From Al-Beruni to Jinnah: Idiom, Ritual and Ideology of the Hindu-Muslim Confrontation

in South Asia
Author(s): Marc Gaborieau
Source: Anthropology Today, Vol. 1, No. 3 (Jun., 1985), pp. 7-14
Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
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From AI-Beruni to Jinnah
Idiom, ritual and ideology of the Hindu-Muslim confrontation in
South Asia

MARC GABORIEAU

Marc Gaborieau is Maitre They (the Hindus) totally differ from us in religion, 11th century, Turk and Afghan invaders, assisted by Arab
de Recherche at the Centre as we believe in nothing in which they believe and vice and Persian experts, undertook a systematic conquest
d'Etudes de l'Inde et de
versa (...). Theirfanaticism is directed against those who of the subcontinent. With the foundation of the Delhi
l'Asie du Sud,
do not belong to them - against allforeigners. They call sultanate in the early 13th, South Asia became
CNRS/EHESS, Paris, and
them mleccha, ie. impure, and forbid having any definitively a part of the Muslim world. Muslim
has undertaken many years
of field research in Nepal connection with them, be it by marriage or any other dynasties, through the Delhi sultanate (13-16th) and the
and India. This article is kind of relationship, or by sitting, eating, drinking with Mughal empire (16th-18th), were the paramount political
based on his contribution them, because thereby, they think they would be polluted. power in South Asia. They ruled directly over part of
to the RAI conference on The Hindus claim to differfrom us, and to be something the subcontinent; Hindu and Muslim kingdoms which
Religions in Conflict held better than we, as we on our side, of course, do vice versa! covered the rest of the territory progressively became
in February 1984. Alberuni (1964 reprint, ppl9-20, 185). their vassals. Weakened by the Marathas in the 18th
century, the Mughals were progressively supplanted by
'The Hindus and Muslims belong to two different the British, who finally deposed the last Mughal emperor
religious philosophies, social customs, literature. They after the 1857 Mutiny.
neither intermarry nor interdine together and, indeed, After more than one thousand years of Muslim
they belong to two different civilizations which are based presence and six centuries of political supremacy, Muslim
mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions' (Some communities (made up of immigrants, converts and the
recent speeches and writings of Mr Jinnah, ed. by Jamil descendants of both) have developed. They now
ud-din Ahmad, Lahore, 1952, vol.2, p.177). constitute roughly 260/o of the total population and are
dispersed all over the subcontinent but unevenly. They
The Context are in a minority over the greater part of the territory:
Some countries of South Asia, particularly India and 3 7o in Nepal and Bhutan, 7 % in Sri Lanka, 12% in India.
Nepal, have built for the outside world images of They are in a majority only in the outlying areas: the
themselves as lands of toleration and peaceful Indian part of Kashmir (8507o), Bangladesh (83 07o),
coexistence of all religions. This view is disseminated Pakistan (97%7o) and the Maldives (lOO1lo).
by political propaganda; it is also developed in Two facts should be kept in mind. First, South Asian
theosophical circles which search for a conciliation of Muslims form the largest Muslim community in the
all religions. It has found a theoretical expression in the world: more than 225 millions of people; more than the
writings of Hindu and even Muslim philosophers and whole population of the Middle East or of Indonesia;
mystics. in the world one Muslim out of four lives in South Asia.
But these highly speculative views do not reflect the Nevertheless they are in a minority in the subcontinent.
actual behaviour of the various religious communities Second, the main political subdivision of the
of South Asia, which are socially and politically very subcontinent is on religious lines. The two major states
exclusive. They rather coexist than cooperate. Conflicts with a Muslim majority, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which
break out very often: for instance the current contain about two thirds of the Muslim community, have
confrontation between Hindus and Sikhs in the Indian recently become separated from India where most of the
Punjab; or between Hindu Tamils and Buddhist Hindus live.
Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. The most often recurring conflict The events leading to this partition have to be recalled.
in South Asia is between Hindus and Muslims: riots in Pakistan and Bangladesh were parts of the Mughal
Bhiwandi, Bombay and Hyderabad during 1984 are the empire as well as of the British Raj. While Muslim
latest instances. dynasties ruled over South Asia, the religious affiliation
In order to understand this conflict a few historical of their subjects was not their major concern. During
and political facts should be recalled1. South Asia is a the British period2 religious affiliation became an issue.
subcontinent which, in spite of a tormented history, has By the end of the 19th century, representative institutions
developed over three thousand years a common were developed, and political alignments could be
civilization. It is now divided into seven states of varying adopted on a religious basis; religious communities
size, with a total population of 875 millions in 1981: 675 tended to become political constituencies. This was
millions live in India, 90 millions in Bangladesh, 80 particularly true of the Muslim League created in 1905,
millions in Pakistan; the rest of the population is shared which catered exclusively for the interests of the Muslims.
between Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldive By contrast the main political party, the Indian National
Islands. After a long period of Hindu and Buddhist Congress founded in 1886, appeared more and more as
history, South Asia attracted Muslim settlers along two a Hindu party, although it always counted in its ranks
main roads. From the 7th century A.D., Arab merchants influential Muslim leaders. Purely Hindu organizations
and conquerors founded with their converts the first also appeared such as the Hindu Sabha (later
Muslim communities along the Western coast. From the Mahasabha) founded in 1915. In the meantime Hindu-

