus we can see the simultaneiy of diferent kinds of projec
fof remaking Dhara (eg. through communal violence, threugh
‘Changing lousng policies, through the work of NGOs or other
‘community based organizations) that break the soidty of ary
langle identity. Yer the question of power remains though is
‘eomlours beccme riuch more subte since a clear separation
[Between those who wield power and those who submit to iecannot
be made or rendered in static terms

Let us go back to the question of Dharavi as a slum. In
‘governmental parlance a slum is seen as site of dsonder in the
{ia site where disease and criminality abound, In our recent
‘ork on the state, Deborah Poole and T have characterized such
spaces as consuuting the margins of the state where sat legalisy

“ig mot so much uadone as rinstituted in a diferent modality. 18

‘other infuental works on such margins, many scholars have
eployed concepts sich asthe spectral or hallucinatory writing of
‘the sel. The general idea in such formulations seems to be that
‘the real eludes the inhabitants of these marginal spaces. Chaser
and Mehta taxe account of such theoretical impulses, Their
Fespondents often reer o cataclysmic violence cinematic trmas—
this was the scene stot—or as mere pay, ab when they’ 3a
‘ve were playing India and Pakistan during the its’ Yet te lle
of the residents of Dhara cannot be rendered only in tris of
Joss. The last wo chapters of the book try to locate 2 diferent
kind of politics by locking at the way in which residents have
engaged with both governmental and non-governmental
‘otganizations over the issue of housing,

‘Over the years Dharavi has become not only ene of the most
esearched sites in Bombay but als the home of various kinds of
‘gommianity basec organizations and NGOs. Chater and Mehia
take-up two such organizations and ty to show how their actstes
iin

regarding housing might provide a lens with which to view the
‘changing relations between state and cil o political society. It
‘lear from their astute descriptions that various policies regarding
Inousing have been formulated by various governments in power
Dut that these polices are often stacked next to each other. The
‘resulta multuplicty of ules and egulations and polical actions
by residents of Dhara in consort with echer organzatons. For
cramp, rights of pavement dovellerso- those who had occupied
land tat was never regularized came to be ofcialy recognized
becaise of the databases prepared by community organizations
aad by the agitations around these issues.

“Mound most interesting that some ofthe NGOs ave changed
thei organizational phosopay and now see themseivesas partes
fof the government rather than primarily its critics. A dillerenc way
fof looking at Dharavi has emerged in which international
‘rginizations, state policy, and NGOs have come to see the
Fesidents of Dharav as consumers, future tax payers and property
holders. The heterogeneity ofthe residents in terms of economic
capability is obvious here so that instead of seeing Dharavt as
fccupied by poor people it has been useful to see it equally as
‘Sccupied by those who are income eamers and whose rights ‘0
housing nee to be recognized. There are some spectacular success
stores when ethnically or religiously mixed groups of residents
hhave been alloted apartments i new housing projects, Yet cannot
help sympathizing with the activists of one ofthe community based
‘organizations who were hit by a temble crisis and loss offal:
‘when they realized that some of their own activists had been
faricipants ia the riot as perpetrators. This opens up new
ustions a8 (9 how we should shiak of utban neighoorhoods,
‘he forms that poverty takes and ats relaton to sustainable life
projects as well asthe middle-class desires and their articulation.
fn new kines of networks of affect. Lam grateful forthe honesty
and integrity with which the authors have colaborated with the
rsdents of Dhara to open up these issues for social science
research.

Veena Das

Krieger-Fisenhower
Professor of Anthropology
Johns Hopkins University

teenie

Acknowledgements

‘We have been working in Dharavi since 1994. Along the way we
have incurred debt too nusrerous tobe ited. We would, however,
Hike to acknowledge the vital sid of institutions, groupe and
fanlvdunls that eave exercised formative influence on the writing,
Of this volume.

