Indian Perspective on Peace and Conflict - eGyanKosh

Indian Perspective onPeace and Conflict

Certificate Programme in Peace Studies andConflict Management

Indira Gandhi National Open UniversitySchool of Social Sciences BGP-002

Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti

Expert CommitteeProf. D. Gopal (Chairman)Head, Centre for Gandhi andPeace StudiesProgramme CoordinatorSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Prof. R.P. MisraFormer Vice-ChancellorAllahabad UniversityAllahabad

Prof. RVR Chandrasekhar RaoFormer Vice-ChancellorDr. B.R. Ambedkar OpenUniversity, Hyderabad

Ambassador R. RajagopalanSecretary, Association of IndianDiplomatsNew Delhi

Prof. Chintamani MahapatraCentre for Canadian, US and ALatin American StudiesSchool of International StudiesJawaharlal Nehru UniversityNew Delhi

Course Coordinator(s) Co-coordinatorProf. D. GopalHead, Centre for Gandhi andPeace StudiesProgramme CoordinatorSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Prof. A.S. Narang (Rtd.)Faculty of Political ScienceSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Course Editor(s)

Prof. Abdul NafeyChairmanCentre for American, LatinAmerican and Canadian StudiesSchool of International StudiesJawaharlal Nehru UniversityNew Delhi

Prof. A.P. VijapurHead, Deptt. of PoliticalScience, Aligarh MuslimUniversity, Aligarh

Prof. R. S. YadavProfessor & ChairmanDeptt. of Political ScienceDean, Social SciencesKurukshetra UniversityKurukshetra

Prof. Sanjay Kumar JhaChairperson, School ofNational Security StudiesSchool of International StudiesCentral University of GujaratGujarat

Prof. Anurag JoshiFaculty of Political ScienceSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Prof. S.V. ReddyFaculty of Political ScienceSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Prof. Jagpal SinghFaculty of Political ScienceSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Prof. D. GopalFaculty of Political ScienceSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

CPSCM Programme Coordinator: Prof. D. Gopal

Prof. D. GopalHead, Centre for Gandhi andPeace StudiesProgramme CoordinatorSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Dr. Sailaja GullapalliResearch AssociateGandhi Smriti & Darshan SamitiRajghatDelhi

Prof. A.S. Narang (Rtd.)Faculty of Political ScienceSOSS, IGNOUNew Delhi

Material Production Secretarial AssistanceShri Manjit Singh Shri VijenderSection Officer (Publication) StenographerSOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi SOSS, IGNOU, New Delhi

October, 2017© Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2017ISBN : 978-93-87237-32-2All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any othermeans, without permission in writing from the Indira Gandhi National Open University.Further information on Indira Gandhi National Open University courses may be obtained from theUniversity’s office at Maidan Garhi, New Delhi – 110 068Printed and published on behalf of the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi byDirector, School of Social Sciences.Laser Typeset by: Graphic Printers, Mayur Vihar, Phase I, Delhi - 110091.

CPSCM-001 Course Development TeamProf. Ramashray Roy (Unit 1)Shalimar Bagh (East)New Delhi

Dr. Ashu Pasricha (Units 2,8,11,16))Assistant ProfessorDeptt. Gandhian Studies, Panjab UniversityChandigarh

Dr. Seema Pasricha (Unit 7)Guest FacultyDeptt. Gandhian Studies, Panjab UniversityChandigarh

Prof. A. S. Narang (Unit 3)Faculty of Political ScienceSchool of Social SciencesIGNOU, New Delhi

Dr. Sushila Ramaswamy (Unit 4)Associate Professor in Political ScienceJesus and Mary CollegeUniversity of Delhi, New Delhi

Prof. Dilip Shah (Unit 5,6)Head, Deptt. of Mahatma GandhiRural StudiesVeer Narmad South Gujarat UniversitySurat, Gujarat

Dr. Kiran Chauhan (Unit 9)Research ScholarDeptt. of Gandhian StudiesPanjab University, Chandigarh

Dr. Prasanna Kumar (Unit 10)Associate ProfessorDeptt. of Political SciencesUniversity College, Trivandrum

Prof. Abdulrahim P. Vijapur (Unit 12)Deptt. of Political ScienceAligarh Muslim UniversityAligarh

Dr. Amrita Dey (Unit 13)School of International StudiesJawaharlal Nehru UniversityNew Delhi

Prof. S.V. Reddy (Unit 14)Faculty of Political ScienceSchool of Social SciencesIGNOU, New Delhi

Prof. Muzaffar Assadi (Unit 15)Deptt. of Political ScienceUniversity of MysoreManasgangotri, Mysore

Printed at : Raj Printers, A-9, Sector B-2, Tronica City, Loni (Gzb.)

C O N T E N T S

Page No.

COURSE INTRODUCTION 7

Block I Sources and Patterns of Peace/Conflict

Unit 1 Legacy of Ideas of Peace (From Scriptures to Saints) 9

Unit 2 Evolution of Peace Movements 20

Unit 3 Social Structures: Caste and Religion 29

Unit 4 Family and Community 39

Block II Economic Bases

Unit 5 Economic Disparities and Marginalisation 49

Unit 6 Rural-Urban Divide in India 59

Unit 7 Quality of Life 73

Unit 8 Access to Natural Resources 83

Block III Responses to Conflict

Unit 9 People’s Responses: Confrontation/Conciliation 95

Unit 10 Role of State and Rule of Law 104

Unit 11 The Use of Physical Force: Moral/Persuasion 115

Unit 12 Role of International Bodies-Governmental and Non-Governmental 128

Block IV Issues, Concerns and Prospects

Unit 13 Inter and Intra-State Conflicts 141

Unit 14 Ethnic Conflicts 152

Unit 15 Recourse to Violence and Extremism 161

Unit 16 Towards Peace and Harmony 169

COURSE INTRODUCTIONFor centuries, India has been a land and centre of various civilisations, religions, cultures,traditions and customs. As we are aware, all religions preach peace and harmony. Theyare the roots of a harmonious living among the various populations of the mankind. Fromthe Vedic age to the contemporary times, peace has been a constant virtue that has beenpassed on from one generation to another. Various peace movements have found theirbase in this land and had continuous patronage.

Over the ages, differences arose among different communities for obvious reasons. Primeamong them are religious affiliations, ideological factors, class and caste factors and so on.Often these differences have landed in serious conflicts thereby disturbing the harmoniousfabric of our society. Significant contributions towards this end have been made by thepacifists, peace activists/crusaders, missionary members, peace educators, members ofnational and international non-governmental organisations and those conscientious citizensstriving consistently for peace. This is not to say that political class or leaders have notbeen involved. Time and again, history was witness to the luminaries who made peacetheir mission and motto in life. Some of them have worked constantly towards establishinga non-violent method/alternative as means of settling conflicts.

The concern for peace as expressed in scriptures and the teachings of the saints puts astrong emphasis on moral regeneration. It is this regeneration that ensures peace andharmony in the society. In this way, the fragmentations caused by the caste and religiousdifferences can be greatly reduced and ultimately done away with. Though these remaina challenge to society, these can be eliminated through various peace initiatives andmovements. Peace and harmony are cardinal signs of a civilised life. They are muchindispensable to ensure peace and progress among people. They are two interdependentvirtues and cannot be separated. Without these two essential prerequisites, there cannotbe achieved cooperation, equity, trust and an inclusive society.

Since family and community form the base of our existence, we need to identify thepotential deficits confronting our families and community members. The supportingenvironment for peace will greatly reduce the existing anomalies and develop a sense ofpurpose and meaning to life. The establishment of peace is essential for many reasons. It is a preferred virtue and most sought after for its very nature. It averts hostilities and violence. It ensures social and economic justice. It fosters positive relationships. It promotes harmony and goodwill among people. It promotes cooperation and integration for the benefit of mankind. There are only win-win situations when peace prevails.

Conflicts too are part of our existence. Conflicts threaten to disturb the harmony andgoodwill and often lead to violence. When gone too far, they even end up as wars andinclude acts of violence. There are different ways to mitigate conflicts. In most of thecases, institutions take the lead in mitigating conflicts just as the institutions promote peaceand harmony. While conflicts do not benefit mankind in anyway, peace does bring innumerous benefits as already discussed.

This course on ‘Indian Perspectives on Peace and Conflict’ enables the learners tounderstand the numerous facets of peace and conflict. Block I titled ‘Sources andPatterns of Peace/Conflict’ touches upon the evolutionary aspects of peace. Unit 1 titledLegacies of the Idea of Peace discusses the concept of peace and its significance, theVedic and non-Vedic perspectives on peace and also most crucially, the critical examinationof the Indian perspectives on peace. Unit 2 discusses the Evolution of Peace Movementsapart from making the learner understand the role of peace movements in Indianperspective and the interconnection between peace and other social movements. Unit 3titled Social Structure: Caste and Religion makes the learner understand the nature ofcaste conflicts, religious plurality of India, and the need for social peace and harmony. TheUnit 4 on Families and Community discusses the concept, function, types of family andcommunities in India, understand socialisation as a lifelong process and also the changingnature of families and communities in contemporary society.

Block II discusses in detail the Economic Bases. Unit 5 titled Economic Disparitiesand Marginalisation discusses the concept and forms of economic disparities, consequencesof conflicts that could be managed with Gandhian perspective and make us aware of thegovernment policies and programmes to address the issues concerned. Unit 6 discussesthe Rural Urban Divide in India wherein it makes the learner understand theoreticalbases of the rural urban divide, their indicators, and policies and programmes to reducerural urban divide. Unit 7 discusses Quality of Life and makes us understand themeaning, concept, approaches and measuring of quality of life that can lead to peace. Unit8 discusses the importance of Access to Natural Resources wherein we can study theemerging threats, opportunities, key challenges and sustainable ways to conserve naturalresources.

Block III addresses the issues related to Responses to Conflict. Unit 9 on People’sResponses: Confrontation/Conciliation makes us understand the responses of people toconflict resolution and the efficacy of conciliation for conflict resolution. Unit 10 discussesthe Role of State and Rule of Law wherein the highlighted aspects include theimportance of state and its relation with individual and society, the meaning, scope andimportance of rule of law and the nature of responses to conflict in the Indian context.Unit 11 makes the learner understand The Use of Physical Force: Moral/Persuasion,the reasons for its use, categories of persuasion and practical use of moral force. Unit 12gives us details on the Role of International Bodies- Governmental and Non-Governmental and their efficacy in maintaining international peace and security, importanceof regional organisations, importance of regional cooperation, and the Indian perspectiveson the role of international organisations.

Block IV studies the Issues, Concerns and Prospects of Peace and Conflict. Unit 13on Inter and Intra-State Conflicts discusses the incidence of these conflicts at regionallevel, how poverty and illiteracy have remained as obstacles to peace in the region andhow the nations in the region perceive this issue. Unit 14 on Ethnic Conflicts discussesthe importance of making distinction between ethnic conflicts and violence, dominantfeatures of ethnic conflicts and the strategies adopted by states in addressing issues relatedto ethnic conflicts. Unit 15 discusses in detail Recourse to Violence and Extremism andthe reasons, forms, solutions, and consequences of violence and extremism. Unit 16 dealsat length the measures Towards Peace and Harmony. In this Unit, the concept,importance, types and paths to peace and harmony are discussed at length. Theconcluding Unit makes us aware of the importance of peace and harmony and why it isan essential feature in a democratic and secular country like India.

UNIT 1 LEGACY OF IDEAS OF PEACE (FROMSCRIPTURES TO SAINTS)

Structure

1.1 IntroductionAims and Objectives

1.2 Peace and its Significance

1.3 Peace of Mind

1.4 Vedic Perspectives on Peace1.4.1 Human Desire for Peace

1.5 Perspective of Peace : Jainism and Buddhism1.5.1 Jainism and Dharma1.5.2 Buddhism on Loss of Peace of Mind

1.6 Saints on Peace

1.7 Summary

1.8 Terminal Questions

Suggested Readings

1.1 INTRODUCTIONCulture represents values. Men seek to guide their thought-ways and work-ways by thesevalues in coping with the problems life presents them with. The way these values aresought to be achieved determines the nature of the social order. As such, society can beunderstood as a mode of living. This includes both spiritual and material dimensions ofhuman existence. The single-minded pursuit of material needs paves the way for conflictand violence. And violence takes the form of what in Indian traditional thinking is knownas matsya nyaya.

When matsya nyaya becomes pervasive and reaches the limits of tolerance, violenceerupts in active war. The smooth tenor of life is disturbed; individual lives and socialrelations develop distortions; person and property become insecure; life and liberty losetheir significance; and the level of anxiety, born of uncertainty, rises. Helplessness anddespair rule the social world. Anarchy may, then, ensue.

To prevent the occurrence of anarchy, peace is actively pursued. Every society celebratesthe value of peace with a view to foreclosing the possibility of violence. All societies havestories extolling the virtue of peace; they have also philosophical discourses to highlight theimportance of peace; and they have religious books to underline the crucial importanceof man’s well-being and his intellectual and spiritual growth. And when social conditionsdeteriorate to intimate the possibility of the violation of human dignity and of thedisturbance of social peace, saints appear from time to time to give fresh messages ofpeace.

All cultures exhibit this process. Indian culture is no exception to this. As a matter of fact,India has a very rich tradition of religion-philosophical and saintly writings that underline

10 Indian Perspective on Peace and Conflict

the importance of peace in human life. This tradition goes back to the ancient text ofIndian culture and religious thinking. This text is, of course, the Veda. All through Indianhistory, this tradition has been extended, renewed by thinkers, saints and religious leaders.

