The Concept:Communal violence involves people belonging to two different religious communities mobilised against each other and carrying the feelings of hostility, emotional fury, exploitation, social discrimination and social neglect. The high degree of cohesion in one community against another is built around tension and polarisation. The targets of attack are the members of the ‘enemy’ community. Generally, there is no leadership in communal riots which could effectively control and contain the riot situation. It could thus be said that communal violence is based mainly on hatred, enmity and revenge.

Communal violence has increased quantitatively and qualitatively ever since politics came to be communalised. Gandhi was its first victim followed by the murder of many persons in the 1970s and the 1980s. Following destruction of Babri structure in Ayodhya in December 1992, and bomb blasts in Bombay in early 1993, communal riots in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Kerala have considerably increased.While some political parties tolerate ethno-religious communalism, a few others even encourage it. Recent examples of this tolerance, indifference to and passive acceptance of or even connivance of the activities of religious organisations by certain political leaders and some political parties are found in attacks on Christian missionaries and in violent activities against Christians in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Allahabad.

Emergency of the mid-1970s commenced the trend of criminal elements entering mainstream politics. This phenomenon has now entrenched itself in Indian politics to such an extent that religious fanaticism, casteism and mixing of religion and politics have increased in varied dimensions. Political parties and political leaders adopt ‘holier than thou’ attitude in relation to each other instead of taking a collective stand against these negative impulses affecting our society.The Hindu organisations blame Muslims and Christians for forcibly converting Hindus to their religions. Without indulging in the controversy whether prosylitisation or religious conversions were coercive or voluntary, it may only be said that raising this issue today is patently irrational fanaticism. Hinduism has been tolerant and talks about all humanity being one family.Therefore, it has to be accepted that the doctrine of Hindutva blighting Indian politics has nothing to do with Hindu thought. It is time secular political leaders and political parties ignore political and electoral considerations and condemn and take action against those religious organisations which disrupt peace and stability through statements and threaten the unity and pluralistic identity of India.

Features of Communal Riots:A probe of the major communal riots in the country in the last five decades has revealed that:(1) Communal riots are more politically motivated than fuelled by religion. Even the Madan Commission which looked into communal disturbances in Maharashtra in May 1970 had emphasised that “the architects and builders of communal tensions are the communalists and a certain class of politicians—those all-India and local leaders out to seize every opportunity to strengthen their political positions, enhance their prestige and enrich their public image by giving a communal colour to every incident and thereby projecting themselves in the public eye as the champions of their religion and the rights of their community”.

(2) Besides political interests, economic interests to play a vigorous part in fomenting communal clashes.

(3) Communal riots seem to be more common in North India than in South and East India.

(4) The possibility of recurrence of communal riots in a town where communal riots have al-ready taken place once or twice is stronger than in a town in which riots have never occurred.

(5) Most communal riots take place on the occasion of religious festivals.

(6) The use of deadly weapons in the riots is on the ascendancy.

Incidence of Communal Riots:In India, communal frenzy reached its peak during 1946-48 whereas the period between 1950 and 1963 may be called the period of communal peace. Political stability and economic development in the country contributed to the improvement of the communal situation.

The incidences of rioting shot up after 1963. Serious riots broke out in 1964 in various parts of East India like Calcutta, Jamshedpur, Rourkela and Ranchi. Another wave of communal violence swept across the country between 1968 and 1971 when the political leadership at the centre and in the states was weak.

The communal riots in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh in December, 1990, in Belgaum (Karnataka) in November 1991, in Varanasi and Hapur (Uttar Pradesh) in February 1992, in Seelampur in May 1992, in Samaipur Badli in Delhi, Nasik in Maharashtra, and Munthra near Trivandrum in Kerala in July 1992, and in Sitamarhi in October 1992—all point out the weakening of communal amity in the country.

After the demolition of the disputed shrine in December 1992 at Ayodhya, when communal violence flared up in various states, more than 1,000 people were said to have died in five days, including 236 in Uttar Pradesh, 64 in Karnataka, 76 in Assam, 30 in Rajasthan and 20 in West Bengal. It was after this violence that the government banned Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal, Islamic Sevak Sangh (ISS) and the Jamait-e-Islami Hind in December 1992.

After the bomb blasts in Bombay and later in Calcutta in April 1993, the communal riots in Maharashtra and other states claimed more than 200 lives of both Muslims and Hindus. Soon after the Bombay blasts, a well-known Imam of Delhi stated: “It is basically a matter of survival now. We cannot rule out taking up arms in order to stay alive”.

The Sangh Pariwar leaders claimed that India is a Hindu Rashtra that only the Hindu culture is the authentic Indian culture, that Muslims are actually Mohammadi Hindus, and that all Hindustanis are by definition Hindus. It is such aggressive approach of Hindu and Muslim fanatics that leads to communal riots. While 61 districts out of 350 districts in India were iden-tified as sensitive districts in 1961, 216 districts were so identified in 1979, 186 in 1986, 254 in 1987 and 186 in 1989.

Apart from the loss in terms of lives, the communal riots cause widespread destruction of property and adversely affect economic activities. For instance, property worth Rs. 14 crore was damaged between 1983 and 1986 {Times of India, July 25, 1986). In the 2,086 incidences of communal riots in three years between 1986 and 1988, 1,024 persons were killed and 12,352 injured.After the communal riots in Maharashtra, Bengal and other states in 1993, no serious riots were reported for about three years; but in May 1996 Calcutta once again witnessed communal riots on an issue of taking a Moharrum procession along a particular route in violation of police permission. It was reported that the trouble was not spontaneous but was planned and had background of political rivalry.

