Rioting is rarely ‘spontaneous’

Research by scholars like Paul Brass has shown that no community rage can intensify into a riot without political, government and police help. That is, people may be full of anger, hatred and violence towards each other, but full-scale mob violence is only possible with good organisation, mobilisation, official complicity, and time and space provided by the law enforcers for law breakers to have their way. This is a worldwide phenomenon. A good example is how Hitler and the Nazis mobilised incipient, vague and petty anger against Jews in Europe into full-blown genocide. Read full article

WHEN ORISSA was gripped under violence targeted against Christians by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) extremists, there came a report of the World Bank’s latest estimates on global poverty. As per the report, 42 per cent of Indian population (456 million people) is living below newly adjusted international poverty line of $1.25 per day. The population of the poor has reached to 33 per cent (one-third) of the global poor. Moreover, it is quite shocking, but not surprising that those who are engaged in promoting education, moral and social upliftment to the weaker sections of the society, and providing financial support to the poor and downtrodden of our society are being targeted by the enemies of the humanity Read Full article Sphere: Related Content