Communal ghettosiation in urban India: A process of informal but systematic segregations

India houses the third biggest Muslim population in the world but over the years it has experienced massive segregation of people based on their religious identities. This large-scale forced and systemic ‘ghettoization’ of Muslims is a recent trend largely ascribed to the frequent communal’ violence and state’s negligence towards minorities. In this backdrop, the paper discusses the communal ghettoization of Muslims and uses the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad as illustration to explain the same. This study is essentially based on field observations and literature to comprehend communal tone of ghettoization process. Muslims in India are a minority (15 percent of total population) and suffer most in case riots occur. In the last few decades, following the 1985, 1992 and 2002 riots, Gujarat emerged as a hotbed of communal tension, forcing the Muslim population to migrate from their original locations and seek refuge in other parts of the state. Residents of these newly populated ghettos such as Juhapura are forced to endure these conditions due to fear, lack of choice and state apathy. These localities are largely ignored and lack all forms of socio-economic and physical infrastructure for a decent living.