Stop Civil Violence in India | BRAC Fight for Peace and Justice

1. Introduction: The Urgent Need to End Civil Violence
Across India, a crisis threatens the very foundation of peace and harmony. Civil violence—brutal conflicts between communities, religious groups, and ethnic populations—continues to tear apart neighborhoods, destroy families, and claim innocent lives. According to the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, 59 cases of communal riots were recorded across India in 2024, marking an alarming 84% increase from 32 riots in 2023, showing that this violence is growing despite laws meant to protect citizens.

Each number represents real people whose lives changed forever. A family forced to flee their home in the middle of the night. Children watching their parents attacked for their religious beliefs. Communities torn apart by hatred that destroys decades of peaceful living. These violent outbreaks cause deaths, serious injuries, destruction of homes and places of worship, forced displacement of thousands, and deep wounds that affect survivors physically, emotionally, and socially for their entire lives.

The crisis hits vulnerable communities hardest. Religious minorities, ethnic groups, and marginalized populations bear the greatest burden of civil violence. In 2024, Maharashtra recorded the highest number of communal riots with 12 cases, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar with 7 cases each. The ethnic violence in Manipur that began in May 2023 has been particularly devastating—as of November 2024, 258 people have been killed, over 1,000 injured, 60,000 displaced, and 32 remain missing.

The reasons behind civil violence are deeply troubling. Conflicts arise from religious processions and festivals, land and resource disputes between communities, political manipulation that uses religious and ethnic divisions, demands for special status or rights by different groups, and historical grievances that remain unresolved. According to research, 13 deaths were reported in communal violence in 2024—10 Muslims and 3 Hindus—showing the human cost of this crisis.

The harm extends beyond immediate violence. Survivors face years of trauma, loss of homes and livelihoods, children losing access to education, medical care for injuries, and fear that prevents normal life. Families bear the financial burden of rebuilding destroyed property and relocating to safer areas. Communities lose trust in neighbors who were once friends. The violence creates lasting divisions that can persist for generations.

Despite constitutional protections and criminal laws meant to prevent civil violence, the attacks continue. The gap between law on paper and reality on the ground remains wide. Violence still erupts during religious festivals and gatherings. Cases move slowly through courts. Victims struggle to get justice and compensation. Many survivors lack access to the protection and support they desperately need.

2. Understanding the Issue: The Scope and Impact of Civil Violence
Civil violence in India represents organized conflicts between different groups based on religion, ethnicity, caste, or region. Understanding the full scope requires examining current statistics, geographic patterns, types of violence, root causes, affected communities, and the deep impact on individuals and society.

The Scale of the Crisis: Current Statistics and Trends
The data on civil violence reveals deeply troubling patterns that demand urgent attention.

Sharp Recent Increase: India witnessed 59 communal riots in 2024, an 84% increase from 32 riots in 2023, marking a significant escalation in violence. This dramatic rise indicates that civil violence is accelerating rather than decreasing despite government claims of communal harmony.
Fatalities and Casualties: In 2024, communal violence claimed 13 lives—10 Muslims and 3 Hindus—while injuring dozens more across the country. These numbers represent only reported deaths and likely undercount actual casualties.
Underreporting Problem: Official numbers likely represent only a portion of actual incidents. Many cases go unreported because families fear police inaction, victims lack knowledge of their rights, communities face pressure to remain silent, or local authorities downplay incidents to avoid negative attention. The Ministry of Home Affairs and National Crime Records Bureau have stopped regularly publishing comprehensive communal violence data, making accurate assessment difficult.
Manipur Ethnic Conflict: The violence in Manipur represents one of the most severe civil violence crises in recent Indian history. Beginning in May 2023 between the Meitei community and Kuki-Zo tribal groups, the conflict has resulted in 258 deaths, over 1,000 injuries, 60,000 displaced persons living in relief camps, and 32 people still missing as of November 2024. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, and numerous Hindu temples and Christian churches have been vandalized.
Electoral Connection: The spike in communal riots in 2024 can partly be attributed to the general elections held in April-May 2024, when political campaigns often inflame religious and community tensions for electoral gains.
Political Correlation: According to CSSS research, 49 of the 59 communal riots in 2024 took place in states where the BJP is ruling either independently or in coalition with other parties, raising questions about political will to prevent violence.

Geographic Distribution and High-Risk States
Civil violence is not spread evenly across India. Certain states show much higher rates requiring urgent intervention.

Maharashtra: Leads the nation with 12 communal riots in 2024, emerging as the center of civil violence in the country. The state’s diverse religious composition and urban tensions contribute to frequent conflicts.
Uttar Pradesh: Recorded 7 communal riots in 2024, the second highest in the country. The state has a long history of communal tensions, particularly around religious festivals and processions.
Bihar: Also reported 7 communal riots in 2024, matching Uttar Pradesh. Rural areas of Bihar face particular challenges with caste and religious conflicts intersecting.
Manipur Crisis Region: The northeastern state of Manipur has experienced ongoing ethnic violence concentrated in districts bordering the Imphal Valley and surrounding hill areas, with Churachandpur and Bishnupur districts seeing intense conflict.
Other Affected States: Communal incidents were also reported in Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, and several other states, showing that civil violence is a nationwide problem requiring comprehensive solutions.
Urban Centers: Major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, and others face heightened risk during religious festivals, processions, and politically charged periods when tensions can quickly escalate into violence.

Profile of Victims and Affected Communities
Not everyone faces equal risk of civil violence. Certain populations bear disproportionate harm.

Religious Minorities: Muslims face particular vulnerability, accounting for 10 of 13 deaths in communal violence in 2024 despite being a minority population, indicating targeted violence. Christian communities also face attacks on churches and institutions.
Ethnic Minorities: In regions like Manipur, tribal communities including Kuki-Zo groups face organized violence from majority ethnic populations, with women and children particularly vulnerable to sexual violence and displacement.
Lower Economic Groups: Families with less money and fewer resources face higher risk because they live in vulnerable neighborhoods, have less ability to relocate when threatened, lack access to legal protection, and cannot afford private security.
Women and Children: Women face specific risks including sexual assault, rape, and public humiliation during civil violence, as evidenced by the horrific viral video from Manipur showing two women stripped, paraded naked, and gang-raped by mobs. Children suffer trauma, loss of education, and displacement.

Forms and Types of Civil Violence
Civil violence manifests in multiple dangerous forms that destroy communities.

Communal Riots: Large-scale violence between religious communities, typically involving mobs attacking neighborhoods, homes, and places of worship belonging to other communities. These riots often erupt during religious festivals, processions, or following provocative incidents.
Ethnic Conflict: Violence between different ethnic groups over land, resources, political power, or cultural rights, as seen in Manipur where Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have engaged in sustained violent conflict.
Mob Violence: Organized groups attacking individuals or families from other communities, often with arson, physical assault, and destruction of property. Mobs can number in hundreds or thousands, overwhelming security forces.
Sexual Violence: Women from targeted communities face rape, sexual assault, stripping, and public humiliation as weapons of civil violence meant to dishonor communities. This form of violence causes deep trauma and social harm.
Arson and Property Destruction: Systematic burning of homes, businesses, places of worship, and community buildings belonging to targeted groups, leaving families homeless and destroying livelihoods.
Forced Displacement: Communities are driven from their homes and neighborhoods, forced into relief camps or to relocate to other regions, as seen with 60,000 displaced persons in Manipur.

