Mahatma Gandhi - "an Eye for an Eye Makes the Whole World Blind."

To quote Mahatma Gandhi- "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

We talk about RELIGIONS, we discuss about castes, we argue about colour of man, we differentiate between people. But what is the need of it? Why do we need to talk, discuss, argue and differentiate about such things when the country is one! INDIA.

The strange and dismal feature that needs to be noted is that even after the partition of the country in 1947 which was perpetrated on the basis of two-nation theory, the problem, in fact the termite of communalism is still eating the country and number of communal riots have been witnessed since then in different parts of the country. There is a misconception among people that this communalism exists just between Hindu and Muslim communities. No. Had it been confined to these two major communities or any other even then the problem would have been no lesser but what to say when this termite is not just confined to communities but has entered the minds of people. Communalism is not associated with the communities and religions. It is associated with people now. Initially two sects of one community used to fight, then it became a fight of two religions and their communities. Today the scenario is such that people of same communities are fighting among themselves.Today the war is not just confined to the communities but has attacked the mindsets.

But here I would just confine myself to the roots and the origin of the Communalism that even today exists largely between the communities. The saddest part of all this is that instead of showing any signs of mitigation even the slightest provocations and baseless rumors results in armed clashes between the two communities that sometimes become uncontrollable, inviting all sorts of intervention by the police and other para-military forces and even the political leaders who have their own ends to serve. What is still worse, the clashes assume the form of conflict between the religious communities and the political authorities.

However, such a phenomenon needs to be studied in all manifestations, ramifications and aspects. Hundreds and thousands of people lose their lives, property worth of millions of rupees is destroyed and burnt and all the social and economic activities comes to stand still. All this is done on the name of religion whom religion provides the smokescreen behind which their nefarious activities are perpetrated.

This work is thus intended to highlight the nature and manifestations of communalism as it manifests itself in our country, and to clearly indicate the pattern and magnitude of the riots that occurred here after Independence.

"Communalism"

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