Communalism

... But their social character did not appear in the form of yarn becoming a universal equivalent exchanged for linen as a universal equivalent, ie, of the two products exchanging for each other as equal and equally valid expressions of the same universal labour-time. ...

La India moderna, la mayor democracia del mundo, es una de las grandes desconocidas en el campo de la historia de las ideas en el mundo académico hispanohablante. Esta obra busca ayudar a reparar dicha laguna a través de un estudio del pensamiento de cuatro autores indios clave - Rabindranath Tagore, Mohandas K. Gandhi, Bhimarao Ambedkar y Jawaharlal Nehru - y su concepción de cuatro conceptos políticos fundamentales: la sociedad civil, el Estado, el nacionalismo y el comunalismo.

Haciendo uso de la metodología de la historia de los conceptos de Reinhart Koselleck, el libro busca analizar la transición a la modernidad del pensamiento político indio y cómo, dentro de ese proceso, los conceptos occidentales introducidos por el colonialismo británico son incorporados y reconceptualizados por la intelectualidad india, dando lugar a una modernidad política diferente.

Although Latin American decolonial thinking has always maintained an interest in taking the theories and practices of the communities of Latin America's colonized peoples seriously, the theorization of communality and communal systems has been a new focus of the last two decades. That is, the academic decolonial dedication to diversity and difference has recently been imagined as a pluriverse of communal systems. As such, this decolonial group of thinkers has been effectively demanding that the radical theories of communality produced by Indigenous communities of the Global South be taken seriously as real and viable alternatives to capitalism and representative democracy. Nevertheless, a critical engagement with Latin American decoloniality reveals a serious oversight in communal-oriented decoloniality: it fails to engage in a serious manner the millions throughout the world who are not or are perceived as not part of any community or are exiled from their community. To demonstrate this threat within the communal-oriented vision, one can look to another (de)colonial context ubiquitously overlooked in Latin American decolonial thought: Ireland. More precisely, as a reading of James Joyce's Ulysses reveals, the communal-oriented Irish anti-colonialism of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries contained a common mode of modern anti-Semitism: Jews belong to no community and uproot and hollow out the life of any community they encounter. This article argues that although the pluriversal vision of communal-oriented decoloniality is explicitly opposed to the denigration, dismissal, or rejection of any community, it can still be characterized by this other mode of othering: the denigration, villainization, and oppression of persons who are perceived as embodiments of anti-communality.

An article following the argument behind an important Tehelka magazine expose of Hindutva in India - a communalist Hindu Nationalist ideology seeking to equate the very idea of ‘Indian-ness’ with ‘Hindu-ness. The expose of the horrendous Hindutva-led pogrom of Muslims in the state of Gujarat in 2002, took place in a context where neoliberal advocates and boosters, fronted by the bought media worldwide, were busy extolling the ‘competitive’ and ‘dynamic’ virtues of India’s de-regulated economy.

Se ofrece una visión de conjunto sobre la toponimia menor de Brincones, agrupada por campos temáticos. Los nombres de lugar estudiados proporcionan elementos de juicio valiosos para ampliar nuestro conocimiento sobre la etimología y la historia del léxico, y sobre la cultura material del occidente salmantino. La comparación con otros topónimos afines en las provincias occidentales de la Meseta permite poner en contexto e interpretar la semántica del paisaje implícita en dichos nombres. ABSTRACT: A survey is carried out on the minor place-names of a village located in Salamanca's western area. The toponyms under consideration provide key indications to enlarge our knowledge of the etymology and the lexical history, as well as the material culture of the occidental border of the Meseta. A comparative procedure is adopted, whereby other similar toponyms in the region provide context and help interpreting the landscape semantics inherent to place-names.