Root Causes and Drivers of Civil Violence
Understanding why civil violence happens is essential for prevention.

Religious Processions and Festivals: Many communal riots erupt during religious processions passing through mixed neighborhoods, with disputes over routes, music volume, or perceived provocations triggering violence. Religious festivals create heightened tensions when communities compete for public space.
Political Manipulation: Political parties and leaders sometimes inflame religious and ethnic tensions to consolidate vote banks, create divisions that benefit them electorally, and distract from governance failures. The correlation between elections and increased violence suggests deliberate manipulation.
Historical Grievances: Unresolved historical conflicts, memories of past violence, and competing narratives about history fuel present-day tensions that can explode into violence when triggered.
Economic Competition: Competition over land, natural resources, jobs, business opportunities, and government benefits between communities creates resentment that can turn violent. In Manipur, disputes over Scheduled Tribe status and associated benefits contributed to violence.
Social Media and Misinformation: False rumors, hate speech, provocative images, and misinformation spread through social media and messaging platforms can rapidly inflame tensions and trigger mob violence. Authorities often shut down internet to control violence, but this also prevents communication.
Breakdown of Social Trust: When communities that once lived peacefully together lose trust through repeated small conflicts, political rhetoric, or economic tensions, the social fabric weakens, making major violence more likely.

The Devastating Impact on Survivors and Families
The physical and psychological harm from civil violence is severe and long-lasting.

Death and Physical Injuries: Civil violence causes deaths through beating, stabbing, shooting, and burning, while survivors suffer broken bones, stab wounds, gunshot injuries, severe burns, and permanent disabilities. Medical care for serious injuries can require months of hospitalization.
Sexual Trauma: Women who experience rape and sexual assault during civil violence suffer physical injuries, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies, and severe psychological trauma. The social stigma attached to sexual violence compounds suffering.
Loss of Homes and Property: Families whose homes are burned lose everything—shelter, possessions, documents, savings, and livelihoods. Rebuilding requires resources most victims do not have.
Forced Displacement: Living in relief camps means overcrowding, poor sanitation, inadequate food, loss of privacy, and uncertainty about the future. Displaced persons cannot work, children cannot attend school, and families live in limbo for months or years.
Psychological Trauma: Survivors experience severe depression from loss and trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder with flashbacks and nightmares, constant fear and anxiety, loss of sense of safety and security, and survivors guilt when family members were killed.
Children’s Suffering: Children who witness violence, lose parents or siblings, are forced to flee homes, miss months or years of education, and live in relief camps suffer lasting developmental and emotional harm that affects their entire lives.

Social and Economic Impact on Communities
The effects extend far beyond individual victims to entire communities and regions.

Community Fragmentation: Civil violence destroys decades or centuries of peaceful coexistence, creating deep divisions where once there was harmony. Neighbors who lived together peacefully become enemies, breaking social bonds.
Economic Destruction: Violence destroys businesses, markets, agricultural land, infrastructure, and livelihoods, causing economic losses in millions or billions of rupees. Affected regions see reduced investment, business closures, and loss of jobs.
Development Setbacks: States and regions experiencing civil violence see development stall as resources go to security and relief rather than education, healthcare, and infrastructure. Manipur’s development has been set back years by ongoing violence.
Erosion of Rule of Law: When perpetrators of violence escape justice, when police fail to protect citizens, and when compensation is not paid, citizens lose faith in law and institutions. This erosion weakens democracy itself.
National Reputation Damage: Civil violence damages India’s international reputation, affects foreign investment, tourism, and soft power, and contradicts the nation’s constitutional values of secularism and equality.
Cycle of Revenge: Violence creates desire for revenge in affected communities, setting up future conflicts and creating cycles of violence that can last generations.

Your donation to BRAC helps address this crisis comprehensively. We fund immediate emergency response that protects lives, long-term rehabilitation that helps survivors rebuild, prevention programs that stop violence before it starts, legal aid that brings perpetrators to justice, peace-building initiatives that heal community divisions, and advocacy that strengthens enforcement and accountability.

3. Legal Framework: Laws and Policies Protecting Against Civil Violence
India has developed a legal framework to prevent civil violence, punish perpetrators, protect victims, and maintain communal harmony. This framework combines constitutional protections, criminal law provisions, specialized legislation, and Supreme Court directives.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON INDIAN CRIMINAL LAW (AS OF 2025):
On July 1, 2024, India implemented a new set of criminal laws. All criminal legal references in this article are based on these current laws:

The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which replaces the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023, which replaces the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
The Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), 2023, which replaces the Indian Evidence Act.
All references to the old IPC and CrPC are obsolete for current legal matters.

Constitutional Protections: The Foundation
The Indian Constitution provides fundamental protections that form the basis for laws against civil violence.

Article 21 – Right to Life and Personal Liberty: Guarantees every person the right to life and personal liberty, which the Supreme Court has interpreted to include the right to live with dignity and freedom from violence. The Supreme Court has held that “constant atmosphere of communal tension is a violation of the constitutional right to life” and that Article 21 encompasses “the right to live a meaningful and dignified life”.
Article 14 – Equality Before Law: Guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of laws, requiring the state to protect all citizens equally from violence regardless of religion, ethnicity, or other characteristics.
Article 15 – Prohibition of Discrimination: Prohibits discrimination on grounds including religion, race, caste, sex, and place of birth, requiring the state to ensure equal treatment.
Article 25-28 – Freedom of Religion: Guarantees freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion, subject to public order, morality, and health.

Criminal Law Provisions: Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023
The new criminal code contains specific provisions addressing civil violence and communal riots.

Section 196 – Promoting Enmity Between Different Groups:
This section criminalizes acts promoting enmity and hatred between different groups based on religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste, or community. It contains two sub-sections with different levels of punishment.

Basic Offense:
Whoever promotes or attempts to promote disharmony, hatred, or ill-will between different religious, racial, language, or regional groups through words (spoken or written), signs, visible representations, electronic communication, or any other means. This also covers acts prejudicial to maintaining harmony that disturb public peace, and organizing activities involving training for violence against any group.
Punishment: Imprisonment up to three years, or fine, or both.
Classification: Cognizable and Non-bailable.

Aggravated Offense in Places of Worship:
When the offense specified in sub-section (1) is committed in any place of worship or in any assembly engaged in the performance of religious worship or religious ceremonies, the law recognizes this as more serious due to the sensitive location and potential for greater harm.
Punishment: Imprisonment up to five years AND fine (mandatory).
Classification: Cognizable and Non-bailable.