Bootleggers and land- builder mafia had also played an important role in spreading communal violence. Thus, recurrence of communal riots in different states from time to time even now

points out that so long as the political leaders and religious fanatics continue using communalism as a powerful instrument to achieve their goal or so long as religion remains politicised, our country will remain ever so vulnerable to communal tension.

Causes of Communal Violence:Different scholars have approached the problem of communal violence with different perspectives, attributing different causes and suggesting different measures to counter it. The Marxist school relates communalism to economic deprivation and to the class struggle between the haves and the have-not’s to secure a monopoly control of the market forces. Political sci-entists view it as a power struggle. Sociologists see it as a phenomenon of social tensions and relative deprivations. The religious experts perceive it as a diadem of violent fundamentalists and conformists.

The class analysis of communalism requires some attention. The explanation is that the economic, social and political situations in a society sometimes create such problems and crises for the people that even though they try to come to grips with these crises, they fail to do so. Without attempting to grasp the real causes for this failure, they ‘perceive’ the other community (numerically much stronger than their own) as the cause of their woes. Communalism is thus a social reality which is generated and reflected in a distorted way.After independence, though our government claimed to follow “socialistic pattern of economy” yet in practice the economic development was based more on capitalist pattern. In this pattern, on the one hand the development has not occurred at a rate where it could solve the problems of poverty, unemployment and insecurity which could prevent frustration and unhealthy competition for scarce jobs and other economic opportunities, and on the other hand, capitalist development has generated prosperity only for certain social strata leading to sharp and visible inequality and new social strains and social anxieties.

Those who have benefitted or have gained, have their expectations soar even higher. They also feel threatened in their newly gained prosperity. Their relative prosperity arouses the social jealousy of those who fail to develop or who decline in power and prestige. The efforts of the government to solve the problems of the religious minorities arouse intense resentment among those prosperous sections of the community who are in numerical majority and who have achieved economic, social and political power through manipulations.They feel that any rise in social scale of the minority community will threaten their social domination. Thus, feelings of suspicion and hostility on the part of both the communities continuously foster the growth of communalism. Particularly, it (communalism) makes a ready appeal to the urban poor and the rural unemployed whose number has grown rapidly as a result of lop-sided economic and social development and large-scale migration to cities.The social anger and frustration of these rootless and impoverished people often find expression in spontaneous violence whenever opportunity arises. A communal riot provides a good opportunity for this. But this economic analysis is not considered objective by many scholars.

Is religion responsible for communalism? There are intellectuals who do not believe that religion has any role to play in it. Bipan Chandra (1984), for example, holds that communalism is neither inspired by religion nor is religion an object of communal politics, even though the communalist bases his politics on religious differences, uses religious identity as an organising principle, and in the mass phases of communalism uses religion to mobilise masses.The religious difference is used to ‘mask’ non-religious social needs, aspirations and conflicts. However, religiosity, i.e., “too much religion in one’s life” or the intrusion of religion into areas other than those of personal belief, tends to create a certain receptivity to communal ideology and politics. Moreover, religious obscurantism, narrow-mindedness and bigotry in the name of going back to fundamentals tends to divide people whom life and history have bought together, In this respect, different religions have different elements in their structure, rituals and ideological practices

which relate to communalism in different manners. Their analysis and elimination has to be specific to different religions.

Some scholars have proposed a multiple-factor approach in which they give importance to seve ral factors together. Ten major factors have been identified in the etiology of communalism: These are; social, religious, political, economic, legal, psychological, administrative, historical, local, and international.The social factors include social traditions, stereotyped images of religious communities, caste and class ego or inequality and religion-based social stratification; the religious factors include decline in religious norms of tolerance and secular values, narrow and dogmatic religious beliefs, use of religion for political gains and communal ideology of religious leaders; the political factors include religion-based politics, religion-dominated political organisations, canvasing in elections based on religious considerations, political interference in religious affairs, instigation or support to agitations by politicians for vested interests, political justification of communal violence, and failure of political leadership; to contain religious feelings; the economic factors include economic exploitation and discrimination of minority religious communities, their lop-sided economic development, inadequate opportunity in competitive market, non-expanding economy, displacement and non-absorption of workers of minority religious groups, and the influence of gulf money in provoking religious conflicts; the legal factors include absence of common civil code, special provisions and concessions for some communities in the Constitution, special status of certain states, reservation policy, and special laws for different communities; the psychological factors include social prejudices, stereotype attitudes, distrust, hostility and apathy against another community, rumour, fear psychosis and misinformation/misinterpretation/misrepresentation by mass media; the administrative factors include lack of coordination between the police and other administrative units, ill-equipped and ill-trained police personnel, inept functioning of intelligence agencies, biased policemen, and police excesses and inaction; the historical factors include alien invasions, damage to religious institutions, proselytisation efforts, divide and rule policy of colonial rulers, partition trauma, past communal riots, old disputes on land, temples and mosques; the local factors include religious processions, slogan raising, rumours, land disputes, local anti-social elements and group rivalries; and the international factors include training and financial support from other countries, other countries’ machinations to disunite and weaken India, and support to communal organisations.

Against these approaches, we need a holistic approach to understand the problem of communalism and communal violence. The emphasis of this approach would be on various factors, distinguishing the major from the minor. We can classify these factors in four sub-groups: most conspicuous, chief cooperating, minor aggravating, and apparently inoperative.Specifically, these factors are: communal politics and politicians’ support to religious fanatics, prejudices (which lead to discrimination, avoidance, physical attack and extermination), the growth of communal organisations, and conversions and proselytisation. Broadly speaking, attention may be focused on fanatics, anti-social elements and vested economic interests in creating and fanning violence in the rival communities.

