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Religious violence in India: Difference between revisions

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→‎Moplah Rebellion (1921): Added link to a Wikipedia article since the either of narrative about the Malabar rebellion is pseudohistory or false. Moreover it is an important subject related the Malabar rebellion.
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The US Commission on International Religious Freedom classified India as Tier-2 in persecuting religious minorities, the same as that of Iraq and Egypt. In a 2018 report, [[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|USCIRF]] charged [[Hindu nationalism|Hindu nationalist]] groups for their campaign to "[[Saffronisation|Saffronize]]" India through violence, intimidation, and harassment against non-Hindus.<ref name=":02">{{cite report|url=https://www.uscirf.gov/sites/default/files/USCIRF2018AnnualReport_abb_wlinks.pdf|title=Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom|date=April 2018|publisher=[[United States Commission on International Religious Freedom|U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom]]|page=37}}</ref> Approximately one-third of state governments enforced anti-conversion and/or anti-cow slaughter<ref>{{Cite web|title=States Where Cow Slaughter is Banned So Far, and States Where it Isn't|url=https://www.news18.com/news/india/states-where-cow-slaughter-is-banned-so-far-and-states-where-it-isnt-1413425.html}}</ref> laws against non-Hindus, and mobs engaged in violence against Muslims whose families have been engaged in the dairy, leather, or beef trades for generations, and against Christians for proselytizing. "Cow protection" lynch mobs killed at least 10 victims in 2017.<ref name=":02" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tracking mob lynching in two charts|url=https://www.thehindu.com/data/tracking-mob-violence-in-two-charts/article24321028.ece|website=[[The Hindu]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=India's Got Beef With Beef: What You Need To Know About The Country's Controversial 'Beef Ban'|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/leezamangaldas/2017/06/05/indias-got-beef-with-beef-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-countrys-controversial-beef-ban/#9e5a0c053c25|website=[[Forbes]]}}</ref>
 
Many historians argue that religious violence in independent India is a legacy of the policy of [[divide and rule]] pursued by the British governmentcolonial authorities during the era [[ColonialBritish IndiaRaj|colonialBritain's eracontrol over the Indian subcontinent]], in which local administrators pitted Hindus and Muslims against one another, a tactic that eventually culminated in the [[partition of India]].<ref name="Pulsipher20072">{{cite book|last1=Pulsipher|first1=Lydia Mihelic|title=World Regional Geography|last2=Pulsipher|first2=Alex|date=14 September 2007|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]|isbn=978-0-7167-7792-2|page=423|language=en|quote=Many historians argue that the Partition could have been avoided had it not been for the "divide-and-rule" tactics the British used throughout the colonial era to heighten tensions between South Asian Muslims and Hindus, thus creating a role for themselves as indispensable and benevolent mediators. For example, British local administrators commonly favored the interests of minority communities in order to weaken the power of majorities that could have threatened British authority. The legacy of these "divide-and-rule" tactics includes not only the Partition, but also the repeated wars and skirmishes, strained relations, and ongoing arms race between India and Pakistan.}}</ref>
 
==Ancient India==
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[[Direct Action Day]], which started on 16 August 1946, left approximately 3,000 Hindus dead and 17,000 injured.<ref name=swsf/><ref>Wavell to Pethick Lawrence, 21 August 1946, Mansergh, Transfer of Power, Vol. VIII, p. 274</ref>
 
After the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], the British colonial government followed a [[Divide and rule|divide-and-rule]] policy, exploiting existing differences between communities, 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.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Partition of India |url=http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Independent/partition.html |last=Lal |first=Vinay}}</ref> 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.<ref name="erols1">{{cite web|url=http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat3.htm#India |title=Death toll in the partition |publisher=Users.erols.com |access-date=27 May 2013}}</ref>
 
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. With British authority 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 one million.<ref name="erols1"/>
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