Social Integration and Communal Harmony in India

In India from time immemorial, people belonging to various religious faiths lived in harmony and peace.

There are fundamental values and traditions in our culture that promote integration among different

communities. This was helpful for the growth of a great civilization in the Indian sub-continent. It will be

our endeavour as the citizens of this country to preserve the rich tradition of Social Harmony among

diverse religious and ethnic groups and pass it over to the future generations. Even though communal

tensions in India are well under control, there is no place for complacency as many internal and external

forces are waiting with their ulterior motives sowing the seeds of ill-will.

Human needs can be found as the same everywhere in the world if we look at it from biological and

psychological perspectives. Irrespective of the geographic, linguistic or religious differences humans

everywhere have common biological needs like hunger, thirst, sex etc; the satisfaction of which is

essential for their survival. Similarly man has psychological needs like, need for recognition, need for

companionship, need for security, need for prestige etc. the fulfillment of which is inevitable for

maintaining sound mental health. Man cannot satisfy most of such needs through his own individual

efforts. He requires the assistance of his fellow members of the group in this regard. That is why human

beings are considered as social animals. A cooperative integrated society is most congenial for leading a

healthy social life.

Religion is one of the social institutions found in all human societies. It assists man to establish and

maintain harmonious relationships with the supernatural forces that are believed to have direct influence

in the fortunes of man. Moreover religion is one of the agents contributing to the integration of society.

Religion provides ‘we feeling’ among its members. Performance of religious rites, participation in

festivals, leadership provided by priests and religious functionaries, following many common beliefs and

values, etc reinforces the unity among the members of a religion. Even though holy books and teachings

of each religion claim that they help man reach God, none of them propagate hatred against other faiths.

All religions in their essence assist people to live in harmony with members of the society. According to

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India “ the communal problem is not a religious problem, it

has nothing to do with religion.” Nobody can blame the presence of diverse religions for the emergence

of communal problems in the world.

Even though all religions proclaim the universal brotherhood of man, history is full of bloody, violent

conflicts between members of different religions. Many battles were fought between Muslims and

Christians, Jews and Muslims, Hindus and Muslims and so on in the past. Many such struggles are going

on even now like the conflict between Muslims and Jews in Palestine. A deeper analysis of the causative

factors of these conflicts shows that in all these situations non-religious, often political and economic

interests were instrumental to these problems. Religious identity was used as a mask to cover up the

vested interests of the conflicting parties. Therefore the root cause of communalism is not the presence of

many religions in the country. When religious sentiments are exploited with an economic or political

motive the resultant effect gives rise to the genesis of communalism. According to Madan (2001)

communalism is the political expression of religion. He defined communalism as an ideology, which

envisages the religious community as a political group committed to the protection and promotion of its

social and economic interests and cultural values.

While communalism is a feeling or state of mind existing at a psychological level, communal conflict or

riot is its overt expression. Once generated, communalism remains in the minds of people always, and

communal conflicts emerge only occasionally when there is a total breakdown in the good relations

between two communities. From a sociological perspective social conflict by its very nature cannot

continue indefinitely. During communal violence each community used it as an occasion to harm the

interests of the rival community who may be socially or economically sound. The feelings of relative

deprivation felt by one community is often converted into violent attacks against a well placed

community. This is what happened in 1984 when there were violent attacks against the Sikhs in different

parts of the country after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi by her body

guards who happened to be from the Sikh community. Investigations conducted later by sociologists and

many other social scientists proved that Sikhs who were economically well placed were attacked and

members of other communities who were jealous of their prosperity looted their shops. People with

vested interests to attain their ulterior goals exploited this particular context by exploiting the religious

sentiments.

One must not confuse communalism with communal violence, rioting etc. Poorly conceived Communal

ideology leads to communal violence. Communal violence is a consequence of the spread of

misunderstood and ill-conceived communal ideology. But it is not the crux of the communal situation at

all. Communal ideology cannot only exist, but can grow for decades before it takes the form of violence.

This book contains some of the selected papers presented in the National Conference on Social

Integration and Communal Harmony organized by the Kerala Sociological Society from 1st to 3rd

December 2006 at Sree Narayana College, Thiruvananthapuram.

Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon in his paper Constitutionalism and Management of Diversity in Multi-

cultural Societies deals with the significance of Indian Constitution to manage various problems in a

multi-cultural society. He points out that secularism is a basic feature of the constitution which cannot be

changed even by parliament. There is no state religion and the state is prohibited against discrimination

on the basis of religion. He believes that for multi-culturalism can survive and communal harmony can

prevail only when we ensure equality of status among people and equal opportunity for everyone as

conceived in the Constitution of India. In the second part of the paper, the author focuses his attention on

the concept of social integration. He notices that the constitutional strategy to promote fraternity is

helpful to attain social integration. In this context the author recommends a Uniform Civil Code for the

entire nation. However, political parties do not support this view because no political party is ready to

talk about it, because of the vested interests involved especially because of the vote bank politics.

In her paper, Social Integration and Communal Harmony, Prof. M. Indukumari presents the multiple

factors and contexts that influence social integration and communal harmony. First of all she explains the

significance of this theme in the present Indian context. According to her view, the prime concern of any

nation aiming at development should be the attainment of social / national integration.

Moreover, she argues that despite some differences at ritual, social and cultural levels among different

religions, there is conspicuous commonality at the level of values that promotes communal harmony. The

author lists many examples of inter religious co-operation that exist in Kerala for a long period. However,

she also points out that this rosy picture of Kerala is changing gradually and this society has started

showing symptoms of religious intolerance and communal violence. This paper gives due consideration

towards the debate on the need for a Uniform Civil Code for India. Another concern of this paper is to

show how communal violence affects the interests of the vulnerable sections like women, religious

minorities, tribals, dalits etc. The author expresses confidence that NGOs can play a crucial role in

maintaining communal harmony. In the concluding part of the paper she identifies certain strategies to

promote communal harmony. On the whole this paper provides a comprehensive picture of social

integration and communal harmony in India.

M.K.George in his article on “Tolerance is various faiths” attempted to highlight how various faiths and

religions can contribute to the building of tolerance in the world. He stresses that every religion contains

components of belief, rituals, information and knowledge, behavioural consequences and the expectations

that guide the whole system. The author briefly looks at Bhuddhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism and

Hinuduism and observes that in discussing religion as an instrument of peace and harmony one needs to

make this distinction between religiosity, which only can divide, and spirituality which can unite all

believers. Religiosity focuses on differences, where as spirituality emphasizes what is common.

Spirituality provides meaning to life and reality. Spritiuality connects, with the self, others, god and

native. He stresses that the social scenario in India and the world over demands an active Youth

population striving for peace and tolerance and hence the Youth needs to take this agenda.

The paper Secular Legacy and Communal Paradox - The case of Kerala contributed by Dr. Antony

Palackal presents some unconventional interpretations of the communal situation in Kerala. The author

observes that secularism, the characteristic facet of social life in Kerala society is currently under severe

strain. According to him nowadays there seems to be an alarming spread of communal and fascist forces

in the State. This article marks an enquiry into the characteristics and dynamics of the emergent

communalism in Kerala and tries to trace its secular legacy and the communal paradox. The first part of

the paper seeks to unfold the secular legacy and the opposite reality of communalism that has engulfed it.

The second part is a discussion on the unique forms of communal manifestations in Kerala. The third part

is an exploration into the evolution of the growing communalism in Kerala. The concluding section

briefly sketches the relation between communalism and spirituality vis-à-vis religion and the possible

manner in which the growing menace of communalism may be addressed. The paper reveals that

communalism gives rise to a heightened sense of identity and belongingness as it operates on the basis of

the theory of ‘polarization’. Polarization results in emotional, mental or physical mobilization of

individuals and groups to cause cohesion within a group . However it divides people as members of

larges communities. The author feels that religious and/or caste sectarianism and communal interests

dominate most of our political life today. The paper conclude with an optimistic note that a viable

alternative to the prevailing communal paradox appears to be the resurgence of societal consciousness

born out of neo-renaissance movements capable of regaining the lost secular legacy of Kerala.

