Religious violence in India
Encyclopedia
Religious violence
in India
includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religions such as Zoroastrianism
and Judaism have survived peacefully with Hindus for thousands of years.
Despite the secular and religiously tolerant constitution of India
, broad religious representation in various aspects of society including the government, the active role played by autonomous bodies such as National Human Rights Commission of India
and National Commission for Minorities
, and the ground-level work being carried out by Non-governmental organization
s, sporadic and sometimes serious acts of religious violence tend to occur as the root causes of religious violence often run deep in history, religious activities, and politics of India.
Along with domestic organizations, international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch
publish reports on acts of religious violence in India.
has no history of large scale religious violence.
The Divyavadana
ascribes to him the razing of stupas and viharas built by Ashoka, the placing of a bounty of 100 dinar
as upon the heads of Buddhist monks (bhiksu
s) and describes him as one who wanted to undo the work of Ashoka. This account has however been described as "exaggerated". Archaeological evidence is scarce and uncertain. However to many scholars, Sunga kings were seen as more amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut
.
With the possible exception of reign of King Pusyamitra, Buddhism and Hinduism seem to have co-existed peacefully with almost all Buddhist temples, including the once at Ajanta Caves
, being built under the rule and patronage of Hindu kings; along with Jainism and other religions and there were no anti-religious bloodshed.
Muhammad bin Qasim
, during his conquest of Sindh
(in present day Pakistan
), assaulted the town of Debal and destroyed its great temple . He then built a mosque
over the remains of the original temple at Debal and later in towns of Nerun and Sadusan (Sehwan) After each battle all fighting men were executed and their wives and children enslaved. One fifth of the booty
and slaves were dispatched back to Hajjaj and the Caliph. Chach Nama
also records instances of conversion of stupas to mosques such as at Nerun.
After the conquest, Muhammad bin Qasim adopted a controversial policy, asking for acceptance of Islamic Sharia
law, in return for non-interference in their religious practice,. No further mass conversions were attempted and the destruction of temples such as the Sun Temple at Multan was forbidden.
Mahmud of Ghazni
was a Sultan
who invaded the Indian subcontinent from present-day Afghanistan
during the early 11th century. His campaigns across the gangetic plains are often cited for their iconoclast
ic plundering and destruction of Hindu temples such as those at Mathura, Dwarka
, and others. In 1024 AD, Mahmud of Ghazni
attacked and destroyed the third Somnath temple killing over 50,000 and personally destroying the Shiva lingam after stripping it of its gold.
cherished the ambition of converting India into a land of Islam and his reign was particularly brutal. Aurangzeb banned Hindu festival of Diwali
, placed a jizya (tax) on non-Muslims and killed the ninth Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur.
The ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan
is regarded to be anti-Christian by many historians. The captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam, which began on 24 February 1784 and ended on 4 May 1799, remains the most disconsolate memory in their history.
The Bakur Manuscript reports him as having said: "All Musalmans should unite together, and considering the annihilation of infidels as a sacred duty, labor to the utmost of their power, to accomplish that subject." Soon after the Treaty of Mangalore
in 1784, Tipu gained control of Canara. He issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam, the capital of his empire, through the Jamalabad fort
route. However, there were no priests among the captives. Together with Father Miranda, all the 21 arrested priests were issued orders of expulsion to Goa, fined Rupees 2 lakhs, and threatened death by hanging if they ever returned.
Tipu ordered the destruction of 27 Catholic churches, all beautifully carved with statues depicting various saints. Among them included the Church of Nossa Senhora de Rosario Milagres at Mangalore
, Fr Miranda's Seminary at Monte Mariano, Church of Jesu Marie Jose at Omzoor
, Chapel at Bolar, Church of Merces at Ullal
, Imaculata Conceiciao at Mulki, San Jose at Perar, Nossa Senhora dos Remedios at Kirem, Sao Lawrence at Karkal, Rosario at Barkur
, Immaculata Conceciao at Baidnur. All were razed to the ground, with the exception of The Church of Holy Cross
at Hospet
, owing to the friendly offices of the Chauta Raja of Moodbidri.
According to Thomas Munro, a Scottish soldier and the first collector of Canara, around 60,000 people, nearly 92 percent of the entire Mangalorean Catholic community, were captured; only 7,000 escaped. Francis Buchanan
gives the numbers as 70,000 captured, from a population of 80,000, with 10,000 escaping. They were forced to climb nearly 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) through the jungles of the Western Ghat
mountain ranges. It was 210 miles (338 km) from Mangalore to Seringapatam, and the journey took six weeks. According to British Government records, 20,000 of them died on the march to Seringapatam. According to James Scurry
, a British officer, who was held captive along with Mangalorean Catholics, 30,000 of them were forcibly converted to Islam. The young women and girls were forcibly made wives of the Muslims living there. The young men who offered resistance were disfigured by cutting their noses, upper lips, and ears. According to Mr. Silva of Gangolim, a survivor of the captivity, if a person who had escaped from Seringapatam was found, the punishment under the orders of Tipu was the cutting off of the ears, nose, the feet and one hand.
The Archbishop of Goa wrote in 1800, "It is notoriously known in all Asia and all other parts of the globe of the oppression and sufferings experienced by the Christians in the Dominion of the King of Kanara, during the usurpation of that country by Tipu Sultan from an implacable hatred he had against them who professed Christianity."
Tipu Sultan's rule of the Malabar coast had an adverse impact on the Syrian Malabar Nasrani
community. Many churches in the Malabar and Cochin were damaged. The old Syrian Nasrani seminary at Angamaly which had been the centre of Catholic religious education for several centuries was razed to the ground by Tipu's soldiers. A lot of centuries old religious manuscripts were lost forever. The church was later relocated to Kottayam where it still exists. The Mor Sabor church at Akaparambu and the Martha Mariam Church attached to the seminary were destroyed as well. Tipu's army set fire to the church at Palayoor and attacked the Ollur Church in 1790. Furthernmore, the Arthat church and the Ambazhakkad seminary was also destroyed. Over the course of this invasion, many Syrian Malabar Nasrani were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Most of the coconut, arecanut, pepper and cashew plantations held by the Syrian Malabar farmers were also indiscriminately destroyed by the invading army. As a result, when Tipu's army invaded Guruvayur and adjacent areas, the Syrian Christian community fled Calicut and small towns like Arthat to new centres like Kunnamkulam, Chalakudi, Ennakadu, Cheppadu, Kannankode, Mavelikkara
, etc. where there were already Christians. They were given refuge by Sakthan Tamburan, the ruler of Cochin and Karthika Thirunal, the ruler of Travancore, who gave them lands, plantations and encouraged their businesses. Colonel Macqulay, the British resident of Travancore also helped them.
Tipu's persecution of Christians even extended to captured British soldiers. For instance, there were a significant number of forced conversions of British captives between 1780 and 1784. Following their disastrous defeat at the 1780 Battle of Pollilur
, 7,000 British men along with an unknown number of women were held captive by Tipu in the fortress of Seringapatnam. Of these, over 300 were circumcised and given Muslim names and clothes and several British regimental drummer boys were made to wear ghagra cholis and entertain the court as nautch girls or dancing girls. After the 10 year long captivity ended, James Scurry, one of those prisoners, recounted that he had forgotten how to sit in a chair and use a knife and fork. His English was broken and stilted, having lost all his vernacular idiom. His skin had darkened to the swarthy complexion of negro
es, and moreover, he had developed an aversion to wearing European clothes.
During the surrender of the Mangalore fort which was delivered in an armistice by the British and their subsequent withdrawal, all the Mestizos and remaining non-British foreigners were killed, together with 5,600 Mangalorean Catholics. Those condemned by Tipu Sultan for treachery were hanged instantly, the gibbets being weighed down by the number of bodies they carried. The Netravati River was so putrid with the stench of dying bodies, that the local residents were forced to leave their riverside homes.
Hindus, particularly the Nair
and Kodava
communities were also persecuted by Tipu Sultan. They were subjected to forcible conversions to Islam
, death, and torture. The Nairs were treated with extreme brutality by the Muslims due to their strong adherence to the Hindu faith and martial tradition. The captivity ended when Nair troops from Travancore
, with the help of the East India Company
defeated Tippu Sultan in the Third Anglo-Mysore War
. It is estimated that out of the 30,000 Nairs put to captivity (including women and children), only a few hundred returned to Malabar alive.
In 1783, the Kodavas erupted in revolt against Tippu Sultan and threw their forces out of Kodagu
. In 1785, Tippu declared the Kodava of being guilty of polyandry
. He threatened the Kodavas that he would not revile or molest a single individual among them and instead make Ahmadis (Muslim
s) out of the whole of them, transplanting them from their homeland in the Coorg to Seringapatam.
Tippu gave the task of implementing the orders to Runmust Khan, the Nawab
of Kurool. This task was accomplished when in
a surprise attack, the Kodavas were besieged by the invading Muslim army. 500 were killed and over 40,000 Kodavas fled to the woods and concealed themselves in the mountains. Thousands of Kodava Hindus were seized along with the Raja, Dodda Vira-Rajendra, and held them captive at Seringapatam. They were also subjected to forcible conversions to Islam
, death, and torture.
The first inquisitors, Aleixo Dias Falcão and Francisco Marques, established themselves in what was formerly the king of Goa's palace
, forcing the Portuguese viceroy
to relocate to a smaller residence. The inquisitor's first act was forbidding Hindus from the public practice of their faith through fear of death. Sephardic Jews living in Goa, many of whom had fled the Iberian Peninsula
to escape the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition
to begin with, were also persecuted. During the Goa Inquisition
, described as "contrary to humanity" by Voltaire
, conversions to Catholicism
occurred by force and many native Goa
ns were executed by the Portuguese
. The adverse effects of the inquisition were tempered somewhat by the fact that Hindus were able to escape Portuguese hegemony
by migrating to other parts of the subcontinent. Though officially repressed in 1774, it was reinstated by Queen Maria I in 1778. The last vestiges of the Goa Inquisition were finally swept away when the British
occupied the city in 1812.
