Causes of Communalism in India

(a) Design of the Leaders:

Proponents of this view hold that communalism has flourished in India, because the
communalist leaders of both the Hindu and Muslim communities desire to flourish it, in the
interest of their communities. The irony is that if communalism flourishes in India the
minorities will suffer. The minorities perceive secularism as their protective cover and the
only weapon against communalism.
Nevertheless Indias colonial past which produced the divide and rule policy, the Communal
award, separate electorates on the basis of religions, strengthened the base of communalism
in India. Ultimately the partition of undivided India into Pakistan and India (Bharat) provided
further an antagonistic feeling towards each other.

(b) Tendency of the minorities:

The minorities fail to be intermingled in the national mainstream. Most of the members of
minority communities do not participate in the secular nationalistic politics and insist on
maintaining their separate entity. They also demand security of life and property, reservation
for minorities in services etc. In this regard R.A. Schermerthorn holds that the Muslims must
realize that their future is bound up with the future of secularism and they should support and
strengthen- the Hindus and others who have launched a crusade against communalism.

(c) Orthodoxy and Obscurantism:

The orthodox and obscurantist members of the minorities feel that they have a distinct entity
with their own cultural pattern, personal laws and way of thinking. Such a feeling has
prevented them from accepting the concept of secularism and religious tolerance. Hindu
chauvinism is also equally responsible for non-acceptance of secular principles.
The dominant and chauvinist Hindu leaders have tried to impose Hindu culture on the
Muslims in the name of Indianisation. This had resulted in resistance from the Muslim

community and revival of demand for separate electorates and the formation of different
political parties organised in the line of fundamentalism.

(d) Organised and Militant Fundamentalist Organisation:

It has been argued by certain scholars that communal riots are mostly caused by organised
fundamentalist organisations designed on the religious lines. As for instance Moin Shakir in
his book Politics and Minorities, says these communal riots should be viewed as the
handiwork of organised and militant Hindu organisations like R.S.S. They seek to achieve
certain political objectives through rioting.
Communal violence is the result of political attitude of inciting one community against the
other for political purposes. This process gets accelerated through mechanizations of the
perverse caste, community or religious leadership. It is also not a coincidence that communal
disturbances become more frequent after the Indo-Pak war (1965). On the contrary the RSS
leaders have strongly repudiated their involvement in communal riots.

(e) Weak economic status of the minorities:

The largest group of minorities in India still remains orthodox and traditional in outlook
which contributes to communal feeling. As such a major chunk of Muslims in India has failed
to adopt the western, scientific, technological and philosophical education. Owing to their
educational backwardness, the Muslims have not been represented sufficiently in the public
services, industry, trade etc. This causes the feeling of relative deprivation, which in turn,
leads to the contempt of other communities, better placed in industry, service and trade. Such
feelings contain the seeds of communalism.

(f) Geographical Causes:

The territorial settlement of different religious groups especially Hindus, Muslims, and
Christians causes in them wide variation in the mode of life, social standards and belief
patterns. Most often those patterns become contradictory and this may result in communal
tension.

(g) Poverty:
Mass poverty and unemployment create a sense of frustration among the people. It
generates backwardness, illiteracy, ignorance, etc. The unemployed youth of both the
communities can be easily trapped by religious fundamentalists and fanatics. They are
used by them to cause communal riots. Moreover, in comparison with the Muslims,
Hindus are better placed in service, industry and trade which cause a sense of contempt
among them. The weak economic status often breeds communalism.

(h) Psychological Causes:

Hatred, disgust, deceptive and misleading dogmas give rise to communal tensions.
Stereotyped beliefs of both the communities towards one another tend to prevail since long.
The Hindus construe the Muslims as fanatics and staunch fundamentalist. What is more
important in this regard is that the Hindus believe that the Muslims are unpatriotic and owe
their allegiance to the Islamic countries.
On the contrary, the Muslims also feel that they are being treated as second rate citizens in
India and their religious practices are looked down upon by the Hindus. During the Indo-Pak
wars of 1965 and 1971, no responsible duties, concerning civil defence, were assigned to the
Muslims. This has created the feeling among the Muslims that they are treated as second rate
citizens and a sense of distrust persists against them.

(i) Failure of the governmental machinery:

The State govt., as well as the Union government cannot evade their responsibility for the
growing communalism in our country. They have repeatedly failed on several occasions to
take stock of the situation, to anticipate in advance the sudden outburst of riots. They have
also failed to take immediate action to minimize the intensity of tension. The governments are
only trying to scapegoat the opposition parties and throwing the entire blame on them. The
Government has also failed to abolish the political parties organised on the basis of
communal feelings.

(j) Provocation of enemy countries:

Some foreign countries interfere in Indias internal politics and try to destabilize her internal
affairs by setting one community against the other through their spying agents. The role of
Pakistan in fostering communal feeling among the Muslims of our country can hardly be
undermined. The Hindu fundamentalist leaders allege that the communal riots are provoked
in India by Pakistan through its Indian agents.
In the like manner, whenever there is any Hindu-Muslim conflict the Pakistan authorities
always hold the Hindus responsible for it and project the impression that the Government of
India is also behind the scene. It has been suspected that Pakistan has encouraged and
promoted communal riots by instigating the militant sections of Indian Muslim community to
take recourse to violence. It has also been confirmed that Pakistan is training the Sikh
terrorists and Kashmir youths and destabilizing Indias internal security by spreading
communal venom. The USA has also played a dirty role through C.I.A., its secret agency.
(k) Negative effect of mass media:
The messages relating to communal tension, in any part of our country, is spread through the
mass media. This has resulted in further tension and riots between the rival communities. As
for instance, the news of demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya spread like wild fire
all over the country through mass media. This aggravated the situation further, as riots spread
to several cities and towns.