My own thesis is that communal violence is instigated by religious fanatics, initiated by anti-social elements, supported by political activists, financed by vested interests, and spread by the callousness of the police and the administrators. While these factors directly cause communal violence, the factor which aids in spreading violence is the ecological layout of a particular city which enables rioters to escape un-apprehended.The case studies of Baroda and Ahmedabad communal riots in Gujarat in Central India, Meerut, Aligarh and Moradabad riots in Uttar Pradesh, Jamshedpur in Bihar, and Srinagar in Kashmir in North India, Hyderabad and Kerala riots in South India, and Assam riots in East India vindicate my thesis.

In the holistic approach to communal violence, a few factors need explanation. One is the illogical feeling of discrimination among the Muslims. Up to 1998, the percentage of Muslims in

the IAS was 2.9, in IPS 2.8, in banks 2.2 and in the judiciary 6.2.Muslims, thus, feel that they are discriminated against and denied opportunities in all these fields. The fact is that the number of Muslims who compete for these jobs is very low. The feeling of discrimination among Muslims is ludicrous and irrational.

The other factor is the flow of money from the Gulf and other countries to India. A sizeable number of Muslims migrate to the Gulf countries to earn a handsome income and become affluent. These Muslims and the local Sheikhs send money to India generously for building mosques, opening madarsas (schools), and for running charitable Muslim institutions.This money is, thus, believed to help Muslim fundamentalism. Pakistan is one country whose rulers always had a feeling of hostility for India. This country’s power elite have been continuously interested in creating instability in India. It has now been established that Pakistan is actively supporting Muslim terrorists (of Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab) by providing training and military weapons.

These destabilising efforts of Pakistan and other governments have further created ill-feeling and suspicion among the Hindus against the Muslims. The same can be said about Hindu militants and Hindu organisations in India which whip up antagonistic feelings against the Muslims and Muslim organisations.Issues like the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in Ayodhya, the Krishna Janam Bhoomi and nearby Masjid alteration in Mathura, the dispute over Kashi Viswanath temple and its adjoining mosque in Varanasi, and the controversial Masjid in Sambhal claimed to be the temple of Lord Shiva from the days of Prithviraj Chauhan, and incidents like a Muslim leader giving call for non-attendance of Muslims on Republic Day and the observing of January 26, (1987) as a ‘black day’, have all aggravated the ill- feeling between the two communities.

The mass media also sometimes contribute to communal tensions in their own way. Many a time the news items published in papers are based on hearsay, rumours, or wrong interpretations. Such news items add fuel to the fire and fan communal feelings. This is what happened in Ahmedabad in the 1969 riots when ‘Sewak’ reported that several Hindu women were stripped and raped by Muslims. Although this report was contradicted the next day, the damage had been done. It aroused the feelings of Hindus and created a communal riot.One of the issues which has been agitating both Muslims and Hindus in recent years is the Muslim Personal Law. With the decision of the Supreme Court in favour of Shah Bano, and its advice in April 1995 to the government that it should enact a uniform civil code, the Muslims fear that their personal law is being interfered with. The politicians also exploit the situation to keep themselves in power.

The Bharatiya Janata Party, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Shiv Sena and the RSS are the or-ganisations which claim to be the champions of Hinduism. Likewise, the Muslim League, the Jamait-e-Islami, the Jamait-Ulema-a-Hind, the Majlis- e-Ittehadul Musalmeen, and the Majlis-e-Mushawarat use Muslims as their vote banks by championing their religious sentiments.

The communal politics in Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Bihar are examples of such behaviour. Politicians charge the social atmosphere with communal passion by their inflammatory speeches, writings and propaganda. They plant the seeds of distrust in the minds of the Muslims while the Hindus are convinced that they are un-justly coerced into making extraordinary concessions to the Muslims in the economic, social and cultural fields.They also exploit the deep religious traditions of both the communities and highlight differences in their respective practices and rituals. The leaders also try to use economic arguments to instill fear and suspicion in the minds of people and prepare their followers to start a riot at the least provocation. It has happened in Bhiwandi, Moradabad, Meerut, Ahmedabad, Aligarh and Hyderabad.

Social factors, like large sections of Muslims refusing to use family planning measures, also create suspicion and ill-feeling among the Hindus. A few years ago, leaflets were distributed in Pune and Sholapur in Maharashtra by one Hindu organisation criticising/debunking the Muslims for not accepting family planning programme and practising polygyny with the aim to allegedly increase their population and install a Muslim government in India. All this demonstrates how a combination of political, economic, social, religious and administrative factors aggravates the situation which leads to communal riots.

How to stop

Measures to meet the challenge of communalism and communal violence can be of two types: long-term and short-term.

The long-term remedy lies:Firstly, in initiating the process of de-communalising the people at all levels, say, by bringing home to them that communal assumptions are false, by explaining to them the socio-economic and political roots of communalism, and by telling them that what the communalists project as problems are not real problems and what they suggest as remedies are not real remedies.

Secondly, communalisation of the state and of the political elite in power has to be checked because it leads to inaction against communal violence, and covert or overt political and ideological support to communalism by the state apparatuses, including the media under state control.

Thirdly, the communalisation of civil society also needs to be checked because it leads to more communal riots and other forms of communal violence. People with communal ideas and ideologies pressurise the government to act in a manner which is always against the principle of secularism. The secular state, the secular party in power and the secular power elite many a time succumb to the pressures of these communal people. It is here that intellectuals, political parties and voluntary organisations can be most effective.

Fourthly, the role of education, particularly emphasising value-oriented education both in schools and colleges/universities, is important in preventing communal feelings. Education based on new cultural ideologies can protect the young people against philosophies and ideologies of hate. Particularly harmful in the Indian context has been the role of teaching of history. Communal interpretation of history, specially of the medieval period, forms the bedrock of communal ideology in India. Teaching of history along scientific lines in educational institutions has to be a basic element in any ideological struggle against communalism.

