Rising Violence in Indian Society: Causes, State Oppression, and the Crisis of Democracy

Rising Violence in Indian Society: Causes, State Oppression, and the Crisis of Democracy

SR Darapuri I.P.S.(Retd)

The rise of violence in Indian society is a complex phenomenon rooted in economic, political, social, cultural, and institutional factors. Violence today appears in multiple forms—communal violence, caste atrocities, gender violence, mob lynching, hate speech, political intimidation, custodial violence, cyber-harassment, and structural violence arising from poverty and exclusion. To understand its increase, one must go beyond individual criminality and examine broader transformations within society and the state.

1. Social and Economic Causes of Rising Violence

(a) Growing Economic Inequality

India has experienced rapid economic growth, but this growth has been accompanied by widening inequality. A small elite has accumulated enormous wealth while unemployment, agrarian distress, and insecurity continue for large sections of the population. Economic frustration often creates social anger, insecurity, and competition for scarce opportunities.

When democratic institutions fail to address these grievances, frustration may be redirected toward weaker groups through communalism, caste hostility, or xenophobia.

(b) Crisis of Employment and Youth Alienation

A large section of India’s youth faces unemployment or precarious work despite higher educational aspirations. Such conditions can generate resentment, especially when combined with political propaganda or identity-based mobilisation. Idle and frustrated youth are often mobilised by political, religious, or caste organisations for violent campaigns.

(c) Decline of Community Bonds

Urbanisation, migration, weakening of traditional solidarities, and increasing social atomisation have reduced community-based mechanisms of conflict resolution. Social media has replaced direct social interaction in many contexts, often intensifying rumours, hate campaigns, and polarisation.

(d) Patriarchal and Caste Structures

Violence in India is deeply connected with entrenched hierarchies. Violence against women, Dalits, Adivasis, and minorities often reflects attempts by dominant groups to preserve traditional power structures. Honour killings, caste atrocities, and communal attacks are not random acts; they are instruments of social control.

2. Political Factors Behind Increasing Violence

(a) Communal Polarisation

The increasing use of religious identity in electoral politics has intensified social tensions. Political actors sometimes portray minorities as threats to national culture, security, or economic opportunities. Such narratives normalise hatred and create an atmosphere where violence becomes socially acceptable.

Communal polarisation also transforms ordinary disagreements into existential conflicts between communities.

(b) Normalisation of Hate Speech

Public discourse has become increasingly aggressive. Television debates, social media campaigns, and inflammatory speeches by political actors often legitimise hostility. When hate speech goes unpunished, it sends a signal that violence against targeted groups is tolerable.

(c) Weakening of Democratic Institutions

Independent institutions such as the judiciary, media, universities, civil society organisations, and investigative agencies play a crucial role in containing violence by ensuring accountability. When these institutions weaken or become politicised, impunity grows.

If citizens lose faith in lawful remedies, vigilante justice and mob violence may increase.

3. Is State Oppression and Autocratic Governance a Contributory Factor?

Yes, many scholars and civil liberties groups argue that increasing state repression and authoritarian tendencies can contribute to social violence in several ways. However, this must be understood carefully and analytically.

(a) Monopoly of Violence and Abuse of Power

The modern state possesses legal authority over police, armed forces, surveillance systems, and coercive laws. When these powers are used disproportionately, selectively, or without accountability, they may produce fear and resentment.

Examples include: Custodial torture, Encounter killings, Arbitrary arrests, Use of sedition or anti-terror laws against dissenters, Suppression of protests, Internet shutdowns and Excessive police force.

Such practices may normalise coercion within society itself.

(b) Erosion of Rule of Law

When citizens perceive that laws are applied selectively—strictly against critics but leniently toward politically aligned offenders—it weakens trust in constitutional governance. Selective justice encourages groups to believe that political power, rather than law, determines legitimacy.

This perception can increase vigilantism and retaliatory violence.

(c) Authoritarian Political Culture

Autocratic tendencies do not merely affect state institutions; they shape social behaviour. A political culture centred around unquestioning obedience, hyper-nationalism, and demonisation of dissent may encourage intolerance in everyday life.

