Communalism in India is less an inheritance of religious difference and more a modern political construction. Discuss with reference to the colonial legacy and post-1947 communal incidents.
Subtopic: Indian Society · Communalism
How to structure your answer
Introduction: Define communalism as the political mobilisation of religion, distinct from religious diversity. Bipan Chandra's three-stage formulation — communal consciousness, liberal communalism, extreme communalism.
Body — three dimensions: (1) Colonial construction — separate electorates under the Indian Councils Act, 1909; the two-nation theory; partition violence of 1947 killing an estimated 0.2–2 million. (2) Post-1947 incidents — Ahmedabad 1969, Bhiwandi 1970, Sikh massacre 1984, Mumbai 1992-93, Gujarat 2002, Muzaffarnagar 2013, Delhi February 2020 (53 dead per Delhi Police). (3) Drivers — fake news on social media, urban segregation, ‘love jihad’ and conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Conclusion: Constitutional secularism (Articles 25–28, S.R. Bommai 1994 judgment), the Sachar Committee (2006) and the National Foundation for Communal Harmony are the institutional response; political will is the missing input.
Written within the word limit
215 words · target 250 words · 14 min
Introduction:
Communalism, as Bipan Chandra distinguished it, is the political mobilisation of religion — not religious diversity itself. He charted three stages: communal consciousness, liberal communalism and extreme communalism. Indian communalism is thus less an inherited religious quarrel than a modern political construction shaped by colonial categorisation and post-1947 mobilisation.
Colonial construction: Separate electorates introduced by the Indian Councils Act, 1909 institutionalised religious identity in political representation; the two-nation theory and the Communal Award of 1932 deepened it, culminating in the 1947 Partition that killed an estimated 0.2–2 million and displaced about 15 million.
Post-1947 incidents: Ahmedabad 1969 and Bhiwandi 1970 set the template; the anti-Sikh violence of November 1984 killed at least 2,733 in Delhi (Nanavati Commission); Mumbai 1992–93 (Srikrishna Commission) followed the Babri demolition of 6 December 1992; Gujarat 2002 saw around 1,044 killed (Nanavati-Mehta Commission); Muzaffarnagar 2013 and the Delhi north-east riots of February 2020 (53 dead, Delhi Police) extended the arc.
Modern drivers: Social-media disinformation, urban residential segregation (the Sachar Committee 2006 placed Muslim share in central services at just 4.9%), 'love jihad' narratives, the Karnataka hijab row at Udupi PU College in 2022, and anti-conversion laws in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka sustain communal mobilisation across India.
Conclusion:
Constitutional secularism, affirmed in S.R. Bommai (1994), the Places of Worship Act 1991 and the National Foundation for Communal Harmony provide the institutional answer; political will to enforce them remains the missing variable.
What an examiner expects to see
- Bipan Chandra — three stages of communal consciousness
- Separate electorates from Indian Councils Act, 1909
- Partition 1947 — estimated 0.2 to 2 million deaths, 15 million displaced
- Anti-Sikh riots November 1984 — at least 2,733 killed in Delhi (Nanavati Commission)
- Mumbai riots December 1992 – January 1993 (Srikrishna Commission)
- Gujarat 2002 — about 1,044 killed (G.T. Nanavati & Akshay Mehta Commission)
- Sachar Committee Report 2006 on Muslim socio-economic status
- Communal Violence (Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation) Bill — pending
- S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994) — secularism as basic structure
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Sachar Committee finding — Muslim share in central government services 4.9%
- Babri Masjid demolition 6 December 1992
- Muzaffarnagar riots September 2013 — over 60 killed
- Delhi northeast riots February 2020 — 53 killed (Delhi Police)
- Karnataka hijab row 2022, Udupi PU College