MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA FAKULTA SOCIÁLNÍCH STUDIÍ Katedra politologie
THE RELIGIOUS CLASHES IN INDIA AND THEIR IMPACT ON ELECTION RESULTS
BAKALÁŘSKÁ PRÁCE
Ladislav Kudláček
Vedoucí práce: Mgr. Tomáš Šmíd UČO: 42062 Obor: PL – EVS Imatrikulační ročník: 2003 Brno, 2006
Prohlašuji, že jsem tuto bakalářskou práci na oboru politologie Fakulty sociálních studií Masarykovy univerzity vypracoval samostatně a pouze za použití uvedených pramenů a literatury. ...... Ladislav Kudláček student bakalářského kombinovaného dvouoborového studia politologie evropská studia
1
Poděkování
Srdečně děkuji vedoucímu práce Mgr. Tomáši Šmídovi za odborné vedení práce a Delii Červínkové za pomoc při jazykové korektuře.
Ladislav Kudláček
2 “I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and non violence are as old as the hills.” Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
3 Contents: Introduction ...... 6 1. The cleavages in Indian politics – short description ...... 7 1.1. Chaturvarna – Indian caste system ...... 7 1.2. Modern Indian class society ...... 8 1.3. Cleavages between urban and rural areas ...... 9 2. The main religion in India ...... 10 3. Religious cleavage in India – short description ...... 10 4. Genesis of religion clashes – short description, causes, genesis, the main religion conflicts ...... 11 4.1. What is the Indian Nation? ...... 11 4.2. Riots in India ...... 12 4.3. Reasons and explanations for the Hindu Muslim Violence ...... 14 5. The structure of Indian population by religions (states, urban, rural) ...... 15 6. Electoral systems in India ...... 18 7. The characteristics of the main relevant political parties in India ...... 20 7.1. Indian National Congress ...... 20 7.2. Bharatiya Janata Party ...... 21 7.3. Communist Party of India (Marxist) ...... 21 7.4. Bahujan Samaj Party ...... 22 7.5. Samajwadi Party ...... 22 8. Affiliation of the main political parties by the religion cleavage ...... 23 8.1. Parties with secularism affiliation ...... 23 8.2. Parties with Hinduism affiliation ...... 24 8.3. Parties with Islamic (Muslim) affiliation ...... 25 8.4. Parties with other religion, ethnic or community affiliation ...... 27 9. Analysis of the political programmes and the their particular issues in the context of religion and secularisation ...... 27 9.1. Indian National Congress ...... 27 9.2. Bharatiya Janata Party ...... 28 9.3. Communist Party of India (Marxist) ...... 29 9.4. Bahujan Samaj Party ...... 29 9.5. Samajwadi Party ...... 31 10. Analysis of the election results on the federal level in relation to the main religious disorder and clashes ...... 32
4 10.1. Lijphart’s theory of consensual democracy and their indication in the Indian political system ...... 34 10.2. Parties’ coalitions and the evolution of election results depended on the main society cleavage ...... 36 11. Analysis of the election results in regions with large and frequent religious conflicts 42 11.1. Who has the profits from religion and communal violence? Gujarat example 43 11.2. What is different in peaceful Indian states? Kerala example ...... 47 11.3. Why Uttar Pradesh is not peaceful? ...... 49 Conclusion ...... 53 List of literature and sources ...... 54 List of tables ...... 57 List of figures ...... 58 List of diagrams ...... 59 List of abbreviation ...... 60 Počet znaků: 86 876 znaků včetně mezer bez poznámek pod čarou 92 210 znaků včetně mezer a poznámek pod čarou
5 Introduction
India is known as the biggest democratic country in the world, but it is also a country of many religions, which have coexisted for several centuries. This coexistence could be generally characterised as peaceful, but also has some historical and ideologist clashes, which have generated many problems in the present time. When the nationalism and its ideology have brought new troubles to the political and common life of many religious communities in many parts of India.
The present Indian democracy has the challenge of how to cope with the religious clashes and Hinduism’s and Muslim’s nationalism. These religious cleavages have brought problems such as terrorism and community riots. This work should analyse these problems of Indian religions in political life. The main goal of this thesis is to describe main religious conflicts and find the connection between politics and mainly the behaviour of the political parties and their voters. This goal is connected with the description of the situation of the religious dilemma, conflicts and their genesis. Another part is the analysis of political programmes in the context of religion and secularisation of the main political parties, the analysis of number of the parties and election results in India and in their selected regions. Also the work analyses the election results in selected states, which have been affected by religious disorder and clashes.
6 1. The cleavages in Indian politics – short description
It is possible to find many cleavages in India, which have been based on social, cultural and religious differences. All of these cleavages have a particular connection with religion because society in India was built on this belief. Social cleavages have the origin in religion and its caste system. It is not the typical social diversification that we can find in western social structures. We can find the significant marks of modern society as lower, middle and higher classes, which have been brought to India by industrialisation. On the other hand, most of the marks of these new classes have the roots in traditional Hindu caste system, which is divided into four main castes and further sub divided into several thousands of castes based on occupation. The other conflict’s lines are connected with Indian religionist and the differences between urban and rural areas.
1.1. Chaturvarna – Indian caste system
Brahmins are the highest caste people of India, Kshatriyas are the warrior and ruling caste, Vaishyas are mercantile and agricultural class and Shudras are usually artisan and labour class. The last group is untouchable, who are without any caste. However, a difference arises when comparing caste like systems in other countries to India. In the other countries, the separation between one group and the other are usually along racial lines. Within India, that is not so. Nor is there any discernable dichotomy (white/black or high/low) because the caste system forms a continuum that defies such ready definition. Lower caste people live in conditions of great poverty and social disadvantage, forming the most impoverished segment of a very indigent country. (Wikipedia 2006b)
Even with the rapid urbanization and education of India's largely rural, agrarian population, the baneful effects of caste are slowly being eradicated, but meet up with stiff resistance in many parts of the country. The caste system and its attendant practises have been outlawed and declared punishable offences, but these laws are difficult to implement. There are occasional violations of human rights of Dalits (outcastes also called untouchables) by orthodox elements among the higher castes, including forcing Dalits into their traditional professions despite merits to the contrary. Dalits have often been victimized by orthodox Brahmins and middle castes in rural areas and live in poverty. The government of India provides reservations for government jobs and of university seats in programs of higher education (undergraduate and above) for people hailing from Scheduled castes, Scheduled
7 tribes. 1 It has been argued by Dalits that upper caste. Hindus are trying to scuttle these efforts. Upper caste Hindus and several secular elements counter argue that unmeritorious Dalits are exploiting affirmative action to their advantage and meritorious candidates are being sidelined. In addition, many have argued that the caste system, rather than being eradicated, is reversing itself, with Dalits frequently touting anti Brahmanical hate speech and ethnically cleansing upper castes from different part of India (places like Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu). Dalits who have converted to Buddhism and Christianity have been incited by missionaries to attack Hindu temples and vandalize deities. (Wikipedia 2006c)
Caste system is very strong in India and not only has the Hinduism had its Chaturvarna. Indian Muslims, Christians and other religions has their own castes, which have been generating social cleavage problems. For example Muslims in India are sharply divided into two categories, Ashrafs and non Ashrafs. The former have a superior status derived from their foreign ancestry. The Ashrafs, or those who claim a foreign descent, are further divided into four castes, Sayyads, Shiekhs, Mughals and Pathans, in that order of rank. The non Ashrafs are alleged to be converts from Hinduism, and are therefore drawn from the indigenous population. They, in turn, are divided into a number of occupational castes. (Srinivas 1996)
1.2. Modern Indian class society
Modernisation and industrialisation of India brought changes in class and caste system. In an analysis of class formation in India, anthropologist Harold A. Gould points out that a three level system of stratification is taking shape across rural India. He calls the three levels Forward Classes (higher castes), Backward Classes (middle and lower castes), and Harijans (very low castes). Members of these groups share common concerns because they stand in approximately the same relationship to land and production – that is, they are large scale farmers, small scale farmers, and landless laborers. Some of these groups are drawing together within regions across caste lines in order to work for political power and access to
1) Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are communities that are accorded special status by the Constitution of India. These communities were considered 'outcastes' and were excluded from the Chaturvarna (caste) system that was the descriptive social superstructure of Hindu society in the Indian subcontinent These communities had traditionally been relegated to the most menial labour with no possibility of upward mobility, and subject to extensive social disadvantage and exclusion, in comparison to the wider community. The Scheduled Tribes were unable to participate in the community life of the Indian Society and were thus deprived of any opportunity for integration with the rest of the society and corresponding opportunities for educational, social and economic growth. (Wikipedia 2006n)
8 desirable resources. For example, since the late 1960s, some of the middle ranking cultivating castes of northern India have increasingly cooperated in the political arena in order to advance their common agrarian and market oriented interests. Their efforts have been spurred by competition with higher caste landed elites. (Country Studies 2006) Economically far below such groups are members of the menial underclass, which are taking shape in both villages and urban areas. As the privileged elites move ahead, low ranking menial workers remain economically insecure. Were they to join together to mobilize politically across lines of class and religion in recognition of their common interests, Gould observes, they might find power in their sheer numbers.
1.3. Cleavages between urban and rural areas
From the social and caste cleavages have came another cleavage, which is based on division between urban and rural area. Cities, which are the part of the rapid economic growth in India, offer a better standard of life, education and political power to the elites. On the other hand, rural areas of India are underdeveloped and have problems with basic needs such as education and health care. The problem of caste system is bigger than in progressive cities. This cleavage has a significant importance for the political fight, because many people from cities have relatives and other connection to the rural areas.
Another dimension of political life and power is that of regionalism and religion cleavages. India is a federation of 28 states and 7 territories. Some cultural cleavages are between the northern part and southern part of the country, which also has a connection with language.2 India has a long running conflict with Pakistan in Kashmir and also some separatist indication is possible to find in Punjab, where the large community of Sikhs live. These conflict lines have been on regional and mainly religion bases. Some other conflict we can find in state Assam, has been and still is based on ethnic, cultural and social roots.
Religion is power, which has one of the most important and significant roles in political life. The religion cleavage is described in chapter 3.
2) The North of India prefer Hindi language for public communication and the South is more friendly with English. Hindi is the mother tongue in many Indian states on the north and many northern languages are similar to it, but south Indian languages are different. In 1965 should English lose its second language status and it brought the protest in non Hindi states. (Strnad (eds., 2003): 828 834)
9 2. The main religion in India
India is a country of many religions. The main religions are Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism and many other religions. It is also the country, where four of the named religions were born. The religion is the most important part in daily Indian life.
The structure of Indian population by religions is demonstrated in table 1.