When disagreement is portrayed as “anti-national” or “anti-religious,” democratic dialogue weakens and hostility increases.

(d) Criminalisation and Militarisation of Politics

Where political actors use intimidation, police machinery, or extra-legal groups to suppress opposition, violence becomes embedded within political competition itself. Over time, society internalises the idea that force is an acceptable means of resolving conflicts.

4. Structural Violence: A Broader Perspective

The Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung distinguished between direct violence and structural violence. Structural violence refers to social arrangements that systematically deny people dignity, equality, healthcare, education, or livelihood.

In India, structural inequalities based on caste, class, gender, and religion often create conditions where direct violence becomes more likely. Thus, violence is not merely physical aggression; it is also embedded in unequal social structures.

Similarly, B. R. Ambedkar repeatedly warned that political democracy cannot survive without social and economic democracy. If social inequality persists alongside formal democratic institutions, tensions and violence are likely to grow.

5. Role of Media and Digital Platforms

Social media has accelerated the spread of misinformation, rumours, and hate propaganda. False narratives can spread rapidly and provoke mob violence before facts are verified. Algorithms that reward outrage often amplify divisive content.

Television media, too, sometimes frames political debates in sensationalist and polarising terms, deepening hostility between communities.

6. Psychological and Cultural Dimensions

Continuous exposure to aggressive political rhetoric, competitive consumerism, and insecurity can create a culture of anger and anxiety. Violence becomes normalised when:

aggressive behaviour is glorified, empathy declines, dissent is demonised and punishment for violent acts is inconsistent.

The celebration of “strongman politics” may also encourage admiration for coercive methods over democratic negotiation.

7. Countervailing Realities

At the same time, it is important not to exaggerate the picture into one of total social collapse. India still possesses:

an active judiciary, constitutional protections, civil society movements, human rights organisations, independent journalists, student movements, labour struggles and democratic electoral processes.

These forces continue to resist authoritarianism and defend constitutional values.

Conclusion

The increase in violence in Indian society cannot be explained by a single cause. It emerges from the interaction of economic inequality, unemployment, caste and communal tensions, political polarisation, weakening institutions, media sensationalism, and social insecurity.

State oppression and autocratic tendencies can indeed become contributory factors when coercive power is used selectively, dissent is delegitimised, and constitutional safeguards weaken. In such circumstances, violence may become normalised both within the state apparatus and in society at large.

The long-term solution lies not merely in stricter policing, but in strengthening constitutional morality, social justice, democratic institutions, economic equality, rule of law, and a culture of dialogue and tolerance. As B. R. Ambedkar argued, democracy is not only a form of government; it is fundamentally “a mode of associated living” based on liberty, equality, and fraternity.

Is there a connection between Caste and Untouchability and Malnutrition?

 

Is there a connection between Caste and Untouchability and Malnutrition? 

Geetha Sunil Pillai 

The research found that Scheduled Caste children living south of the Vindhyachal Mountains are, on average, 0.24 standard deviations taller than their counterparts living north of the Vindhyachal Mountains and have a 7 to 8 percentage point lower risk of stunting, a highly significant and statistically proven difference. Most importantly, no comparable difference was found among upper-caste Hindu children between those north and south of the Vindhyachal Mountains.

New Delhi—The problem of child malnutrition in India is not limited to poverty or poor health services; it is also deeply rooted in the centuries-old caste system and social evils like untouchability. This startling finding comes from a recent study by Professor Ashwini Deshpande of Ashoka University and Professor Rajesh Ramachandran of Monash University Malaysia. This research paper was published in the prestigious international journal Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization in the year 2025. The Centre for Economic and Data Analysis at Ashoka University recently published an article on this.

The researchers based their study on data from the Government of India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) 2015-16. This survey provides physical measurements and caste information for 230,898 children under the age of five. The study specifically compared 45,924 Scheduled Caste (SC) and 29,132 Upper Caste Hindu (UC-Hindu) children aged between 0 and 59 months.

