Question

Define communalism with reference to plural society in India. 

Answer 1

‘Communalism’ refers to aggressive chauvinism based on religious identity. Chauvinism itself is an attitude that considers one’s group as legitimate and worthy, while others as inferior and illegitimate. In other words, it is an aggressive political ideology linked to religion. Since India is a multi-religion country, communalism is often used as a tool to serve the selfish motive of the politicians. Communal is a sensitive issue in the context of India because it is a recurrent source of violence and tensions.

Communal riots are conducted to maintain the false pride of the respective communities. People go to the extent of looting, raping and massacring others in the name of protecting their religious identities and upholding their religious ideologies.
Some examples of communal riots are Anti- Sikh riots of Delhi in 1984 under Congress government and Anti-Muslim violence in Gujarat in 2002 under the BJP government.