Topher Hunt

01 October 2009

Book review. Kakar, Sudhir: The Colors of Violence

Sudhir Kakar's The Colors of Violence is the first book I have read by a psychoanalyst. I

approached the book with some trepidation given the reputation of that field for long-winded and far-

fetched explanations of projection and libido, which could not possibly relate to Indian politics and

religious violence. At the same time I was intrigued by Kakar's “modest” promise to “deepen the

understanding provided by other disciplines” of the episodes of religious violence and riots between

Muslims and Hindus in India. I was also drawn in by his assurance that he would not attempt to reduce

these social conflicts to purely psychoanalytical explanations – instead, attempting to present the useful

insights of psychoanalysis in complement with the political-economic attributions of conflict which are

more conventionally accepted.

Kakar does not disappoint. His interviews, anecdotes, and analyses present understandable and

relevant insights into the psychological causes for the religious fundamentalism that has plagued

Hindu-Mulsim relations in India. The tone is personal yet analytic, the examples vivid and empathetic,

the analyses piercing and thorough yet not dense. Critical of the social sciences' tendency to treat

society merely as an object to be studied, Kakar insists that the subjective side of society and culture

must be acknowledged in order to produce well-rounded and effective cultural healing. Kakar

confidently sits down with the coexistent and interconnected Hindu and Muslim cultures of Hyderabad

for dialogue and treatment – elegantly demonstrating that psychoanalysis is a valuable tool for

understanding not just individuals but entire groups. His emphasis on empathizing with the patient,

helps the reader to step into the complex beliefs and scarred memories of his interviewees so that we
can better understand how the group's interior psychology influences the political situation and cultural

tensions examined.

As Kakar leads us through the interviews, the participants' complexity and humanity come

through: the genuine hopes and life story of Badli Pershad the Hindu fruit-seller; the fierce anger and

disciplined honor of Majid Khan the Muslim pehlwan; the frustration and desperation of the fiery-

worded Muslim religious leader. The stories remind us of the active and complex role that each of these

participants plays in perpetuating a cycle of violence that cannot be simply reduced to economic and

political distress resulting from the turmoil of colonialism, as the Secularists would frame matters, nor

to a bitter religious feud that has dominated Hindu-Muslim relations since they first came into contact,

as the Nationalists would assert.

Kakar addresses many elements to these cultural tensions such as the response of women vs.

men to violence and loss, the honor codes and morality of the Muslims and Hindus affected by the

riots, and the psychosocial elements that can trigger a riot during times of cultural tension. However,

his analysis of the effects of modernization are for me the most interesting and relevant. Kakar frames

this religious fundamentalism, or “communalism” as the British euphemistically phrased it, as a

misguided reaction to the “many ills of modernity”. The “communal” group mentality that divides

Indians into mutually antagonistic religious communities was indeed fostered by colonists in a divide-

and-conquer strategy and is kept surging by eloquent community leaders and politicians trying to raise

support for a partisan cause. However Kakar maintains that the psychological fuel for this sentiment

needed to be in place for political forces to have much effect.

Left ungrounded by the chaos and uncertainties produced by modernization, Indians seek refuge

in any solid and stable elements of their identity that they can find. However, since India is such a
massively plural nation, they have little in common with their community to hold onto except their

religious affiliation, which is consequently absolutized and framed in terms of in-groups and out-

groups. Kakar also shows how threatened groups will build up their wounded cultural identity by

projecting undesirable traits onto a common enemy – namely Muslims for the Hindus, and vice versa.

When children are criticized for poor behavior – such “animal” traits as sexual behavior, aggression,

and uncleanliness – out of self-defense they project the disapproved traits onto the collective enemy,

who becomes a catch-all “reservoir” for scapegoating and negative connotations that the group wishes

to disown. By these phenomena and others, Kakar paints an intricate picture of the psychological flows

that weave together to form a strong net of “communalist” cultural identity that prevents the easing of

religious tension and conflict.

True to his promise, Kakar respectfully acknowledges the other disciplines that must

complement psychology in order to fully understand Muslim-Hindu religious violence. Central to this

theme is “instrumentalism”, or the Secular assertion that political-economic forces are responsible for

creating the present-day cultural conflicts. He acknowledges, for example, the role of British-colonial

census efforts in requiring Indians to “choose” one identity out of many when asked whether they were,

say Hindu or Muslim, what caste, etc. Kakar insists that both this instrumentalism and a more

psychology-oriented “primordial” perspective are essential and complementary to developing a full

picture of the causes for cultural tension. Religious fundamentalism is half-constructed and half-

discovered, he asserts in a move that swiftly integrates the fundamental arguments of the Secular and

Nationalist political movements. Quoting and analyzing fervent political speeches, Kakar shows how

the attitudes and symbols quoted often draw on the unmet emotional, identity, and narcissistic needs of

the individuals comprising the audience. Yet these speeches are simultaneously perpetuating and
reinforcing the communal sentiment, at the same time as they exploit pre-existing wounds. In

conclusion, Kakar chides the “Cartesian” dualistic mindset which has led most political theoristst to

insist on either primordiality or instrumentality instead of considering the possibility that both

phenomena are true and complementary.

A couple of times, Kakar digs into very Freudian psychosexual explanations that aren't well

explained and are inaccessible if the reader doesn't happen to agree with the conclusions about sexual

identity that Freud is famous for. However these moments are few and far outweighed by Kakar's

relevant, thoughtful, clear and piercing analyses of the origins of Hindu-Muslim cultural tensions.

Kakar's greater weakness is in his recommendations for the future. After a piercing, lively,

engaging psychoanalysis of a nation that balances subjective / interior with objective / exterior

causality and exposes us to both 1st-person identification and 3rd-person analysis of the communities

involved in religious riots, Kakar has very little to say about what can be done to resolve the conflicts.

He acknowledges that neither Muslims nor Hindus are willing to suffer the humiliation of backing

down from their confrontative assertions of their cultures, religions, and ethnicities, commenting that

the Hindus must realize that “the Muslim is too big to be either swallowed or spit out”. But he falters at

this point, vaguely asserting the need to foster a more multicultural and tolerant attitude among each

group. His astute analysis up to this point made me expect some clear and specific recommendations

about the changes that need to take place in order to foster such tolerance.

In all, The Colors of Violence illustrates the value and potential role of psychoanalysis in

understanding cultural conflict. Kakar's book is eye-opening, easy to read, and both emotionally and

intellectually engaging.