Understanding Communalism In India's Multicultural Fabric: A Comprehensive Exploration
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61841/tg6qjq05Keywords:
Communalism, Multiculturalism, interfaith, Religious, cultural and ethnic fabric, Secular ethosAbstract
An overview of the thorough investigation into the phenomena of communalism within the varied setting of India is given in this abstract. India, a country known for its vibrant multiculturalism, has seen significant communal dynamics in its social and political environment. This research explores the complex interactions between communalism and the varied religious, cultural, and ethnic fabric of the nation. It attempts to explain the antecedents, underlying factors, and present-day manifestations of racial tensions using a comprehensive approach. This investigation tries to clarify the intricacies surrounding communalism by looking at significant events, sociopolitical variables, and the function of media and education. It also examines the threats communalism poses to India's secular ethos as well as the initiatives made to promote social cohesion and interfaith peace. This study offers insights into how communalism affects India's multicultural identity through the use of an objective lens, and it suggests potential solutions for dealing with this problem in order to create a more peaceful and inclusive society.
Downloads
References
1. Ahmed, Hilal. Muslim political discourse in postcolonial India: Monuments, memory, contestation. Routledge, 2015.
2. Ahmed, Raja Qaiser, and Maham Shahzadi. "Transition from Civic to Ethnic Identity: Dissecting the Changing
Landscape of Majoritarian Politics in India." Pakistan Journal of History & Culture 43, no. 2 (2022).
3. Ballantyne, Tony. "Archive, discipline, state: power and knowledge in South Asian historiography." New Zealand
Journal of Asian Studies 3 (2001): 87-105.
4. Banaji, Shakuntala, Ramnath Bhat, Anushi Agarwal, Nihal Passanha, and Mukti Sadhana Pravin. "WhatsApp
vigilantes: An exploration of citizen reception and circulation of WhatsApp misinformation linked to mob violence in
India." (2019).
5. Bennett, David, ed. Multicultural states: Rethinking difference and identity. Psychology Press, 1998.
6. Bhabha, Homi K. "Cultural diversity and cultural differences." (1995): 79-137.
7. Bhan, Mona. Counterinsurgency, democracy, and the politics of identity in India: From warfare to welfare?.
Routledge, 2013.
8. Bhatt, Chetan. Hindu nationalism: Origins, ideologies and modern myths. Routledge, 2020.
9. Bhawuk, Dharm PS. India and the culture of peace: Beyond ethnic, religious, and other conflicts. Springer US, 2012.
10. Bigelow, Anna. Sharing the sacred: practicing pluralism in Muslim North India. Oxford University Press, 2010.
11. Chandra, Bipan, Mridula Mukherjee, Aditya Mukherjee, Kandiyur Narayana Panikkar, and Sucheta Mahajan. India's
struggle for independence. Penguin UK, 2016.
12. Chatry, Kailash Kumar. "Understanding the religious nature of terrorism in India: four cases with an analysis for
proposals and resolution." PhD diss., University of Birmingham, 2012.
13. Chhachhi, Amrita. "Forced identities: the state, communalism, fundamentalism and women in India." In Women,
Islam and the state, pp. 144-175. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1991.
14. Deomampo, Daisy. "Race, nation, and the production of intimacy: Transnational ova donation in India." positions:
east asia cultures critique 24, no. 1 (2016): 303-332.
15. Dockter, A. Warren. "A Political Legacy of the British Empire: Power and the Parliamentary System in Post-Colonial
India and Sri Lanka." (2015): 767-769.
16. Doshi, Sapana. "Rethinking gentrification in India: Displacement, dispossession and the spectre of development."
In Global gentrifications, pp. 101-120. Policy Press, 2015.
17. Fredrickson, George M. Diverse nations: Explorations in the history of racial and ethnic pluralism. Routledge, 2015.
18. Frykenberg, Robert Eric, ed. Christians and missionaries in India: Cross-cultural communication since 1500.
Routledge, 2013.
19. Gottlob, Michael. History and politics in post-colonial India. Oxford University Press, 2011.
20. Gottschalk, Peter. Beyond Hindu and Muslim: Multiple identity in narratives from village India. Oxford University
Press, 2005.
21. Hansen, Thomas Blom, and Finn Stepputat, eds. States of imagination: Ethnographic explorations of the postcolonial
state. Duke University Press, 2001.
22. Hansen, Thomas Blom. The saffron wave: Democracy and Hindu nationalism in modern India. Princeton University
Press, 1999.
23. Hasan, Mushirul. "Memories of a fragmented nation: rewriting the histories of India's partition." Economic and
Political Weekly (1998): 2662-2668.
24. Hasan, Mushirul. Legacy of a Divided Nation: India's Muslims from Independence to Ayodhya. Routledge, 2019.
25. Hempel, Lynn M. "Power, wealth and common identity: access to resources and ethnic identification in a plural
society." Ethnic and Racial Studies 32, no. 3 (2009): 460-489.
26. Horowitz, Donald L. Ethnic groups in conflict, updated edition with a new preface. Univ of California Press, 2000.
27. Jaffrelot, Christophe. Modi's India: Hindu nationalism and the rise of ethnic democracy. Princeton University Press,
2021.