The talk of peace in different modes of discourse underlines the importance of peace, tobe sure; however, what kind of peace is being highlighted in these discourses? One cantalk of peace after violence breaks out among individuals, groups and nations. But weask: Is simple restoration of peace or going back to status quo ante enough of acondition to ensure peace? If not, what ensures durable or perpetual peace?

Two sets of factors, one internal and the other external, can be said to ensure durablepeace. External conditions refer to certain social institutional arrangement that act ascontrol mechanism. These institutions instil, promote and protect the value of peace.Alternatively, they refer to certain institutional procedures such as mediation, arbitration,law courts, etc. that aim at resolving conflicts for there is restoration of peace. Theirefficacy depends on the degree to which individuals have internalized, through socialisation,the values that make peace desirable. Also the orientation to consciously cultivate peacein personal life and social relations is a necessary factor.

In short, a culture of peace in the sense of the training of mind to resist the educationof violence is needed. This means the cultivation of mind so that it abhors violence andrejects aggression in favour of peace consciousness; it refers to a mentality that values co-operation, kindness, honesty, compassion, charity, self-development, etc.

Aims and Objectives

After reading this unit, you would be able to understand:

peace and its significance;

the Vedic and non-Vedic Perspectives; and

critical examination of the Indian Perspective on Peace.

1.2 PEACE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCEHuman beings covet peace. Apart from a few psychologically ill persons, people do nottake to violence unless they are pushed to it by adverse circumstances. Peace is adesirable thing. However, is it desirable in itself and for itself? This raises an importantquestion about the need for peace in human existence. To say that peace is desirable foritself is to make a plea for the peace of the grave. There is uninterrupted peace in thegrave but it is lifeless. It is dead to the contrary demands of human existence. Nothinghappens in the grave; nor could anything ever happen to disturb the peace that the deadenjoy without either feeling it or being touched by it.

Perpetual peace contains seeds of exploitation and oppression. It is symptomatic offreezing for all times a particular distribution of wealth, power and prestige in society. Thisis tantamount to perpetuating status quo prevailing at a particular time. This blockschange at its source. Continuity of status quo is defended in the name of stability of thesocial order. However, stability may create conditions which are favourable to some andunfavourable to others.

This makes change, not violent but peaceful change necessary. Peace, after conflictsbetween groups or nations have come to an end, cannot be taken to be a permanent

solution. Social conditions change; this affects the fortunes of different social groupsdifferently. This may necessitate social change. To insist on status quo is to neglect thehopes and aspirations of those who happen to be excluded from sharing the benefits thata society offers.

Change cannot be blocked, nor can it be completely ruled out. What one can, therefore,desire for is to acquire the ability to control and regulate the direction and content ofchange. It means the creation of the possibility of creative peace. Such a peace allowsthe unfolding of shifting balance in movement. And what moves is not peace but onlydiverse human passions congealed into contrary social forces. They create, in theirmovement, conditions for both peace and violence.

Peace constitutes a condition that allows human beings to conduct the business of lifenormally. When normalcy is disturbed and conflict ensues, peace has to be re-established.The conditions that lead to the disturbance of peace are nothing else than the creation ofa perpetual cycle of peace-conflict-peace. This should alert us to the fact that changes inthe external aspects of human existence, is by no means sufficient to establish durablecreative peace. Nor have external mechanisms of controlling violent tendencies, asexperience shows, succeeded in preventing violence.

This underlines the need to move away from the external to internal conditions of man’sexistence. To do so is to envisage the goal of purging human psyche of the tendencytoward aggressiveness. Sublimation of the tendency towards an orientation that treatsothers as what Jainism calls amatol (equal to self) becomes necessary. This calls for thetraining of mind in such a way that it is disinclined to take recourse to violence as ameans of getting what one wants. Such training is possible only through the cultivation ofspiritual values.

1.3 PEACE OF MINDCultivation of spiritual values can, as scriptures and saints insist, gain peace of mind.Peace of mind allows living in peace with the world. A distinction, then, between peaceof mind and peace in the world must be made. Also, the peace of mind must be treatedas the cause prima of peace in the world. It is in this connection that we can appreciatethe following:

What is best thing of all for a man that he may ask the gods?

That he may be always at peace with himself.

To be at peace with oneself has been celebrated through the ages by the scriptures andsaints in India. To live in peace with oneself has been considered not only beneficial forthe well-being of the individual but also salubrious for the social order. To live in peacewith oneself is not possible without cultivating righteousness and becoming virtuous. It isthe product of spiritual achievement. As Confucius puts it:

If there be righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in character;If there be beauty in character, there will be harmony in home;If there be harmony in home, there will be order in the nation;If there be order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.

Legacy of Ideas of Peace (From Scriptures to Saints) 11


For scriptures and saints in India, it is the peace of mind that constitutes the preconditionof living in peace with the world as well as for peace in the world. Right from the Vedicage down to the present, there has been a continuous emphasis on arriving at a state ofmind that supports and sustains peace in the world.

1.4 VEDIC PERSPECTIVES ON PEACEThe Veda, comprising of Rig-Veda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda, constitutesthe ancient text of Indian culture and civilisation. Although treated with indifference bothwithin and outside India, it remains the unchallenged sacred text. It is true, as Renou putsit, “even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Veda has come to be asimple ‘raising of the hat,’ in passing an idol by which one no longer intends to beencumbered later on.” However, the Veda remains the unchallenged source from whichreligious sentiments in all subsequent ages have received sustenance, nurturance, andsupport. The Vedic philosophy has also shaped and nurtured the Hindu worldview. It is,as J. L. Mehta notes, “not so much a body of ‘meanings’ but as the source of whatevermeaning this tradition has enabled Indians to see in life, as the very opening up of ahorizon, out of which a whole variety of sacred meanings was constructed in subsequentages.”

The Rigveda Samhita, the animating source of religiousness, spells the topology oftranscendence. This transcendence forms the basis not only of self-development but alsoof a harmonious social order. The last Sukta of the Rigveda, X.191, ends up with aprayer and a hope.

Samano mantrah samitih samani samanam manah sahachittamesham;

Samanam mantramabhi mantraye vah samanaen vo havisha juhomi.

[May our counsel be one and the same, we may belong to the same confraternity; mayour minds move in accord; may our hearts work in unison for one supreme God. Let usbe inspired by a common ideal; let us worship the God with the offering of harmony andconsentaneity (Rigveda X.191.3)]

It goes further on to hope for samanachittata (like-mindedness), as is evident from thefollowing:

Samani va akutih samana hridayani vah;

Samanamastu vo manovah susahsati.

[May the inmost aspirations of us all be perfectly harmonious; may our hearts be inunison; may absolute concord reign in our minds, so that we may be welded intofellowship and unity (Rigveda X.191.4).]

1.4.1 Human Desire for PeaceThe above two mantras (invocations) present, by far, the best example of the humandesire for peace and harmony. The key to peace and harmony is, of course, like-mindedness (samanachittata). It is something that cannot be imposed from outside orearned by doing something in the external world. It is the product of a mind-set; thismindset signifies willing conformity to the principle of the cosmic order. The Veda identifiesthis cosmic order as Rita. Deviation from Rita in personal life and social relations

engenders the tendency towards getting more of the worldly objects than one needs ordeserves. It signifies a disjunction of man from the light that illumines his inner being andspecifies the pattern of his right relationship with a well-ordered universe. This universerepresents a crucial aspect of man’s mode of living, his being-in-the-world, as a unifiedplay of (The Earth), Dyau (Heaven), Amartyas (immortals) and martyas (mortals).

These four constitute a primordial community and man is an integral part of it. Thisprimordial community is sustained through a continuous process of exchange among them.Non-conformity to Rita transforms man into what Chhandogya Upanishad 8.1.2.1 callskamachar (one who is driven by passions in his action). As a result, he becomesarthasamgrahi (one who goes on acquiring wealth).This causes disruption of the cosmicprocess of exchange and leads to disorder with serious intimations of violence.

The Rigveda puts emphasis on like-mindedness as the foundation of friendship amongmen and peace in the world. (Yajurveda XXXVI.) It also expresses the same sentiment:“Strengthen me. May all beings regard me with the eye of friendship; May I regard allbeings with the eye of a friend.” It also expresses the fond hope that every element inthis creation may attain peace. It says:

Dyauh shantirantariksha shantih prithiwi shantirapah shantiropadhayah vanaspatyahshanti vishwedevah shantyirbrhama shantih shanti sarva shantih shantireva shantihsamashantirodhi. (cf Atharvaveda XIX.19.4)

[The Sun may be peaceful, the sky may be peaceful; Prithivi may be peaceful; water maybe peaceful; the plant world may be peaceful; vishwedevas may be peaceful; Brahma maybe peaceful; all beings may find peace; Peace too may be peaceful.]

This invocation ends up repeating, as do invocations in all the Upanishads, Shanti (peace)three times. We can better appreciate the desire for peace if we uncover the centralmessage of the great epic, The Mahabharata. The epic recounts the story of war andviolence that took place between two branches of the same family, the Kauravas andPandavas. The war was caused by the unbridled and sole pursuit of artha. TheMahabharata illustrates the disastrous consequences of the sole-minded pursuit of artharepeatedly in different ways. The Mahabharata is, no doubt, a tale of unmitigatedviolence, and yet its central message, repeated, again and again, is that non-violence(ahimsa) and compassion (anrisamsya) are the highest duties of man. Without them, manfails to be completely human.

The principal thrust of the Vedic scriptures, only glimpsed dimly through the examplesgiven above, concerns the preservation of the cosmic order, that is, Rita. Rita is latertransformed into the idea of dharma. The social order is an abridged version, so to say,of the cosmic order. Social order, as the cosmic order, is preserved when men adhereto the principles of dharma. Dharma signifies obligations binding upon every person. Ifhe wishes his actions to bear fruit, he must submit himself to the laws which govern theuniverse. This means essentially the pursuit of purusharthas, such as, kama and artha,within the limits set by dharma. Sanctions entailed by dharma are, of course, religious;however, dharma has essentially a social significance.

The combination of the religious and the social in the concept of dharma serves twopurposes: one, it orients man to certain spiritual values and, two, it makes him aware ofthe need to strengthen the foundation of the social order for promoting human welfare.The principles of order are violated when men fail in this, due primarily to a lone-sided



pursuit of artha, of wealth and possessions, of power over the means of satisfyingdesires. Vedic scriptures, therefore, put a strong emphasis on the need to createconditions, both spiritual and material, that ensure peace. This is best done when man isat peace with himself, that is, when his mind is at peace. And peace of mind can beacquired when, as Isopanishad puts it, tena tyaktena bhunjitha, those who sacrificerejoice. This is also reflected in the philosophical thinking of Jainism and Buddhism.

1.5 PERSPECTIVE OF PEACE: JAINISM ANDBUDDHISM

Life, from the Vedic perspective, is not a struggle between good and evil; it is rather aconstant search for the Truth of being. To seek this, Truth helps man transform his natureand become aware of his true humanity. This forms the basis for identifying oneself withGod’s creation and engenders the sense of samatwa (sameness) that constitutes the firmfoundation of sociality. This, in turn, constitutes the necessary condition for a peaceful,harmonious social order. Thus in the Vedic worldview the essence of humanity means tobe sensitive to the sacred.

This offers an antithesis to the will of power; it may contradict interests and stand in theway of unrestrained satisfaction of inner drives. To man’s sense of power, the world isat his disposal, to be exploited to his advantage. To accept the sacred is anacknowledgement that certain things are not available. And one of the things that are notavailable is the use of violence in solving personal or social problems. Jainism andBuddhism too subscribe to this philosophy of life.

1.5.1 Jainism and DharmaJainism treats dharma as the supreme law that governs the universe; it equates dharmaas the unchanging eternal law, the universal rule of non-violence. As Acharang Sutra1.4.1 puts it, “All things breathing, all things living, all beings whatever, should not beslain, or treated with violence, or insulted, or tortured, or driven away.” Whoever violatesthe law of violence “provides a rod for his own back,” as Sukrakritanga 1.1 puts it.

The eternal law of non-violence remains active and effective only when man’s soul retainspurity by remaining unsullied by corruptions. Jainism ascribes to the soul purity thatengenders kevalajnana (perfect knowledge). This knowledge mirrors the entire world,enjoys omniscience and infinite happiness. However, it gets gradually encrusted withmateriality. This happens as a result of man’s involvement in samsara (the phenomenalworld). Involvement with samsara induces man to engage in kamma (karma, action)largely for the gratification of worldly pleasures. Action aimed repeatedly at promotingworldly pleasure leads to the encrustation of the soul by materiality. If unchecked, materialencrustation of the soul brings sorrow to man, “he who grasps at even a little, whetherliving or lifeless, or consents to another doing so, will never be freed from sorrow.”

Jainism talks of two kinds of action: action that makes man free from the bondage of theworld and action that binds and proves harmful. The harming kamma is designated inJainism as “delusory,” mohaniya. Mohaniya Kamma constitutes the principal source ofjiva, life forms, getting immersed in samsara. It fosters attachment to incorrect views(pramada) and incapacitates man from leading a religiously correct life. The innate energyof the soul to resist Mohaniya Kamma is dissipated; it loses the capacity to keeppassions in leash. This engenders influx of karmic matter sticks to the soul and makes

it impure. As a consequence, the soul wanders in the samsara and is forced to undergovaried experiences of misery and unhappiness. “Those who are led by their desires are,as Jain Sutras put it”, who seized by Time dwell in the heap (of kamma) are born againand again.”

