COMMUNALISM

• Binding allegiance to one’s own communal group- Religious, linguistic or

ethnic- rather than to nation. In extreme form communalism leads to hatred
and to communal violence. It is setback to secularism, subverts democratic
political stability, destroys our composite culture. Religious fundamentalism
reinforces communalists to exploit both religion and politics and advocates
fanaticism. Religious fundamentalists oppose progressive reform to keep
control on their communities. Islamist fundamentalist organisations rooted in
religious obscurantism are prone to irrational violence. Eg. SIMI and jamaate
Islami. Against communal activities action taken under UAPA.
• Communal violence- as per communal violence bill 2005 any act that
constitutes a scheduled offence creating internal disturbance threatening
secular fabric. Scheduled offence specified in the schedule under IPC, Arms
act 1969, explosives act 1884, prevention of damages to public property act
1884, places of worship act 1991 and religious institutions (prevention and
misuse) act 1988.
• Communal violence into three categories- Religious, linguistic and ethnic.
• Ethnic violence- clashes between different tribes or cultural groups eg.
• Linguistic violence- due to large number of language groups eg. Linguistic riots in
1950’s and recently against Biharis in Mumbai.
• Religious violence- Biggest threat to internal security like between Hindus and
Muslims. 2011 census data- Hindus 79.8%, Muslims 14.23%, Christians 2.3%,
Sikhs 1.72%, Buddhist .7%, Jain .37% and others .66%, not stated .24%. Many
religions originated in India like Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism and many
of foreign origin like Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism flourished here.
Right to freedom of religion is a fundamental right.
• Constitutional provision- Art 25- freedom to practice religion, Art 26- right to
manage religious institutions and religious affairs, Art 29- right to conserve
language and culture, Art 30- right to establish and administer educational
institutions.
• Factors- 1) Historical- British policy of divide and rule, Morley-Minto reforms
(1900) and Ramsay Mac Donald award of 1932 for separate electorates, impacts
of partition.
• 2) Political- Mixing of religion and politics, appeasement of any religion, Political
justification of communal violence.
• 3) Socio cultural- conflicting religious ideologies, dogmatic religious beliefs,
• 4) Nationalist- groups of majority religions of some regions looking to secede
from India attacking other religion members eg. Attack on pundits in
Kashmir or Hindus in Punjab by Sikhs.
• 5) Religious- Desecration of a place of worship, claiming of a place of
worship by both communities, religious processions and provocative
sloganeering, unregulated use of loud speakers.
• 6) Educational and economic- Uneducated and economically backward
sections of society easily get provoked. As per 2011 census, illiterate
population Muslims 43%, Hindus 36.4%, Sikhs 32.49%, Buddhist 28.17%,
Christians 25.66%. Socio religious factor and lack of education among
Muslims prevented their effective participation in govt. services which led to
resentment among Muslims.
• 7) Personal- Molestation or rape of woman of one community, dispute
between two neighbours of different communities.
• 8)governance issues- Lack of detailed SOPs, failure of intelligence agencies,
administration & police failing to anticipate and read indicators, waiting for
instruction from superiors, officials not held accountable for failures.
• Measures to tackle communal violence- 1) preventive-
• a) Administrative
• (i) Planning and profiling of religions- meeting of state level integration
committee under CM once in a quarter, a model cell at state level to
study patterns of communal disturbances, district administration to
assess communal situation on regular basis, identify areas prone to
communal sensitivity including demographic profile.
• (ii) Preparation- at the state and district level prepare management plan
with specific roles for different agencies and detailed SOPs, list of
elements having a record of creating communal rifts.
• (iii) Intelligence-mechanism for intelligence and information gathering
and integration with response mechanism.
• (iv) Personnel policy- police personnel deployed should be representative
of social structure of the region to have confidence among people.
• (v) Police reforms- police to be free from political influence and be
accountable.
• (B) Participatory- (i) Citizens’ peace committees- peace committees/ quami
ekta committees comprising prominent citizens and community leaders for
conflicts resolutions.
• (ii) Community policing- small shopkeepers, daily wage earners and women,
the most vulnerable groups can be most willing partners in maintaining peace
and harmony.
• (iii) Management of religious affairs-
• 1) Code of conduct for festivals to be evolved and widely publicized.
• 2) processions- proper security arrangements.
• 3) protecting places of worship- places of worship (special provision) act
1991 provides imprisonment for damaging religious places.
• 4) unauthorised construction of religious places.
• 5) loud speakers
• 6) misuse of religious places- religious institutions (preventions of misuse) act
1988 which also prohibits storage of arms and ammunition
• 7) Awareness creation.
2) Measures when outbreak of riot anticipated- police to launch security
proceeding against suspects, preventive arrests, depositing fire arms,
imposing section (144).
3) Measures once riot starts- Police force to be mobilised and necessary
additional force, deployment of central forces, unwarranted political
interference need not be allowed, contact with media to avoid speculative
reporting to fuel rumours.
4) Post violence measures- relief measure taken up without delay to avoid
prolonged suffering of victims.
A) Enforcement action and monitoring of cases- prosecution of all
offences to be monitored and pursued. SIT constituted for fair
investigation.
B) Relief and rehabilitation- expeditious disbursement of relief, interim
relief, relief camps, communal violence a disaster as per DMA 2005.
• Lessons from riots- Riots to be documented, analysed and lessons
drawn for future.
 SECULARISM
• Added to constitution through 42nd amendment Act. It means religion is a personal matter and
state has nothing to do with it. As per constitution it means state cannot promote any
particular religion or discriminate between different religions. State must treat all religions
equally. It can interfere in religion to bring about social reform. So Indian secularism means
sarva dharma sama bhava- equal respect to all religions and not neutrality in religion. It does
not mean rejection of religion. Every religion has two aspects- philosophic or ideological aspect
and ritualistic aspect.
• Philosophic aspect deals with belief system and ritualistic with various practices. Ethical
values and moral codes of all religions do not differ and that is why there is unity in mankind.
Secularism looks at religion from this angle and therefore gives equal respect to all religions. A
religion when it gets institutionalized, it gets interested in maintaining its hold on the people.
• The two important features of a secular state are-
• 1) Complete separation of state and religion.
• 2) Full liberty to the followers of all religions. The founding fathers of the constitutions ensured
constitutional safe guards for the protection of minorities. Accordingly everyone has the
fundamental right to enter public places including places of worship and drink water any where.
If anybody violates this law he will be punished.
• In western secularism religion is entirely a private matter and state is
totally distanced from the religious activities and practices of its citizens.
Western secularism does not believe in open display of religion except for
places of worship where as in India all expression of religion is manifested
equally with support from the state. In western secularism inspired by
American model the religion and state are mutually exclusive.
• Another difference is that Indian secularism is concerned with Intra
religious domination and compatible with state supported religious reform
eg. Banning untouchability. The Indian state may engage with religion
negatively to oppose religious tyranny. Indian secularism is therefore
assimilative secularism ie constitution guarantees all citizens freedom of
practice of religion and govt. shall protect interests of minorities. Hence
India followed its own model of secularism different from western model
of secularism.