The Importance of Religion in Indian Politics
India is the largest democratic country in the world, in the last
fifty years it has travelled and been influenced by multiple social
and economic changes. Its independence from Britain in 1947, the
partition creating Pakistan and the Pakistan/ Indian debate over
Kashmir have been fundamental political movements within these years.
As Y.B.Damle states, “Politics is concerned with goal-attainment and
politics is the art of possibility”, the political process cannot
function without structural features. As a country with multiple
religions, a secular state, the political process has been moulded
around not only ethnicity and caste but religion has proved to be a
major factor. India has long been known as a very spiritual, religious
area of the world.
Religion is a way of life, an integral part of Indian tradition,
permeating every aspect of life, from chores to food to education and
politics
A census in 1991 showed Hindu’s made up 82% of the Indian population,
smaller percentages are taken by minority groups such as Buddhists,
Jainists, Christians and Sikhs, while the largest minority group,
calculating for approximately 101.5 million members of the population,
are Muslims.
In this last century we have seen the role of religion in Indian
politics enhanced, currently governed by the BJP, Bharatiya Janata
Party, Hindu nationalists. This blatant religious influence effects
the economic and political growth of all south Asian countries,
threatening the cohesion with neighbouring and foreign countries,
threatening the large majority of Indian-Muslims, disharmonising other
...
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...go. The destruction of the
sixteenth-century mosque was fuelled by the BJP when affiliated
organisations ripped the mosque down by hand in six hours on December
6 1992. Even textbooks written by the BJP glorify Hindu history,
presenting biased representations of Indian history. India’s identity
cannot be discovered without an understanding of its past but this
interpretation of India’s past as secular or religiously fanatical
will be the possible mould for one of the worlds largest secular
democracies.
Bibliography
Privilage and resentment: religious conflictin religion (Vatsla
Vadantam)
India: Religion, Political Legitimacy and the secular state (Ralph
Buultjens
Human Rights Watch- www.hrw.org/reports/1999/india
India (Robert L.Hardgrave)
Caste, Religion and Politics In India (Y.B.Damle)
Religion is one of the many factors that define an individual. So, any threat to a person’s beliefs is a threat to his or hers’ very being. The clash between Muslims and Christians is just one of the many groups with distinct differences and beliefs. Therefore, these differences in religion often influence political rivalries as well. Throughout history, someone observing world affairs may note that religion is a contentious issue; however, political tension emerges from this very issue in recent times. Doing so has labeled politics as the core of many conflicts worldwide. These battles between religions also inhibit agitation by one group against another, for gaining reputable land, wealth, and political power. Thus, politics is the primary
The Partition of India led to millions of people displaced and marked as one of the largest mass migration ever over the world. August 15, 1947 was a very significant day for Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and many others. It marked the day of the British partition of India, and India won its freedom from colonial rule, ending nearly 200 years of British rule. This successful attainment of independence from colonial rule defined a narrative of religious nationalism, but also has led to displacement and violence between the two nation states of India and Pakistan. Once a peaceful union of Muslims and Hindus had become separated, whereas Muslims got Pakistan and Hindus got an independent India (Best et al, 2008). “The Other Side of Silence” (Butalia, 2000, pp.264-300) the oral testimony of a Punjabi woman Maya Rani, who was a child living in Pakistan during the Partition. Her testimony was crucial to understand the historiography of the event, because she was a witness of the impact of the Partition, but she was not directly involved in the violence that the emergence and independence of India that has brought.
Perry, A. (2003, August 5). Hindu Muslim conflict- India's Great Divide By Alex Perry. Hindu Muslim conflict- India's Great Divide By Alex Perry. Retrieved February 10, 2014, from http://www.countercurrents.org/comm-perry050803.htm
Bringing Religion Back into Politics Editors Douglas Johnston and Cynthia Sampson compiled these essays for the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Douglas Johnston has since founded the International Center for Religion and Diplomacy, with the goal of encouraging faith-based mediation through education and strategy development. Cynthia Sampson is the president of Peace Discovery Initiatives, a faith-based organization with the goal of peace building around the world. Argument: The main focus of this book is to bring religion back into politics. For various reasons, the religion factor has been removed from policy making around the world, to the detriment of international relations.
Donald Grinde is the author of The Iroquois and the Founding of the American Nation, one of the earliest books to argue for an Indian influence on the formation of the American democracy. Since Grinde’s publication and Bruce Johansen’s a year later, there has been a great deal of debate over this issue. Many of the most prominent opponents of the influence thesis have failed to distinguish between the arguments of more extreme authors, such as Gregory Schaaf, who claim that the Iroquois Gayanashagowa was copied by the U.S. Constitution, and those with a more moderate stance, like Johansen and Grinde, who simply point to a clear influence (Johansen, 1998). This paper intends to argue along the lines of these latter authors. Our founding fathers did not copy the Gayanashagowa or Great Law of Peace, but our Constitution was written with reflection upon the Iroquoian government with the goal of synthesizing this model into a form that could satisfy the needs of the American people. Given the evidence presented by Grinde and Johansen, it is clear that Native Americans influenced early U. S. political minds—if not directly, then at least indirectly.
