A casual glance at world affairs would suggest that religion is the core of many conflicts around the world. Religion can be powerfully motivating and quarrelsome. Religion has been a major factor in some historical conflicts. In recent years, we have witnessed an increase in violent and religious tensions. These all range from Islamic extremists and power struggles between Sunni and Shia Muslims in the Middle East to Hindu-Muslim conflict in India. Majority of the world’s countries experienced an increase of hostilities motivated by religious hatred, mob violence related to religion, terrorism, and harassment of women for violating religious codes. The spike in religious violence is worldwide and affects every religious group, no one is exempt. One of the growing religious conflicts is the one between Hinduism and Islam, which can be predominately seen in India. India is the fourth-worst country in the world for religious violence (Bhattarya, 2014).
The conflict in India between Hindus and Muslims dates back to years ago, by looking at the country’s history and cultural differences, tension has been present since Islam arrived with the Mughal conquerors in the sixteenth century. Cultural differences are emphasized in many ways: the differing characters of the two religions, codes of acceptable behavior, and lifestyles have supposedly created a partition between the two groups (Mitra, 1992). Since their independence, multiple religious riots have been recorded in which many have been killed, mostly Muslim minorities. However, Sikhs and Christians are also being persecuted by Hindu nationalists belonging to the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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According to many civil right groups, there is an ever-growing list of brutalities in the name of religion in India. For example, the killing of at least 2000 Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. The Muslim sense of victimhood, stemming of the partition of Kashmir, combined with the Hindu’s fear of Kashmiri terrorism, has resulted to a never-ending cycle of violence. The conflict can be understood through the active politicization of religion for political gain. The violence may also be linked to ideas of the past; however, it is more so a successful political strategy. This can also be perceived thorough the accusation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi initiating and condoning this violence, as have the police and government officials (Samir, 2017).
Religion and culture go hand in hand, religion is a cultural tradition. Particular culture implies belonging to a particular religion, they cannot be separated. Studying religion is a vague task, there is uncertainty as to what constitutes as religion (Braun, 2000). This can be further illustrated by Derkheim (1965), who states that religion is a system of ideas that correspond to a definite object, religion is so universal that it does not conform objectively with the ideas of believers. Religion is an expression of human culture, it is expressed and clothed in cultural guise (Mulder, 1985). The interaction between culture and religion must be recognized, they are both influenced by each other.
By applying anthropological insights, we may be able to address the conflicts and establish a way to make a change. The first step would be to conduct some field work to be able to make some generalized inquires to determine the regularities that are present. By finding regularities, we are able to find the areas that need to be addressed and how. Attention should also be placed on the cultural impact present and the discourses on equality. Abu-Lughod (2002) highlights the importance of cultural relativism; she provides a good framework to address the social issue at hand. We have to acknowledge the different histories, different circumstances, the different structured desires of each opposing side. Furthermore, we should recognize how the conflict started, and how to address the injustice established by the ones who run the country. Overall, there are many influences to the religious conflict in India, and taking a holistic approach would be the most successful.
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