Is Hindu/ Muslim Relationship Concerned As an Issue?

Is Hindu/ Muslim Relationship Concerned As an Issue?

 Is Hindu/ Muslim Relationship Concerned As an Issue?2

Abstract

The topic of the research is about genocide or acts of violence against Muslims in India. The

research is about finding out the perception of 10 random people regarding genocide in general,

whether violent acts against Muslims in India is considered genocide, actions to stop genocide of

Muslims in India, and future actions to stop genocide of Muslims in India. It will use a specially

prepared questionnaire that will try to find out the knowledge of and attitudes toward genocide of

Muslims in India and the actions done to stop such acts of violence of 10 random respondents

composed of students, teachers and staff. The results will be tabled or graphed using Excel for

frequencies and percentages. Many students and some teachers and staff may not have

knowledge of genocide of Muslims in India and may favor some actions toward stopping such

acts to happen in the future. Inclusion of topics about genocide to some courses may be an

implication of the results.

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Purpose Statement & Rationale

Genocide refers to violent crimes committed against groups with the intent to destroy the

existence of the group (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2005). The present research

is an attempt to find answers to some problems brought about by the existence of genocide due

to differences in religion between groups of people living in a specific region or country.

Knowing about genocide is important for university students like me because I need to know not

only theories and concepts about my major but also knowledge on areas that can give me a

holistic education. A holistic education can make me a better human being, employee, manager,

parent and citizen. Since this research will try to identify whether the students, teachers and staff

know about genocide in India against Muslims, this research is important to communicate the

importance of finding solutions to the problem of genocide.

The research will be exploring the following topics: the definition of genocide and whether

the killings of Muslims in India is considered a genocide, what leads to genocide against

genocide in India if there is any, what have been done to stop these killings, and what could be

done to stop these acts of violence against Muslims in India. It is important that the term

genocide is defined well to find out whether such violence against Muslims which occurred in

India is really a part of genocide against them. There are two contradicting sides against these

violent acts against Muslims; one side calls it war acts and the opposing side calls it systematic

acts by Hindus of genocide against Muslims. Also it is important to find out if there are strong

attempts to stop these violent acts and whether there are some things that people like me can do

something to stop these acts to occur in the future.

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Statement of Qualification

The topic of genocide is a serious topic to study. It is not easy to do a research on this topic

but this is an interesting topic. I know that I will learn about it. I know too that I can learn a lot

from it and the knowledge can make me grow as a person. This interest on the topic will help me

finish this research. Also, my professor is there to guide me in my research and help me do a

good one by giving insights in making a good research paper.

Literature Review

There are many articles and readings written about the violent acts against Muslims in India.

Some articles condemn these acts. Some articles rationalize them. From my initial readings of

relevant literature on the topic of genocide and the acts of violence against Muslims in India, I

have divided them into parts. These are chosen because I find them to give light to my topics.

The first part is the general definition of genocide. I have collected the different definitions of

the term genocide. These are general definitions of the term (United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum,2005; Harff, 2003; Rummel, 2002).

The second part of the literature review is a collection of articles written on the historical,

sociological and psychological events leading to the violence (Harff, 2003; Copley, J. 2009;

Stanton, 2004; Shoreward, 2007; C. Starkness and Anthony, 2008; Jonson, 1998). We cannot

fully understand these violence if we do not know what happened in the past in India that lead to

such hatred that make people kill so many people. The third group of articles shows the debate

whether the violence against Muslims in India is deliberate systematic acts of genocide or it is

random acts of violence against Muslims (Meenon, 2002; Concerned Citizens Tribunal-Gujarat,

2002; Indian Muslim Council, 2009; Mission Network News, 2008; Colachal, 2008)). The last

group of literature is about the actions done to stop the violence and what are suggested solutions
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to stop such acts to take place again in the future (United Nations Organization for the

Prevention of Genocide, 2006; Indian Muslim Council, 2006; United States Holocaust Memorial

Museum, 2009). A careful reading of these articles and writing a review can support the research

paper.

Methodology

This is a research which will use a survey questionnaire that is specially made to gain insights

on the knowledge of and attitudes toward genocide against Muslims of 10 random respondents.

The questionnaire will include items that are answerable by yes or no that is aimed to find

out if the respondents have knowledge of genocide, and attitudes toward genocide or violence

against Muslims in India. It will also include items that are answerable by giving definition and

opinion. The results of the questionnaire will be tabled and graphed according to groups of

respondents by the website www.surveymonkey.com showing frequencies and percentages.

Conclusions and recommendations will be based on these results.

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Expected Findings and Implications

The findings expected from the survey may surprise us. They may show us that many students

and some teachers and staff may not have enough knowledge (or none at all) of the violence

against Muslims in India. I for one was not aware about this before I was assigned this topic. I

expect that many of the respondents have not done any actions against the practice of genocide.

Although many respondents do not have knowledge and therefore have not done any actions

against genocide, I expect that many also will be in favor of doing some actions about now that

they have knowledge of it. The implications of the findings will point out that genocide may be

one of the topics that can be included in the courses in the University.
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Bibliography

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13. TakingITGlobal. (2009). Organized genocide in India. Retrieved on December 2, 2009 from
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