. The revolt is considered by some historians as a semi-national and religious war seeking freedom from English bondage though Saul David questions this interpretation. The revolt started, among the Indian soldiers of British East India Company, when the British introduced new rifle cartridges, rumored to be greased with pig and cow fat - an abhorrent concept to Muslim and Hindu soldiers, respectively, for religious reasons. However, in the aftermath of the revolt, British reprisals were particularly severe with hundreds of thousands being killed. While the death toll is often debated by historians with figures ranging between one hundred thousand and one million, it is usually agreed that several hundred thousands were killed.
rebellion conducted by the Muslim
Mappila
community (Moplah is a British spelling) of Kerala in 1921. Inspired by the Khilafat movement
and the Karachi resolution; Moplahs murdered, pillaged, and forcibly converted thousands of Hindus. 100,000 Hindus were driven away from their homes forcing to leave their property behind, which were later took over by Mappilas. This greatly changed the demographics of the area, being the major cause behind today's Malappuram district being a Muslim majority district in Kerala. According to one view, the reasons for the Moplah rebellion was religious revivalism among the Muslim Mappilas, and hostility towards the landlord Hindu Nair
, Nambudiri Jenmi
community and the British administration that supported the latter. Adhering to view, British records call it a British
-Muslim
revolt. The initial focus was on the government, but when the limited presence of the government was eliminated, Moplahs turned their full attention on attacking Hindus. Mohommed Haji was proclaimed the Caliph of the Moplah Khilafat and flags of Islamic Caliphate were flown. Ernad and Walluvanad were declared Khilafat kingdoms.
Annie Besant
wrote about the riots: "They Moplahs
murdered and plundered abundantly, and killed or drove away all Hindus who would not apostatise. Somewhere about a lakh (100,000) of people were driven from their homes with nothing but their clothes they had on, stripped of everything. Malabar has taught us what Islamic rule still means, and we do not want to see another specimen of the Khilafat Raj in India."
Direct Action Day
, which started on 16 August 1946, led approximately 3000 dead and 17000 injured.
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857
, the British followed a divide-and-rule policy, exploiting differences between communities, in order to prevent similar revolts from taking place. In that respect, Indian Muslims were encouraged to forge a cultural and political identity separate from the Hindus. In the years leading up to Independence, Mohammad Ali Jinnah became increasingly concerned about minority position of Islam in an independent India largely composed of a Hindu majority.
Although a partition plan was accepted, no large population movements were contemplated. As India and Pakistan become independent, 14.5 million people crossed borders to ensure their safety in an increasingly lawless and communal environment. While the British authority was gone, the newly formed governments were completely unequipped to deal with migrations of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border along communal lines. Estimates of the number of deaths range around roughly 500,000, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates at 1,000,000.
India is a secular state
,
but large-scale violence have periodically occurred in India since independence. In recent decades, communal tensions and religion-based politics have become more prominent.
, Sikhs in Punjab
had complained about domination by the Hindu majority. In a 1975 court case
, Indira Gandhi
was found guilty of electoral malpractice which barred her from government offices for six years and opposition parties staged protests to demand her resignation. In response, she declared a State of Emergency
during which she jailed thousands of opposition members, censored the press, postponed elections, and changed the constitutional law
she was convicted of violating. During the Indian Emergency, thousands of Sikh
s campaigning for autonomous government and against the "fascist
tendency" of the Central Government
were imprisoned. As a result of their "Campaign to Save Democracy", out of 140,000 people arrested without trial during the Indian Emergency, 40,000 were Sikhs.
In later elections she supported the politics Jarnail Bhindranwale
, a religious conservative, in an effort to undermine the Akali Dal, the largest Sikh political party. However, Bhindranwale began to oppose the central government and moved his political base to the environs of the Darbar Sahib
in Amritsar, Punjab. While there he gained considerable political power and disrupted the local state machinery. In June 1984, under orders from Indira Gandhi, the Indian army
attacked the Darbar Sahib
with tank
s and armoured vehicles. Although the operation was militarily successful, it aroused tremendous controversy, and the government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are highly debated. In response, some Sikhs and some Punjabi Hindus began a separatist campaign
to free Punjab
from the Indian Government.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984 by two of her bodyguards in retaliation for the storming of the Golden temple. After the assassination the 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms took place in Delhi
, where government and police officials aided Congress party worker gangs in "methodically and systematically" targeting Sikhs and Sikh homes. As a result of the pogroms 10,000-17,000 were burned alive or otherwise killed, Sikh people suffered massive property damage, and "at least 50,000" Sikhs became displaced persons. To date, the Government of India has not prosecuted any of the assailants. The attack on the Harmandir Sahib
and the 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms led to the increasing popularity of the Khalistan movement
. From 1987 until 1992, the Indian government dismissed the elected government of the state, banned elections and imposed direct rule.
In the peak years of the insurgency, religious violence by separatists, government-sponsored groups, and the paramilitary arms of the government was endemic on all sides. Human Rights Watch
reports that separatists were responsible for "massacre of civilians, attacks upon Hindu minorities in the state, indiscriminate bomb attacks in crowded places, and the assassination of a number of political leaders". According to Human Rights Watch
, the Indian Government's response "led to the arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial execution, and enforced disappearance of thousands of Sikhs". The government generally targeted "young Sikh men on suspicion that they were involved in the militancy" but would later deny having them in custody, as a result, many of the victims of enforced disappearances are believed to have been killed. The insurgency resulted in the paralyzation of Punjab's economy until normalization in 1993.
against India and ordered the expulsion of all Hindus choosing to remain in Kashmir. In the following days masked men ran in the streets with AK-47
shooting to kill Hindus who would not leave. Notices were placed on the houses of all Hindus, telling them to leave within 24 hours or die.
Since March 1990, estimates of between 500,000 to 750,000 pandits have migrated outside Kashmir due to persecution by Islamic fundamentalists in the largest case of ethnic cleansing since the partition of India. The proportion of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley has declined from about 15% in 1947 to, by some estimates, less than 0.1% since the insurgency in Kashmir took on a religious and sectarian flavor.
Many Kashmiri Pandit
s have been killed by Islamist militants in incidents such as the Wandhama massacre
and the 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre
. The incidents of massacring and forced eviction have been termed ethnic cleansing
by some observers.
The separatist group National Liberation Front of Tripura
(NLFT) seeks to convert all tribals in the state of Tripura
, who are mostly Hindu or Buddhist, to Christianity. It has proclaimed bans on Hindu worship and has attacked animist Reangs and Hindu Jamatia tribesmen who resisted. Some resisting tribal leaders have been killed and their womenfolk raped. The RSS has attempted to counter Christian separatist groups by backing Reang and Jamatia tribals, and has called for the central government to help arm and fund them.
Hindu nationalists, upset with the rapid spread of Chistianity in the region, link the overt Christian religiosity of the groups and the local churches' liberation theology
-based doctrine to allege church support for ethnic separatism. Vatsala Vedantam identifies statements from the American Baptist Churches USA
as endorsing the Naga separatist cause.
According to The Government of Tripura, the Baptist Church of Tripura is involved in supporting the NLFT and arrested two church officials in 2000, one of them for possessing explosives. In late 2004, the National Liberation Front of Tripura
banned all Hindu
celebrations of Durga Puja
and Saraswati Puja. The Naga insurgency, ethnic separtism reinforced in their identity by Christianity, has been repeatedly involved in violence against Hindus in the region.
The United States does not designate as terrorist organizations most of those groups that continue violent separatist struggles in India’s northeastern states.
The history of modern India is densely spotted by the communal violence which, in most cases, proved to be state-backed, and police played an active and biased role in carrying out cold blooded massacres,acts of rape and damaging properties of the minority communities especially Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. tensions between Hindu and Muslim started coming to light a few years before the independence of the Indian-sub continent and as per the Pakistani historians, anti-Muslims riots were one of the reasons which led to the creations of Pakistan. These riots were provoked by colonizers and Indian politicians for personal gains and vested interests. India have risen and has led to several major incidences of religious violence such as Hashimpura massacre
(1987), Bombay riots
, 1993 Bombay bombings, Godhra Train Burning
, and 2002 Gujarat violence
.
Archaeological excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India
(ASI) in 1970, 1992 and 2003 in and around the disputed site have indicated a large Hindu
complex existed on the site. In 2003, by the order of an Indian Court, The Archaeological Survey of India was asked to conduct a more indepth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure that was beneath the rubble. The summary of the ASI report indicated definite proof of a temple
under the mosque. In the words of ASI researchers, they discovered "distinctive features associated with... temples of north India". The excavations yielded:
On 6 December 1992, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad
and the Bajrang Dal
destroyed the 430 year old Babri Mosque
in Ayodhya, allegedly built over the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama
. This action caused great anger in the Muslim community. The resulting religious riots caused at least 1200 deaths. Reprisals against Hindu minorities also occurred in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Since then the Government of India has blocked off or heavily increased security at these disputed sites while encouraging attempts to resolve these disputes through court cases and negotiations.
In the aftermatch of the destruction of the Babri Mosque
in Ayodhya by Hindu nationalists
on 6 December 1992, roiting took place between Hindus and Muslims in the city of Mumbai
. 500 Muslims died in the resulting violence. Four people died in a fire in the Asalpha timber mart at Ghatkopar, five were killed in the burning of Bainganwadi; shacks along the harbor line track between Sewri and Cotton Green stations were gutted; and a couple was pulled out of a rickshaw in Asalpha village and burnt to death. The riots changed the demographics of Mumbai greatly, as Hindus moved to Hindu-majority areas and Muslims moved to Muslim-majority areas.
Later on 27 February 2002, the Godhra train burning incident occurred in the town of Godhra in the Indian state of Gujarat, One of the coaches (Coach #S6) of a train named the "Sabarmati Express" was set on fire right after it left the train station. The coach was occupied by Hindu religious pilgrims called Kar Sevaks who were returning from Ayodhya. 58 Hindu pilgrims (23 men, 15 women and 20 children) who were inside, were burnt alive, and the coach was completely gutted by the fire. On 22 February 2011 a special court convicted 31 people for perpetrating the burning. Another 63 people, including the key accused, Maulvi Umarji, were acquitted by the special court. However the other prominent people to be accused Haji Billa and Rajjak Kurkur were convicted. The court upheld that the incident had been a planned conspiracy, explicitly citing the "scientific evidence, statement of witnesses, circumstantial and documentary evidence," upholding the Nanavati report, and discrediting the Banerjee commission.
