“Put briefly, the book attends to the everyday practices of the state, both quotidian and spectacular, to show how the process of otherisation of minorities in India—especially the Muslims, is a deliberate and active phenomenon. Far from being the purported welfarist
mechanism and lofty promises of neutrality, the Indian state presents to sections of its Muslim population a quicksand, where their very existence and belonging are called into question. The
book is a smooth combination of biographical and behavioural approaches to studying the state, which essentially employs criticality as a tool in reading through the ratified and unratified provisions of state exercises.”
Read the full review of Tanweer Fazal’s ‘Practices of the State: Muslims, Law and Violence in India‘ by Afsal Hussain Manappurath on the Economic & Political Weekly website
https://www.epw.in/journal/2025/12/book-reviews/view-margins.html