Communal Riots and Urban Planning in Calcutta, 1918-1950

Abstract

The thesis analyses the major communal outbreaks in Calcutta in first half of twentieth century. We observed that there were elements of continuity as well as those of change. The thesis does not look at the outbreaks as exceptional events, but as having strong roots in everyday life. The thesis further looks into relation between rational planning and communal violence in Calcutta by studying the improvement works of CIT and a detailed analysis of the riot of geography. Recycling of city areas and consequent embourgeoisment are co-constitutive with communal riots in production of ghettos of religious minorities who belonged mostly to the city’s working class. As a result, we have a majoritarian city emerging in the post-partition era. The existing scholarship however treats the communal outbreaks as isolated incidents, lacking a comprehensive approach, and hence the elements of continuity from their analysis. The existing scholarship brings in dynamics of larger Bengal, whereas, this thesis focuses particularly on Calcutta. However, in this theses, we have looked into Calcutta’s neighbourhood and demography of participants through a micro-analysis over a period of four decades and have developed a comprehensive analysis which shines light on the development of a majoritarian city as an outcome of continuous historical processes.