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 Muslim riots became more frequent; but they were not the too often held view according to which conflict
a novelty: they are attested since the Delhi sultanate and between Hindus and Muslims is a rather recent
were already a regular feature of the*Mughal empire3. phenomenon fostered by British politics and colonial
After a period of lull between 1916 and 1924, when ethnography in the second half of the 19th century; or
Hindus and Muslims under Gandhi united against the traceable, at the earliest, to the bigoted Mughal emperor
British and for the defence of the Khilafat, the situation Aurangzeb in the second half of the 17th century. I hold
grew worse. By 1930 Hindu and Muslim politicians had that the deepest sentiments of opposition, on which both
fallen apart; Muslims started contemplating a partition the Hindu and the Muslim communities found their
of the subcontinent and the creation of a Muslim state identity, are traceable throughout the nine centuries of
to be called Pakistan. In 1940, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Indo- Muslim history: from the first testimony of Al-
then head of the Muslim League, made the creation of Beruni in the end of the 11th century to the famous
Pakistan the programme of his party. In spite of the Pakistan resolution in March 1940 and the address
opposition of the Congress, he was able to get practically pronounced by Jinnah on that occasion.
all the Muslim votes in the 1945-1946 elections. He then Two words of caution are necessary at the beginning.
forced partition on the Congress party and the reluctant I shall be the devil's advocate. I shall focus only on the
British authorities. aspects of the social and political life where Muslims
When in 1947 he became the first Governor General and Hindus are in opposition. This is not to deny that
of Pakistan and the new border was demarcated, gigantic there are many areas, religiously neutral, in which they
riots broke out between Hindus and Muslims, leading fortunately pursue peaceful transactions; I have dealt
to the deaths of 300,000 to 500,000 people (more than with them at length elsewhere. Secondly this presentation
in the whole Commonwealth during World War 2) and is not a substitute for political analysis: I only state what
the displacement of more than 10 million people both are the idiom and the ritual of the Hindu-Muslim
ways across the border. This was the most tragic confrontation. The political analyst will have to ascertain
expression of the Hindu-Muslim conflict. in each circumstance, by whom they are used, in which
Partition did not end the conflict which has now both way, for which reasons and toward which ends5.
an international and a domestic dimension, the two being This study will be divided into three. The first part
inextricably linked. Pakistan and India have fought three will be devoted to the idiom: after locating the cleavage,
wars in 1948, 1965 and 1971 over the control of Kashmir I will analyze the various idioms of opposition,
and the independence of Bangladesh. In each country superiority and confrontation. In the second part I will
the minority community is far from secure. Practically analyze ritualized behaviours of segregation,
all Hindus left West Pakistan (simply Pakistan since provocation and elimination. The third part will study
1971). Anti-Hindu riots were a regular feature in Eastern the rise of a new ideology based on age-old idiom and
Pakistan up to the time till it seceded from Pakistan in ritual.
1971 to become Bangladesh. One third of the Muslim
community remained as a hostage in India where Hindu- The idiom6

Muslim riots have recurred, either as repercussions of Location, nature and naming of the cleavage

