In this article you will learn about Communalism in India in Political Science and the challenges of it.
Communalism
Communalism continues to be a very sad and hard reality of Indian politics. Even after the adoption of the objectives of secularism, justice and equality of all the people, communalism continues to afflict Indian Democracy. The fact remains that it has been increasing in intensity and spreading its fangs all over. It constitutes the biggest strain and pressure on the unity and integrity of India as a nation. Communalism in India has been commonly present as Hindu-Muslim Communalism. However at the same it must be stated unchaste communalism, caste communalism and regional communalism have also been present in India.
The communal riots which accompanied the dawn of independence and the unfortunate partition of India shook the people of India. The leaders of free India decided to end this danger menace through the adoption of secularism as a fundamental feature of the Indian Constitution. Justice, equality, liberty and fraternity were accepted as the four cardinal objectives to be secured for all the citizens of India. The decision to secure an emotional integration of people was then made. The Constitution guaranteed the right to religious freedom for all and refrained from adopting any religion as a state religion.
Around 20 years after the independence of India, the people of India lived in peace characterised by almost total absence of communal riots. And then, unfortunately in 1960s, communalism resurfaced in the form of Hindu-Muslim riots in some states like U.P., Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal. Since then it has been spreading to various parts of the country. In February-April 2002, communalism at its worst and ugliest form became visible in Gujarat. In 2014, Saharanpur (UP) and Muzaffarnagar experienced this communal violence. Currently UP, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra have been facing the problem of controlling the activities of some communalist groups and organisations. Prevention of communal polarisation continues to be a major problem of some of the states of India.
Communalism has been a periodic phenomenon in Indian politics. Between 1967-2018, around 45 major incidents of communal riots took place in various parts of the country. Communalism in India has been present in several forms but chiefly is it present as Hindu-Muslim communalism. Its other forms of manifestation have been : sectarian violence, regional riots, religious riots, linguistic communalism, tribal riots, Shia-Sunni conflict (mostly in UP), Sikh-Nirakaris conflict (mostly in Punjab), Sikh-Dera Sacha Sauda conflict in Punjab, Lepchas-Bhutias conflict (in Sikkim), Tribal vs. Non-Tribal conflict as well as conflicts among the tribal groups (Naga-Kuki) in Meghalaya, Tripura, Manipur and Mizoram. And now Assam also has been facing the problem of communal violence.
This article on Communalism in India in Political Science is contributed by Dipshikha Anand. If you like LawStudyPoint.com do follow us on our Twitter handle.