Table 1 Indian Religion's Profile Denomination Percentage of Population Hindus 80.5 Muslims 13.4 Christians 2.3 Sikhs 1.9 Buddhists 0.8 Jains 0.4 Source: Census of India 2001
3. Religious cleavage in India – short description
Religion cleavage in India can also be described as a problem of minorities, because they are based on religious principles. This hypothesis is based on Indian nation which is based on Hinduism all Hindus are Indians. But it must be also mentioned that India’s complex ethnic cleavages seem to defy classification as a single ethnic structure. The country is home to more than 1,600 language groups and six major religions. Followers of the Hindu religion are further divided by a hierarchical caste system. In addition, about 10 percent of the population has been characterized as tribal. Despite this complexity, India is an established democracy and has registered high growth rates in recent years. These outcomes question notions that link ethnic diversity with authoritarian rule and low growth. A defining characteristic of India’s ethnic complexity is that its cleavages are largely crosscutting rather than reinforcing. For instance, not all Hindus are Hindi speakers and they may be further subdivided into countless castes and tribes. This makes it difficult to mobilize most Indians on a single cleavage, but the religious cleavage is one, which can be characteristic as a cross country and cross ethnic cleavage. It is possible to say that only two cleavages – caste and religion – have been politicized on federal and also on states level. Religion has tended to polarize Indian society, leading to communal violence. Hindus and Muslims account for 94 per cent of the Indian population. Muslims, 12 per cent of the population and more than 100 million strong,
10 make up the second largest Muslim group in the world. This bipolarity in the religious sphere was politicized during colonial rule and in the run up to independence, resulting in civil war and partition. Right wing politicians have lately exploited the religious cleavage. Niraja Gopal Jayal’s study (Representing India: Ethnic Diversity and the Governance of Public Institutions) suggests that the politics of Hindu revivalist parties threaten to convert India into a unipolar state using Hinduism as a vehicle of mobilization. These parties raised their share of the popular vote to more than 20 per cent in the 1990s, and they dominated the 1999–2004 government. (Jayal 2006)
4. Genesis of religion clashes – short description, causes, genesis, the main religion conflicts
4.1. What is the Indian Nation?
Who is an Indian? Deceptively simple, the question is hard to answer, as indeed it is with respect to several other nations in the world. Since the rise of the Indian national movement, three competing themes about India – territorial, cultural, and religious – have fought for political dominance. The territorial notion is that India has a “sacred geography,” enclosed between the Indus River, the Himalayas and the seas and emphasized for 2,500 years since the time of the Mahabharata. The cultural notion is that ideas of tolerance, pluralism, and syncretism define Indian society. India is not only the birthplace of several religions – Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism – but in its history, it has also regularly received, accommodated, and absorbed “outsiders” – Parsis, Jews, and “Syrian” Christians (whose reached India before Europeans). In the process, syncretistic forms of culture have emerged and become part of India. The third religious notion is that India is originally the land of the Hindus, and it is the only land that the Hindus can call their own. India has nearly all of Hinduism’s holy places and its holy rivers. A great deal of diversity may exist within Hindu society: a faith in Hinduism brings the various practitioners together. India thus viewed is a Hindu nation. (Varshney 2002: 60 61)
In political discourse, the territorial idea is called “national unity” or “territorial integrity,” the cultural idea is expressed as “political pluralism,” and the religious idea is known as Hindutva, or political Hinduism. (Varshney 2002: 61) The recognition that Hinduism as a meta ethnicity has been an essential component of Indian nation and state building calls for radical revision of the experience of Indian democracy since 1947. It does not conform to secularized
11 majoritarianism (where the state encourages acculturation and assimilation but allows ethnic groups to maintain ethnicity in the private sphere, for example the USA). Indian democracy subordinated secularism to the ‘nationalism of the Hindu majority’. The process was further possible because the political structures of the new state included the Westminster model with its first past the post system of elections which underpinned ethnic majoritarianism. The ‘institutionalization’ of one party dominance under Congress went hand in hand with an essentially unitary structure with the supremacy of the elite all India administrative service. Within the shell of Westminster style democracy Hinduism established a hegemonic position. The position from which it was able to promote the religious assimilation of minorities, establish linguistic and ritual pre eminence, and undermine the political challenge from minorities. (Singh 2000: 45 46)
Nor does the Indian experience resemble ethnically accommodative consociation democracy. For one, the structures of majoritariasnism excluded elements of proportionality and autonomy central to consociationalism; for another, the partition of India was a partition against consociationalism and for the construction of a majority and unitary state. Lijphart’s effort to understand the ‘puzzle of Indian democracy’ in the form of a ‘consociation interpretation’ misunderstands religious ‘encapsulation’ as autonomy, tactical political accommodation within the Congress as elite power sharing, and linguistic pluralism within meta Hindu areas as developed federalism. In an ideal consociational system minority rights are entrenched, guaranteed and backed by a minority veto. In India the minority veto has been practically non existent for most religious minorities and, in the case of Muslims, has been frequently undermined by ‘compensatory’ concessions to the Hindu community. (Singh 2000: 46)
4.2. Riots in India
Within the years 1950 – 1995, India saw the outbreak of more than 2,000 riots. Hindu Muslim riots threaten the stability of the Indian state, its economic development, and the country’s delicate international relations with its Muslim neighbours, especially its rival Pakistan. Since the 1950s the number and gravity of Hindu Muslim riots has grown to alarming proportions, reaching a dangerous peak in 1992 1993, when nationwide riots broke out after the destruction by Hindu militants of the Babri mosque in the northern Indian town of Ayodhya. Since 1992 there has also been one further major outbreak of mass rioting, in the western state
12 of Gujarat in 2002, in which an estimated 850 to 2,000 people were murdered. (Wilkinson 2004: 10 12)
Figure 1 State variation in deaths in Hindu Muslim riots, 1977 1995 Monthly average per 10 million inhabitants
Source: Wilkinson 2004: 14
The Hindu Muslim divide is important because the Hindu Muslim cleavage has split the Indian state apart once already and has the potential to do so again. An estimated 200,000 people were murdered and 13 million forced to migrate from their homes in 1946 1948 when India was partitioned into Muslim and Hindu majority states. Because Hindus and Muslims live side by side throughout the length and breadth of India, this cleavage poses a potentially much more serious threat to the country than separatist conflicts in the North and Northeast, which have so far claimed a greater number of lives. This is especially so because Hindu
13 Muslim violence affects some states at some times so much more then others. As is mentioned in Figures 1 and 2 about Hindu Muslim riots after the 1977, states such as Gujarat and Maharashtra have had, even allowing for population, considerably higher average monthly levels of riots and deaths over the past three decades. (Wilkinson 2004: 12 13)
Figure 2 State variation in the number of Hindu Muslim riots, 1977 1995 Monthly average per 10 million inhabitants
Source: Wilkinson 2004: 15
4.3. Reasons and explanations for the Hindu Muslim Violence
There are many theories for Hindu Muslim riots and violence. The main theories are based on economics. One premise, which was possible to identify with the 1992 1993 riots in Bombay and Calcutta and the 2002 riots in Ahmedabad, sees communal violence as a strategy used by slumlords and real estate developers to displace people from valuable land, which can then be
14 developed or sold for a high price. This theory is extremely difficult to test systematically, as it needs good town level data on such variables as land prices and ownership over time. (Wilkinson 2004: 26 27)
Another theory sees riots instead as the result of growing competition in ethnically divided labour markets. For example the 1984 riot in the western Indian textile town of Bhiwandi, in which 109 were killed and 100 injured, was an organised attempt by Hindu cloth merchants to burn and loot the properties of their new Muslim competitors. Wilkinson’s studies of communal violence claim that the stability of this ethnic division of labour has come under increasing pressure in the past few decades as Muslim craftsmen have begun to start their own wholesaling businesses. (Wilkinson 2004: 27 29)
One reason for violence is based on the embittered refugee hypothesis. The mass migration of 7.5 million Hindu and Sikh refugees from Pakistan to India in the wake of the partition of the country in 1947 is alleged to have had a similar negative effect on Hindu Muslim relations in northern and western India. From 1947 to 1950 there was a succession of urban riots in India, as Hindu and Sikh refugees took out their anger on local Muslims whom they held responsible for their hardships. This is probably the most common explanation that refugee participation in violence is the result of higher levels of antipathy toward Muslims and a higher level of refugee support for Hindu nationalist political parties, which are in turn often blamed for provoking communal riots. (Wilkinson 2004: 33 35)
5. The structure of Indian population by religions (states, urban, rural)
India has a population 1.1 billion people. Hindus make up 80.5 % of the population (about 830 million), Muslims with 13.4 % have about 140 million members, and others make up the remaining 6% of Indian inhabitants. (Table 2) As has been already mentioned the Indian nation has one base built on religions and the national movement is also based on ideology of Hindutva. (Chapter 4.1) It means that the fast population grow of minority community of Muslims can bring the tension between the two major religions in India. In terms of growth of different religious communities, Hindus showed a decline over the previous decade, their population growing by 22.3 % during 1991 and 2001 as compared to 22.7 % during 1981
15 1991. (Table 3) The India's right wing Hindu organisations (e.g. Vishwa Hindu Parishad 3 (VHP)) often warn if the current trend continues, the population of Muslims in India would equal that of the Hindus by 2051. (Das 2004) Also some media see in the population different growth proportions the good cause for their articles and often support the aversion between the religious communities. (Joseph 2004)
Table 2 Percentage distribution of population by religious communities India 1961 to 2001 Census (without excluding Assam and J&K)
Source: Census of India 2001
Interesting comparison among religious groups are their origin. Table 4 shows that in proportion bigger group of inhabitants from Muslims community live in urban area in comparison with share in Hindus community group. 36 % of all Muslims live in cities compared to 26 % of Hindus. The bigger urban group of this religious community can bring more ethnic tension in the Indian cities. Most of the riots and religious violence are in the cities. The bigger Muslims communities in Indian urban areas, together with economic background of the cities (Chapter 4.3) and also with lower level of education (see below), can generate religious tension across these communities.
3 ) The Vishva Hindu Parishad (Sanskrit for "World Hindu Council") is a Hindu nationalist organisation in India. It was founded in 1964. Its slogan is "Dharmo rakshiti rakshitah", or "By defending what is righteous, you will be protected." Its symbol is a banyan tree. (Wikipedia 2006r)
16 Table 3 Decadal growth rates of religious communities, India – 1961 to 2001 Census (without excluding Assam and J&K)
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 4 Percentage of population by religious communities and their residence, India 2001
Source: Census of India 2001
Table 5 Population by religious communities and residence India 2001
Source: Census of India 2001
17 Another difference, which can be taken from the Indian census, is the difference between the education levels of different religions. (Table 6) The problem is that Muslim communities have lower literacy rate than other main religious groups. The main difference is between Muslims and Hindus, especially in urban areas, where the rate is over 11 % lower among Muslims than Hindus. In rural areas, the gap lowers, but it exists as well. The lower literacy rate especially among urban Muslims can hypothetically generate ethnic problems between these two groups. The reason therefore is, the lower literacy rate makes lower economic grow in the community and generate religious tension in society.
