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 ethnoreligious 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 politiciansthose 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 already
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 1992all 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 Jamaite-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 identified 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-nots to secure a monopoly control of the market forces. Political scientists 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 ones 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 subgroups: 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 antisocial 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 countrys 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 organisations 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-eMushawarat 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 unjustly 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. Indias
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 rumours 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 responsibility 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 Desais 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 Commissions
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.

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

Naroda Patiya
massacre (part of
the2002 Gujarat
violence)|

28
February
2002

Naroda, Ahmedabad 97 Muslims[21][22]

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

30 March
2002

Jammu & Kashmir

2002 Qasim Nagar

massacre

13 July
2002

Jammu and Kashmir 29 Hindus

Akshardham
Temple attack

24
September Gujarat
2002

29 killed, 79
injured (mostly
Hindu devotees)

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

24
November Jammu & Kashmir
2002

14 killed, 45
injured (mostly
Terrorist groups
Muslim devotees)

2003 Nadimarg
Massacre

23 March
2002

2002 Kaluchak
massacre

Marad Massacre

14 May
2002

11 killed, 20
injured (mostly
Hindu devotees)

Terrorist groups

Terror Attack

Terrorist groups

Jammu and Kashmir 24 Hindus

Terrorist groups

Jammu and Kashmir 31

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

May 2003 Kerala

8 killed, 58
Planned Attack by
injured - All
Muslim Group.
Hindu Fishermen

2006 Varanasi
bombings

March
2006

Uttar Pradesh

28 killed, 101
injured -Devotees
Terrorist attack
of Sankat Mochan
Hindu temple.
Hanuman
Temple targeted

2006 Doda
massacre

30 April
2006

Jammu & Kashmir

35 Hindus

Terrorist groups

Tumudibandh
massacre (part of
theMurder of
Swami
Lakshmanananda)

August
2008

Orissa

5 Hindus

By Christian
extremists

Kandhamal riots

August
2008

Orissa

42[24]

Mumbai massacre

26
November Mumbai
2008

164

11 coordinated
attacks by Lashkare-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

76

Maoist terrorist
attacked civilian
bus

23 houses
ransacked,250
shops had been
Attack on Hindu
6
looted during the
North 24 Parganas
by Muslim mobs
2010 Deganga riots September
several days of
district, West Bengal led by Haji Nurul
2010
rioting,while 50
Islam
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

28

25 August
42 Muslims and
2013 Muzaffarnagar 2013 - 17 Muzaffarnagar
20 Hindus killed
riots
September district,Uttar Pradesh
and 93 injured
2013

28 people from a
Congress Party
motorcade

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]
STATISTICS
Riots 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 19201940 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 20052009 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 AugustSeptember 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 Sachins 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 learn
My best of creations.