Synopsis This work is based on the studies of dedicated scholars on the problem of communal riots in India after independence. The contributions and field reports offer narratives of eyewitness accounts and analyses of incidents involving communal activities. The study assumes that communalism is a threat to our national values and the basic concept of the constitution of India and that these values cannot be termed as out of date. The authors do not accept the view, of current commentators that the values of secularism are obsolete or that a new cultural definition of secularism to incorporate Hindutva are at all needed. The book offers minute details of incidents, related to persons, politics and also the events that queered the pitch of nationhood on communal lines. Based on original sources and commission reports this work on communal politics lays bare the dynamics of the communal conflagration that led to human carnages and posed a challenge to the democratic setup in the country for some time.