Religious and Political Violence in India

Violence

Violence and aggression may be committed for a variety of reasons because as per Freudian or psychoanalytic theory aggression is prevalent in human being because rather than killing ourselves we redirect our self-destructive impulses toward others. Catharsis theory of Karl Lorenz (1966) holds that built-up aggressive energy needs to be released sometimes. John Dollard (1939) proposed the frustration-aggression hypothesis, which holds that aggression is an automatic response to any blocking of goal-directed behavior.

Biological factors lay emphasis on the significance of early life experiences, such as -- birth trauma; alcohol or drug ingestion by the mother while pregnant; other prenatal dietary deficiencies; traumatic head injury via abuse or accident; and exposure to toxic materials such as lead or cadmium as a child. Feeling, and behaving from early life experiences, glamorization of violence in TV, games, sports, music, and art; hostile attribution bias, stress, the influence of pornography, weather, overcrowding, and other ecological conditions frequently trigger aggression in people.

Religious fanaticism and violence

Although religion should never be source of conflict it is an open secret that many armed conflicts have religious undertones and religion is widely recognized as major source of domestic and international conflict today. Since the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 religious fanaticism is on the rise in international arena. Religious intolerance and the emergence of armed fundamentalist groups have created serious political problems in India.

Religious fundamentalism has lately gained ground and traditional tolerance between various religious segments has greatly reduced. Fundamentalism in India has manifested itself through brutal acts during communal riots, bomb blasts and attacks on religious places, priests and nuns. It has been observed that Communal violence is instigated by groups of fanatics and is hardly ever spontaneous. Members of Christian communities were targeted for their work in support of the empowerment of the socially and economically disadvantaged, which has threatened local powerful interests.

Internal Conflicts in India

Inequality of opportunity for economic progress and uncontrolled growth of population are main causes of internal conflicts in India. Growing inter-caste and inter-religious antagonism has further aggravated the problem. Religious, factional and ethno-lingual differences are manipulated by various political groups for electoral gains thereby giving rise to violence and separatist tendencies. The decline of central authority and the rise of regional groups with strong caste, religious or ethnic bases have brought caste and religious confrontation to the forefront in the last two decades. Corruption in high places and entry of criminal elements in politics are the main causes of political and administrative incompetence.

India has faced separatist violence in the northeast and parts of the northwestern region bordering Pakistan. Both internal and external factors are responsible for violence in Kashmir. Religious fundamentalism propagated by external forces has largely aggravated the situation here. Many Indian states particularly Bihar and Uttar Pradesh faced Caste violence. India’s economic progress poses a threat to the vested international economic interests.

Communal strife

Communal strife involves Hindus/Muslims, Hindus/Sikhs and Hindus/Christians. The communal ideology gained acceptability in large sections of the population due to manipulation of religious sentiments by various fringe groups of the communal parties. The demolition of ‘Babri Masjid’ (mosque) by fanatic Hindu organizations in 1992 sparking Hindu-Muslim riots that kill over 2,000 and inept handling of the Sikhs’ problems in Punjab generated widespread violence, resulting in great loss of life and property.

The spread of communal ideologies spells danger for the unity and integrity of the country. Letting loose-armed groups against Christian minority on the allegation of forcible conversion of tribal people by Christian missionaries in Gujarat can have far-reaching and dangerous consequences for democracy in India.

Communal harmony generally prevails in most parts of India, and communal riots hardly ever occur without the active connivance and instigation of communal parties for ulterior political motives or short-term economic gains. Hindu-Muslim riots are more common in areas where Muslims are in a position to compete successfully for industrial or economic resources. Riots on communal lines are common in towns which have grown in industrial potential after Partition, and where sizeable Muslim segments exist. Some medium-sized towns which have grown industrially rather rapidly are Moradabad in UP, Bhiwandi in Maharashtra and Jamshedpur in Bihar; these are generally prone to communal holocausts, as Muslims traditionally compete here for jobs and setting up of small-scale industries.

