Description
India’s military, paramilitary, and the police constitute one of the largest security forces around the globe. Who constitutes these forces? What is the ethnic and religious background of these troops? Does the composition of these forces mirror the diversity of the Indian society? Have their composition undergone any change since Independence? Like other nations with ethno-religious diversity, India has experienced half a century of ethnic riots, massacres, even pogroms. What impact, if any does the ethnic and religious composition of the security personnel has on the ability of the state to prevent the occurrence of ethnic violence or to mitigate loss of lives and property once it occurs? Answers to these questions are critical to anyone interested in understanding the role of the state’s most critical instrument of legitimate coercion – the security forces. This book provides the answers with precision and economy of words. In this respect Khaki and the Ethnic Violence in India simply has no rival.
CONTENTS
- Preface to the First Edition
- Indian Armed Forces: Ethnic Composition and Role During Riots and Pogroms
- Indian Police: Ethnic Composition and Performance During Riots and Pogroms
- Intelligence Agencies and Central Paramilitary Forces
- Appendix: Report of the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (2003-04)
Cover photo: Douglas Curran/AFP
Omar Khalidi
Dr. Omar Khalidi (1953 – 29 November 2010) was born in Hyderabad, India and was an eminent Muslim scholar, a staff member of MIT in the USA and an author. He was educated in India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He is referred to as the “Chronicler of Hyderabad and as a champion of minority rights”. He is considered an international relations builder and his visits to various countries, sponsored by the US State Department, were a part of this effort.
The main subjects of his books are minority rights, history, architecture, economics, demography, politics, Urdu education, military history, library science, cataloging ethnic groups and nationalism. His incisive writings on minority rights inspired the Sachar Committee to seek a community wise census of the Indian armed forces. He had also authored several books and articles on Islam in America and mosque architecture.
His two books, Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India: Army, Police, and Paramilitary Forces During Communal Riots (2003) and Muslims in Indian Economy (2006), had focused on the institutional discrimination against Muslims in India, creating furor in the Indian Parliament in 2006. L.K. Advani had verbally attacked him for allegedly tarnishing the secular credentials of the Indian army and personally held him responsible for the Sachar Committee’s request for a community wide census in India.