Fifthly, the media can also prove to be significantly useful in preventing communal feelings. Communal press can be banned and legal action can be taken against communal writers.Sixthly, the ideology that economic development, industrialisation, growth of capitalism and the growth of the working class would automatically weaken and ultimately eliminate communalism should not be overplayed. This economic reductionist approach of the left parties and organisations like Naxalites only increases communal poison.

It is not being suggested that modern economic development is not needed in our society. What is being pointed out is that economic development alone cannot contain communalism. It is not class struggle which increases communalism but communalism surely hampers class unity. Communal violence is more prevalent in developed states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Gujarat and in developed cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Jamshedpur and Kanpur.

Some immediate measures are imperative for containing communalism and communal riots:

Firstly, Peace Committees can be set up in which individuals belonging to different religious communities can work together to spread goodwill and fellow-feeling and remove feelings of fear and hatred in the riot-affected areas. This will be effective not only in diffusing communal tensions but also in preventing riots from breaking out.

Secondly, the state has to plan and use new strategies in dealing with communal violence. India’s experience in recent years confirms the utility of this step. Whenever strong and secular administrators have used or threatened the use of strong steps, riots either did not occur or were of short duration.

For example, strong police and army intervention prevented repetition of riots in Calcutta in November 1984 and in Mumbai in January 1994. When the anti-social elements and religious fanatics and people with vested interests realise that the government is impartial and the police is serious in putting down communal violence with all the force at its command, they immediately cease spreading communal frenzy.

This also calls for non-communalising law-enforcement agencies. Experience of riots in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhiwandi and Meerut, and violence in Amritsar, Jullundar and Ludhiana in Punjab shows that communalised officials invariably make the communal situation worse.

Thirdly, the role of media is immensely heightened during the course of communal violence. Newspapers can pour oil over the troubled waters or extinguish the raging fire. The fear and hatred can be checked if the press, radio and TV report events in a way conducive to soothing the frayed nerves of people instead of inflaming the temper further. The media can contradict ru-mours in a sober manner. A careful restraint has to be exercised in reporting the number of persons of different religious communities killed or injured.

Lastly, the government in power has to treat the extremist communal outfits as its immediate targets and cripple their capacity to disrupt law and order. The secessionists in Kashmir, the militants in Punjab, the ISS (now banned) in Kerala and other extremist organisations of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communalism have to be dealt with by the state through its law and order machinery.

The small insecure communities always look to government or move towards, communal parties for protection. The Pandits in Kashmir, the innocent victims of communal riots in Mumbai, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and other states, and the sufferers of violence by extremists in Bihar, Assam, etc., look towards the secular state of India for security of life and property.

The communalism of the 1980s and of the nine years of the 1990s has placed a clear responsi-bility at the doors of the secular state squarely to confront the communal elements who have emerged as merchants of death. Today, communalism is on the march and secularism is on the retreat, and the state is on the defensive. The state was on the defensive in post-Blue Star Operation phase, on the retreat on Shah Bano case, and under siege on Mandir-Masjid issue in Ayodhya in 1992 and Hazratbal siege in November 1993 and in Charar-e-Shrief shrine siege in May 1995 in Kashmir.

In all these situations, Sikh, Muslim and Hindu communalists were on the offensive. The challenge of Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communalism has to be met by the Indian State at political and ideological levels both with short-term and long-term strategies.

The government is also facing the problem of the emergence of religion-based politics as a central factor in public affairs and elections, although election results in several states in the last five-six years have proved that the people have rejected such politics.

If the surging tide of communalism is not reversed, it will swamp the country. Before independence, it was easy to argue that communal violence was the result of the British policy of divide and rule. Now the reality is more complex. Religion has come to be politicised and politics has come to be criminalised. Unless all communities consider themselves a part of one nation, the containing of communal disharmony will remain difficult.

A country that prides itself on the secular character of its policies has to be wary of politicians who speak only for their own religious community. It has to expose and alienate the bureaucrats who consider secularism only as a theoretical possibility. The police can no longer afford to allow communal issue to foster in the manner that it has.

Stopping communally-minded politicians and debarring them from contesting elections, giving deterrent punishment to religious fanatics for arousing anti-religious feelings, adopting corrective measures like keeping the police department free from the politicians’ control, strengthening the police intelligence section, restructuring the police force, gearing the police administration to be more sensitive, and reworking the training programme of police officials and enabling them to acquire a secular outlook and making them responsible for their failures could prove to be effective measures in tackling the problem of communal riots. An efficient police organisation, enlightened policemen, well equipped and especially trained police wings are bound to yield positive results.

The government has also to take measures for removing the perceived feeling of discrimination and deprivation which does not actually exist. The Minorities Commission set up in 1978 during Morarji Desai’s tenure as Prime Minister, was recognised as a statutory body in May 1992 with a view to enhancing its effectiveness. Before this, it functioned as a toothless tiger because in the absence of legal sanction, it could do little beyond suggesting remedies or advising the government and the administration. The Commission is intended to safeguard the interests of the minorities whether based on religion or language.

Its seven-point objectives are as follows:i. Evaluating the working of various safeguards for the minorities in the Constitution and the laws passed by the union and state governments.

ii. Recommending the most effective way to implement the laws pertaining to the minorities.

iii. Looking into specific complaints.

iv. Conducting studies and research on the question of avoidance of discrimination against minorities.

v. Reviewing union and state government policies towards minorities. Suggesting appropriate legal and welfare measures to be undertaken by the union and state governments.

vi. Submitting reports (on minorities) to the government from time to time.

vii. Serving as a national clearing house for information in respect of the conditions of the minorities.

