By the end of the nineteenth century, a sense of nationalism emerged on the silhouette of Indian politics. Along with the emergence of nationalism, communalism also came into existence during that time. Communalism can be viewed as a spick-and-span term that emerged as a result of modern politics. Mainly, it is believed that communalism is bound to religion, which is the principal basis of social community; but according to the Aljazeera journalist, Zainul Abideen, nowadays, being communal does not need to be religious, because 70% of Jews in Israel are atheist, but they believe that Palestine is the promised land for them, and killing innocent Palestinians is right.
We can categorize communalism into various kinds and forms as T.K Oomen suggested six dimensions of communalism. I think it is necessary to define communalism before discussing its growth and the role of history in its spread. In simple words, communalism is a belief or political philosophy that connotes hatred, enmity, towards other people and effects the peace of a halcyon society.
Different historians have provided various definitions of communalism. A prominent historian, Bipin Chandra defined it as “the belief that because a group of people following a particular religion, they have common social, political, and economic interests”. He mentioned three elements that it comprises.
First, people who have the same secular interest, they have a strong communal feeling among them. Second, different communities have different interests and therefore they are hostile and apathetic to each other. Third, the secular interests of various religions are different from that of other religions.
Zenab Banu defined communalism as an ideology “in which a minority receives unequal treatment from the majority on the basis of religion, culture and ethnic characteristics”. While Harbans Mukhia specified it as a phenomenon of religious difference between groups which lead to tension and often results in a rift between them. Prabha Dixit explained communalism as a political doctrine that uses political and religious differences to earn political advantages. Asghar Ali Engineer delineated it as a tool that is used to mobilize people for or against something by raising appeals on communal lines.
Although everyone has defined communalism in different ways all of them agreed that it is a negative term that is baneful for people and a nation. It stymies the upliftment and growth of a nation by creating hatred, antagonism, and enmity among its citizens. Recent incidents of communal riots are examples of how communalism results in obstacles for the growth of our society.
Historical Inkling of Communalism in India
Before the advent of the British in India, there were feudal lords living in peace and harmony. When the British entered India, they saw that religion was an integral part of every Indian’s way of life and that it was governing and controlling people.
The British did not think that religion would be a shield for them to rule in India for such a long period of time. When the freedom struggle started against the British empire, unity and stability of Hindus and Muslims became a threat to them. They started to use every strategy and idea to control uprisings against the British Raj. Finally, they turned to the strategy of “Divide and Rule” which proved to be successful. They had used every tool to divide Indians on the basis of religion, caste, creed, and identities and instigated Muslims against Hindus and Brahmans against Non-Brahmans. They hired writers to spread communal ideology ultimately instilling a sense of communalism among Indians. Some social reformers also fell prey to this epidemic ailment as several of them wanted to disperse their own culture and tradition.
The partition of India into two parts was also based on communalism and our composite culture and traditions were shattered. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed or lost their home, thanks to the communal riots.
Despite the partition basis, communalism did not end. In 1980, once again the Khalistan movement fueled communalism in the nation. After that, a new political term – ‘Hindu Nationalism’ emerged on the horizon of Indian politics. Some Hindu leaders started to motivate common Hindus against minorities. So-called Hindu revivalists encouraged people to make India a Hindu Rashtra. Political parties such as the BJP and other fanatic outfits mobilized common people in the name of religion, nation, and caste.
Ultimately, this resulted in the demolition of Babri Masjid in 1992 and the Gujarat riots in 2002.
History has been always interpreted to a particular ideology and communalism. From the beginning of the modern school system, communal interpretation of history was propagated. British historians as well Indian historians propagated that medieval India was ruled by Muslim Rulers. They denied the primary contribution of the medieval period to the improvement of Indian economy and technology, religion and philosophy, arts and literature, culture and society, and fruits, vegetables, and cotton dress etc.
The birth of “Punjab Hindu Sabha” in 1909 was the result of distorted history. Its leaders provoked people against Muslims and attacked the leaders of the National Congress who were uniting Indians against the British empire. They asked common Hindus to pacify British rulers to fight with Muslims. Although the British provided a platform for Hindu communalism and gave little support to it, it mostly depended on Muslim Communalism. And for the British, it was too difficult to mollify both forms of Communalism.
How Different Religious Schools Spread Communalism
Dayanand Anglo-Vedic, Sanatan Dharam, Sikh, and Islamic educational institutions are some names that made classroom history communal. Subjected to a distorted history of colonial view (Medieval history of India was presented as a Hindu-Muslim conflict) since childhood, many Indians unconsciously started to think of the tenure of Muslim rulers as a suppression of their culture, society, and tradition. Presenting Aurangzeb as anti-Hindu and Shiva Ji and Maharana Pratap as saviors of Hindus was a part of communal history that veered the thinking of an entire generation, and created more disparity between Hindus and Muslims.
School textbooks were not the only recourse to spread communal ideology to people, but other means also were used such as poetry, drama, newspaper and other periodicals. Newspapers played a vital role in the spread of communal violence. For example, In 1969 Ahmadabad riot, Gujarati press used all possible tactics to prove that Hindu women were raped by Muslims. Even their reporters visited the affected area in the riot. Sevek published that many Hindu women were being unclothed and raped by Muslims in Lal Milani Chal. Unfortunately, although this news was based on rumors which resulted in the rape and molestation of Muslim women.
Moradabad riot in 1980 was a turning point in press reporting. The new theory was invented. The aggressive stance of Muslims was because of “foreign hand”, “foreign money” and force. The chief editor of Times of India Girilal Jain at that time, wrote in his editorial page “It is highly premature to conclude that there is a hidden hand behind the sudden upsurge of communal trouble in the country. But after the outrage in Moradabad on ‘Eid’ day, it is no longer possible to dismiss this possibility.” This statement proved to be an energetic tool for radicals and extremists and helpful in the growth of fundamentalism.
The attitude of other language and local newspapers is also biased and unfriendly. Whether it is Sobat and Samana in Marathi, or other Hindi local newspapers all have communal nature against minorities especially Muslims. Shah Bano case is the prime example of it. This case was a gender issue but most newspapers presented it a communal case. Ameena Arab’s marriage, Triple Talaq, and Shabana Azimi’s kiss are from the same episode.
Concluding remarks
Communalism is a threat to India’s democracy and unity. I believe it promotes killing, enmity, mass murders, and plundering and it is our duty as citizens of India to develop strategies to combat communalism.
We have to develop rationality among the new generation so that they can understand the distorted shape of complex history and we must attempt a sense of secularism among people. Educational institutions can play a crucial role in this by organizing various cultural and religious programs so that students can understand each other and respect others. As good citizens, we should make maximum efforts to eliminate communalism.