Unial cldwork was made possible ky « grant by the Social
Science Research Council, New York in 1995. Valiswagen
Skitung, Prarklurt generously supported our Fieldwork tips to
Dharesi in 1998-2000. The Indo-Dutch Programme for
‘Altemativesin Development (TDPAD) enabled us to carry forwart
fur work in Dharavi fr she petiod 2003-2006, The generosity of
there grants wat matched by the feedom given tous fo choose
fur research agencas.

"The Institute for Socio-Economic Research on Development
and Democracy (ISERDD) has. provided the necessary
Infsetructural and intellecnalstimuis over the last deczde. The
Friday Research Colloquium of the Department of Sociology has
‘welcomed this research and provided ari ground of eitical ideas,
Ta Bombay, the University of Mumbai, the Maharashtra State

"Archives andthe Centre for Education and Documenvation have

Allowed us to access their materials and drew on their esoures.
‘The insite of Indian Cult in Bombay was generous wh its
hospital.

“fhe research team in ISERDD and the members of PROUD
thar been more than wing pariipan's ia oueeseach, Resets
of Dari have been cua! in pushing this study along new
parhwavs. We especally record our grtitude to Muhammad
‘Ansan, Fatzana and Ruksana who were always avaiable with their
fie, material rsourcesand feendship as wereMurad Al, Anand,
Kshiragar Sonal Shaukat Ay Yasin, Masum Ai are,
Pakeezab Shamim Bano, Chowhan, Samuel Meth, Amina
Bengali lacs Madhuba, Dillwala, Shobh and Sulochana

Prashant and Ashok in Bombay and Puroshottam, Rajan and
Simi in Delhi were able research assistants, Tina Chakrwvare
Baie nate lp in ching records, Pan Ama
Ashisini Deshpande and Arun D'Souza provided their expertise
fin Urdu and Marathi, respectively
di Acknowledgment

SSharit Bhowmik, Martin Fuchs, Rita Brara, Radhika Chopra
and Ravinder Kaur, Nasreen Pazalbhoy and Indira Munshi; Sanjay
Srivastava, Shall Mayaram, Lawrence Cohen and Rahul Roy,
Pratiksha Bexi, Yasmeen Arif, Mani Shekhar Singh, Urmila
Bhirdikar, Suman Bisht, Tarun Saint and Asha Singh have alread,
discussed and criticized various versions of individual chapters,
‘We hope torepay the compliments soon Esha Belle and Nivedita
‘Mishra have been wonderful editors, professional and patent.

Roma would like 1o thank Suchatdea, Tridip and Tanya Roy
for simulating discussions and providing ome away from home
inBombay. Deepak would ike to thank Sara and jyotsna Chatterj,
who made oue inital entry inte Dharavi possible.

‘enendea Das has been a patient atd critical voice inthe course
of this project. Jt Uberoi has been a constant interlocutor over
the lat two decades, reminding us that sociology is more than,
‘common sense, Arhur Klessman has been more than encouraging
in is comments and criticism, Veena Das has aways.
tus to explore the unsid ad if this volume falls on that account it
is for no fault of hers

Deepak would like to thank Jaya, Tushar and Coucho for
‘emotional support, Roma thanks Sunanda and Raj Raj Chater
fr ther patience and support over the years,

Versions of several of the chapters of this book have appeared
before, Chapter 2 was published in Reading Pre Bourdieu sm 3
Dual Contr, edited by R. Lardincis and M. Thapan Routledge,
2006); chapter 3 appeared in Renaling a World, edited by V.Das,
‘A. Kleinman, M. Locke, M. Ramphele and P. Reynolds (University
‘of California Pres, 2001), chapter 4 was published in Me and
‘Masaaintes, 9 (2), Octobe 2006; and chapter Sin Conmbutons 10
‘Indias Sociology (n..), 39 (2), 2005.