The commonplace view propagated in the media is that religious fundamentalism and militant identity assertion are incompatible with liberal-democratic capitalism, and represent a mediaeval revival. Innumerable arguments are advanced to prove their primordial nature. The theory of a 'clash of civilizations' is presented. The American-British 'war against terrorism' in Afghanistan, waged ideologically through the BBC, the CNN and their Third World franchisees, popularizes this myth and creates new symbols to characterize it. Religious and social identities are redefined. The Indian sub-continent was already an arena of sharp identity clashes, and with right-wing majorities in power in each country it faces the natural outcome--an intensification of these clashes. In India, particularly, where conflicts are multifaceted, the repercussions are grave.

In this paper, I talk about the works of three Indian writers, namely Sarojini Naidu(1879-1949), Boman Desai (1976-Present), and Anurag Mathur (Probably 1970s-Present) with regards to their unique portrayal of India and its colorful, mind-boggling diversity, and sometimes disappointing habits in their respective works. I have picked Naidu's poem 'The Bangle Seller', Desai's short story - 'Between the Mosque and the Temple' and Mathur's essay - 'Education: Indian and American' for this comparative analysis.

Bhagat Singh on Communal Riots and their Cure (Sampradayik dangen aur unka illaj) [First Published: in Punjabi monthly Kirti in June 1928]. This important article by great martyr BHagat Singh is relevant even today as religious polarization is the main trick in the hands of the rulers like the British to divide people.

Beverley Hills Hotel, my surroundings are liable to give a sudden tremor and I see through the insubstantial fabric to the reality beneath…" These words by Arthur C. Clarke, the sci-fi writer, are quoted at the end of Roloff Beny's photographic chronicle "Island Ceylon". But where does Clark's reality reside? He writes, "No other place is so convincing as Sri Lanka," and as he spent almost fifty years there, we are tempted to believe him.

Le système politique mis en place à Maurice lors du processus de décolonisation repose largement sur l'institutionnalisation du pluralisme culturel. Entre la réforme constitutionnelle de 1948 qui établit le principe électif comme principal mode de désignation des membres de l'assemblée législative et la proclamation de l'indépendance en 1968, le système politique mauricien évolue dans le sens d'une prise en compte croissante des communautés.

Includes sections on:
Types of Intentional Community , including Kibbutzim, Cohousing schemes and Eco- Villages, and who lives in them
Varieties of experience - the advantages and disadvantages of living in ICs
What is a 'successful' community - how can we evaluate them?
Leadership and authority - Gurus and anarchists Intimate relationships - Variations on the 'nuclear family' Is there a communal personality type?
How to build communities and is it worth the effort?
There is also an Appendix on the subject of Virtual Communities, which consists of an interview with Howard Rheingold.

Religious and other communal violence, though they are ever recurring phenomenon in South Asia, in its modern history it is increasing dramatically day by day. People in South Asia are becoming more and more violent. The main cause of communal violence in South Asia is more or less related to religion, ethnicity, and fundamentalist ideology and so on. In this paper firstly I mentioned different scholars thought regarding South Asian communal violence and its historical root. Some of the authors blame the British ‘’Divide and Rule’’ policy and some others argued that Muslim invaders are responsible for religious and communal violence in South Asia. Then I discussed different south Asian counties communal violence from the 20th century to the present time era. I’ve explained also some communal violence incident which occurred in different parts of South Asia.

This collection of thirteen articles from the Journal of the Sind Historical Society concentrates on precolonial and colonial Sind. These articles reveal much about Sindh’s past and historically showcase the region’s broad socio-cultural spectrum. Scholarship frequently overlooks the subjects and people in this collection. In part, this oversight is due to so few libraries (both in Pakistan and around the world) having copies of the Journal of the Sind Historical Society. There are no reprints of these articles in any other book, nor has anyone reprinted them in their entirety since the 1930s and 1940s.

The articles in this book not only deepen knowledge about Sindh but also the history of Pakistan and the diversity of its people. They represent, like most research printed in the Journal of the Sind Historical Society, ‘forgotten’ chapters in both Sindhi and Pakistani history. These chapters celebrate Pakistan’s socio-cultural diversity and point toward how the histories of region and nation should be intertwined.