One can, however, get release from the snare of the samsara if he so wishes. For this,“one should know what binds the soul,” says Sutrakritanga, “and knowing break fromthe bondage.” What is necessary is to get rid of pramada. It is pramada that begetshimsa (violence). Himsa, the root evil, has two parts, viz., the presence of pramada orwrong attitude and the infliction of injury to life. Egoistic passions make man disregard theessential life concerns of others and care little for their well-being. When man focusestotally on the promotion of self-interest, he tends to harm others. This amounts to bhava-himsa. In contradistinction to this, infliction of injury positively as aghata or negatively aspratibandha on any aspect of activity, physical, vocal or mental or breathing, etc.constitutes dravya himsa.

Influenced by pramada, the individual becomes dead to the well-being of others. Theawareness that all living creatures experience, to a greater or lesser extent, the same sortof feelings is natural to the soul in its pure state. As long as this understanding remainsunaffected by harmful kamma, man is likely to remain non-violent. It reinforces theawareness that all living creatures wish to avoid suffering as he himself wishes. Thisawareness prompts the individual to discipline himself by exercising full control over hispassions.

When he does so, the individual Recognises the spiritual equality of all beings (atma-tula). This constitutes the firm foundation of ahimsa (non-violence). It is the practice ofahimsa that sustains dharma; it is dharma that makes the society a moral association inthe true sense of the term. And it is society as a moral association that sustains peaceand makes for a peaceful harmonious social order.

1.5.2 Buddhism on Loss of Peace of MindLike Jainism, Buddhism, too, considers decline in morality as the root cause of the lossof peace of mind. As the Buddhist stories of genesis makes it clear, with the appearanceof the earth, greed seized hold of man. Then vanity, and conceit, too, made theirappearance. As a result, a distinction between the beautiful and the ugly came to bemade. Gradually, rice without husk and powder appeared to provide sustenance tobeings. However, greed increased, which, in turn, led to acquisitiveness and possessiveness.People began to take more of the rice than they needed. This led to stealing. Recurrenceof stealing made it necessary to form a Maha-sammat, a body “elected by the greatbody of the people.” And thus originated the idea of rajan, that is, he who is worthyof rice portions from rice fields. And the rajan was to keep law and order and preservepeace.

Thus decline of morality caused by greed resulted in acquisitiveness. This, in turn,produced sickness of the soul. This paved the way for the installation of political orderwith the hope that it would promote and safeguard virtuous conduct. However, morenecessary than the creation of an external source of control is auto-control. The loss ofmorality engenders dukha (unhappiness) for the individual. This constitutes the source ofdisturbance in social order. Since the state is itself vulnerable to dukha-influenced actions,deliverance from dukha must be sought at the level of the individual.



Buddhism considers every being that takes a material form as impermanent. And what isimpermanent has to undergo suffering. Attachment to what is impermanent is the sourceof dukha. The source of dukha is the corruptibility of all things born; they are liable tosuffering because decay and death or corruption draws men into the vortex of becoming(bhava-cakka, samsar) and arouses in men desires for worldly pleasures. These desireshave no limits; they are endless and insatiable; they are also irrepressible and rebellious.The tumult of desires sets all sensations and all sensibilia (the tongue and its tastes, themind and its thought) on fire, the fire of appetite (raga), the fire of resentment (dosha),and the fire of delusion (moha).

The raging fire of sensations produces tanha (thirst) and leads to self-forgetfulness(anatta). This proves to be the seed-bed of suffering. Self-forgetfulness unleashes man’sappetite from the discipline of morality. Consequently, man comes under the sway of hislower nature and has to suffer dukha. This has a serious ramification for the public orderalso. Everyone tends to decide for himself what is good or bad for him. This signifies thebreakdown of social consensus. With the breakdown of consensus, the cause of thecommon good suffers. The way out of this is the liberation of the individual from thedepredations of his passions. This promises to strengthen the foundation for upholding thepublic order and keeping it attuned to moral imperatives.

The dictates of morality signifies for Buddhism the condemnation of warfare apart fromacts of violence on the part of the individual. As Dhammapad 3-5 puts it:

Never in this world is hate appeased by hatred;It is only appeased by love— This is the eternal law (Sanatan Dharma)Victory breeds hatred. For the defeated lies down in sorrow.Above victory is defeatThe calm man dwells in peace.

Again, Suvarna Prabhasottam Sutra calls upon the many kings of the land to forgettheir quarrels and live together in peace. As it says: “Protect all those royal families, cities,lands and provinces, save them, cherish them, guard them, and ward off invasion fromthem, give them peace and prosperity. Keep them free from all fear, calamity and evilportent. Turn back the troops of their enemies and create in all earthly kings of India adesire to avoid fighting, attacking, quarrelling, or disputing with their neighbours....

When all the eighty-four thousand kings of India think of their mutual welfare and feelmutual affection and joy...contented in their domains...India will be prosperous, well fed,pleasant, and populous....And all living beings in India will be rich with all manners ofriches, very prosperous but not greedy.

To be aggressive and to covet what belongs to others is the root of unrighteousness. TheNinth Rock Edict of Emperor Ashok underlines the gift of righteousness as mostimportant. As it says, “it is good to give, but there is no gift, no service like the gift ofrighteousness”. So friends, relatives and companions should present it on all occasions.This is the duty; this is right “by this heaven may be gained—and is more important thanto gain heaven.”

1.6 SAINTS ON PEACEThe tradition of thinking about peace and harmony established by scriptures of differentreligions is carried forward in the teachings of saints. The word “sant,” saint in English,

has several meanings: a wise person, a pure soul, a virtuous man, etc. Some scholarsconsider it as derived from shanti (peace) and characterise sants as shant (peaceful). Asshanta persons, they wish peace and harmony to prevail in society. Sants are said totake delight in Brahma Dhammapad which also characterises sant as shanta. Thussaints are those who have devoted their life to the service of the God and spend theirtime in meditation. They rise above the petty concerns of their own narrow life and socialdivisions and identify themselves with the God’s creation. They desire the welfare of allbeings and engage in selfless action for promoting the good of all. By their devotion toGod, they also dedicate themselves to bringing peace and harmony in the world.

Concerned as they are with peace and harmony, saints wish to see a world that is fullyordered. If order means stability, peace, and harmony, it loses its meaning when it provesfragile and prone to derailment at the hint of even a slight social disturbance. However,a durable order also degenerates because of the cumulative impact of accumulatedelements of disorder. Whenever social order shows signs of degeneration and socialstability seems to be collapsing, God is said to incarnate. Failing this, saints make theirappearance and pin-point the cause of social decay and suggest the way to restoringorder. In this, their personal example operates as a pointer to right order.

If the philosopher relies on reason and logic for articulating the vision of order, saintsdepend on their own virtue that they acquire through tapas, sadhana or bhakti. As such,saints are exemplars of peace, harmony and order. Their insight into the structure of orderenables them to mediate the order of cosmos to those who would follow their discipline.

Saints criticize or advocate a particular pattern of order when they feel society faces acrisis. This crisis occurs when those responsible for articulating the character of right orderor for preserving it, fail in their duty. This is symptomatic of a schism that developsbetween public order and the order that is understood as the true one by the moresensitive personalities, such as, the saints. Their sensitivity enables them to oppose theirknowledge of the healthy order of society to the prevailing order which they diagnose asdiseased.

The focal point of their diagnosis of the diseased social order is, of course, the soul ofthe individual. When the soul of the individual gets, for any reason, diseased, the diseaseof the individual’s soul spreads out and affects the social order and makes it diseased too.The disease of society is expected in our times to be corrected by continuously changing/reforming the institutional structure of society. However, such a strategy proves ineffectivebecause it fails to touch the core of individual psyche which remains corrupted. The cureof the disease of the social order must then be sought elsewhere. It is the purification ofthe individual soul by removing its impurities that holds the key to the restoration of ahealthy social order, capable of ensuring peace and harmony. Thus the possibility of peaceand harmony rests on the spiritual and moral regeneration of the individual members ofsociety. This is what the saints teach.

Once individual members of society become morally alive, society is sure to attain ahealthy order; peace would, then, prevail both at the individual and collective levels. Thusthe approach of the saints to peace is primarily spiritual and moral. Once this isappreciated, it becomes clear why saints put so much emphasis on the need to purify thesoul by attuning it to the divine ground of reality. It is the achievement of the highestmoral stance by spiritual cleansing of the soul that constitutes, for the saints, theprecondition of peace and harmony. Thus, for them, it is the moral regeneration of the



individual that constitutes the firm foundation of a peaceful, harmonious social order.Humility, tolerance and respectfulness constitute elements of such an order. As ChaitanyaMahaprabhu says, a devotee “must feel humbler than a straw.”

Saints, put stress on the need to transcend the divisions of caste and creed. Theyconsider such divisions as worthless. For example, Guru Nanak observes: ‘It is merenonsense to observe caste and to feel proud over grand names.” For the Sikh Gurus, thewhole humanity was one and a man was to be honoured, not because he belonged tothis or that caste or creed, but because he was a man, an emanation from God who hadgiven him the same soul as to other men.”

Most of them, especially those who come from the lower echelons of the Hindu socialorder, have themselves experienced the ill-effects of a social order that has deviatedsharply from what they consider to be true order. Having risen above the differences ofcastes, religion and other divisive forces, they use strong words to condemn them and talkof man, pure and simple. For example, Dadu Darvesh condemns the hostility betweenHindus and Muslims. He considers them to have originated from the same source; noneof them is greater or lesser, higher or inferior than the other. “Ek mung ka jhad hain,kuna jyada, kuna kamma.” To take another example, Kabir, the best known voice ofthe equality of castes and religions condemned caste and religious divides and orthodoxyin poetic, picturesque manner. “Pandit, look in your heart for knowledge/tell me whereuntouchability/came from, since you believe in it.” He further says that “we eat bytouching, we wash/by touching, from a touch/the world was born/so who is untouched?”Only those he considers untouchable who have no taint of maya.” Tukaram too condemnspride in caste in one of his abhangas: “Who is purified by pride/of varna. Tell me if youknow/Untouchables are saved by hymns to Hari.” For him, “Vishnu’s servants have nocaste.”

Saints generate through their teachings deeply spiritual and democratizing waves ofenthusiasm in society that has become ossified and refuses to change its discriminating anddehumanising beliefs and practices. They question the orthodox and repressive understandingof Hinduism. They thus make it possible for the lower castes and women to give a formto their religious aspirations. In doing so, they emphasize devotion and love, notknowledge and ritual, as means to salvation, both personal and social.

Vaishnava saints of Karnataka are good examples of this. They made devotion a powerfulinstrument of mass uplift through the aid of their soul stirring songs. They were zealousadvocates of reform and condemned sham and cant in most scathing terms. Theycriticized pseudo-religiosity and exhorted their followers to be truthful in thought, wordand deed. They directed their reforming eyes to the dark problems of society, and offeredsolutions by way of self-discipline based on very high standards of ethics.

Kanakadas of Karnataka, says in one his songs:

What is the caste of God Narayan?

And Siva? What is the caste of Atman?

Why talk of kula

When God has blessed you!

Such examples are multiple. It is, however, clear that saints perform a useful function ofreminding people of the need to follow virtue in order to ensure a peaceful andharmonious social order.

1.7 SUMMARYPeace has been an abiding concern in Indian culture and tradition. This concern has beenexpressed in different ways right from the Vedas down to the modern times. Saints areinspired primarily by seeking liberation for themselves. However, their search for liberationproves beneficial also for the society at large. Their sainthood sets examples for othersto follow; their teaching reminds people of their responsibility to preserve peace andharmony by cultivating virtue. The preservation of peace and harmony does not imply thatsocial institutions be rearranged in a way to promote dharma. Scripture and saints haverecognised that external change, no matter how extensive, does not change the interior ofman. The concern for peace as expressed in scriptures and the teachings of the saintsputs a strong emphasis on moral regeneration. It is this regeneration that can ensure peaceand harmony in society and make the social order peaceful and harmonious.

1.8 TERMINAL QUESTIONS1) What is the significance of peace for the preservation of social order?

2) Discuss the relationship between personal virtue and social peace and indicate howpeace is central to this relationship.

3) In what ways can saints be said to promote the cause of peace?

4) Compare and contrast the approaches of Jainism and Buddhism to peace.

5) What does the Vedic literature have to say about peace and in what ways itpromotes the cause of peace?

SUGGESTED READINGSAnanda Coomaraswamy, Hinduism and Buddhism (Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1986)

Parashuram Chaturvedi, Uttar Bharat Ki Sant Parampara (Allahabad: Sahitya Bhawan,2010)

G. Grimm, Buddhist Wisdom: Mystery of the Self (Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 1978)

G. C. Pande, Jaina Political Thought (Jaipur: Rajasthan University, Jaina Study Centre,1984)

Ellinor Zelliot and Rohini Mokasi-Punekar, Untouchable Saints (New Delhi: Manohar,2005)


UNIT 2 EVOLUTION OF PEACE MOVEMENTSStructure

2.1 Introduction

Aims and Objectives

2.2 Meaning of Peace Movement

2.3 A Brief History of Peace Movements

2.4 Origin of Peace Movements2.4.1 Religious Peace Movements

2.4.2 Secular Peace Movements

2.5 Peace Movements in India2.5.1 Nonviolent Resistance

2.6 Typology of Peace Movement

2.7 Interconnections between Peace and Other Social Movements

2.8 Current Peace Movements

2.9 Summary


Suggested Readings

2.1 INTRODUCTIONJust as there have been wars, and changes throughout history, there have also been peaceand efforts towards peacemaking. If one judged such matters by the number of yearsspent at war versus those at peace, or even by the total number of wartime deaths versuspeacetime deaths, one would be tempted to conclude that the peacemakers are far ahead.However, if we consider that virtually any war is an odious tarnishing of the humanrecord, we must agree that the work of peacemaking is not only unfinished but woefullysatisfactory. By many measures, wars have become more serious, making the work of thepeacemaker all the more urgent. There have been, nonetheless, numerous efforts at peace,raising many possibilities and opportunities, some long-standing and others quite recent.There have also been hints of success although paradoxically, whereas the toll of war canbe tallied, it is impossible to assess how many wars – or how much destruction duringwars – have been prevented by the efforts of various peace movements.