List of Abbreviations

Bharatiya Janata Pary

{Bombay Municipal Corporation, later, Brihan

‘Mummbal Municipal Corporation

+ Brihan Mumbai Regional Development Authority

‘Community Based Organization
Chistian Institute for the Study of Religion and

Society
‘Communist Party of India

Floor Space Index

‘Maharashtra Housing and Area Development
Authority

‘Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development
Authorigy

Non-Governmental Organization
[Nivara lak Suraksha Sarit

National Slum Dwelers Federation

Prine Minister's Grant Project

Peoples’ Responsible Organization for a United
Dharssi

Reinforced Concrete Construction

Sriksisina Commission Report

Slum Improvement Programme

Society forthe Promotion of Arca Resource Centres
‘Slum Redevelopment Authority

‘Slum Redevelopment Programme

Shiv Shabi Punarvasan Prakalp Limited

‘Slum Upgradation Programme

‘Terrorist and Disruptive Activites Act

‘Transferred Development Rights

‘Vacant Land Tenant

Youth for Unity and Voluntary Action

eS lle
. @

1
Nation, State and Violence in Dharavi

In-what may be no more than a lack of conceptual igor, violence
between Hindus and Muslims in India has beer: faumed) wider
the term communal riot. While scholarly wring engages with
tiheprotocols ty which teriotis maveralized, i: seldom discusses
the todalies in which violence is represented. In this book we
engage with the communal riot and its aftermath—a history
“gmiten beivfeen the polarized identies of Hindu and Muslim 2
‘vel as modes of rehabilitation nd procedures of governance tat
Dot preciptate and follow the rot. Leaving aside the vulgarity of
iolence, we focus on how it becomes a par of the continuity of
lives of those who have experienced fe The processes that tis
‘book documents show thatthe communal riot is woven into the
fabric of everyday life; itis both particular and general, vaible
find hidden, sometimes spcken of in ritual and dramatic terms,
(occasionally carcatured. Yet, the rot exists side-by-side with a
‘world that is being continuously crafted, « world that often
demands the sil learn the rules of survival asit does te abil
lyf build it anew. In this way, violence and the mechanistas of
‘caping highlight the problematic and redemptory nature of
personal agency and poitial wil. They allow us to pose the ques
fion: what is af stake fora life Uved in negosation with viene

‘We describe this violence as an event that bears a singular rela-
ton to existence and time. ln its passing the even inficts and is
Aispersed across those arenas of quotidian life where the pres~
‘ence of violence isnot immediately obvious. Beginning wit an
Exploration ofhow rclenceis posed in language, this book charts
the event in the everyday world of work, housing snd the
‘mergence of new public spaces. A second theme that the book
‘engages with is che way in which the event of violence and the
‘work of rehabilitation is framed wichin practices of govern-
‘mentality. State documents such a police reconds and commis-
sions of enquiry dealing withthe io have created a geograpty of
the riot but ever quotidian documents such as ration cards and

Co ee
2» Living wth Vides

‘otes its, eter intone circulation inthe pocese of which
the violence facta. The work of habitation, conte
ioc and diaperes the sate into various procce through
wich compensaton to the vin or ther foeaion to met
are ove. A thin dhe dat ftersets Wil Ua ft two
ows how eveyone in te fie of rebaton
tol glee, We foc on ponte emegoverinenat patio
tions (NGOs) ard care how they contest certain sate paces
engi oak ei

‘Framing the Event

CCollestve violence in Tadia has evoked considerable academic
attention and its signature, he communal fot, isone of the most
important wajs of honking about civil disorder in urban India
{(Tambiah 1996, Eugineer 1995, Nandy et al. 1995, Varshney
1993, Kak 1995, Van des Veer 1984, 1936). With few excep-
tions (Das 1990) this literature either deals dizectly with Hindu
Muslim confit of focuses on it a its main reference under the
rubrie of communalsm, First, the emphasis is on historical
‘causation (Freitag 1990, Rao 1994) and its link with structural
factors (Engineer 1995), such as unemploymer, iteracy and
povery, in precipitating violence. The attempt is to arrive at a
general explanation of communalism. Second, when sectarian
Fiolence is placed within lel communities (Das 1990) we see its
npact of the lives of survivors as it shapes their experiences.
Scholars are at pais to portray voices telling stories drawn from
4 storchouse of individual and collective memory. Thelr concern
i, not with establishing causalities but in dacumenting how
violence unfolded in is iapact on individual end collective i
Tn this way the dynamic of violence adits pervasive and prsua-
sive hold over those touched by its charted, Such experiences
‘emenge from the naratve accounts of survivors (Kakar 1995; Das
1990) ard ate in more elliptical ways Seen in the re-organization
‘of daly life. Re-organization entails a relationship betweea the
local and the national, one thats asymmnewic and often contra-
dictory, Both the historians and phenomenologsts of the riot
Assume that after violence has fun its course individuals and
Communities wil return to normal lif, This f often interpreted
ts the sign ofthe resience of traditional Indian community ie

