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Social Integration and Communal Harmony in India

In India from time immemorial, people belonging to various religious faiths lived in harmony and peace.
There are fundamental values and traditions in our culture that promote integration among different
communities. This was helpful for the growth of a great civilization in the Indian sub-continent. It will be
our endeavour as the citizens of this country to preserve the rich tradition of Social Harmony among
diverse religious and ethnic groups and pass it over to the future generations. Even though communal
tensions in India are well under control, there is no place for complacency as many internal and external
forces are waiting with their ulterior motives sowing the seeds of ill-will.

Human needs can be found as the same everywhere in the world if we look at it from biological and
psychological perspectives. Irrespective of the geographic, linguistic or religious differences humans
everywhere have common biological needs like hunger, thirst, sex etc; the satisfaction of which is
essential for their survival. Similarly man has psychological needs like, need for recognition, need for
companionship, need for security, need for prestige etc. the fulfillment of which is inevitable for
maintaining sound mental health. Man cannot satisfy most of such needs through his own individual
efforts. He requires the assistance of his fellow members of the group in this regard. That is why human
beings are considered as social animals. A cooperative integrated society is most congenial for leading a
healthy social life.

Religion is one of the social institutions found in all human societies. It assists man to establish and
maintain harmonious relationships with the supernatural forces that are believed to have direct influence
in the fortunes of man. Moreover religion is one of the agents contributing to the integration of society.
Religion provides ‘we feeling’ among its members. Performance of religious rites, participation in
festivals, leadership provided by priests and religious functionaries, following many common beliefs and
values, etc reinforces the unity among the members of a religion. Even though holy books and teachings
of each religion claim that they help man reach God, none of them propagate hatred against other faiths.
All religions in their essence assist people to live in harmony with members of the society. According to
Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India “ the communal problem is not a religious problem, it
has nothing to do with religion.” Nobody can blame the presence of diverse religions for the emergence
of communal problems in the world.

Even though all religions proclaim the universal brotherhood of man, history is full of bloody, violent
conflicts between members of different religions. Many battles were fought between Muslims and
Christians, Jews and Muslims, Hindus and Muslims and so on in the past. Many such struggles are going
on even now like the conflict between Muslims and Jews in Palestine. A deeper analysis of the causative
factors of these conflicts shows that in all these situations non-religious, often political and economic
interests were instrumental to these problems. Religious identity was used as a mask to cover up the
vested interests of the conflicting parties. Therefore the root cause of communalism is not the presence of
many religions in the country. When religious sentiments are exploited with an economic or political
motive the resultant effect gives rise to the genesis of communalism. According to Madan (2001)
communalism is the political expression of religion. He defined communalism as an ideology, which
envisages the religious community as a political group committed to the protection and promotion of its
social and economic interests and cultural values.

While communalism is a feeling or state of mind existing at a psychological level, communal conflict or
riot is its overt expression. Once generated, communalism remains in the minds of people always, and
communal conflicts emerge only occasionally when there is a total breakdown in the good relations
between two communities. From a sociological perspective social conflict by its very nature cannot
continue indefinitely. During communal violence each community used it as an occasion to harm the
interests of the rival community who may be socially or economically sound. The feelings of relative
deprivation felt by one community is often converted into violent attacks against a well placed
community. This is what happened in 1984 when there were violent attacks against the Sikhs in different
parts of the country after the assassination of the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi by her body
guards who happened to be from the Sikh community. Investigations conducted later by sociologists and
many other social scientists proved that Sikhs who were economically well placed were attacked and
members of other communities who were jealous of their prosperity looted their shops. People with
vested interests to attain their ulterior goals exploited this particular context by exploiting the religious
sentiments.

One must not confuse communalism with communal violence, rioting etc. Poorly conceived Communal
ideology leads to communal violence. Communal violence is a consequence of the spread of
misunderstood and ill-conceived communal ideology. But it is not the crux of the communal situation at
all. Communal ideology cannot only exist, but can grow for decades before it takes the form of violence.