This enhanced punishment for offenses in religious places is particularly relevant to civil violence, as many communal riots are triggered during religious festivals, processions, and gatherings at places of worship. The mandatory fine in such cases ensures additional deterrence and provides resources for victims.

Section 191 – Rioting:
This section defines rioting as when an unlawful assembly uses force or violence in pursuit of their common objective. Every member of such an assembly is guilty of rioting.
The punishment is imprisonment of up to two years, or fine, or both. The offense is cognizable and bailable, triable by any Magistrate.

Section 192 – Wantonly Giving Provocation with Intent to Cause Riot:
This section punishes anyone who deliberately provokes others with the intention of causing a riot. If a riot happens because of such provocation, the person is punished with imprisonment up to one year, or fine, or both. If no riot occurs despite the provocation, the punishment is imprisonment up to six months, or fine, or both.
The offense is cognizable and bailable.

Section 191(3) – Rioting Armed with Deadly Weapon:
When members of an unlawful assembly engage in rioting while armed with deadly weapons or objects that could cause death, every member faces enhanced punishment due to the greater danger posed.
The punishment is imprisonment which may extend to five years, or with fine, or with both.
The offense is cognizable and bailable, triable by any Magistrate.

Section 190 – Unlawful Assembly:
This section defines unlawful assembly as five or more persons gathered with a common object to commit violence, resist lawful authority, commit mischief or criminal trespass, or compel someone to do something illegal. This forms the foundation for rioting charges.

Specialized Legislation and Policy Framework
Additional laws address specific aspects of civil violence.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989: Provides special protection to SC/ST communities against violence and atrocities, with stringent punishments and special courts for trial.
Draft Communal Violence Bill: Proposed legislation (not yet enacted) to prevent communal and targeted violence, establish national and state authorities for communal harmony, impose duties on public servants to prevent violence, and provide compensation frameworks. The bill would make public servants punishable for failing to discharge duties in an unbiased manner.

Landmark Supreme Court Judgment: Mumbai Riots Case (2022)
In its judgment on the 1992-93 Mumbai communal riots that left 900 dead and over 2,000 injured, the Supreme Court established critical legal principles for state accountability.

Key Holdings and Directives:
The Court held that “constant atmosphere of communal tension affects the right to life guaranteed by Article 21” and that citizens cannot be forced to live in such conditions. It emphasized that “there was a failure on the part of the state government to maintain law and order and to protect the rights of the people guaranteed under Article 21”.

The Court directed:

State governments must pay compensation to riot victims for the state’s failure to maintain law and order and protect constitutional rights.
Absconding accused must be traced and prosecuted regardless of time elapsed.
Police forces must be improved and modernized to prevent future riots.
“We hope and trust that after 75 years of independence, riot like situations will never arise”.
This judgment establishes that state failure to prevent civil violence violates constitutional rights and creates liability for compensation.

State Responsibilities and Duties
Government authorities have specific obligations to prevent and respond to civil violence.

Prevention Duties: Monitor communal tensions, prevent inflammatory speech and hate propaganda, ensure security during religious festivals and processions, and intervene when early warning signs appear.
Protection Duties: Provide protection to vulnerable communities and individuals, deploy adequate security forces in sensitive areas, establish rapid response mechanisms, and protect places of worship.
Response Duties: Immediately respond to violence when it erupts, rescue victims and provide emergency medical care, arrest perpetrators promptly, and establish relief camps with proper facilities.
Accountability Duties: Investigate violence thoroughly and fairly, prosecute perpetrators regardless of political connections, pay compensation to victims, and implement measures to prevent recurrence.

Enforcement Gaps and Challenges
Despite strong legal frameworks, implementation remains weak.

Police Bias and Inaction: Victims frequently report that police fail to protect minority communities, delay response to violence, show bias in investigations, refuse to arrest perpetrators from politically connected groups, and sometimes actively participate in violence.
Low Conviction Rates: Most civil violence cases result in acquittals due to poor investigation, witness intimidation, prosecution failures, and political pressure on the justice system.
Delayed Justice: Cases take 10-20 years to reach conclusion, by which time witnesses have died or disappeared, evidence has degraded, and survivors have lost hope in justice.
Compensation Not Reaching Victims: While victims have legal rights to compensation, most never receive payments due to complex bureaucratic processes, lack of awareness of rights, corruption, and government indifference.
Lack of Data Transparency: The Ministry of Home Affairs and NCRB have stopped regularly publishing comprehensive communal violence data, making monitoring and accountability difficult.
Impunity for Public Officials: Government officials who fail to prevent violence or who participate in it rarely face consequences, creating culture of impunity.

Donate to BRAC to fund our legal aid programs that help survivors navigate the complex legal system, ensure FIRs are registered and investigated properly, provide lawyers for prosecution support, assist in compensation claims, file public interest litigation to strengthen enforcement, and advocate for policy reforms that close gaps between law and reality.

4. Challenges: Barriers to Eliminating Civil Violence
Despite legal frameworks and constitutional protections, eliminating civil violence faces serious challenges operating at social, political, institutional, and cultural levels.

Social and Cultural Barriers
Deep-rooted attitudes and beliefs enable civil violence to continue.

Religious Prejudice: Centuries-old prejudices between religious communities persist, with each group viewing others with suspicion, believing stereotypes about other communities, and maintaining social distance. These prejudices are passed from generation to generation.
Communal Identity Politics: Many people define themselves primarily by religious or ethnic identity rather than shared citizenship, making community loyalty more important than rule of law. This identity politics creates us-versus-them thinking.
Honor and Revenge Culture: In many communities, honor demands retaliation for perceived insults or attacks, creating cycles of revenge violence where each community feels justified in retaliating for past harms.
Victim Blaming: Communities sometimes blame victims for provoking violence through their actions, religious practices, or presence in certain areas, shifting responsibility from perpetrators to victims.
Normalization of Violence: When violence occurs repeatedly without consequences, communities begin accepting it as normal rather than unacceptable, weakening social prohibitions against violence.
Distrust of Other Communities: Past violence creates deep distrust that prevents normal interaction, cooperation, and friendship across community lines.

Political and Governance Failures
Political manipulation and governance failures enable and sometimes encourage civil violence.

Electoral Polarization: Political parties deliberately inflame religious and ethnic tensions to consolidate vote banks, create divisions that benefit them electorally, mobilize supporters through fear and hatred, and distract from governance failures. The sharp increase in violence during election years demonstrates this pattern.
Protection of Perpetrators: Politicians protect violent actors who support them, pressure police not to arrest perpetrators, pressure prosecutors to weaken cases, and use political influence to secure acquittals.
Lack of Political Will: Leaders often lack genuine commitment to preventing violence, prioritize short-term political gains over long-term peace, and avoid action against violent groups that form their political base.
Failure of State Apparatus: State governments fail to maintain law and order during violence, do not deploy adequate security forces, delay response when violence erupts, and fail to protect vulnerable communities despite advance warning.
Use of Bulldozer Politics: In BJP-ruled states, authorities have used bulldozers as “collective punishment” against Muslims, demolishing homes and businesses of those accused in violence without due process. This state-sponsored retaliation fuels further tensions.
Internet Shutdowns: While authorities justify internet shutdowns as necessary to control violence, these shutdowns prevent victims from calling for help, documenting atrocities, and accessing information. Manipur had internet shut down for months, allowing violence to continue without outside scrutiny.

