Describing the distinctive southern culture of the United States, where specific cultural traditions legitimate violence, John Reed (1982: 147; emphasis in original) had said, ‘Sometimes people are violent because they want to be and there is nothing to stop them. But sometimes people are violent, even when they don't want to be, because there will be penalties [disgrace is a very effective one] for not being violent.’ In the days following the death of karsevaks, many Hindus believed they were obligated to defend the ‘lost honour’ of the community. It was the coward who dared protest. ‘Some of us were paid to attack Muslims, others like me had to do it because everyone around me was doing it … we didn't want to be disapproved by our own relatives, Raheelben,’ Jagdish, a Hindu rioter from Parikshitlal Nagar had told me in 2015.

In times of such opportunistic violence, when neighbourhoods go against the grain and stay peaceful, solidarity among the residents becomes implicit. It is assumed that every individual belonging to the group, shares the group interest and behaves in accordance with their group norms.