The paper Hindu Response to Conversion Threat: Questions on Conversion and Social Equalitywritten

by Shaji.A is undertaking a historical analysis of the communal situation in 20th Century Kerala. The

major focus of this paper is on The Temple Entry Proclamation of Travancore, 1936 that was a turning

point in the history of modern Kerala. This proclamation put an end to the inhuman practice of

untouchability and it opened a new future to the oppressed classes in Travancore. The author notices that

before 1936 several low caste people of Travancore including Ezhavas converted themselves into other

religions especially Christianity since they found it as the easiest way to escape from the caste tyranny.

However, Sree Narayana Guru, leader of SNDP movement was successful in preventing this tide of

conversion to Christianity or to Buddhism. The Ezhavas were also interested in Islam and Sikhism. When

the low caste Hindus including Ezhavas started large-scale conversion to Christianity, it became an eye-

opener for progressive Hindu reformers. Efforts were made to bring back the converted Hindus to

Hinduism under the initiative of the Hindu Mission. By permitting entry to all Hindus to the temples, low

caste Hindus including Ezhavas were retained in their religion. This paper clearly explains how Temple

Entry Proclamation assisted the Hindu leaders to meet the challenges of conversion.

Through her paper Causes of Communal Conflict and Violence, Pushpam. M attempts to describe the

multitude of factors that are instrumental in communal conflicts and violence in India. The author points

out that communalism is a constant threat to the unity and integrity of our country. She clarifies the

meaning of communalism in the context of this study and presents different dimensions to it. Next part of

the paper deals with the explanation of the meaning of communal violence and its causes. Large number

of causes like social, economic, religious, political, legal, psychological, administrative, historical etc is

presented here. The role of mass media in the context of communal violence is also briefly mentioned.

She points out that many of the leaders who fight against communalism are not sincere in their efforts

and offering only lip service towards this cause. The author concludes her paper by saying that communal

violence is part of the total violence in the society and therefore when we develop strategies to prevent

violence as a whole in the society, the incidence of communal violence is likely to come down.

The paper Communalism and communal riots in India contributed by Sajitha J. Kurup gives a detailed

description of the communal situation prevailing in India and the occurrence of large number of

communal riots in the recent period. She begins her analysis by explaining the etymological meaning of

communalism.

The author points out that social factor play a very important role in the genesis of communalism. She

supports the view that communal problems began to emerge with the establishment of British rule in

India and so communalism is a modern phenomenon and not a medieval phenomenon. However,

communalism which we had inherited from the British period attained new dimensions during the post-

independence period. All communities and political parties used it for achieving their economic and

political goals. After explaining the meaning of communal violence the author also deals with the

theories of communal violence such as Social Barriers Theory and the Theory of Polarization and Cluster

Effect. A major part of this paper is devoted to describe the large number of communal riots that took

place in the year 2005. The paper further gives an idea of the recent trends in communal violence and the

occurrences of some stray incident here and there. In the concluding part of the paper the author suggests

some long term and short-term measures to meet the challenges of communalism and communal

violence.

The paper, Social Capital and Social Mobilization of Women for Communal Harmony – The case of

Marad, contributed by Jyothi S. Nair, invites the attention of the readers towards a serious communal

conflict in Kerala. This paper is based on the primary data collected from the women of Marad in

Kozhikode district who are the victims of this communal violence. This study seeks to analyze how far

the mobilization of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) has withstood the turbulences of

communalism in Marad. Moreover, an attempt has been made to understand whether the social

mobilization of women through SHGs, and the social capital created by them act as an alternative in

ensuring communal harmony. The major finding of this paper is that social capital is an effective

instrument for maintaining communal harmony. The author suggests that the civil society and Local Self

Government Institutions should join hands together for encouraging the women to form SHGs which are

inter-religious in nature to build a harmonious society.

The paper of Dr. Anishia Jayadev on Communal Riots and Minorities in Kerala: The case of

Muslims, examines how communal riots affect the interests of the minorities in Kerala. She points out

that the Constitution of India gives freedom to practise and propagate any religion. The Indian

government is also not indifferent to religion . The Constitution provides for special protection to the

religious minorities.

