Blowing on the fire

What place does violence occupy in politics? It was in India that he went the author to answer this question in a striking graphic document. Joe Sacco, the initiator of the comic strip documentary genre, relates a series violent incidents between Muslims and Hindus in the Indian region of Uttar Pradesh. This restricted perimeter allows it to carry out numerous interviews: political leaders, village chiefs, but also victims, usually landless peasants. "This report deals with a series violent incidents between Muslims and Hindus that took place in three districts of Uttar Pradesh, India, in 2013. Compared to other episodes violent, the so-called Muzaffarnagar riot was a serious matter but on a relatively small scale - several dozen people were killed and tens of thousands of people displaced. Its perimeter relatively restricted geographical area allowed me to speak with government representatives, political leaders and heads of village, as well as to the victims, who were usually landless peasants. In my previous works, I had the opportunity to recount clashes violent, including massacres, but this riot affected me because it is the archetype of what has happened before and what will happen again very soon certainly. Although the story is specific to India, its implications are broader and its underlying themes are: what narratives do the authors construct to explain their participation in violence? What What is the role of violence in a democracy? How do crowds, for example, opposition to the leaders, do they influence the direction of events?" Joe Bag