Indo- Pakistani tensions or as a result of local economic Discarding the detailed nomenclatures of the censuses,

or political competition. Such riots have tended to be one has to realize that there is an overall dichotomy. On
more and more frequent since 1964; and the average the one hand are all indigenous religions broadly
number of annual outbreaks has doubled since 1980 in classified as Hindu (orthodox Hinduism, sects derived
India, according to official statistics. Similar outbreaks from it like Jainism and Buddhism, as well as tribal

of violence, although less frequent, are not unknown animist religions). On the other hand all the religions
in Nepal and Sri Lanka. of alien origin (Islam, but also Christianity, Judaism...)
Our questions the adepts of which are in the eyes of Hindus all mleccha,
i.e barbarians7. This is the overarching dichotomy; it
Our problem is now to interpret this religious conflict.
A huge amount of literature has been produced by overrides all other religious, sectarian, linguistic, ethnic
Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Western politicians or racial sub-dichotomies"8.

and scholars. This literature is not free from communal

To name this cleavage, the Anglo-Indian word
and political prejudices4. On the whole except perhaps
communalism has been forged (with the adjectives
communal and communalist); each religious group is
among Pakistani scholars, there has been a tendency to
see the Hindu-Muslim conflict as a rather recent a community. There was traditionally no abstract term.

phenomenon. Is this not a very short-sighted answer? To designate each community, the Hindus used their

The tormented history of South Asia in the modern quasi-zoological language of genus and species, jati or

period has certainly aggravated the conflict. But are not jat (the same word as used for caste): the genus Homo

its roots to be found in a more remote past? is divided into two species: hindu jati and mleccha jati

Fieldwork among Muslims in Nepal and India has (the musalman jati being included in the latter as a sub-

led me to conclude, following many others, that the species). Muslims have traditionally an ethno- religious

deepest cleavage in Indian society is between Hindus and language: each community is a qaum, tribe or nation,

Muslims. This article will sum up the lessons learnt from or a millat, a religious group. The Muslim community

my fieldwork and interpret them in the light of historical

is opposed to the Hindus or Buddhists who are kafir,

precedents. First, the nature of the cleavage will be heathens, in the theological language; and dhimmi or

analyzed from fieldwork material to show that there is ahl-i- dhimma, protected people, in the legal
a well-defined set of ideas and ritualized behaviours terminology.

underlying the religious conflict between Hindus and The idiom of opposition

Muslims. Second, these findings will be placed in a The members of each community see the other's

historical perspective. Social anthropologists have not religion as diametrically opposed to their own, as an
inverted religion, ulta dharma. Actual features of each
discovered America: fieldwork does bring additional and
more precise evidence; but its findings do not contradict religion or even made up symbols are arbitrarily picked
up to show that no conciliation is possible: the main
statements found in the writings of the earliest British
administrators and in the historical and legal books of example is the opposite privileged direction of worship,

the Middle Ages. My presentation will thus go against East for the Hindus, West for the Muslims. Al-Beruni

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already indulged in this game. It was still a favourite whom Muslims stand above the untouchables. But if we
pastime in Nepalese villages where I stayed9. now consider the point of view of the impure castes, i.e.
The idiom of superiority the impure but not untouchable castes at their level
Each community sees his own as superior, the other (Butchers...) as well as the untouchable ones (Tanners,
as inferior. This very important point is often obscured Musicians, Sweepers...), we soon discover that they all,
in theosophic and political propaganda (Gandhi is a untouchables included, refuse any ritually relevant
good example of both phraseologies combined). transaction with Muslims: they do not accept cooked
Traditionally each community represents itself as fQod from their hand, nor water; they outcast those of
superior to the other. First on theological grounds; only them who have sexual relations with them. Finally, even
one's own religion is the true one: it is the Religion, in relation to lower eastes, the Muslim community is
dharma or din; the other is just an erroneous opinion, repelled into a marginal position' 5.
mat. In cultural terms, secondly, only one's religion has This segregation is transcribed spatially in the patterns
developed true civilization; the other one is more or less of the settlements: in villages and towns, Muslims have
barbarian. their own quarters distinct from those of the pure castes
This had political consequences in the medieval states and of the tribals as well as from those of the impure
which were as a rule religious states. The religious castes including untouchables,6.
community of the ruling oligarchy (even if it was in a This double segregation finds a virulent expression
minority) had a privileged status; Muslims were in times of crisis, like communal riots: pure and impure
privileged in Muslim states and Hindus in Hindu states. castes as well as tribals will align themselves under the
The other 'protected communities"' suffered legal and common banner of Hinduism against their common
political disabilities ' 1. Such disabilities still exist dejure enemies, the Muslims.
in religious states like Pakistan and Nepal. They remain
Rituals of provocation
de facto in other secularized states' 2
Idiom of confrontation
Not only are there codified rituals to keep social
distance; but, if violence is to break out, there are codified
The two communities do not see each other as opposed
procedures to start the hostilities. Like the heroes of
only on religious and cultural grounds. They have
Indian folk ballads, Hindus and Muslims have a well
traditionally nurtured sentiments of hostility. In the
defined ritual of provocation.
medieval situation (times of war excepted) their hostility
This statement may be illustrated by quoting one of
was controlled by the rulers, both Hindu and Muslim,
the oldest detailed accounts of a Hindu-Muslim riot:
who kept to their duty of protecting the rights of the
non-ruling communities. After the collapse of the in 1713 'one Hindu gentleman, whose house faced that

