A.2. Social Empowerment And Communalism
- The concept of “communalism” was first introduced by socialist writer Murray Bookchin in the early 20th century.
- Communalism refers to a belief system that fosters rivalry, aggression, and conflict between various communities. It arises from the belief in the superiority of one’s own community, accompanied by intolerance towards others.
- As a tool for exerting influence, communalism operates in the spheres of economy, society, and politics. This ideology is typically regarded negatively in society.
- Communalism is practised in society since the nineteenth century. Especially in the Indian context, it is defined as faithfulness to one’s group, be it ethnic, religious, or political. It promotes belief in orthodox principles, intolerance and hatred of other religions in the end dividing the society.
- Communalism acts in a negative sense for social empowerment as it emphasizes the separate identity of a religious group from other groups with a tendency to promote its own interests at the expense of the others.
- Communalism is also defined as a mechanism to energize people for or against by raising an appeal on communal lines. India has seen great communal events since medieval times. It is a political philosophy with its roots in the religious and cultural diversity of India.
- It has been used as a political propaganda tool to create division, differences, and tensions between the communities based on religious and ethnic identity leading to communal hatred and violence.
[Image: Types of Communalism]
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Causes of communalism |
Medieval India witnessed the arrival of Islam which is when occurrences of violence based on religion started to take place. Mahmud Ghazni’s destruction of Hindu temples and Mahmud of Ghori’s attack on Hindus, Jains, and Buddhists are well documented in history books. Till then religion was an important part of people’s lives but there was no communal ideology or communal politics based on violence. The Indian society was more concentrated on the caste-based divide than religion-based. Islamic rulers like Akbar and Sher Shah Suri followed a tolerant religious policy towards different cultures and traditions practised across the country. But some sectarian rulers like Aurangzeb were among the least tolerant towards other religious practices and destroyed various places of worship and took lives in the name of religion. In modern India, communalism grew due to British colonial impact and their poor understanding of Indian social strata. But they very well took advantage of the religious diversity of the country and used the policy of divide and rule. It is true to say that the base of today’s communal problems in India was laid down by inhumane British rule. |
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Major incidents of communalism in India were |
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There is a need to eradicate communalism for which the people and government should work in tandem.