Communalism and Politics in India by Ashis Nandy

By King Meera -
  1. Urban India is where the communal drama unfolds -> co-survival
  2. triggered by secular issues
  3. communal violence - political strategy; communal base; minority leaders
  4. hatred in public - cordial relations at a personal level - "Animosities are for politics." - tight compartmentalization of political and personal interactions.
  5. 250 million semi-modernized, semi-westernized middle classes = new emerging caste, which the BJP has tapped
  6. Fear of the "other" - as constructed by fundamentalists - prompts communal violence.
  7. Promoted by absence of ideology in politics - their community wants them in power (as with the Dalits or OBCs like Yadavs, Kurmis, Lodhs, and Mayawati or Laloo)
  8. NRIs fuel communalism - uprooted persons, who fear a loss of identity
  9. Communal politics remains a way of secularizing politics
  10. new kind of a political culture - free for all - minimum conformity with the laws
Possible questions:
  1. Why does Ashis Nandy cite the story of the Muslim old man and the Hindu family in his essay? (5 marker)
  2. What according to Ashis Nandy is communalism? Discuss his various propositions. (15 marker)
other questions:
  1. Purpose of the essay?
  2. Impact of communalism on society
  3. Why does Nandi say security is a state of mind?

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