Mughal empire outbreaks of violence have been more of a Musalman across a common courtyard, prepared

frequent. But this modern development should not hide to burn holi' 7 in front of his house, but the Musalman
objected. The local official who was a Muslim gave his
an important fact: the ideology of confrontation - which
decision in favour of the Hindu and the latter burnt holi.
feeds this feeling of hostility - has a continuous history
The next day, the Musalman gentleman, desiring to give
throughout the Indo-Muslim period' 3. Several examples
an entertainment in honour of the Prophet, slaughtered
may be quoted: for the Hindus, the Rajput ideology of
resistance which spread as far as Nepal; for the Muslims
a cow in front of his house. All nearby Hindus
immediately assembled and attacked the Musalmans
several varieties of the theory of jihad' l.
found there. They even killed the son of a cow-butcher,
The ritual a lad of fourteen. This enraged the Musalmans who
Hostile relations are not only expressed in a well gathered together in large numbers and were joined by
codified idiom. They are also acted out in stereotyped the Afghans who were the regular soldiery. In the riots
behaviours with an intense religious content, which can many shops were burnt. Numbers of Hindus and
only be described as rituals. Musalmans were killed. The riot reached such a pitch
The ritual of segregation that for three or four days all business and work in
Between Hindus and Muslims there is a double Ahmedabad was suspended. A large number of leaders
segregation: a social segregation, which in turn is the on both sides resolved to appeal to the Emperor'18.
foundation of a spatial segregation. This is a field of After collecting such pieces of historical evidence and
enquiry in which social anthropology offers an original comparing them to the accounts of recent riots, one may
contribution. attempt an anthropology of provocation. The outline
Of course Al-Beruni (as quoted above) had already of it would be as follows.
shown that the social segregation operated mainly by There are two main ingredients in ritual provocation:
means of repulsion on the part of the Hindus; the latter 1) the selection of key symbols representing each
in effect refuse any significant transaction with the community; 2) the selection of the means by which such
communities linked with foreigners. He had also pointed symbols may be most effectively desecrated.
out that this exclusion was founded on a religious For the Hindus the main symbols are sacred books,
conception of ritual impurity. Thus from the point of idols, temples, Brahmins as the keystone of the caste
view of Hindu high castes, Muslims (irrespective of the hierarchy and, last but not least, the cow. Brahmins and
internal status hierarchy of their community) are cows are the traditional banners of Hinduism"9 . Later
collectively seen, like all mleccha, as ritually impure: no on the cow emerged as the key symbol20 .The killing of
water, no sexual relations and, afortiori, no cooked food cows is the most effective means by which Muslims can
can be accepted from them. All transactions considered offend Hindu sentiments. From the 17th century onward
ritually relevant by the Hindus are excluded. cow-killing is a regular element in communal riots.
Social anthropology refined this picture, showing that For the Muslims the main symbols are: the Qur'an,
a specific degree of impurity is ascribed to Muslims: they the Prophet and his relics, mosques, tombs of saints and
are impure but not untouchable; they are placed in the more generally cemeteries, the Arabic script and the
last but one rank of the hierarchy, at the same level as theoretical supremacy of Islamic Law. But Muslims do
the castes of Butchers, Washermen, Qil-pressers. This not have any positive key symbol like the cow for the
is however only one side of the picture, reflecting the Hindus. They are particularly sensitive to two means of
point of view of the pure castes, tribals included, for desecration: disturbance of worship by Hindu religious

