ABSTRACT
Communal riots, along with the demonising discourse against minorities, have been playing an important part in expanding Hindu majoritarianism. This chapter looks into the conditions leading up to the communal riots by comparing Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (UP). It explains the general situation of communal riots in India with a special reference to the two states, followed by a brief review of the studies on Hindu communalism or nationalism and communal riots. Contemporary majoritarian Hindu communalism was not automatically produced as a result of the ‘natural’ evolution of Hindu society, but is an artifact of social and political movements. The riots in 1990 and 1992 were different, because they occurred in line with the Ayodhya movement, which the Sangh Parivar spearheaded. Historically, UP was an important focus of the communal riots.