Institutional and Enforcement Failures
Weak institutions fail to prevent violence or deliver justice.

Police Force Inadequacies: Police forces lack sufficient personnel to prevent violence, training in handling communal situations, equipment and resources, independence from political pressure, and accountability for failures.
Police Bias: Officers often share communal prejudices of majority communities, fail to protect minorities, delay response to attacks on minority communities, refuse to register FIRs against perpetrators from majority groups, and sometimes actively participate in violence.
Judicial System Overload: Courts are overwhelmed with pending cases, trials take 10-20 years to conclude, witnesses die or disappear before testifying, and evidence degrades over time.
Weak Prosecution: Government prosecutors often lack commitment to securing convictions, have insufficient resources and time per case, face political pressure to weaken cases, and fail to effectively present evidence.
Intelligence Failures: Intelligence agencies fail to provide advance warning of planned violence, monitor hate speech and incitement, track movements of violent groups, and alert authorities to rising tensions.
Inadequate Relief and Rehabilitation: Relief camps for displaced persons lack adequate food, water, sanitation, medical care, and education for children. Many displaced persons live in camps for months or years with no plan for return or resettlement.

Economic and Resource Challenges
Economic factors both cause violence and limit responses.

Competition for Scarce Resources: Competition over land, water, forest resources, jobs, government benefits, and educational opportunities between communities creates resentment that can explode into violence.
Poverty and Inequality: Poverty creates desperation that makes people vulnerable to manipulation, inequality between communities fuels grievances, and lack of economic opportunity makes violence seem like viable option.
Cost of Prevention: Effective prevention requires significant investment in police training and deployment, community programs, education initiatives, and social welfare that states claim they cannot afford.
Lack of Rehabilitation Funding: States lack resources for adequate relief camps, long-term rehabilitation, reconstruction of destroyed homes, and livelihood support for displaced persons.

Media and Communication Challenges
Modern communication both spreads and combats civil violence.

Social Media Hate Speech: Hate speech spreads rapidly through social media, false rumors trigger mob violence, provocative images and videos inflame passions, and coordinated campaigns spread misinformation.
Lack of Regulation: Social media platforms fail to adequately monitor and remove hate speech, allow fake accounts to spread propaganda, and do not cooperate sufficiently with law enforcement.
Mainstream Media Bias: Some mainstream media outlets inflame communal tensions through biased reporting, inflammatory language, and giving platform to hate speech.
News Blackouts: Government-imposed internet shutdowns and media restrictions prevent accurate reporting of violence, allowing atrocities to continue without public scrutiny.

Psychological and Community Barriers
Trauma and fear perpetuate cycles of violence.

Intergenerational Trauma: Communities that experienced violence in past generations pass trauma, fear, and desire for revenge to new generations who did not experience original events.
Fear and Insecurity: Constant fear prevents normal interaction between communities, causes people to withdraw into their own groups, and makes suspicious of outsiders.
Lack of Peace-Building Infrastructure: India lacks adequate civil society organizations working on peace-building, interfaith dialogue programs, trauma healing initiatives, and youth programs promoting harmony.
Absence of Accountability: When perpetrators never face consequences, survivors never receive justice, and officials face no punishment for failures, it creates culture where violence is acceptable strategy.

Your contribution to BRAC helps overcome these systemic challenges by addressing root causes through community peace-building programs, regulating hate speech and incitement, providing comprehensive support services survivors desperately need, strengthening enforcement through legal aid, building interfaith networks, advocating for policy reforms, and documenting violations to demand accountability.

5. Solutions: Building a Violence-Free India
Eliminating civil violence requires a comprehensive strategy addressing prevention, community healing, survivor support, systemic change, and social transformation. BRAC implements an integrated “Five Pillars of Peace” model based on evidence and decades of experience.

Pillar 1: Prevention and Early Warning Systems
Preventing violence before it erupts is the most effective and humane approach.

Community-Based Early Warning Networks:

Grassroots Monitoring: We establish community networks in high-risk areas across Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Manipur, and other states that monitor tensions, identify inflammatory speech, track movements of violent groups, and report warning signs to authorities before violence erupts.
Interfaith Committees: We facilitate interfaith peace committees bringing together respected leaders from different religious communities who meet regularly, address grievances before they escalate, mediate minor disputes, and present united front against violence.
Youth Peace Ambassadors: We train young people from different communities to serve as peace ambassadors, monitor social media for hate speech, organize joint community activities, and intervene when tensions rise among their peers.
Women’s Peace Groups: We empower women’s groups to serve as early warning systems, as women are often first to sense rising tensions, provide safe spaces for cross-community dialogue, and protect vulnerable families when threats emerge.
Technology-Based Monitoring: We develop and deploy mobile apps and SMS systems that allow citizens to anonymously report hate speech, threatening behavior, and signs of planned violence to authorities and civil society organizations.

Education and Awareness Campaigns:

School Peace Curriculum: We implement peace education programs in schools teaching students about shared history, common values across religions, nonviolent conflict resolution, critical thinking about propaganda, and celebrating diversity rather than fearing it.
College and University Programs: We conduct intensive workshops at colleges addressing historical facts about communal violence, psychological roots of prejudice, media literacy to combat misinformation, and training in community peace-building.
Community Education: We organize village and neighborhood meetings using street theater, films, discussions, and testimonies from violence survivors to build empathy, challenge stereotypes, and promote peace.
Religious Leader Engagement: We work with Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh, Buddhist, and other religious leaders to preach messages of tolerance, publicly condemn violence, correct misinterpretations of religious texts used to justify violence, and lead joint prayer services.
Media Partnerships: We partner with newspapers, television stations, radio channels, and digital media to spread peace messages, highlight positive stories of communal harmony, fact-check false rumors, and educate public about legal consequences of violence.

Regulation of Hate Speech and Incitement:

Social Media Monitoring: We monitor social media platforms for hate speech, inflammatory content, and false rumors, report violations to platforms and police, and deploy counter-narratives promoting peace.
Legal Action Against Hate Speech: We file complaints and support prosecution under BNS Section 196 against individuals and groups promoting enmity between communities through speeches, writings, or social media posts.
Festival and Procession Management: We work with authorities and community leaders to develop agreed routes for religious processions, establish guidelines for volume and timing, deploy peace volunteers along routes, and create mechanisms for immediate dispute resolution.
Rapid Response to Provocations: When inflammatory incidents occur, we quickly deploy teams to prevent escalation, facilitate dialogue between affected communities, ensure accurate information spreads, and mobilize peace committees.