Table 6 Literacy rate (Persons) by religious communities and residence, India 2001
Source: Census of India 2001
6. Electoral systems in India
India is a constitutional democracy with a parliamentary system of government, and at the heart of the system is a commitment to hold regular, free and fair elections. These elections determine the composition of the government, the membership of the two houses of parliament, the state and union territory legislative assemblies, and the Presidency and vice presidency.
Elections in India are events involving political mobilisation and organisational complexity on an amazing scale. In the 2004 election to Lok Sabha there were 1351 candidates from 6 National parties, 801 candidates from 36 State parties, 898 candidates from officially recognised parties and 2385 Independent candidates. A total number of 389,948,330 people voted out of total electorate size of 671,487,930. (Election Commission of India)
18 The country has been divided into 543 Parliamentary Constituencies, each of which returns one Member of Parliament to the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Parliament. The size and shape of the parliamentary constituencies are determined by an independent Delimitation Commission, which aims to create constituencies and has roughly the same population, subject to geographical considerations and the boundaries of the states and administrative areas. (Election Commission of India)
Delimitation is the redrawing of the boundaries of parliamentary or assembly constituencies to make sure that there are, as near as practicable, the same number of people in each constituency. In India boundaries are meant to be examined after the ten yearly census to reflect changes in population, for which Parliament by law establishes an independent Delimitation Commission, made up of the Chief Election Commissioner and two judges or ex judges from the Supreme Court or High Court. However, under a constitutional amendment of 1976, delimitation was suspended until after the census of 2001, ostensibly so that states’ family planning programs would not affect their political representation in the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabhas. This has led to wide discrepancies in the size of constituencies, with the largest having over 2,500,000 electors, and the smallest less than 50,000. (Election Commission of India)
Parliament has two chambers – The House of the People (Lok Sabha) and The House of the States (Rajya Sabha). Lok Sabha has 545 members (Constitution of India, Chapter II, Article 81a), 543 members elected for a five year term in single seat constituencies and 2 members appointed to represent the Anglo Indian community. The two unelected members are a relic from the past. The special dispensation of nominating two members of European or Eurasian blood was created as a transitory arrangement, at the time of Independence in 1947, to protect the interests of the departing ruling class. The 543 members are elected under the plurality ('first past the post') electoral system.
The House of the States has 245 members, 233 members elected for a six year term, with one third retiring every two years. (Constitution of India, Chapter II, Article 80) The members are elected by legislators of the state and union (federal) territories. The elected members are chosen under the system of proportional representation by means of the Single Transferable
19 Vote 4 . The twelve members to be nominated by the President in accordance with the provisions of clause. (Constitution of India, Chapter II, Article 80) They are usually an eclectic mix of eminent artists (including actors), scientists, jurists, sportspersons, businessmen and journalists. (Wikipedia 2006g)
7. The characteristics of the main relevant political parties in India
India has a multiparty system with predominance of small mostly regional parties. India as a federation is the country with various political parties, which have influence on local, state or a federal level of political decision making. It means that every state has its own party system, but mostly in every state it is possible to find parties with a connection on federal level parties and alliances or parties with federal force. This work gives the overview and describes the basic characteristics of the main relevant political parties with federal level political power and which have really some relevant impacts on decision making process. The selection of the parties is in the context of the last general election in the year 2004, when these parties got the biggest percentage of the votes.
7.1. Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress (also known as the Congress Party, abbreviated INC) is a major political party in India. Created in 1885, the Indian National Congress became the nation's leader in the Independence Movement, with over 15 million Indians involved in its organisations and over 70 million participants in its struggle against the British Empire. After Independence in 1947, it became the nation's dominant political party. In the 14th Lok Sabha (2004 2009), 145 INC members, the largest contingent amongst all parties, serve in the house. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition government supported by the Left Front. (Indian National Congress web)
4) Single Transferable Vote (STV) is a preferential voting system designed to minimise wasted votes and provide proportional representation while ensuring that votes are explicitly for candidates rather than party lists. STV achieves this by using multi seat constituencies (districts) and by transferring votes that would otherwise be wasted. STV initially allocates an individual's vote to their most preferred candidate, and then subsequently transfers unneeded or unused votes after candidates are either elected or eliminated, according to the voter's stated preferences. (Wikipedia 2006p)
20 Congress party has tried to follow the secular attitude in governing and its political programme. Secularism is part of the ideology of the party. In the Congress programme it is possible to find some points about minorities and its positive discrimination approach.
7.2. Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), literally meaning Indian People's Party, created in 1980, is one of the two major national political parties in India. It projects itself as a champion of socio religious cultural values of the country's Hindu majority, conservative social policies and strong national defence. Its constituency is strengthened by the broad umbrella of Hindu nationalist organizations, informally known as the Sangh Parivar (League of Indian nationalist organizations), where the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh 5 play a leading role. Since its inception, the BJP has been a prime opponent of the Indian National Congress. It has allied with regional parties to roll back the left of centre tendencies formerly endorsed by the Congress Party, which dominated Indian politics for four decades. The ideological rallying cry of the BJP is Hindutva, literally "Hinduness," or cultural Hindu nationalism. (Wikipedia 2006a) The main concept of the ideology on which BJP has been built is Cultural nationalism, which is called Hindutva.
7.3. Communist Party of India (Marxist)
The CPI(M) was formed at the Seventh Congress of the Communist Party of India held in Calcutta from October 31 to November 7, 1964. The CPI(M) was born (as they declared) in the struggle against revisionism and sectarianism in the communist movement at the international and national level, in order to defend the scientific and revolutionary tenets of Marxism Leninism and its appropriate application in the concrete Indian conditions. The CPI(M) declare its self as the leading Left party and it is committed to build a Left and democratic front which can present a real alternative to the existing bourgeois landlord policies. (CPI(M) 2006)
5) The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (Sanskrit, "National Volunteers' Union"; also known as the Sangh or the RSS) is a Hindu nationalist organization in India. It was started in 1925. The RSS is active throughout India and also abroad as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, "Hindu Volunteers' Union". The RSS is the largest volunteer organization in India. It has found itself at odds with many Muslim and Christian religious organizations due its commitment to stop the fraudulent conversions of Hindus and to "organise" the Hindu society. (Wikipedia 2006l)
21 CPI(M) declares the party policy and party behaviour as a right communist party in India with right Marxist ideology. The background of their programme is on social and economic bases. CPI(M) gives the special stress on social problems of the Indian society. They are on the side of untouchable people and also as a secular party they are again caste system. It means that it is not really popular party among higher class and higher castes. Especially, compared to BJP or other parties supporting Hindu religion and ideology. The party is mostly supported by rural people and workers. This is also one of the reasons why the party is very successful in rural areas and states such as Kerela, Tripoli or West Bengal.
7.4. Bahujan Samaj Party
The BSP was formed in 1984 by Kanshi Ram 6 who has remained party leader ever since. The BSP has two high profile, charismatic leaders, Kanshi Ram and Mayawati 7 . The party emerged from Kanshi Ram's earlier activity promoting the interests of Scheduled Caste government employees. Kanshi Ram was able to promote the organisation in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh. Although the BSP is recognised by the Election Commission as a national party it effectively functions on certain North Indian states only. Its ideology is based on the argument that the majority are oppressed by the select upper class. It aims to change this using the government power. (Indian elections web) The BSP is the political party with the stated goal of serving the traditionally lower castes of Indian society, including Sudras (the fourth Varna) and Dalits (Untouchables).
7.5. Samajwadi Party
The Samajwadi Party was born on October 4, 1992, in the historic Begum Hazrat Mahal Park in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. It is one of several parties that emerged when the Janata Dal (People's Party), India's primary opposition party prior to the BJP, was fragmented into several regional parties. The Samajwadi Party believes in democratic socialism and opposes the unrestricted entry of multinational companies into India. (Samajwadi Party Mumbai web) Samajwadi Party is primarily based in Uttar Pradesh, where it bases its support largely on
6) Kanshi Ram (born 1934) is an Indian politician of Dalit Sikh background. He founded the Bahujan Samaj Party. (Wikipedia 2006i) 7) Mayawati Kumari (born January 15, 1956) is a politician in India who currently the president of the Bahujan Samaj Party. (Wikipedia 2006j)
22 OBCs (Other Backward Castes) and Muslims, particularly Mulayam Singh Yadav's 8 own Yadav 9 caste. It has made strong attempts to gain national status, by contesting Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections around the country, but it has been unsuccessful thus far. (Wikipedia 2006m) The Samajwadi Party is primary regional party based in Uttar Pradesh. Yadav derives a lot of his importance from the fact that the state elects the most number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. (Rediff.com 2004b)
8. Affiliation of the main political parties by the religion cleavage
This chapter will describe the affiliation to secularism or religions side of the political parties and the eventual impact on potential ethnic and religious violence or riots rising in selected Indian states.
8.1. Parties with secularism affiliation
Among the main political parties, which exist in India, the secular parties have power in states with a higher level of the education. As an example is state West Bengal, Kerela or Tamilnadu and Haryana. These states have different levels of industrialisation and urbanisation. The level of religious or ethnic minorities is also different, but generally, it is possible to say that there are large groups of Muslims. If we look at figures 1 and 2 in these, there is states is generally a lower level of religious or ethnic violence compared to other states with similar level of Muslim population. How can this result be explained?
In the previous named states, secular parties such as CPI(M) or INC have a great deal of political power. In West Bengal and Kerela the main power in government is the Communist party – CPI(M) and has been for more than 35 years (they have had strong power in both state parliaments and governments from 1969 in West Bengal and respectively in Kerela in1970). This party insist on secularism and supporting the minorities in their cultural life and education. Strict secularisation and non discrimination of all religious and ethnic groups help 8) Mulayam Singh Yadav (born November 22, 1939) is a politician in Uttar Pradesh, India. He has been repeatedly elected to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly since 1965 and is the current chief minister of the state. (Wikipedia 2006k) 9) Yadav is a Hindu caste which is referred to in ancient Hindu scriptures. They are among the few surviving ancient Indo Aryan kshatriya (Kshatriya is the title of the princely military order in the Vedic society. They are the warrior and ruling caste, in the varna system) clans known as panchjanya (Panchjanya, meaning five people, is the common name given to five most ancient vedic kshatriya tribes.). (Wikipedia 2006s)
23 avoid politically motivated intolerance among religious communities and unwanted political support of religious cleavage on the side of government policy making. The connection between the number of religions riots and secular policy making can probably be found in West Bengal or Kerela (CPI(M) government) where the lowest number of riots and violence exists (see again the figure 1 and 2).
A similar situation is in the states where the Congress party lead the government, but the problem is in strict secular politics, which is sometime not followed by INC.