Its status was such that nobody took the Commission seriously because both the centre and the state governments were not bound to follow its suggestions. Over the years, the Commission’s annual reports on the plight of the minorities gathered dust. But, the statutory status will now change the position.

Its role will not only be investigative but also a judicial one. It is expected that with more powers, the Commission would now become a truly effective tool in tackling the deteriorating communal situation in the country and ensuring the welfare of the religious minorities which comprise 17 per cent of the total population of the country.

Symbolic gestures will not suffice. It is necessary to look at the real problems of the religious minorities in terms of employment, literacy and getting them a fair share of representation in every field. Efforts are needed for the development of the minority communities and removing their mass illiteracy and unemployment.

Secular structures have to be promoted and preserved. Vigorous attacks need to be launched on religious institutions which foster communalism. Suspicions between communities must be rigorously weeded out. A common civil code in the country is the need of the day. There should be no special laws for specific communities and no special status for any state. The reservation policy has to be reconsidered. Political manipulation has to be tackled. Politicians interfering with police functioning and disallowing arrests of trouble makers have to be severely dealt with. Public opinion and mass enlightenment have to be brought about to make secular values functional.

Along with these measures, other measures that should be undertaken by the government to contain communal violence are:(1) Posting of secular-minded police officials in riot-prone areas.

(2) Setting up of special courts to try communal offences.

(3) Providing immediate relief and adequate financial assistance to victims of communal riots for their rehabilitation.

(4) Taking severe action against all those who incite communal tensions or take part in violence.

Thus, multipronged measures are needed to contain communal tensions and bring about communal harmony in the country. We have not only to fight religious communalism but have also to contain political communalism which is more degrading and dangerous. A vast majority of Muslims and Sikhs in India have no appetite for communal violence, and this is also true of the sentiments of most Hindus.

The members of the Muslim and Sikh communities are convinced that the growing communal tension can be stopped if politicians are somehow prevented from exploiting people for their narrow ends. The Muslim on the street is slowly recognising the exploitative intentions of politicians. Religious sloganeering does not affect him so much now. He no longer harbours a sneaking desire to seek economic redress across the border. He feels far more secure here.

If Muslims and other minorities are encouraged to consider themselves as a valuable commodity to be traded at election time, rather than being equal citizens of a free India, they can never be motivated enough to participate in the greater endeavour for the national good. Social scientists and intellectuals have to evince serious interest in controlling the national malaise of communalism and in related issues like religious violence, separatism, secessionism, and terrorism.

Reasons-for Growth of Communalism:Communalism was rooted in modern economic, political and social institutions where new identities were emerging in a haphazard manner even as the old, pre-modern identities had not diminished.

Socio-economic reasons:The professional classes and the bourgeoisie emerged later among the Muslims than among the Hindus. There was rivalry for jobs, trade and industry between the two communities. The Muslim bourgeoisie used the lower middle classes of the Muslims against the Hindu bourgeoisie to further their class interests.

Because of the economic backwardness of India and rampant unemployment, there was ample scope for the colonial government to use concessions, favours and reservations to fuel communal and separatist tendencies. Also, modern political consciousness was late in developing among the Muslims and the dominance of traditional reactionary elements over the Muslim masses helped a communal outlook to take root.

British policy of divide and rule:Muslims were generally looked upon with suspicion initially, especially after the Wahabi and 1857 revolts, and were subjected to repression and discrimination by the Government. Also, the introduction of English education had undermined Arabic and Persian learning which added further to the economic backwardness and exclusion of the Muslims from service.

After the 1870s, with signs of the emergence of Indian nationalism and growing politicisation of the educated middle classes/ the Government reversed its policy of repression of Muslims and, instead, decided to rally them behind it through concessions, favours and reservations, and used them against nationalist forces.The Government used persons like Sir Syed Ahmed Khan to counter the growing influence of the Congress. Sir Syed Khan had a broadminded and reformist outlook initially but later he started supporting the colonial government, exhorting the Muslim masses to stay away from the Congress and not to get politicised. He also started talking of separate interests of Hindus and Muslims.

Communalism in history writing:Initially suggested by imperialist historians and later adopted by some chauvinist Indian historians, the communal interpretation of Indian history portrayed the ancient phase as the Hindu phase and the medieval phase as the Muslim phase. The conflicts of ruling classes during the medieval phase were distorted and exaggerated as Hindu-Muslim conflicts.

Side-effects of socio-religious reform movements:Reform movements such as Wahabi Movement among Muslims and Shuddhi among Hindus with their militant overtones made the role of religion more vulnerable to communalism. Reforms, at times, were seen as a process of insulating one community from the influence of another religious community.

Naroda Patiya massacre (part of the2002 Gujarat violence)|

28 February 2002

Naroda, Ahmedabad 97 Muslims[21][22]

Riots between Hindus and Muslims after Sabarmati Express is set afire at Godhra railway station allegedly by Muslims[23]

Raghunath Hindu 30 March Jammu & Kashmir 11 killed, 20 Terrorist groups

temple massacre I (part of 2002 Raghunath temple attacks)

2002injured (mostly Hindu devotees)

2002 Qasim Nagar massacre

13 July 2002

Jammu and Kashmir 29 Hindus Terror Attack

Akshardham Temple attack

24 September 2002

Gujarat29 killed, 79 injured (mostly Hindu devotees)

Terrorist groups

Raghunath Hindu temple massacre II (part of 2002 Raghunath temple attacks)

24 November 2002

Jammu & Kashmir14 killed, 45 injured (mostly Muslim devotees)

Terrorist groups

2003 Nadimarg Massacre

23 March 2002

Jammu and Kashmir 24 Hindus Terrorist groups

2002 Kaluchak massacre

14 May 2002

Jammu and Kashmir 31

Terrorist groups attack Tourist bus and Army's family quarter attacked.