GUT-WRENCHING FACTUAL REPORT ON THE ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE [FEBRUARY-MARCH 2020] IN DELHI BY DELHI MINORITY COMMISSION, A STATUTORY BODY SHOWS HOW INDIAN STATE HAS COMPLETELY DISCARDED DEMOCRACY-SECULARISM WHILE DEALING WITH THE ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE. SAME WAS THE CASE IN 1984 WHEN SIKHS WERE THE VICTIMS.
https://archive.org/details/DMC-delhi-riots-fact-finding-2020

The unprecedented victory of the Bhartiya Janata Party (henceforth BJP) in 2014 has left scholars and analysts grappling to uncover its multifaceted layers. If corruption of UPA II, the corporate parading of " development, " and the overpowering Modi largely marked 2014, it was also the year of a perceptible shift to the Right, with politicized Hindutva's socio-religious cries against " love jihad " and for ghar vāpasī (return to home). The unabashed political use of Hindu religious symbols in the communal riots of Muzaffarnagar saw an overt and widespread manifestation of such idioms. It has been noted that one of the critical aspects of the 2014 elections was " that for the very first time in the history of our Republic, a political party explicitly based on religious identity… secured more than 50% of the seats in our Parliament. " 1 Immediately after the general elections of 2014, a section of confident and elated Hindutvavadis felt they could play communal politics in much more aggressive ways by deploying such metaphors, which became particularly visible in the context of the by-elections in Uttar Pradesh (henceforth UP), held immediately after the general elections. " Love jihad " was alleged to be a movement aimed at forcibly converting vulnerable Hindu women to Islam through trickery and marriage. Ghar vāpasī signaled a synchronized vocabulary of anti-conversion by the BJP and of reconversion by the VHP and Dharm Jagran Samiti, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (henceforth RSS). This essay examines the larger politics of such constructed campaigns. It highlights how both these movements were charged with a moral and communal fervor, adopting an unrestrained anti-Christianity and anti-Islam polemic, and implicitly attempting to influence the larger politics and elections of 2014. At the same time, the outcome of the UP by-elections reflected that such idioms did not particularly transform into an electoral success. It may also be argued that the corporate media and big capitalists, while Right and conservative in their economic outlook, as well as all-out supporters of the " developmental " model of Modi, were uncomfortable with cries of " love jihad " and ghar vāpasī, seeing them as the antithesis of development paradigms. It has thus been stated that the BJP's success in the 2014 elections had less to do with the victory of Hindutva, and more to do with weak economic growth and unemployment, alongside the corruption and rudderless quality of the incumbent 1 Krishna, " A Chronicle of an Event Foretold? "

As far the functioning of the Indian State is concerned, the state is often seen to be acceding to the pressure of both minority at one time and to majority demands at another time, which has fuelled the activities of various groups to engage in one gunmanship in their search for demonstration of closeness to the issues being held onto by the majority and the minority groups, which has contributed towards the heightening of fear and threat to human lives and livelihood.
Howsoever these incidents might have been caused, yet it remains the responsibility of the state and society  to control the growth and occurrence of  incidents of  communalism and ethnic violence ,which have proved by their salience by their frequency and also their capability to bring about  considerable shifts  within the population groups .
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In my paper I  have undertaken an analytical study of the various trigger points which are held to be responsible for the communal disturbances but also come forward with concrete strategies which can help both the state and society to prevent such incidents and provide for lasting peace.

This article examines anti-sectarianism and the technopolitics of labor mobilization at the facilities of the Trans-Arabian Pipeline (Tapline) company in Lebanon between 1950 and 1964. It argues that although Tapline helped sustain a Lebanese elite strategy of cross-sectarian power-sharing, it also unintentionally fostered specifically anti-sectarian labor mobilization. Pursuing a line of inquiry into the technopolitics of worker mobilization around oil infrastructure opened by Timothy Mitchell's Carbon Democracy, this article specifically examines how Lebanese Tapline workers construed their actions, and did so in anti-sectarian terms. It also proposes that similar studies of labor and the technopolitics of infrastructure could offer productive avenues for inquiry into the origins of anti-sectarian politics in Lebanon.

