Communalism (South Asia)
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- This article deals with the use of the word communalism in South Asia, as a name for a force separating different communities based on some form of social or sectarian discrimination. See the article communalism for the use of the word to denote a force uniting people into a community, as it is used in other parts of the world where English is a major language.
Communalism is used in South Asia to denote attempts to promote primarily religious stereotypes between groups of people identified as different communities and to stimulate violence between those groups. The sense given to this word in South Asia is represented by the word sectarianism outside South Asia.
In South Asia, communalism is mainly between Hindus, Muslims and Christians.
Political parties are generally considered to play an important role in stimulating, supporting and/or suppressing communalism.
In Lebanon, communalism, taïfiyya in Arabic, is a derogatory term for the political system based on religious communities.
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[edit] Movements and groups
- Indian Muslim Nationalism/Islamic Fundamentalism
- National Development Front
- Fairazi movement
- Wahabist Tabligh-e-Islam and other Muslim extremist groups.
- Students Islamic Movement of India
- Jamaat-e-Islami,
- Razakar
- Al-Shams
- Hindu nationalism (Hindutva)
- Dalit self-respect movement
- Christian fundamentalist/Secessionist
[edit] Incidents of communal violence
Examples of communalist violence, with strong motivations based on religious identity include:
- the 1921 Moplah Rebellion
- the 1946 Calcutta riots o death toll estimated at 6,000, most of the victims were Hindus.
- the 1947 "population exchanges" at the partition of India, resulting in an estimated 500,000 deaths.
- the 1978/79 Morichjhanpi forced migration
- the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots in which the Congress party allegedly played a role in the killing of about 3,000 Sikhs following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.
- the 1998 Wandhama massacre, ten Hindu victims.
- the 2000 Chittisinghpura massacre, 35 Sikhs killed.
- the 2002 Godhra Train Burning, 58 Hindus killed.
- the 2002 Gujarat violence, death toll estimated at 1,000, most of the victims were Muslims.
- the 2002 Kaluchak massacre, 31 killed.
- the 2002 Marad massacre, 14 deaths.
- the 2006 Kherlanji massacre, lynching of four Dalits.
Incidents of "communal violence" cannot clearly be separated by incidents of terrorism. "Communal violence" tends to refer to mob killings, while terrorism describes concerted attacks by small groups of militants (see definition of terrorism), but often "terrorism" will also be alleged polemically. See also Terrorism in India#Chronology of major incidents.
[edit] See also
- Ayodhya debate
- Terrorism in India
- Indian nationalism
- Saffronization
- NCERT controversy
- Anti-Hinduism
- Persecution of Muslims in India
- Persecution of Hindus
- Language conflicts in India
[edit] References
- Manuel, Peter. "Music, the Media, and Communal Relations in North India, Past and Present," in Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India, edited by David Ludden (Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1996), pp. 119-39.
- M. E. Marty, R. S. Appleby (eds.), Fundamentalisms Observed The Fundamentalism Project vol. 4, eds., University Of Chicago Press (1994), ISBN 978-0226508788
- Mumtaz Ahmad, 'Islamic Fundamentalism in South Asia: The Jamaat-i-Islami and the Tablighi Jamaat', pp. 457-530.
- Gold, Daniel, 'Organized Hinduisms: From Vedic Truths to Hindu Nation', pp. 531-593.
- T. N. Madan, 'The Double-Edged Sword: Fundamentalism and the Sikh Religious Tradition', pp. 594-627.
- Ludden, David, editor. Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India, edited by David Ludden (Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1996).