In India, secularism receives challenges from many fronts. Caste system and communalism are losing their credence, because of the spread of science and technology and communication, as well as liberal and progressive outlook. But on the contrary, caste system and communalism are getting a new lease of life because of the short sighted policies of power hungry politicians and the narrow outlook of the administrators and the leaders. Instead of proceeding on the path enunciated in the Constitution, the leaders fanned the communal and caste passions of the people, with a view to reap the harvest of votes and to achieve their partisan ends. The politicisation of caste and religion and pampering of communal leaders is causing great harm to the body politic of the nation. The time has come to strengthen the secular values, institutions and practices in an uncompromising manner and to accelerate the pace of change in India. The rise of communalism, caste system, obscurantism and fundamentalism are warning signals that whip up emotions and cause strife in the name of religion and caste threatening national integration and the very unity of the nation. (International Conference Souvenir 1990)
8.2. Parties with Hinduism affiliation
Professor Khan has been quoted in saying that Indian society is in the process of polarisation and Indian politics has reached a point where “two models have emerged before the electorate. The first model is represented by the BJP which is based on a communal ideology and the second is represented by a secular ideology shared by all other political parties... What they want is a Hindu nation, what they believe is in Hindutva.” (Rediff.com 1998) BJP is the biggest and main party which support the ideology of Hindutva and Hindu nationalism. In last Lok Sabha election this ideology went to the backcloth and the main election topics was economic growth, but if we look deeply at the programme we can still find the emphasis on the Indian nationalism and ideology of Hindutva.
24 The victory of BJP ideology of Hindutva was the decision of the Indian Supreme Court. In a judgment the Supreme Court ruled that "no precise meaning can be ascribed to the terms 'Hindu', 'Hindutva' and 'Hinduism'; and no meaning in the abstract can confine it to the narrow limits of religion alone, excluding the content of Indian culture and heritage. (Wikipedia 2006f) This gave the hallmark of legitimacy to the main stream of Indian nationalism ideology.
Shiv Sena (meaning Army of Shiva, referring to Shivaji) is a right wing political party. The Sena's ideology is based on the concepts of 'Bhumiputra' (Marathi for "Sons of Soil") and Hindutva or Hindu nationalism. However, in recent times, the Sena has laid more emphasis on Hindutva. In the 13th Lok Sabha (1999 2004), it had 15 (out of 545) members. During that period, the party was part of the government coalition at the national level. The Sena started placing more weight on the Hindutva ideology in the 1970s as the hallmark 'sons of the soil' cause was weakening. (Rediff.com 2004a) With the shift to Hindutva, Thackeray increasingly made some controversial moves against Muslims and neighbouring Pakistan. The party has ruled the state in coalition with the Bharatiya Janata Party. (Wikipedia 2006o)
8.3. Parties with Islamic (Muslim) affiliation
Indian Muslim nationalism refers to the political and cultural expression of nationalism, founded upon the religious tenets and identity of Islam, of the Muslims of the Indian subcontinent. Some prominent Muslims politically sought a base for themselves, separate from Hindus and other Indian nationalists, who espoused the Indian National Congress. Muslim scholars, religious leaders and politicians founded the All India Muslim League in 1906. Muslims comprised 25 % to 30 % of (pre partition) India's collective population. Some Muslim leaders felt that their massive cultural and economic contributions to India's heritage and life merited a significant role for Muslims in a future independent India's governance and politics.
India has a population of over 120 million Muslims spread across many states including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh. It is the third largest home to Muslims and the second largest home to Shia Muslims (after Iran and before Pakistan). Since partition, there has been a great deal of conflict within the various Muslim communities as to how to best function within the complex political and cultural mosaic that defines Indian politics in India today. Due to scare tactics by secular fundamentalist parties invoking an image of militant
25 Hinduism, many Muslims ally themselves with Congress and other left wing parties in the hopes of securing rights and privileges within the nation state. This approach, driven primarily by the elite and educated classes is driven both by an alienation from "Islamic" Pakistan and realism. On the other hand it has estranged less privileged Indian Muslims who identify more with religious Hindus and believe that the Indian state has an obligation to enforce universal religious sensitivities. Despite this, many common Muslims will vote and identify with Congress for welfare support and a rejection of militant Hinduism. The recent economic policies of the left wing coalition within the Indian Parliament has challenged this, and governmental overtures to attract right wing Hindus has played a role in increasing support for the BJP, especially in the Southern states. All in all, Muslim perseverance in sustaining their continued advancement along with Government efforts to focus on Pakistan as the primary problem for Indian Muslims in achieving true minority rights has created a sometimes extreme support for Indian nationalism,giving the Indian State much needed credibility in projecting a strong secular image throughout the rest of the world. (Wikipedia 2006h)
Parties which support Muslim communities and their rights mostly cooperate with INC, because its secular politics support these communities and give to Muslim the advantages in powerful oppostition of Hindu nationalism and Hindutva. Now these parties are in coalition with INC – coalition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the present ruling coalition of political parties in India. (UPA was formed soon after the 2004 Lok Sabha elections). Other parties try to cooparete with other secular parties sucha as CPI(M).
Indian Union Muslim League is an Islamic nationalist political party in India. The chief support base of the party falls inside northern Kerala.
All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimeen (All India Council of the Union of Muslims) is a political party in India that was formed to represent the Muslim population of Andhra Pradesh. The stronghold of AIMIM is the old city of Hyderabad and Muslim dominated areas of Andhra Pradesh though it has its units in some parts of Mahrashtra and Karnatka also.
All India Muslim Forum is a Muslim political party in India. The president is Nihaluddin and the general secretary is Dr. M. K. Sherwani. The Forum is staunchly opposed to the Hindutva nationalism of BJP. The Forum has collaboration with Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) Liberation.
26 8.4. Parties with other religion, ethnic or community affiliation
SP and BSP are parties which are out of the main stream affiliation. They are regional parties based in Uttar Pradesh, but BSP have tried to enlarge their base to other Indian states. The electoral base is among underprivileged groups of Indian society as has been already mentioning lower. The main support has been found among Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes and they also try to find the electoral among other religious minorities (Muslims), which can give them the voting advantage.
9. Analysis of the political programmes and the their particular issues in the context of religion and secularisation
This part analyses and describes the programme for minorities in India and their key characteristics of the main relevant political parties programme.
9.1. Indian National Congress
Congress party has tried to follow the secular attitude in governing and its political programme. Secularism is part of the ideology of the party. In the Congress programme it is possible to find some points about minorities and its positive discrimination approach.
“The Congress believes in affirmative action for all religious and linguistic minorities. The Congress has provided for reservations for Muslims in Kerala and Karnataka in government employment and education on the grounds that they are a socially and educationally backward class. The Congress is committed to adopting this policy for socially and educationally backward sections among Muslims and other religious minorities on a national scale. The Congress also pledges to extend reservations for the economically deprived persons belonging to communities that are at present not entitled to such reservations.
The Congress will adopt all possible measures to promote and maintain communal peace and harmony, especially in sensitive areas. It will enact a comprehensive law on social violence in all its forms and manifestations, providing for investigations by a central agency, prosecution by Special Courts and payment of uniform compensation for loss of life, honour and property.
The Congress commits itself to amending the Constitution to establish a Commission for Minority Educational Institutions that will provide direct affiliation for minority professional
27 institutions to central universities. Special steps will be taken to spread modern and technical education among women in minority communities particularly.” (INC 2004)
9.2. Bharatiya Janata Party
The main concept of the ideology on which BJP has been built is Cultural nationalism, which is called Hindutva. The BJP wants to take its inspiration from the history and civilisation of India. For this party means “Indian nationhood stems from a deep cultural bonding of the people that overrides differences of caste, region, religion and language. We believe that Cultural Nationalism for which Indianness, Bharatiyata and Hindutva are synonyms is the basis of our national identity” . (BJP 2004) The BJP really helps the Supreme Court decision about Hindutva that it is not a religious or exclusivist concept. It is inclusive, integrative, and abhors any kind of discrimination against any section of the people of India on the basis of their faith. (BJP 2004)
It has also been written in the BJP Vision document 2004 that BJP “appeals to the religious and social leaders of the Hindu and Muslim communities to speed up the process of dialogue and bring it to an amicable and early fruition. We hope that these efforts will succeed in heralding a new chapter of amity in Hindu Muslim relations and fortify national integration“ . (BJP 2004) Generally it is possible to say that BJP is a conservative political organisation. It sees itself as rising to the defence of indigenous culture, and Indian religious systems which include Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism. To many Hindu nationalists, Bharat is a Hindu Rashtra, literally a Hindu nation. According to BJP, this definition does not exclude Muslims, Christians, or other minorities. Hindu Rashtra is portrayed as cultural nationalism and Hinduism as the entire complex system of culture, history, faith and worship that have evolved in India over the past 5,000 years. In the political language of Hindu nationalists, all the people of India, their culture and heritage are "Hindu," which literally means "inhabitant of the land of the river Sindhu," the modern day Indus. The BJP has been accused of being a xenophobic, racist, and fascist organization by its opponents. Its supporters, on the other hand, argue that it is no more than a conservative, nationally oriented party which does not wish to polarise the country on communal (religious) grounds. (Wikipedia 2006a) BJP has promoted and supported an anti terrorist law, which they feel in its present form could be misused to harass minority groups such as Muslims. (Satish 2002)
28 9.3. Communist Party of India (Marxist)
CPI(M) is a communist party traditionally on the side of secularisation of society and politics. In religious issue and in ethnic and religious violence, this party sees the problem with social and economic background. They see the problem in equal opportunities and in discrimination.
A passage is written in the CPI(M) programme about the attitude to this problematic issue: “ In conditions of capitalist exploitation the guaranteed rights to the minorities provided in the Constitution are also not implemented. There is the lack of equal opportunities and discrimination against the Muslim minorities both in the economic and social sphere. Communal riots and violent attacks against the Muslims have become a permanent feature. The RSS and its outfits constantly instigate hatred against the minorities and they target the Christian community also. This fosters alienation and insecurity among the minorities, which breeds fundamentalist trends and weakens the secular foundations. Minority communalism isolates the minorities and hampers the common movement of all oppressed sections. Defence of minority rights is a crucial aspect of the struggle to strengthen democracy and secularism. ” (CPI(M) 2006) As stated in the programme mentioned, the CPI(M) wants to solve the question of Muslim and other minorities group by invoking strong secular policy.
