In an article in Open magazine, "The Riot and the Rot," Dhirendra K. Jha examines the communal violence that broke out on Oct. 24 in Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, while a Hindu procession was carrying idols of the Goddess Durga for immersion in the Saryu River. The violence, Mr. Jha writes, was not spur-of-the-moment but carefully orchestrated by Hindu rioters against minority Muslims. According to Mr. Jha's account, the rioters mingled in the procession before proceeding to loot and ransack shops owned by Muslims, as well as vandalizing a mosque. He argues that the cause behind the violence requires no investigation, since the perpetrators wanted to make their message clear; one sign of that, he...