However, the majority community persecutes the minorities, including Muslims on many occasions.

Though there are fewer communal problems are in Kerala, still there are occasional conflicts. Hence, she

emphasizes the need to take precaution any steps precautionary.

Bushra Beegom R.K. in her paper Role of civil society in promoting communal harmony in Keraladeals

with a vital topic that is neglected by many scholars. She points out that in the modern society it is the

responsibility of every individual to preserve communal harmony. The author highlights the importance

of civil society, democratic ideology, decentralization of power, welfare programmes etc for attaining

communal harmony. This paper also puts forward the need for a national campaign for reconciliation and

harmony. The author explains that organizations in the modern civil society like NGOs, mass media,

professional associations, trade unions, religious groups, academic community etc can play their

respective roles in fostering communal harmony. She also advocates the need for social reform and legal

measures to attain this goal. The author has genuine faith in the capabilities of civil society in this regard.

In her paper Communal Violence in Gujarat - Perspectives on the Causative Factors, Jayasree.G,

discusses the various factors leading to conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India. Lack of timely

action by the State Govt was identified as the most important factor that led to the killing of large number

of innocent people in Gujarat. With the help of secondary data the author argues that minorities suffered

disproportionately in most of the communal riots on India. At the same time she points out that Hindu –

Muslim conflict can be considered as an extension of the wider social conflict that includes inter as well

as intra communal riots, caste violence and other forms of sectional upheavals. On the whole Jayasree is

successful in giving some new interpretations for the eruption of communal violence in India.

The paper of Maya P.V, Role of Women Councilors in Promoting Social Harmony, gives special

attention to women members of Local Self Government Institutions in urban areas. In the introductory

part of the article the author explains the cultural and political dimensions of communalism in India.

Based on an empirical study conducted among the women councilors in Attingal Municipality of

Thiruvananthapuram district the author argues that they can play a significant role in promoting

communal harmony and social integration. She highlights the role played by Self Help Groups in

bringing together women of different communities

The paper of Rajani R.V on Theoretical perspectives on communalism and communal violence in India,

deals with the different theoretical interpretations on communalism and communal violence in India.

Initially she explains the concept of communalism and provides a number of definitions. The author then

approaches the problem from a historical perspective. Moreover, the paper unearths the sociological,

anthropological, and psychological dimensions of communalism. The paper also explains the nature and

causes of communal violence with special focus on the situation in India. According to the author the

problem of communal violence seems an aggressive articulation of the differences between the two major

communities – Hindus and Muslims – or an expression of the inability to live together, and this in turn

serves a device for the short-term political gains on the part of the communal politicians of both the

communities. The paper also deals with the theories of communal violence like Social Barriers Theory

and the Theory of Polarization and Cluster Effect. In the end of the paper, the author emphasizes the need

for using various measures to check communal violence.

Biju Vincent, through his paper, Consumer Society and Communal Harmony – A Materialistic

View,attempts to explain the dynamics of religion in consumer society. The author holds the view that

growth of materialism diminishes the influence of spiritualism that binds a group or community together.

According to him people in the modern consumer society undergo a process of homogenization, so that

they develop similar ideals, beliefs, practices and interests. He also refers to the understanding and

concern among the agrarian, industrial and postmodern societies, in order to substantiate how

homogeneity developed in the postmodern consumer eva. The author supports the view of Baudrillard

that people are brought together on the basis of what objects they consume. Then religion becomes not

very important to any group. In a consumer society nobody is interested in others’ matters including

religion. The paper concludes by saying that state can ensure religious harmony by promoting free

economy that will assist in creating modern consumer society.