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 Precautions taken by the music, and desecration of places of worship with pigs2 1. (ulama's or Brabmins as the case might be). In practice
police and military
Both have been prominent in recent history. deviance from the religious ideal was largely tolerated.
authorities in North
Once these ingredients are known, it is easy to show, People belonging to religious communities other than
Calcutta, April 1925, to
from abundant historical evidence, how the ritual of the ruling one were easily tolerated as long as kept to
prevent the further
provocation is performed according to well defined their subordinate position. From the 18th century onward
desecration of temples and
mosques. Here the well- procedures: purposefully desecrating one of those there appears to be another trend; the state becomes more
known Jain Temple is symbols, or threatening to do so, or spreading rumours selfconsciously religious. Efforts are made to
being guarded by men of that it has been done, is enough to spark off violence. Hinduize ' or Islamize29, as the case may be, the
the 15th Medium Light The same monotonous scenario is acted upon again and institutions; the situation of the non- ruling religious
Battery, Royal Artillery. again.2 2 communities becomes more and more difficult.
The communal Techniques and rituals of eliminaton This trend is more visible on the Muslim side. It took
disturbances between
What are the aims of communal violence? There is first a fundamentalist turn at the end of the 18th century
Hindus and Muslims were
a transition from the medieval period, when violence and in the beginning of the 19th. After the British
believed to have been
was held in check (or diverted to wars of conquest) by interregnum, it became more ideological, culminating
provoked by the playing of
music by Arya Samajists% a
traditional states, to the modem period when it was in the present Islamic state of Pakistan30 Religion is
reformist Hindu sect, extended on a larger scale. turned into an ideology to which all are expected to
outside a mosque where The aim can be the elimination of the rival submit. This State is more and more intolerant for those
Muslims were assembled at community, to achieve which the means employed can religious communities who are not dominant: Muslim
prayer. Photo BBC Hulton be more or less severe and may be combined together dissidents, Christians and, a fortiori, Hindus. Most of
Picture Library. in a given circumstance. 1) Destruction or appropriation the Hindus have left since 1947; the few remaining ones
of property2 3. 2) Destruction of religious edifices as are left like a foreign body with no say in the affairs of
symbol of the rival community2 4. 3) displacement of the state.-
members of the rival community to other areas2 5. 4) On the Hindu side the trend is less clear. The mass
conversion, peaceful or forcible, to weaken the rival of the Hindus live in India, a secular state which
community;'. 5) killing27 . represents a counter- example. But the aim of a Hindu
Ideology: contest for a new lind of relgions state ideological State is voiced from two quarters. First from
Elimination is only the reverse side, not always aimed Nepal3 1, the last Hindu Kingdom. Contradictortrends
at, of a positive trend: the attempt at building a new type are visible in this state. It is still largely a traditional state
of religious state, which I will call ideological. where the Muslim minority feels secure. The institutions
The traditional state was religious, but nominally so have been largely secularized. But there is another trend
rather than selfconsciously. The ruler had to pay toward a selfconscious ideological state which can be
allegiance to the main principles of the dominating traced since the end of the 18th century. More and more
religion; and to give due respect to the religious experts emphasis is laid on the Hindu character of the state, and

10

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 on the ban on proselytism and cow-killing; an attempt in many of them, notably Hardy, 1972; Robinson, 1975; Gfaff,
is made to build a national ideology founded on the 1983.

values of Hinduism. Ahmad, Aziz (1964) Studies in Islamic culture in Indian

environment, Oxford, Clarendon Press.
More serious and more dangerous claims have come
Alberuni (1964) Al-Beruni's India, translation by Sachau;
from fundamentalist movements and political parties
reprint Delhi, S. Chand and Co.
in India3 2 since the end of the last century; they want
Athar Ali (1966) The Mughal nobility under Aurangzeb,
to turn India into a Hindu state; they manifest themselves
Bombay, Asia Publishing House.
in campaigns against cow- killing and against Binder, Leonard (1963) Religion and politics in Pakistan,
proselytism. They try to completely de- Islamize India Berkeley, U. of California P.
and turn it into a Hindu state: Muslims would then Blustain, H.S. (1977) Power and ideology in a Nepalese
become dejure second class citizens and would have no village, Unpublished dissertation, Yale University.
choice but to turn to Pakistan. These fundamentalists Brown, W. N. (1972) The United States, India and Pakistan,

