P. B. Mehta - Violence and communalism: South Asia’s disturbing commonality

By Dilip -

The violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh is an ominous development. But it is also a reminder of one cardinal truth: All of South Asia is “tied together in a single garment of destiny,” to borrow Martin Luther King’s phrase from a different context. Violence in one place will spill over to another; freedom endangered in one place will inevitably corrode the freedom of others. We have tried to act as if this was not true. But that modus vivendi has been unravelling for a while.

Anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh is not new. The current violence is strategically timed. It is surely not a coincidence that the violence coincides with targeted attacks on Hindus in Kashmir. The intent is not just local ethnic terror, but a deepening of the communal divide in India. It is tempting to say that this violence is a strategic act by particular organised groups, perhaps with transnational links. It is not organically embedded in society. This is a comforting thought, and can empower us to the extent that it is still important to recognise forces that do not condone such violence. But in South Asia the link between strategic communal violence and organic embeddedness is always a tricky one. Such violence inevitably transforms the fabric of social relationships itself. ..

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/violence-and-communalism-south-asias-disturbing-commonality-7580597/?utm_source=newzmate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=opinion&pnespid=Hecz_RxL9z4MjQ6f8JDIBFpFrwBo0qZzsgsdTL4CPozKWgIT8icdOo0E6QYZ3iCj.PfbIsvO


More posts on Bangladesh


Books reviewed - Deb Mukharji: 1971, Bangladesh and the Blood Telegram


Deb Mukharji - A Himalayan lesson, and about time


Deb Mukharji - Landmark India-Bangladesh border pact is testimony to what spirit of cooperation can achieve


An Open Letter to the world on the Bangladesh crisis of 1971


David Bergman - As Bangladesh court reaffirms Islam as state religion, secularism hangs on to a contradiction


Bharat Bhushan: A hanging in Dhaka, courtesy Delhi


Snigdhendu Bhattacharya: How Bangladeshi Bloggers Paid The Price For Protesting Religious Fanaticism


Conversation with Lawrence Lifschultz: The American reporter who investigated the assassination of Mujibur Rahman


Syed Badrul Ahsan - In Dhaka, return of a spectre


Imtiaz Alam Khan - History: the fall of Dhaka from Bihari eyes


Bangladesh to Exile 100K Rohingya Refugees to an Island “Prison”


Exiled Bangla poet Daud Haider refused India visa


Bangladeshi communist writer Shahzahan Bachchu gunned down


Haunted by unification: A Bangladeshi view of partition


‘This is the world’s cheapest place to scrap ships’ – but in Chittagong, it’s people who pay the price. By John Vidal


Prominent Kashmiri Pandit businessman shot dead in Srinagar


P. B. Mehta: What the attacks against minorities in Kashmir reveal


When a Hindu is killed in Kashmir, all Kashmiri Muslims must condemn it, just as all Hindus must condemn lynching of Muslims anywhere in India - Sanjay Tickoo


Rashmi Singh - Migrant Workers in the Kashmir Valley



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