9.4. Bahujan Samaj Party
BSP is the party formed to represent religious minorities, those at the bottom of India's caste system. Fifteen per cent of upper castes dominate the rest of the common people, the party says. It aims to break the 'upper caste oppression' by using state power to uplift the downtrodden. (Rediff.com 2004c)
The founder of this party was Kanshi Ram, who wanted to mobilize members of his “own” ethnic category for the forwarding of his political goals. The principal salient categories that he could identify as his own were Ramdassia, Chamar 10 , Punjabi, Sikh and Scheduled Caste. Of these, the Scheduled Caste category was the only one that had a nationwide membership. His motivation for entering politics, furthermore, had to do specifically with the grievances of the Scheduled Castes. However, the population of Scheduled Castes is not sufficient to bring
10 ) Ramdassia – the Sikh’s Chamar occupational caste in Punjab; Chamar – (from the Sanskrit Charmakara) is a prominent occupational Dalit caste in India. Chamars were traditionally engaged in profession such as Leatherworking and Shoemaking. Chamars are among the biggest castes in India. In the Punjab, they are divided into various groups such as Ad dharmis, Ramdassias and Ravidasis. (Wikipedia 2006d)
29 about a victory in the struggle for power either at the centre or in any of the Indian states. Kanshi Ran resuscitated the term “Bahujan” 11 which literally means “majority” and popularized it. As he said: “Bahujan Samaj is comprised of Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and converted minorities.” (Chandra 2006: 144 148)
Chandra says that the specification of the groups, on which BSP has been targeted their political programme, has been based on ethnical principle. The term Scheduled Tribe refers to tribal populations that are eligible under the Indian Constitution for affirmative action in government employment, education, and representative institutions. Scheduled Tribes make up 8 percent of the population of India. The term Other Backward Classes (OBCs) refers, misleadingly, to a collection of subordinate caste categories identified by the government/appointed Mandal Commission as backward and therefore deserving of affirmative action in government employment. Although the census does not collect data on the population of OBCs, as they are now called, they are estimated to make up 52 percent of the Indian population. Finally, the term converted minorities refers to India’s religious minorities> Muslims, who make up 12 percent of the Indian population; Christians, who make up 2.34 percent; Sikhs, who make up 1.94 percent; and Buddhists, who make up 0.76 percent. The BSP refers to the Bahujan Samaj as constituting 85 percent of the population of India. The 85 percent figure, while not precise underlines its claim to speak for the majority of the Indian population. (Chandra 2006: 148 149)
The problem of BSP is that many voters from these groups have political preferences in other political parties and while ethnic and social groups focus on dividing any efforts of the party’s popularising among these communities.
The strength of the party is its succeeded effort in heading the BSP led coalition government in Uttar Pradesh after the last assembly election by marshalling the Dalits. The BSP's electoral performance disquieted the Samajwadi Party's Mulayam Singh Yadav. It is the BSP's aggressive moves that have made it a contender in UP politics along with the SP and BJP. With the growth of regional parties and the caste factor, the BSP can make further inroads in the country's political scenario. (Rediff.com 2004a)
11 ) Kanshi Ram defined this term as an inscriptive category consisting of a collection of subordinate ethnic categories, hitherto considered separate, that constitute a majority of the Indian population.
30 9.5. Samajwadi Party
SP is known to have socialist philosophy and is also on the side of populism. It is possible to see on Samajwadi Party’s slogans “Equality and Prosperity of all” and their opposition against communal forces. Another Samajwadi Party’s populist motto is “ SP is against favours a confederation of India Pakistan Bangladesh. ”. Party proclaims their trust in democratic socialism and opposes uncontrolled entry of multinational companies to India. The party believes that Agriculture, Small and Medium scale Industry is the backbone of Indian Economy and hence every assistance should be given to these sectors. All of these populist proclamations support the Indian nationalism and socialism background of politics. The main agendas for the last elections in 2004 was provision for reservation in jobs, medical and technical institutions; reconstitution of the Shanti Suraksha Bal; remove illiteracy amongst Muslims; creating more employment opportunities and removing poverty. (Samajwadi Party Mumbai web)
The strength of SP in last election in 2004 was that SP enjoys the support of the Yadav community. Its avowed objective of battling communal forces and Yadav's determination to defeat them has won it a large Muslim following as well, especially in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party is also wooing Thakurs 12 in a big way through general secretary Amar Singh 13 . The Samajwadi Party can bank upon the Yadavs, but has now to compete with the BSP and Congress for the support of Muslims and Thakurs. Secondly, Mulayam Singh Yadav 14 has got promises from leading industrialists to invest in Uttar Pradesh and create jobs. (Rediff.com 2004b)
SP has the election base built on minorities (also Muslims) and Schedule caste. It means that they have similar potential among voters as BSP has, but SP compared to BSP tries to find support among higher classes and higher castes. Although it could divide their potential as the party which support minorities as a socialist party.
12 ) Thakur, or Thakore, is an Indian feudal and colonial title in Hindi. (Wikipedia 2006q) 13 ) Amar Singh is a politician from the state of Uttar Pradesh. 14 ) Mulayam Singh Yadav is a politician in Uttar Pradesh. He has been repeatedly elected to the Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly since 1965 and is the current chief minister of the state.
31 10. Analysis of the election results on the federal level in relation to the main religious disorder and clashes
The essential question is what determines whether ethnic violence breaks out and whether the state will protect minorities or not? One response can be found in Wilkinson hypothesis that democratic states protect minorities when it is in their governments’ electoral interest to do so. Specifically, politicians in government will increase the supply of protection to minorities when either of two conditions applies: when minorities are an important part of their party’s current support base, or the support base of one of their coalition partners in a coalition government; or when the overall electoral system in a state is so competitive – in terms of the effective number of parties – that there is therefore a high probability that the governing party will have to negotiate or form coalitions with minority supported parties in the future, despite its own preferences. The necessity to engage in what Horowitz calls “vote pooling’ in order to win elections and maintain coalitions is what forces politicians to moderate their demands and offer protection to minorities. We can call it “the prospect of vote pooling with profit”. In India, vote pooling moderates even the behaviour of nationalist parties that have no minority support, as long as these parties are forced to form coalitions with parties that do rely on minority votes. (Wilkinson 2004: 7 8)
On the other hand, politicians in government will restrict the supply of security to minorities if they have no minority support and the overall levels of party competition in a state are so low that the likelihood of having to seek the support of minority supported parties in the future is very low.
Figure 3 shows the model of the parties’ competition and its impact on government policy making in the field of minorities and religious groups. As is showed in model A – three or more parties prevent the riots and care more about minorities. If we look at the example of India in the year 2002, we can see that this model worked in most Indian states e.g. Kerala, Bihar or Orissa, but model B works differently. The real competition among the parties usually focuses on the main parties, which have the real chance to get a higher majority number of votes and it is close to the bipolar system. We can find an example in four Indian states in the year 2002. Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan – these states are typical for model Bi. Another example is Gujarat which is a representative of model Bii with real bipolarism, where the election competition focused only on BJP and INC. The year 2002 was selected as an example, because large scale riots took place within this year – especially
32 with the major terrorist attacks on Gujarat and Kashmir and the tension between Pakistan and India was really high and escalated the negative atmosphere between Hindus and Muslims.
These named states are also the good example of ENPV measurement. The total number of parties competing in the Gujarat and Madhy Pradesh state elections of 1998 (17 parties and 41 parties, respectively), we would have a misleading impression of the true level of party competition in these states, because both states in 1998 were in fact two horse races between the BJP and the Congress, with the BJP and Congress obtaining 93.4 % of the total votes between them in Gujarat and 80 % in Madhya Pradesh. The effective number of votes measure (ENPV) of 2.97 parties for Gujarat and 3.09 parties for Madhya Pradesh. (Wilkinson 2004: 8 9)
Figure 3 The theoretical relationship between party competition and a state's response to antiminority polarization and violence (ENVP = effective number of parties 15 )
Source: Wilkinson 2004: 139 15 2 ) The formula for the effective number of parties is ENPV = 1/ ∑vi , where vi is vote share of the ith party. This widely used measure weights parties with a higher vote share more heavily than those parties with a very low vote share, thus providing a better measure of the “real” level of party competition than if we were to simply count the total number of parties competing in a state. (Wilkinson 2004: 7)
33 10.1. Lijphart’s theory of consensual democracy and their indication in the Indian political system
If we look deeply at it and compare it with Arend Lijphart’s theory of consensual democracy (consociationalism), we can find some significant similarities. This type of democracy has some assumption to prevent the religions conflicts. Consociationalism is distinct from pluralism in that it is meant to apply to societies in which few memberships cut across ethnic or religious cleavages. In contrast, recall that the distinguishing aspect of Dahl’s theory of pluralism, at least with respect social cohesion, is that plural societies rely on individuals holding multiple memberships and, especially, memberships that cut across societal cleavages. According to political pluralism, stability is ensured by the overlapping nature of group memberships and by the inability of any group to dominate all the others. Overlapping memberships are precisely the component that is absent from the segmented societies on which Lijphart focuses. Consociationalism is meant to apply where cleavages are deep and unmediated by multiple memberships. To manage conflict in such societies, Lijphart argues, requires using four mechanisms of governance: segmental autonomy, a grand coalition of governing elites, proportional representation and mutual vetoes. Consociations are systems characterized by these four distinguishing features. (Eisenberg 2006) Look at the precondition of consensual democracy:
A) Grand coalition – Elites of each pillar come together to rule in the interests of society because they recognise the dangers of non cooperation.
B) Mutual veto – Consensus among the groups is required to confirm the majority rule. Mutuality means that the minority is unlikely to successfully block the majority. If one group blocs another on some matter, the latter are likely to block the former in return.
C) Proportionality – Representation is based on population. If one pillar accounts for 30% of the overall society, then they occupy 30% of the positions on the police force, in civil service, and in other national and civic segments of society.
D) Segmental autonomy – Creates a sense of individuality and allows for different culturally based community laws. (Wikipedia 2006e)
If we look at the points above and compare it with the situation in India we can find some analogy, but also some dissimilarity which this system comes near to a system of two main parties. Try to compare these models with the Indian political system. As stated in Lijphart’s definition of consensual democracy, we need to find the similarities from point A – D.
34 It is also possible to find grand coalition in India, but it is not the coalition which can include parties supported by different communities. Especially on the federal level the parties make the alliances, which oppose each other. Now, we can find National Democratic Alliance (NPA) and United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which are from two main blocs – nationalism versus secularism. It should also be mentioned that we can find coalition on a state level, in which nationalist’s or communities’ parties cooperate with pure secular parties. The state level can also show the situation where the system of two main parties – bipartism with strong bipolarism – can be found in state Gujarat in 2002.
Mutual veto – the main parties have been supported by the smaller one, which are usually based on the state level, but they also have their own ideology. Coalitions in India are now mainly based on cleavage nationalism versus secularism. In the states, where the parties cannot get majority of votes they have to depend on communities’ votes and their national rhetoric against the minorities are not as culminated as in the system of two main parties. It means that the smaller parties can successfully block the majority, especially INC depending on the votes of Indian minorities.
