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{{short description|Religious and ethnic divisions}}
{{multiple issues|
{{more footnotes|date=March 2018}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2011}}
}}
'''Communalism''' is a term used to denote attempts to construct religious or ethnic identity, incite strife between people identified as different communities, and to stimulate [[communal violence]] between those groups.<ref>Donald Horowitz (1985), Ethnic Groups in Conflict, {{ISBN|978-0520053854}}</ref> It derives from history, differences in beliefs, and tensions between the communities.<ref name=Pandey>{{cite book |last=Pandey | first = Gyanendra | title = The Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India | publisher = Oxford India | year = 2006 }}</ref> Communalism is a significant social issue in [[India]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Pakistan]] and [[Sri Lanka]].<ref name=Pandey/> Communal conflicts between religious communities in India, especially [[Hindus]] and [[Muslims]], have occurred since the period of [[British Raj|British colonial rule]], occasionally leading to serious inter-communal violence.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Gettleman|first1=Jeffrey|last2=Raj|first2=Suhasini|last3=Yasir|first3=Sameer|date=2020-02-25|title=New Delhi Streets Turn Into Battleground, Hindus vs. Muslims|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/25/world/asia/new-delhi-hindu-muslim-violence.html|access-date=2020-06-07|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The term communalism was coined by the British colonial government as it wrestled to manage [[Hindu-Muslim riots]] and other violence between religious, ethnic and disparate groups in its colonies, particularly in [[British West Africa]] and the [[Cape Colony]], in early 20th century.<ref name=gvk>Gerry van Klinken, [http://www.untag-smd.ac.id/files/Perpustakaan_Digital_2/POLITICS%20AND%20GOVERNMENT%20Communal%20violence%20democratization%20in%20Indonesia%20%20small%20town%20wars.pdf Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia - Small Town Wars], {{ISBN|978-0-415-41713-6}}, Routledge</ref><ref>Arafaat A. Valiani, Militant Publics in India: Physical Culture and Violence in the Making of a Modern Polity, {{ISBN|978-0230112575}}, Palgrave Macmillan, pp 29-32</ref><ref>David Killingray, ''Colonial Warfare in West Africa'', in Imperialism and War: Essays on Colonial Wars in Asia and Africa (Edited by Jaap A. de Moor, H. L. Wesseling), {{ISBN|978-9004088344}}, Brill Academic</ref>

Communalism is not unique to South Asia. It is found in Africa,<ref>Kynoch, G. (2013). Reassessing transition violence: Voices from South Africa's township wars, 1990–4. African Affairs, 112(447), 283-303</ref><ref>John F. McCauley, Economic Development Strategies and Communal Violence in Africa, Comparative Political Studies February 2013 vol. 46 no. 2 182-211</ref> the Americas,<ref>Willis, G. D. (2014), Antagonistic authorities and the civil police in Sao Paulo Brazil, Latin American Research Review, 49(1), 3-22</ref><ref>[https://www.unodc.org/pdf/youthnet/tools_violence_prevention_handbook.pdf Resource guide for municipalities] UNODC</ref> Asia,<ref>Mancini, L. (2005) Horizontal Inequality and Communal Violence: Evidence from Indonesian Districts (CRISE Working Paper No. 22, Oxford, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford)</ref><ref>Werbner, P. (2010), Religious identity, The Sage handbook of identities, {{ISBN|978-1412934114}}, Chapter 12</ref> Europe<ref>Todorova, T. (2013), ‘Giving Memory a Future’: Confronting the Legacy of Mass Rape in Post-conflict Bosnia-Herzegovina, Journal of International Women's Studies, 12(2), 3-15</ref> and Australia.<ref>Bell, P., & Congram, M. (2013), Communication Interception Technology (CIT) and Its Use in the Fight against Transnational Organised Crime (TOC) in Australia: A Review of the Literature, International Journal of Social Science Research, 2(1), 46-66</ref>

==History==
The term came into use in early 20th century during the British colonial rule. The [[4th Earl of Minto]] was called the father of communal electorates for legalising communalism by the [[Morley-Minto Act]] in 1909.<ref>
{{cite book |last1=Laxmikanth |first1=M |title=Indian Polity |date=2017 |publisher=McGraw Hill Education |location=Chennai, India |isbn=978-93-5260-363-3 |page=1.6|edition=Fourth}}</ref> The [[All-India Muslim League]] and the [[Hindu Mahasabha]] represented such communal interests, and the [[Indian National Congress]] represented an overarching "nationalist" vision.<ref>{{Cite book|title = Nehru, The Making of India|last = Akbar|first = M. J.|publisher = Penguin Books|year = 1989|isbn = 9780140100839|location = London}}</ref> In the runup to independence in 1947, communalism and nationalism came to be competing ideologies and led to the division of [[British India]] into [[Pakistan]] and the [[Republic of India]]. British historians have attributed the cause of the partition to the communalism of [[Jinnah]] and the political ambitions of the Indian National Congress.<ref>{{Cite web|title=BBC - History - British History in depth: The Hidden Story of Partition and its Legacies|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/partition1947_01.shtml|access-date=2020-06-07|website=www.bbc.co.uk|language=en-GB}}</ref>

