Communalism

A three-part special documentary series on the spread of communal division and hate in Maharashtra.

https://thewire.in/communalism/naf-rath-in-maharashtra-end-of-reason 

In this three-part docuseries, we dissect the strands of this political narrative, unveiling the intricate connections that have led a state once broadly characterised by harmonious coexistence to a creeping and ominous amplification of actions, speeches and public articulation of division and hate.

Part I of the series introduces the Sakal Hindu Samaj rallies, the background behind it and the history of communal violence in Maharashtra. It gives an overview of the past three decades of communal violence.

Part II focuses on Kolhapur and Trimbakeshwar. In Kolhapur, on June 6, 2023, the occasion of the 350th anniversary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s coronation, a WhatsApp video extolling Tipu Sultan triggered indignation among certain factions. While a protest march by the ‘Sakal Hindu Samaj’ on June 7 remained peaceful, the following day saw Hindu groups in Kolhapur turning violent, launching stones at various shops run by Muslims. In Nashik’s Trimbakeshwar, a group of Muslim men were stopped at the entry gate of the temple. These men were allegedly concluding a “100-year old tradition”, they claimed. Videos of this event went viral and the mainstream media painted a disturbing and communal picture. An SIT has been constituted to authenticate the claims of members of the Muslim community.

Part III focuses on an organisation, Shiv Pratishthan Hindusthan and its leader, Manohar Kulkarni, alias Sambhaji Bhide.

by Zeeshan Kaskar

17/12.2023

The Hindu Card How the Congress legitimised the Sangh’s communal politics  https://caravanmagazine.in/politics/how-congress-legitimised-sangh-communal-politics

“only Hindus can protect Hindus and only Muslims can protect Muslims” is the overriding argument in the India of the 21st century.  

Such ‘facts’ and such ‘arguments’ go hand in hand, traversing the length and breadth of the country.

https://thewire.in/communalism/what-we-lose-through-the-ghettoisation-of-urban-india 

With prosperity promised and ambitions high, elements of spirituality and contentment which are understood to be the core of religion, bear little relevance in an urban population’s life. Yet their sense of religious identity remains all pervading. There is a conundrum here: religion in them appears skin-deep and yet, religious identity is writ large on their face.

A Hindu, whether or not s(he) is religious and a Muslim, whether or not s(he) is a practicing one, have access to big mosques and grand temples. They have community leaders and protectors of their ‘interests’. And of course, there are communal conflicts. Not necessarily in their neighbourhood, not necessarily where they could be affected, and maybe at a much farther place, which they may not have even heard of before.

But the impact of all this is nearly the same.

Any such strife is enough to bring a sense of insecurity in them and they think of shifting to a ‘secured’ place, thus creating more and more ghettos, which continue to expand even in times of peace.

The most unfortunate fact is that the educated and financially well-off middle-class Muslims and Hindus, who are safer than people living in unorganised, unplanned or undeveloped areas or localities, are not keen to beat ghettoisation. 

by Khurshid Akram

14/08/2023

Just one question came to my mind while scrolling down social media posts on the violence in Haryana’s Nuh district triggered by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Bajrang Dal procession on Monday: For how many more decades will these people use the same tactics ad nauseam – playing music before mosques and in predominantly Muslim localities?

https://thewire.in/communalism/how-a-150-year-old-ploy-to-incite-religious-violence-is-still-used-in-india 

The question cropped up because of the long history of the issue. It is close to 150 years since music in front of mosques became a source of conflict between Hindus and Muslims.

Researchers have established that music emerged as a recurring source of communal violence during the colonial period, especially in the 1860s. Although their numbers were minuscule when compared to today’s figures, newspaper readers from the last decades of the 19h century were conversant about the phenomenon of ‘music-before-mosque riots’.

Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay

07/08/2023