Communalism: illustrated primer

he rise in communal violence in recent times poses a serious challenge to the democratic
and secular values of lndian society. The events in Gujarat in 2002 have shaken the
conscience of all the citizens of the country who have faith in the Indian Constitution.
How is it that people can take to the streets to kill their own neighbours ? How is it that
women who have nothing at all to do with a particular incident-like the burning of the
train at Godhra can be 'punished' by being raped? How is it that an innocent child in
the womb of a mother is slaughtered as an act of 'revenge' for a particular act with wnicn
it has nothing to do? Howdo people come to believe falsehoods about other communities
The core of communal politics is guided by the agenda of those sections of society
that are opposed to democratic values of liberty, equality and fraternity. Communal politics
rides on the vehicle of hate propaganda. By creating an external enemy it is able to
generate a hysteria which grips the masses and gets manifested in violence. The issues it
selects have nothing to do with the real problems of the average sections of society, but
are issues with pure emotional appeal, and are in a way decoys hiding the real social
issues. Mass hysteria is generated by the systematic spread of hatred against weaker
sections. Such hatred is in turn made part of mass social common sense. This commorn
sense has nothing to do with the truth, but controls the minds and social behaviour of
large sections of society.
Gujarat today witnesses such a mass consciousness in its most naked form. The
construction of the 'other' is more or less complete, and the ghettoisation and consequent
change in the behaviour of the weaker sections further aggravates this social common
sense. The motivated political formations controlled by cultural organizations keep doing
this all the time in society.
We need to understand the phenomenon of communal violence in a deeper sense to
protect our democracy and pluralism. Already communal propaganda has vitiated the
social atmosphere all over the country and it is time that we unravel the truth behind the
social common sense- it is time that we understand the real intent of communal politics,
the one masquerading as religion-based politics. This book is an attempt to understand
this phenomenon.
l am thankful to friends who have helped in putting this book together. Ajit Muricken,
Leslie Rodrigues of Vikas Adhyan Kendra helped in various ways in preparing the
manuscript. Prof. K.N. Panikkar has been a source of constant encouragement in
completing this work. Irfan and Ammu Abraham and Vidyadhar Gadgil helped by giving
their valuable suggestions at various stages. Most of all I thank Shabnam Hashmi for her
great help in preparation and publication of this primer.