According to the research, stunting, i.e., extremely low height for age, is the most obvious sign of chronic malnutrition. This condition profoundly impacts a child’s brain development, educational potential, and economic opportunities in adult life. Nearly one-third of children under five in India suffer from stunting, a condition that has far-reaching and serious consequences for human capital development.

Research findings clearly show that the rate of stunting among Scheduled Caste children is approximately 50 percent higher than that among upper caste Hindu children. According to the data, while the rate of stunting among SC children is 43 percent, it is only 29 percent among upper caste Hindu children. This difference is also clearly visible in the height parameter – the average height-for-age Z-score of UC-Hindu children is -1.12, while that of SC children is -1.64. This means that SC children are, on average, more than half a standard deviation shorter than their upper caste counterparts. This difference persists throughout every month of a child’s age, from 0 to 60 months.

Researchers analyzed data from 585 districts across the country. Data from 467 districts for SC children and 369 districts for UC-Hindu children were studied. This analysis revealed that stunting rates among SC children were above 40 percent in 55 percent of districts, while stunting rates among UC-Hindu children were above 40 percent in only 15 percent of districts. In contrast, stunting rates among SC children were below 30 percent in only 15 percent of districts, while stunting rates among UC-Hindu children were below 30 percent in 54 percent of districts.

The research found the situation to be most severe in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, collectively known as the “BIMARU” region. This region accounts for 50.8 percent of the total survey sample. In 180 out of 220 districts in this region, or 82 percent of districts, stunting rates among SC children were above 40 percent. In 99 districts, or 45 percent, more than half of SC children are stunted. On the other hand, in the same region, stunting among UC-Hindu children is above 40 percent in only 20 percent of districts. The situation is relatively better in Southern India, where only 24 percent of districts have stunting among SC children above 40 percent.

The Vindhyachal Mountains: A Historical and Social Divide

Professor Deshpande and Professor Ramachandran made the Vindhyachal mountain range the most important and fundamental aspect of their research. According to the researchers, historically, the region north of the Vindhyachal was known as “Aryavarta,” defined in Manusmriti (2.22) as the land between the Himalayas and the Vindhyas. This region has been a cultural center of Hinduism and the caste system since the Vedic period (approximately 1500-600 BCE). The Vindhya Mountains historically served as a boundary between Aryan-influenced areas and non-Aryan areas. This is why untouchability and caste-based discrimination are more deeply rooted in the north.

This historical evidence is supported by contemporary data. An analysis of the 2011-12 Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS-II) data shows that 49 percent and 40 percent of households in Central India and the North-Central Plains, respectively, admit to practicing untouchability. In contrast, only 17 percent of households in the southern states do so.

A study by Shah et al. (2006) reported that Dalits were denied access to private health clinics in 74 of the 348 villages surveyed in rural India. In 30-40 percent of villages, public health workers refused to visit Dalit settlements, and in 15-20 percent of villages, Dalits were denied access to public health centers.

The researchers used a well-established statistical method—Difference-in-Differences (DID)—to compare SC and UC-Hindu children living 100 kilometers north and 100 kilometers south of the Vindhyachal Mountains. This method is important because it compares within a single state, allowing the influence of economic, geographic, and administrative factors to be isolated.

The results are extremely significant. SC children living within 100 kilometers of the Vindhyachal range are 21 percentage points, or approximately 70 percent, more likely to be stunted than UC-Hindu children. However, the most important finding is that SC children living south of the Vindhyachal range are approximately 8 percentage points less likely to be stunted than SC children living north of the Vindhyachal range. This difference is both statistically significant and economically significant. In terms of height, SC children living south of the Vindhyachal range are, on average, 0.24 standard deviations, or approximately 30 percent taller, than their counterparts in the north.

On the other hand, for UC-Hindu children, living north or south of the Vindhyachal region makes no statistical difference. This means that the advantage of geographical location is not universal, but rather limited to SC children, suggesting that caste-based discrimination is the root cause of this difference.

