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Introduction :-
Defination of Communalism :-
It is basically an ideology which consists of three elements:-
Communalism is political trade in religion. It is an ideology on which communal politics is based. And communal violence are conjectural consequences of communal ideology.
Communalism in the Indian society :-
In Medieval period, we have examples such as- Akbar, who was epitome of secular practises and believed in propagating such values by abolishing Jajhiya tax and starting of Din-I- ilahi and Ibadat Khana. Same acceptance for different cultures and tradition was practised in several kingdoms throughout India, because of which there was peace and harmony, barring few sectarian rulers like Aurangzeb, who was least tolerant for other religious practises. But, such motives were guided purely for their personal greed of power and wealth.
Such rulers and actions by them like- imposing taxes on religious practises of other community, destructing temples, forced conversions, killing of Sikh guru, etc. were instrumental in deepening and establishing the feeling of communal differences in India. But, these incidents were not common as, huge majority of Indians were rural and were aloof from such influences and so people coexisted peacefully. Though, they were very rigid in practising their own rituals and practise, but it never became barrier in the peaceful coexistence. Overall, the Hindus and Muslims in those days, had common economic and political interests.
Communalism in India is result of the emergence of modern politics, which has its roots in partition of Bengal in 1905 and feature of separate electorate under Government of India Act, 1909.Later, British government also appeased various communities through Communal award in 1932, which faced strong resistance from Gandhi ji and others. All these acts were done by the British government to appease Muslims and other communities, for their own political needs. This feeling of communalism has deepened since then, fragmenting the Indian society and being a cause of unrest.
(by Communal award colonial government mandated that consensus over any issue among different communities (i.e. Hindu, Muslims, Sikhs and others) is precondition for any further political development)
Communal consciousness arose as a result of the transformation of Indian society under the impact of colonialism and the need to struggle against it.India is a land of diversity. And it is known for lingual, ethnic, cultural and racial diversity. As, we have discussed above, communalism in India is a modern phenomenon, which has become threat to India’s Unity in Diversity. We will see the various stages:-
Later on, spread of education to peasant and small landlords gave rise to new middle class, as agriculture was becoming stagnant. So, these people started demanding communal representation and this way, social base for communalism widened. Middle class oscillated between anti-imperialism and communalism. Communalism, started rooting deeply, as it was an expression of aspiration and interest of middle class for less opportunity.
Further, from very beginning upper caste Hindus dominated colonial services as they adapted early to colonial structure. Because of Mughal rule and 1857 revolt, colonial government was suspicious towards Muslims and they patronised Hindus. This resulted in resentment in Muslims in late 19th century and they then formed a pressure group under Sir Sayed Ahmed Kahn to bargain as a separate community. In contrast Congress standpoint was always focused on ‘rights and freedom of individual’ not on a particular community
In several part religious distinction coincided with social and class distinction, causing communal distortion. Communal outlook was given, not by participants but by the officials, politician and journalists. In fact agrarian conflicts, did not assume communal colour until 20th century. For example- Pabna agrarian movement.
Communalism represented a struggle between two upper classes / strata for power, privileges and economic gain. For Example- In western Punjab at that time, Muslim landlord opposed Hindu moneylenders. In eastern Bengal, Muslim jotedars opposed Hindu zamindars. Later on, communalism developed as weapon of economically and politically reactionary social classes and political forces.
Divide and Rule :-
Communalism was a channel for providing service to colonialism and the jagirdari class (land officials). British authorities supported communal feelings and divided Indian society for their authoritative ruling. As we have already discussed above about separate electorate, like that official patronage and favour having communal biasness was very common. Communal press & persons and agitations were shown extraordinary tolerance. Communal demands were accepted, thus politically strengthening communal organizations. British started accepting communal organisations and leaders as the real spokesperson of communities and adopted a policy of non-action against communalism. In fact, for the same reasons even the communal riots were not crushed. Separate electorate started in 1909 to communal award in 1932 fulfilled the wishes of British authorities of ruling India by dividing the societies on communal lines.
In parallel there was introduction of strong Hindu religious element in nationalist thoughts and propagandas. For example Bal GangadharTilak popularised Ganesh pooja and Shivaji Mahaotsav and taking dip in Ganga,etc. The programmes related to “Ganesh Pooja” and “Shivaji Mahotsav” was not initiated to support the interests of Hindus. However, both “Ganesh” and “Shivaji” were associated with the emotions of a number of Hindus. This was to be used by Leaders as tool to politically awaken Indians. But, Indian history in schools and colleges were given Communal and unscientific colour. This kept Muslims largely away from Congress till 1919. In early decades only 8-9% of members of Congress were Muslims.
Gradually religiosity became major contributory factor and it started intruding the non-religious and non-spiritual areas of life and also beyond the individual’s private life.
Though, India is a secular country but due to communal feelings the secularization is getting affected. Secularization is narrowing down the sphere of religion to the private life of the individual. So, communalism is basically becoming a belief system through which a society, economy, and polity are viewed & expanded and around which effort is being made to organise politics.
With these unprecedented changes, the best atmosphere of communal harmony should have been created in India and according to the expectation of Mahatma Gandhi this country should have become an example in this direction. But this did not happen.
Challenge of social media and Freedom of expression :-
Now a day’s social media has become notorious for spread of communal hatred. It provides almost instant transfer of provoking material on which our government has no control. It has become potent tool in hands of religious bigots to spread hatred for other religions.
It is true that, Fundamental Rights, under article 19(1), gives citizens freedom of expression. But proviso to this article also empowers government to impose reasonable restrictions to guard unity and integrity of the country. Further, under Fundamental Duties 51A constitution provides –
“(e) to promote harmony and the spirit of common brotherhood amongst all the people of India transcending religious, linguistic and regional or sectional diversities; to renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women”
This needs to be enforced by state by controlling social media. In olden days, whenever any provocative print media came government invoked its powers and imposed restriction, but yet government has no strong/effective policy towards social media.
Conclusion :-
Communal violence is common now days throughout the world. They are known by various alternative names, as in China, the communal violence in Xinjiang province is called ethnic violence. Communal violence and riots have also been called non-State conflict, violent civil or minorities unrest, mass racial violence, social or inter-communal violence and ethno-religious violence.
Violence between Buddhists and the Muslim Rohingya, inhabit Rakhine state (formerly Arakan province) which stretches along most of Myanmar’s coast up to the Bay of Bengal and borders the Chittagong province of Bangladesh, erupted in 2013. Such violence in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Pakistan causes violence in retaliation in India also. It also catalyses the problem of refuges, as in case of Pakistani Hindus, etc. Sri Lanka is also facing international critics and United Nations related to ethnic clashes and action of government against minority Tamilians, which has direct bearing on India and Sri Lanka relations and India’s internal security.
Increasing diversity, due to influx of populations from all corners of world in western countries like USA, UK, Canada, Australia, etc. is posing the challenge of ethnic clashes and violence in their respective societies.
Communalism can be combated with the help of globalisation as a tool. In the globalised world, all countries are becoming integrated and dependent on each other. Movement of people from one place to other is becoming very easy, in such conditions to avoid such potential violence, governments are already promoting cultural exchanges through shows, programs, heritage walk, cultural visit by students and parliamentarians. Promoting learning of each other’s local language for easy exchange of ideas. With respect to this, recently US President Barak Obama’s message on Diwali festival can be seen as an active step to promote cultural mingling and living peacefully. If all the countries cooperate with each other, they can face and solve even the deadliest challenge of terrorism and groups like Al-qaeda, ISIS,etc.
By: Shashank Shekhar ProfileResourcesReport error
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