==Incidents of communal violence==
{{main|Religious violence in India|Caste-related violence in India|Terrorism in India}}
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Name
!Date
!Results
|-
|[[Direct Action Day]]
|16 August 1946
|[[Partition of Bengal (1947)|Partition of Bengal]], 4,000 People dead.
|-
|[[1971 Bangladesh genocide]]
|21 March – 16 December 1971
|Estimated between 300,000 to 3 million Bengalis dead, 3 million displaced.
|-
|[[1984 anti-Sikh riots]]
|31 October – 3 November 1984
|3,350 (Indian government figure) or 8,000–17,000 (independent estimate) Sikhs dead.
|-
|[[Bombay riots]]
|December 1992 – January 1993
|Around 900 Hindus and Muslims dead, 200,000 refugees.
|-
|[[Wandhama massacre]]
|25 January 1998
|25 Hindus killed.
|-
|[[Chittisinghpura massacre]]
|20 March 2000
|35 Sikhs killed.
|-
|[[Godhra Train Burning]]
|27 February 2002
|58 Hindus killed.
|-
|[[2002 Gujarat riots]]
|27 February 2002 – 1 March 2002
|790 Muslims and 254 Hindus dead (Government figure).
|-
|[[Marad massacre]]
|2 May 2003
|8 Hindus killed.
|-
|[[2010 Deganga riots]]
|6 September 2010
|Hindu property damaged.
|-
|[[2012 Assam violence]]
|20 July 2012 – 15 September 2012
|77 dead.
|-
|[[2020 Delhi riots]]
|23 February 2020 – 29 February 2020
|36 Muslims and 15 Hindus dead.
|}

==See also==
{{div col}}
* [[Caste]] system
* [[Ethnic relations in India]]
* [[Languages of India#Language conflicts|Language conflicts in India]]
* [[Indian nationalism]]
* [[Pakistani nationalism]]
* [[Anti-Hinduism]]
* [[Persecution of Hindus]]
* [[Persecution of Muslims]]
* [[Religion in India]]
* [[Religious harmony in India]]
* [[Saffronisation]]
* [[Terrorism in India]]
* [[Islamic Terrorism]]
* [[Ayodhya debate]] (India)
* [[Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019]] (India)
* [[NCERT controversy]] (India)
* [[Ethnic cleansing in Bhutan]]
* [[Rohingya conflict]] (Myanmar)
* [[Hate group]]
* [[Sectarianism]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Chandra |first=Bipan |author-link=Bipan Chandra |title=Communalism in Modern India |publisher=Vikas |location=New Delhi |year=1984 |isbn=0706926552}}
* {{cite book |editor1=Praful Bidwai |editor1-link=Praful Bidwai |editor2=Harbans Mukhia |editor2-link=Harbans Mukhia |editor3=Achin Vanaik |title=Religion, Religiosity and Communalism |year=1996 |publisher=Manohar |location=New Delhi |isbn=8173041326}}
** Jhingran, Saral. "Religion and communalism"
* {{citation |last=Pandey |first=Gyanendra |author-link=Gyanendra Pandey |title=The Construction of Communalism in Colonial North India |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1992 |isbn=0195630106 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B_eCngEACAAJ}}
* [[Asgharali Engineer]]. ''Lifting the veil: communal violence and communal harmony in contemporary India''. Sangam Books, 1995. {{ISBN|81-7370-040-0}}.
*Ludden, David, editor. ''Contesting the Nation: Religion, Community, and the Politics of Democracy in India'', Philadelphia: Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1996.
*Manuel, Peter. "Music, the Media, and Communal Relations in North India, Past and Present," pp. 119–39.
*[[Martin E. Marty]], R. S. Appleby (eds.), ''Fundamentalisms Observed'' The Fundamentalism Project vol. 4, eds., University Of Chicago Press (1994), {{ISBN|978-0-226-50878-8}}
*Mumtaz Ahmad, an 'Islamic Fundamentalism in South Asia: The Jamaat-i-Islami and the Tablighi Jamaat', pp. 457–530.
**Gold, Daniel, 'Organized Hinduisms: From Vedic Truths to Hindu Nation', pp. 531–593.
*T. N. Madan, 'The Double-Edged Sword: Fundamentalism and the Sikh Religious Tradition', pp. 594–627.
*''A History of the Hindu-Muslim Problem in India from the Earliest Contacts Up to its Present Phase With Suggestions for Its Solution''. Allahabad, 1933. Congress report on the 1931 Cawnpur Riots.
*Nandini Gooptu, ''The Urban Poor and Militant Hinduism in Early Twentieth-Century Uttar Pradesh'', Modern Asian Studies, Cambridge University Press (1997).

==External links==
* B. R. Ambedkar, [http://www.columbia.edu/itc/mealac/pritchett/00ambedkar/ambedkar_partition/307c.html "The riot-torn history of Hindu-Muslim relations, 1920–1940"], Pakistan or Partition of India
* Tony Cross [http://theravingreporter.com/india-2004-gangsters-politics-poverty-caste-and-communal-violence-in-modis-home-state-and-bombay/ Gujarat after the riots + Mumbai, during 2004 general election]

{{Social issues in India}}

[[Category:Hate crime|Communal violence]]
[[Category:Political terminology in India]]
[[Category:Social issues in India]]
[[Category:Religion and violence]]
[[Category:Sectarian violence]]

Communalism (South Asia) - Revision history

>Tubesleveret15 at 19:53, 20 June 2021