Mention any 3 forms in which communalism is expressed in politics. describe the solution provided by the constitution framers of India to make this challenges
Answers
Communalism can take various forms in politics.
- The most common expression of communalism is in everyday beliefs. This involves religion prejudices, stereotypes of various religion and belief in the superiority of one's religion over the other.
- A communal mind often leads to a quest of political dominance of one' s religion over the other. For the majority community this take the form of majoritarian dominance and for the minority community this takes the form of a desire to form a separate nation.
- Political mobilization on religious lines is another frequent form of communalism. This involves the use of sacred symbols, spiritual leaders and emotional appeal and plain fear in order to bring the people of one religious community together in the political arena. In electoral politics this involves special appeal to the interests and emotions of voters of one religion in preference with the others.
- Sometimes communalism takes its most ugly form of communal violence, riots and massacre. India and Pakistan suffered some of the worst communal riots at the time of the Partition.
To prevent or reduce communalism the constitutional framers chose the model of secular state. According to this
a) there is no official religion in India. Our constitution does not give a special status to any one religion.
b) Our constitution provides to every individual and religious community freedom to profess, practice and propagate any religion of their choice or not to follow any.
c) The constitution prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion.
d) The constitution allows the state to intervene in matters of religion in order to ensure equality within religious communities. for example , it bans untouchability.