Aims and Objectives

After studying this Unit, you will be able to understand:

concept of Peace Movements in Indian Perspective;

the evolution of Peace Movements;

the role of Peace Movements in Indian Perspective; and

interconnection between peace and other social movements.

2.2 MEANING OF PEACE MOVEMENTA peace movement is a social movement that seeks to achieve ideals such as the endingof a particular war (or all wars), minimize inter-human violence in a particular place ortype of situation, often linked to the goal of achieving world peace. Means to achievethese ends include advocacy of pacifism, non-violent resistance, diplomacy, boycotts,supporting anti-war political candidates, creating open government and transparency tools,demonstrations, and national political lobbying groups to create legislation. The politicalcooperative is an example of an organisation that seeks to merge all peace movementorganisations and green organisations which may have some diverse goals, but all ofwhom have the common goal of peace and humane sustainability. A concern, of somepeace activists, is the challenge of attaining peace when those that oppose it often useviolence as their means of communication and empowerment.

Some people refer to the global loose affiliation of activists and political interests as havinga shared purpose and this constituting a single movement, “the peace movement”, an allencompassing “anti-war movement”. Seen this way, the two are often indistinguishable andconstitute a loose, responsive and event-driven collaboration between groups withmotivations as diverse as humanism, environmentalism, veganism, anti-racism, anti-sexism,decentralisation, hospitality, ideology, theology, and faith.

2.3 A BRIEF HISTORY OF PEACE MOVEMENTSHistorically, periods of war have been tended to be followed by periods in which peaceis espoused with particular vigour. This is apparently due in part to potential adversaries’simple physical, economic, and social exhaustion, as well as to the literal inability ofdevastated societies to mobilize the resources – emotional and material – necessary toprosecute a lengthy war. The Greek Historian Herodotus called the “father of history” forhis masterful treatment of the Greco-Persian Wars (500-479 B.C.E.), pointed out that “inpeace children bury their parents; war violates the order of nature and causes parents tobury their children” (Herodotus, 1910). In so far as such experiences are what psychologistsdescribe as aversive stimuli – events, such as corporal punishment, that are supposed tohave the effect of reducing one’s inclination to repeat the immediately preceding behaviour– most people are especially likely to favour peace after they have buried their children,that is, in the immediate aftermath of war.

An important distinction must be made between the peace proposals of specific individualsand the history of peace movements in general. Mass mobilized peace movements as weunderstand them today are relatively recent developments, dating from the early 19th

century. But they draw on a vast reservoir of popular discontent with war and have beennourished, in a large part, by universalism, a cosmopolitan ethic that sees shared humanityand a common interest in peace underlying and uniting political and ethnic distinctionsbetween peoples.

2.4 ORIGIN OF PEACE MOVEMENTS

2.4.1 Religious Peace MovementsThe early Christian Church was largely pacifist. During the first few centuries A.D.,Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire for refusing to serve in the Roman

Evolution of Peace Movements 21


legions. Renunciation of arms was inspired by the teachings of Jesus, notably as presentedin the Sermon on the Mount. In addition, early Christian writing rejected service in theRoman legions as “idolatry”. Pacifism also seemed especially appropriate to many earlyChristians because it involved renunciation of the secular world, in anticipation of theSecond Coming of Christ. Subsequently, there emerged with the conversion, toward astate-supportive view of the legitimacy of war and of military service. Earlier pacifist viewscame to be considered heresy by the so-called Christian realists, who believed that theSecond Coming was not imminent and that therefore Christians must come to terms withthe world of power and politics, that is, the world of “Cesar” as in the biblical injunctionto “render unto Cesar that which is Cesar’s.: Christian realists, including Augustine, thefounder of Just War theory, granted a certain legitimacy to the secular world of militaryforce.

During the middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church made some efforts to limit war, atleast among Christians. The “Truce of God” forbade warfare on Sundays and certainother holidays (the word holiday originally referred to “holy day”), and the “Peace ofGod” forbade fighting in certain holy places while also granting immunity to specificpersons, such as priests and nuns (However, the Church also uprooted the Crusaders,and supported the prosecution of so-called just wars, even among Christians). Traditionsof absolute pacifism nonetheless, reemerged during the Middle Ages, most of whichcarried a strong anti-state flavour as well: The Waldensians of the 12th century and theAnabaptists of the 16th century were notable in this regard, and they were aggressivelypersecuted by both Church and State. Nonetheless, vigorous, if small-scale sects such asthe Quakers, Mennonites, and the Brethern – sometimes knew as “prophetic minorities”– maintained religiously oriented peace traditions. Much of their activity was centered onindividual statements of religious and ethical conscience, an individual refusal to participatein war often referred to as “personal witness.”

2.4.2 Secular Peace MovementsBy contrast, secular peace movements, as we know them today, are less than twocenturies old. Numerous organisations sprang up during the 19th century. The New Yorkand Massachusetts Peace Societies, for example, were both found in 1815, and thefollowing year. “The Society for the Promotion of a Permanent and Universal Peace” wasestablished by the Quakers. Soon, thereafter, other organisations were found on bothsides of the Atlantic, including The American Peace Society and the Universal PeaceUnion in 1866. Many international peace conferences were held during the mid-19th

century, including gatherings in London (1843), Brussels (1848), Paris (1849), andFrankfurt (1850).

These efforts received some attention from governments, but were largely politically fringeevents. Other than legitimizing the concept of peace, and spreading hope among thoseattending, they had virtually no concrete political successes. Later, The Hague PeaceConferences (circa 1890s -1909 and its May 1999 centenary) had more influence withgovernment leaders, generating widespread expectations among many citizens as well.Although measurable successes have been rare, it can be argued that by placing theconcept of international peacemaking on the world agenda and keeping it there, internationalpeace meetings helped set the stage for such achievements with the establishment of theLeague of Nations after World War I and the United Nations after World War II. Theyalso helped generate a growing international mood in which war was seen as uncivilised,and resource to war became increasingly unpopular.

Probably the first organised efforts by any peace group to prevent a war took place inthe United States, prior to the Mexican-American War (1845). Although the effort failed,peace groups did succeed in getting the antagonists to negotiate their differences, and apro-peace viewpoint was forcefully expressed. During that war, Henry David Thoreau wasjailed for refusing to pay a poll tax, which, in his judgment, indirectly supported thatconflict. His Essay “Civil Disobedience” has been enormously influential ever since. In it,Thoreau argued that citizens of a democracy have a higher obligation than to the policiesof their government. He maintained that conscientious citizen is obliged to do what is rightand to refuse personal participation in wrongdoing – even if the wrongdoing is sanctionedby the legal authority of government, and even if defiance leads to government retribution.The idea of civil disobedience has been greatly enlarged upon by modern practitioners ofnon-violence.

2.5 PEACE MOVEMENTS IN INDIAThe void arising from the precipitous decline of the Mughal Empire from the earlydecades of 18th century allowed emerging powers to grow in the Indian subcontinent.These included the Sikh Confederacy, the Maratha Confederacy, Nizamiyat, the localnawabs of Oudh and Bengal and other smaller powers. Each was a strong regionalpower influenced by its religious and ethnic identity. However, the East India Companyultimately emerged as the predominant power. One of the results of the social, economicand political changes instituted in the country throughout the greater part of 18th centurywas the growth of the Indian middle class. Although from different backgrounds anddifferent parts of India, this middle class and its varied political leaderships contributed toa growing “Indian identity”. The realisation and refinement of this concept of nationalidentity fed a rising tide of nationalism in India in the last decades of the 1800s.

India attained independence from British rule by a peaceful and non-violent movement ofthe people. Gandhi’s technique of Ahimsa and Satyagraha caught the imagination ofmankind and has been and is replicated in several protest movements across the world.Mahatma Gandhi returned to India in 1915 from South Africa after being a part of theApartheid. After his return he faced similar conditions in India. His aim was clear: To gainIndependence. But his method of Satyagraha was a little complicated from the commonman’s point of view. As he went on giving speeches about the power of Ahimsa or Non-Violence, he was criticised for his weakness. His reply was, “Ahimsa is not the weaponof the weak. It is the weapon of the strong. Weak cannot practice Ahimsa. It involvesactive participation and presence of Mind.” He also said that, “Non Violence is not agarment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparablepart of our very being.” Though his views were met with praise, he did not achieveimmediate national co-operation.

In the wake of the Indo-US nuclear deal of 2008 allowing India to engage in civiliannuclear trade, protest movements have emerged in several sites chosen for the constructionof new nuclear power plants. India is aiming to establish at least thirty nuclear reactorsand derive a quarter of its electricity needs from nuclear energy by 2050. With theestablishment of the Atomic Energy Research Committee in 1946 and adoption of theAtomic Energy Act in 1948, India had preceded rather early on the path of atomicenergy. Yet, two aspects related to the atomic energy programme are striking – first, theAtomic Energy Commission (AEC) and subsequently the Department of Atomic Energy(DAE) have failed to match their own estimates of electricity production; and second,



there has been little public debate on these failures. Public awareness of even the nucleartests of May 1998 and the “peaceful nuclear explosion” of May 1974 is strikingly low.

2.5.1 Nonviolent ResistanceMahatma Gandhi (1869–1948) of India was one of the most influential spokesmen forpeace and non-violence in the 20th century. Gandhism comprises the ideas and principlesGandhi promoted. Of central importance is nonviolent resistance. M.M. Sankhdher arguesthat Gandhism is not a systematic position in metaphysics or in political philosophy.Rather, it is a political creed, an economic doctrine, a religious outlook, a moral precept,and especially, a humanitarian world view. It is an effort not to systematize wisdom butto transform society and is based on an undying faith in the goodness of human nature(Sankdher; 1972). Gandhi was strongly influenced by the pacifist ideas of Russiannovelist Leo Tolstoy. In 1908 Tolstoy wrote A Letter to a Hindu, which said that only byusing love as a weapon through passive resistance could the Indian people overthrowcolonial rule. In 1909, Gandhi and Tolstoy began a correspondence regarding practicaland theological applications of non-violence (Murthy, B. Srinivasa, ed.; 1987). Gandhi sawhimself a disciple of Tolstoy, for they agreed regarding opposition to state authority andcolonialism; both hated violence and preached non-resistance. However, they differedsharply on political strategy. Gandhi called for political involvement; he was a nationalistand was prepared to use nonviolent force. He was also willing to compromise (Green,Martin Burgess; 1986).

Gandhi was the first to apply the principle of nonviolence on a large scale (Asirvatham,Eddy; 2004). The concept of non-violence (ahimsa) and non-resistance has a long historyin Indian religious thought and has had many revivals in Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Jewish andChristian contexts. Gandhi explains his philosophy and way of life in his autobiography TheStory of My Experiments with Truth. Some of his other remarks were widely quoted,such as “There are many causes that I am prepared to die for but no causes that I amprepared to kill for” (James Geary; 2007).

Gandhi realised later that this level of nonviolence required incredible faith and courage,which he believed everyone did not possess. He therefore advised that everyone need notkeep to nonviolence, especially if it were used as a cover for cowardice, saying, “wherethere is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence” (WilliamBorman; 1986; Faisal Devji; 2012).

Gandhi came under political fire for his criticism of those who attempted to achieveindependence through more violent means. Gandhi responded, “There was a time whenpeople listened to me because I showed them how to give fight to the British withoutarms when they had no arms [...] but today I am told that my non-violence can be ofno avail against the [Hindu–Moslem riots] and, therefore, people should arm themselvesfor self-defense” (Louis Fischer (ed.); 2000).

Gandhi’s views came under heavy criticism in Britain when it was under attack from NaziGermany. He told the British people in 1940, “I would like you to lay down the armsyou have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler andSignor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions... Ifthese gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not giveyou free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to beslaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them” (Stanley Wolpert; 2002).

2.6 TYPOLOGY OF PEACE MOVEMENTSPeace movements may coalesce in opposition to a specific war to a particular weaponor weapons system (cruise missiles, neutron bombs, the MX missile, chemical weapons,land mines), to an aspect of war system (conscription, war taxes, sanctions), or to theprevailing socio-economic system (capitalism, globalisation). Or they may be opposed tothe institution of war more generally (the position of absolute pacifism). Peace movementsmay be divided into three categories:

1) Movements to eliminate war in general

2) Movements to stop particular aspects of war

3) Movements to stop particular wars

It is easier to stop specific wars than to stop war in general; hence, efforts to banish waraltogether are also most likely to be associated with efforts to reshape public opinion andto establish firm structures of positive peace. Such efforts are also more likely to persist,in contrast with opposition to particular wars or to specific means of waging war, whichtypically end along with the war in question or with the banning (or deployment) of thecontested weapons.

