Religion is a set of organized beliefs, practices, and systems that most often relate to the belief and worship of a controlling force, such as a personal god or another supernatural being. It involves cultural beliefs, worldviews, texts, prophecies, revelations, and morals that have spiritual meaning to members of the particular faith, and it can encompass a range of practices, including sermons, rituals, prayer, meditation, holy places, symbols, trances, and feasts. Religion can contribute to a sense of community, provide support, and offer guidance. It has also been shown to impact both physical and mental health. Religion can help bring people together, but it can also be a source of division and stress, particularly for those who face discrimination within religious communities, such as people who hold differing beliefs from the rest of the group, we shall discuss religion as divisive factor.
When various communities live together within a territory with understanding and cooperation, there is communal harmony. On the other hand, whenever such groups, either ethnic or religious, fight for their exclusiveness, group identity or group interest even at the cost of national interest or try to impose their way of life on other group, there is communal disharmony and this is termed as communalism. There may be several factors that may be attributed to the cause and growth of Communalism in India. Some scholars attribute this cause due to stagnant economy during the British Rule. The stagnation of economy may have affected the aspirations and economic prosperity for certain sections within society.
Religion and Constitution:
India being a secular country promotes equal faith towards all religions. Secularism does not mean that State is hostile to a religion. The State is not partial towards any religion and this helps in maintaining co-existence between different religious groups. However, if religion becomes a threat to the peace and harmony of the Nation, State may intervene in religious matters and act as a reformist. Similarly, Law may protect and preserve certain precepts of religion like humanity, togetherness, harmony etc. Society is the common ground for both religion and State and for orderly development of the society a balance between the values preserved by religion and those preserved by State must be reached.
Article 25(1) of the Indian Constitution ensures freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion. Article 26 talks about freedom to manage religious affairs and it includes establishing and maintaining institutions for charitable purpose, managing own affairs in matters of religion etc. Article 27 says that no person shall be compelled to pay any taxes for promotion of any religion and Article 28 says that an institution which is wholly maintained out of State funds shall not impart religious instructions. However, if it is established under a trust which requires religious instructions to be imparted, then Article 28(1) shall not apply.
Article 44 of the Constitution calls for a Uniform Civil Code and has got egalitarian approach towards all religions. Article 51(e) and (f) talks about fundamental duty of the citizens to promote harmony and common brotherhood transcending religious, linguistic diversities etc. It also hints at religious tolerance.
Causes for Religion as a Divisive Factor:
Superiority of Practicing Religion:
All religious lay emphasis on love and humanity. But in practice religious make people hate another. Religion instils in people the idea that those who differ with their religious beliefs are evil and undeserving of association, or even of their humanity. Thus, those who believe in a particular religion does not like those who believe in other religion. This has divided mankind, and has been one of the causes of bloodshed in the world.
Impact of Freedom Struggle:
All religions have different ceremonies, rituals, beliefs and practices. But when such a man considers himself and his co-practitioners superior, he gets intolerant of others’ beliefs and practices and starts hating them. Contrary provisions of the various religions divide the citizens into different groups. They think the people of other religion are their enemy and they may attack their religion. This fear is one of the factor which make religion as a divisible factor. The people of India during their freedom struggle became keenly aware of their religious differences. These differences resulted in the partition of India, which resulted into large-scale riots. Thus two separate nations were formed on the basis of religion.
Religious Majority:
82 percent population of India are Hindus. Majority thinks there was appeasement of minorities by Congress Governments and thus their share is denied. The Bharatiya Janata Party, creating awareness among Hindus who fear their religious majority is in danger of being treated like a minority in officially secular India. Party leaders say they have no desire to establish a religious state, but also maintain that Hinduism is the essence of the country. The party’s public speaking for rising popularity has encouraged violent, often deadly divisions.
Historical Causes:
Muslim invaders invaded India and settled over here. They were known for their brutality and atrocities against Hindus. There were forced conversions. Thus Hindus may get ill will against Muslims.
Inter-Religion Marriages:
India enacted Special Marriage Act 1954, where inter religion marriage is allowed. But it was not accepted by the society, If any inter-religion marriage has taken place the communities start the fights between each other.
Elections:
Election procedure also provides scope for communalism. At the time of choosing a candidate, caste and religion both are playing their own role. The political parties to gain votes play nasty politics in the name of religion.
Psychological and Financial Factors:
Due to various factors minorities are economically and educationally backward. But gradually a feeling developed among them that the majority is responsible for their backwardness, which resulted in development of inferiority complex among the minorities.
Impact of Mass Media:
In present ecosystem of mass and social media, rumours, fake news, propaganda and hate speech coexist with sober media. The social media may give rise to abuse, radicalisation and violent extremism.
Communalism in India:
Communalism is a strong sense of loyalty to the interests of one particular group (religious, ethnic, etc.) rather than to society as a whole which can lead to extreme behaviour or violence towards others.
Causes of Communalism in India:
- In the pre-independence period the British used the policy of Divide and Rule to weaken the nationalist aspirations by creating a cleavage between the Hindus and Muslims, favouring one community against the other in terms of services and opportunities. It resulted in communal tensions between the two groups and therefore, it is considered that the Hindu-Muslim disunity took shape during the continuation of British Rule in India.
- During the national movement, a strong Hindu religious element was introduced in nationalist thought. The orientalist writings which glorified the Hindu religion and period in history became the basis for the propagation of nationalist ideas and pride for the motherland. In the process the Muslim were seen as alien.
- Rumours and distorted news publicized by media which disseminates false information to the public.
