Entrenched religious nationalism has led to social instability and violence in South Asia, often perpetrated by members of dominant religious traditions supported by government laws and policies, targeting religious minorities. However, as South Asia has shown, attempts to stifle religious pluralism encouraging Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist radicals in Sri Lanka, passing laws against conversions in India, and enforcing blasphemy codes in Pakistan will only create a climate of impunity that fosters instability for the whole region. Violence often comes from those who suffer from unjust laws and policies and more from extremists in highly religious communities supported by the state. Deteriorating socio-economic conditions, government policies, and external interventions in South Asian countries have become significant factors in the growth of extremism in the region. Terrorism and its political consequences have directly affected inter-state relations in the South Asian region and contributed to instability.
Violent politics and extremist tendencies in South Asia may be linked to controversies sparked by wrong post-colonial policies. Looking at the countries of South Asia and the paths of avoidance and choice, the rise of political and the return of religious nationalism seems to represent an attempt to build rather than destroy social cohesion. Looking back at recent developments in South Asia, we see movements emerging in almost every southeastern country using nationalist positions as a means of reassessing specific racial, linguistic or religious communities, often at the expense of minorities for the price. South Asia is a hotspot for organised expressions of nationalist sentiment, whether it be Buddhist monks in Bhutan and Sri Lanka, right-wing Hindu extremists in India, secular Muslims in Bangladesh, orthodox Muslims in Pakistan, or outrageous only Hindu state citizens on earth Nepalis. We need to think more deeply about the pros and cons of nationalist ideology how it is manifested and enforced. The impact it has at home and abroad.
In a country where one-fifth of the population is not Hindu, Hindu nationalists believe the Indian government should become a Hindu state and openly incite violence against minorities, especially Muslims and Christians. In some ways, Hindu nationalism, the political ideology that drives Modi’s BJP, is reminiscent of right-wing nationalist movements worldwide that advocate economic protectionism and enhanced border security. In India, the illiberal political theology of ‘Hinduism’ espoused by many Hindu nationalist politicians calls for the integration of Hinduism with the state and the restriction of religious minorities such as Christians, Muslims and Sikhs, who are seen as a threat to the status of India as a Hindu nation.
Clashes between Muslims and Hindus in recent ongoing Utter Pradesh (UP) elections in India have raised concerns about the link between religious nationalism and inter-communal violence in the secular identity of India and raised questions about the connection between the possibility of establishing stability between religiously pluralistic societies. Modi led BJP government is different from its pioneers and cultivating zero-sum nationalism for India, tacitly allowing communal violence and controlling an openly nationalist Hindu political agenda. As the Indian government cautiously but decisively labelled its Muslim citizens as “enemies within”, the anti-Pakistan rhetoric intensified, reinforcing the false Hindu-Muslim, India-Pakistan dichotomy. The violent anti-Muslim sentiment is symptomatic of his government’s active restructuring of the national identity along Hindu lines. In the modern subcontinent, a hardened and increasingly secular India interacts with Pakistan’s national identity and, to the extent that it chooses to operate based on ideological anti-India.
On the other hand, conceived in 1947 as the homeland of South Asian Muslims, India-Pakistan was transformed from a culturally Muslim state to a religiously Islamic state with “anti-India” as the rallying point due to partition. Pakistani nationalism was a direct consequence of Muslim nationalism in India in the 19th century. Pakistani nationalism refers to the political, cultural, linguistic, historical, religious and geographic manifestations of the patriotism of the Pakistani people, pride in Pakistan’s history, culture, identity, heritage and religious identity, and aspirations for the future of Pakistan. Tensions in Indian cities between Muslim and Hindu neighbours and deliberate and hate-motivated mob violence against Muslim “traitors” reflect and fuel the politics of the Hindu majority at the government level.
Violence against ethnic minorities inspired by Hindu nationalists could spark recent retaliatory violence in the region as it has in the past. In any event, the current rise of religious nationalism in South Asia offers an opportunity to resolve long-standing social conflicts, albeit at unspeakably painful risks. While the strategic importance of the Indian government has led the Muslims friendly countries to India, i.e. Middle East countries largely ignore these domestic issues, the dangerous consequences of Hindu nationalism have had a destabilising effect on South Asia, undermining India’s ability to long-lasting dream of emerging as West favourite leader in South Asia.
By nature, people with nationalist inclinations dislike the increasing globalisation of social structures and political institutions. As a result, they see every international effort to normalise their country as a conspiracy against their identity. No second opinion could be there that in an increasingly globalised world, accepting only like-minded people as legitimate citizens, nationalist sentiment is equally dangerous nationally and internationally. It is essential to understand that even if it is a democracy, an orthodox nationalist democracy often seeks to redefine the basis of national identity to exclude or marginalise religious minorities from a political perspective and is a direct threat to regional peace.
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