This book contains some of the selected papers presented in the National Conference on Social
Integration and Communal Harmony organized by the Kerala Sociological Society from 1st to 3rd
December 2006 at Sree Narayana College, Thiruvananthapuram.
Prof. N.R. Madhava Menon in his paper Constitutionalism and Management of Diversity in Multi-
cultural Societies deals with the significance of Indian Constitution to manage various problems in a
multi-cultural society. He points out that secularism is a basic feature of the constitution which cannot be
changed even by parliament. There is no state religion and the state is prohibited against discrimination
on the basis of religion. He believes that for multi-culturalism can survive and communal harmony can
prevail only when we ensure equality of status among people and equal opportunity for everyone as
conceived in the Constitution of India. In the second part of the paper, the author focuses his attention on
the concept of social integration. He notices that the constitutional strategy to promote fraternity is
helpful to attain social integration. In this context the author recommends a Uniform Civil Code for the
entire nation. However, political parties do not support this view because no political party is ready to
talk about it, because of the vested interests involved especially because of the vote bank politics.

In her paper, Social Integration and Communal Harmony, Prof. M. Indukumari presents the multiple
factors and contexts that influence social integration and communal harmony. First of all she explains the
significance of this theme in the present Indian context. According to her view, the prime concern of any
nation aiming at development should be the attainment of social / national integration.

Moreover, she argues that despite some differences at ritual, social and cultural levels among different
religions, there is conspicuous commonality at the level of values that promotes communal harmony. The
author lists many examples of inter religious co-operation that exist in Kerala for a long period.
However, she also points out that this rosy picture of Kerala is changing gradually and this society has
started showing symptoms of religious intolerance and communal violence. This paper gives due
consideration towards the debate on the need for a Uniform Civil Code for India. Another concern of this
paper is to show how communal violence affects the interests of the vulnerable sections like women,
religious minorities, tribals, dalits etc. The author expresses confidence that NGOs can play a crucial role
in maintaining communal harmony. In the concluding part of the paper she identifies certain strategies to
promote communal harmony. On the whole this paper provides a comprehensive picture of social
integration and communal harmony in India.

M.K.George in his article on “Tolerance is various faiths” attempted to highlight how various faiths and
religions can contribute to the building of tolerance in the world. He stresses that every religion contains
components of belief, rituals, information and knowledge, behavioural consequences and the
expectations that guide the whole system. The author briefly looks at Bhuddhism, Christianity, Islam,
Judaism and Hinuduism and observes that in discussing religion as an instrument of peace and harmony
one needs to make this distinction between religiosity, which only can divide, and spirituality which can
unite all believers. Religiosity focuses on differences, where as spirituality emphasizes what is common.
Spirituality provides meaning to life and reality. Spritiuality connects, with the self, others, god and
native. He stresses that the social scenario in India and the world over demands an active Youth
population striving for peace and tolerance and hence the Youth needs to take this agenda.

The paper Secular Legacy and Communal Paradox - The case of Kerala contributed by Dr. Antony
Palackal presents some unconventional interpretations of the communal situation in Kerala. The author
observes that secularism, the characteristic facet of social life in Kerala society is currently under severe
strain. According to him nowadays there seems to be an alarming spread of communal and fascist forces
in the State. This article marks an enquiry into the characteristics and dynamics of the emergent
communalism in Kerala and tries to trace its secular legacy and the communal paradox. The first part of
the paper seeks to unfold the secular legacy and the opposite reality of communalism that has engulfed it.
The second part is a discussion on the unique forms of communal manifestations in Kerala. The third part
is an exploration into the evolution of the growing communalism in Kerala. The concluding section
briefly sketches the relation between communalism and spirituality vis-à-vis religion and the possible
manner in which the growing menace of communalism may be addressed. The paper reveals that
communalism gives rise to a heightened sense of identity and belongingness as it operates on the basis of
the theory of ‘polarization’. Polarization results in emotional, mental or physical mobilization of
individuals and groups to cause cohesion within a group . However it divides people as members of
larges communities. The author feels that religious and/or caste sectarianism and communal interests
dominate most of our political life today. The paper conclude with an optimistic note that a viable
alternative to the prevailing communal paradox appears to be the resurgence of societal consciousness
born out of neo-renaissance movements capable of regaining the lost secular legacy of Kerala.