are not so numerous; but they can easily arouse many new ed., Harvard.
Chaudhuri, Nirad C. (1967) The continent of Circe. An essay
Hindus; the frequency of anti-Muslims riots is a proof
on the peoples of India, Bombay, Jaico Publishing House.
of their audience. The result would be in the long run
Digby, S. (1975) Abd Al-Quddus Gangohi (1456-1537 A.D.):
a more serious partition than that of 1947: a
the personality and attitudes of a medieval Sufl, Medieval India,
juxtaposition of ideological states which would not a miscellany, vol.3, Aligarh Muslim University.
tolerate internal religious differences. Fortunately these Elliot and Dowson, n.d. The history of India as told by its
extremists have by now little chance of success. own historians, reprint Allahabad, Kitab Mahal; particularly
Conclusions vol.7.
This article seems to reach a strange conclusion. It Friedmann, Yohanan (1971) Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi. An
started from the premise that the idiom and ritual of outline of his thought and a study of his image in the eyes of

Hindu-Muslim confrontation have gone unchanged for posterity, Montreal, McGill, Queen's U.P.
(1984) The origins and significance of the Chach Nama,
nine centuries. In the last two paragraphs I seem to say
in Islam inAsia, vol.1: SouthAsia, ed. byY. Friedmann, Magnes
that they have recently changed.
Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
To solve this apparent contradiction one can take a
Gabdrieau, Marc (1972) Muslims in the Hindu Kingdom of
lead from a remark of Peter Hardy. At the conclusion Nepal, Contributions to Indian sociology, n.s., VI, pp84-105.
of his 1969 paper on 'the ulama's of British India', he (1977) Minorites musulmanes dans le royaume hindou du
comments on the massive vote given by the Muslim Ne'pal, Paris, Klincksieck.
electorate in favour of Jinnah's demand for Pakistan, (1978a) Le Nepal et ses populations, Bruxelles, Ed.
against the ulama's proposal of cooperation with Hindu Complexe; Paris, P.U.F.
nationalists in an undivided India. He proposes the (1978b) Le partage du pouvoir entre les lignages dans une
following interpretation: 'Perhaps too there was an localit6 du Nepal central, L'Homme, XVIII, 1-2, pp37- 67.
(1982a) Muslim minorities in Nepal, in Israeli, Raphael,
unconscious upthrust of the Muslim tradition earlier
ed., The crescent in the East, Islam in Asia Major, London,
than that of the medieval tradition of partnership
Curwon press, pp78-101.
between the ulama and an imperfect Muslim or non-
(1982b) Roles politiques de l'Islam au Pakistan, in Carre,
Muslim ruler, the tradition that God's Holy Law should
ed., L'islam et l'Etat dans le monde aujourd'hui, Paris, P.U.F.,
control the whole of temporal order. Might not those ppl89-203.
who argued for minimal confederal ties, on a footing (1982c) Les rapports de classe dans l'ideologie officielle
of formal equality, with non-Muslims, be guilty in effect du Nepal, Purusartha, Paris, E.H.E.S.S., vol.6, pp251-290.
of holding that Islam was not the final revelation for (1983) La communaute musulmane dAsie du Sud et la
the temporal order?' I hold that the idiom analysed in societe indienne, in L'islam de la seconde expansion, Paris,
this paper is that described by Peter Hardy, an idiom Association pour l'avancement des etudes islamiques, ppl34-
165.
on which Jinnah cleverly capitalized.
Gandhi, M.K. (1965) The Hindu-Muslim Unity, selected texts
In a broader perspective, we encounter four kinds of
edited by Anand T. Hingorani, Bombay, Bharatiya Bhawan.
idioms when dealing with the Hindu-Muslim conflict:
Gauba, K.L. (1973) Passive voices. A penetrating study of
1) the lately introduced Western inspired idiom of the
Muslims in India, New Delhi, Sterling Publishers.
secular state in which the practice of the various religion Ghurye, G.S. (1968) Social tensions in India, Bombay, Popular
(all theoretically equal) is a private affair. 2) a traditional Prakashan.
pragmatic idiom, according to which coexistence is Gokhale, B. (1984) Hindu responses to Muslim presence in
assured for various religious communities in a nominally Maharashtra, in Islam in Asia, vol.l: South Asia, ed. by Y.
religious state; a modernized version of this idiom is Friedmann, Jerusalem, Magnes Press, The Hebrew University.

