DIVISION BASED ON RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

DIVISION BASED ON RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES

Let us now turn to a very different kind of social division, the division based on religious differences. This division is not as universal as gender, but religious diversity is fairly widespread in the world today. Many countries including India have in their population, followers of different religions. As we noticed in the case of Northern Ireland, even when most of the people belong to the same religion, there can be serious differences about the way people practice that religion. Unlike gender differences, religious differences are often expressed in the field of politics.

Consider the following:

*  Gandhiji used to say that religion can never be separated from politics. What he meant by religion was not any particular religion like Hinduism or Islam but moral values that inform all religions. He believed that politics must be guided by ethics drawn from religion.

*  Human rights groups in our country have argued that most of the victims of communal riots in our country are people from religious minorities. They have demanded that the government take special steps to protect religious minorities.

*  Women’s movement has argued that FAMILY LAWS of all religions discriminate against women. So they have demanded that the government should change these laws to make them more equitable.

All these instances involve a relationship between religion and politics.

But they do not seem very wrong or dangerous. Ideas, ideals, and values drawn from different religions can and perhaps should play a role in politics. People should be able to express in politics their needs, interests, and demands as a member of a religious community. Those who hold political power should sometimes be able to regulate the practice of religion so as to prevent discrimination and oppression. These political acts are not wrong as long as they treat every religion equally.

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

COMMUNALISM

COMMUNALISM

The problem begins when religion is seen as the basis of the nation. The example of Northern Ireland in Chapter 3 shows the dangers of such an approach to nationalism. The problem becomes more acute when religion is expressed in politics in exclusive and partisan terms when one religion and its followers are pitted against another. This happens when beliefs of one religion are presented as superior to those of other religions, when the demands of one religious group are formed in opposition to another, and when state power is used to establish the domination of one religious group over the rest. This manner of using religion in politics is communal politics.

Communal politics is based on the idea that religion is the principal basis of the social community. Communalism involves thinking along the following lines. The followers of a particular religion must belong to one community. Their fundamental interests are the same. Any difference that they may have is irrelevant or trivial for community life. It also follows that people who follow different religions cannot belong to the same social community. If the followers of different religions have some commonalities these are superficial and immaterial. Their interests are bound to be different and involve a conflict. In its extreme form communalism leads to the belief that people belonging to different religions cannot live as equal citizens within one nation. Either, one of them has to dominate the rest or they have to form different nations.

This belief is fundamentally flawed. People of one religion do not have the same interests and aspirations in every context. Everyone has several other roles, positions, and identities. There are many voices inside every community. All these voices have a right to be heard. Therefore, any attempt to bring all followers of one religion together in a context other than religion is bound to suppress many voices within that community.

Communalism can take various forms in politics:

*  The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. These routinely involve religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities, and belief in the superiority of one’s religion over other religions. This is so common that we often fail to notice it, even when we believe in it.

*  A communal mind often leads to a quest for political dominance of one’s own religious community. For those belonging to the majority community, this takes the form of majoritarian dominance. For those belonging to the minority community, it can take the form of a desire to form a separate political unit.

*  Political mobilisation on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal, and plain fear in order to bring the followers of one religion together in the political arena. In electoral politics, this often involves a special appeal to the interests or emotions of voters of one religion in preference to others.

*  Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots, and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of the Partition. The post-Independence period has also seen large scale communal violence.

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK

SECULAR STATE

SECULAR STATE

Communalism was and continues to be one of the major challenges to democracy in our country. The makers of our Constitution were aware of this challenge. That is why they chose the model of a secular state. This choice was reflected in several constitutional provisions that we studied last year:

* There is no official religion for the Indian state. Unlike the status of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, that of Islam in Pakistan, and that of Christianity in England, our Constitution does not give a special status to any religion.

*  The Constitution provides to all individuals and communities the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate any religion, or not to follow any.

*  The Constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.

*  At the same time, the Constitution allows the state to intervene in the matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. For example, it bans untouchability.

Understood in this sense, secularism is not just an ideology of some parties or persons. This idea constitutes one of the foundations of our country. Communalism should not be seen as a threat to some people in India. It threatens the very idea of India. That is why communalism needs to be combated. A secular Constitution like ours is necessary but not sufficient to combat communalism. Communal prejudices and propaganda need to be countered in everyday life and religion-based mobilisation needs to be countered in the arena of politics.

Source: This topic is taken from NCERT TEXTBOOK