Although ‘religious nationalism’ and ‘communalism’ are often used interchangeably, in the case of India, the two have different implications. Muhammad Ahmad Khan and Saniya Khan ask which is the most accurate way to describe Modi’s government.
By the time the British left the Indian subcontinent, the empire had been using communalism to divide and rule for decades, and the ideology had gained momentum. The subsequent birth of an India based on secularism was evident in the visions of its founders.
However, nationalist forces, particularly religious nationalists, had also been growing in parallel since the 1920s. Present-day India under the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s rule is more significantly under the spell of communalism than that of religious nationalism. The systemic marginalisation of minorities including Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs demonstrates that India is growing on communal fault lines.
The Indian officials often threaten to wipe Muslims out, who are portrayed to be aliens to Hindu land. One such incident came to light when Karnell Singh, a BJP leader, threatened to slaughter 200,000 Muslims when a cow’s head was found near a Temple in Delhi. Christians also face neglect, such as in Manipur with the Centre taking no interest in resolving the conflict between Hindus and Christians.
Although the terms ‘religious nationalism’ and ‘communalism’ are often used interchangeably, there is a slight difference in their implications. Shashi Tharoor quotes Ernest Gellner, one of the major proponents of defining nationalism, stating, ‘nationalism is not the awakening of nations to self-consciousness but rather the invention of nations where they did not exist.’ On the other hand, Harbans Mukhia describes communalism as ‘organizing an exclusive religious group on the basis of hostility to one or more of the others at the social level.’
Currently, under Prime Minister Modi, Muslims are socio-politically and economically marginalised in the Hindu-dominant society. Research by The Hindu shows that Muslim representation in the 18th Lok Sabha fell to record low at 4.41 percent, the lowest in six decades. Out of 24 Muslims MPs, there are none who came from the BJP’s platform. Notably, Muslim representation continued to significantly decline under National Democratic Alliance (NDA) governments. Mukhia further explains that communalism, contrary to religious exclusiveness, is more organised and often accepts systematic ideologies. It starts impacting almost all aspects of life.
Modern India has been under the BJP since 2014, and the party has led it down the path of communal politics. Communalism tends to rise when the groups are in competition for sharing mutual resources. Where Indian leadership has continuously been portraying Muslims as historical aggressors and infiltrators, and Muslims are being called ‘the progeny of Aurangzeb’ – the great Mughal ruler who is portrayed as a villain by the BJP – the Modi government has used state apparatus to deprive the group of basic necessities. In just two years, around 150,000 homes of Muslims and marginalised groups were bulldozed, displacing 738,000 people. According to official reports, Muslims are the poorest group in India. And it goes beyond financial deprivation; enrolment of Muslims in higher education has significantly declined under the BJP government.
The political woes of Muslims have been increasing since the BJP regained power in the 2024 general elections. Modi used the anti-Muslim narrative effectively in his election campaign, spreading hate speech against Muslims to gain voter confidence.
Modi is a follower of Golwalkar, a former RSS Chief, who put forward two conditions for Muslims; to either adopt Hindu culture, or sacrifice their basic constitutional rights if they want to continue living in India. And the political undertones of the BJP have been consistently anti-Muslim since its inception, and recent conflicts reflect this. For example, during the 1992 Babri Masjid conflict, extremist Hindus destroyed the mosque, resulting in deadly riots killing more than 2,000 people, most of whom were Muslims. And this year, Modi inaugurated a Hindu Temple on the holy site of the Babri Masjid, reigniting intercommunity tensions in the region.
Moreover, Modi’s recent victory in the general elections in 2024 was also fuelled by anti-Muslim rhetoric as his election campaigns promulgated hate speech against Muslims. Modi termed the Muslims ‘infiltrators’, claiming that if the Indian National Congress (INC) – perceived to be a more moderate political party – came to power, they would give all the resources to Muslims ‘who have more children’.
The BJP has exploited religious fault lines for political popularity. According to Congress’ deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, the BJP was resorting to its ‘old brand of communal politics’ after it was unable to ‘digest the moral defeat in the 2024 elections.’ These communal politics have driven a wedge between Hindus and Muslims along with other minority communities.
These accounts of violence and systemic marginalisation show that the BJP’s policies toward Muslims have been communal rather than nationalistic. While religious nationalism is not necessarily a negative term, communalism on the other hand systematically proves one society superior over the other. And Modi is making great efforts to ‘Hinduise’ the country by marginalising minorities.
Photo by Anant Sharma
Note: This article gives the views of the author, not the position of LSE Religion and Global Society nor the London School of Economics and Political Science.
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