The Anatomy of Hate is a deep dive into the minds of people who committed heinous crimes during the 2002 Gujarat riots. A fire in one of the bogies of the Sabarmati Express near Godhra station in Gujarat killed more than 50 Hindu pilgrims on the morning of February 27, 2002. The cause of the fire remains disputed. The mismanagement of the Gujarat government after the tragic incident led to a state-wide pogrom of Muslims. Many people were killed, and many were rendered homeless, mostly Muslims. The book tells the story of three men involved in the pogrom and to understand the hate that drove them. These three people, from different social and economic backgrounds, were part of the mob and actively participated in the riots. The author tried to understand what goes on inside the minds of the people who commit violence.
“The twenty-eighth was not a calendar day. It was a black hole that bent time. In the lives of Suresh, Dungar, and Pranav, it re-arranged all previous days and experiences. There were always many choices to be made: what part of their identities to sharpen, what to suppress. Choice is a vexing word. What part of choice applies when a tidal wave of anger tears through a state?”
The author has extensively researched the riot-hit area and conducted several interviews over a decade. She presents the social and economic backgrounds of the three people to give a perspective of who were part of the violent mob. She tells what happened before the night of 28th February and how these men reacted to it. The book tells the readers how the system/state lures vulnerable and weak sections of society into committing such crimes. The author tells us how politicians brainwash the general public and use them to further their agenda by fanning religious sentiments.
“There was a part of Dungar that was always ashamed of not having a pucca house with a marble floor like he had seen some Muslim traders build for themselves. On trips to nearby towns and farther out to big cities, as he wateched people is fancy cars and air-conditioned homes, the poison was slowly building. How small and insignificant his life was. And how uncomfortable. Now was the chance for that long-supressed rage to merge with tidal wave sweeping across Gujrat. Anger with a purpose.”
The book talks about the aftermath of the riots and how each of the three people reacted. Did they realize that they had committed a heinous crime? Was there any remorse? Did they accept the wrongs they do? Did they try to make amends? The author answers all these and many more such questions. She has dissected hate and let the readers know what a violent and brainless mob is capable of. The author tells the story of the three men to show the readers who we are, what we have become, and what we can become if hatred poisons our minds.
About the Author
Revati Laul is an independent journalist and filmmaker based in New Delhi. She started her career in TV and more recently shifted to print, writing for The Quint, the Hindustan Times. The Anatomy of Hate is her first book.
Our Verdict
The Anatomy of Hate is a must-read for everyone who wants to know about the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom. It tells how hate turns an individual into a killer.