On Their Watch: Mass Violence and State Apathy in India by Surabhi Chopra and Prita Jha, eds

Excerpt

India has been faced with incidents of mass violence on the basis of caste, region, religion, and gender. Many of these events were heinous in nature but could not catch the attention of the masses. Karamchedu and Tsunduru (a brutal Dalit massacre by socially dominant communities in Andhra Pradesh in 1985 and 1991), Bathanitola (in Bihar, 1996), the Khairlanji Masssacre (2006), and a Hindu-Muslim clash in Muzzafarpur (2013) are some examples, among many, of such incidents. Over a period of time, the growing use of technology, mass media, and social media has brought mass attention to these problems. In addition, the Government of India introduced the Right to Information Act (RTI) in 2005, which served as a vehicle of grassroots awareness that brought transparency in reporting mass violence. …