B.A. FIRST YEAR NATIONALISM IN INDIA UNIT 5 CHAPTER - 8 GROWTH OF COMMUNALISM NOTES

What Is Communalism ?

Communalism Is An Ideology That Favours
A Particular Religion And Community Rather Than
The Whole Society Which Often Becomes Violent.

Professor Bipin Chandra Has Preferred The Phenomena Of Communalism Into Three Stages

First It Is The Belief That People Who Follow The Same Religion
Have Common Secular Interests That Is Common Political
Economic Social And Cultural Interests
From This Arise The Notion Of Socio-political Communities Based On Religion.

Second Elements Of Communal Ideology Rest Of The Nation
That In A Multi Religious Society Like India Secular Interests
That Is The Social Cultural Economic And Political Interests Of
The Followers Of One Religion Are Dissimilar And Divergent
From The Interest Of The Followers Of Another Religion.

The Third Stage Of Communalism Is Reached When The
Interest Of The Followers Of Different Religion Or Different
Communities Are Seen To Be Mutually Incompatible,
Antagonistic And Hostile And The Communalist Asserts At
This Stage That The Hindu And Muslim Cannot Have Common
Secular Interests That Their Secular Interest Are Bound To Be
Opposed To Each Other.

In India It Has Been Noted Communal Politics Really Was Born In The British Period.

The Partition Of Bengal Is The First Step Of Britishers Make Divide And Rule Policy In India And Spread Communalism.
The British Colonial Rule Changed The Economy Drastically To The

Ruin Of Many People Like Creation Of Zamindari System, Imposed
Highland Tax, Make Rules In The Favour Of Landlords, Contractors And Money Lenders.

The New Job In Administration And The Government Were Also A Factor Particularly Since

They Came To Be Available Only To The Better Educated.

Another Strong Factor In The Growth Of Communalism Was

The Alienation Which Muslims Felt At The Strong Hindu Tinge To
The Nationalist Appeal. It Started With Extremist Leaders
(Who Used Ganesh Pooja And Shivaji Festivals To Make
Nationalist Sentiment Stronger)

Another Problem Was The Obstinate Identification Of The Past With The Rulers Who Ruled.

The Hindu Communist Readily Adopted The Imperialist View
That Mediaeval Rulers In India Were Anti Hindu
And The Muslim Communist Said That All The Muslim Rule They
Tended To Defend And Glorify All Muslim Rulers Including Religious
Bigots Like Aurangzeb.

Professor Between Chandra Says After 1937
The 'Muslim League'
The 'Hindu Mahasabha' And
The 'Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ (RSS)
Increasingly Veered Towards Extreme Communalism.

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