Source: © Adnan Abidi, Reuters. © Adnan Source: Nationalism Religious Nationalism in South Asia Building Nations, Breaking Communities? La Toya Waha 37 A recent series of violent acts raises the question of a relation between the rise of religious nationalism and communal violence in South Asia. Here, we will shed some light on the roots and development of religious nationalism in South Asia and its impact on social cohesion. Religious and national identities are considered movement in India – while also inspiring others powerful sources of political engagement. While all over the world. On the Indian subcontinent, religions promote unity among all creed-sharing three major streams of nationalism, represented believers, irrespective of their residence, nations by INC, All-India Muslim League, and Rash- claim a unity of those sharing characteristics, triya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS), represented such as language and ethnicity, within a par- different understandings of how the independ- ticular territory. Although the combination of ent Indian state should look, and mutually rein- religion and nationalism appears counterintui- forced their ideals in delineation to one another. tive – one transcending space, the other bound to it – the call for nation-states built upon (and for) a The INC comprised a variety of ideological, reli- religiously homogenous community in a particu- gious, linguistic, and ethnic groups, held together lar territory, separated from other religious com- by the shared pursuit of an independent and munities, shapes South Asia to this day. unified India. Spearheaded by Mahatma Gan- dhi and later by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress Reports about clashes between Muslims and sought to overcome caste, class, and religious Hindus in India, Buddhists and Muslims in Sri differences and to bring Indians of all kinds Lanka, and attacks on religious minorities and together in a unified Indian state. secularists in Pakistan and Bangladesh have raised the question of a relation between the rise The Muslim League built its ideal of a nation of religious nationalism and communal violence based on Islam. Inspired by the ideas out- in South Asia – and of the possibility to create lined in the “Two Nation Theory”, the League stable nations in religiously diverse societies in demanded a separate state for Muslims consist- general. ing of Muslim-majoritarian regions and states in British India.2 This essay seeks to answer the questions of where religious nationalism in South Asia comes The third important stream of nationalism from, why it has gained saliency in recent years, was represented by RSS, whose nation-ideal and which impact its rise has on communal vio- built on the concept of Hindutva. Among oth- lence and social cohesion. ers, Hindutva aimed at creating a Hindu state underpinned by Hindu values, culture, and an The Roots of South Asian Nationalism essentially Hindu nation. While the RSS did not directly engage in anti-British activities through- Neither nationalism in general nor religious out the independence struggle, it still promoted nationalism in particular is new to South Asia. Hindutva through social activities. The RSS Different streams of nationalism emerged in pushed for Hindutva despite its multiple bans resistance to British colonial rule1 already in by both colonial and post-colonial governments, the late 19th and early 20th century. One of the and brought it into electoral politics through its key institutions, the Indian National Congress associated political parties, first Bharatiya Jana ( INC), was founded as early as 1885, and essen- Sangh (BJS) and later Bharatiya Janata Party tially shaped the non-violent independence ( BJP). 38 International Reports 2|2020 The political manifestation and interplay of institutions. The unequal access to resources these diverging nationalisms divided British and power promoted the secessionist forces’ India. The horrors of partition – millions of peo- capacity to mobilise.5 In 1971, the violent repres- ple became refugees, hundreds of thousands sion of their claims led East Pakistan into an were killed, raped, or traumatised – continue to independence war. The Awami League (AL) shape the collective memories of people today. spearheaded the struggle, led by a university- The unresolved land dispute around Kashmir educated elite, staunchly convinced of a secular, has also led India and Pakistan into several culturally, and linguistically based nation-ideal.6 wars (1947, 1965 and 1999), and continues to The secular, cultural nationalism, which they reinforce the politicisation of identities based advocated, enabled them to turn their backs on on religion even decades after independence.3 Pakistan’s narrative of Islamic