Gujarat Unknown-Hindu Muslim Syncretism & Humanistic Forays

Gujarat is a land of paradoxes. On the one hand it has produced luminaries like Akho, Sayaji Rao Gaekwad and Gandhi who tirelessly worked for the upliftment of the society and to promote peace and amity among people of all faiths; on the other, it has drawn worldwide attention for the repeated communal pogroms between Hindu and Muslims. The riots after Godhra incident in 2002 were perhaps the most widespread and virulent. This has led many scholars, activists and NGOs to record and trace the scale and nature of violence ? to provide a Geography of Violence. An extensive study undertaken in different parts of Gujarat after two years of the pogrom, however, indicated that the aftermath was mainly confined to the central part of the state. In other areas there were only few skirmishes. There are thousands of dargahs andmazars in the state which are frequented both by Hindus and Muslims. Only some prominent dargahs with high financial turnovers were a bit affected. In fact at one village in Kutch district, a Bajrang Dal activist was found expanding the shrine through public contribution. In this book several syncretic shrines have been documented along with portrayal of many communities with dual or liminal identities.