Proportionality – The electoral system of the two chambers of Indian Parliament have a combination of two voting system. It is a combination of plurality ('first past the post') electoral system and proportionality system with Single Transferable Vote. The 'first past the post' system in Lok Sabha is a heritage of British rule and their Westminster’s parlamentarism. India with its federalism and wild spectrum of the population – communities, minorities and castes system, generate a big spectrum of the electoral results – especially in states with various structure of population and regional parties (Figure 4). The main division is between BJP and INC. Where BJP and INC operate as the biggest and two dominant parties the problem with religious violence seems to be worse (e.g. state Gujarat), but where it is necessary, governing cooperation in coalition, the tension is less and parties show more respect for the minorities (Figure 3). Parties as well as their candidates (especially the secular one) try to respect the structure of the population (e.g. the quotas for Untouchables, Muslims etc.). This helps to maintain the proportionality in 'first past the post' system. It can also be said that the real proportionality does not exist in the Indian political system as it can generate the previously mentioned problems with community riots.
Segmental autonomy – India has a secular democracy with many religions and other minorities. Federalism helps to support the system, where the segmental autonomy can function, which is based on languages. The problem is with Untouchables and religious
35 minorities, but the government tries to help improve their position by positive discrimination in the public governmental sector. After fifty years of independence India maintains a constitutional commitment to secularism. However, the practice of secularism in India is now increasingly under attack. In the quest for electoral advantage, the once dominant Congress Party, made a series of choices that compromised India's secular ethos. These choices enabled the explicitly anti secular Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to dramatically expand its political base through the pursuit of a blatantly anti secular and majoritarian political agenda. In recent years, as a direct consequence of the BJP's rhetoric and policies, a range of religious minorities have been subjected to discrimination and violence. The growing electoral strength of hitherto disenfranchised groups, the existence of institutions committed to secularism and the continuing secular constitutional dispensation offer some hope for sustaining the secular order in India. (Ganguly 2003)
10.2. Parties’ coalitions and the evolution of election results depended on the main society cleavage
If we look at the diagram 6, we can see some significant trends which support the hypothesis that the number of parties in the states has the impact on the potential emergence of the violence and communal riots. This is the assumption which works in the states, but the federal level of Indian politics has another dimension which depends on the situation in all states. It means that the riots and violence have secondary impact on the parties’ structure in government. This implies that the growth of communal violence is a reflection of the increasing of nationalism on a federal level but it is slower on a state level. The federal level of party politics is not so polarised, because the main party in government often needs the support of particular small parties. E.g. the BJP cooperated with small parties Shiv Sena – from state Maharasthra; Janata Dal (United) – from states Bihar, Jharkhand, and other states; Biju Janata Dal – from states Orissa; Trinamool Congress – from states West Bengal; Shiromani Akali Dal – from state Punjab; Nagaland People's Front – from state Nagaland; Mizo National Front – from state Mizrowam in coalition National Democratic Alliance (NDA). These parties have similar focus on nationalism, but they also reflect some minorities in society, which give them the big support. E.g. BSP or SP (as the leading parties in Utar Pradesh) is the ideology oponent of BJP, but the deep and mutual hostility between the BSP and the Samajwadi Party has led the BSP into government with its erstwhile ideological enemies, the Bharatiya Janata Party. As previously mentioned these parties try to find votes
36 among the minorities – such as Scheduled Castes and OBCs and other religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians which is not the in the popular index of BJP and their ideology of Hindutva. This helps to reduce the national rhetoric of BJP, because they feel that they cannot achieve their goals in the multiparty system without cooperation from the political and ideological spectrum. The dependence of BJP on other parties in some Indian states or also on the federal level of governing helps to keep the secular model of democracy and reduce big controversies among the main religion groups (such as Muslims and Hindus).
Diagram 1 Lok Sabha general election result the particular election year Note: in the year 1977 INC was regarded as a party named Indian National Congress (Indira)
50 49,01
45 42,69 40 39,53
35,66 35 34,52
30 28,8 28,3 25,82 26,53 25 25,59 23,75 22,16 20 20,29 20,04 election (inresult %)
15
11,36 10 7,74 5,66 6,24 6,55 6,14 6,12 5,4 5,4 5 4,29 5,87 5,33 2,07 4,93 4,32 4,67 4,16 1,8 3,28 3,76 0 1977 1980 1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 Lok Sabha general election year
INC BJP CPI(M) BSP SP Source: Indian elections web
United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is the present ruling political coalition in India, which was formed after the last Lok Sabha elections. In this coalition we can find the parties, which usually have the secular political programme, but some of them have minorities and religious affiliation. These parties can be found in alliance: Indian National Congress (INC) as the leader of the coalition; Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD); Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK); Nationalist Congress Party (NCP); Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK); Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS); Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM); Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
37 (MDMK); Lok Jan Shakti Party (LJNSP); Indian Union Muslim League (IUML); Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party (JKPDP); Republican Party of India (Athvale) (RPI(A)); Republican Party of India (Gavai) (RPI(G)); All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimen (AIMIM); Kerala Congress (KC). The strength of this coalition is their secularism, as this can help find other support among the lefty’s parties, which support the secularism as the main political principle (e.g. CPI(M)).
Diagram 2 Lok Sabha general election result between BJP a INC
50 47,8 48,1
45 45 44,7 43,7 42,7 40 40,8 39,5
36,5 35 34,5
30 28,8 28,3 25,8 26,5 25 25,6 23,8 22,2 20 20,3
election (inresult %) 20,1
15
11,5 10 9,4 7,4 7,4 6,4 5 5,9 3,1 0 1952 1957 1962 1967 1971 1977 1980 1984 1989 1991 1996 1998 1999 2004 Lok Sabha general election year
INC BJP Source: Indian elections web The separation of the political scene in India on the main political blocs means that we can characterise the Indian system as a multiparty system with two main moderate ideology based on nationalism or secularism. It means that this system has the principle of multipatism and consensual democracy, which is supported mostly on a federal level by the two main coalitions or by the multireligioned and multicoloured alliance on the state level of governing. Although some principal also supports the hypothesis that the religious clashes in India generate the bipolar system, which is represented by the two big and dominant parties in two coalitions – INC in UPA and BJP in NDA. This in turn means the nationalism versus secularism. The election results and the numbers of the vote’s genesis divided between INC
38 and BJP is show in diagram 2 (and also diagram 1). Diagram 3 can be an indication of how strong nationalism is in Indian society and the rate of development in the year following its independence. Both diagrams show the conflict between the two blocs and two parties, which are now the main representatives of these two streams (nationalism and secularism). Both sides now have similar proportions and it shows that nationalism in Indian society has become stronger than before. This separation generates religious conflicts in situations (mostly only on the state level), where INC and BJP have the monopoly in this bipolar conflict among them which it generates bipartism (or multipartism with two big parties and other smaller which are dependent on them). This was the example of Gujarat, where the main conflict and violence focused in 2002. The bipolar fighting for the power helps to support the clashes in society and assists with political fight before the election.
Diagram 3 Assembly general election result and vote’s distribution among main parties’ groups Note: In 1977 it was not possible to distinguish the vote shares of non Congress parties The Janata Party (People's Party in Hindi) was an Indian political party and then rainbow coalition of diverse political groups; some ex members have taken part in Janata Dal and BJP
70
60 59,4
50 50,1 46,4 47,3
40 37 39,5 38 37,4 37,9
30,1 31,5 35 votes (%) votes 30
25,5 24,37 28,2
20 22,2 18,2 17,2 13,5 14,3 10,9 10 9,2 6,4 6,2
0 1952 1957 1962 1967 1969 1974 1980 1985 1989 1991 assembly election year
Congress Vote (%) Hindu Nationalist Vote (%) Janata or Janata Type Parties Vote (%) Source: Varshney 2002: 155
39 If we compare the number of the riots with the progression of the election result during the years we can find some trends (Diagrams 1, 2, 4 and 5).
A) The number of the religion’s and community’s riots and violence have been increasing (in average) during the years.
B) The numbers of the votes for the parties with nationalism affiliation and with Hindutva ideology have been increasing during the years.
Diagram 4 Hindu Muslim Riots 1950 1995
Source: Varshney 2002: 95
40 Diagram 5 Average number of riots in the major Indian states, 1967 1993 (data from Bureau of Police Research and Development) Average number of riots
year Source: Chhibber 1999: 189 C) From multiparty political system (on the federal level) with predominant party the system has changed to multiparty system with two dominant parties. The trend continues and the system has had the factors of bipolarism in some Indian states (Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh etc.). These trends are also on the federal level where are two main alliance – UPA and NDA, but there are still some lefty’s parties (e.g. CPI(M)) out of the bipolar political fights.
41 Figure 4 Electoral results and the winners in India regions in Lok Sabha general election in 2004
CPI(M)
Source: Indian elections web
11. Analysis of the election results in regions with large and frequent religious conflicts
The system of the Indian general election to Lok Sabha is 'first past the post'. This has given for regional politics and regional parties in particular states great importance. This chapter will analyse selected states (Gujarat, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh as the main example of three types of party system and three poles of community violence) and their election on state level in the context of community violence and on the minorities’ proportion. As figure 5 shows in
42 2002 was a big problem with community violence and riots in the states with a low number of effective political parties and also with bigger share of minorities. In 2002 where almost in every state large scale riots broke out, the effective number of parties were around 2. The extent of these riots was bigger than in other states (Figure 5). The aim of this chapter is to find links between the number of effective parties and community violence.
11.1. Who has the profits from religion and communal violence? Gujarat example
Who can really profit from the communal and religion violence? The hypothesis is that the main profit is on the side of nationalist parties such as BJP which can get more votes in the next election. These parties offer the easy way how to solve the religion’s problem and also want to show that they are on the side of majority, which is the ‘moral and historical power’ in the conflict. Parties as BJP have also the main electorate from this majority. If we look at the diagram 4, we can see that grow of the community riots started in 80s and raise similarly with the popularity of Hindutva and BJP (diagram 2 and 3). We can look at the example of the state Gujarat in 2002. There was the situation clearly than in other states, because the election fight was focused on two big parties – BJP an INC. Gujarat was also the most affected state in India by religions disorder.