The paper Hindu Response to Conversion Threat: Questions on Conversion and Social Equalitywritten
by Shaji.A is undertaking a historical analysis of the communal situation in 20th Century Kerala. The
major focus of this paper is on The Temple Entry Proclamation of Travancore, 1936 that was a turning
point in the history of modern Kerala. This proclamation put an end to the inhuman practice of
untouchability and it opened a new future to the oppressed classes in Travancore. The author notices that
before 1936 several low caste people of Travancore including Ezhavas converted themselves into other
religions especially Christianity since they found it as the easiest way to escape from the caste tyranny.

However, Sree Narayana Guru, leader of SNDP movement was successful in preventing this tide of
conversion to Christianity or to Buddhism. The Ezhavas were also interested in Islam and Sikhism.
When the low caste Hindus including Ezhavas started large-scale conversion to Christianity, it became
an eye-opener for progressive Hindu reformers. Efforts were made to bring back the converted Hindus to
Hinduism under the initiative of the Hindu Mission. By permitting entry to all Hindus to the temples, low
caste Hindus including Ezhavas were retained in their religion. This paper clearly explains how Temple
Entry Proclamation assisted the Hindu leaders to meet the challenges of conversion.

Through her paper Causes of Communal Conflict and Violence, Pushpam. M attempts to describe the
multitude of factors that are instrumental in communal conflicts and violence in India. The author points
out that communalism is a constant threat to the unity and integrity of our country. She clarifies the
meaning of communalism in the context of this study and presents different dimensions to it. Next part of
the paper deals with the explanation of the meaning of communal violence and its causes. Large number
of causes like social, economic, religious, political, legal, psychological, administrative, historical etc is
presented here. The role of mass media in the context of communal violence is also briefly mentioned.
She points out that many of the leaders who fight against communalism are not sincere in their efforts
and offering only lip service towards this cause. The author concludes her paper by saying that
communal violence is part of the total violence in the society and therefore when we develop strategies to
prevent violence as a whole in the society, the incidence of communal violence is likely to come down.

The paper Communalism and communal riots in India contributed by Sajitha J. Kurup gives a detailed
description of the communal situation prevailing in India and the occurrence of large number of
communal riots in the recent period. She begins her analysis by explaining the etymological meaning of
communalism.

The author points out that social factor play a very important role in the genesis of communalism. She
supports the view that communal problems began to emerge with the establishment of British rule in
India and so communalism is a modern phenomenon and not a medieval phenomenon. However,
communalism which we had inherited from the British period attained new dimensions during the post-
independence period. All communities and political parties used it for achieving their economic and
political goals. After explaining the meaning of communal violence the author also deals with the
theories of communal violence such as Social Barriers Theory and the Theory of Polarization and Cluster
Effect. A major part of this paper is devoted to describe the large number of communal riots that took
place in the year 2005. The paper further gives an idea of the recent trends in communal violence and the
occurrences of some stray incident here and there. In the concluding part of the paper the author suggests
some long term and short-term measures to meet the challenges of communalism and communal
violence.
The paper, Social Capital and Social Mobilization of Women for Communal Harmony – The case of
Marad, contributed by Jyothi S. Nair, invites the attention of the readers towards a serious communal
conflict in Kerala. This paper is based on the primary data collected from the women of Marad in
Kozhikode district who are the victims of this communal violence. This study seeks to analyze how far
the mobilization of women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) has withstood the turbulences of
communalism in Marad. Moreover, an attempt has been made to understand whether the social
mobilization of women through SHGs, and the social capital created by them act as an alternative in
ensuring communal harmony. The major finding of this paper is that social capital is an effective
instrument for maintaining communal harmony. The author suggests that the civil society and Local Self
Government Institutions should join hands together for encouraging the women to form SHGs which are
inter-religious in nature to build a harmonious society.

The paper of Dr. Anishia Jayadev on Communal Riots and Minorities in Kerala: The case of
Muslims, examines how communal riots affect the interests of the minorities in Kerala. She points out
that the Constitution of India gives freedom to practise and propagate any religion. The Indian
government is also not indifferent to religion . The Constitution provides for special protection to the
religious minorities.