Sajeena Beevi. N, in her paper Hindu-Muslim Communal Violence in India: Genesis and Historical

Roots examines the historical context in which communalism emerged in India. With historical evidence

she argues that Hindu – Muslim conflicts are essentially modern phenomena and communal riots were

rare till the end of 19th century. According to the author, the British policy of divide and rule resulted in

fostering communal clashes deliberately for keeping intact their hegemony. Moreover, the leaders of the

Indian National Congress were not successful to promote Hindu – Muslim cooperation in fighting

imperialism. The weakness of the Indian National Congress contributed to the emergence of Muslim

League as a strong political party and claimed the right to speak for all Muslims. After giving a vivid

picture of communal riots from 1947 to 2002 the author suggests prescriptive measures to meet

communalism. In conclusion, she rightly says that multi-pronged measures are needed to contain the

communal tensions and to bring about communal harmony in the country

The paper by Kavitha.V on Communal Violence and the Role of Print Media attempts to examine the

emotional feeling of a reporter who covers a communal conflict influences his reporting. She also

analyses how far the reporters enjoy freedom of expression while reporting communal issues. The author

strongly advocates for certain restrictions in this regard as it can help to contain the communal eruptions.

However, she notices that often local newspapers publish sensational stories on communal conflicts in

order to optimise the sale of their papers. This article also raises the issue of biased reporting by

newspapers to safeguard the interests of certain vested interests. In the concluding part, the author

emphasizes that the print media must be vigilant to keep themselves away from communal interests.

In his article on “Sarva Dharma Sambhav for Social Cohesion-Gandhian Perspective”, Ajith Venniyur

analyses Gandhian thoughts on conflicts, violence and its solutions. He points out that Mahatma Gandhi

challenged all those conditions which destroyed peace and harmony in social life. Gandhi wanted to

establish peace between man and man, religion and religion, group and group and nation and nation. For

Gandhiji there can be no peace without understanding and no understanding without peace’. Ajith

Venniyur further explains the concept of Sarva Dharma Samabhav, and their process of integration viz,

the integration of personality which reconciles the individual to his own native, integration with his

fellow men and integration with god, the supreme spirit. He concludes that Gandhian way of living is the

only solution for attaining peace and harmony in society.

The pith of the communal problem in India did not so much lie either in the fact of indigenous

differences, or in the fact of various historical factors like immigration of Muslims or the policies of

British colonialists. On the contrary, the crux of the problem lay in the way in which it was dealt by the

various governments and political parties who were controlling them. “Communalism is an ideology and

to some extent politics organized around that ideology” (Chandra, 1991). Therefore the solutions for

mitigating the communal problems also must come primarily from the political parties.

The economic, psychological and socio-religious factors are the prime movers of communalism. It is on

these three planes of human existence that we can truly discover means by which the evil side of

communalism may be overcome and we may exist with less tension amongst the communities.

For defeating the vicious agenda of communalists the communal ideology has to be consciously

combated. No automatic results follow in this field because of the indirect steps. For example, after 1947,

many people had the belief that with economic development or spread of education, etc our country

would get rid of communal ideology. However, the fact is that once communal ideology has emerged in a

crystallized form, it is very necessary to wage a conscious anti-communal ideological struggle against it.

It will not go on its own, whatever other steps might be taken.

The state comes in, in one respect, in this context, because it can either promote communal ideology or

ideological struggle against it, or it can take a weak stand vis-à-vis communal ideology. In India

communal riots emerged in an unprecedented manner in states like Gujarat where the state supported the

communalists of one religious community against the other. At the same time in states like Bihar, Uttar

Pradesh etc the there are no large scale violence reported as respective state governments are vigilant.

To fight communalism there must be a mass movement and the intellectuals and all sections of the

society must take part in this mass movement. However, today the communalists are more successful in

their programmes. The need of the hour is to build up a mass movement of the order of

the shilanyas organized by the Hindu communalists in 1992.

If communalism is an ideology; then education formal or informal or through the media acquires a crucial

importance. Education alone can mould young minds to develop a secular attitude that can promote

communal harmony and social integration.

Ethics And Accountability In The Philippine Public Service: Role Of Citizens, Public Officials, Private Sector And Civil Society

“Ethics and Accountability in the Philippine Public Service: Role of Citizens, Public Officials, Private

Sector and Civil Society

      In my previous paper, I mentioned that values are as important in our government system as the other

functions and political processes are. Unit VI discussed how crucial and vital ethics and accountability is

in our government. It also talks about the significance of our own moral code, seeing that public ethics

are part of the overall value system, and is culture as well as country-specific. Politicians and public

servants especially those in high positions are hailed as models of integrity, and the public expects

nothing more but honor and morality from them since they were elected or appointed to that public

office.

