Stages of Communalism

What is communalism?

Bipan Chandra, in his book, “Communalism in Modern India”, defines as “Communalism is an ideology based on the belief that Indian society is divided into religious communities, whose economic, political, social and cultural interests diverge and are even hostile to each other because of their religious differences.”

3 stages of communalism

In this context, it is important to be aware of the three important phrases which the great historian, Bipan Chandra, mentioned in his book, “Communalism in Modern India”.

1. First Stage-Communal Consciousness

The 1st stage of communalism, according to Bipan Chandra, originated mainly in the second half of the 19th Century, due to the social religious reform movement.
If we closely look at the social religious reform movement- this was not aimed against a particular community.
Most of these reform movements were brought about to bring certain positive changes in their respective communities.
This ‘communal consciousness’ can be explained through the basis of the below example. When a Hindu begins to think of himself as ‘Hindu’ and a Christian begins to think of himself as ‘Christian’.
When a peasant for example starts recognizing himself as a ‘peasant’, or a worker in a mill starts recognizing himself as a ‘mill-worker’, then this is referred to as the beginning of a ‘class consciousness’.

2. Second Stage-Liberal Communalism

This stage is marked by the development where a particular group of people or community starts believing that their political, economical, social and religious interests are different from the other community.

3. Third Stage– Extreme Communalism

The third stage of communalism is when a group of people, start believing that their interests are not only divergent but also begin to clash, or are contradictory.
It is this that leads to violence.

Thus the 2nd stage is the result of the 1st stage of communalism, and the 3rd, the result of the 2nd stage of communalism, according to Bipan Chandra.

Source: TH

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