However, the majority community persecutes the minorities, including Muslims on many occasions.
Though there are fewer communal problems are in Kerala, still there are occasional conflicts. Hence, she
emphasizes the need to take precaution any steps precautionary.

Bushra Beegom R.K. in her paper Role of civil society in promoting communal harmony in Keraladeals
with a vital topic that is neglected by many scholars. She points out that in the modern society it is the
responsibility of every individual to preserve communal harmony. The author highlights the importance
of civil society, democratic ideology, decentralization of power, welfare programmes etc for attaining
communal harmony. This paper also puts forward the need for a national campaign for reconciliation and
harmony. The author explains that organizations in the modern civil society like NGOs, mass media,
professional associations, trade unions, religious groups, academic community etc can play their
respective roles in fostering communal harmony. She also advocates the need for social reform and legal
measures to attain this goal. The author has genuine faith in the capabilities of civil society in this regard.

In her paper Communal Violence in Gujarat - Perspectives on the Causative Factors, Jayasree.G,
discusses the various factors leading to conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India. Lack of timely
action by the State Govt was identified as the most important factor that led to the killing of large number
of innocent people in Gujarat. With the help of secondary data the author argues that minorities suffered
disproportionately in most of the communal riots on India. At the same time she points out that Hindu –
Muslim conflict can be considered as an extension of the wider social conflict that includes inter as well
as intra communal riots, caste violence and other forms of sectional upheavals. On the whole Jayasree is
successful in giving some new interpretations for the eruption of communal violence in India.

The paper of Maya P.V, Role of Women Councilors in Promoting Social Harmony, gives special
attention to women members of Local Self Government Institutions in urban areas. In the introductory
part of the article the author explains the cultural and political dimensions of communalism in India.
Based on an empirical study conducted among the women councilors in Attingal Municipality of
Thiruvananthapuram district the author argues that they can play a significant role in promoting
communal harmony and social integration. She highlights the role played by Self Help Groups in
bringing together women of different communities

The paper of Rajani R.V on Theoretical perspectives on communalism and communal violence in India,
deals with the different theoretical interpretations on communalism and communal violence in India.
Initially she explains the concept of communalism and provides a number of definitions. The author then
approaches the problem from a historical perspective. Moreover, the paper unearths the sociological,
anthropological, and psychological dimensions of communalism. The paper also explains the nature and
causes of communal violence with special focus on the situation in India. According to the author the
problem of communal violence seems an aggressive articulation of the differences between the two
major communities – Hindus and Muslims – or an expression of the inability to live together, and this in
turn serves a device for the short-term political gains on the part of the communal politicians of both the
communities. The paper also deals with the theories of communal violence like Social Barriers Theory
and the Theory of Polarization and Cluster Effect. In the end of the paper, the author emphasizes the need
for using various measures to check communal violence.

Biju Vincent, through his paper, Consumer Society and Communal Harmony – A Materialistic
View,attempts to explain the dynamics of religion in consumer society. The author holds the view that
growth of materialism diminishes the influence of spiritualism that binds a group or community together.
According to him people in the modern consumer society undergo a process of homogenization, so that
they develop similar ideals, beliefs, practices and interests. He also refers to the understanding and
concern among the agrarian, industrial and postmodern societies, in order to substantiate how
homogeneity developed in the postmodern consumer eva. The author supports the view of Baudrillard
that people are brought together on the basis of what objects they consume. Then religion becomes not
very important to any group. In a consumer society nobody is interested in others’ matters including
religion. The paper concludes by saying that state can ensure religious harmony by promoting free
economy that will assist in creating modern consumer society.