2.7 INTERCONNECTION BETWEEN PEACE ANDOTHER SOCIAL MOVEMENTS

Social movements are not eternal. They have a life cycle: they are created, they grow,they achieve successes or failures and eventually, they dissolve and cease to exist. Theyare more likely to evolve in the time and place which is friendly to the social movements:hence their evident symbiosis with the 19th century proliferation of ideas like individualrights, freedom of speech and civil disobedience. Social movements occur in liberal andauthoritarian societies but in different forms. However, there must always be polarizingdifferences between groups of people: in case of ‘old movements’, they were the poverty andwealth gaps. In case of the ‘new movements’, they are more likely to be the differencesin customs, ethics and values. Finally, the birth of a social movement needs whatsociologist Neil Smelser calls an initiating event: a particular, individual event that willbegin a chain reaction of events in the given society leading to the creation of a socialmovement.

Success

Decline

Failure

Cooptation

Repression

Go mainstream

Emerge Coalesce Bureaucratise

Figure 2.1

Source: Adapted from Blumer (1969), Mauss (1975), and Tilly (1978)



From the early 1970s new forms of social mobilisation began in India. They gained avariety of names such as social movement, people’s movement, popular movements etc.(Ghanshyam; 2004). These movements emerged and highlighted some of the major issuessuch as gender and environment.

One of the leading analysts and participants in social movements in India, Sanjay Sangvi,identified the major agenda of them as “Movements of landless, unorganised labour inrural and urban areas, adivasis, dalits, displaced people, peasants, urban poor, smallentrepreneurs and unemployed youth took up the issues of livelihood, opportunities, dignityand development.”

Most well known movements in the country are, Narmada Bachao Andolan, Koel Karo,Chattisgarh Mukti Morcha, Jhola Aandolan Chutmarika (fighting polythene), ChipkoMovement, Save Silent Valley, Appiko Movement, Save Kudremukh, Lok Satta Movement,Swadhyay Movement, Swatantra Sharad Joshi, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and soon.

These movements largely distanced themselves from political parties, or tried to cut acrossthe ideologies of the political parties. Yet many of them rooted themselves or drew fromideologies of the Mahatma Gandhi, various shades environmentalisms or gender politics,or socialism.

The most recent of social movements is ‘Campaign against corruption’, April 2011, ledby Anna Hazare; a Gandhian sits in the heart of New Delhi, capital of India, for fast untodeath, demanding enactment of the long pending Jan Lokpal Bill. This movement gotsupport of general masses and media. This created a buzz when political leaders weredenied sharing of dias with the social activists. This movement is a landmark in theConstitutional history of independent India, which has forced government to include 5non-official members in the Sri Ram Burgula Bill Drafting committee. Usually, onlyministers are members of any legislation drafting committees. While enactment of the lawand action will take some more time to be on actual ground, this movement has certainlymade corruption a major social issue in India.

2.8 CURRENT PEACE MOVEMENTSModern peace movements in worldwide – tend to be somewhat periodic and generational(they rise and fall), pluralistic (i.e., influenced by a variety of traditions and motivated bya range of concerns, and tactically diverse (they employ a variety of techniques). Somepeace movement activities, for example, are closely associated with feminists, others areallied with environmentalists.

2.9 SUMMARYThere are different ideas over what “peace” is (or should be), which results in a pluralityof movements seeking diverse ideals of peace. Particularly, “anti-war” movements oftenhave short-term goals, while peace movements advocate an on-going life-style andproactive government policy. It is often not clear whether a movement or a particularprotest is against war in general, as in pacifism, or against one’s own government’sparticipation in a war.

Global protests against the US invasion of Iraq in early 2003 are an example of a more

specific, short term and loosely-affiliated single-issue “movement” — with relativelyscattered ideological priorities, ranging from absolutist pacifism to Islamism and Anti-Americanism. Nonetheless, some of those who are involved in several such short termmovements and build up trust relationships with others within them do tend to eventuallyjoin more global or long-term movements.

The Peace movement is primarily characterised by a belief that humans should not wagewar on each other or engage in violent ethnic cleansings over language, race or naturalresources or ethical conflict over religion or ideology. Long-term opponents of warpreparations are primarily characterised by a belief that military power is not theequivalent to justice.

2.10 TERMINAL QUESTIONS1) Define peace movement.

2) Discuss the origin of peace movements.

3) Briefly discuss the typology of peace movements.

4) Is there any interconnections between Peace and other social movements?

SUGGESTED READINGSRussell Bertrand, “Civil Disobedience”, New Statesman, 17 February 1961.

Beckwith, George (ed.), The Book of Peace, America: American Peace Society, 1845.

Blumer, Herbert G., “Collective Behaviour” in Alfred McClung Lee (ed.), Principles ofSociology, New York: Barnes & Noble Books, 1969, pp. 65–121.

Borman, William, Gandhi and Non-violence, Delhi: Suny Press, 1986, p. 253.

Chatfield Charles and Robert Kleidman, The American Peace Movement: Ideals andActivism, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1992.

Cortright David and Amitabh Mattoo (eds.), India and the Bomb: Public Opinion andNuclear Options, Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1996.

Devji, Faisal, The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptation of Violence, HarvardUniversity Press, 2012.

Eddy, Asirvatham, Political Theory, New Delhi: S. Chand, 2012.

Fischer, Louis (ed.), The Essential Gandhi: an Anthology of His Writings on His Life,Work, and Ideas, New York: Vintage Spiritual Classics, 2002, p. 311.

Shah, Ghanshyam, Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature, New Delhi:Sage Publications, 2004

Green, Martin Burgess, The Origins of Nonviolence: Tolstoy and Gandhi in theirHistorical Settings, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1986.

Geary James, Geary’s Guide to the World’s Great Aphorists, USA: Bloomsbury, 2007,p. 87.



Brown Jerry and Rinaldo Brutoco, Profiles in Power: The Anti-nuclear Movement andthe Dawn of the Solar Age, New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997, pp. 191-192.

Murthy, B. Srinivasa (ed.), Mahatma Gandhi and Leo Tolstoy: Letters, California: LongBeach Publications, 1987.

Mauss, Armand, L., Social Problems of Social Movements, Philadelphia: Lippincott,1975.

Pasricha, Ashu, Peace Studies: The Discipline and Dimensions, New Delhi: AbhijeetPublishers, 2003.

Marullo Sam and John Lofland (eds.), Peace Action in the Eighties: Social SciencePerspectives, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1990.

Bennett Scott H., Radical Pacifism: The War Resisters League and GandhianNonviolence in America, 1915-45, Syracuse: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2003.

Sankhdher M.M., “Gandhism: A Political Interpretation”, Gandhi Marg (1972) pp. 68–74.

Tilly, Charles, Social Movements, 1768–2004 (Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers),2004.

Yadav, Yogendra and Sanjay Kumar, “Interpreting the Mandate,” Frontline, November 5,1999, pp. 120-125.

Wolpert, Stanley, Gandhi’s Passion: The Life and Legacy of Mahatma Gandhi,Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 197.

UNIT 3 SOCIAL STRUCTURES: CASTE ANDRELIGION

Structure

3.1 IntroductionAims and Objectives

3.2 Caste: Meaning and Nature3.2.1 Caste-Class Equations

3.3 Caste Categories3.3.1 Upper Castes3.3.2 Lower Castes: The Scheduled Castes3.3.3 Other Backward Castes (OBC)

3.4 Casteism and Caste Conflicts3.4.1 Casteism3.4.2 Dalit Assertion3.4.3 Caste Conflicts

3.5 Religion

3.6 Communalism and Communal Violence3.6.1 Communalism: A Colonial Legacy3.6.2 Communalism in Independent India3.6.3 Need for Peace and Harmony

3.7 Summary


Suggested Readings

3.1 INTRODUCTIONIn any society there keep on emerging internal conflicts or disputes. These are causedbecause of various reasons social, economic and political. The Social reasons arise fromthe social structure of the society. Divisions or groups in society, due the differences invalues, opportunities, access to resources or power or combinations of cultural linguistic,religious, ethnic and economic factors cause conflicts. Thus to understand reasons andnature of internal conflicts and ways to manage them it is important to understand thesocial structure of society. The social structure consists of religious, cultural, ethnic, caste,regional and linguistic identities. On the basis of these, societies may be homogenous orheterogeneous consisting of one identity or other. While homogenous society consists ofeither one identity or almost one identity with some minor other identities, heterogeneoussocieties consist of plurality of groups. One group may be in majority but others – theminority groups – are also significant in number and generally conscious of their identity.India is among the most plural and complex societies in the world. Almost all religions inthe world are visible here. The country is comprised of a number of regions whosepeople speak different languages. 28 languages have been Recognised by the Constitution


as national languages. There are also hundreds of languages and dialects. Apart fromVarna system in Hindu Society dividing it into four categories, there are other castes, sub-castes and sub-sub castes. Societal fragmentation, at times, becomes the cause of socialor even political conflicts. Among various social groups, caste and religions have been thebasis of various conflicts and disputes. We are discussing in this unit the nature of casteand religious fragmentations and some of the reasons for caste and religious conflicts. Nodoubt efforts have always been made and continue to be made to eliminate and reducethese conflicts; yet these remain a challenge for the state and society.

Aims and Objectives

After going through this Unit, you will be able to:

appreciate the nature of India’ s diversity;

understand the definition and types of castes in India;

know the nature of caste conflicts;

understand the religious plurality of India;

know the meaning and causes of communalism and communal conflicts; and

appreciate the need for social peace and harmony.

3.2 CASTE: MEANING AND NATUREThe Caste system is the most salient feature of the Hindu social structure. While it reignssupreme in the innumerable classes and divisions of Hindu Society encompassing allaspects of the life, no precise definition of castes is available. The caste system in its mostgeneral aspect can be described as system of status and hierarchy. It is a type of socialstratification system based on hierarchical gradation of endogamous kinship groups withcertain considerations of ritual purity reflected in restrictions on commensality and pollutionsand associated with traditional occupational specialisation. In that sense a caste is a socialgroup having two characteristics: (1) membership is confined to those who are born ofmembers of a described group and include all persons so born; (2) the members areforbidden by an inexorable social law to marry outside the group. Each one of suchgroups has a special name by what it is called (Rai, 2002). As the caste system isascribed by birth, the system is thereby closed. In this model, internal differentiationsamong the persons belonging to the same castes are absent. All members of the samecaste are alike that they have the same levels of ritual, socio-economic and politicalpositions. On the other hand, it envisages a complete vertical differentiation betweenindividuals belonging to different status castes. Thus the system is non-competitive and itsessential features are: (1) hierarchy; (2) commensality; (3) restrictions on marriage andfoods; and (4) hierarchy of occupations (Jayal, 2006).

3.2.1 Caste-Class EquationsIn view of and in addition to the ritual hierarchical order of the caste system, severalscholars have categorized castes in terms of upper and lower as equivalent to classdivisions. Actually in view of the very fluid social circumstances in India the relationshipbetween caste and class is fairly complex. There are people from the upper castes whoare socially on the upper ranges of the caste hierarchy, yet economically poor and there

are groups among the backward class that are economically prosperous but sociallybackward. However, as Rajen Harshe (2008) points out instances where caste and classgroups converge in terms of their social and economic backwardness are more numerous.The studies of K.N. Raj, Andre Beteille, M.N. Srinivas and Kathleen Grouch confirm thefact that there is a correspondence between caste and class that the rich landlords andpeasants come generally from the higher castes such as Brahmins, Bhumiharas, Rajputsand Thakurs while the Dalits, Adivasis and tribals contribute the bulk of agricultural labour.At the intermediary level, however, caste and class cut across each other. A majority ofmembers of the middle castes such as Jats, Gujjars, Yadavs and Kurmis, are small andmedium peasants and/or tenants, though there has been a trend for a movement upwards.Some from among these backward castes have emerged as big tenants with big leasesand have come to own some land, a few have also become big peasants with largeparcels of land. The middle and backward castes thus constitute the bulk of the mediumand small peasants. By and large the very small land holding poor peasants come fromthe lower castes and also work as agricultural labourers. Caste and class, therefore,Ghanshyam Shah (1985) points out, are neither distinctively separate categories, nor arethey one and the same. First castes or jati is essentially a localized social group wheremembers share common socio-cultural bonds. Despite several efforts, no all India casteorganisations have so far come into existence. Second, caste does not just form a socialgroup. The caste-based social system originated with the development of economicsurplus. Productions and distribution systems have remained caste-based for entries,notwithstanding intra and inter-caste mobility and regional variations in social hierarchy.With the introduction of the capitalist system and the consequent penetrations of capitalas well as the competitive political system certain changes have taken place in the featurescharacterising the caste system. Production is no longer based on caste thereby weakeningthe rigid hierarchy of the system.

3.3 CASTE CATEGORIESWhile caste system in India generally has remained more influential, it is important to keepin mind that India does not possess a single nationwide caste system. Each linguistic unitconstitutes (roughly and with variations) a single social universe and distinctive castesystem. Neerja Jayal (2006) brings out that there are estimated to be 2,000-3,000 castes/Sub-castes (jatis) in India today. The size of each ranges between 5,000-15,000, andthough they are arranged in a broad four-fold hierarchy (varna) important local andregional variations subvert the hierarchy and some mobility between the designatedcompartments. British colonial rule treated caste as “the institutional keystone of Indiansociety”. Beginning with the first decennial all–India census of 1871, the census becamethe main instrument of gathering information about the caste system and classifying it. Themeasurement of castes and sub-castes, according to the size and number in the census,Neerja Jayal (2006) points out, contributed to the fixing of caste identities in wayshitherto unknown. With their identities so fixed, caste groups began to form casteassociations. Broadly the Castes in India are divided into three categories. These aredescribed as below.