The Godhra train burning incident led to the 2002 Gujarat riots in which mostly Muslims were killed in an apaprent act of retaliation. According to the death toll given to the parliament
on 11 May 2005 by the government
, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, and another 2,548 injured. 223 people are missing. The report placed the number of riot widows at 919 and 606 children were declared orphaned. According to hone advocacy group, the death tolls were up to 2000. According to the Congressional Research Service
, up to 2000 people, mostly Muslim were killed in the violence. Tens of thousands were displaced from their homes because of the violence. The large-scale, collective violence has been described by some as a "massacre" and an attempted pogrom
or genocide
of the Muslim population. According to New York Times
reporter Celia Williams Dugger
, witnesses were "dismayed by the lack of intervention from local police", who often "watched the events taking place and took no action against the attacks on Muslims and their property". Sangh leaders
as well as the Gujarat government maintain that the violence was rioting or inter-communal clashes - spontaneous and uncontrollable reaction to the Godhra train burning
.
In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in violent attacks on Christians in India, often perpetrated by Hindu Nationalists. Between 1964 and 1996, thirty-eight incidents of violence against Christians were reported. In 1997, twenty-four such incidents were reported. In 1998, it went up to ninety. Between January 1998 and February 1999 alone, one hundred and sixteen attacks against Christians in India were reported by church. Between 1 January and 30 July 2000, more than fifty-seven attacks on Christians were reported. These acts of violence include forcible reconversion of converted Christians back to Hinduism, distribution of threatening literature and destruction of Christian cemeteries.
In some cases, anti-Christian violence has been co-ordinated, involving multiple attacks. In Orissa, starting December 2007, Christians have been attacked in Kandhamal
and other districts, resulting in the deaths of two Hindus and one Christian, and the destruction of houses and churches. Twenty people were arrested following the attacks on churches.
Similarly, starting 14 September 2008, there were numerous incidents of violence against the Christian community in Karnataka. These were ignited by the New Light Church's distributing offensive literature that portrayed incorrect and demeaning interpretation of Hindu gods.
Foreign Christian missionaries have mostly been targets of attacks. In a well-publicised case Graham Staines
, an Australian missionary, was burnt to death while he was sleeping with his two sons Timothy (aged 9) and Philip (aged 7) in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Orissa
in January 1999.
In 2003, Dara Singh
was convicted of leading the gang responsible.
According to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, "Conversion nowadays has become a matter of business, like any other. India (Hindus) is in no need of conversion of this kind. That however is never what is meant by proselytization. To those who would convert India (Hindus), might it not be said, "Physician, heal yourself." (Young India: 23 April 1931)
In its annual human rights reports for 1999, the United States Department of State
criticised India for "increasing societal violence against Christians." The report listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious property to violence against Christian pilgrims. The Indian organizations responded by alleging the numerous Christian missions present on Indian soil converting Hindus by fraud and money.
In 2007 and 2008 there was a further flare up of tensions in Orissa, the first following the Christians' putting up a Pandhal in land traditionally used by Hindus and the second after the unprovoked murder of a Hindu Saint and four of his disciples while observing Janmashtami puja. Then, a 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradesh was set on fire, and more attacks in Karnataka,. The archbishop, Bernard Moras, met the BJP CM BS Yeddyurappa after he had taken a decision to invoke the provisions of Goonda Act against those nabbed for vandalising churches as part of its strategy to salvage its image and to instill confidence. The Bajrang Dal convenor was arrested after the incidents of church burning in Mangalore
. In light of these events NDTV asked to ban the Bajrang Dal
.
The violence apparently spread to Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh (which had a Christian CM) as claimed by Catholic News. More sign of trouble erupted on 27 September as the attacks spread to the least communal states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where there was desecration of a statue of the baby Jesus and Indian Orthodox Church
es were stoned, interestingly by Christians of rival sects respectively and the Police took two Christians into custody. However, in Kerala where the population is around one-fifth Christians, around one-fourth Muslim and live with a population of around 50% Hindus, there has been calm until recently. After the Hand chopping incident
, the situation worsened..
, the 2002 fidayeen attacks on Raghunath temple
, the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack
allegedly perpetrated by Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba
and the 2006 Varanasi bombings
(supposedly perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Toiba), resulting in many deaths and injuries. Recent attacks on Hindus by Muslim mobs include Marad massacre
, Godhra train burning
etc.
In September 2008, Swami Laxmanananda, a popular regional Hindu Guru was murdered along with four of his disciples by unknown assailants (though a Maoist organization later claimed responsibility for that), allegedly due to the Guru's provocative opposition of Christians' conversion activities and Missionary propaganda. Later the police arrested three Christians in connection with the murder. Congress MP Radhakant Nayak
has also been named as a suspected person in the murder, with some Hindu leaders calling for his arrest.
Lesser incidents of religious violence happen in many towns and villages in India. In October 2005, five people were killed in Mau
in Uttar Pradesh
during Hindu-Muslim rioting, which was triggered by the proposed celebration of a Hindu festival.
On 3 and 4 January 2002, three Hindus and two Muslims were killed in Marad, near Calicut due to scuffles between two groups that began after a dispute over drinking water.
On 2 May 2003, eight Hindus were killed by a Muslim
mob, in what is believed to be a sequel to the earlier incident. One of the attackers, Mohammed Ashker was killed during the chaos. The National Development Front (NDF), a right-wing militant Islamist organization, was suspected as the perpetrator of the Marad Massacre
.
In the 2010 Deganga riots
after hundreds of Hindu business establishments and residences were looted, destroyed and burnt, dozens of Hindus were severely injured and several Hindu temples desecrated and vandalized by the Islamist mobs led by Trinamul Congress MP Haji Nurul Islam.
In transcripts made available to PTI on October 5, 2008, a prominent Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil mentioned that there was pressure from both Christians and Dalits to eliminate VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, noting that most of the cadre members and supporters in Orissa belonged to Christian community and not tribals unlike in other states where tribals form the biggest support base of Maoists. It was admitting that the Maoists had for the first time intervened in any religious dispute by killing Laxamananda Saraswati.
Religious violence
Religious violence is a term that covers all phenomena where religion, in any of its forms, is either the subject or object of violent behaviour. Religious violence is, specifically, violence that is motivated by or in reaction to religious precepts, texts or doctrines...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
includes acts of violence by followers of one religious group against followers and institutions of another religious group, often in the form of rioting. Religions such as Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
and Judaism have survived peacefully with Hindus for thousands of years.
Despite the secular and religiously tolerant constitution of India
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
, broad religious representation in various aspects of society including the government, the active role played by autonomous bodies such as National Human Rights Commission of India
National Human Rights Commission of India
The National Human Rights Commission of India is an autonomous statutory body established on 12 October 1993, under the provisions of The Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993 .-Functions:...
and National Commission for Minorities
National Commission for Minorities
The National Commission for Minorities is a body constituted by the Government of India to monitor and evaluate the progress of people classified as minorities by the Indian government. Essentially the minorities in India consist of followers of all religions other than Hinduism and weaker...
, and the ground-level work being carried out by Non-governmental organization
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
s, sporadic and sometimes serious acts of religious violence tend to occur as the root causes of religious violence often run deep in history, religious activities, and politics of India.
Along with domestic organizations, international human rights organizations such as Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
publish reports on acts of religious violence in India.
Ancient India
Ancient IndiaHistory of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
has no history of large scale religious violence.
The Divyavadana
Divyavadana
The Divyāvadāna, or Divine Stories, is an anthology of Buddhist tales, many originating in the Mūlasarvāstivāda vinaya texts. The stories themselves are therefore quite ancient and may be among the first Buddhist texts ever committed to writing, but this particular collection of them is not...
ascribes to him the razing of stupas and viharas built by Ashoka, the placing of a bounty of 100 dinar
Dinar
The dinar is the official currency of several countries.The history of the dinar dates to the gold dinar, an early Islamic coin corresponding to the Byzantine denarius auri...
as upon the heads of Buddhist monks (bhiksu
Bhiksu
Bhiksu can refer to:* Bhikṣu - a Buddhist monk* Name of a Sannyasi or a monk who accepted Sannyasa, a Hindu renunciate...
s) and describes him as one who wanted to undo the work of Ashoka. This account has however been described as "exaggerated". Archaeological evidence is scarce and uncertain. However to many scholars, Sunga kings were seen as more amenable to Buddhism and as having contributed to the building of the stupa at Bharhut
Bharhut
Bharhut or Barhut , is a location in Satna district in Madhya Pradesh, Central India, known for its famous Buddhist stupa. The Bharhut stupa may have been established by the Maurya king Asoka in the 3rd century BCE, but many works of art were apparently added during the Sunga period, with many...
.
With the possible exception of reign of King Pusyamitra, Buddhism and Hinduism seem to have co-existed peacefully with almost all Buddhist temples, including the once at Ajanta Caves
Ajanta
The Ajanta Caves in Aurangabad district of Maharashtra, India are 29 rock-cut cave monuments which date from the 2nd century BCE. The caves include paintings and sculptures considered to be masterpieces of both Buddhist religious art as well as frescos which are reminiscent of the Sigiriya...
, being built under the rule and patronage of Hindu kings; along with Jainism and other religions and there were no anti-religious bloodshed.
Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim
Muhammad bin Qasim Al-Thaqafi was a Umayyad general who, at the age of 17, began the conquest of the Sindh and Punjab regions along the Indus River for the Umayyad Caliphate. He was born in the city of Taif...
, during his conquest of Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
(in present day Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
), assaulted the town of Debal and destroyed its great temple . He then built a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
over the remains of the original temple at Debal and later in towns of Nerun and Sadusan (Sehwan) After each battle all fighting men were executed and their wives and children enslaved. One fifth of the booty
Booty
Category:Article Feedback Blacklist...
and slaves were dispatched back to Hajjaj and the Caliph. Chach Nama
Chach Nama
Chach Nama also known as the Fateh nama Sindh ,and also known as Tarekh-e-Hind wa Sindh Arabic is a book about the history of Sindh, chronicling the Chacha Dynasty's period, following the demise of the Rai Dynasty and the ascent of Chach of Alor to the throne, down to the Arab conquest by...
also records instances of conversion of stupas to mosques such as at Nerun.
After the conquest, Muhammad bin Qasim adopted a controversial policy, asking for acceptance of Islamic Sharia
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
law, in return for non-interference in their religious practice,. No further mass conversions were attempted and the destruction of temples such as the Sun Temple at Multan was forbidden.