ee Se 8 8=63F (re

Nation Se nd Vinee 3

ay cl. 195) Das (1950, in a senate paper on the
fie Del tae te seston fois Gand
Gitge showsthe pos ofthis morement. The recovery ofthe
soap coming to terms wh heigl ofthe normal
Fatbator ranted notions regarding community wlan
Faksme chy problematic when tis one's ncphoury who ae
eterno of olence, as waste ease nthe sms abot
Srifs Bes writes Her paper mates cle tat here sa gap
Tevern anc ofthc hota the esumpon of eerday Be
Sisal ocaed precsly in ts gap. ccng how people
ty eotenee sume evry if, we cesbic iis
femcen collective dsorder and rehablleton work. In she
Pocietee sec he loca communtiies are rteehioned. What
Ferman dois nots coherent moral a oes wer bt.
Pmalpitiy of Excured communities cach chrng throug
IMtsblenion work, is sates of srinal and coentence, Ae
Seated aby ts view ns corner to that propose! by Nan
fal (999) wh argue aoc! commnies ste webu}
Shoal wholes coripted from he ote, these nineteen
Seni rea osteo ronan Thc
they argue soutyreisted bythe iba everyday Ie
hpedesamniniis ¥
There of sence that we sy osu in shana

“Glled Dharevi in Bombay (renamed Mumbai in 1995). It began

‘9a the day of the demolition of the Babri mosque (6 December
1992) in Ayodhya, a town i eastem Uvar Pradesh, some 2500
‘elomeacrs norhest of Bombay, The vokeace continued til the
third week of January 1993.? Sone commentators argue
{Wadgaonkar 1995, Poel ané Thoener 1997) that the ot" were
in two distinct phases, Tie fist, stating on 7 December 1992
lased for about a wee, an was the outcome of Musi anger
‘ver the demotion of the Mosque The second beginning ety
Jnuary aad continuing for abot three weeks, was the outcome
‘fans taclash aided by the police fore. sees that whe
the violence of December 1992 wes spontaneous, tht ofansary
1988 was ordesrated a plained the result of polite machi
ton We west hs vene as on continuous eet—itha is
wn rhythms where December 1992 and January 1993 were
collapsed nto a seamless vo, evoking duational ume and with
fete tradition ofa meaningfal past.
(6 Lig wh Vie