Table 7 The Gujarat Assembly Election Results in 1998 (Total seats: 182) Party Contestants Won % of votes Congress 179 53 34.85 Bharatiya Janata Party 182 117 44.81 Others 115 12 20.34 Source: Newindpress.com 1998
Table 8 The Gujarat Assembly Election Results in 2002 (Total seats: 182) Party Contestants Won % of votes Congress 180 51 49.85 Bharatiya Janata Party 181 126 39.28 Others 628 4 10.87 Source: Rediff.com 2002
43 Gujarat witnessed several more riots since 1969, in 1981, in 1985, in 1990, in 1992 93 and also the biggest in 2002 and several other riots in between. According to the "Times of India" report under Madhav Singh Solanki 16 who was chief minister on three occasions, 276 people died in 117 incidents of mob violence. Under Amarsingh Chaudhuri 17 , 582 persons died in 413 incidents of violence. And under Chimanbhai Patel 18 , who was chief minister twice, 563 persons died in 370 incidents of violence. (Engineer 2006) In comparation with these facts the report written by Human Rights Watch said that during communal riots in 2002 that left as many as 2,000 Muslims dead. The riots occurred after some Muslims allegedly attacked a train carrying Hindu pilgrims and activists. One carriage caught fire and fifty nine Hindus were killed in the blaze. In retaliation, Hindu extremist mobs, often with police participation and complicity, killed hundreds of Muslims and displaced thousands. The report also said that the Gujarat state government, led by Chief Minister Narandra Modi of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), not only failed to take appropriate action to prevent the violence, but has since failed to properly investigate the crimes committed. It has consistently sought to impede successful prosecutions of those allegedly involved in the massacres, leading the Supreme Court and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to intervene on several occasions. (Human Rights Watch 2004)
The BJP, for many years in opposition against the erstwhile ruling Congress Party, has defined the terms in which this split public can be reconstituted. They have aligned their national politics with the more communal campaigns at the local level, using the power of the religious image to bypass the gulf in language and literacy. Simultaneously, the inability of their opponents to bridge this gap has been critical for their success. In the process, they have come to dominate the rhetorical field of politics. In a poor country where Hindus are 80 per cent of the population, arguments for state protection of minorities have been hard pressed to withstand Hindu chauvinism’s assault. Deliberately engineered riots against Muslims have been an indispensable tool in this connection. Together with vicious rumour mongering, which a state government is well placed to carry out unopposed, fear and suspicion resulting from violence project a deeper divide than actually exists between the religious communities. (Rajagopal 2006)
16 ) Madhav Singh Solanki is a leader of Indian National Congress party and a former External affairs minister of India and a former chief minister of Gujarat. 17 ) Amarsinh Chaudhary was an Indian politician from INC. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 1985 to 1989. 18 ) Chimanbhai Patel is a former chief minister of Gujarat state in India from INC. He served in that office from 1973 to 1974 and from 1990 to 1994.
44 Figure 5 Reported precipitating events and deaths during the February April 2002 communal violence and patterns of party competition
Source: Wilkinson 2004: 159
45 Diagram 6 Total Deaths per Year, Gujarat, 1980 1995
400
350
300
250
200 killed
150
100
50
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 year
killed trend Source: Varshney 2002: 99
If we look at table 7 and 8, the nationalistic politics help BJP to win the Gujarat election. In comparison with those killed in riots, indicated on figure 5, we can see the growth of BJP’s power is connected with the rise in community violence in the state Gujarat. We can also see that during the 80s and beginning of 90s a fast increasing level of violence during these years.
If we also compare the election result in 2002 to the State Assembly and the number of deaths during the religious disorder in Ahmedabad and other part of Gujarat we can see that BJP profited from the violence more than INC. INC got votes from minorities and the election result in percentage increased, but they lost some seats in State Assembly because of the 'first past the post' system. INC was supported by non Gujarati citizens and by minorities, who also supported this party in 1998. The impact of the riots was between the members of Hindu majority which supported BJP more than INC. On the other hand, smaller parties lost many votes.
Another result of the election is also in the supporting of the bipartism and bipolarism in Gujarat. The behaviour of the voters inclined to these two parties (INC and BJP) and this had the impact on stronger bipolarise Gujarati society which was also supported by the electoral system. It means that BJP in the state of Gujarat is not dependent on smaller parties or on the
46 minorities (as we can see in Uttar Pradesh (Chapter 9.5) or on the federal level with coalition NDA) and can easily build its Hindutva ideology.
11.2. What is different in peaceful Indian states? Kerala example
Kerala is a state which has a different political situation compared to that of Gujarat. Both states have similar religious community population structures. The differences in structure of the population in rural or urban area as well as the in literacy rate in Kerala which is the highest in India (around 91% in Kerala and around 70% in Gujarat (Census of India 2001 )). Kerala is a more rural state compared to a more industrialised Gujarat.
Diagram 7 Total Deaths per Year, Kerela, 1980 1995
200
150
100 killed
50
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 year
killed trend Source: Varshney 2002: 102
47 Table 9 Results of the 1996 Kerala Assembly Election
Party Contestants Won % of votes Indian National Congress 94 37 30,43 Communist Party of India Marxist 72 40 24,41 Communist Party of India 22 18 7,88 Muslim League 23 13 7,42 Bharatiya Janata Party 128 0 5,48 Janata Dal 13 4 4,12 Kerala Congress Mani 10 5 3,18 Kerala Congress 10 6 3,10 Indian Congress Socialist 9 3 2,49 Revolutionary Socialist Party 6 5 2,07 Janadhipathya Samrakshna Samithi 5 1 1,54 Kerala Congress Jacob 4 2 1,14 Kerala Congress Balakrishna Pillai 2 1 0,64 Independents 636 1 2,38 Source: Kerala Assembly
The election results shows that Kerala is traditionally a multipartism coalition government (see table 9 and 10 and compare with diagram 6 and 7). The dominance of some parties is not as strong as in Gujarat. Bipolarism does not exist, but strong multipolarism. The strong alliances are divided into the three main stream – socialist and communist blocks led by CPI(M) and middle left block led by Congress. The three blocks are BJP and their partners and they are not as strong in Kerala as in Gujarat. In Kerala the left orientation of the politics and strong secularism helps with the preventing of communal violence and hindering the growth of nationalism and Hindutva ideology. The comparison of the states Gujarat and Kerala helps support the hypothesis that the two party system and the low number of the effective parties are blamed for the riots and clashes among majority and minority of the population. On the other hand, the multipartism help prevent communal violence. Here we should also take into account other variables, such as the literacy rate and the rural environment. The cities and higher concentration of the population can increase the chance at community disorder.
48 Table 10 Results of the 2001 Kerala Assembly Election
Party Contestants Won % of votes United Democratic Front (UDF) 140 99 49.05 Indian National Congress – Indira 88 63 31.40 Indian Union Muslim League 23 16 8.00 Kerala Congress – Mani 11 9 3.54 Janadhipatya Samrakshana Samithi 5 4 1.78 Revolutionary Socialist Party 4 2 1.37 Bolshevik Kerala Congress Jacob 4 2 1.32 Communist Marxist Party 3 1 0.92 Kerala Congress – Balakrishna 2 2 0.72 Pillai Left Democratic Front 140 40 43.70 Communist Party of India (M) 74 24 23.85 Communist Party of India 24 7 7.70 Janata Dal – Secular 12 3 3.48 Kerala Congress – Joseph 10 2 2.90 National Congress Party 9 2 2.60 Revolutionary Socialist Party 6 2 1.71 Bharatiya Janata Party 123 0 5.02 BJP Allies 7 0 0.06 Independents 266 1 2.16 Source: Kerala Assembly
11.3. Why Uttar Pradesh is not peaceful?
Northern Indian states in general and Uttar Pradesh in particular, are generally believed to be the worst affected by communal violence. This is partly because, in popular and scholarly perceptions, the “worst” states are usually seen as those with the greatest total number of incidents and deaths. Therefore the most populous states, even if they have a lower per capita rate of deaths in communal riots, appear to be the most violent. Figure 5 shows the range of the communal violence in Indian states and cities. Uttar Pradesh is not the worst state in number of communal riots and deaths and it is (with population of 175 million) the most populated state in India and fifth in the world. If we compare it with Gujarat which has the highest per capita rate of deaths in communal incidents, at around 117 per million of urban population – Uttar Pradesh has only 43 deaths per million. Clearly, communalism is not primarily a northern Indian problem; it is also a serious issue for western India. Indeed, the
49 western state Gujarat not only has a greater per capita rate of deaths and incidents but also a larger number of total deaths in riots than do Uttar Pradesh. Although Gujarat has high levels of deaths in communal incidents, a look at the state level data for Gujarat over time (Diagram 6) in comparison with that for Uttar Pradesh (Diagram 8) suggests that there are significant qualitative differences in the levels of violence in Uttar Pradesh that may, at one level, justify that popular perceptions of them as the most communally violent state. (Varshney 2002: 96 98)
Gujarat’s riots are not consistently high: long periods of peace alternate with period of extremely high violence (Diagram 6). Either Gujarat does not have riots, or if it does, the violence reaches very high levels quickly. Contrariwise, the history of communal violence in Uttar Pradesh is much more consistent. There are more years of violence in this state then of peace. Kerala is, on the other hand, peaceful state. (Varshney 2002: 98 100)
Diagram 8 Total Deaths per Year, Uttar Pradesh, 1980 1995
250
200
150 killed
100
50
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 year
killed trend Source: Varshney 2002: 102
What could be the reason behind the difference in the violence level? In Uttar Pradesh is higher level on the number of effective political parties – a bit over 4 (Figure 5). Uttar Pradesh parties make the coalition among each other.
50 Table 11 Results of the 2002 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election
Party Contestants Won % of votes Bharatiya Janata Party 320 88 20,08 Bahujan Samaj Party 401 91 23,06 Communist Party of India (M) 6 2 0,13 Indian National Congress 402 25 8,96 Samajwadi Party 390 143 25,37 Janata Dal (U) 16 2 0,58 Janata Party 23 1 0,27 Rashtriya Lok Dal 38 14 2,48 Natural Law Party 130 1 0,71 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) 21 1 0,24 Independents/Others 3034 28 14,50 Source: Election Commission of India
Table 12 Results of the 1996 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election
Party Contestants Won % of votes Bharatiya Janata Party 414 174 32,52 Bahujan Samaj Party 296 67 19,64 Communist Party of India (M) 11 4 0,77 Indian National Congress 126 33 8,35 Samajwadi Party 281 110 21,80 Janata Dal 54 7 2,56 Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) 77 1 0,59 Independents/Others 2093 24 9,43 Source: Election Commission of India
The main political party in Uttar Pradesh is SP and then BJP (Table 11 and 12). In the past both of them had made the coalition with BSP or other smaller parties. Congress can be characterised as a party in the middle of the political spectrum. Nationalists cannot be as radical as in Gujarat, because they depend on their coalition partners. Also, the secularism cannot be as strict as in Kerala, because of the same reason. It means that the government tries to prevent the riots and communal violence, because of its dependence on minorities – especially SP, BSP and also INC.
In Uttar Pradesh effective multipartism with multipolarised political environment has been in existence. A strong party with strong secular programme does not exist, because the power and electoral potential of INC is divided between BSP and SP. BJP is not as strong as in
51 Gujarat and the main parties need for the government the coalition with other smaller parties. The real riots do not have a real impact on election result as we can see in Gujarat, because any party cannot destroy their own coalition potential.