Direct Link Between Untouchability and Child Health

The research also analyzed the direct relationship between the practice of untouchability and children’s height. Using state-level data, the researchers found that in states where the practice of untouchability is more prevalent, SC children’s height-for-age Z-scores decline more rapidly and stunting increases. In contrast, UC-Hindu children appear to have no such effect.

The research also provides strong evidence of discrimination in health services. A study by Shah et al. (2006) reported that Dalits were denied access to private health clinics in 74 of the 348 villages surveyed in rural India. In 30-40 percent of villages, public health workers refused to visit Dalit settlements, and in 15-20 percent of villages, Dalits were denied access to public health centers. According to Acharya’s (2010) study of 200 Dalit children in Gujarat and Rajasthan, 91 percent of Dalit children experienced discrimination in accessing medicines, 94 percent reported that ANMs refused to visit their homes, and 93 percent said that health workers avoided touching Dalit children while administering medicines.

Caste, not economic factors, is the real factor: Validation tests

The researchers conducted several validation exercises to ensure that the observed differences were not simply a result of economic inequality. When the interaction between family wealth index and “living south of Vindhyachal” was tested, it was found to be statistically insignificant. This means that economic status cannot explain this north-south divide. The interaction effect between SC and “south of Vindhyachal” remained large and statistically significant.

Furthermore, a test on Scheduled Tribe (ST) children found that ST children are as economically disadvantaged as SC children, but their location north-south of Vindhyachal has no statistically significant effect because STs have not traditionally faced caste-based discrimination. Similarly, no significant north-south effect was found for UC-Muslims. However, a positive effect was observed for SC-Muslims, which was expected since SC-Muslims are often former SC converts from Hinduism and continue to experience caste-based stigma.

The researchers conducted another important test: artificially shifting the Vindhyachal range north or south to see if a similar effect was observed there. When comparing living entirely north of the Vindhyachal and living entirely south of it, no statistically significant effect was found in either case. This proves that the observed effect is not due to any arbitrary geographical division, but rather to the specific historical and social boundaries of the Vindhyachal Mountains.

The research also examined whether maternal education, health, household economic status, open defecation, drinking water quality, and other social factors could explain this North-South divide. When all these factors were taken together, the average gap between SC and UC-Hindu children decreased from 23 percentage points to 11 percentage points. Factors such as maternal height, anemia status, years of education, household wealth, and open defecation were found to be significantly associated with malnutrition. However, even after controlling for all these factors, the DID effect of “SC × South of Vindhyachal” only decreased from 7.7 percentage points to 5 percentage points, and this change was not statistically significant. This means that while socioeconomic and public health factors partially mitigate the gap, they are unable to fully explain this persistent North-South divide. According to Acharya’s (2010) study of 200 Dalit children in Gujarat and Rajasthan, 91 percent of Dalit children experienced discrimination in accessing medicines, 94 percent reported that ANMs refused to visit their homes, and 93 percent said that health workers avoided touching Dalit children while administering medicines.

The research also examined whether access to Anganwadi/ICDS services, prenatal check-ups, institutional delivery, breastfeeding duration, child diet (eggs, fruits, yogurt), and vaccination schedules explained this difference. The results were clear—even after controlling for all these services, the “SC × South of Vindhyachal” effect not only persisted, but in some cases became slightly stronger.

Summary

Researchers have linked these findings to racial health disparities in the United States. Just as health disparities persist despite socioeconomic equality between Black and White communities in the United States, caste-based discrimination, social exclusion, and psychosocial stressors continue to impact child health for SC communities in India. According to the researchers, these results also demonstrate that stunting, affecting nearly half of SC children, has profound negative consequences for their cognitive, educational, health, and economic potential in adult life, and this persists across generations.

The researchers call for multifaceted policy interventions that target not only material inequalities but also deeper social structures. Investments in maternal health and education, improved sanitation infrastructure, and effective enforcement of anti-caste discrimination laws are all essential in combating child malnutrition.

Courtesy: Hindi News, justicenews