Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding the term ‘communalism’?
A. Communalism refers to a politics that seeks to unify one community around a religious identity in hostile opposition to another community.
B. Communalism refers to a politics that seeks to divide one community around a religious identity in hostile opposition to another community.
C. Communalism attempts to consolidate this identity and present it as natural – as if people were born into the identity, as if the identities do not evolve through history over time.
D. Communalism is a particular kind of politicisation of religious identity, an ideology that seeks to promote conflict between religious communities.
Answer:B
Which of the following statements is incorrect regarding the term ‘communalism’?
A. Communalism refers to a politics that seeks to unify one community around a religious identity in hostile opposition to another community. B. Communalism refers to a politics that seeks to divide one community around a religious identity in hostile opposition to another community. C. Communalism attempts to consolidate this identity and present it as natural – as if people were born into the identity, as if the identities do not evolve through history over time. D. Communalism is a particular kind of politicisation of religious identity, an ideology that seeks to promote conflict between religious communities.
Explanation: Communalism refers to a politics that seeks to unify one community around a religious identity in hostile opposition to another community. It seeks to define this community identity as fundamental and fixed. It attempts to consolidate this identity and present it as natural – as if people were born into the identity, as if the identities do not evolve through history over time. In order to unify the community, communalism suppresses distinctions within the community and emphasises the essential unity of the community against other communities. One could say communalism nurtures a politics of hatred for an identified “other”– “Hindus” in the case of Muslim communalism, and “Muslims” in the case of Hindu communalism. This hatred feeds a politics of violence. Communalism, then, is a particular kind of politicisation of religious identity, an ideology that seeks to promote conflict between religious communities. In the context of a multi-religious country, the phrase “religious nationalism” can come to acquire a similar meaning.