ABSTRACT
Colonial powers have often sought to establish their moral authority and political legitimacy by replacing local religious traditions with their own state-sanctioned worldviews and value systems. Chikowero (2015) characterizes attacks on musical tradition as epistemicide, and celebrates the innovations of subaltern populations in resisting such efforts. Contemporary West Bengal is under the crosshairs of right-wing Hindu nationalism, which seeks to stamp out traditions of tolerance and interreligious harmony. This chapter explores whether music in West Bengal can act as a bulwark against imposed ideologies. West Bengal has musical and religious traditions that draw from both Muslim and Hindu worldviews. Krakauer considers how the practice of music and dance can serve as an affective defense, an epistemological inoculation against anti-Muslim bigotry.