3.3.1 Upper CastesUpper Castes also known as Forward castes are castes primarily belonging to upperthree Varnas of Varna system that is Brahmins, Kshatriyas and Vaishyas. As census inIndia since independence has not been enumerating caste, there is no exact data of upper

Social Structures: Caste and Religion 31


castes. However, it is generally estimated that about 25 percent of India’s populationbelongs to this category. Broad groups are known as Brahmins, Thakurs, Rajputs, andBhumihars etc. In general, these castes are economically, educationally, and socially welloff as compared to other castes. In rural areas they had been large land owners. In urbanareas traditionally they had occupied major sections of professions, public services andbusiness. Within upper castes there also are poor unemployed and unskilled. But incomparison to lower castes they generally are well off and have higher esteem ofthemselves and consider higher up in caste hierarchy. In recent years their position isbeing challenged by lower and middle castes to which at times upper castes react leadingto caste –conflicts.

3.3.2 Lower Castes: The Scheduled CastesThe lower castes generally known as Dalit are erstwhile untouchables who wereconsidered outside the traditional varna system and known as outcastes. After independence,the Constitution of India abolished the untouchability in any form vide, Article 17 in theChapter on Fundamental Rights. In order to provide special treatment to these erstwhileuntouchables to redress their past exploitations and improve their social and economicconditions these castes were described as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and placed in aschedule of the Constitution to be so identified. According to 2011 census, the populationof Scheduled Castes in the country was 16,66,35,700 or 16.2% of the population. Thehighest proportion of Scheduled castes is in Punjab about 28.2% of state’s population. Interms of numbers they are maximum in Uttar Pradesh, 35,148,377. In North-East tribalareas their presence is insignificant. Scheduled Caste activists use term ‘‘Dalits” for thesecastes which means oppressed. The use of the term denotes group identity for thetraditionally exploited castes. About three fourths of SCs live in rural areas where themain source of their income is either cultivation of agricultural land, wage labour or somekind of non-farm self-employment.

After independence, the Indian Constitution not only abolished untouchability but alsoprovided elaborate and effective provisions to ensure social justice to Scheduled Castes.As a result of these provisions and governmental policies for their welfare and workingof democracy, there has been some change in the hostile caste-ridden environment andworking conditions and consciousness of scheduled castes. However, majority of peoplefrom these castes remain marginalised, in terms of economic conditions, literacy, access toresources etc. In spite of reservations in services, the percentage of Scheduled Castes inhigher levels of jobs remains low. On the other hand, engaged in lower and menial jobsmost are SCs. Bonded labourers are almost exclusively drawn from SCs and STs. Thefeeling of social dominance in upper castes vis-a-vis the SCs have somewhat mauled andsubdued but has not completely faded way. Overall, the processes of economic andpolitical progress have not been sufficiently dynamic among the SCs and majority of themremain backward and marginalised.

3.3.3 Other Backward Castes (OBC)The term OBC is used for the castes which are considered socially and economicallybackward but do not fall in the category of Scheduled Castes. The Constitution of Indiain Fundamental Rights and Article 340 use the term Backward classes entitling provisionsfor their social and educational development. The term “Backward Classes” is not limitedto Hindu Caste System. It was used for all communities that have preferential treatment.In due course it got included in the castes low in the social economic hierarchy, but not

as low as the Scheduled Castes. This was particularly recommended by the BackwardClasses commissions. The Kaka Kalelkar Commission was established in 1953 andSecond Mandal Commission set up in 1978. The First Commission prepared a list of2399 groups, which were roughly 32% of population including both castes and communities.The Second Commission identified 3743 caste groups as backwards, which were 52%of the population. These included some non-Hindu groups also. National Sample SurveyOrganisation in its survey in 2006, found 41% of population as OBCs.

The OBCs are primarily middle peasants as well as poor peasant castes. Some of themare economically not backward but have been educationally and socially backward.Abolition of Zamindari system and introduction of Green Revolution have improvedeconomic conditions of some of these castes substantially. In view of their economic andlandowning positions and numbers, these castes have become politically quite assertive.Initially they rose in Southern and Western states and later in Eastern and Northern Stateslike those of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana etc. They have differences both with uppercastes and lower castes. These do occasionally cause conflicts, some times even violentin nature.

3.4 CASTEISM AND CASTE CONFLICTSCaste has always been a political and actual weapon in keeping the people divided andcausing conflicts. While the power structure of India was always caste-based, Britishcolonial rule treated caste as the institutional keystone of Indian society. With theiridentities so fixed caste groups began to form caste associations and petition the colonialgovernment to consider their demands as such. The immediate effect of this, according tothe eminent sociologist M. N. Srinivas, was that it increased caste consciousness andinter-caste competitions. After independence, introduction of universal franchise andmobilization of voters on caste community basis reinforced caste with a lot of vigourbringing in the phenomena of casteism.

3.4.1 CasteismCasteism in general means one sided loyalty in favour of own caste in terms of social,political and economic interests. The attempts are made by the members of one caste togain personal advantages in the name of superiority or inferiority even to the detriment ofinterests of other caste’s members. In a way it is a blind group loyalty towards one’s owncaste or sub-caste. As already mentioned, the compulsions of the democratic system tomobilize the illiterate people who cannot understand politics in terms of class interestsmade it imperative to appeal to the caste sentiment because it could pay dividends. Thisobviously encouraged casteism also. One positive aspect of this has been that thetraditionally disadvantaged and stigmatized caste groups have also experienced substantialupward social mobility. They have by and large succeeded in easing out upper caste elitefrom positions of power. Traditional peasant castes such as Ahirs, Kurmi, Koeri, LodhRajputs and Jats began to dominate the politics of Northern India (Brass, 1977). In theSouthern state of Tamil Nadu, the Vanniyars and Theevars have become assertive and inKarnataka, control was wrested from the traditional rural elite within the Congress Partyby Vokkaligas and Lingayats (Manor, 1997). In the Northern India belt upper casteMembers of Parliament fell below 50% for the first time in 1977. The challenge to theestablished Congress was mounted in Uttar Pradesh rather effectively in the late 1960sby coalitions of peasant castes led by Charan Singh. In Bihar, there was a significantdecline of upper caste members of the Legislative Assembly after 1977. These have since



been rising and political power in States of Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtraetc. have rested in the hands of OBCs.

3.4.2 Dalit AssertionResistance to caste exploitation by the Scheduled Castes (Dalits) has been a veryimportant development in caste politics during colonial period and since independence. Asalready mentioned, British colonial rulers- for their own needs- tried to change traditionalpolitical, economic and social fabric of Indian society and also encouraged group identitybuilding as part of the strategy of Divide and Rule. Indian National movement, to expandits social base, also took up the cause of erstwhile untouchables. Mahatma Gandhiparticularly took up the case against untouchability. Thus there emerged among lowercastes a process of identity consciousness self-assertion, self-help and self-organisation.Leaders like Jyotiba Phule, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, M.C. Rajah and others within andoutside Dalits contributed to this consciousness significantly.

After independence on the one hand Constitutional Provisions, State Policies for welfareand reservations brought some change in the hostile caste-ridden environment. On theother hand, political parties to win SC support mobilized them as caste groups highlightingtheir plight. Thus there have been emerging significant political consciousnesses amongthem and various movements to assert their rights. Dalit Panther movement has been oneof the important socio-literary movements while founding of Bahujan Samaj Party byKanshi Ram has emerged as an important means for political mobilization. There alsohave emerged other groups and caste-based parties at local levels. Some of thesemovements are quite radical confronting higher castes in very vocal terms. As such therealso have emerged situations of backlash and conflict between higher and scheduled castegroups.

3.4.3 Caste ConflictsFrom the above discussion, it clearly emerges that Caste is an important factor in Indiansociety and politics. In social sphere there are some changes in terms of inter caste-dining,inter-caste marriages, erosion of rigid rituals and practice of untouchability. Particularly inmetropolitan cities the excesses of the rules of purity and pollution are no moreacceptable. But all these are still limited and slow. Caste is not disappearing, so iscasteism. As already mentioned the universal adult franchise has opened up a newpossibility for mobilizing electoral support on the basis of caste and thus prevented thecaste from dying. Therefore we witness struggles of various caste groups for politicalpower, for economic betterment and social justice. At the village level, Scheduled casteagricultural labour and service classes continue to embattle with local dominant castes asthey seek social respect, demand higher wages and resist the armed efforts of dominantcastes to keep them in their place. In the urban areas, the struggle is between the middleclasses of the OBCs and Scheduled Castes on the one hand and the middle and uppercastes on the other over reservations and their extensions. Various conflicts, demands andassertions at times become causes of hate and violence. Efforts of the government tocontain these remain ambiguous and generally limited to maintenance of law and order.Thus caste conflicts continue to be a major concern of conflict management.

3.5 RELIGIONAnother important aspect of pluralism of India and at times cause for a social conflict isreligion. As is well known, India is home to many religions. Almost all major religions in

the world have followers in India. These include Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Sikhism,Buddhism, Jainism and several others in small numbers. Hindus constitute 79.8% ofpopulation and are present in almost every part of the country. Islam is the second mostdominant religion with 14.2% population; Sikhs, Christians and Buddhists are comparativelysmall in numbers yet are important part of India’s diversity. Sikhs constitute a majority ofabout 60% in the state of Punjab, Muslims constitute majority in Jammu and Kashmir andhave significant presence in states of Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Kerala,Maharashtra and Assam. Christians also are spread all over India with significantpopulation in North Eastern States, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. At Social level, in general,there is harmonious co-existence and respect for each other’s religion. However, somevested interests particularly for political support, exploit the religious sentiments of massesto keep them divided. That at times causes conflicts and growth of communalism.

Table 3.1: Religious Population in India (2011 Census)

Religion Population (Numbers) Percentage

Hindu 96.63 Crore 79.8%

Muslim 17.22 Crore 14.2%

Christian 2.78 Crore 2.3%

Sikh 2.08 Crore 1.7%

Buddhist 0.84 Crore 0.7%

Jain 0.45 Crore 0.4%

Other Religions 0.79 Crore 0.7%

Religions not stated 0.29 Crore 0.2%

3.6 COMMUNALISM AND COMMUNAL VIOLENCEAs is well known, religion has powerful emotional appeal. It can therefore be used byvested interests to keep society divided for fulfillment of political, economic and socialinterests. The method for this is known as creation and development of communalism.This in its extreme form becomes communal violence. Communalism basically is anideology of political allegiance to a religious community as a primary and decisive groupin the society and for political action, Communalism begins with the belief that becausea group of people follow a particular religion they have as a result, common socialpolitical and economic interests. Therefore, as Bipin Chandra writes, it is a belief that allHindus, or Muslims, in fact each religious community constitutes a homogenous entity andeven a distinct society in itself. Communalism, accordingly, envisages a religious communityalone as a base and universe of its political ambitions and actions. It also views otherreligious communities as inimical entities within a polity and within a nation arranged inunfriendly, antagonistic and belligerent equations, to each other. Therefore communalism isa political strategy, opposed to nationalism. The most glaring manifestation of this iscommunal violence or riots.

3.6.1 Communalism: A Colonial LegacyAn analysis of growth of communalism and communal politics before and after independence



reveals that basic cause for it is not religion or culture. Religion at best is one factor, aninstrument rather than fundamental cause. Religion is used as a powerful instrument toachieve political, economic and social purposes for its powerful mobilising power.

During British colonial rule, due to differences in historical background, Hindus andMuslims were affected differently by the colonial administration. They therefore developedsomewhat different attitude and understanding of the colonial rule. Colonial rulers soonfound that religion could be profitably exploited in their approach to the Indian people.Communal divisions could be encouraged in order to keep the larger community dividedagainst itself and ensure the permanence of their own domination. Therefore they used thepolicy of divide and rule to check national movement and unification of communities.Unfortunately the pioneers of Indian National Movement also could not properly deal withthe problem of communal divide. The divide particularly among Hindus and Muslims ledto the Partition of India and left bitter memories, which even now contribute to the spreadof communalism.

3.6.2 Communalism in Independent IndiaAs discussed above, at the time of independence, India inherited the British policy ofdivide and rule and bitterness and memories of partition. The framers of the Constitution,to remove the causes of division and grievances among communities, provided for asecular state with equality among citizens, freedom of religion, and protection forminorities. The leadership also envisaged that democracy and process of development willencourage citizen’s collective participation in the task of nation-building. However, thesevarious processes of democracy and development also posed challenge to the existingsocial, political and economic powerful. To reduce these challenges and perpetuate theirvested interests, they found the earlier British policy of Divide and Rule useful and startedexploiting religious emotions of masses to divert their attention away from issues ofdevelopment.

As already mentioned, most political parties have been creating their support in caste,community, religious, and regional etc., bases. Due to continuous failure of the system infulfilling people’s social and economic aspirations, people have been getting alienated fromit. The political parties exploit this sense of alienation also on religious lines blaming thegovernments in power favouring one religious group against the other. Vested interests dotheir best to polarize the society and make them to think and behave not as citizen butas member of communities, elections witness mixing of politics with religion. Nominationof candidates, campaigning, mobilization of voters etc is often done on communal lines.

Communal divide has become quite deep causing violence and riots. The greatest effectof communalism, according to K.N. Panikkar (2010), has been to vitiate human inter-personal relations in society into a religious relationship which is affecting the secular ethosadversely. It is quite clear that roots of communalism lie in politics and economiccompetition. Vested interests, whether politically motivated groups or foreign agencies,ignite communal feelings to keep society divided. Communalism is nurtured not as muchby religion as by the political-economic interests.

