Book Review: The Anatomy of Hate by Revati Laul

What causes violence? What kind of people participate in mob violence? In what’s known probably as the darkest days in the history of Gujarat riots had broken out everywhere across the state. Three characters in The Anatomy of Hate bear the testimony. Their names have been altered. Otherwise they are real people, offsprings of post-Godhara violence. Revati Laul had made significant research for The Anatomy of Hate and it shows, not only in the bibligraphy and acknowledgment, but on the very pages of his book. The persons discussed here were not mute spectators of the violence, but had played active role during the entire time it lasted. Their life history had been laid in front of the readers.

Why is it important to read about these people? Because, that will help us in understanding The Anatomy of Hate. Violence is ingrained in human nature. Violence always destroys. But time and again, it had helped men in their fight against nature. When violence becomes a matter of day to day life, it starts to effect our personalities in a subtle way. Violence is the outlet of hate. One can't survive without the other. To understand violence, we need to understand the hate that triggers it. It's not possible to do background checks on all the people involved in post-Godhara massacre. But a peek into the personalities described in The Anatomy of Hate will give us some idea.

The Anatomy of Hate by Revati Laul also let me have a glimpse of the caste-based politics in Gujarat. The subject of indoctrination of the VHP and RSS also comes up naturally. There are some views on the complicity of the state in it. I found this Revati Laul’s The Anatomy of Hate informative as well as intense. Moreover, it is written in a form of a modern novel, which many will find entertaining at the same time. Though Revati Laul, the author of this book is a journalist by profession, The Anatomy of Hate is not just journalism. It comes with an inseparable, very recognizable stench of inconvenient truth.

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