Sikh-Hindu confrontation came in the wake of army action against Sant Bhindranwale. Sectarian violence in Punjab that basically arose out of local religious politics and inept handling of the situation by the government was fully exploited by the ISI of Pakistan. Countrywide anti-Sikh riots erupted immediately after the assassination of Indira Gandhi (the PM then) by her Sikh security guards. These riots created a great divide between Hindus and Sikhs and the bridge was gaped after a long time. The slogan of Khalistan and terrorism devastated Punjab for more than a decade in the 1980s.

Caste Violence

The caste system has divided Hindu society vertically for centuries, but never before had it become such a crucial factor as it has today in India’s democratic system. The higher castes have generally treated lower-caste groups with contempt and deprived them of their rightful share of national resources. To protect the interests of the lower castes, a system of reservation of a percentage of jobs in the government and in professional institutions has been evolved in India. This system of reservation applies to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other Backward Classes. Reservation gave rise to widespread anti-government violence in 1990 and demonstration in 2006. Inter-caste rivalries were invoked for specific political goals.

Deadly combination of caste, communal and sectarian violence

When caste, communal and sectarian violence combine, they pose the greatest threat to the country. Though class/caste wars play a part due to the activities of communal parties but the main cause of religion violence is economic backwardness. Sectarian violence in fact is an effort by interested parties to eliminate rivals e.g. attempts by Aligarh (a town with a sizeable Muslim population and a Muslim University) Hindu businessmen to dislodge Muslim businessmen by sheer brute force.

Foreign-instigated violence in border areas poses a direct threat to the country’s integrity, as witnessed in North-East India, Kashmir and Punjab. Sponsored terrorism through mercenaries raises communal tensions and creates hurdles in the path of promoting democratic and secular culture, which are essential for the unity of India.

Violence in Rural India

Violence in rural India is directly related to the socio-economic structure of rural India. Land is in the possession of the upper classes or castes; the lower castes remain mere agriculture labourers. The slow process of urbanization adds to the tensions between the landless labour class and the landholders.

Agrarian tensions generally give birth to extremist movements in rural India. Land disputes and corruption in land management gradually lead to armed clashes between landowners and the landless. Both landlords and the depressed classes have taken up arms to safeguard their interests. Extremist movements in rural India, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Bihar begin due to lack of job opportunities to the tribal population and disputes over compensation or wages.

In Bihar and UP, there is an ongoing class war between the landowners and the landless labour classes. As the landowners belong to the higher castes, this confrontation is exploited by political groups to foment trouble between higher and lower castes for political ends. Most violent acts in rural India are related either to Naxalites or to other radical leftist organizations. However, caste wars also continue alongside in various states like Bihar, west Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. Eruption of caste violence in the entire northern region of India can also be attributed to deliberate attempts of certain political groups to create vote banks among the backward classes.

Patterns of Violence

It is evident that the basic causes of violence in India are economic disparities and lack of adequate opportunities. Sectarian violence causes the large number of casualties, whether such violence is the name of religion, caste or region. The main characteristics of violence in India are as follows.

• Violence between groups over the meagre resources available.
• Most disturbances are area-specific and they are part of electoral politics or misuse of the democratic system.
• Generally, there is harmony between religious and caste groups, but harmony is disturbed by vested political interests.

Conclusion

The growing turbulence and violence in India are directly related to degradation of governance, alienation of various segments from the national mainstream due to negligence of their rights, and communalization of the society. India also faces threats from the international political system opposed to secularism and democracy and India’s economic progress poses a threat to the vested international economic interests. The majority is against communal and caste violence because riots affect all segments of the population, as they disrupt normal life, trade and industry and insecurity is created for all peace-loving citizens - Hindus, Muslims or Christians.

Measures to check religious and political violence

· Right to freedom of religion is guaranteed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and reflected in the Indian Constitution. The Indian Government has an obligation to guarantee all its citizens the right to physical security and protection against violence, whether inflicted by state officials or by other individuals or groups.

· State and central authorities in India must take all necessary steps to prevent acts of violence against religious minorities.

• Decline of central authority and the rise of regional groups with strong caste, religious or ethnic bases have brought caste and religious confrontation to the forefront. There should be a strong state to deal with threats to the nation’s integrity and unity.

· Derecognizing communal parties so that communal parties do not instigate for ulterior political motives or short-term economic gains

· Involvement of various segments in the national mainstream of development. ------------------------------------