For many years before the Gujarat carnage, Communalism Combat, a magazine edited by Teesta Setalvad and Javed Anand, had been exposing ominous signs of a build-up of Hindutva extremism in the state. From open distribution of Trishuls in the state to politicisation of the police force, the tell tale signs of a coming collapse of communal amity could be seen all around. In the first of our videos to mark twenty years of the 2002 carnage, watch as Teesta Setalvad takes us through the years leading up to what is popularly touted as a ‘spontaneous’ reaction of a peaceful majority.