28. Jaffrelot, Christophe. Religion, caste, and politics in India. Primus Books, 2010.
29. Jauregui, Beatrice, and Tara McGuinness. "Inter-community marriage and social change in contemporary India:
Hybridity, selectivity and transnational flows." South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 26, no. 1 (2003): 71-85.
30. Jayal, Niraja. Representing India: Ethnic diversity and the governance of public institutions. Springer, 2006.
31. Kakar, Sudhir. The colors of violence: Cultural identities, religion, and conflict. University of Chicago Press, 1996.
32. Kamat, Sangeeta, and Biju Mathew. "Mapping political violence in a globalized world: The case of Hindu
nationalism." Social Justice 30, no. 3 (93 (2003): 4-16.
33. Kaur, Ravinder. "Mythology of communal violence: An introduction." Religion, violence and political mobilisation
in South Asia (2005): 19-45.
34. Kinnvall, Catarina. "Nationalism, religion and the search for chosen traumas: Comparing Sikh and Hindu identity
constructions." Ethnicities 2, no. 1 (2002): 79-106.
35. Kinnvall, Catarina. Globalization and religious nationalism in India: The search for ontological security. Vol. 46.
Routledge, 2007.
36. Kumar, Pramod, ed. Towards Understanding Communalism. Centre for Research in Rural and Industrial
Development, 1992.
37. Ladino, Jennifer K. "" A Limited Range of Motion?": Multiculturalism," Human Questions," and Urban Indian
Identity in Sherman Alexie's Ten Little Indians." Studies in American Indian Literatures 21, no. 3 (2009): 36-57.
38. Mannathukkaren, Nissim. "Communalism sans violence: A Keralan exceptionalism?." Sikh Formations 12, no. 2-3
(2016): 223-242.
39. Maria Agnes Sasitha, J. "Youth Perception on Hate Crimes, Hate Speeches and Nationalism in Contemporary
India." Crime Prevention and Justice in 2030: The UN and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (2021): 41-
68.
40. Mathur, Vibhor. "‘Modi’-fied Beliefs: Assessing Cognitive Dissonance in Populist Voting Behaviour in India." South
Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies (2023): 1-21.
41. Michelutti, Lucia. "The vernacularization of democracy: political participation and popular politics in North
India." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 13, no. 3 (2007): 639-656.
42. Michelutti, Lucia. The vernacularisation of democracy: Politics, caste and religion in India. Taylor & Francis, 2020.
43. Misra, Salil. "Communalism in Modern India." Social Scientist 48, no. 3/6 (562-565 (2020): 25-54.
44. Mondal, Anshuman A. Nationalism and post-colonial identity: culture and ideology in India and Egypt. Routledge,
2004.
45. Morey, Peter, and Alex Tickell, eds. Alternative Indias: writing, nation and communalism. Vol. 82. Rodopi, 2005.
46. Mukta, Parita. The politics of religious nationalism and new Indian historiography: Lessons for the Indian diaspora.
Centre for Research in Ethnic Relations, University of Warwick, 1995.
47. Nagel, Joane. American Indian ethnic renewal: Red power and the resurgence of identity and culture. Oxford
University Press, USA, 1997.
48. Narayan, Uma. "Eating cultures: Incorporation, identity and Indian food." Social Identities 1, no. 1 (1995): 63-86.
49. Nellis, Gareth, Michael Weaver, and Steven C. Rosenzweig. "Do parties matter for ethnic violence? Evidence from
India." Quarterly Journal of Political Science 11, no. 3 (2016): 249-277.
50. Panikkar, K. N. "Culture as a Site of Struggle." Economic and Political Weekly (2009): 34-41.
51. Panikkar, K. N. "Nationalism and its Detractors." Social Scientist 44, no. 9/10 (2016): 3-18.
52. Panikkar, K. N. "Progressive Cultural Movement in India: A Critical Appraisal." Social Scientist 39, no. 11/12 (2011):
14-25.
53. Panikkar, K. N. "Religious symbols and political mobilization: The agitation for a Mandir at Ayodhya." Social
Scientist (1993): 63-78.
54. Panikkar, K. N., and Sukumar Muralidharan. "Communalism, civil society, and the state: reflections on a decade of
turbulence." (No Title) (2002).
55. Panikkar, Kandiyur N. "Communalism in India: history, politics, and culture." (No Title) (1991).
56. Panikkar, Kandiyur Narayana. "The concerned Indian's guide to communalism." (No Title) (1999).
57. Panikkar, Kandiyur Narayanan. "Communalism in India: a perspective for intervention." (No Title) (1994).
58. Peer, Yasmeen. Communal violence in Gujarat: Rethinking the role of communalism and institutionalized injustices
in India. American University, 2007.
59. Prayer, Mario. "Crossing the Boundaries: anti-colonialism, Pan-Asianism, and Hindu-National History in the'Greater
India'Movement, 1926-1945." Crossing the Boundaries: anti-colonialism, Pan-Asianism, and Hindu-National
History in the'Greater India'Movement, 1926-1945 (2021): 161-174.