Marad Massacre May 2003 Kerala8 killed, 58 injured - All Hindu Fishermen

Planned Attack by Muslim Group.

2006 Varanasi bombings

March 2006

Uttar Pradesh

28 killed, 101 injured -Devotees of Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple targeted

Terrorist attack Hindu temple.

2006 Doda massacre

30 April 2006

Jammu & Kashmir 35 Hindus Terrorist groups

Tumudibandh massacre (part of theMurder of

August 2008

Orissa 5 Hindus By Christian extremists

Swami Lakshmanananda)

Kandhamal riotsAugust 2008

Orissa 42[24]

Mumbai massacre26 November 2008

Mumbai 164

11 coordinated attacks by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists; casualties include people of various nationalities, and Israeli victims were reportedly tortured before being killed.[citation needed]

2010 Dantewada bus bombing

17 May 2010

Chhattisgarh 76Maoist terrorist attacked civilian bus

2010 Deganga riots6 September 2010

North 24 Parganas district, West Bengal

Attack on Hindu by Muslim mobs led by Haji Nurul Islam

23 houses ransacked,250 shops had been looted during the several days of rioting,while 50 houses had been burned and 5 temples desecrated.

2012 Assam violence

July 2012 Assam 77 deaths

Communal violence between Bodos (Tribal, Christian & Hindu faith) and Muslims

2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley

25 May 2013

Chhattisgarh 2828 people from a Congress Party motorcade

2013 Muzaffarnagar riots

25 August 2013 - 17 September 2013

Muzaffarnagar district,Uttar Pradesh

42 Muslims and 20 Hindus killed and 93 injured

Double murder of two Hindu boys triggered communal riot between Hindu

Jats & Muslim Jatavs

Anti-Muslim violence[edit]

The history of modern India has many incidents of communal violence. The 1947 partition saw religious violence between Muslim-Hindu, Muslim-Sikhs and Muslim-Jains on a gigantic scale.[22] Hundreds of religious riots have been recorded since then, in every decade of independent India. In these riots, the victims have included numerous Muslims, as well as Hindus, Sikhs, Jainsm Christians and Buddhists.

On 6 December 1992, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal destroyed the 430-year-old Babri Mosque in Ayodhya [193] [194]  - it was claimed by the Hindus that the mosque was built over the birthplace of the ancient deity Rama (and a 2010 Allahabad court ruled that the site was indeed a Hindu monument before the mosque was built there, based on evidence submitted by the Archaeological Survey of India[195]). This action allegedly caused humiliation to the Muslim community. The resulting religious riots caused at least 1200 deaths.[196][197] Since then the Government of India has blocked off or heavily increased security at these disputed sites while encouraging attempts to resolve these disputes through court cases and negotiations.[198]

In the aftermath of the destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu nationalists on 6 December 1992, riots took place between Hindus and Muslims in the city of Mumbai. Four people died in a fire in the Asalpha timber mart at Ghatkopar, five were killed in the burning of Bainganwadi; shacks along the harbour line track between Sewri and Cotton Green stations were gutted; and a couple was pulled out of a rickshaw in Asalpha village and burnt to death.[199] The riots changed the demographics of Mumbai greatly, as Hindus moved to Hindu-majority areas and Muslims moved to Muslim-majority areas.

Many Ahmedabad's buildings were set on fire during 2002 Gujarat violence.

The Godhra train burning incident in which Hindus were burned alive allegedly by Muslims by closing door of train, led to the 2002 Gujarat riots in which mostly Muslims were killed in an act of retaliation. According to the death toll given to the parliament on 11 May 2005 by the government, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, and another 2,548 injured. 223 people are missing. The report placed the number of riot widows at 919 and 606 children were declared orphaned.[200][201][202] According to hone advocacy group, the death tolls were up to 2000.[203][204][205]

[206][207] According to the Congressional Research Service, up to 2000 people were killed in the violence.[208]

Tens of thousands were displaced from their homes because of the violence. According to New York Times reporter Celia Williams Dugger, witnesses were dismayed by the lack of intervention from local police, who often watched the events taking place and took no action against the attacks on Muslims and their property.[209] Sangh leaders [210] [211]  as well as the Gujarat government[212][213] maintain that the violence was rioting or inter-communal clashes — spontaneous and uncontrollable reaction to theGodhra train burning.

The Government of India has implemented almost all the recommendations of the Sachar Committee to help Muslims.[214][215]

Anti-Christian violence[edit]

A 1999 Human Rights Watch report states increasing levels of religious violence on Christians in India, perpetrated by Hindu organizations.[216][217] In 2000, acts of religious violence against

Christians included forcible reconversion of converted Christians to Hinduism, distribution of threatening literature and destruction of Christian cemeteries.[216]

In Orissa, starting December 2007, Christians have been attacked in Kandhamal and other districts, resulting in the deaths of two Hindus and one Christian, and the destruction of houses and churches. Hindus claim that Christians killed a Hindu saint Laxmananand, and the attacks on Christians were in retaliation. However there was no conclusive proof to support this claim.[218]

[219][220][221][222] Twenty people were arrested following the attacks on churches.[221] Similarly, starting 14 September 2008, there were numerous incidents of violence against the Christian community in Karnataka.

In 2007, foreign Christian missionaries became targets of attacks.[223] An Australian missionary, was burnt to death while he was sleeping in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Orissa in January 1999.[216][223][224][225] In 2003, Dara Singh was convicted of leading the gang responsible.[226][227][228]

In its annual human rights reports for 1999, the United States Department of State criticised India for "increasing societal violence against Christians."[229] The report listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious property to violence against Christian pilgrims.[229]

In Madhya Pradesh, unidentified persons set two Statues inside St Peter and Paul Church in Jabalpur on fire.[230] In Karnataka, religious violence was targeted against Christians in 2008.[231]

Anti-Hindu violence[edit]

The passage to the permanent Durga mandap at Chattalpalli was being dug up to prevent the Hindus from entering the area.