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...
was a Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
who invaded the Indian subcontinent from present-day Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
during the early 11th century. His campaigns across the gangetic plains are often cited for their iconoclast
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
ic plundering and destruction of Hindu temples such as those at Mathura, Dwarka
Dwarka
Dwarka also spelled Dvarka, Dwaraka, and Dvaraka, is a city and a municipality of Jamnagar district in the Gujarat state in India. Dwarka , also known as Dwarawati in Sanskrit literature is rated as one of the seven most ancient cities in the country...
, and others. In 1024 AD, Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni
Mahmud of Ghazni , actually ', was the most prominent ruler of the Ghaznavid dynasty who ruled from 997 until his death in 1030 in the eastern Iranian lands. Mahmud turned the former provincial city of Ghazni into the wealthy capital of an extensive empire which covered most of today's Iran,...
attacked and destroyed the third Somnath temple killing over 50,000 and personally destroying the Shiva lingam after stripping it of its gold.
Aurangzeb
AurangzebAurangzeb
Abul Muzaffar Muhy-ud-Din Muhammad Aurangzeb Alamgir , more commonly known as Aurangzeb or by his chosen imperial title Alamgir , was the sixth Mughal Emperor of India, whose reign lasted from 1658 until his death in 1707.Badshah Aurangzeb, having ruled most of the Indian subcontinent for nearly...
cherished the ambition of converting India into a land of Islam and his reign was particularly brutal. Aurangzeb banned Hindu festival of Diwali
Diwali
Diwali or DeepavaliThe name of the festival in various regional languages include:, , , , , , , , , , , , , popularly known as the "festival of lights," is a festival celebrated between mid-October and mid-December for different reasons...
, placed a jizya (tax) on non-Muslims and killed the ninth Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur.
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan
Tipu Sultan , also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was the de facto ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore. He was the son of Hyder Ali, at that time an officer in the Mysorean army, and his second wife, Fatima or Fakhr-un-Nissa...
is regarded to be anti-Christian by many historians. The captivity of Mangalorean Catholics at Seringapatam, which began on 24 February 1784 and ended on 4 May 1799, remains the most disconsolate memory in their history.
The Bakur Manuscript reports him as having said: "All Musalmans should unite together, and considering the annihilation of infidels as a sacred duty, labor to the utmost of their power, to accomplish that subject." Soon after the Treaty of Mangalore
Treaty of Mangalore
The Treaty of Mangalore was signed between Tippu Sultan and the British East India Company on 11 March 1784. It was signed in Mangalore and brought an end to the Second Anglo-Mysore War.-Background:...
in 1784, Tipu gained control of Canara. He issued orders to seize the Christians in Canara, confiscate their estates, and deport them to Seringapatam, the capital of his empire, through the Jamalabad fort
Jamalabad
Jamalabad fort, located 8 km north of Beltangadi town, is 1788 ft above sea level and was formerly called Narasimha Ghada, which refers to the granite hill on which the fort is built. It is also referred locally as 'Jamalagadda' or 'Gadaikallu'.The fort was built by Tippu Sultan in 1794 and named...
route. However, there were no priests among the captives. Together with Father Miranda, all the 21 arrested priests were issued orders of expulsion to Goa, fined Rupees 2 lakhs, and threatened death by hanging if they ever returned.
Tipu ordered the destruction of 27 Catholic churches, all beautifully carved with statues depicting various saints. Among them included the Church of Nossa Senhora de Rosario Milagres at Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
, Fr Miranda's Seminary at Monte Mariano, Church of Jesu Marie Jose at Omzoor
Omzoor
Omzoor is situated at a distance of 14 km from Mangalore to the north east and is surrounded by Neermarga, Belloor, Modankap, Fermai parishes....
, Chapel at Bolar, Church of Merces at Ullal
Ullal
Ullāḷ is a panchayat town in Dakshina Kannada district in the Indian state of Karnataka. It is a small town about 8–10 km south of Mangalore close to the border between the two southern states of Karnataka and Kerala. It comprises two revenue villages, Ullal and Parmannur, in Mangalore Taluk...
, Imaculata Conceiciao at Mulki, San Jose at Perar, Nossa Senhora dos Remedios at Kirem, Sao Lawrence at Karkal, Rosario at Barkur
Barkur
Barkur is a cluster of 3 villages [Hosala, Hanehalli, Kachoor] in Udupi district of the Karnataka state in South India. The place is located on the bank of river Seeta.-History:...
, Immaculata Conceciao at Baidnur. All were razed to the ground, with the exception of The Church of Holy Cross
Hospet Church
The Church of Holy Cross of Hospet in South Canara, is one of the ancient church in the Mangalore Diocese of India. Being situated in Hosabettu, it is also known as Hosabettu Church. This was the only church that escaped the drive for the demolition of churches by Tippu Sultan during early...
at Hospet
Hospet
Hospet , is a city in Bellary District in northern Karnataka, India. It is on the Tungabhadra River, 12 km from the World Heritage site consisting of the ruins of the medieval city of Vijayanagara, former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire....
, owing to the friendly offices of the Chauta Raja of Moodbidri.
According to Thomas Munro, a Scottish soldier and the first collector of Canara, around 60,000 people, nearly 92 percent of the entire Mangalorean Catholic community, were captured; only 7,000 escaped. Francis Buchanan
Francis Buchanan-Hamilton
Dr Francis Buchanan, later known as Francis Hamilton but often referred to as Francis Buchanan-Hamilton was a Scottish physician who made significant contributions as a geographer, zoologist, and botanist while living in India.The standard botanical author abbreviation Buch.-Ham. is applied to...
gives the numbers as 70,000 captured, from a population of 80,000, with 10,000 escaping. They were forced to climb nearly 4000 feet (1,219.2 m) through the jungles of the Western Ghat
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
mountain ranges. It was 210 miles (338 km) from Mangalore to Seringapatam, and the journey took six weeks. According to British Government records, 20,000 of them died on the march to Seringapatam. According to James Scurry
James Scurry
James Scurry was a British soldier and memoirist. He was held captive by Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan for 10 years at Seringapatam. He had been kept as a guest at the fort. After his release from Seringapatam he reached an English camp...
, a British officer, who was held captive along with Mangalorean Catholics, 30,000 of them were forcibly converted to Islam. The young women and girls were forcibly made wives of the Muslims living there. The young men who offered resistance were disfigured by cutting their noses, upper lips, and ears. According to Mr. Silva of Gangolim, a survivor of the captivity, if a person who had escaped from Seringapatam was found, the punishment under the orders of Tipu was the cutting off of the ears, nose, the feet and one hand.
The Archbishop of Goa wrote in 1800, "It is notoriously known in all Asia and all other parts of the globe of the oppression and sufferings experienced by the Christians in the Dominion of the King of Kanara, during the usurpation of that country by Tipu Sultan from an implacable hatred he had against them who professed Christianity."
Syrian Malabar Nasrani
The Syrian Malabar Nasrani people, also known as Saint Thomas Christians, "'Nasrani Mappila'" and Nasranis, are an ethnoreligious group from Kerala, India, adhering to the various churches of the Saint Thomas Christian tradition...
community. Many churches in the Malabar and Cochin were damaged. The old Syrian Nasrani seminary at Angamaly which had been the centre of Catholic religious education for several centuries was razed to the ground by Tipu's soldiers. A lot of centuries old religious manuscripts were lost forever. The church was later relocated to Kottayam where it still exists. The Mor Sabor church at Akaparambu and the Martha Mariam Church attached to the seminary were destroyed as well. Tipu's army set fire to the church at Palayoor and attacked the Ollur Church in 1790. Furthernmore, the Arthat church and the Ambazhakkad seminary was also destroyed. Over the course of this invasion, many Syrian Malabar Nasrani were killed or forcibly converted to Islam. Most of the coconut, arecanut, pepper and cashew plantations held by the Syrian Malabar farmers were also indiscriminately destroyed by the invading army. As a result, when Tipu's army invaded Guruvayur and adjacent areas, the Syrian Christian community fled Calicut and small towns like Arthat to new centres like Kunnamkulam, Chalakudi, Ennakadu, Cheppadu, Kannankode, Mavelikkara
Mavelikkara
Mavelikara is a town in Alappuzha district of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 12.65 km2. It is in the southern part of Alappuzha district on the banks of the Achankovil River. Mavelikara is located 8km east of National Highway. Mavelikara is known as the capital of...
, etc. where there were already Christians. They were given refuge by Sakthan Tamburan, the ruler of Cochin and Karthika Thirunal, the ruler of Travancore, who gave them lands, plantations and encouraged their businesses. Colonel Macqulay, the British resident of Travancore also helped them.
Tipu's persecution of Christians even extended to captured British soldiers. For instance, there were a significant number of forced conversions of British captives between 1780 and 1784. Following their disastrous defeat at the 1780 Battle of Pollilur
Battle of Pollilur
The Battle of Pollilur, also known as the Battle of Polilore or Battle of Perambakam, took place on 10 September 1780 at Pollilur near the city of Kanchipuram in present-day Tamil Nadu state, India as part of the Second Anglo-Mysore War...
, 7,000 British men along with an unknown number of women were held captive by Tipu in the fortress of Seringapatnam. Of these, over 300 were circumcised and given Muslim names and clothes and several British regimental drummer boys were made to wear ghagra cholis and entertain the court as nautch girls or dancing girls. After the 10 year long captivity ended, James Scurry, one of those prisoners, recounted that he had forgotten how to sit in a chair and use a knife and fork. His English was broken and stilted, having lost all his vernacular idiom. His skin had darkened to the swarthy complexion of negro
Negro
The word Negro is used in the English-speaking world to refer to a person of black ancestry or appearance, whether of African descent or not...
es, and moreover, he had developed an aversion to wearing European clothes.
During the surrender of the Mangalore fort which was delivered in an armistice by the British and their subsequent withdrawal, all the Mestizos and remaining non-British foreigners were killed, together with 5,600 Mangalorean Catholics. Those condemned by Tipu Sultan for treachery were hanged instantly, the gibbets being weighed down by the number of bodies they carried. The Netravati River was so putrid with the stench of dying bodies, that the local residents were forced to leave their riverside homes.
Hindus, particularly the Nair
Nair
Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
and Kodava
Kodava
The Kodavas are a patrilineal ethno-lingual group from the region of Kodagu, in Karnataka state of southern India who traditionally were land-owning agriculturists with martial traditions and natively speak Kodava takk...
communities were also persecuted by Tipu Sultan. They were subjected to forcible conversions to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, death, and torture. The Nairs were treated with extreme brutality by the Muslims due to their strong adherence to the Hindu faith and martial tradition. The captivity ended when Nair troops from Travancore
Travancore
Kingdom of Travancore was a former Hindu feudal kingdom and Indian Princely State with its capital at Padmanabhapuram or Trivandrum ruled by the Travancore Royal Family. The Kingdom of Travancore comprised most of modern day southern Kerala, Kanyakumari district, and the southernmost parts of...
