Includes bibliographical references and index.

Invoking exception and defining enemies : extraordinary legislation and the Colonial War on terror in early-twentieth-century India -- Controlling 'mobs' and maintaining public order in the United Provinces, 1930-1940 -- Bureaucratic encounters and the question of justice in India : a Kafkaesque Tale of official discretion, errors and oversights -- Lineages of a postcolonial state : the disposition of state-sponsored vigilantism in the United Provinces, 1948 -- Mukhiyas and Chowkidars : understanding the 'new' sense of public order in the United Provinces, 1947-1955.

"This book studies issues of public order in late colonial and early postcolonial India. It identifies various governmental practices, such as curfews, bans and police action, that thrive on extraordinary legislation to maintain public order. The colonial regime often deployed extraordinary legislation to curtail the liberties of individuals and groups by citing potential harm to public order. Through public order, a spectacle of sovereign power and politics of contestation between the citizens and law enforcement emerges. The book will contribute to existing discussions about sovereignty and legitimacy of state power by providing a representative sample of concrete instances such as inter- and intra-community riots, labour riots, labour strikes and nationalist agitation. It will also enable a comparative approach and illustrate processes of the evolution of state formation and citizenship in South Asia"-- Provided by publisher.