@article{article_907569, title={Politics, Society and Violence: The Role of the Indian Police in the 2002 Gujarat Riots}, journal={Avrasya İncelemeleri Dergisi}, volume={10}, pages={149–166}, year={2021}, author={Ülker, Osman}, keywords={Hindistan, Gujarat, şiddet, milliyetçilik, Polis teorileri}, abstract={In the general elections held in India in 2019, the far-right Indian nationalist Narendra Modi managed to be re-elected as Prime Minister. Modi has been criticized for the anti-Islamic discourse he used during his rule and election process. Moreover, there are concerns that the anti-Muslim attitude will divide Indian society. There are justifications for these concerns, given Modi’s political background. Modi and his BJP party are believed to be active in the violence that took place in the state of Gujarat in India in 2002. During the riots, more than 1,000 people lost their lives. According to reports, police officers did not stop attacks against Muslims and they helped Hindu mobs find lethal weapons. In this article, the role of the police will be discussed within the axis of the relationship between the state, politics and civil society. The main reason why the Gujarat riots were chosen as a case study is that the exclusionary policies of Modi across India were experienced at the regional level in 2002. Furthermore, the discriminatory action of police in the violence of the Gujarat riots was supported by Modi and his party. Therefore, it becomes important to examine the role of the police in these riots. The data, which was collected through the documentation method, will be discussed in relation to Rainer’s policing theory. According to Rainer there are four main reasons for police abuse, which are: prejudice, bias, differentiation and discrimination. In addition, the politicization of Indian police will be examined to understand the implicit relationship between government and police abuse. As a result, it has been determined that when motivated ideologically, religiously and ethnically, the police organization acts by excluding certain segments of the society.}, number={1}, publisher={İstanbul Üniversitesi}