, with the help of the East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
defeated Tippu Sultan in the Third Anglo-Mysore War
Third Anglo-Mysore War
The Third Anglo-Mysore War was a war in South India between the Sultanate of Mysore and the British East India Company and its allies, including the Mahratta Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad...
. It is estimated that out of the 30,000 Nairs put to captivity (including women and children), only a few hundred returned to Malabar alive.
In 1783, the Kodavas erupted in revolt against Tippu Sultan and threw their forces out of Kodagu
Kodagu
Kodagu , also known by its anglicised former name of Coorg, is an administrative district in Karnataka, India. It occupies an area of in the Western Ghats of southwestern Karnataka. As of 2001, the population was 548,561, 13.74% of which resided in the district's urban centres, making it the least...
. In 1785, Tippu declared the Kodava of being guilty of polyandry
Polyandry
Polyandry refers to a form of marriage in which a woman has two or more husbands at the same time. The form of polyandry in which a woman is married to two or more brothers is known as "fraternal polyandry", and it is believed by many anthropologists to be the most frequently encountered...
. He threatened the Kodavas that he would not revile or molest a single individual among them and instead make Ahmadis (Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s) out of the whole of them, transplanting them from their homeland in the Coorg to Seringapatam.
Tippu gave the task of implementing the orders to Runmust Khan, the Nawab
Nawab
A Nawab or Nawaab is an honorific title given to Muslim rulers of princely states in South Asia. It is the Muslim equivalent of the term "maharaja" that was granted to Hindu rulers....
of Kurool. This task was accomplished when in
a surprise attack, the Kodavas were besieged by the invading Muslim army. 500 were killed and over 40,000 Kodavas fled to the woods and concealed themselves in the mountains. Thousands of Kodava Hindus were seized along with the Raja, Dodda Vira-Rajendra, and held them captive at Seringapatam. They were also subjected to forcible conversions to Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, death, and torture.
Goa Inquisition
The first inquisitors, Aleixo Dias Falcão and Francisco Marques, established themselves in what was formerly the king of Goa's palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
, forcing the Portuguese viceroy
Viceroy
A viceroy is a royal official who runs a country, colony, or province in the name of and as representative of the monarch. The term derives from the Latin prefix vice-, meaning "in the place of" and the French word roi, meaning king. A viceroy's province or larger territory is called a viceroyalty...
to relocate to a smaller residence. The inquisitor's first act was forbidding Hindus from the public practice of their faith through fear of death. Sephardic Jews living in Goa, many of whom had fled the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...
to escape the excesses of the Spanish Inquisition
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
to begin with, were also persecuted. During the Goa Inquisition
Goa Inquisition
The Goa Inquisition was the office of the Inquisition acting in the Indian state of Goa and the rest of the Portuguese empire in Asia. It was established in 1560, briefly suppressed from 1774–1778, and finally abolished in 1812. The Goan Inquisition is considered a blot on the history of...
, described as "contrary to humanity" by Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
, conversions to Catholicism
Catholicism
Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic faith, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole....
occurred by force and many native Goa
Goa
Goa , a former Portuguese colony, is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located in South West India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its...
ns were executed by the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. The adverse effects of the inquisition were tempered somewhat by the fact that Hindus were able to escape Portuguese hegemony
Hegemony
Hegemony is an indirect form of imperial dominance in which the hegemon rules sub-ordinate states by the implied means of power rather than direct military force. In Ancient Greece , hegemony denoted the politico–military dominance of a city-state over other city-states...
by migrating to other parts of the subcontinent. Though officially repressed in 1774, it was reinstated by Queen Maria I in 1778. The last vestiges of the Goa Inquisition were finally swept away when the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
occupied the city in 1812.
Indian Rebellion of 1857
In 1813, East India Company charter was amended to allow for government sponsored missionary activity across British India. The missionaries soon spread almost everywhere and started denigrating Hinduism and Islam, besides promoting Christianity, in order to seek converts. Many officers of the British East India Company, such as Herbert Edwardes and Colonel S.G. Wheeler, openly preached to the Sepoys. Such activities caused a great deal of resentment and fear of forced conversions among Indian soldiers of the Company and civilians alike. The perception that the company was trying to convert Hindus and Muslims to Christianity is often cited as one of the causes of the revoltIndian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
. The revolt is considered by some historians as a semi-national and religious war seeking freedom from English bondage though Saul David questions this interpretation. The revolt started, among the Indian soldiers of British East India Company, when the British introduced new rifle cartridges, rumored to be greased with pig and cow fat - an abhorrent concept to Muslim and Hindu soldiers, respectively, for religious reasons. However, in the aftermath of the revolt, British reprisals were particularly severe with hundreds of thousands being killed. While the death toll is often debated by historians with figures ranging between one hundred thousand and one million, it is usually agreed that several hundred thousands were killed.
Moplah Rebellion
Moplah Rebellion was an Anti HinduHindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
rebellion conducted by the Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Mappila
Mappila
Mappila or Moplah refers to a Muslim community of Kerala, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka and western parts of...
community (Moplah is a British spelling) of Kerala in 1921. Inspired by the Khilafat movement
Khilafat Movement
The Khilafat movement was a pan-Islamic, political campaign launched by Muslims in British India to influence the British government and to protect the Ottoman Empire during the aftermath of World War I...
and the Karachi resolution; Moplahs murdered, pillaged, and forcibly converted thousands of Hindus. 100,000 Hindus were driven away from their homes forcing to leave their property behind, which were later took over by Mappilas. This greatly changed the demographics of the area, being the major cause behind today's Malappuram district being a Muslim majority district in Kerala. According to one view, the reasons for the Moplah rebellion was religious revivalism among the Muslim Mappilas, and hostility towards the landlord Hindu Nair
Nair
Nair , also known as Nayar , refers to "not a unitary group but a named category of castes", which historically embody several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom bore the Nair title. These people historically live in the present-day Indian state of Kerala...
, Nambudiri Jenmi
Jenmi
Jenmi is the term used to refer to the landlords of the Nair and Namboothiris castes from Kerala. In the past the majority, if not all the land was owned by these Jenmimar , and it was not unusual for an aristocratic family to own up to of land...
community and the British administration that supported the latter. Adhering to view, British records call it a British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
-Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
revolt. The initial focus was on the government, but when the limited presence of the government was eliminated, Moplahs turned their full attention on attacking Hindus. Mohommed Haji was proclaimed the Caliph of the Moplah Khilafat and flags of Islamic Caliphate were flown. Ernad and Walluvanad were declared Khilafat kingdoms.
Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
wrote about the riots: "They Moplahs
Mappila
Mappila or Moplah refers to a Muslim community of Kerala, primarily in the northern region called Malabar, which arose in Malabar as a result of the pre and post Islamic Arab contacts. Significant numbers of the community are also present in the southern districts of Karnataka and western parts of...
murdered and plundered abundantly, and killed or drove away all Hindus who would not apostatise. Somewhere about a lakh (100,000) of people were driven from their homes with nothing but their clothes they had on, stripped of everything. Malabar has taught us what Islamic rule still means, and we do not want to see another specimen of the Khilafat Raj in India."
Partition of British India
Direct Action Day
Direct Action Day , also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta in the Bengal province of British India...
, which started on 16 August 1946, led approximately 3000 dead and 17000 injured.
After the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
, the British followed a divide-and-rule policy, exploiting differences between communities, in order to prevent similar revolts from taking place. In that respect, Indian Muslims were encouraged to forge a cultural and political identity separate from the Hindus. In the years leading up to Independence, Mohammad Ali Jinnah became increasingly concerned about minority position of Islam in an independent India largely composed of a Hindu majority.
Although a partition plan was accepted, no large population movements were contemplated. As India and Pakistan become independent, 14.5 million people crossed borders to ensure their safety in an increasingly lawless and communal environment. While the British authority was gone, the newly formed governments were completely unequipped to deal with migrations of such staggering magnitude, and massive violence and slaughter occurred on both sides of the border along communal lines. Estimates of the number of deaths range around roughly 500,000, with low estimates at 200,000 and high estimates at 1,000,000.
Modern India
ConstitutionallyConstitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
India is a secular state
Secular state
A secular state is a concept of secularism, whereby a state or country purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state also claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of religion, and claims to avoid preferential...
,
but large-scale violence have periodically occurred in India since independence. In recent decades, communal tensions and religion-based politics have become more prominent.
1984 Anti-Sikh Riots
For several decades after PartitionsPartition of India
The Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
, Sikhs in Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
had complained about domination by the Hindu majority. In a 1975 court case
State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain
The State of Uttar Pradesh v. Raj Narain was a 1975 case heard by the Allahabad High Court that found the then-Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi guilty of electoral malpractices. Ruling on the case that had been filed by the defeated opposition candidate Raj Narain, Justice Jagmohanlal Sinha...
, Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
was found guilty of electoral malpractice which barred her from government offices for six years and opposition parties staged protests to demand her resignation. In response, she declared a State of Emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
during which she jailed thousands of opposition members, censored the press, postponed elections, and changed the constitutional law
Constitution of India
The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...
she was convicted of violating. During the Indian Emergency, thousands of Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
s campaigning for autonomous government and against the "fascist
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
tendency" of the Central Government
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
were imprisoned. As a result of their "Campaign to Save Democracy", out of 140,000 people arrested without trial during the Indian Emergency, 40,000 were Sikhs.
In later elections she supported the politics Jarnail Bhindranwale
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was the leader of the Damdami Taksal, a Sikh religious group based in India, who supported implementation of the Anandpur Sahib Resolution. In 1981, Bhindranwale was arrested for his suspected involvement in the murder of Jagat Narain, the proprietor of the Hind...