Despite being what could be described as only a four-chapter novelette, the book of Ruth is both beautiful in its story and profound in its theological presentation. One of these rich theological themes is in the realm of economics. The story, especially Ruth and Boaz’s interaction in Ruth 2:8–16, demonstrates themes of economic concern for the poor that presents countercultural implications for modern readers today. This is equally true for modern Pentecostalism, where the development of Pentecostal economic theory in an environment of neo-liberal consumption is still being formulated. However, despite the economic implications, discussion has often focused on Ruth’s status as a foreigner and the charity that Boaz shows her. Thus, this paper will seek to exegetically examine the social concern factors found in the book of Ruth and highlight the foundational elements of economic support for the poor and the Other. This paper will also argue that these social concerns—when contrasted with the dehumanizing practices of market society—provide implications for the further development of Pentecostal economic theory as an alternative to neo-liberal consumption.

This book offers a novel approach for the study of law in the Judean Desert Scrolls, using the prism of legal theory. Following a couple of decades of scholarly consensus withdrawing from the "Essene hypothesis," it proposes to revive the term, and suggests employing it for the sectarian movement as a whole, while considering the group that lived in Qumran as the Yahad. It further proposes a new suggestion for the emergence of the Yahad, based on the roles of the Examiner and the Instructor in the two major legal codes, the Damascus Document and the Community Rule.

The understanding of Essene law is divided into concepts and practices, in order to emphasize the discrepancy between creed, rhetoric, and practices. The abstract exploration of notions such as time, space, obligation, intention, and retribution, is then compared against the realities of social practices, including admission, initiation, covenant, leadership, reproof, and punishment.

The legal analysis yields several new suggestions for the study of the scrolls: first, Amihay proposes to rename the two strands of thought of Jewish law, formerly referred to as "nominalism" and "realism," with the terms "legal essentialism" and "legal formalism." The two laws of admission in the Community Rule are distinguished as two different laws, one of an association for a group as a whole, the other as an admission of an individual. The law of reproof is proven to be an independent legal procedure, rather than a preliminary stage of prosecution. The methodological division in this study of thought and practice provides a nuanced approach for the study of law in general, and religious law in particular.

In Conversation with Bhanwar Meghwanshi BSP is the only alternative at the moment to defeat the forces of Hindutva in Uttar Pradesh : Bhanwar Meghwanshi. Bhanwar Meghwanshi is an incisive and forthright contemporary voice of the progressive Dalit movement in Rajasthan. He has untiringly participated in campaigns and movements across the country, creating awareness on communalism, casteism, gender violence, globalisation, displacement and so on. Born on February 25, 1975 in village Siridiyas in Bhilwara district into a Dalit weaver family, Meghwanshi was indoctrinated at the fragile age of 13, by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), with whom he spent five active years. He was made the head teacher (mukhya shikshak) of his village's 'shakha' (camp) of the Sangh, and later on, its district office head. He was part of the first 'kar seva' that set out to demolish the Babri Masjid, but was arrested before reaching Ayodhya and spent 10 days in the Agra jail. Thereafter, a certain incident completely shattered his faith in the RSS, making him realise their extreme, anti-Dalit stance. He severed ties with them, openly taking a stance against them. After leaving the RSS, Meghwanshi worked full-time on communal harmony, brotherhood and peace, which he continues to, till date. He was vociferous in his writings against the Gujarat carnage of 2002, and took part in the documentation and report writing with members of the Concerned Citizens' Tribunal formed for the Gujarat victims. He also published the magazine Diamond India between 2002 and 2012, which lent voice to struggles against communalism and casteism. He broke many stereotypes and myths regarding minority communities, uncovering truths. Bhanwar Meghawanshi speaks out his heart in this candid conversation with Vidya Bhushan Rawat. VB: What is the biggest challenge before the Dalit movement at the moment? BM: There are many; both external and within. It is really worrisome the way communal forces have coopted the movement. Today, a large section of Dalit leadership is getting trapped by Sangh Parivar with their lips sealed due to lure of power. Dalit representatives no longer speak about Dalits. Bureaucracy and those occupying seats of power are busy repressing Dalit voices. And the Sangh agenda is that to either take them together but if they don't join hand then trap them false cases. Hence we are witnessing the repression of Dalits more vigorously. The Dalit movement is also losing some of its innate fervor. It appears befuddled, and many a time, seems to lack clarity about whom it is standing with. It is unable to discern between friends and foes. Dalals who have sprung within the community have distorted the fundamental spirit of the movement. Most of the Dalit leaders are in the twilight of their careers. The challenges are new but their methods are old. The new generation Dalits want something different, but a direction seems to elude them. And then, there are internal conflicts. The caste 'layers' amongst Dalits themselves threaten to be tainted with the same brush of casteism. Many Dalit castes are so busy buttressing their own identities; they have completely turned away from the work of annihilating caste. The firming up of caste identities