- Political parties resorted to the politics of appeasement whereby sanctions were used to appease different ethnic, religious, cultural groups for votes. This vote bank politics greatly followed tactics of appeasement by provisioning services and opportunities to a few sections of the population against the other sections.
Communal Riots:
“Communal Riot” is a collective manifestation of religious feelings and sentiments against the others. A communal riot, in general refers to a collective violent manifestation of one’s identity, ideas and beliefs, etc. in relation to other religious community for the realization of certain interests. These differences are sometimes openly manifested and sometimes hidden but presented in a subtle way. It is, most often, a consequence of the spread of communal ideology.
In spite of a number of laws treating people of all religions at par, India has had a long history of communal riots. Many examples of communal riot could be cited in the Indian context as the following:
Partition of India,1947:
The persistence of the policy of Divide and Rule of the British resulted in the painful partition of the country and the displacement of a large number of people from their hearths and homes from either side. The partition caused widespread terror and fear among the members of the Indian community. Anyone moving in large crowds or with hoards of their belongings was murdered by men on horses with swords in their hands. During the Partition, it is estimated that 2 million people lost their lives in the communal riots and violence that ensued. Moreover, around 25 million (i.e., 1% of the world’s population) were further displaced with no place to live and find shelter at. Partition, as a whole, affected the social lives of everyone.
Demand of Khalistan:
Sikh activist killed a score of candidates of various faiths in an attempt to halt elections in Punjab state, where they want to create an independent Sikh Nation named Khalistan. Punjab was noted for union between Hindus and Sikhs, but the strands of togetherness were severed and the respected Golden Temple was used to store arms and a refuge for terrorists. The struggle grown from a quest for ethnic identity, a desire for religious purity (i.e., the fear of being absorbed by the majority Hindus), and the desire for nationhood. The separists claimed that they are a proud and achieving people who feel unequally yoked with the Hindus.
Anti-Sikh riots, 1984:
The riots broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards Satwant Singh and Beant Singh on October 31, 1984. Groups of armed men targeted Sikhs across Delhi and attacked their houses and shops. Official Indian government reported about 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi. Around 20,000 fled Delhi and over a thousand were displaced, said reports. Sikhs in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh were also targeted.
Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindu Pundits in 1989:
Since late 1989, the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has been in the grip of a vicious movement of Islamist extremist terrorism. About 350,000 Kashmiri Pandits, constituting 99% of the total population of Hindus living in Muslim majority area of the Kashmir Valley, were forcibly pushed out of the Valley by Islamic terrorists, trained in Pakistan. They have been forced to live the life of exiles in their own country, outside their homeland, by unleashing a systematic campaign of terror, murder, loot and arson.
Babri Masjid Demolition in Ayodhya, 1992:
Babri Masjid located at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh was demolished on December 6, 1992 by kar sevaks under the guidance of some of political and religious leaders who faced trial in the case. Muslims infuriated by the incident went onto the streets to protest. This leads to some of the deadliest riots across the country, leading to the deaths of more than 2,000 people.
Godhra Riots, 2002:
In February 2002, in an attack on a train from Godhra in Gujarat, believed to be carrying karsevaks to Ayodhya, at least 58 people are killed. Riots erupt across the state and over 1,000 people are said to have been killed during the riots.
Assam Communal Violence, 2012:
Ethnic tensions between Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims escalated into a riot in Kokrajhar on 20 July 2012, when Muslims killed four Bodo youths at Joypur. This was followed by retaliatory attacks on local Muslims killing two and injuring several of them on the morning of 21 July 2012. Almost 80 people were killed, most of whom were Bengali Muslims and some Bodos. 400,000 people were displaced to migrant camps, most being Muslims.
Muzzaffar Nagar violence, 2013:
The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district of Uttar Pradesh in August–September 2013, resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus[ and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 people displaced.
Penal Provisions:
Chapter XV of the Indian Penal Code (Sections 295 to 298) helps the state in maintaining religious harmony in the country and provides punishments in case religious beliefs of individuals become causes of hostility or violence amongst people. The offences under these sections include injuring places of worship or object with the intention to insult the religion of any class, outraging or wounding the religious feelings of persons and trespassing burial grounds or disturbing religious assemblies. The sections punish deliberate acts of verbal or visible representation. It also punishes persons who voluntarily cause disturbance to religious assembly and persons who physically or materially affect the religious properties or places of worship.
Suggestions for Solution of the Problem of Communalism:
Abolition of Communal Parties:
The political parties are mainly responsible for promoting communalism under the veil of various religious and cultural organizations. The Government should keep a vigilant eye on them and, if found detrimental to the interest of the nation, should abolish them.
Promotion of Feeling of Nationalism:
Attempts should be made to remind the citizens those glorious moments of history in which the Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs were combined to safeguard the interest of the nation. This will inspire our countrymen with nationalist zeal.
Effective Use of Mass and Social Media:
People should be appealed through mass and social media for changing their attitude towards other communities. Communal propaganda on mass and social media in any form should be banned.
Equal Opportunities for Growth of All Communities:
Every section of the society is an equal partner of progress with the commitment to “Development with Dignity”, ensuring equal benefits to all sections of the society. Government should implement various socio-economic and educational empowerment schemes which are benefitting every section of the society including minority communities.
Conclusion:
The word religion was misinterpreted for interest of some people and later on misunderstood by society itself. A society which is divided does not subsist for long. With education playing key role, the people are now thinking beyond these boundaries. When God while creating men have not discriminated on the basis of caste or religion then why such discrimination is made on earth. With such discrimination, we are not only going away from each other but also developing enmity between us.