Abstract:
This dissertation aims to understand the role of informal institutions that are found at
the village level in enabling and constraining the cases of communal violence in the
context of the Jaat-Muslim riots of Muzzaffarnagar that took place in 2013.
Informality refers to the collectives formed on the basis of non-formal associations
like caste, occupation, class, gender or any other commonality. Formal institutions
like Panchayats and block level administration is generally distant from day-to-day
decision-making and maintenance of a social order that is specific to the local
communities. Such informality is crucial in assisting or disrupting any endeavour
carried out by the formal democratic institutions, as one requires compliance by the
local communities. These communities function with a hierarchal structure of it’s
own, quite often the manifestation of both feudal origins and class status. The case of
the 2013 Muzzaffarnar riots brings out the involvement of state government along
with informal institutions to aggravate and later work towards conflict transformation
and peace building. The dissertation presents a case for identifying the measures to
ensure that such informality is contained in the state structure to ensure the prevention
of widespread communal violence in a highly polarized political atmosphere.