unity. Religious nationalism has therefore laid the foundation for the political boundaries of the Indian subcontinent as we know it today. The idea of a secular nation found its way into Bangladesh – From Religious Nationalism the constitution of newly to Secular Nationalism and Back? founded Bangladesh. Pakistan, comprising West and East Pakistan, separated from one another by Indian state ter- ritory, was built on the idea of Islam as a bind- With the AL, the idea of a secular nation found ing force between the culturally, ethnically, and its way into the constitution of newly founded linguistically diverse Muslims of British India. Bangladesh. Yet, for large parts of the popula- Religion retained its central role in the Paki- tion, the Bengali and Muslim identities were not stani state’s narrative and conception of the mutually exclusive.7 The AL’s secular political nation, although the role of Islam in the state’s elite had lost its central role following a series of institutions and governments was subject to var- assassinations and the establishment of military iation. It experienced its heyday during General rule. Paralleling the Islamisation of state and Muhammad Zia ul-Haq’s rule from 1977 to 1988, society in Pakistan, the military regime of Gen- who institutionalised the fusion of Islam and the eral Ziaur Rahman removed the constitution’s state and promoted the creation of an “ideal” ideals of secularism and socialism in 1977 – not Islamic society.4 even a decade after the separation from Paki- stan. Instead, there was a promotion of religious This concept of the nation, however, was con- politics and the invocation of faith in Allah, with tested by ethnic and linguistic nationalism, such the essence of the understanding of the nation, as that of the Balochis or Bengalis, as well as formerly built on ethnicity and language, hav- it is today by the pan-Islamic movement. The ing been replaced with Islam. In 1988, Islam demands for separate homelands and secession became the state religion.8 from Pakistan on ethnic lines fundamentally challenged – and still challenge – the legitimacy Following a return to more democratic govern- of a state and nation built on shared faith, and ance, the Awami League re-emerged as a dom- made defeating such claims a vital interest of inant political force in 2008, rallying support Pakistan’s political elite. based on secular Bangladeshi nationalism. In the meantime, the Bangladeshi society under- East Pakistan, predominantly populated by Ben- went a transformation. Foreign influences have gali-speakers, received little recognition, both encouraged identification with the transnational culturally and politically. While East Pakistan Islamic community, or umma, and promoted comprised more than half of the population, the Arabisation of Muslim identity. The AL’s they were not accordingly represented in state elite, once the bearer of secular Bangladeshi Nationalism 39 In rank and file: Hindu-nationalist groups experience increasing support. Source: © Amit Dave, Reuters. nationalism, has also adapted to the heightened India’s partition along religious lines. The Con- salience of Islam. While the AL revived its sec- gress leadership had sought to create a sense ular outlook in 2008, it made a drastic turn by of unity among the religious communities and promoting what has elsewhere been termed “a promoted the ideals of secularism and social- state-led Islamisation in Bangladesh”.9 ism to overcome cleavages within society. How- ever, the British rulers gave in to the League’s A fundamental shift from secular to religious demands, and split India into two independent nationalism due to the growing importance of states. While Muhammad Ali Jinnah became the religious sentiments has swayed Bangladeshi head of the Muslim state, Pakistan, Jawaharlal politics, turning the boundaries of the nation into Nehru became the Prime Minister of India and the boundaries of the Bangladeshi community the Congress remained a ruling party until 1977. adhering to Islam. Attacks on religious minorities and secular bloggers visibly increased as a result. The INC’s principles of secularism and social- ism became deeply ingrained in the early inde- India – From Secularism to Hindutva? pendent Indian state, shaping India’s political landscape. “The word ‘secular’ was inserted In contrast to the Muslim League’s religious into the preamble to the constitution in 1976. In nationalism, the INC fundamentally opposed Indian usage, it implies both a wall of separation 40 International Reports 2|2020 between the church and state, and an equal sta- Religious communities’ acceptance of the sec- tus to all religions.”10 Thus, despite building on ular state was incentivised by accommodating Indian religious traditions, the nationalism of measures such