52 Conclusion
In my work, I have tried to describe and analyse the impact of religious clashes on elections and political life, and conversely, in India. The religious clashes in India, and with this linked communal violence and riots, are big problem in present day India. India is the state of many religions, nations and other minorities, which generate many problems. There are many reasons, why the clashes among minorities and majorities religions and communities lead to disorder and violence. Some of them have been described as economic situation, growth of population and its structure, literacy rate and education etc.
The religious problems and the conflicts they cause also have an impact on the Indian nation and its ideology and generate many cleavages. India is a country of many languages and communities have problems with other cleavages in society, which have been described too.
For the understanding of the context of the political life is necessary to know the fundamental base of the politics, which is the election system and also have some basic information about Indian parties and about the system of the political parties as a whole. I have attempted to describe the main and the biggest political parties in present India. The effort was to divide these parties to main groups by political, national and religious affiliation and make analysis of the main political goals in their programme which has the attitude to religion.
The main part was found a significant point of the political and party life, which mainly impacts election and party behaviour in selected Indian state or on the federal level of government. This analysis also want to support the hypothesis that the consensus and secularism in politics can prevent riots and the effective number of the parties also has an impact on the number of communal violence. The main conclusion of this analysis and work as a whole is that the big influences on religious disorder and riots have a base in electoral system and in the number of effective parties. The higher number of the political parties in government and in political system has prevented the riots in society. Secondary, but not less important, is the economic, social and education background as well as the structure of the population.
53 List of literature and sources (Seznam literatury a pramenů)
Books: Chandra, K. (2004): Why Ethnic Parties Succeed Patronage and Ethnic Head Counts in India , Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Chhibber, K, P. (1999): Democracy without Associations – Transformation of the Party System and Social Cleavages in India , Michigan, University Michigan Press. Eco, Umberto (1997): Jak napsat diplomovou práci , Olomouc, Votobia. Gandhi, M. K. (2001): Hind Swarj or Indian Home Rule , Ahmedabad, Jitendra T Desai. Gandhi, M. K. (2002): An Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth , Ahmedabad, Navajivan Publishing House. Hansen, T. B. (2005) Violence in Urban India – Identity Politics, ‘Mumbai’, and the Postcolonial City, Delhi, Permanent Black. Singh, G. (2000): Ethnic Conflict in India – A Case Study of Punjab , London, MacMillan Press Ltd. Strnad, J. (eds., 2003): Dějiny Indie , Praha, Nakladatelství Lidové noviny. Varshney, A. (2002): Ethnic conflict and civic life, Hindus and Muslims in India , New Havan, Yale University Press. Wilkinson, I. S. (2004): Votes and Violence – Electoral Competition and Ethnic Riots in India, Cambridge , Cambridge University Press.
Internet: Bahujan Samaj Party (www.bahujansamajp.com). Bharatiya Janata Party (www.bjp.org). BJP (2004): Vision document 2004 , on line text (http://www.bjp.org/Press/mar_3104a.htm). Census of India 2001(http://www.censusindia.net). Constitution of India (http://indiacode.nic.in/coiweb/welcome.html). Country Studies (2006): Caste and Class , on line text (http://www.country studies.com/india/caste and class.html). CPI(M) (2006): CPI (M) Programme , on line text (http://cpim.org/documents/programme.htm#I). Das, S. (2004): Hindu Growth Rate Declines, on line text (http://hinduism.about.com/od/history/a/population.htm). Eisenberg, A. (2006): Pluralism, Consociationalism, Group Differentiated Citizenship and the Problem of Social Cohesion , on line text (http://www2.arts.ubc.ca/cresp/plurpap.pdf). Election Commission of India (http://www.eci.gov.in). Engineer, A. A. (2006): Gujarat: Laboratory of Hindutva , on line text (http://www.dawoodibohras.com/spotlight/riots.htm).
54 Ganguly, S. (2003): The Crisis of Indian Secularism , on line Journal of Democracy, Volume 14, No 4, October 2003, on line text (http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/toc/ jod14.4.html) Human Rights Watch (2004): Discouraging Dissent: Intimidation and Harassment of Witnesses, Human Rights Activists, and Lawyers Pursuing Accountability for the 2002 Communal Violence in Gujarat , on line text (http://hrw.org/backgrounder/asia/india/gujarat). INC (2004): Manifest 2004 , on line text (http://aicc.org.in/manifesto detail.php?id=31). Indian elections web (http://www.indian elections.com). Indian National Congress (www.congress.org.in). Indian National Congress web (http://www.congress i.com). International Conference Souvenir (1990): Promotion of Secularism , on line text (http://www.positiveatheism.org/india/s1990b01.htm). Jayal, N. G. (2006): New Book: Representing India: Ethnic Diversity and the Governance of Public Institutions , on line text (http://www.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/newsview.nsf/ (httpNews)/F3E550D779C037D3C12571C600463154?OpenDocument). Joseph, A. (2004): The Muslim growth rate and the media , on line text (http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/oct/med census.htm). Kerala Assembly (http://www.keralaassembly.org). Newindpress.com (1998): 1998 party wise position , on line text (http://www.newindpress.com/election/gujarat2002/1998_2.asp). Rajagopal, A. (2006): Gujarat’s ‘successful experiment’ , on line text (http://www.opendemocracy.net/content/articles/PDF/1056.pdf). Rediff.com (1998): 'Hindutva is a fascist agenda for one nation, one religion, one culture and one people' , on line text (http://www.rediff.com/news/1998/feb/17mussal.htm). Rediff.com (2002): The Gujarat Assembly Election Results , on line text (http://www.rediff.com/election/elecmain.htm). Rediff.com (2004a): Know you BSP , on line text (http://www.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/19espec1.htm). Rediff.com (2004b): Know your party: Samajwadi Party , on line text (http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/may/07espec2.htm). Rediff.com (2004c): Know your party: Shiv Sena , on line text (http://in.rediff.com/election/2004/apr/23espec3.htm). Samajwadi Party Mumbai web (www.samajwadipartymumbai.org). Satish J. (2002): Analysis: India's vulnerable BJP , on line BBC News, 25 February 2002, on line text (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1840418.stm). Srinivas, M. N. (1996): Social Stratification Among Muslims in India , on line text (http://www.anti caste.org/muslim_question/caste/bhatty_article.html). Wikipedia (2006a): Bharatiya Janata Party , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bharatiya_Janata_Party). Wikipedia (2006b): Brahmin , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmin). Wikipedia (2006c): Caste , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste).
55 Wikipedia (2006d): Chamar , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamar). Wikipedia (2006e): Consociationalism , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consociationalism). Wikipedia (2006f): Hindutva , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindutva). Wikipedia (2006g): Indian Electoral System , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elections_in_India#Indian_Electoral_System). Wikipedia (2006h): Indian Muslim Nationalism , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Muslim_Nationalism). Wikipedia (2006i): Kanshi Ram , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanshi_Ram). Wikipedia (2006j): Mayawati, on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayawati). Wikipedia (2006k): Mulayam Singh Yadav , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulayam_Singh_Yadav). Wikipedia (2006l): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rashtriya_Swayamsevak_Sangh). Wikipedia (2006m): Samajwadi Party , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samajwadi_Party). Wikipedia (2006n): Scheduled Castes and Tribes , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheduled_Castes_and_Tribes). Wikipedia (2006o): Shiv Sena , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shiv_Sena). Wikipedia (2006p): Single Transferable Vote , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_Transferable_Vote). Wikipedia (2006q): Thakur , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thakur). Wikipedia (2006r): Vishva Hindu Parishad , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vishva_Hindu_Parishad). Wikipedia (2006s): Yadav , on line text (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yadav).
56 List of tables (Seznam tabulek)
Table 1 Indian Religion's Profile ...... 10 Table 2 Percentage distribution of population by religious communities India 1961 to 2001 Census ...... 16 Table 3 Decadal growth rates of religious communities, India – 1961 to 2001 Census ...... 17 Table 4 Percentage of population by religious communities and their residence, India 2001 ...... 17 Table 5 Population by religious communities and residence India 2001 ...... 17 Table 6 Literacy rate (Persons) by religious communities and residence, India 2001 ...... 18 Table 7 The Gujarat Assembly Election Results in 1998 ...... 43 Table 8 The Gujarat Assembly Election Results in 2002 ...... 43 Table 9 Results of the 1996 Kerala Assembly Election ...... 48 Table 10 Results of the 2001 Kerala Assembly Election ...... 49 Table 11 Results of the 2002 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election ...... 51 Table 12 Results of the 1996 Uttar Pradesh Assembly Election ...... 51
57 List of figures (Seznam obrázků)
Figure 1 State variation in deaths in Hindu Muslim riots, 1977 1995...... 13 Figure 2 State variation in the number of Hindu Muslim riots, 1977 1995 ...... 14 Figure 3 The theoretical relationship between party competition and a state's response to antiminority polarization and violence...... 33 Figure 4 Electoral results and the winners in India regions in Lok Sabha general election in 2004...... 42 Figure 5 Reported precipitating events and deaths during the February April 2002 communal violence and patterns of party competition ...... 45
58 List of diagrams (Seznam grafů)
Diagram 1 Lok Sabha general election result the particular election year...... 37 Diagram 2 Lok Sabha general election result between BJP a INC ...... 38 Diagram 3 Assembly general election result and vote’s distribution among main parties’ groups...... 39 Diagram 4 Hindu Muslim Riots 1950 1995 ...... 40 Diagram 5 Average number of riots in the major Indian states, 1967 1993...... 41 Diagram 6 Total Deaths per Year, Gujarat, 1980 1995 ...... 46 Diagram 7 Total Deaths per Year, Kerela, 1980 1995 ...... 47 Diagram 8 Total Deaths per Year, Uttar Pradesh, 1980 1995 ...... 50
59 List of abbreviation (Seznam zkratek)
AIMIM – All India Majlis e Ittehadul Muslimen BJP – Bharatiya Janata Party BSP – Bahujan Samaj Party CPI (M) – Communist Party of India (Marxist) DMK – Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ENPV – effective number of parties INC – Indian National Congress IUML – Indian Union Muslim League J&K – Jammu and Kashmir JKPDP – Jammu & Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party JMM – Jharkhand Mukti Morcha KC – Kerala Congress LJNSP – Lok Jan Shakti Party MDMK – Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam NCP – Nationalist Congress Party NDA – National Democratic Alliance NHRC – National Human Rights Commission OBCs – Other Backward Classes PMK – Pattali Makkal Katchi RJD – Rashtriya Janata Dal RPI(A) – Republican Party of India (Athvale) RPI(G) – Republican Party of India (Gavai) RSS Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh SP – Samajwadi Party STV – Single Transferable Vote TRS – Telangana Rashtra Samithi UPA – United Progressive Alliance VHP – Vishwa Hindu Parishad
60