Babei Masiid

‘A soluminous literature decuments what is known as the Babe
‘Masjid-Ram Janmabhocmi Controversy. It deals the erigin of
the conflict and shows how the landscape of Hindu-Muslim
relations has been vitally affected by the destruction of the
Mosque Situated in the empe town of Ayodnya, the Babri Masjid
was bull in 1528 by Mir Bag, a noble of the Mughal emperor
Babur (1525-1530), Secarian conflict over this mosque dates back.
‘oat least ae ejghtoenth century (Van der Veer 1984, 1996) with
reports ofintermitent clashes between Hindus and Muslims. In
Tncependent india the controversy is dated to 1949 (Rao 1994).
The detils of that troubled history are not part of this book
Sutfice it to say thet since 1949 the Babri Masjid hus been a site
of national concern, with Hindus, Muslims, and the nation-state
actively engaged in determining waether the Mosque was built
ater radng a Hindu temple, purportedly the birtiplace of the
Hindu God Ram, In 1990 members of ‘ule Hindu’ organiza
sione® claiming that the Masjid was built after desecrating an
ancient Ram temple, succeeded in partially damaging it by
performing what they called karsez feligious work as service
‘Two years later (6 December 1992) more than two hundred
thousand Aarcouks (religious workers) congregated a: the Babri
Masjid end demolished it. This congregation, the result of cae~
ul planning, came from every region of india. Mass mobilization
‘was complemented by the orchestration of politcal passions (ee
‘Nandy et al, 1995) Following the destruction, mabs of karsevaks
in Ayodhys killed Muslim men and children, burned thei homes,
and damaged mosques (Nandy etal, 1995). This destruction was
patterned: the mobs Knew which houses to burn, almost as if
they had access to votes lists: the local police force and the pro-
vincial armed constabulary actively aided the owrs; andin some
‘cases Hindu neighbours identified Muslims houses. Less than
twenty-four hours afte the demolition large par of India ex-
perienced communal violencr.

‘The destruction of the Masjid is an event of national impor-
tance in two related ways, First, the controversy rases the past as
heritage, tradition, and history so tha it transcends local geogra-
pies, local problems and communities (Van der Veer 1984). Since
1985, Ayodhya signals Hindu nationalism and locates Hindu

Nation Ste tnd Vinee «5

teeny ina pubic and pol! space. Folowig the destruction
este mosey most representations of os theres of ea
ano loca spect, are cast win «frame hat pie
Tesrnatalt concer Enginer 1985, Vander Veer 1996) rn
US vars the nstoal conser the local under is shadow?
Stn ewig of conunal io predive Depending
nes pote persuasion this wring const a grid of
Mretentaion ce Lngncer 1995, Var dr Yer 1984, Nady et
2798) wah slow a pan thecgencs e
Gotica ‘Thus ic beomes posible to thw the mete charae-
Rerot violence accioned by Ajodhys. The iscrisdon ofthe
Hocandtheconsrution of pstare iid in cher conception
Brake loca te the sioknce of 1992.9 in Dhar, «norris
Shum anda product of urban squalor, repestom ofthe carnage
igen? Before we addres this question we ‘ake = ight
fe desente busy how theres in Bomboy were deat
‘thir the pbc don
Tere area least two reports on the Bombay ros by 160
separate Commisions of Inguiry that aio document eos st
Fehablitaion and offer suggestions for the improvemert of
administrative machinery (Se Skin 1998, Daud
fnd Sutesh 1993, Bharatiya JanawadhAgadhi 1993) Since these

“reports have eer. nfluntial in crystallizing the dscourse on the

Bombay sits inthe public domain a brief discussion of the stope
fa Ing and is elatonsip tthe govemmen i impor

"The Rt of te dion Pipl’ Huron gh Commis. which
‘vas pula in uly 1993, was the product ofa peoples wibuna
Free vez yt ced ge he Hombay igh Cur.
e Suresh an Justice Dav The tibunal held hems
IMostof the otaected areas ofBoribay and collected fet hand
Azcouns from vcs. Basa on these acenans, the Report was
[resent as testimony ofthe people of Bombay Apart rom eye-
drmess accounts of vietins,the Report aso recoded activites 9f
farious ctiens pups and rchabilaion committe, which had
teense ap ater heros. The Rejurt f e IndisnPpl’s Human
Aight Commision was sen a the ight and resposblity of the
Indian clzen in creating avers of legitimate acces to owl
gen the face of government censorship on the een.
6 + Living Wks