, a religious conservative, in an effort to undermine the Akali Dal, the largest Sikh political party. However, Bhindranwale began to oppose the central government and moved his political base to the environs of the Darbar Sahib
Darbar Sahib
Darbar Sahib refers to the main hall within a Sikh gurdwara. This hall is where the holy text, current and perpetual Guru of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a takhat or throne in a prominent central position in the hall....
in Amritsar, Punjab. While there he gained considerable political power and disrupted the local state machinery. In June 1984, under orders from Indira Gandhi, the Indian army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
attacked the Darbar Sahib
Darbar Sahib
Darbar Sahib refers to the main hall within a Sikh gurdwara. This hall is where the holy text, current and perpetual Guru of the Sikhs, the Guru Granth Sahib is placed on a takhat or throne in a prominent central position in the hall....
with tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s and armoured vehicles. Although the operation was militarily successful, it aroused tremendous controversy, and the government's justification for the timing and style of the attack are highly debated. In response, some Sikhs and some Punjabi Hindus began a separatist campaign
Khalistan movement
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
to free Punjab
Punjab (India)
Punjab ) is a state in the northwest of the Republic of India, forming part of the larger Punjab region. The state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Haryana to the south and southeast and Rajasthan to the southwest as well as the Pakistani province of Punjab to the...
from the Indian Government.
Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984 by two of her bodyguards in retaliation for the storming of the Golden temple. After the assassination the 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms took place in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, where government and police officials aided Congress party worker gangs in "methodically and systematically" targeting Sikhs and Sikh homes. As a result of the pogroms 10,000-17,000 were burned alive or otherwise killed, Sikh people suffered massive property damage, and "at least 50,000" Sikhs became displaced persons. To date, the Government of India has not prosecuted any of the assailants. The attack on the Harmandir Sahib
Harmandir Sahib
The Harmandir Sahib also Darbar Sahib , also referred to as the Golden Temple, is a prominent Sikh gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab . Construction of the gurdwara was begun by Guru Ram Das, the fourth Sikh Guru, and completed by his successor, Guru Arjan Dev...
and the 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms led to the increasing popularity of the Khalistan movement
Khalistan movement
Khalistan refers to a global political secessionist movement to create a separate Sikh state, called Khālistān , carved out of parts mostly consisting of the Punjab region of India, depending on definition....
. From 1987 until 1992, the Indian government dismissed the elected government of the state, banned elections and imposed direct rule.
In the peak years of the insurgency, religious violence by separatists, government-sponsored groups, and the paramilitary arms of the government was endemic on all sides. Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
reports that separatists were responsible for "massacre of civilians, attacks upon Hindu minorities in the state, indiscriminate bomb attacks in crowded places, and the assassination of a number of political leaders". According to Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
, the Indian Government's response "led to the arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial execution, and enforced disappearance of thousands of Sikhs". The government generally targeted "young Sikh men on suspicion that they were involved in the militancy" but would later deny having them in custody, as a result, many of the victims of enforced disappearances are believed to have been killed. The insurgency resulted in the paralyzation of Punjab's economy until normalization in 1993.
Ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Pandits
In the Kashmir region, approximately 300 Kashmiri Pandits were killed between September 1989 to 1990 in various incidents. In early 1990, local Urdu newspapers Aftab and Al Safa called upon Kashmiris to wage jihadJihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
against India and ordered the expulsion of all Hindus choosing to remain in Kashmir. In the following days masked men ran in the streets with AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
shooting to kill Hindus who would not leave. Notices were placed on the houses of all Hindus, telling them to leave within 24 hours or die.
Since March 1990, estimates of between 500,000 to 750,000 pandits have migrated outside Kashmir due to persecution by Islamic fundamentalists in the largest case of ethnic cleansing since the partition of India. The proportion of Kashmiri Pandits in the Kashmir valley has declined from about 15% in 1947 to, by some estimates, less than 0.1% since the insurgency in Kashmir took on a religious and sectarian flavor.
Many Kashmiri Pandit
Kashmiri Pandit
The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu Brahmin community originating from Kashmir, a mountainous region in South Asia.-Background:The Hindu caste system of the region was influenced by the influx of Buddhism from the time of Asoka, around the third century BCE, and a consequence of this was that the...
s have been killed by Islamist militants in incidents such as the Wandhama massacre
Wandhama massacre
The 1998 Wandhama massacre refers to the murder of 23 Kashmiri Pandit Hindus in the town of Wandhama in the Muslim-majority Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir on 25 January 1998. The victims included four children, nine women and 10 men...
and the 2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre
2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre
2000 Amarnath pilgrimage massacre was the massacre of 30 people, mostly Hindu pilgrims, by Kashmiri separatist militants on 1 August 2000 in Pahalgam town located in Anantnag district, Kashmir, India. The pilgrims were on their way to Amarnath temple on annual pilgrimage. Many of those killed...
. The incidents of massacring and forced eviction have been termed ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing
Ethnic cleansing is a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic orreligious group from certain geographic areas....
by some observers.
Religious involvement in North-East India Militancy
Religion has begun to play an increasing role in reinforcing ethnic divides among the decades old militant separatist movements in north-east India.The separatist group National Liberation Front of Tripura
National Liberation Front of Tripura
The National Liberation Front of Tripura is a Tripuri nationalist militant organization based in Tripura, India.The NLFT seeks to secede from India and establish an independent Tripuri state, and has actively participated in the Tripura Rebellion...
(NLFT) seeks to convert all tribals in the state of Tripura
Tripura
Tripura is a state in North-East India, with an area of . It is the third smallest state of India, according to area. Tripura is surrounded by Bangladesh on the north, south, and west. The Indian states of Assam and Mizoram lie to the east. The capital is Agartala and the main languages spoken are...
, who are mostly Hindu or Buddhist, to Christianity. It has proclaimed bans on Hindu worship and has attacked animist Reangs and Hindu Jamatia tribesmen who resisted. Some resisting tribal leaders have been killed and their womenfolk raped. The RSS has attempted to counter Christian separatist groups by backing Reang and Jamatia tribals, and has called for the central government to help arm and fund them.
Hindu nationalists, upset with the rapid spread of Chistianity in the region, link the overt Christian religiosity of the groups and the local churches' liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
-based doctrine to allege church support for ethnic separatism. Vatsala Vedantam identifies statements from the American Baptist Churches USA
American Baptist Churches USA
The American Baptist Churches USA is a Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its...
as endorsing the Naga separatist cause.
According to The Government of Tripura, the Baptist Church of Tripura is involved in supporting the NLFT and arrested two church officials in 2000, one of them for possessing explosives. In late 2004, the National Liberation Front of Tripura
National Liberation Front of Tripura
The National Liberation Front of Tripura is a Tripuri nationalist militant organization based in Tripura, India.The NLFT seeks to secede from India and establish an independent Tripuri state, and has actively participated in the Tripura Rebellion...
banned all Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
celebrations of Durga Puja
Durga Puja
Durga puja ; দুর্গা পূজা,ଦୁର୍ଗା ପୂଜା,‘Worship of Durga’), also referred to as Durgotsava ; , is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Navami and...
and Saraswati Puja. The Naga insurgency, ethnic separtism reinforced in their identity by Christianity, has been repeatedly involved in violence against Hindus in the region.
The United States does not designate as terrorist organizations most of those groups that continue violent separatist struggles in India’s northeastern states.
Anti Muslim Violence
Hashimpura massacre
Hashimpura massacre took place on May 22, 1987, during the Hindu-Muslim riots in Meerut city in Uttar Pradesh state, India, when 19 personnel of the Provincial Armed Constabulary allegedly rounded up 42 Muslim youth from the Hashimpura mohalla of the city, took them in truck to the outskirts,...
(1987), Bombay riots
Bombay Riots
The Bombay Riots usually refers to the riots in Mumbai, in December 1992 and January 1993, in which around 900 people died. An estimated 575 Muslims and 275 Hindus died, and 2,000 people were injured in the riots. . An investigative commission was formed under Justice B.N. Srikrishna, but the...
, 1993 Bombay bombings, Godhra Train Burning
Godhra Train Burning
The Godhra train burning was an incident in which a sleeper coach on a passenger train was set on fire in 2002 by Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat, India in a conspiracy...
, and 2002 Gujarat violence
2002 Gujarat violence
The 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
.
Archaeological excavations by the Archaeological Survey of India
Archaeological Survey of India
The Archaeological Survey of India is a department of the Government of India, attached to the Ministry of Culture . The ASI is responsible for archaeological studies and the preservation of archaeological heritage of the country in accordance with the various acts of the Indian Parliament...
(ASI) in 1970, 1992 and 2003 in and around the disputed site have indicated a large Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
complex existed on the site. In 2003, by the order of an Indian Court, The Archaeological Survey of India was asked to conduct a more indepth study and an excavation to ascertain the type of structure that was beneath the rubble. The summary of the ASI report indicated definite proof of a temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
under the mosque. In the words of ASI researchers, they discovered "distinctive features associated with... temples of north India". The excavations yielded:
On 6 December 1992, members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad
Vishva Hindu Parishad
' , which is usually known more simply as the VHP, is an international Hindu organization, which was founded in India in 1964. Its slogan is "धर्मो रक्षति रक्षितः Dharmo rakṣati rakṣitaḥ", which is supposed to mean "Dharma protects its protector"...
and the Bajrang Dal
Bajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal , a hardline and militant Hindu organization in India, is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and is based on the ideology of Hindutva. Founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has since spread throughout India...
destroyed the 430 year old Babri Mosque
Babri Mosque
The Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
in Ayodhya, allegedly built over the birthplace of the Hindu deity Rama
Rama
Rama or full name Ramachandra is considered to be the seventh avatar of Vishnu in Hinduism, and a king of Ayodhya in ancient Indian...
. This action caused great anger in the Muslim community. The resulting religious riots caused at least 1200 deaths. Reprisals against Hindu minorities also occurred in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Since then the Government of India has blocked off or heavily increased security at these disputed sites while encouraging attempts to resolve these disputes through court cases and negotiations.
In the aftermatch of the destruction of the Babri Mosque
Babri Mosque
The Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
in Ayodhya by Hindu nationalists
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expressions of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of historical India...
on 6 December 1992, roiting took place between Hindus and Muslims in the city of Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. 500 Muslims died in the resulting violence. Four people died in a fire in the Asalpha timber mart at Ghatkopar, five were killed in the burning of Bainganwadi; shacks along the harbor line track between Sewri and Cotton Green stations were gutted; and a couple was pulled out of a rickshaw in Asalpha village and burnt to death. The riots changed the demographics of Mumbai greatly, as Hindus moved to Hindu-majority areas and Muslims moved to Muslim-majority areas.