Pillar 2: Emergency Response and Protection During Violence
When violence erupts despite prevention efforts, rapid response saves lives and limits harm.

24/7 Civil Violence Emergency Helpline:

Multi-Language Service: Our helpline operates in Hindi, English, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Telugu, Manipuri, and other regional languages, accessible via phone, WhatsApp, and our website at brac.in, providing immediate crisis response.
Emergency Coordination: When violence erupts, callers receive guidance on immediate safety measures, police contact and emergency response coordination, medical emergency dispatch, and documentation of atrocities for legal purposes.
Safe House Network: We maintain safe houses and partner with religious institutions willing to shelter families fleeing violence, coordinate evacuation of threatened families, and provide temporary shelter until safety is restored.
Legal Documentation: We guide callers on preserving evidence of violence including photographs, videos, witness statements, and medical records critical for later prosecution and compensation claims.

Emergency Relief and Rescue:

Rapid Response Teams: We deploy trained rapid response teams to violence-affected areas within hours to rescue trapped families, provide emergency medical care, distribute food and water, and assess needs.
Medical Emergency Support: We coordinate with hospitals to ensure admission of injured persons, provide emergency funds for critical medical care, arrange ambulances for victims in remote areas, and ensure survivors receive trauma-informed care.
Relief Camp Support: For displaced persons in government relief camps, we supplement inadequate government provisions by providing food, clean water, sanitation facilities, clothing and bedding, medicines and medical care, and educational activities for children.
Documentation of Atrocities: Our teams document violence through photographs and videos, survivor testimony, witness statements, and mapping of destroyed property, creating evidence crucial for prosecutions and compensation.

Security and Protection Coordination:

Police Liaison: We maintain relationships with senior police officials in violence-prone districts, advocate for deployment of adequate forces, ensure protection of vulnerable neighborhoods, and demand investigation and arrest of perpetrators.
Legal Protection: We immediately file FIRs on behalf of victims, seek court protection orders for threatened communities, file habeas corpus petitions for missing persons, and demand police action through legal pressure.
Community Self-Defense: We train communities in nonviolent self-defense including early evacuation plans, communication networks during violence, securing homes against mobs, and protecting vulnerable community members.

Pillar 3: Survivor Support and Rehabilitation
Survivors need comprehensive, long-term support to heal and rebuild lives.

Medical Care and Trauma Treatment:

Emergency Medical Care: We provide immediate funding for emergency surgeries, hospitalization costs, medicines, and specialized care for serious injuries including gunshot wounds, stab injuries, severe burns, and broken bones.
Long-Term Medical Support: We fund ongoing medical care for survivors with permanent disabilities, reconstructive surgeries, physical therapy and rehabilitation, assistive devices for disabled survivors, and treatment of chronic conditions resulting from violence.
Psychological Healing: Our trained trauma counselors provide one-on-one therapy for PTSD, depression, and anxiety, group therapy where survivors support each other, family counseling to heal relationships, and crisis intervention during difficult periods.
Child and Youth Services: We provide specialized counseling for children traumatized by violence, educational catch-up programs for children who missed school, play therapy and art therapy, and mentoring programs to build resilience.

Livelihood and Economic Rehabilitation:

Immediate Financial Support: We provide emergency cash assistance for food, rent, and basic needs, replacing lost identity documents and papers, and covering children’s school fees so education can continue.
Skills Training Programs: We provide vocational training in computer applications, tailoring and textiles, handicrafts, food processing, automotive repair, electrical work, mobile repair, and other marketable skills.
Business Restart Support: For survivors who owned businesses destroyed in violence, we provide interest-free loans to restart businesses, replace destroyed equipment and inventory, business planning and mentoring, and connections to markets.
Job Placement: We partner with employers committed to inclusive hiring, provide job placement assistance, workplace readiness training, and follow-up support to ensure success.
Cooperative Development: We facilitate formation of survivor cooperatives where members pool resources, share equipment, market products collectively, and support each other economically.

Housing and Resettlement:

Home Reconstruction: For families whose homes were destroyed, we provide funding for reconstruction, support navigating insurance and compensation claims, and technical assistance in rebuilding.
Relocation Support: For families who cannot safely return, we assist with finding new housing in safe areas, covering moving costs and security deposits, and connecting to services in new locations.
Legal Support for Property Rights: We provide legal assistance to establish property ownership, prevent illegal occupation of abandoned properties, and secure compensation for destroyed property.

Pillar 4: Justice, Accountability, and Legal Reform
Long-term prevention requires strong accountability and systemic reforms.

Legal Aid and Prosecution Support:

Free Legal Representation: We provide free lawyers to survivors for criminal prosecution of perpetrators, compensation claims from government, civil suits for damages, and protection of property rights.
FIR Registration and Investigation: Our legal teams accompany survivors to police stations ensuring FIRs are properly registered, follow up to ensure investigation proceeds, demand arrest of accused, and file court petitions if police fail to act.
Court Accompaniment: We accompany survivors to all court hearings providing emotional support, explaining proceedings, ensuring their rights are protected, and advocating for fast-track trials.
Witness Protection: We coordinate with courts and police for witness protection, ensure safe testimony, provide security for families of witnesses, and relocate witnesses if threatened.
Appeals and Higher Courts: When trials result in acquittals or inadequate sentences, we file appeals in higher courts, engage senior lawyers, and pursue justice through entire judicial hierarchy.

Compensation Claims and Enforcement:

Compensation Application Support: We handle complex process of filing compensation claims with state governments, gathering required documentation, following up with bureaucrats, and demanding timely payment.
Court Petitions for Compensation: When states fail to pay compensation, we file writ petitions in High Courts demanding compliance, seek contempt action against non-complying officials, and secure court orders for payment.
Monitoring Government Compliance: We track whether compensation is actually paid, document failures and violations, publish reports exposing non-compliance, and use public pressure to force action.

Policy Advocacy and Legislative Reform:

Strengthen BNS Enforcement: We advocate for mandatory fast-track trials for communal violence cases within 6 months, stricter penalties for hate speech and incitement under Section 196, special prosecutors for civil violence cases, and consequences for police who fail to prevent violence.
Communal Violence Prevention Bill: We push for enactment of comprehensive Communal Violence Prevention legislation establishing national and state authorities for communal harmony, imposing duties on public servants to prevent violence, providing adequate compensation frameworks, and creating accountability for state failures.
Data Transparency: We demand that Ministry of Home Affairs and NCRB resume regular publication of comprehensive communal violence data, broken down by state, type, and community affected.
Accountability for State Failures: We advocate for legal provisions holding government officials personally liable for failures to prevent violence, making compensation for victims mandatory, and allowing survivors to sue state for negligence.