Soon after he rit in Jnnary 1988, the State Goverment of
Manarshte insted te own Commision of Inguy headed
Uy Justice Sribshna siting judge ofthe Bombay High Cour
‘Phe Coalition Government ofthe Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya
Jinats Pars (IP), common pereied a Hindu nationals par~
enwhih succeed the Congres () Government in Maharesira
Se vr 1995, decided to stn the cope ofthe ivesgton
{ithe Commision tone the sri bomb st that occured
ihe afermnh of the row and was commonly perseed a5
Conta aggrieved Musi yang ofthe Bombay Mai In Jna-
Toy 1996" ihe Srleshne Commission was disbanded on the
‘Panda tha had taken to long tease report, which
Sulgatthis nage ony sew tneopen wounds'—eeSrkrshna
{908-3 and Chapeer ofthis hoot). The public eutery aginst
thirds prompted the RJ eathnal government o persia
‘Ditvin Malaractts (he She Sen tore the Commission
Which nar duly reconstinted in May 1996 Its Report vas
prevented to the Sate Assembly in August 1998, but he Ase
Bip rected findings beens they plated he Shi Sea in
the asegaion and ganization of ros. [twas then privately
pubis! and crultetanong the wider public. Paradocal,
{heinclsion of eience rom wnofical repos published sor
ter the ow made the Seiktahna Conmisio’s Repor (SCR)
Stpectin the ees ofthe goverment

islancresng to note thar he intertextuaty ofthese various
dotunsents natty helped a erralzea pascal cscourse of
{Renta feet the pub domain but ls pareipted i
the metnurtve af he -eommanal it tht was formed in he
‘Monta period fecePontey 1990. The pole of investigating
Saas F protien in pic onder goes back tothe colonia
Petoda Sscunion ofthe genealogical inkages of contemoo-
Ferenc cf calctve volence Wo the colonial construction
‘the oper ef the communal rit i dacused inthe second
taper: We return tothe spectaty of Dara andthe way #
Sarid out feldwork

ur fewer n Dhara beganin 195, Residents wo ive in
chavs infour colonies of Dhar prod dats Mund Naga.
Sout Nagar: Cemtee”Aren, and South Area. A chav Is
Scere cfs clon) lreonses of anything fom 70 to 200 del
{SB tual single room tenements I oe surprising 0 3nd

SS oe

Nation Stl Vik 9 7

more than thee conjugal unis staying in one room. Ofte thirty
hate ravaged by violence, we have information of sixteen,
midents aecounts are ia te nature of first-hand testimony
hal the cases they saw the violence a ic occurred around them

Dharavi: State, History, Public Spaces

Dit is sce in ent Bomay commonly own 8
Peper sa in aia but + proc eae ft goopepty
Tetpepetaion tare fat wale To an outsider Dhar
> be ritingly how opencous in is appearance. a
Hlaptacs ccupy spice tase not ined ile The
deretactes wlan Dac ul mule tnctone they ae
Ie ito roodeny ghtage camper rotes crying Sewer
Spee atl cacrsons of te pte spe of the howecho a
Be cuctie From tne isi, however cach ares of Dhar i
{Barked by hc lvedcxpenence oft inbubtants rhe than by
Minions sralic: on map, Boch neighborhood x &
eke of fie tnceecing boundries, Rather than cxtalogue
Bree tude in is myriad deta, we waixed through the mean-
Gesng lance and byways of Dharvi so we spoke with our
Frspondents iting cong tat had cxperenced he vlence of
1992-935 ose
Heese figures provide an upporinate len of the size of
Dhar ls win the Dodo coneue ward The ssn oes
Bethase sorter tenet bounded oni nrterh ad western
Fe ecmpc one snot sore wactce panel Door tke
fe Matuga Labor Cam, consructey th ran nthe 130
iiss. Sry wr nn 200-20 ha
Zee sty, jw Gandhi Nop, wos emerging onthe Mahim
{eck Technicals outette Dhara but comiguous 10.
en he aay sed ae ca ie Poh
Pi slsec rors of pol wo eels propa ies tepin
Acta Wun th cp eloclpolicians thy haves sued
to hogoite with various agence of teste o obs eetol
and ration cards, Finally. residents of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar have
abled works with noneperenal anions
working ix Dhara wth the hope that hey wl hl
obuain base amenities. ee ereeage:
Pesodie suey nated mainly by NGOs, produce housing
DRsimey cased out bythe Socity forte Promodon of