The Godhra train burning incident led to the 2002 Gujarat riots in which mostly Muslims were killed in an apaprent act of retaliation. According to the death toll given to the parliament
Parliament of India
The Parliament of India is the supreme legislative body in India. Founded in 1919, the Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all political bodies in India. The Parliament of India comprises the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha...
on 11 May 2005 by the government
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, and another 2,548 injured. 223 people are missing. The report placed the number of riot widows at 919 and 606 children were declared orphaned. According to hone advocacy group, the death tolls were up to 2000. According to the Congressional Research Service
Congressional Research Service
The Congressional Research Service , known as "Congress's think tank", is the public policy research arm of the United States Congress. As a legislative branch agency within the Library of Congress, CRS works exclusively and directly for Members of Congress, their Committees and staff on a...
, up to 2000 people, mostly Muslim were killed in the violence. Tens of thousands were displaced from their homes because of the violence. The large-scale, collective violence has been described by some as a "massacre" and an attempted pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
or genocide
Genocide
Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...
of the Muslim population. According to New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reporter Celia Williams Dugger
Celia W. Dugger
Celia Williams Dugger is an American journalist who works for The New York Times as a foreign correspondent in South Africa....
, witnesses were "dismayed by the lack of intervention from local police", who often "watched the events taking place and took no action against the attacks on Muslims and their property". Sangh leaders
Sangh Parivar
The Sangh Parivar refers to the family of organisations of Hindu nationalists which have been started by members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or are inspired by its ideas. The Sangh Parivar represents the Hindu nationalist movement. It includes the RSS and several dozen smaller...
as well as the Gujarat government maintain that the violence was rioting or inter-communal clashes - spontaneous and uncontrollable reaction to the Godhra train burning
Godhra Train Burning
The Godhra train burning was an incident in which a sleeper coach on a passenger train was set on fire in 2002 by Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat, India in a conspiracy...
.
Anti-Christian violence
In some cases, anti-Christian violence has been co-ordinated, involving multiple attacks. In Orissa, starting December 2007, Christians have been attacked in Kandhamal
Kandhamal
Kandhamal is a district of the state of Orissa, India. The district headquarters of the district is Phulbani.-History:The Kandhmal district was created on 1 April 1993 from the former Boudh-Kandhmal district as a result of district reorganization in the state of Orissa.-Communal unrest and...
and other districts, resulting in the deaths of two Hindus and one Christian, and the destruction of houses and churches. Twenty people were arrested following the attacks on churches.
Similarly, starting 14 September 2008, there were numerous incidents of violence against the Christian community in Karnataka. These were ignited by the New Light Church's distributing offensive literature that portrayed incorrect and demeaning interpretation of Hindu gods.
Foreign Christian missionaries have mostly been targets of attacks. In a well-publicised case Graham Staines
Graham Staines
Dr. Graham Stuart Staines was an Australian Christian missionary who along with his two sons Philip and Timothy were burnt to death by a gang while sleeping in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Orissa, India on January 1999...
, an Australian missionary, was burnt to death while he was sleeping with his two sons Timothy (aged 9) and Philip (aged 7) in his station wagon at Manoharpur village in Keonjhar district in Orissa
Orissa
Orissa , officially Odisha since Nov 2011, is a state of India, located on the east coast of India, by the Bay of Bengal. It is the modern name of the ancient nation of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Maurya Emperor Ashoka in 261 BC. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April...
in January 1999.
In 2003, Dara Singh
Dara Singh
Dara Singh Randhawa is a wrestler and Indian film actor. He was born in a Jat Sikh family of Punjabi background.He was a wrestler before he started acting in Hindi films in 1962....
was convicted of leading the gang responsible.
According to Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, "Conversion nowadays has become a matter of business, like any other. India (Hindus) is in no need of conversion of this kind. That however is never what is meant by proselytization. To those who would convert India (Hindus), might it not be said, "Physician, heal yourself." (Young India: 23 April 1931)
In its annual human rights reports for 1999, the United States Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
criticised India for "increasing societal violence against Christians." The report listed over 90 incidents of anti-Christian violence, ranging from damage of religious property to violence against Christian pilgrims. The Indian organizations responded by alleging the numerous Christian missions present on Indian soil converting Hindus by fraud and money.
In 2007 and 2008 there was a further flare up of tensions in Orissa, the first following the Christians' putting up a Pandhal in land traditionally used by Hindus and the second after the unprovoked murder of a Hindu Saint and four of his disciples while observing Janmashtami puja. Then, a 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradesh was set on fire, and more attacks in Karnataka,. The archbishop, Bernard Moras, met the BJP CM BS Yeddyurappa after he had taken a decision to invoke the provisions of Goonda Act against those nabbed for vandalising churches as part of its strategy to salvage its image and to instill confidence. The Bajrang Dal convenor was arrested after the incidents of church burning in Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
. In light of these events NDTV asked to ban the Bajrang Dal
Bajrang Dal
The Bajrang Dal , a hardline and militant Hindu organization in India, is the youth wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and is based on the ideology of Hindutva. Founded on 1 October 1984 in Uttar Pradesh, India, it has since spread throughout India...
.
The violence apparently spread to Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh (which had a Christian CM) as claimed by Catholic News. More sign of trouble erupted on 27 September as the attacks spread to the least communal states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, where there was desecration of a statue of the baby Jesus and Indian Orthodox Church
Indian Orthodox Church
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church centred in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the churches of India's Saint Thomas Christian community, which traces its origins to the evangelical activity of Thomas...
es were stoned, interestingly by Christians of rival sects respectively and the Police took two Christians into custody. However, in Kerala where the population is around one-fifth Christians, around one-fourth Muslim and live with a population of around 50% Hindus, there has been calm until recently. After the Hand chopping incident
2010 hand chopping incident in Kerala
The 2010 hand chopping incident in Kerala occurred on 4 July 2010 at Muvattupuzha in the Ernakulam district of Kerala, India. Joseph, a professor of Malayalam at Newman College, Thodupuzha, a Christian minority institution affiliated to Mahatma Gandhi University had his hand cut off at the wrist...
, the situation worsened..
Anti-Hindu violence
There have been a number of more recent attacks on Hindu temples and Hindus by Muslim militants. Prominent among them are the 1998 Chamba massacre1998 Chamba massacre
1998 Chamba massacre is massacre of 35 Hindus by terrorists in Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh in India on 3 August 1998.-Background:An insurgency has been going on in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989...
, the 2002 fidayeen attacks on Raghunath temple
2002 fidayeen attacks on Raghunath temple
2002 Raghunath Temple attacks refers to two fidayeen attacks in 2002 on Raghunath Temple in Jammu in India. Built by Maharaja Ranbir Singh in 1860, Raghunath temple is dedicated to Hindu God Rama.-March attack:...
, the 2002 Akshardham Temple attack
Akshardham Temple attack
The Akshardham Temple attack or Akshardham Temple siege occurred on September 25, 2002 when two heavily armed terrorists arrived at the Akshardham Monument in Gandhinagar, the capital of Western Gujarat state in India at around 1630 hrs local time. They scaled the perimeter fence and opened fire,...
allegedly perpetrated by Islamic terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Toiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
and the 2006 Varanasi bombings
2006 Varanasi bombings
The 2006 Varanasi bombings were a series of bombings that occurred across the Hindu holy city of Varanasi in India on Tuesday, 7 March 2006. At least 28 people are reported to have been killed and as many as 101 others were injured.-Blast at the Temple:...
(supposedly perpetrated by Lashkar-e-Toiba), resulting in many deaths and injuries. Recent attacks on Hindus by Muslim mobs include Marad massacre
Marad Massacre
The Marad massacre was the killing of eight Hindus by a Muslim mob on 2 May 2003 at the Marad beach of the Kozhikode district, Kerala, India. One attacker, Mohammed Ashker was hit by accident and was also killed. The judicial commission that probed the incident concluded that the Indian Union...
, Godhra train burning
Godhra Train Burning
The Godhra train burning was an incident in which a sleeper coach on a passenger train was set on fire in 2002 by Muslims in Godhra, Gujarat, India in a conspiracy...
etc.
In September 2008, Swami Laxmanananda, a popular regional Hindu Guru was murdered along with four of his disciples by unknown assailants (though a Maoist organization later claimed responsibility for that), allegedly due to the Guru's provocative opposition of Christians' conversion activities and Missionary propaganda. Later the police arrested three Christians in connection with the murder. Congress MP Radhakant Nayak
Radhakant Nayak
Radhakant Nayak is an Indian politician belonging to the Indian National Congress party. He is a Member of the Parliament of India representing Orissa in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament. Radhakant Nayak, a 1962 batch IAS officer...
has also been named as a suspected person in the murder, with some Hindu leaders calling for his arrest.
Lesser incidents of religious violence happen in many towns and villages in India. In October 2005, five people were killed in Mau
Mau
Mau , formerly Mau Nath Bhanjan , nearly 90 km from Varanasi is the powerhouse of textile weavers in Eastern UP, India. It is a small industrial town on the banks of Ghaghra . The Tamasa river flows through the city...
in Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
during Hindu-Muslim rioting, which was triggered by the proposed celebration of a Hindu festival.
On 3 and 4 January 2002, three Hindus and two Muslims were killed in Marad, near Calicut due to scuffles between two groups that began after a dispute over drinking water.
On 2 May 2003, eight Hindus were killed by a Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
mob, in what is believed to be a sequel to the earlier incident. One of the attackers, Mohammed Ashker was killed during the chaos. The National Development Front (NDF), a right-wing militant Islamist organization, was suspected as the perpetrator of the Marad Massacre
Marad Massacre
The Marad massacre was the killing of eight Hindus by a Muslim mob on 2 May 2003 at the Marad beach of the Kozhikode district, Kerala, India. One attacker, Mohammed Ashker was hit by accident and was also killed. The judicial commission that probed the incident concluded that the Indian Union...
.
In the 2010 Deganga riots
2010 Deganga riots
The 2010 Deganga riots began on 6 September when mobs resorted to arson and violence over a disputed structure at Deganga, Kartikpur and Beliaghata under the Deganga police station area. The violence began late in the evening and continued throughout the night into the next morning...
after hundreds of Hindu business establishments and residences were looted, destroyed and burnt, dozens of Hindus were severely injured and several Hindu temples desecrated and vandalized by the Islamist mobs led by Trinamul Congress MP Haji Nurul Islam.