3.6.3 Need for Peace and HarmonyTo manage and reduce communal conflicts state needs to treat all citizens as equal withoutany actual or perceived discrimination and adopt an inclusive process of development.There can be no success in the system unless it envisages justice to all and ensures

equality in practice. More importantly, peace has to exist both at the state level as wellas within society. It needs to be kept in mind that the masses are religious, not communal.There are also well meaning religious and secular leaders in all communities. The religiousand secular leadership of these communities should come together and form solidaritycommittees to fight communalists in whichever community they might be. For this it wouldbe necessary to do honest and rigorous criticism of what is bad in one’s community andacknowledge with generosity what is good in the other community. Such an approach canbuild the bridges of understanding and mutual confidence. Of course, above all is requireddevelopment of a scientific outlook that encourages democracy and humanism.

3.7 SUMMARYIndia is one of the most diversified plural societies. Apart from language, culture andethnicity the very important aspects of diversity are caste and religion. Caste is a uniquelyIndian Social institution. It is a type of social grouping based on hierarchical gradationsof birth, considerations of ritual purity and pollution and occupations. The members of thecaste are forbidden to marry outside the group. All members of the caste, it isconsidered, are alike that they have the same levels of ritual, socio –economic andpolitical positions. The traditional caste-based fragmentations got consolidated in associationaland political form during British colonial period. Lower castes, in particular, becameconscious of their identity and began challenging the domination of upper castes. Inindependent India, castes came to be used as an important means of electoral mobilization.At the same time, in an environment of democracy and provisions of Constitutionalequality, lower and backward castes began to assert their rights. Caste was also used bythe vested interests to keep society divided. Assertion of castes, challenges posed bylower and backward castes also was responded by backlashes from the upper castesthus causing caste conflicts and violence. In spite of some changes in the caste–basedsocial positions, caste remains a significant factor in Indian society, economy and politicsand an important cause for conflicts that require serious management.

Like caste, a significant aspect of plurality in India is religion. For centuries, India hasbeen home to almost all major religions of the world. Differences in perceptions ofnational movement to consolidate communal unity made communalism a serious issueduring that period. In independent India, in spite of Constitutional provisions of secularismand equality and Fundamental Rights, vested interests have been successful in keeping thesociety divided on religious basis. This has resulted in communal polarization andcommunalism to the extent of communal violence. Reduction of caste and communalpolarization and conflicts is very important for tasks of nation-building and development.For that, the state needs to promote and protect the rights of all communities in aharmonious way and inclusive models of development. At the same time, civil society hasto play a pro-active role to create awareness among masses about the ulterior designs ofvested interests and also build bridges among different caste and religious communities.

3.8 TERMINAL QUESTIONS1) Define the relationship between caste and class.

2) Describe the major Caste Categories and their Characteristics.

3) What do you understand by Casteism?



4) Describe the nature of Religious Pluralism in India.

5) What do you understand by communalism? Describe the reasons for its growth.

SUGGESTED READINGSBhargava Rajeev (ed.), Politics and Ethics of Indian Constitution New Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press, 2009.

Brass, Paul, The Production of Hindu, Muslim Violence in India, New Delhi: OxfordUniversity Press, 2003

Chandra, Bipin, Communalism A Primer, New Delhi: Anamika Publishers, 2004

Chandra R. S. Mitra, Caste System in Indian, Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers, 2003

Engineer, Asghar Ali, Communal Challenge and Secular Response, New Delhi: Shipra

Harshe, Rajen, “Thinking about Democracy, Identity Politics and Development in India” inBrar Bhupinder, Kumar Ashutosh and Ronki Ram Globalisation and Politics of Identityin India, Delhi: Pearson, 2008.

Hasan, Zoya, “Representation and Redistribution: The New Lower Caste Polities in NorthIndia” in Frankel, Francine et.al. (eds.) Transforming India Social and PoliticalDynamics of Democracy, New Delhi : Oxford University Press, 2000.

Jayal, Neerja Gopal, Representing India: Ethnic Diversity and the Governance ofPublic Institutions, Hampshire: Palgrave 2006

Jodhka Surinder S, Community and Identities Contemporary Discourse on Cultureand Politics in India, New Delhi: Sage, 2001

Madan, T.N, Images of a World, Essays on Religion Secularism and Culture, NewDelhi: Oxford University Press, 2006.

Panigrahi, S.K, Caste in India: A Historical Perspective, 2011.

Panikkar, K.N, “Short on Secularism” Frontline, February 21, 2010.

Rai, Sheela, “Social and Conceptual Background to the Policy of Reservations”, Economicand Political Weekly, October 19, 2002.

Shah, Ghanshyam, Caste in Contemporary India in Caste Class Conflict andReservations, Delhi: Ajanta Publications, 1985.

Weiner, Myron, “The Struggle for Equality: Caste in Indian Politics” in Kohli, Atul (ed.),The Success of India’s Democracy, Delhi: Foundation Books, 2002

UNIT 4 FAMILY AND COMMUNITYStructure

4.1 Introduction

Aims and Objectives

4.2 The Institution of Family

4.3 Types of Family

4.4 Joint Family in India

4.5 The Meaning of Community

4.6 Types of Community

4.7 Role of Family and Community in Socialisation

4.8 Summary


Suggested Readings

4.1 INTRODUCTIONFamily and community are two of the most significant social institutions in the daily livesof individuals and society. Together they shape who we are, instill us with values, normsand the societal ways. Our families and communities prepare and orient us to the world.

As a basic unit of society, families have the key responsibility of caring for their members.This includes helping children and adults to become well-adjusted and productive membersof society. Such functions are complex and multi-faceted and involve the meeting of basicneeds of family members, as well as the transmission of social values. The family issurrounded by an even larger network of social relationships, the community. The familyand community form the environment into which children are born and begin the longprocess of learning to become an adult.

Although family and community are often studied independently, they are inextricably andreciprocally related to one another. Communities are the context where families prosperand flourish or flounder. Practitioners, policy makers and researchers benefit by having abetter understanding of the complex, dynamic relationship between family and community.

Aims and Objectives

After reading this unit, you would be able to:

understand the concept, function, types of family and communities in India;

socialisation as a lifelong process that is influenced by both the family and othergroups within the community; and

understand the changing nature of families and communities in contemporary society.


4.2 THE INSTITUTION OF FAMILYFamily is the most important universal institution. Most of the world’s population lives infamily units. It fulfils needs and performs functions which are indispensable for thesustenance of the community and society. Broadly speaking, family refers to the primarygroup comprising of husband-wife unit (parents) and their children.

There are some common and nearly universal functions performed by the family:

Sexual – the family provides stable sexual relationships for adults and controls thesexual habits of its members.

Reproduction – helps provide new members of society.

Socialisation – teaches children the norms and values of society to keep societygoing.

Economic – pools resources for all family members to share.

Emotional support – intimacy, companionship, belonging, etc.

4.3 TYPES OF FAMILYLet us now look at the various parameters on which the family may be classified.

On the basis of size and structure or according to the number of members, family maybe classified into two types – Nuclear family and joint family or extended family.

1) Nuclear Family: A nuclear family is a family which consists of husband, wife andtheir unmarried children. The size of nuclear family is very small. Murdock dividesnuclear family into two types such as: (a) The Family of orientation in which anindividual is born and reared and socialised and which consists of father, mother,brother and sister; (b) The Family of procreation refers to the family established bythe person through marriage. It consists of husband, wife, their sons and daughters.

2) Joint or Extended Family: Extended or joint family is large in size. It includesmembers of three to four generations. It is an extension of parent child relationship.This family is based on close blood ties. It is like the joint family of Hindu Society.The eldest male member is the head of the family. Children of the family even aftertheir marriage have little importance. Extended family consists of father, mother, theirsons and their wives, unmarried daughters, grand children, grand father, grandmother,uncles, aunts, their children and so on. This type of family exists in rural communityor agrarian economy.

In the Indian context, we generally speak of the contrast between nuclear and joint familytypes and will be discussed in detail, later in the unit.

On the basis of marriage practices, family is classified into following types:

1) Monogamous Family: Based on Monogamy System of marriage, this family consistsof a husband and his wife. Under this type of family system neither husband nor wifeis allowed to have more than one spouse at a time. It has many other advantagesbecause of which it is considered as the ideal form of marriage all over the world.

2) Polygamous Family: This type of family is based on polygamy system of marriagewhere one man marries more than one woman and vice-versa; hence two type offamily system is found to exist such as polyandrous and polygamous family.

On the basis of authority, family may be classified into:

1) Patriarchal Family: In this type of family, power or authority is vested in the handsof eldest male member of the family who is supposed to be the father. He exercisesabsolute power or authority over the other members of family. After his death,authority is transferred to the eldest son of family. In this family descent is knownthrough father line. In this type of family, wife comes to reside in her husband’shouse. This type of family is widely found and Joint family system among the Hindusis an example of patriarchal family.

2) Matriarchal family: In this family power or authority rests on the eldest femalemember of the family especially the wife or mother. She owns all the family property.In this family, descent is known through the mother. Headship is transferred frommother to the eldest daughter. Husband remains subordinate to his wife in amatriarchal family. Daughter after marriage resides in her mother’s house and herhusband lives with her. This type of family is found among the Nairs of Kerala andamong the Garo and Khasi tribes of North-East India.

On the basis of residence, family may be classified into following types:

1) Patrilocal family: The family in which after marriage wife comes to reside in thefamily of her husband is known as patrilocal family. The patrilocal family is alsopatriarchal and patrilineal in nature.

2) Matrilocal family: The family in which after marriage husband comes to reside inthe family of his wife is known as matrilocal family. It is just opposite of patrilocalfamily. This type of family is also Matriarchal and Matrilineal in nature.

3) Neolocal family: After marriage when newly married couple establishes a newfamily independent of their parents and settle at a new place, this type of family isknown as neo-local family.

On the basis of blood relationships, a family may be classified into:

1) Conjugal family – consists of husband wife and their children and some relativesadded through marriage. This family is like nuclear family and exhibits some of itscharacteristics.

2) Consanguineous family – This type of family consists of close blood relatives alongwith their mates and children.

Alternate Family Pattern

The term ‘alternate family pattern’ suggests family patterns that result from personalcircumstances outside one’s control (death of a partner, infertility) or from certain socio-economic conditions such as male migration and work participation of women. In suchcircumstances people are forced to adapt family patterns that suit their conditions. Suchfamilies are, therefore, not mere lifestyle experimentations but come out of certaincircumstances. In the Indian context, most family variations that are prevalent today area result of such personal or socio-economic circumstance. Experimental or chosen life

Family and Community 41


styles like living without marrying and being childless voluntarily are restricted to anextremely small group of people. The unwritten rule was, and still is, that all marriagesmust result in children and preferably male children (Gulati, 1995). The following may beconsidered the most commonly observed family variations in India: single parent families,female headed households, dual earner/career families, childless families, and adoptivefamilies.

The range of family variations seems limited. In the West, the family patterns reflectexperimentation with lifestyles and seeking of alternatives to existing patterns. In contrast,the Indian family variations suggest adaptation to socio-economic and personal circumstancesthat is necessary for survival.

4.4 JOINT FAMILY IN INDIAThe joint family is an ancient Indian institution, but it has undergone changes in the latetwentieth century. Although several generations living together is the ideal, actual livingarrangements vary widely depending on region, social status, and economic circumstance.

A joint family includes kinsmen, and generally includes three to four living generations,including uncles, aunts, nieces, nephews, and grandparents living together in the samehousehold. It is a group composed of a number of family units living in separate roomsof the same house. These members eat the food cooked at one hearth, share a commonincome, common property, are related to one another through kinship ties, and worshipthe same idols. The family supports the old; takes care of widows, never-married adults,and the disabled; assists during periods of unemployment; and provides security and asense of support and togetherness (Chekki 1996; Sethi 1989). The joint family hasalways been the preferred family type in the Indian culture, and most Indians at somepoint in their lives have participated in joint family living.

The Indian family is by and large patriarchal in structure. In a patriarchal family set up,all male members, that is, husband, elder brother and father, perform duties like decisionmaking for the rest of the family, and their physical and moral protection. This patriarchalset up is changing slowly towards equalitarian interaction among the educated, urbanmiddle classes, and also among some rural set ups. Even in matrilineal and matrilocalcultures, patriarchy seems to be prevalent in the form of power held by the brother andnot by the woman herself.

As joint families grow ever larger, they inevitably divide into smaller units, passing througha predictable cycle over time. The breakup of a joint family into smaller units does notnecessarily represent the rejection of the joint family ideal. Rather, it is usually a responseto a variety of conditions, including the need for some members to move from village tocity, or from one city to another to take advantage of employment opportunities.Frequently, a large joint family divides after the demise of elderly parents, when there isno longer a single authority figure to hold the family factions together. After division, eachnew residential unit, in its turn, usually becomes joint when sons of the family marry andbring their wives to live in the family home.

With the advent of urbanization and modernization, younger generations are turning awayfrom the joint family form. The emergence of financially independent, career-oriented menand women, who are confident of taking their own decisions and crave to have a senseof individual achievement, has greatly contributed to the disintegration of joint family.

The adults have migrated to cities either to pursue higher education or to secure morelucrative jobs or to eke out their living outside their traditional callings, ensuing from theavailability of better opportunities elsewhere as well as the rising pressure of populationon the limited land base. These days in most cases two brothers tend to form twoindependent households even within the same city owing to the rising spirit of individualism,regardless of similarity in occupation, even when the ancestral property is not formallypartitioned at their native place.