Despite constant deliberation, 'The Shadow Lines' by Amitav Ghosh is now considered a modern classic due to its certain merit. This study has identified that the novel primarily criticizes the concept of statism, a resurrected term, whereas the existing literature, for more than three decades, were dominated by the criticism of nationalism. The study argues that certainly the novel tirelessly criticizes nationalism as well as statism, but criticism of the former was seen by many, whereas criticism of the latter seemed to be overlooked. The study first briefly outlines what statism is. Then a selected literature on the novel as a criticism of nationalism is preceded by a comparison of statism and nationalism. The study compares these two concepts both on their functions and then on how nationalism and statism view sub-national components, borders, and freedom and sovereignty. The final section discusses four sectors in which Amitav Ghosh criticized statism throughout the novel 'The Shadow Lines': the unique function of state of creation of 'others', state's view on sub-national components, borders, freedom as well as on sovereignty.

India has entered the new Millennium without the aura of the much-touted millennium. Indian democracy is shallower and hollower now than a decade ago. If India has to develop into a full-blown democracy, instead of merely gloating over sustaining democracy as its greatest achievement, India ought to strengthen its democratic structures and institutions and work overtime to offer, among other things, clean, efficient, secular and transparent and corruption-free governance; rapid expansion of civil space for rapid secularisation and democratisation of state and society with secular public institutions mediating between both; equip and energise the judiciary for expeditious justice delivery, especially for the masses who cannot afford to spend and cannot afford to wait; and protect and uplift the weaker sections from poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, and social oppression. As the nation has been caught between the two evils Congress and the BJP, making the hapless masses forlorn, team...