There have been a number of more recent attacks on Hindu temples and Hindus by Muslim militants. Prominent among them are the 1998 Chamba massacre, the 2002 fidayeen attacks on Raghunath temple, the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack allegedly perpetrated by Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba [232]  and the 2006 Varanasi bombings (supposedly perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Toiba), resulting in many deaths and injuries. Recent attacks on Hindus by Muslim mobs include Marad massacre, Godhra train burning etc.

In August 2000, Swami Shanti Kali, a popular Hindu priest, was shot to death inside his ashram in the Indian state of Tripura. Police reports regarding the incident identified ten members of the Christian militant organisation, NLFT, as being responsible for the murder. On 4 Dec 2000, nearly three months after his death, an ashram set up by Shanti Kali at Chachu Bazar near the Sidhai police station was raided by Christian militants belonging to the NLFT. Eleven of the priest's ashrams, schools, and orphanages around the state were closed down by the NLFT.

In September 2008, Swami Laxmanananda, a popular regional Hindu Guru was murdered along with four of his disciples by unknown assailants (though a Maoist organisation later claimed responsibility for that[233][234]), allegedly due to the Guru's provocative opposition of Christians' conversion activities and Missionary propaganda[citation needed]. Later the police arrested three Christians in connection with the murder.[235] Congress MP Radhakant Nayak has also been named as a suspected person in the murder, with some Hindu leaders calling for his arrest.[236]

Lesser incidents of religious violence happen in many towns and villages in India. In October 2005, five people were killed in Mau in Uttar Pradesh during Hindu-Muslim rioting, which was triggered by the proposed celebration of a Hindu festival.[237]

On 3 and 4 January 2002, three Hindus and two Muslims were killed in Marad, near Kozhikode due to scuffles between two groups that began after a dispute over drinking water.[238][239] On 2001 three Muslims were killed by Rashtreeys Sevak Sangam. in response of this incident on 2 May 2003, eight Hindus were killed by a Muslim mob, in what is believed to be a sequel to the earlier incident.[239][240] One of the attackers, Mohammed Ashker was killed

during the chaos. The National Development Front (NDF), a right-wing militant Islamist organisation, was suspected as the perpetrator of the Marad Massacre.[241]

In the 2010 Deganga riots after hundreds of Hindu business establishments and residences were looted, destroyed and burnt, dozens of Hindus were severely injured and several Hindu temples desecrated and vandalised by the Islamist mobs led by Trinamul Congress MP Haji Nurul Islam.[242] Three years later, during the 2013 Canning riots, several hundred Hindu businesses were targeted and destroyed by Islamistmobs in the Indian state of West Bengal.[243][244]

Religious violence has led to the death, injuries and damage to numerous Hindus.[245][246] For example, 254 Hindus were killed in 2002 Gujarat riots out of which half were killed in police firing and rest by rioters.[247][248][249] During 1992 Bombay riots, 275 Hindus died.[250]

STATISTICSRiots incidence rates per 100000 people in India during 2012. Keralareported the highest riot incidence rate in 2012, while Punjab and Meghalaya reported zero riot incidence rates.

Over 2005 to 2009 period, an average of 130 people died every year from communal riots, and 2,200 were injured.[8] In pre-partitioned India, over the 1920–1940 period, numerous communal violence incidents were recorded, an average of 381 people died per year during religious violence, and thousands were injured.[251]

According to PRS India,[8] 24 out of 35 states and union territories of India reported instances of religious riots over the 5 year 2005–2009 period. However, most religious riots resulted in property damage but no injuries or fatalities. The highest incidences of communal violence in the 5-year period were reported from Maharashtra (700). The other three states with high counts of communal violence over the same 5 year period were Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Orissa. Together, these four states accounted for 64% of all deaths from communal violence. Adjusted for widely different population per state, the highest rate of communal violence fatalities were reported by Madhya Pradesh, at 0.14 death per 100,000 people over 5 years, or 0.03 deaths per 100,000 people per year.[8] There was a wide regional variation in rate of death caused by communal violence per 100,000 people. The India-wide average communal violence fatality rate per year was 0.01 person per 100,000 people per year. The world's average annual death rate from intentional violence, in recent years, has been 7.9 per 100,000 people.[10]

For 2012,[9] there were 93 deaths in India from many incidences of communal violence (or 0.007 fatalities per 100,000 people). Of these, 48 were Muslims, 44 Hindus and one police official. The riots also injured 2,067 people, of which 1,010 were Hindus, 787 Muslims, 222 police officials and 48 others. Over 2013, 107 people were killed during religious riots (or 0.008 total fatalities per 100,000 people), of which 66 were Muslims, 41 were Hindus. The various riots in 2013 also injured 1,647 people including 794 Hindus, 703 Muslims and 200 policemen.[9][252]

International human rights reports[edit]

The 2007 United States Department of State International Religious Freedom Report noted The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the National Government generally respected this right in practice. However, some state and local governments limited this freedom in practice.[253]

The 2008 Human Rights Watch report notes: India claims an abiding commitment to human rights, but its record is marred by continuing violations by security forces in counterinsurgency operations and by government failure to rigorously implement laws and policies to protect marginalised communities. A vibrant media and civil society continue to press for improvements, but without tangible signs of success in 2007.[7]

The 2007 Amnesty International report listed several issues concern in India and noted Justice and rehabilitation continued to evade most victims of the 2002 Gujarat communal violence.[254]

The 2007 United States Department of State Human Rights Report[255] noted that the government generally respected the rights of its citizens; however, numerous serious problems remained. The report which has received a lot of controversy internationally,[256][257]

[258][259] as it does not include human rights violations of United States and its allies, has generally been rejected by political parties in India as interference in internal affairs,[260] including in the Lower House of Parliament.[261]

Recent issues

1.

