Why is it in the news?
1. Nagpur witnessed the outbreak of communal violence of mass on 17th March 2025. Members of right wing Hindu groups organised a protest in Nagpur’s Mahal area demanding the demolition of Aurangzeb Tomb at Khuldabad. They burnt an effigy of Aurangzeb wrapped in a green cloth. The rumour spread that the cloth bore Quranic verses. The misinformation was very much amplified by social media.
2. Violence erupted. The protestors attacked police homes and vehicles. Over 60 vehicles were either torched or vandalised. More than 30 police personnels were injured. CCTV cameras were deliberately targeted by rioters. Curfew was imposed upon several areas of Nagpur.
3. The release of the film Chhava in which Aurangzeb was depicted torturing and killing Sambhaji Maharaj, the great Maratha King triggered the immediate cause for communal riots in Nagpur. Police have taken 84 people under custody so far. It is reported that Nagpur is now returning to normalcy.
What is communalism?
1. It refers to the belief that people belonging to the same religious community have common political, economic and social interests, superseding the interests of other religious communities, thereby, fetching maximum benefits to the exclusion of other religious communities. Thus, communalism creates division and conflicts between different religious groups.
Thus, communalism is a divisive ideology that gives priority to religious identity over national unity leading to religious polarisation, political manipulation to use religion for getting votes, outbreak of violence and riots, levelling minority Muslims as anti-national and majority Hindus as oppressors. It fails to separate religion from politics. Thus, it tries to conduct government on the basis of religious dogmas. In the extreme form communalism claims nationhood for the community concerned and seeks to raise it to a status of sovereign state. For example, majority Hindus clamour for Hindu Rashtra in India.
There are three types of communalism in India. These are :
Assimilative communalism, whereby the majority community imposes its culture upon minorities.
Aggressive communalism, whereby majority Hindus assert its religious identity by resorting to violent methods like mob-lynching hate speeches targeting Muslims and other minority communities and reduction of political participation of minority Muslim community by not giving party tickets to stand in election.
Minority Separatism, whereby minority communities demand exclusive rights or autonomy or even independence. For example, Khalistani groups in Punjab demanded a separate homeland. Similarly, different separatist groups wanted independent J & K or its merging with Pakistan.
What are the causes for genesis and growth of communalism in India?
1. Colonial legacy - It should be noted that during the 1857 War of independence, both Muslims and Hindus fought together. This unity raised concern to the British authorities and so they tried to crush Muslim zamindars, talukdars and Muslim princes from 1860 onwards till 1900. In this period, they pampered Hindus. But when Hindus became educated and started demanding more concessions from the British Government, the Britisher tilted towards Muslims. Lord Elphinstone, a Governor of Mumbai wrote that divide and rule was the motto of the Roman Empire, it should be ours. Similarly, Sir John Wood wrote to Lord Elgin- “ We have maintained power by playing one part against the other and we must continue to do so.” The Britishers provoked the Nawab of Dhaka to establish the Muslim league party in 1906 to safeguard Muslims politically.
The Britishers adopted the policy of divide and rule by providing separate electorates for Muslim in 1909, which was further extended in 1919 Act by providing separate electorates for Christians, Europeans and Sikhs. The British Government tried to further extend a separate electorate to Dalit by communal award in 1932 but this divisive ploy was foiled by Gandhiji through the Poona Pact.
2. The partition of India between India and Pakistan further entrenched Hindu Muslim hostility. About 10 lakhs Hindus and Muslims were killed. 60 lakhs Hindus had to be rehabilitated in India. One lakh women were raped. These incidents left a permanent scar between Hindus and Muslims.
3. The personal laws based on religion further perpetuated religious division in India. The Ayodhya dispute and demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 further politicised religious disputes, thereby, caused tension between Hindus and Muslims.
4.In independent India, the political exploitation of different religious denominations further accentuated the religious divide. While Congress was accused of minority appeasement, BJP was accused of playing Hindutva politics and majoritarianism. Hate speeches delivered by politicians during elections further leads to consolidation of votes of different religious groups for different parties.
5. Socio-economic disparity - According to Sachar Committee Report 2006, Muslims are very much lagging behind in education, employment and political representation. There is acute unemployment and resulting frustration among Muslim youths who are easy prey to radicalisation by extremists groups. Because of the fear of the Hindu majority, Muslims live in segregated areas in cities. The ghettoization tendency among Muslims further reinforces complete segregation from Hindu majority.
6. Fake news in social media often leads to sensationalism causing Hindu Muslim conflicts.
7. Weak law enforcement and delayed justice are causes for frequent communal riots in India.
8. Large scale conversion activities taking place among Hindus by Christian missionaries and Muslim theologians further fuel communal sentiments among Hindus.
9. Subversion of secularism by a few political parties also encourages communalism.
10. Hindutva philosophy also ignited communalism in India so much so that this philosophy brands both Muslims and Christians as foreigners, thereby, accentuating societal divisions.
How to mitigate communalism in India?
1. Strengthening secularism
2. Equal treatment of all religions by the state
3. No conversion from one religion to another should be allowed in normal situations by missionaries and Muslim theologians. There must be a stoppage of proselytising activities.
4. Promoting interfaith education and communal harmony in schools
5. Highlighting shared cultural heritage of India in the school syllabus
6. Banning political parties that promote religious hatred
7. Electoral reforms to discourage identity politics
8. Ensuring equitable development of all communities
9. Encouraging interactions among communities through cultural programmes
10. Strict enforcement of anti-communal violence laws
11. Speedy trial of cases relating to communal violence
12. A mechanism should be developed to counter fake news
13. Strict penalties for hate speech
14. Setting up of peace committees in the riot torn areas to bring normalcy.
Way Forward
1. Focus should be on inclusive growth of all religious denominations.
2. Encouragement to secular values among the younger generation.
3. Promotion of interfaith dialogue.
4. Stress upon India’s diversity as a strength rather than a weakness.
5. Adequate political participation of minorities in proportion of their population.
Conclusion
1. Communalism is a cancer to the Indian body politic and a threat to national integration.
2. Combating communalism requires proactive policing, strong social institutions, inclusive growth, proportional representation of all religious communities and collective societal efforts.
3. It should be noted that both religious and linguistic diversities are not hindrances to national integration and a cause for the outbreak of communalism. Communalism thrives when religious differences are politicised by different political parties for garnering votes.
4. Communalism and democracy cannot thrive together. Hence it is necessary to curb communalism in order to strengthen democracy in India.
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