Communalism

COMMUNALISM

The problem of communalism begins when religion is seen as the basis of national unity and identity. The problem becomes sharper when religion is expressed in exclusive and partisan terms when one follower of a particular religion is pitted against another.

Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of the social community. The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs which routinely involve religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and belief in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions.

Political mobilization on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism, this involves the use of sacred symbols, a religious leader’s emotional appeal and plain fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together against the other religious community. Sometimes communalism takes its ugly form of communal violence, riots, massacre etc.

Communalism was and continues to be one of the major challenges to democracy in our country. The founding fathers of the nations wanted a secular India, hence they strictly refrained from declaring India’s official religion, and provided equal freedom to all the followers of different religions. In spite of the equal freedom for everyone in the country and the secular character of the country, India witnessed lots of communal riots which were immensely brutal and horrendous.

Some infamous incidents of communal politics

Ayodhya Dispute:

A dispute had been going on for many decades over the mosque known as Babri Masjid at Ayodhya, built by Mir Baqi Tashqandi, Mughal Emperor Babur’s General.

Some Hindus believe that it was built after demolishing a temple of Lord Rama which is believed to be his birthplace.

The dispute reached the court and in the late 1940’s the mosque was locked up as the matter was with the court. In February 1986, the Faizabad district court ordered that Babri Masjid premises be unlocked so that Hindus could offer prayers at the statue which they considered as a temple.

Soon with the unlocking of doors, mobilisation on communal lines began on both sides. Gradually the local issue became a national issue and increased the communal tensions.

In December, 1992 many Karsevaks of Hindu Right-Wing factions like VHP, Bajrang Dal etc. arrived at Ayodhya in the name of Karsevak’s voluntary service by devotees to build the Ram temple.

Meanwhile, the Apex Court ordered that the State government must ensure that the disputed site won’t be endangered. However, thousands of people arrived there

and demolished the Babri Masjid and it was followed by communal riots in the country at large scale, in which lots of people died.

The union government dismissed the state government and appointed Librehan Commission to investigate the circumstances leading to the demolition of the mosque.

Since then, this issue was pending in the apex court and finally, Supreme Court came out with its judgement on 9th November, 2019.

The five-judge Supreme Court bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi read out a unanimous judgment and ruled in favour of the Ram Janmabhoomi and said there will be Ram Mandir at the disputed site and Muslims will be given an alternate 5-acre land for their mosque.

Anti-Sikh Riots:

Under the orders of the Indira Gandhi government, in June 1984 the Indian Army launched its offensive against Sikh militants at the Golden Temple in Amritsar under the code name “Operation Blue Star”. The army was successful in driving out the militants from the Sikh’s sacred place, but this event angered the Sikh People and their sentiments got hurt.

To avenge this action the bodyguards of Mrs. Gandhi killed her at her own house. Later the angry Congress workers and supporters allegedly began their brutal actions of killing innocent Sikh People in the country; Delhi was the most affected area during the anti-Sikh riots.

Union Government appointed so many commissions to enquire about the guilty people and to find out their masterminds, but nothing concrete came out of such commissions. The kiths and kins of the victims of the Anti-Sikh riots are still waiting to get justice after 30 years of the incident.

Gujarat riots (2002):

In the months of February and March 2002, Gujarat witnessed one of the ugliest communal riots in its history. The spark of the riots happened at Godhra Station, where a bogey of a train that was returning from Ayodhya with Karsevaks was set on fire. Suspecting it to be a Muslim conspiracy, large-scale violence against Muslims began in many parts of Gujarat.

The National Human Right Commission criticized the Gujarat Govt’s role in failing to control violence, providing relief to the victims and prosecuting the perpetrators of this violence. Gujarat riots show that the governmental machinery also becomes susceptible to sectarian passions.

Assam Violence 2012:

Violence broke out due to ongoing tensions between the Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims. These tensions stemmed from competition for resources, land, and political influence.

The Muzaffarnagar Riots of 2013:

A series of violent communal riots in Uttar Pradesh resulted in the deaths of over 60 people and the displacement of over 50,000 people.

The Delhi Riots of 2020:

A major communal violence broke out in New Delhi, in February 2020. The premise of the New Delhi 2020 riots is based on growing animosity and destabilisation of communal harmony in the background of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Register of Citizens (NRC). The violence resulted in the deaths of over 50 people and injuries to hundreds more, as well as the displacement of thousands of people.

Points To Remember

• Emergency: Internal Emergency declared in 1975, is widely considered as the greatest political crisis India faced since independence.

• Background to the emergency:

• Economic Issues: consequent monsoon failure, industrial unrest, recession, unemployment.

• Tussle with Judiciary: tussle over Kesavananda Bharti case 1973, also, Allahabad high court ruled in favour of socialist leader Raj Narain.

• Gujarat and Bihar Unrest: students in Gujarat and Bihar protested against rising prices, unemployment and corruption.

• Jai Prakash (JP) movement/total revolution:

• JP launched the ‘Bihar Movement’, and provided perfect leadership to the students.

• He launched the revolutionary programme called Total Revolution (Sampoorna Kranti) against immense corruption, economic crisis and inflation.

• By the end of 1974, The JP Movements’ fervour got down.

• The government declared a state of emergency on June 26, 1975 invoking Article 352 of the constitution.

• Impact of Emergency:

• Press censorship

• Article 359 got suspended

• Protests, strikes and agitation were not allowed.

• Provision of preventive detention.

• Compulsory sterilization.

• Civil liberties were suspended.

• Politics after Emergency

• Elections were held in March 1977.

• Newer parties like Janata party, congress for democracy were formed.

• Congress was defeated for the first time.

• Janata party split, one led by Morarji Desai and the other by Charan Singh.

• Fresh Lok Sabha elections were held in January 1980.

• Naxalite Movement and Maoist Insurgency

• An uprising in 1967 under the leadership of Charu Majumdar, from the Naxalbari area of the Darjeeling district.

• He decided to adopt a strategy of protracted guerrilla warfare in order to lead a revolution.

Communalism: Communalism refers to the belief in the primacy of one’s own religious community over others, often leading to conflict and violence between different religious groups.

• Some infamous incidents of communal politics:

• Ayodhya Dispute

• Anti-Sikh Riots 1984: Operation Bluestar.

• Gujarat riots (2002)

• Assam Violence 2012

• The Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013

• The Delhi riots of 2020