      Have you heard of the saying “Public office is public trust?” It means that, since the citizens found

you worthy and collectively agreed to entrust and grant you with power and authority over them, you

owe it to them to put it to good use, the control and use of information and resources, to act for and in

behalf of them and to put their welfare first before any personal interests. There are provisions and code

of conduct which deals with that, grounded on ethics and accountability.

      Ethics and accountability means so much for public officials, both appointed and elected by the

Philippine government. Ethics serve as a guide for behavior of people in public service, a common

reference point and a unifying thread. Simply put, it is the notion of right and wrong. However,

something right and trivial for normal citizens might not be so negligible when done by a public official.

A businessman can treat his family to Hawaii for a two-month vacation, and people wouldn’t so much as

lift an eyebrow, but if a public official has done that, it would surely cause uproar. It is a sad thing, that

citizens have such double-standards when it comes to our state yet you can’t really blame them. When

they elected you.

Loving In Truth: Creating A Society Of Living In Harmony In The 21St C

Loving in Truth: Creating a Society of Living in Harmony in the 21st Century

    In the course of one's existence, one is constantly striving to achieve

the pinnacle of their abilities, a certain excellence within themselves, and a balance between themselves

and their society. Unfortunately, as we near the end of the millennium , society is failing

to provide us with the appropriate means in order to realize that goal. So as we

prepare for the next century, we must recognize that there are many problems that we must alleviate

before this world can become a better place. It may well be that the nation cannot survive--as a decent

place to live, as a world-class power or even as a democracy--with such high rates of children growing

into adulthood unprepared to parent, unprepared to be productively employed and unprepared to share in

the mainstream aspirations. Various programs are springing up to help children. However, like the

welfare program, for the most part these programs are aimed at alleviating symptoms rather than

correcting the cause of the problems. More prisons, more policemen, gun control, the FBI, and V-chips to

block violent programs on TV will never stop crime and violence. When we devote time, money and

effort toward problems and symptoms -- without correcting the cause -- the problems and symptoms

grow and spread like creeping crab grass. But as an individual, what can one do? The answer is simple.

All one has to do is love. Love is the solution to all of the social problems in our society. Adequate love

will eliminate evil, crime, violence, mental suffering, the suffering of innocent children, dysfunctional

families, the break-up of families, restlessness, discontent, unhappiness--all that is ugly, deplorable, and

destructive.

        But before one can love others, one must learn to love himself. One cannot love himself until he

frees himself from fear and false beliefs. One is not free until he discovers that is truth that sets us free

from...

How Does Civil Society Stand For The Nation's Health In The Usa

Jordan Igor

Civil society in the fight for the nation's health: the U.S. experience

On the example of U.S. paper analyzes the interaction of the three "actors" - the structures of

civil society, government and international organizations - to create mechanisms of population

recovery. Despite the fact that each of the actors plays a unique role, emphasizes the role of civil

society, without which the efforts of other parties would have been meaningless.

The essence of the program "Healthy Cities" Since the 1980's an acute international interest in

the topic health of the inhabitants of megacities. Established as a result of Healthy Cities

program to a large extent transformed the organization of social life in the big cities and small

communities, this program was to impose a noticeable imprint on international relations:

bilateral, regional and multilateral. Although the program was developed Healthy Cities, by

definition, is for cities, after the development of this concept does not belong to any city services

or agencies, or national research centers or universities. 

World Health Organization (WHO) has stood in the center of developing the concept of Healthy

Cities and its propagation in both the South and the North.The ideas expressed by the WHO, had

their effect, as individual professionals and the institutions that developed the fundamental

provisions of that concept as applied to related fields. Therefore, the literature often refers not so

much about the "program" as a "movement" Healthy Cities.

The essence of the Healthy Cities movement is to establish a connection between the conditions

of life in the city and health. Movement came from the fact that the city is a natural center for

developing strategy and organization of human actions on health promotion.

Question about the health of citizens and especially the issue of healthy living conditions began

to be discussed in the nineteenth century, when rapid growth began to occur cities in Europe and

North ...