Question

What is communalism? How can the problem of communalism be controlled in India?

Answer 1

Communalism refers to blind faith in religion and the act of using religion as an instrument for mobilizing people in the arena of politics. In a country like India with many religious faiths, some politicians have tried to use communalism for provoking people against other religious groups for fulfilling their own selfish motives. The issues related to communalism in India can be curbed by the following measures :

• Abolition of communalist parties, so that religion and politics can be kept separate.
• Imparting secular education in the schools and colleges.
• Developing the attitude of tolerance towards other religions with the help of mass media. For example-advertisements like; Ek chidiya anek chidiya.
• Promoting inter-religious marriages, which would help in the intermingling of people from different religions and sects.
• Proper use of mass media should be done to spread tolerance and securalism.