Mankind has developed through collective and collaborative efforts of thousands of years. Conscientious struggle was waged relentlessly by the people with great sacrifices to bring change against all forces who were impeding such progress. India’s struggle for freedom from the colonial rule drew motivation from such ideas and therefore tried to assimilate all sections and groups in the fight against the British colonial rule. However, there were groups who became part of the British game of divide and rule through communal divisions in the society.

The post independent India adopted a constitution which carried forward the ethos of the freedom fighters and put forth secularism, that is respect for all the religions, and equal rights to all the citizens irrespective of religious, ethnic, caste or gender discrimination, as its ideal. The constitution is also inspired from our ancient culture of “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”. Thus the idea of India was not limited to wellbeing of people living in the geographical boundaries of India but for the welfare of all the people around the globe. Violence in any form was rejected and harmony, love and cohesiveness were projected by the framers of the constitution.

Violence based on communal lines was propped up during the British colonial rule to create a mind-set of hatred towards others and weaken the freedom movement. Violence that occurred during the partition in 1947 led to the killing of nearly 20 lakh Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs giving a clear message that no one is spared when violent incidents of this type take place. It is the innocent, particularly the women, children and the elderly who suffer the most.

Whereas injury is visible fallout of the violence, the mental health issues are even worse. Losing kith and kin leaves a long term impact, more so on the children who are likely to develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). They develop a feeling of helplessness and disgust, undergo depression, lose charm in studies and even develop aggressive violent behaviour. Loss of parents leaves the children devoid of love and affection which is most important for the development of the normal behaviour. Such situation also leads to acute financial problems, affecting nutrition and health. Many a times the victims have to live in the make shift arrangements/refugee camps where there is no privacy, no schooling for the children, no proper hygiene or sanitation This becomes cause of several health problems.

Violence prevention is therefore a public health issue and requires lot of hard work of educating the people about the danger of communal violence. Creation of jobs with proper remunerations can reduce the chances of people getting involved in such incidents. Biased and false propaganda is used to poison the minds, to distract attention from real issues like health and education and also to hide failures of the ruling dispensations.

State bears a big responsibility to prevent and control such happenings. But when the state is partisan and overtly or covertly supports the perpetrators of violence, the situation is difficult to control.

Recent happenings in the country of spreading of communal hatred by some organisations against the minorities particularly the Muslims and Christians can have serious outcome on the harmony and integrity of the country. It is a sorry state of affairs that the accused are not booked as per the rule of law, rather in many cases they have been promoted for indulging in such venomous utterings. Anurag Thakur, a Minister of State in the Central Government who openly called for killing ‘goli maaro saalon ko’ was promoted to the rank of full Cabinet Minister. The events in Haridwar, Raipur, Ambala, Gurugram and other places where open calls have been given to kill and vandalism at churches and attacks on Christian schools are a pointer for the worse to come if the society does not wakeup. These will cause collateral damage in the form of internal disturbance as well as external ramifications. We witnessed this after anti Sikh riots in 1984.

The majority community should realize that this mind-set does not remain limited; it takes monstrous turn. These groups would indulge in violence against anyone who questions on any issue. Peace loving people cannot sit at home and just feel disturbed; they have to speak out and talk of real issues facing the society to counter such bigots even if it risks their lives. Otherwise these people who appear fringe elements today will grow and overpower. Their narrative has to be countered effectively. (IPA Service)