With Swayamsevaks (volunteers) like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishan Advani in the drivers’ seats in the National Democratic Alliance Government at the Centre in India (1998-2004), the RSS accelerated its old favourite pastime of undoing democratic-secular polity and minority bashing in India. Sarsanghchalak or Supreme Leader of the RSS, KS Sudershan while addressing a rally on the eve of 75th founding day of the RSS in Nagpur, called upon Muslims and Christians of the country to prove their patriotism. It is really atrocious that an organization, which was at least twice banned for anti-national activities by the Government of India after independence should pose as controlling authority of patriotism in the country. Should we once again refresh the memory of the RSS bosses that their rabid communal organization was banned in 1948 for collaborating in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, and in 1992 it was again banned for demolishing Babri mosque at Ayodhya? Do we also need to tell the RSS that misadventures like demolition of Babri mosque only served the strategic goals of the enemies of India like the ISI who wished to see an India, fractured and at war with itself?
This is high time that the people of this country scrutinize the record (of patriotism and loyalty to the nation) of the RSS itself. Unfortunately, the RSS which is fond of demanding unwavering and unflinching loyalty to the Nation from minorities is neither loyal to the Constitution of India, nor to the National Flag. RSS is an organization, which openly decries the existence of a democratic, federal and secular India which are the ‘Basic’ features of the Constitution of India. In fact, it has long heritage of worshiping dictators like Hitler. It is an organization which not only openly decried the Freedom Movement against the British rule but also made fun of the great martyrs like Bhagat Singh and his companions who laid down their lives for the liberation of the Motherland. In order to know the truth we will simply have to make access to the literature and publications of the RSS specially the writings of Golwalkar (known as Guruji) who as a philosopher and guide is religiously followed by the bosses and cadres of the RSS. In this booklet we have presented fully the official viewpoints of the RSS on different aspects of Indian polity so that it cannot allege misrepresentation.
We must seriously know about the RSS today, as it is no more a fringe organization with the present BJP leaders declaring their open allegiance to the RSS. They have even told the Nation that RSS to them is what Gandhiji was to Nehru! It is a highly intriguing and dishonest parallel in the sense that Gandhiji was theoretically never disloyal to a democratic, secular and federal India. We are publishing this booklet with the hope that this Nation gets familiarized to the real face and intentions of the RSS; otherwise it may be too late to save this country.
All quotations reproduced below are from the RSS publications/literature and English translations are by the author. More than 20 editions published so far. "
Note: The material of this book is for the personal benefit of all  researchers and those who are concerned about Casteism, denigration of women and theocratic politics in India. In no case commercial use is permitted."
More Info: 'KNOW THE RSS' is now available in Kannada, English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Malayalam, Gujarati, Punjabi, Marathi.

This was the introduction to D.N. Gellner, J. Pfaff-Czarnecka, and J. Whelpton (eds) 1997, Nationalism and Ethnicity in a Hindu Kingdom: The Politics of Culture in Contemporary Nepal. Amsterdam: Harwood. The book was republished, with a new joint introduction,  as Nationalism and Ethnicity in Nepal (Nepal was no longer a kingdom by this time), by Vajra Books, Kathmandu, in 2008.

A variety of interpretations were advanced regarding communalism/communitarianism and its dimensions in Modern India over the past several decades. Similarly, various reasons have been advanced in an effort to understand its origins and growth. This essay shall look at the various theories in detail.

Radicalism, radicalisation, populism, predatory identities, ethnic nationalism, offendedness: This paper examines these concepts as it delves into how hate speech in India -- as disseminated in social media -- influences acts of violence. Triggered by a study of social media commentary released by ORF in March 2018 that had shown a spike of 11 percent in religion based hate speech between 2016 and 201, this paper looks at the causes and spread of such speech on social media and the intersections between free speech, hate speech and incidents majoritarian violence. Finding theoretical ground in sociological studies of the behaviour of majorities who perceive persecution, as well as media studies about propaganda, the paper asks -- Where does populist, online hate against India’s minorities become the sanction for, or a reflection of the violence taking place against them in the real world?

This essay raises certain serious issues regarding future of Indian democracy. In the light of facts discussed about Hindutva politics (based on its documents) it should not be difficult to comprehend that RSS and its camp followers present the greatest internal danger to democratic-secular polity which ostensibly stands for justice and equality. The shocking reality is that except RSS & Hindutva clan all those who want to destroy Indian democracy (like Naxalites, militants belonging to other religious outfits and regional separatist groups) have met with brute force of the Indian State. But the former are having free run (heading central and state governments) despite open violent preaching for overthrowing the democratic-secular Indian polity. This is despite the fact that Neo-Nazis of Europe have openly disclosed their close affinity with RSS and its clan and offered to  help in overthrowing democracy in India & elsewhere. Imagine if the same ideology was preached by ‘militants’ of Dalit, Muslim, Sikh or any other variety, their fate would have been sealed by bullet or jail. We urgently need to take note of the serious danger posed by RSS and its clan. They should not be allowed to undo a democratic-secular India. We should not allow them the liberty to force us to the path of a theocratic state like Pakistan.
[This paper on the ideology of Hindutva was written when RSS/BJP ruled India in 2002. The Hindutva politics has become more extremist, provocative and intransigence since that time. So the dangers before Indian polity are very real even today. The present version is an updated one]