Public Interest Litigation:

Strategic PILs: We file public interest litigation demanding protection for threatened communities, enforcement of existing laws, compensation for victims, and systemic reforms to prevent violence.
Monitoring Supreme Court Directives: We file compliance petitions monitoring implementation of Supreme Court directives from Mumbai riots case and other judgments, holding governments accountable for failures.

Pillar 5: Peace-Building and Social Transformation
Lasting peace requires transforming relationships and attitudes between communities.

Interfaith Dialogue and Reconciliation:

Interfaith Peace Forums: We organize regular forums bringing together people from different religious communities for dialogue, joint problem-solving, building personal relationships, and celebrating each other’s festivals.
Truth and Reconciliation: In areas recovering from violence, we facilitate truth and reconciliation processes where communities acknowledge harms, survivors share testimony, perpetrators accept responsibility, and communities commit to preventing future violence.
Joint Community Projects: We organize projects requiring cooperation between communities including cleaning neighborhoods, building playgrounds, organizing health camps, and running educational programs that build positive relationships.
Religious Site Visits: We organize visits where communities visit each other’s places of worship, learn about other faiths, break down stereotypes and fear, and build appreciation for diversity.

Youth Programs and Education:

Youth Leadership Development: We train young people from different communities to become peace leaders through workshops on conflict resolution, prejudice reduction, community organizing, and advocacy.
Inter-Community Youth Exchanges: We organize exchanges where youth from different communities spend time together, build friendships, learn about each other’s lives, and develop commitment to peace.
Arts and Culture Programs: We use music, dance, theater, poetry, and visual arts bringing communities together, expressing shared values, processing trauma, and envisioning peaceful futures.
Sports Programs: We organize sports leagues and tournaments with mixed-community teams that build cooperation, friendship, and healthy competition replacing violence.

Women’s Peace-Building Leadership:

Women’s Peace Networks: We establish networks of women leaders from different communities who lead peace-building efforts, intervene during tensions, advocate for nonviolence, and model inter-community cooperation.
Economic Empowerment: We create women’s cooperatives with members from different communities who work together economically, depend on each other for livelihoods, and have shared interest in peace.
Survivor Leadership: We support women survivors of violence who want to become peace advocates, provide training and platforms, amplify their voices, and use their powerful testimony to prevent future violence.

Research, Documentation, and Knowledge:

Violence Documentation: We maintain comprehensive databases tracking civil violence incidents, patterns, perpetrators, state responses, and justice outcomes.
Best Practices Research: We research effective interventions for violence prevention, early warning systems, peace-building, and post-violence reconciliation, sharing findings with government and civil society.
Impact Studies: We conduct studies documenting economic costs of civil violence, effectiveness of our programs, and long-term outcomes for survivors and communities we serve.

Donate to BRAC to fund these comprehensive solutions addressing both immediate needs and long-term transformation. Every contribution—whether ₹2,000 or ₹1,50,000—directly funds emergency response, survivor rehabilitation, legal justice, peace-building, and advocacy. Your support transforms systems while saving and rebuilding lives.

6. Societal Impact: Building a Peaceful, Unified India
Eliminating civil violence creates transformative impacts extending beyond individual survivors, contributing to national unity, social harmony, economic development, and a society where all people can live with dignity regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Individual and Family Transformation
With proper support, survivors of civil violence achieve remarkable recovery.

Survivor Healing and Empowerment: Survivors in BRAC programs show significant physical recovery through medical care, psychological healing through counseling and peer support, economic independence through skills training and employment, and social reintegration as communities heal and accept them. Many become powerful advocates for peace who prevent future violence.
Family Stability: Families receive support that enables financial stability through livelihood programs, healing of relationships damaged by trauma, protection from future violence, and hope for better futures. Children in supported families show better educational outcomes and emotional health.
Breaking Cycles of Revenge: When survivors receive justice and support rather than being left to suffer, they are less likely to seek revenge, more willing to forgive, and able to break cycles of violence that can span generations.

Community-Level Impact
Strong responses to civil violence and investment in peace-building transform entire communities.

Reduction in Violence: Communities with active prevention programs show measurable reductions in violent incidents, earlier intervention when tensions rise, stronger social norms condemning violence, and greater willingness of citizens to report and oppose violent actors.
Restored Social Trust: Peace-building programs rebuild trust between communities, enable normal interaction and friendship across religious lines, encourage business partnerships between communities, and create shared community identity alongside religious identities.
Economic Revival: When violence ends and peace is established, businesses reopen and new businesses start, investment and development return to affected areas, jobs become available again, and tourism and commerce resume.
Youth Attitude Change: Young people exposed to peace education show greater acceptance of other religions, understanding of shared human values, commitment to nonviolence, and willingness to build friendships across community lines.

Economic Benefits
Preventing civil violence delivers enormous economic benefits.

Avoiding Destruction Costs: Violence destroys billions of rupees worth of property, businesses, infrastructure, and agricultural resources. Prevention saves these enormous costs while avoiding economic disruption.
Enabling Development: Peace allows states to invest in education, healthcare, and infrastructure rather than security, enables businesses to operate normally, attracts investment and skilled workers, and allows economic growth that poverty-reducing.
Productive Diversity: When communities cooperate rather than conflict, diversity becomes economic strength through diverse skills and knowledge, broader markets and networks, innovation from different perspectives, and workforce participation from all communities.

Legal and Governance Improvements
Effective prevention and response to civil violence strengthens institutions.

Rule of Law Strengthening: When perpetrators are prosecuted, survivors receive justice, and officials face accountability for failures, it demonstrates that laws protect all citizens equally, violence has consequences, and institutions work for everyone.
Police Reform: Addressing civil violence requires police reform including better training, accountability mechanisms, bias reduction, and community-oriented policing. These reforms improve policing across the board.
Government Accountability: When civil society demands and achieves government accountability for preventing violence, protecting citizens, and compensating victims, it strengthens democratic accountability in all areas.

National Unity and Social Cohesion
Eliminating civil violence is essential for India’s unity and future.

Strengthening Secularism: India’s constitutional commitment to secularism requires protecting all religions equally and preventing religion-based violence. Success in this area validates India’s secular foundations.
National Integration: Civil violence threatens national unity by dividing citizens along religious and ethnic lines. Peace-building creates shared national identity transcending these divisions.
Democratic Deepening: Democracy requires citizens to resolve differences through dialogue and democratic processes rather than violence. Eliminating civil violence strengthens democratic culture.
Constitutional Values: Successfully protecting citizens from civil violence realizes constitutional promises of equality, dignity, and freedom for all regardless of religion, fulfilling the Constitution’s vision.

International Standing and Relations
India’s handling of civil violence affects international reputation and relations.

Human Rights Reputation: Preventing civil violence and protecting minorities enhances India’s human rights reputation internationally, affecting diplomatic relations, trade partnerships, and soft power.
Investment Climate: Investors assess political stability and social harmony when deciding where to invest. Civil violence deters foreign direct investment while peace attracts it.
Regional Influence: As South Asia’s largest democracy, India’s success in maintaining communal harmony influences neighboring countries and demonstrates democratic values.