Sajeena Beevi. N, in her paper Hindu-Muslim Communal Violence in India: Genesis and Historical
Roots examines the historical context in which communalism emerged in India. With historical evidence
she argues that Hindu – Muslim conflicts are essentially modern phenomena and communal riots were
rare till the end of 19th century. According to the author, the British policy of divide and rule resulted in
fostering communal clashes deliberately for keeping intact their hegemony. Moreover, the leaders of the
Indian National Congress were not successful to promote Hindu – Muslim cooperation in fighting
imperialism. The weakness of the Indian National Congress contributed to the emergence of Muslim
League as a strong political party and claimed the right to speak for all Muslims. After giving a vivid
picture of communal riots from 1947 to 2002 the author suggests prescriptive measures to meet
communalism. In conclusion, she rightly says that multi-pronged measures are needed to contain the
communal tensions and to bring about communal harmony in the country

The paper by Kavitha.V on Communal Violence and the Role of Print Media attempts to examine the
emotional feeling of a reporter who covers a communal conflict influences his reporting. She also
analyses how far the reporters enjoy freedom of expression while reporting communal issues. The author
strongly advocates for certain restrictions in this regard as it can help to contain the communal eruptions.
However, she notices that often local newspapers publish sensational stories on communal conflicts in
order to optimise the sale of their papers. This article also raises the issue of biased reporting by
newspapers to safeguard the interests of certain vested interests. In the concluding part, the author
emphasizes that the print media must be vigilant to keep themselves away from communal interests.

In his article on “Sarva Dharma Sambhav for Social Cohesion-Gandhian Perspective”, Ajith Venniyur
analyses Gandhian thoughts on conflicts, violence and its solutions. He points out that Mahatma Gandhi
challenged all those conditions which destroyed peace and harmony in social life. Gandhi wanted to
establish peace between man and man, religion and religion, group and group and nation and nation. For
Gandhiji there can be no peace without understanding and no understanding without peace’. Ajith
Venniyur further explains the concept of Sarva Dharma Samabhav, and their process of integration viz,
the integration of personality which reconciles the individual to his own native, integration with his
fellow men and integration with god, the supreme spirit. He concludes that Gandhian way of living is the
only solution for attaining peace and harmony in society.
The pith of the communal problem in India did not so much lie either in the fact of indigenous
differences, or in the fact of various historical factors like immigration of Muslims or the policies of
British colonialists. On the contrary, the crux of the problem lay in the way in which it was dealt by the
various governments and political parties who were controlling them. “Communalism is an ideology and
to some extent politics organized around that ideology” (Chandra, 1991). Therefore the solutions for
mitigating the communal problems also must come primarily from the political parties.

The economic, psychological and socio-religious factors are the prime movers of communalism. It is on
these three planes of human existence that we can truly discover means by which the evil side of
communalism may be overcome and we may exist with less tension amongst the communities.

For defeating the vicious agenda of communalists the communal ideology has to be consciously
combated. No automatic results follow in this field because of the indirect steps. For example, after 1947,
many people had the belief that with economic development or spread of education, etc our country
would get rid of communal ideology. However, the fact is that once communal ideology has emerged in
a crystallized form, it is very necessary to wage a conscious anti-communal ideological struggle against
it. It will not go on its own, whatever other steps might be taken.

The state comes in, in one respect, in this context, because it can either promote communal ideology or
ideological struggle against it, or it can take a weak stand vis-à-vis communal ideology. In India
communal riots emerged in an unprecedented manner in states like Gujarat where the state supported the
communalists of one religious community against the other. At the same time in states like Bihar, Uttar
Pradesh etc the there are no large scale violence reported as respective state governments are vigilant.

To fight communalism there must be a mass movement and the intellectuals and all sections of the
society must take part in this mass movement. However, today the communalists are more successful in
their programmes. The need of the hour is to build up a mass movement of the order of
the shilanyas organized by the Hindu communalists in 1992.

If communalism is an ideology; then education formal or informal or through the media acquires a
crucial importance. Education alone can mould young minds to develop a secular attitude that can
promote communal harmony and social integration.
Ethics And Accountability In The Philippine Public Service: Role Of Citizens, Public Officials, Private Sector
And Civil Society

“Ethics and Accountability in the Philippine Public Service: Role of Citizens, Public Officials, Private
Sector and Civil Society

