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Former Sen. George Mitchell
talks with Jamie Rubin.
 Watch the video Dial-up | DSL or read the transcript.
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What is the meaning of anti-Muslim violence in India?
The latest round of communal violence in India has left more than 600 Muslims dead. Was this just another riot in India's long history of religious struggle? Or was it the direct result of Hindu nationalist government policies? In this week's briefing, political scientist Ashutosh Varshney explains how India's Muslim minority is caught between conflicting views of Indian national identity -- multiculturalism and Hindu nationalism. In our featured debate, adherents to these two schools of thought present their views. Our photo essay chronicles the Ayodhya controversy, which began in 1992 and was the flashpoint igniting last spring's anti-Muslim riots. Finally, our timeline offers a broader historical picture of Hindu-Muslim conflict in India from ancient times to the present.
The Struggle for National Identity
By Ashutosh Varshney
September 19, 2002
Imagine two Indians, Vaidya and Bhatt, each representing a contrasting view of India's national identity. Vaidya's view is taken from Mahatma Gandhi, unquestionably the father of Indian independence. This view is known as "composite nationalism," or what we today would call multiculturalism. In contrast, Bhatt's view focuses on the primacy of Hindus in India and demands that all non-Hindu groups should play a secondary role in national life. They "can stay as a younger brother," is how Bhatt puts it. This view is called "Hindu nationalism."
Roughly 82 percent of India is Hindu and the remaining 18 percent, numbering between 190 and 200 million people, belong to a variety of faiths: Islam, Christianity, Sikhism, Jainism, Judaism, etc. At nearly 12.8 percent, and numbering about 130 million, Muslims are the largest minority. Finally, at two percent, and numbering approximately 20 million, Christians are the third largest Indian minority. Hindu nationalism has historically been hostile to these last two religious communities in India.
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| 1528 |
Mosque constructed in Ayodhya on supposed birthplace of Hindu deity, Lord Rama.
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| 1992 |
Hindu activists destroy Ayodhya mosque, sparking Hindu-Muslim riots that kill over 2,000.
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| Feb. 2002 |
Fifty-eight people killed when Muslims in Godhra burn train carrying Hindu activists
from Ayodhya.
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| March 2002 |
Hindu activists vow to build temple in Ayodhya. Supreme Court bars all religious activity from site.
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| Feb.-March 2002 |
At least 1,000 people killed in religious violence in state of Gujarat.
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Gandhian composite nationalism drove India's freedom movement and is the foundation of modern India's constitution. Hindu nationalism, a minor force during India's freedom movement, as well as for four decades after independence, has become a powerful force since the late 1980s. Though it has not been able to defeat the multicultural view of India completely, it has certainly been in ascendance. Hindu nationalists are part of a ruling coalition in the federal government in Delhi. Of the major states in India, only in the state of Gujarat have they been able to run the government entirely on their own in recent times.
What are the basic sources of difference between India's founding principles and Hindu nationalists? According to composite nationalism, being a good Muslim is perfectly consistent with being a good Indian. Religion (and language) do not define India; India is multicultural and pluralist. Pluralism is embodied in India's laws (such as protection of minority rights and educational institutions) and in political institutions (such as India's federal system, which -- among other things -- allows Indian states to determine for themselves which of the country's many languages it will use for official business).
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A Muslim woman mourns in Ahmedabad.
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