Alignment with National Development Goals
Eliminating civil violence directly advances India’s development priorities.

Sustainable Development Goals: Success advances SDG 16 (peace, justice, and strong institutions), SDG 10 (reduced inequalities), SDG 5 (gender equality, as women disproportionately suffer in violence), and SDG 8 (economic growth enabled by peace).
National Development Vision: Civil violence prevention aligns with India’s vision of inclusive development, social harmony, and rising global leadership.

Your donation to BRAC contributes to this comprehensive transformation, building an India where communities live in harmony, violence is not tolerated, survivors receive full support, and constitutional values are realized. Every contribution creates ripple effects extending across families, communities, and the nation, moving us toward a society where civil violence becomes unthinkable and every person lives with dignity regardless of religion or ethnicity.

7. Call to Action: Join BRAC’s Fight to End Civil Violence
The fight against civil violence cannot be won by laws alone or by survivors’ courage alone. It requires active support from people who believe in peace, justice, and unity for all Indians. Your involvement—whether through financial support, volunteering, or advocacy—makes the difference between continued suffering and real transformation.

Why Your Support Matters Now

Violence Is Increasing: With 59 communal riots in 2024 compared to 32 in 2023—an 84% increase—civil violence is rising, not falling. More survivors need immediate help, and more communities need prevention programs. Delayed action means more lives destroyed.
Manipur Crisis Continues: Over 258 people have died, 60,000 remain displaced in camps, and violence continues despite 19 months passing since it began. These displaced families desperately need support while awaiting resolution.
Prevention Works: Communities where BRAC implements early warning systems, peace-building programs, and interfaith dialogue show measurable reductions in violence. Expanding these proven programs to more high-risk areas prevents future victims.
Justice Gaps Persist: Most perpetrators of civil violence never face consequences, survivors do not receive compensation, and communities remain divided. Your contribution funds legal support, documentation, and advocacy that delivers justice and accountability.

Ways to Support

One-Time Donations – Your Impact:

₹2,000 provides emergency relief supplies including food, water, medicines, and basic necessities for one displaced family for one week during crisis.
₹5,000 funds peace education workshops in one school reaching 200 students, teaching conflict resolution, prejudice reduction, and celebrating diversity.
₹15,000 supports one survivor family for one month including medical care, counseling, temporary housing, and food while they begin rebuilding lives.
₹35,000 establishes one interfaith peace committee bringing together leaders from different communities in one high-risk area for six months of conflict prevention work.
₹75,000 provides comprehensive legal support for one survivor family including lawyer fees, court costs, compensation claims, and prosecution of perpetrators for one year.
₹1,50,000 provides complete rehabilitation for one survivor family for one year including medical care, psychological counseling, livelihood training, business startup capital, housing support, and legal aid.

Monthly Donations – Sustained Impact:

₹1,000 per month supports our 24/7 emergency helpline operations, ensuring every call is answered, every crisis receives immediate response, and every survivor gets connected to services.
₹3,000 per month funds one early warning network volunteer who monitors tensions, reports warning signs, and intervenes to prevent violence in one high-risk neighborhood.
₹5,000 per month supports one peace-building program in one village bringing different communities together, building relationships, and preventing violence.
₹10,000 per month provides comprehensive monthly support for one displaced family living in relief camp including food, medicines, education for children, and counseling, until they can safely return home or resettle.

Volunteer and Engagement Opportunities:

Community Volunteers: Join our peace-building programs in high-risk areas. Facilitate interfaith dialogues, organize joint community activities, monitor tensions, and intervene when conflicts arise. Training provided.
Professional Skills Volunteering: Offer your professional expertise. Doctors and nurses can provide medical camps. Lawyers can offer legal aid. Counselors can provide trauma therapy. Teachers can run educational programs for displaced children. Researchers can document violence.

Advocacy and Awareness Building:

Social Media Advocacy: Follow BRAC on social media to join the movement to end civil violence. Share our content highlighting peace-building stories, prevention messages, and calls to action. Use your voice to educate your network about civil violence and how to prevent it.
Policy Advocacy: Write to your Members of Parliament, state legislators, and local officials demanding stronger enforcement of laws against hate speech and communal violence, fast-track trials for civil violence cases, prompt enactment of the Communal Violence Prevention Bill, mandatory compensation for all violence victims, and accountability for officials who fail to prevent violence.
Community Awareness: Organize awareness sessions in your neighborhood, school, college, or workplace about civil violence prevention, interfaith harmony, and reporting hate speech. Educate people about warning signs of violence and how to respond.
Counter Hate Speech: When you encounter hate speech online or offline, challenge it with facts, report it to authorities and social media platforms, share messages of peace and unity, and support those targeted by hatred.

Transparency and Accountability
BRAC maintains the highest standards of financial transparency and program accountability.

Program Allocation: 85% of every donation goes directly to program delivery for survivors including emergency response, medical care, counseling, legal aid, livelihood training, peace-building programs, and advocacy. Only 15% covers essential administration and fundraising costs.
Regular Reporting: We publish detailed annual reports at brac.in/reports showing exactly how funds are used, how many survivors are served, what outcomes are achieved, and what challenges remain. These reports include audited financial statements showing every rupee received and spent.
Independent Audits: Our accounts are audited annually by independent chartered accountants following Indian accounting standards. Audit reports are published on our website and submitted to regulatory authorities.
Donor Communication: Every donor receives receipts immediately, impact updates quarterly showing exactly how their contribution is being used, annual impact reports, and invitations to visit programs and meet survivors. We maintain open communication with all supporters.

Tax Benefits
Your donation to BRAC qualifies for tax benefits under Indian law.

Section 80G Deduction: Donations to BRAC are eligible for deduction under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act. Individual donors can claim 50% of donation amount as deduction from taxable income, reducing your tax liability while supporting crucial work.
Donation Certificates: We provide official donation receipts within 7 days of receiving your contribution. These receipts contain all information required for claiming tax deduction including your name, amount, date, our registration number, and Section 80G certification.

How To Get Started Today
Taking action is simple. Choose the way that works best for you.

Online Donation: Visit www.brac.in/donate-now to make a secure online donation using credit card, debit card, UPI, net banking, or digital wallets. The process takes less than 2 minutes.
Phone: Call us at +91 7977386674 to donate by phone, discuss monthly giving options, learn about volunteering opportunities, or ask questions about our work. Our team is available Monday-Saturday, 10 AM to 6 PM.
Email: Contact us at partner@brac.in or info@brac.in to arrange major gifts, discuss corporate partnerships, set up monthly donations, volunteer with us, or get detailed information about specific programs.
Follow BRAC on social media to join the movement to end civil violence. Stay connected to our work, learn about updates from the field, share our content to raise awareness, and be part of a growing community committed to peace and justice for all.

8. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. What is civil violence and how is it different from other crimes?
Civil violence refers to organized conflicts between different groups based on religion, ethnicity, caste, or regional identity. Unlike individual crimes, civil violence involves collective action by mobs or organized groups targeting entire communities rather than specific individuals. It includes communal riots between religious groups, ethnic conflicts over resources or political power, and organized attacks on minorities. The violence aims to harm, intimidate, or displace communities based on their identity rather than individual actions.

Q2. What is causing the recent increase in communal riots in India?
The 84% increase in communal riots from 32 in 2023 to 59 in 2024 stems from multiple factors. Political parties exploit religious divisions for electoral gains, particularly during election periods like the 2024 general elections. Religious processions and festivals trigger violence when routes pass through mixed neighborhoods. Social media spreads hate speech and false rumors rapidly, inflaming tensions. Historical grievances between communities remain unresolved, creating underlying tensions that erupt when triggered. Economic competition over resources, jobs, and government benefits fuels resentment between groups. Research shows 49 of 59 riots in 2024 occurred in BJP-ruled states, raising questions about political will to prevent violence.

Q3. What happened in Manipur and why has the violence continued so long?
The Manipur ethnic violence began in May 2023 between the majority Meitei community and minority Kuki-Zo tribal groups. The conflict was triggered by a court order granting Scheduled Tribe status to Meiteis, which Kuki-Zo groups opposed, fearing loss of their own benefits and protections. As of November 2024, after 19 months of violence, 258 people have been killed, over 1,000 injured, 60,000 displaced into relief camps, and 32 remain missing. The violence persists due to deep ethnic divisions, proliferation of weapons, failure of security forces to control violence, political paralysis in addressing root causes, and breakdown of trust between communities. Internet shutdowns that lasted months prevented outside scrutiny and allowed violence to continue.

Q4. What laws protect people from civil violence in India?
India’s legal framework includes constitutional protections and criminal laws. The Constitution guarantees the right to life and liberty (Article 21), equality before law (Article 14), and freedom of religion (Articles 25-28). The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which replaced the IPC on July 1, 2024, contains specific provisions: Section 196 criminalizes promoting enmity between groups with up to 3 years imprisonment; Section 191 punishes rioting with up to 2 years imprisonment; and Section 192 increases punishment to 5 years when rioting involves deadly weapons. The Supreme Court has held that state failure to prevent violence violates Article 21 and creates liability for compensation. The Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act provides additional protection for these communities.

Q5. Why do most perpetrators of civil violence escape punishment?
Despite strong laws, conviction rates in communal violence cases remain extremely low. Police investigations often show bias favoring majority community members while targeting minorities, delaying arrest of politically connected perpetrators, and conducting poor investigations that fail to gather evidence. Witnesses face intimidation and threats, causing many to change testimony or disappear before trial. Government prosecutors lack commitment to securing convictions, face political pressure to weaken cases, and have insufficient resources and time per case. Trials take 10-20 years to conclude, by which time evidence degrades and witnesses die or disappear. Politicians protect violent actors who support them by pressuring police not to arrest them and using influence to secure acquittals. This systematic impunity encourages future violence by showing perpetrators face no consequences.

Q6. How can victims of civil violence get compensation?
Victims have legal rights to compensation from state governments for deaths, injuries, and property damage caused by civil violence. The Ministry of Home Affairs provides compensation schemes where ₹3 lakh is paid to next of kin in case of death and ₹1.25 lakh for serious injuries. State governments also have their own compensation schemes with varying amounts. To claim compensation, victims must file applications with district authorities including FIR copies, medical certificates for injuries, death certificates, property damage assessment, and identity proof. However, most victims never receive compensation due to complex bureaucratic processes, lack of awareness of rights, corruption and delays, and government indifference. Organizations like BRAC provide legal aid to help survivors navigate the compensation process, file proper applications, follow up with authorities, and file court petitions when states fail to pay.

Q7. How can ordinary citizens do to prevent civil violence?
Citizens play a crucial role in preventing violence through multiple actions. Join or form peace committees in your neighborhood bringing together people from different communities who meet regularly, address grievances before they become conflicts, mediate disputes, and intervene when tensions rise. Report hate speech and inflammatory content to police and social media platforms rather than sharing it further, helping stop the spread of misinformation that triggers violence. Challenge prejudices and stereotypes about other communities in conversations with family and friends, educating people about the reality versus myths. Maintain friendships and business relationships across community lines, demonstrating that peaceful coexistence is normal and beneficial. Participate in interfaith programs and joint community activities that build relationships and trust between communities. During religious festivals and processions, work with neighbors to ensure celebrations remain peaceful and routes are agreed upon in advance. Educate children about respect for all religions and the value of diversity, teaching them that differences strengthen rather than weaken society. When violence threatens, do not participate in any form, actively protect neighbors from other communities, provide them safe shelter if needed, and immediately call police demanding protection. Support organizations like BRAC working on violence prevention through donations, volunteering, and spreading awareness in your networks.

Q8. How effective are peace-building programs in preventing violence?
Research and experience demonstrate that well-designed peace-building programs significantly reduce communal violence. Communities with active interfaith committees, regular dialogue programs, and early warning systems show measurably lower rates of violence. Peace committees that include respected leaders from all communities can mediate disputes before they escalate, intervene when tensions rise, and present united opposition to violence. Youth programs that bring young people from different communities together for education, sports, and cultural activities build relationships that prevent violence among the next generation. Women’s peace groups serve as effective early warning systems and intervene to protect families when violence threatens. Community policing programs that build trust between police and all communities enable better prevention and response. The key to effectiveness is sustained engagement rather than one-time programs, inclusion of grassroots community members rather than only elites, addressing underlying economic and social grievances, and ensuring political will to support peace efforts.

Remember, your support for BRAC Global Social Foundation makes possible the comprehensive work needed to end civil violence. Whether through financial contributions, volunteering, or advocacy, you become part of the solution. Together, we can build an India where every person lives with dignity regardless of religion or ethnicity, where differences are celebrated rather than feared, where constitutional values of secularism and equality are fully realized, and where civil violence becomes unthinkable. Join us today at www.brac.in/donate-now or call +91 7977386674.

Disclaimer
This article is written in simple language to be accessible to a general audience and is not a judicial or formal document. For clarity and to keep it short, we sometimes summarize legal provisions rather than citing them in full. While we have tried to ensure accuracy, this article is for general awareness and education only—not legal advice. If you find any error in this article, please email us at info@brac.in with the exact words or sentences that need correction. We welcome feedback to ensure accuracy. Laws may vary across states and are subject to change; readers should seek qualified legal advice for specific cases. The plans and work presented are based on BRAC’s research-driven proposals and illustrative projections. They do not represent outcomes of current or ongoing programs. This model illustrates the scale of impact that could be achieved with your support and regular donations. Actual results may differ depending on available resources, external conditions, and program execution. With your donation, these projections can move from vision to reality. Donate now by visiting our Donate Now page and choosing the cause that matters most to you.

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