The clashes between the Hindu and Muslim communities in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, India in August–September 2013, resulted in at least 62 deaths including 42 Muslims and 20 Hindus[3] and injured 93 and left more than 50,000 displaced.[5][6][7][8] By 17 September, the curfew was lifted from all riot affected areas and the army was also withdrawn.[9]

The riot has been described as "the worst violence in Uttar Pradesh in recent history", with the army, as a result, being deployed in the state for the first time in last 20 years.[10] Supreme Court of India while hearing petitions in relation to the riots held the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party, prima facie guilty of negligence in preventing the violence and ordered it to immediately arrest all those accused irrespective of their political affiliation. Court also blamed the Central government for its failure to provide intelligence inputs to the Samajwadi Party-ruled state government in time to help sound alerts.[11]

On 21 August 2013, communal clashes were reported from Muzaffarnagar and police registered cases against 150 people and 14 persons were taken into custody. Clashes between two communities, Jat andMuslims, in Shamli and Muzaffarnagar grew on 27 August 2013. The original cause of the rioting is disputed according to bipartisan claims largely concerning the affected communities.[12] In this case, the cause of this rioting alternates between a traffic accident and an eve-teasing incident. According to the first version, the cause was a minor traffic accident involving some youths which then spiralled out of control when it eventually took on religious overtones.[13] In the second version, a girl from the Hindu Jat community was allegedly harassed in an eve-teasing incident by one Muslim youth in Kawal village.[14][15] In retaliation, Hindu relatives of the girl in question, Sachin Singh and Gaurav Singh,[16][17] killed the youth named Shahnawaz Qureshi.[18] The two brothers were lynched by a Muslim mob when they tried to escape.[17] The police arrested eleven members of the girl's family for killing the Muslim youth.[15] According to some locals, the police did not act against the killers of the Hindu brothers.[15] According to police records, Gaurav and Sachin picked a fight with Shahnawaz over a motorcycle accident. While it has been widely reported that the fight was sparked off when Shahnawaz harassed Gaurav and Sachin’s cousin sister, the FIR in the murder makes no mention of sexual harassment or molestation.[13] NDTV carried a contradictory report saying that the girl who was allegedly harassed by Shahnawaz commented that she had not gone to Kawal or known anybody by name of Shahnawaz,[19] In the FIR registered for Shahnawaz's death, five people along with Sachin and Gaurav were named as responsible for his death. The reports mentions that the seven men entered Shahnawaz's home, took him out and killed him with swords and knives; he died on the way to the hospital.[19] In the FIR registers for Sachin and Gaurav's death, seven other men were reported to be responsible; that episode was sparked by an altercation after Mujassim and Gaurav were involved in a bike accident.[19]

After news of the killings spread, the members of both communities attacked each other. The police took possession of the three dead bodies, and temporarily brought the situation under control. The authorities also deployed Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel to Kawal.[20]

In September 2013, fresh riots sparked off and around 11 people including a TV journalist were killed and more than 34 were injured after which indefinite curfew was clamped and the army deployed to help maintain law and order.[21]

2. Police arrest 150 for Vadodara communal riots

The Gujarat Police have arrested 150 people in Vadodara after more than a dozen were severely injured during recent communal clashes in the city. The violence reportedly broke out after the images of Hindu Goddess Maa Ambe and Lord Ram superimposed over Mecca's religious shrine went viral on the internet. The violence coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the US.

Communal tension has been prevailing in Gujarat ever since the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) asked the state government to issue a directive preventing Muslims from entering the places where garbas are organised. The VHP even stated that if the BJP government did not pay heed to it, the outfit would on its own initiate action to ensure Muslims did not attend garba events.

"The injured are under medical observation and those who have been arrested are being interrogated," Vadodara Police Commissioner E. Radhakrishnan said. The latest violence has marred spirit of Navratri festival that involves men and women in prayer, music and dance. "The idea of banning Muslims from Hindu festivals has upset the minority, but we are determined to keep the celebrations open to all," Radhakrishnan said, adding that tension had begun to ebb.

Modi contested the 2014 general elections from Vadodara, but gave up the seat in favour of Varanasi from where he had also contested. Police in Vadodara this month arrested Muslim cleric Maulana Mehdi Hasan who had reportedly called Navratri a "festival of demons".

The Gujarat government deployed riot police to control the clashes in Vadodara and appealed to religious leaders to intervene to curb them.

The city police said that no untoward incident was reported on Monday, which witnessed clashes over the last four days.

HARMONY  

Hindu or Muslim, mosque or temple,None of those divisions nagging the thinking;Ramanathan and I, weaving words together,Harmonious delight of Creator's children.

 Suddenly a storm arrived unannounced.

Turbaned and tweedy, known as new teacher,Asked us to sit away awkwardly from each other,

My tears dripped; Ramanathan wept, 

Sowing the seeds of discord and poison.They give not knowledge but hate and defeat;Tell others not to heed their unwanted advice,

As the Almighty created all equal and free. 

I see a dawn of beautiful Star,The dawn of shining vision,

The emergence of enlightened citizens.

 “You, the human race is the best of my creation,You will live and live.You give and give till you are united,In human happiness and pain;My bliss will be born in you.Love is continuum,That is the mission of humanity,You will see everyday in Life Tree.You learn and learnMy best of creations.”