When violence occurs in democracies it is often characterized as an aberration. The state that saw human rights violations and failure of law and order in Gujarat in 2002 emerged, even if by its own admission, as a model for good governance. Communal Violence, Forced Migration and the State, through an account of displaced Muslims, challenges this notion. Through the unlikely yet probing lens of displacement, it offers fresh insight into communal violence and is an important resource for the emerging domain of forced migration and the changing nature of the state in a globalized world.