However, some scholars specify that the modified extended family has replaced thetraditional joint family, in that it does not demand geographical proximity or occupationalinvolvement and does not have a hierarchal authority structure. This new family formencourages frequent visits; financial assistance; aid and support in childcare and householdchores; and involvement and participation in life-cycle events such as births, marriages,deaths, and festival celebrations. The familial and kinship bonds are thus maintained andsustained. Even in the more modern and nuclear families in contemporary India, manyfunctional extensions of the traditional joint family have been retained and the nuclearfamily is strongly embedded in the extended kinship matrix. Hence, despite the continuousand growing impact of urbanization, secularization, and Westernization, the traditional jointhousehold, both in ideal and in practice, remains the primary social force in the lives ofmost Indians.

A significant aspect noted is the new economic order merging with the traditional pridein jointly owned property. Today’s big business houses like the Tata and Birla are allfamily ventures. So instead of the breaking of joint families due to urbanization andindustrialisation, more joint families are found in urban business communities (Desai,1980). Married brothers may have separate houses, but run a common business and meetregularly at a variety of family rituals. Hence, a large number of families in India aredescribed as being functionally joint with separate residence.

4.5 THE MEANING OF COMMUNITYWhenever the members of any group, small or large, live together in such a way thatshare the basic conditions of a common life, we call that group a community.

Therefore, a community refers to a group of individuals living in a geographical area. Theyshare the same physical environment and the basic conditions of community living. Thereare many types of communities such as, village or rural, city or urban.

German Sociologist F. Tonnies used two terms – Gemeinschaft, often translated ascommunity, refers to groupings based on a feeling of togetherness, Gesellschaft, oftentranslated as society, and refers to groups that are sustained by an instrumental goal.Gemeinschaft may by exemplified by a family or a neighbourhood community; Gesellschaftby a business or a nation.

According to MacIver and Page, there are two main bases or essential elements on thebasis of which community is formed.

i) Locality: Locality implies a particular or territorial area unless a group of people livein a particular locality. Living together facilitates the development of social contacts,safety and security. Locality continues to be a basic factor of community life.MacIver says, though due to the extending facilities of communication in the modernworld the territorial bond has been broken, yet the basic character of locality as asocial classifier has never been transcended.



ii) Community Sentiment: Community can be formed on the basis of communitysentiment. It is extremely essential. It implies ‘a feeling of belonging together.’ It isa ‘we-feeling’ among the members of a community. People living in a community leada common life, speak the same language, conform to the same mores, feel almostthe same sentiment and therefore, they develop a feeling of unity among themselves.

In a community there is a likeness or similarity in language, custom, mores, traditions etc.among the members. So A. W. Green has rightly said, “A community is a cluster ofpeople living within narrow territorial radius who share a common way of life.”

Every community is always known with a particular name, their immediate bases of origingive such community a particular name. For example, based on the linguistic conditionpeople living in Odisha are called Odiyas; those living in Kashmiri culture are calledKashmiris.

Every community grows itself spontaneously. A community is not deliberately or purposivelycreated. A kind of natural force acts behind the origin and development of communities.Various factors like customs, conventions, and religious beliefs bind the individualstogether.

4.6 TYPES OF COMMUNITYA community may be big or small. A big community, such as a nation, contains within ita number of small communities and groups with more close, numerous common qualitieswhereas there are small communities like village or neighbourhood. Both the types ofcommunities, big or small, are essential to the full development of life.

Human communities may be classified on the basis of many different criteria. A largenumber of classifications of human communities have been made and have been founduseful for different purposes. A very broad and familiar classification is based on the sizeand density of the population, in terms of which we classify communities as neighbourhood,village, city, region and world community. The first two types of communities devote morespace to village community.

Village Community

Generally, a village community may be defined as a group of people living in a definitegeographical area, characterised by consciousness of kind, common life styles and variousintensive social interaction, where agriculture is seen not only as an occupation but alsoas a way of life.

Mandelbaum writes, “A village is not a neatly separable social and conceptual packagebut it is nonetheless fundamental social unit.”The French sociologist Louis Dumont refersto three meanings of the term village community as a political society, as a body of co-owners of the soil and as the emblem of traditional economy and polity, a watchword ofIndian patriotism. Thus, according to this view, the village community in India has beena part of India’s polity and economy. A village is far more than a locale, more than justa collection of houses, lanes and fields.

Village identity, solidarity and loyalty cut across caste and community. There are factionsand feuding groups within villages and between villages. Land reforms, Panchayati Raj,sanskritization and other structural and cultural changes have brought about significantchanges within its social structure and in its relations with the wider world.

The change in village community may be seen in different spheres. The British rule in Indiagave a serious blow to the traditional caste system in the villages. The economic policyand the laws of British rulers induced the different castes to adopt occupations other thanthe traditional ones. The hold of caste panchayat was loosened. Jajmani System, a featureof village community in India has now weakened due to the governmental efforts to raisethe status of the lower castes and impact of urbanisation. The occupations adopted bythe village people are not entirely hereditary or based on caste system, nor the paymentfor services rendered by the lower caste is in kind; it is now mostly cash payment.

The joint family system is no longer the peculiar characteristic of the village community.The family is no longer an economic unit. Several activities which once were carriedwithin the family are now performed by outside agencies. The education of village girlshas raised the status of rural women.

The economic scene today is different in villages due to education, migration, and changein the cropping pattern, electrification, irrigation and contact with the towns and cities. Thetraditional pattern of lending has also changed to a large extent due to alternate channelsof borrowing money. Modernization of agriculture is taking place at a rapid pace. Thesetting up of ‘panchayats’ has led to the growth of political consciousness among thevillage people. The newspapers, radio and television in some areas have added to thepolitical knowledge of the villagers.

The villages in India are at present passing through a transitional period. From thesociological point of view, the old social relations, bonds and ties have disappeared. Thecommunity consciousness is steadily decreasing.

Despite these changes in the village’s social structure and economy, the village remainsdifferent from towns and cities in its ethos, way of life and interpersonal relations.

Urban Community

Urban communities exhibit salient features which differentiate them from the rural community.As the urban society is diverse and complex, it is considered as a heterogeneous society.In urban communities, there is a confluence of many cultures. If villages are the symbolof cultural homogeneity, the cities symbolize cultural heterogeneity. The cities are characterisedby diverse peoples, races and cultures. There is great variety in regard to the food habits,dress habits, living conditions, religious beliefs, cultural outlook, customs and traditions ofthe urbanites.

Density of population in urban areas is greater than in rural communities. In the urbanareas, the major occupations are industrial, administrative and professional in nature.Divisions of labour and occupational specialisation are very much common in towns/cities/metropolises.

Georg Simmel held that the social structure of urban communities is based on interestgroups. The circles of social contact are wider in the city than in the country. The citylife is characterised by the predominance of secondary contacts, impersonal, casual andshort-lived relations.

In urban societies, there is much lesser degree of community feeling. People are moreindividualistic in their orientation. Formal means of social control such as police, law andcourts are more powerful and are essential in regulating the behaviour of the people.



The most important feature of urban community is its social mobility. In urban areas thesocial status of an individual is determined not by heredity or birth but by his merit,intelligence and perseverance. Urbanity and mobility are positively correlated.

Rapid social and cultural change characterises urban life. The importance attached totraditional or sacred elements has been relegated to the background. The benefits ofurban life have effected changes in respect of norms, ideologies and behaviour patterns.

The Neighbourhood

The neighbourhood is the first community with which the child comes into contact. It isa “loose integration of several family groups”. In large cities it is largely a group of “neigh-dwellers” characterised chiefly by the fact that the members reside within a particulargeographic area.

In a city neighbourhood the people generally do not come in close contact and sometimesdo not even know each other. Some of you must have experienced the difficulty of findingthe house of your relative in a big city if you did not know it already. We may say thatin cities neighbourhood as a community does not exist.

As opposed to city neighbourhood, a rural neighbourhood involves persons living close toand well acquainted with each other. Though in a village neighbourhood people may notlive in close proximity to each other, they may live somewhat apart, yet unlike cityneighbourhood they know each other well. There are immediate contacts between theneighbours in a village.

The neighbourhood feud is common. We often, while passing on the road, come acrossa quarrel among the neighbours. This quarrel usually begins over children, over livestock,over a boundary wall or over an insulting remark reported to have been made by onemember about the member of another’s family. Sometimes, an ordinary quarrel takesserious proportions and divides the neighbourhood into opposing camps. It may even leadto murder.

More recently, the term community has been used to indicate a sense of identity orbelonging that may or may not be tied to geographical location. In this sense, acommunity is formed when people have a reasonably clear idea of who has something incommon with them and who has not. Communities are, therefore, essentially mentalconstructs, formed by imagined boundaries between groups (Anderson, 2006). Anexample of this is the nation as a community (for example, Indianness) and therebydifferent from other nations even when they could not know personally other members ofthe imagined community.

4.7 ROLE OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INSOCIALISATION

The family is one of the key institutions for maintaining social order. In India, family hasbeen a dominant institution in the life of the individual and in the life of the community.

The process of learning to adopt the behaviour patterns of the community is calledsocialisation. It is the process through which individuals integrate in society through variousagencies such as family, peer-group and educational institutions. In the most general sense,socialisation is the process through which individuals acquire the social knowledge and

skills necessary to enable them to interact with others. This also includes learning ofexpectations, habits, values, motives, skills, beliefs that are necessary to interact with one’sown social groups. Thus, it is a process that familiarises us with, and makes us learn andimbibe the rules for living in society in an effective manner.

The most fertile time of socialisation is usually the early stages of life, during whichindividuals develop the skills and knowledge and learn the roles necessary to functionwithin their culture and social environment. It is the family’s primary responsibility tosocialise children in the norms of society. In all human groups, the family is an importantagent of socialisation. It has flexible human relationships in which family members interactinformally and deal with common concerns in an atmosphere of mutual respect and love.The family teaches the child his or her first lessons in social living and helps him or herform basic attitude patterns, ideals and style of life. It creates feelings of socialresponsibility and teaches the importance of cooperation and mutual respect.

The child’s personality is formed accordingly and a social identity develops. Socialisationdevelops the child’s ability to control him or herself and helps him/her to realise his/herresponsibility towards family, community and society.

The social order is maintained largely by socialisation. Unless the individuals behave inaccordance with the norms of the group, it is going to disintegrate. Everyone tries toadjust to the condition and environment predominantly determined by the society of whichhe is a member. Failing to do so, he becomes a social deviant and is brought back intoline by the efforts of the group of which he is a member.

4.8 SUMMARYThere has been scholarly concern and several studies on family and community. The denseinterpenetration of these two dimensions of life was associated in particular with simplesocieties. This is especially evident in the work of early social thinkers such as theGerman Ferdinand Tönnies and the Frenchman Frederick Le Play. The development ofmore complex societies brought with it the emergence of specialised institutions cateringto discrete aspects of social life which previously were catered to within the family andlocal community such as economic, educational, and religious activities.

With the development of these more complex societies the nature of social relationshipsalso changed. It was thought that both family and community, if not actually in decline,were certainly less pivotal than before in the life of society.

Social changes together with reorientation of social values and increased participation ofwomen in production of economic goods and services promoted functional and structuralchanges in the institution of the family. The impact of the changing milieu on the structure,function and new roles of the family and community has been extensively researched.

However, it is imperative to understand that Family is a basic unit of society and is a linkbetween individual and community. The multifaceted functions performed by it make it amuch-needed institution in a society. Some of the important functions performed by thefamily include reproduction of new members and socialising them, and provision ofemotional and physical care for older persons and young. Family, in fact, is an institutionwhich resolves or eases a large number of social problems.

Socialisation is influenced primarily by the family, through which children first learn



community norms. Other important influences include schools, peer groups, people, massmedia, the workplace, and government. The degree to which the norms of a particularsociety or community are adopted determines one’s willingness to engage with others. Thenorms of tolerance, reciprocity, and trust are important “habits of the heart,” as deTocqueville put it, in an individual’s involvement in community.

Community’s responsibilities also lie in promoting the wellbeing of individuals within them,both directly and indirectly, through supporting families to fulfill their responsibilities andproviding opportunities for all members to participate in community life. Fulfillment of theseresponsibilities is important not only for the wellbeing of individuals and their families butalso for national and international wellbeing.

Clearly, then, study and research into family and community life is important for theidentification of potential or existing resources and deficits or challenges confronting thesesocial units, their individual members, and broader social systems. Ultimately, suchresearch is important for the development and monitoring of the effectiveness of policiesthat are directed towards ensuring that individuals live in safe, supportive environments thatenable them to reach their potential, adopt health-promoting lifestyles, participate incommunity life, and develop or maintain a sense of purpose and meaning in life.

4.9 TERMINAL QUESTIONS1) Discuss the functions of the institution of family.

2) Identify the role family and community in shaping individual’s behaviour.

3) Explain the distinguishing features and types of the communities in India.

4) Discuss the factors responsible for the breakdown of the joint family system in India.

5) Discuss some of the new family types that have emerged. How are they differentfrom the traditional types of Family?

6) Describe the impact of technological changes on the dynamics of the family andcommunity.

SUGGESTED READINGSVidya, Bhushan, & D. R. Sachdeva, An Introduction to Sociology, Kitab Mahal, Patna.

Newman David (2008): Families: A Sociological Perspective, McGraw-Hill HigherEducation, Boston Mass.

Parsons, Talcott. (1955). Family, Socialisation and Interaction Process, Robert F.Bales and James Olds. Free Press.

Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, Edited by: George Ritzer, 2007.

Ahuja, Ram, Society in India: Concepts, Theories and Recent Trends, Rawat Publications,2003.

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