In my previous paper, I mentioned that values are as important in our government system as the other
functions and political processes are. Unit VI discussed how crucial and vital ethics and accountability is
in our government. It also talks about the significance of our own moral code, seeing that public ethics
are part of the overall value system, and is culture as well as country-specific. Politicians and public
servants especially those in high positions are hailed as models of integrity, and the public expects
nothing more but honor and morality from them since they were elected or appointed to that public
office.
Have you heard of the saying “Public office is public trust?” It means that, since the citizens found
you worthy and collectively agreed to entrust and grant you with power and authority over them, you
owe it to them to put it to good use, the control and use of information and resources, to act for and in
behalf of them and to put their welfare first before any personal interests. There are provisions and code
of conduct which deals with that, grounded on ethics and accountability.
Ethics and accountability means so much for public officials, both appointed and elected by the
Philippine government. Ethics serve as a guide for behavior of people in public service, a common
reference point and a unifying thread. Simply put, it is the notion of right and wrong. However,
something right and trivial for normal citizens might not be so negligible when done by a public official.
A businessman can treat his family to Hawaii for a two-month vacation, and people wouldn’t so much as
lift an eyebrow, but if a public official has done that, it would surely cause uproar. It is a sad thing, that
citizens have such double-standards when it comes to our state yet you can’t really blame them. When
they elected you.
Loving In Truth: Creating A Society Of Living In Harmony In The 21St C

Loving in Truth: Creating a Society of Living in Harmony in the 21st Century

In the course of one's existence, one is constantly striving to achieve


the pinnacle of their abilities, a certain excellence within themselves, and a balance between themselves
and their society. Unfortunately, as we near the end of the millennium , society is failing
to provide us with the appropriate means in order to realize that goal. So as we
prepare for the next century, we must recognize that there are many problems that we must alleviate
before this world can become a better place. It may well be that the nation cannot survive--as a decent
place to live, as a world-class power or even as a democracy--with such high rates of children growing
into adulthood unprepared to parent, unprepared to be productively employed and unprepared to share in
the mainstream aspirations. Various programs are springing up to help children. However, like the
welfare program, for the most part these programs are aimed at alleviating symptoms rather than
correcting the cause of the problems. More prisons, more policemen, gun control, the FBI, and V-chips
to block violent programs on TV will never stop crime and violence. When we devote time, money and
effort toward problems and symptoms -- without correcting the cause -- the problems and symptoms
grow and spread like creeping crab grass. But as an individual, what can one do? The answer is simple.
All one has to do is love. Love is the solution to all of the social problems in our society. Adequate love
will eliminate evil, crime, violence, mental suffering, the suffering of innocent children, dysfunctional
families, the break-up of families, restlessness, discontent, unhappiness--all that is ugly, deplorable, and
destructive.
But before one can love others, one must learn to love himself. One cannot love himself until he
frees himself from fear and false beliefs. One is not free until he discovers that is truth that sets us free
from...
How Does Civil Society Stand For The Nation's Health In The Usa
Jordan Igor

Civil society in the fight for the nation's health: the U.S. experience

On the example of U.S. paper analyzes the interaction of the three "actors" - the structures of
civil society, government and international organizations - to create mechanisms of population
recovery. Despite the fact that each of the actors plays a unique role, emphasizes the role of civil
society, without which the efforts of other parties would have been meaningless.

The essence of the program "Healthy Cities" Since the 1980's an acute international interest in
the topic health of the inhabitants of megacities. Established as a result of Healthy Cities
program to a large extent transformed the organization of social life in the big cities and small
communities, this program was to impose a noticeable imprint on international relations:
bilateral, regional and multilateral. Although the program was developed Healthy Cities, by
definition, is for cities, after the development of this concept does not belong to any city services
or agencies, or national research centers or universities.

World Health Organization (WHO) has stood in the center of developing the concept of Healthy
Cities and its propagation in both the South and the North.The ideas expressed by the WHO, had
their effect, as individual professionals and the institutions that developed the fundamental
provisions of that concept as applied to related fields. Therefore, the literature often refers not so
much about the "program" as a "movement" Healthy Cities.

The essence of the Healthy Cities movement is to establish a connection between the conditions
of life in the city and health. Movement came from the fact that the city is a natural center for
developing strategy and organization of human actions on health promotion.
Question about the health of citizens and especially the issue of healthy living conditions began
to be discussed in the nineteenth century, when rapid growth began to occur cities in Europe and
North ...

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