However, regions are often classified based on only one of these cultural factors and not all of them. Each of the articles covers a specific region of the world. In “A World Not Neatly Divided” India is the main focus for Sen’s argument, which criticizes the term “Hindu Civilization,” since India is home to many people who practice different religions. According to Sen, “For example, describing India as a ‘Hindu Civilization’ misses the fact that India has more Muslims than any other country except Indonesia and possibly Pakistan”(Sen 69). He also mentions the different religions that have established in India: “These include Hindus and Muslims, Buddhists, Jains, Sikhs, Parsees, Christians, (who have been in India since at least the fourth century, well before England’s conversion to Christianity), Jews (present since the fall of Jerusalem), and even atheists and agnostics” (Sen 69).
The Hindu religious tradition is a tradition unlike any other. As a conglomeration of varying beliefs and practices, Hinduism defies the western ideology of a compact religion, and through its historical significance has incorporated itself into all aspects of Hindu society. This assumed spirituality within Hindu culture serves as a platform for the ideas of dharma and moksa to be intertwined not only within Hindu social and religious practices, but in the very identity of Hinduism as well (Heehs 19). There is an inherent tension between dharma and moksa, but rather than opposing each other, they make the other stronger, as one must live a satisfactory lifestyle within each to live a complete life through the eyes of Hinduism.
Hinduism religion had the absolute power, which held society together. In results of that, politics was seen
Huge population, pollution, peace, snakes, saris, dance, curry, and religion are probably the most popular words that come up when we think about India. India is a well-known country. Although it is a relatively poor country, it has a rich and diverse culture. India is populated by approximately 953 million people. It has been a home for many religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, Islam and Christianity. The first four mentioned above originated in India (Finegan 151). Seventy percent of the populations are Hindus. In fact, Hinduism is the oldest and third largest religion in the world. Hinduism has deeply influenced Indian society, for several reasons: it has a long history in this place, it is related to the social status of Indians, and it is integrated with the cultural aspects in India.
Hinduism is often viewed as a particularly tolerant religion. The lack of a single omniscient God, absence of a prophet, and the open worship of what may look like many Gods may tell a tale of open worship, individuality within religion, and a peaceful, tolerant way of life. Without further examining what Hinduism entails, this may seem like the perfect religion. When the impression of superiority is looked at with a little skepticism, the pretty picture is marred by the deep scratches of discrimination, sexism, and elitism.
Out of all the different beliefs in the world today, Hinduism is a religion that seems different and interesting. Hinduism is one of the oldest living religions in the world. The religion is over 4,000 years old. Hinduism was originated in India and the religion’s first known believers were known as the ancient people, the Aryans (Hinduism). Like most religions in the universe, Hinduism is unique in its own way. Hinduism is unique because it did not start off as a religion. Hinduism was actually a culture for people in India and then later turned into a religion (Hinduism on Fun Facts).
India is the center of a very serious problem in the world today. It’s a very diverse place with people from many different religious backgrounds, who speak many different languages and come from many different regions. They are also separated economically. Two of the country’s religious sects, Muslims and Hindus, have been in conflict for hundreds of years. Their feelings of mistrust and hatred for each other are embedded in all those years and will not leave easily. What’s most disturbing is that there seems to be no plan for reconciliation available. There are numerous reasons for this conflict.
The role of religion in politics is a topic that has long been argued, and has contributed to the start of wars, schisms (both political and religious), and other forms of inter and intra-state conflict. This topic, as a result of its checkered past, has become quite controversial, with many different viewpoints. One argument, put forth by many people throughout history, is that religion and the government should remain separate to avoid any conflicting interests. This view also typically suggests that there is one, or several, large and organized religions like the Roman Catholic Church, which would be able to use their “divine” authority to sway the politics of a given state by promising or threatening some form of godly approval or disapproval. By leveraging their divine power, individual figures within a religion, as well as the religion as a whole, could gain secular power for themselves, or over others. A second view, which was developed by many theologians through history, suggests that that without religion there would be a general lack of morality in the people and leaders of a given state, which would give way to poor political decisions that would not be in the interest of the people and perhaps even God (or the gods). This argument, however, does not address the fact that morality can exist without religion. In sociology, it is commonly accepted that social norms, which include morality, can result from any number of things. Religion, laws, or the basic desire of survival can all create these norms, so it suffices to say that as a society, our morals reflect our desire to live in relative peace through the creation of laws that serve to help us to survive. The argument of whether or not religion and politics should mix...
We can start by recounting history, where the roots of the conflict lie. India was one massive nation made up of several states, ruled by the British. A long and difficult independence struggle culminated with the British choosing to leave India in August 1947. The Muslims of the land decided that instead of just a Free India, they would create a Free Pakistan for themselves as well. They were fearful that as a minority, the Hindu majority would trample their rights and religion. Both countries would be formed as soon as the British handed back control in August. The rulers of each individual state constituting India would chose which country to join, hopefully following the wishes of its people. This idea was fraught with problems. There were quite a few states that had a majority of one religion yet the ruler belonged to another faith. The states of Hyderabad and Junagarh were examples of this. Both had Hindu majorities and M...
Overall India’s recent political environment has been largely unstable due to international events & continued tension with Pakistan.