In transcripts made available to PTI on October 5, 2008, a prominent Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda alias Sunil mentioned that there was pressure from both Christians and Dalits to eliminate VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati, noting that most of the cadre members and supporters in Orissa belonged to Christian community and not tribals unlike in other states where tribals form the biggest support base of Maoists. It was admitting that the Maoists had for the first time intervened in any religious dispute by killing Laxamananda Saraswati.
International Human Rights Reports
- The 2007 United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
International Religious Freedom Report noted The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the National Government generally respected this right in practice. However, some state and local governments limited this freedom in practice.
- The 2008 Human Rights WatchHuman Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
report notes: India claims an abiding commitment to human rights, but its record is marred by continuing violations by security forces in counterinsurgency operations and by government failure to rigorously implement laws and policies to protect marginalized communities. A vibrant media and civil society continue to press for improvements, but without tangible signs of success in 2007.
- The 2007 Amnesty InternationalAmnesty InternationalAmnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
report listed several issues concern in India and noted Justice and rehabilitation continued to evade most victims of the 2002 Gujarat communal violence.
- The 2007 United States Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
Human Rights Report noted that the government generally respected the rights of its citizens; however, numerous serious problems remained. The report which has received a lot of controversy internationally, as it does not include human rights violations of United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and its allies, has generally been rejected by political parties in India as interference in internal affairs, including in the Lower House of Parliament.
In film and literature
Religious violence in India have been a topic of various films and novels.- FiraaqFiraaqFiraaq is a 2008 Hindi political thriller film set one month after the 2002 violence in Gujarat, India, and looks at the aftermath in terms of the effects on the lives of everyday people. It claims to be based on "a thousand true stories". Firaaq means both separation and quest in Urdu...
a film set in the aftermath of the 2002 Gujarat riots. - Garam HawaGaram HawaGarm Hava is a 1973 Urdu film directed by M. S. Sathyu, based on an unpublished Urdu short story by Ismat Chughtai and adapted for screen by Kaifi Azmi, who also wrote its lyrics....
a film by M. S. SathyuM. S. SathyuMysore Shrinivas Sathyu is a leading film director, stage designer and art director from India. His film Garam Hawa is a film on the partition of India. He is a recipient of the Padma Shri in 1975.-Early life:Sathyu conducted his schooling and higher education at Mysore and Bangalore...
based on a story on partition written by Ismat Chugtai. - GandhiGandhi (film)Gandhi is a 1982 biographical film based on the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who led the nonviolent resistance movement against British colonial rule in India during the first half of the 20th century. The film was directed by Richard Attenborough and stars Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. They both...
- a 1983 film which included portrayal of the Direct Action DayDirect Action DayDirect Action Day , also known as the Great Calcutta Killings, was a day of widespread riot and manslaughter in the city of Calcutta in the Bengal province of British India...
and Partition riotsPartition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
. - Tamas A film on partition based on a book by Bhisham SahniBhisham SahniBhisham Sahni भीष्म साहनी was a Hindi writer, playwright, and actor, most famous for his novel and television screenplay Tamas , a powerful and passionate account of the Partition of India...
- BombayBombay (film)Bombay is a critically acclaimed and national award-winning 1995 Tamil film directed by Mani Ratnam, starring Arvind Swamy and Manisha Koirala, with music composed by A. R. Rahman...
- a 1995 film centred on events during the period of December 1992 to January 1993 in India, and the controversy surrounding the Babri MosqueBabri MosqueThe Babri Mosque , was a mosque in Ayodhya, a city in the Faizabad district of Uttar Pradesh, on Ramkot Hill . It was destroyed in 1992 when a political rally developed into a riot involving 150,000 people, despite a commitment to the Indian Supreme Court by the rally organisers that the mosque...
in Ayodhya. - MaachisMaachisMaachis is a 1996 Indian Hindi film directed by Gulzar and produced by R. V. Pandit. The title of the film is used as a metaphor that conveys that the youth of any nation are matchsticks that could get ignited due to the deficiencies in the political and policing systems...
a film by GulzarGulzar (lyricist)Sampooran Singh Kalra , known popularly by his pen name Gulzar , is an Indian poet, lyricist and director. He primarily writes in Hindi-Urdu and has also written in Punjabi and several dialects of Hindi such as Braj Bhasha, Khariboli, Haryanvi and Marwari.Gulzar was awarded the Padma Bhushan in...
about Punjab terrorism - EarthEarth (1998 film)Earth is a 1998 film directed by Deepa Mehta. It is based upon Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Cracking India, . Earth is the second part of Mehta's Elements trilogy...
- a 1998 film portraying PartitionPartition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
violence in LahoreLahoreLahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
. - FizaFizaFiza is a 2000 Indian film written and directed by Khalid Mohammed. The film stars Karisma Kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Jaya Bachchan.- Synopsis :...
- a 2000 film, plot setup amidst Bombay riotsBombay RiotsThe Bombay Riots usually refers to the riots in Mumbai, in December 1992 and January 1993, in which around 900 people died. An estimated 575 Muslims and 275 Hindus died, and 2,000 people were injured in the riots. . An investigative commission was formed under Justice B.N. Srikrishna, but the...
. - Hey RamHey RamHey Ram is a controversial Indian film released both in Tamil and Hindi in 2000 and written, directed, produced by and starring Kamal Haasan...
- a 2002 film with a semi-fictional plot centres around Partition of IndiaPartition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
and related religious violence. - Mr. and Mrs. IyerMr. and Mrs. IyerMr. and Mrs. Iyer is a 2002 Indian drama film written and directed by Aparna Sen and produced by N. Venkatesan. The film features Aparna Sen's daughter Konkona Sen Sharma as Meenakshi Iyer, a Tamil Iyer Brahmin who is a Hindu. Rahul Bose portrays the character of Raja Chowdhury, a Muslim wildlife...
- a 2002 film. The story revolves around the relationship between two lead characters Meenakshi Iyer and Raja amidst Hindu-Muslim riots in India. - Final Solution - a 2003 documentary film about the 2002 Gujarat violence2002 Gujarat violenceThe 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
, banned in India. - HawayeinHawayeinHawayein is a 2003 Bollywood film, directed by Ammtoje Mann. The movie stars Babbu Mann, Ammtoje Mann, and Sunny Mann.The Tagline of the movie was Some winds don’t blow… Yet take away everything.- Plot :...
- a 2003 film about the struggles of Sikhs during the 1984 anti-SikhSikhA Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
riots. - Black Friday - a Hindi film on the 1993 serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, directed by Anurag Kashyap.
- AmuAmu (film)Amu is a critically acclaimed 2005 film directed by Shonali Bose, based on her own novel by the same name. It stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Brinda Karat, and Ankur Khanna...
- An award-winning film about a girl orphaned during the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots1984 anti-Sikh riotsThe 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
. - ParzaniaParzaniaParzania is a 2007 Indian drama film co-written and directed by Rahul Dholakia; David N. Donihue is the other co-writer. The film featured Naseeruddin Shah and Sarika in the lead roles, while Corin Nemec and Raj Zutshi played supporting roles...
- a 2007 film about the riots in Gujarat in 20022002 Gujarat violenceThe 2002 Gujarat violence describes the Godhra train burning and resulting communal riots between Hindus and Muslims. On 27 February 2002 at Godhra City in the state of Gujarat, the Sabarmati Express train was attacked by a large Muslim mob in a conspiracy. But some authentic sources deny the claim...
. The film was purposely not released in Gujarat. Cinema owners and distributors in Gujarat refused to screen the film out of fear of retaliation by Hindu activists. Hindutva groups in Gujarat threatened to attack theaters that showed the film. - Train to PakistanTrain to PakistanTrain To Pakistan is a historical novel by Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. It recounts the Partition of India in August 1947.Instead of depicting the Partition in terms of only the political events surrounding it, Singh digs into a deep local focus, providing a human dimension which brings to...
, a novel by Khushwant SinghKhushwant SinghKhushwant Singh is a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, is among the most widely-read columns in the country....
set during the Partition of IndiaPartition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
and a movie based on the book-Train to Pakistan (film)Train to Pakistan (film)Train to Pakistan is a 1998 Hindi film adapted from Khushwant Singh's 1956 historical novel by the same name set in the Partition of India of 1947 and directed by Pamela Rooks... - Toba Tek SinghToba Tek Singh (short story)"Toba Tek Singh" is a short story written by Saadat Hasan Manto and published in 1955. It follows inmates in a Lahore asylum some of who are to be transferred to India following the 1947 Partition. The story is a "powerful satire" on the relationship between India and Pakistan...
, a satire by the writer Saadat Hasan MantoSaadat Hasan MantoSaadat Hassan Manto was a short story writer of the Urdu language. He is best known for his short stories, 'Bu' , 'Khol Do' , 'Thanda Gosht' , and his magnum opus, 'Toba Tek Singh'....
set during the Partition of IndiaPartition of IndiaThe Partition of India was the partition of British India on the basis of religious demographics that led to the creation of the sovereign states of the Dominion of Pakistan and the Union of India on 14 and 15...
.
See also
- Caste-related violence in IndiaCaste-related violence in IndiaCaste-related violence and hate crimes in India have occurred despite the gradual reduction of casteism in the country.According to a report by Human Rights Watch, "Dalits and indigenous peoples continue to face discrimination, exclusion, and acts of communal violence...
- Communalism (South Asia)Communalism (South Asia)This article deals with the use of the word communalism in South Asia, as a name for a force separating different communities based on some form of social or sectarian discrimination...
- Hindu TalibanHindu TalibanHindu Taliban is a pejorative term sometimes used to describe the supporters of the Hindutva movement, similar to the term Christian Taliban. The term derives from the name of the Taliban, an Islamist fundamentalist movement and organisation...
- SomnathSomnathThe Somnath Temple located in the Prabhas Kshetra near Veraval in Saurashtra, on the western coast of Gujarat, India, is one of the twelve Jyotirlinga shrines of the God Shiva. Somnath means "The Protector of Moon God". The Somnath Temple is known as "the Shrine Eternal", having been destroyed...
- List of riots
- Religion in IndiaReligion in IndiaIndian religions is a classification for religions that originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. These religions are also classified as Eastern religions...
- Persecution of MuslimsPersecution of MuslimsPersecution of Muslims is the religious persecution of Muslims as a consequence of professing their faith, both historically and in the current era.-Anatolia:...
- Persecution of HindusPersecution of HindusPersecution of Hindus refers to the religious persecution inflicted upon Hindus. Hindus have been historically persecuted during Islamic rule of the Indian subcontinent and during the Goa Inquisition...
- Religious scandals in India