60. Punathil, Salah. Interrogating communalism: Violence, citizenship and minorities in South India. Taylor & Francis,
2018.
61. Raj, Dhooleka Sarhadi. "'Who the hell do you think you are?'Promoting religious identity among young Hindus in
Britain." Ethnic and racial studies 23, no. 3 (2000): 535-558.
62. Rastogi, P. N. Ethnic tensions in Indian society: explanation, prediction, monitoring, and control. Mittal Publications,
1986.
63. Ratti, Manav. The postsecular imagination: Postcolonialism, religion, and literature. Routledge, 2013.
64. Reddy, Deepa S. Religious Identity and Political Destiny: Hindutva in the Culture of Ethnicism. Vol. 3. Rowman
Altamira, 2006.
65. Roy, Srirupa. Beyond belief: India and the politics of postcolonial nationalism. Duke University Press, 2007.
66. Ruparelia, Sanjay. "How the Politics of Recognition Enabled India’s Democratic Exceptionalism: For the
International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society Special Issue on the Work of Charles Taylor." International
Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society 21 (2008): 39-56.
67. Sadashiva, Anne. Meaning of multiculturalism: A comparative study of defining characteristics and behaviors in
United States of America and India. Alliant International University, San Francisco Bay, 2005.
68. Samovar, Larry A., Richard E. Porter, Edwin R. McDaniel, and Carolyn Sexton Roy. Intercultural communication: A
reader. Cengage learning, 2014.
69. Sarma, Chandan Kumar. "Understanding Communal Violence in India: A Review of New Perspectives." Social
Change and Development, XVII 2 (2020): 75-97.
70. Schmidt, Johannes Dragsbaek. "The internal and external constraints on foreign policy in India: exploring culture and
ethnic sensitivities." Third World Quarterly 38, no. 8 (2017): 1894-1908.
71. Schwarzbaum, Sara E., and Anita Jones Thomas. Dimensions of multicultural counseling: A life story approach. Sage
Publications, 2008.
72. Sethi, Anil. "Identity, Strife, Community/Nation: A South Asian Perspective."
73. Shaban, Abdul, ed. Lives of Muslims in India: politics, exclusion and violence. Taylor & Francis, 2018.
74. Singh, Kandala. "Islamophobia in India: A case study of Gujarat 2002." Master's thesis, Universitetet i Tromsø, 2009.
75. Singh, Pritam. "Institutional communalism in India." Economic and political weekly (2015): 48-56.
76. Singh, Randhir. "Communalism and the struggle against communalism: A Marxist view." Social Scientist (1990): 4-
21.
77. Singh, Randhir. "Theorising Communalism: A Fragmentary Note in the Marxist Mode." Economic and Political
Weekly (1988): 1541-1548.
78. Singh, Sunalika. "Is There an Association Between Economic Growth and Ethnic Conflict in the 21 st Century? A
Study of Hindu-Muslim Violence in India." PhD diss., Georgetown University, 2022.
79. Stephens, Robert. "Pentecostalism and Politics of Conversion in India, Sarbeswar Sahoo." Nidan: International
Journal for Indian Studies 4, no. 2 (2019): 142-150.
80. Tiwary, Rityusha Mani. "Nature of Secularism in Contemporary India—Issues and Trends." Political Process in
Contemporary India| For UG, PG & aspirants of State and Civil Service Exam| By Pearson: 177.
81. Tripathi, Rama Charan, and Purnima Singh, eds. Perspectives on violence and othering in India. Springer India, 2016.
82. Trudeau, Daniel. "Politics of belonging in the construction of landscapes: place-making, boundary-drawing and
exclusion." Cultural geographies 13, no. 3 (2006): 421-443.
83. Upadhyay, Surya Prakash, and Rowena Robinson. "Revisiting communalism and fundamentalism in
India." Economic and political weekly (2012): 35-57.
84. Van Beek, Martijn. "Beyond identity fetishism:" Communal" conflict in Ladakh and the limits of autonomy." Cultural
anthropology 15, no. 4 (2000): 525-569.
85. Vanaik, Achin. "Reflections on communalism and nationalism in India." New Left Review (1992): 43-43.
86. Vanaik, Achin. The furies of Indian communalism: Religion, modernity, and secularization. Verso, 1997.
87. Varshney, Ashutosh. "Ethnic conflict and civil society: India and beyond." World politics 53, no. 3 (2001): 362-398.
88. Vogler, Petra. "4 INDIAN PERSPECTIVES OF INTERCULTURAL CHANGE MANAGEMENT." Wicked Worldthe Spirit of Wicked Problems in the Field of Higher Education (2013): 34.
89. Williams, Philippa. "Hindu–Muslim relations and the “war on terror”." A Companion to the Anthropology of
India (2011): 241-259.
90. Wimmer, Andreas. "Who owns the state? Understanding ethnic conflict in post‐colonial societies." Nations and
nationalism 3, no. 4 (1997): 631-666.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Author
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
You are free to:
- Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.
- Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.
- The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
- Attribution — You must give appropriate credit , provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made . You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
- No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not have to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation .
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
