Answer:

♤ Communalism refers to a “belief or ideology according to which all people belonging to one religion have common economic, social and political interests and these interests are contrary to the interests of those belonging to another religion”. There are three stages (degrees), discernible in the development of communalism:

o Mild: People following the same religion have similar interests

o Moderate: Dissimilarity of interests between people of different religions

o Extreme: Interests of people following different religions are antagonistic to each other, based on fear and hatred of other religions.

♤ Communalism is an important issue in Indian context as it has been a recurrent source of tension and violence.

♤ In its not so violent manifestation, communalism amounts to discrimination against a religious group in matters such as employment or education

♤ The causes of communal clashes as such are rarely religious in its fundamental character. In India, communalism arises when religion is used as a marker to highlight socio-economic disequilibrium between communities and as a force multiplier to demand concessions.

♤ Improper cultural synthesis, perceived or relative deprivation, regional or social imbalance in development and lack of opportunities may be pointed out as the reason for the genesis of communalism. Political mobilization in the age of democracy tends to consolidate these movements.

♤ The rise of communalism has been a very complex process. Communalism in India has its beginnings in the British policy of ‘divide and rule’. A prominent reason why this policy gained currency was that the Muslim middle class had lagged behind the Hindus in terms of education, which contributed to their low representation in government jobs. Due to lack of enough economic opportunities at that time, a government job was highly coveted by the middle classes. Moreover, the post-1857 anti-Muslim bias of the British also gave a slight edge to the Hindus, who took to modern enterprises/professions with great keenness. As a result, the demand for a separate nation of Pakistan got the fervor due to marked inequalities in socio- economic indicators including representation in the seats of power.

♤ The first so-called communal clash during colonial rule was the Mappila Rebellion, which was more of a proletarian strike against the landed gentry than a communal riot. It only so happened that the landed gentry were Hindus and the peasants were Muslims.

♤ Hence a stagnant secularization process (involving separation of religion and politics) due to: (1) Slow development of economy, (2) Competition between Hindu and Muslim elite (3) Weak mercantile bourgeoisie vis-a-vis feudal lords, (4) British policy of divide-and rule led to growth of communalism in pre- independence era.

♤ Post-independence, things did not change much for Muslims, which was well substantiated with the findings of Sachar committee report. According to this report:

o The literacy rate among Muslims is far below the national average and this gap is greater in urban areas and for women.

o Working population ratios are lower for Muslims than any other socio-religious community and this is more so in the rural areas.

o Moreover, Muslim workers are concentrated in self-employment- small traders, enterprises etc. due to more exposure to disruptions and damage caused by urban conflict and violence.

o Muslims have poor access to bank credit. The average size of credit is meager and low compared to other socio-religious groups.

♤ Hence, among all the socio-religious communities, Muslims are the most

economically vulnerable, educationally backward and financially excluded.

♤ State over the years has failed to wither away this vicious cycle of illiteracy- unemployment-poverty despite many policies being framed to deal with the menace.

♤ As a consequence, youth are getting disillusioned, discontent, frustrated, looking for ways to exert pressure there by further aggravating extreme communalism.

♤ Hence, the demand of the situation is to act swiftly on the recommendations of the Sachar committee and create a conducive environment for the holistic development of Muslim community. Generate awareness amongst the youth so that they don’t fall in the trap of the politics of opportunism where people for their secular gains take undue advantage of their plight.