A Study of the Gujarat Riots Pradip Kumar Bose This paper examines certain structural aspects of the present caste riots in Gujarat. It argues that the caste and geographical spread of the violence is closely related to the social mobility of the affected scheduled caste population, Taking literacy, education and employment as indicators of social mobility, and scheduled caste concentration in a particular area as a factor inducing hostility, the paper shows how it is precisely those sections of the scheduled castes who are relatively better educated, more mobile and have some access to jobs thathave been most seriously affected by the present caste riots; similarly; the areas thus affected also show a relative concentration of the scheduled castes.