found for instance in the discourses of the Indian ulam'; Graff, V. (1977) Les 6meutes communalistes de 1969 a
Ahmedabad..., Purusartha, Paris, E.H.E.S.S., vol. 3, ppl79- 214.
or, on the Hindu side, in the Nepalese Law. 3) a more
(1983) Islam et politique en Inde au XIXe et XXe siecle,
archaic idiom - the one mentioned by Peter Hardy - in
L'islam de la seconde expansion, Paris, Association pour
which each religious community claims absolute
l'avancement des etudes islamiques, ppl66-206.
supremacy over the other. 4) the idiom of the selfconcious
Hardy, Peter (1969) The ulama' of British india, London,
ideological state. S.O.A.S., (later published in Journal of Indian history, Jubilee
Idiom no.4 is a recent reformulation of Idiom no.3. Volume, 1973).
Idiom no.3 I hold to be the one which has been dominant (1972) The Muslims of British India, Cambridge University
at a popular level throughout the Indo-Muslim period; Press.
it has shaped the behaviour of Hindus and Muslims in (1982) Islam and Muslims in South Asia, in Israeli
spite of the theoretical concessions of the ulama' and (Raphael), ed., The Crescent in the East, Islam in Asia Major,

Brahmans who advised the Kings. In this article I have London, Curzon Press, pp36-61.
tried to analyze it. Ibn Battuta (1968) Voyages d'Ibn Battuta, texte arabe et
traduction par C. Defremery et B.R. Sanguinetti, Paris, 1854;
reprint Paris, Editions Anthropos, 4 vol.
The amount of literature produced on this subject is Lelyveld, D. (1978) Aligarh's first generation, Muslim
enormous, so that a systematic bibliography cannot find place solidarity in British India, Princeton University Press.
here. Below is only a selective list of publications which were Robinson, F. (1975) Separatism among Indian Muslims,
used to prepare this paper. Detailed bibliographies will be found Cambridge University Press.

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 Metcalf, B.D. (1982) Islamic revival in British India Deoband, polarization which takes place in time of crisis around the
1860-1900, Princeton University Press. overarching dichotomy: all Muslims irrespective of sects and
Schermerhorn, R.A. (1976) Communal violence in India. A ethnic groups on one side; all those broadly classified as Hindus
case Study, Klamazo, Western Michigan University. on the other side, irrespective of sects and ethnic affiliations.
(1971) The locale of Hindu-Muslim riots, The Indian 9. Al-Beruni, Vol.1, ppl79-185; Gaborieau, 1972, p82. A few
Journal of Politics, Jan-June. examples may be added. In a province such as Panjab, Hindus
Stephens, Ian (1967) Pakistan, London, Ernest Benn, 3rd ed. and Muslims did not tie their coat on the same side; conversion
Tod, James (1957)Annals and antiquities of Rajasthan, new to Islam was styled 'tying one's coat on the other side'. Many
impression, 2 vol., London, Routledge and Kegan Paul. stories revolve around the tika, the coloured mark Hindus put
Yasin, M. (1958)A social history of IslamicIndia, Lucknow, on their forehead. It is abhorred by Muslims as a sign of
Upper India Publishing House, 1958. heathenism. The following made-up story was current in the
Nepal hills in the 60s. Once upon a time Indira Gandhi, then
Miss Nehru, a Hindu by birth, fell in love with a Muslim boy.
She went for advice to Mahatma Gandhi: 'Shall I marry him?'
The Mahatma answered: 'Go together to a temple and ask him
1. For a comprehensive assessement of Muslim history and to put a coloured mark on the forehead of both of you' They
civilisation in South Asia see: Hardy, 1972, Chl and annotated went. The Muslim boy of course refused to put the coloured
bibliography; Gaborieau, 1983. mark. She went back to Gandhi who said: 'You see! It is
2. For the 19th and 20th centuries, see Hardy, 1972 and 1982; impossible to reconcile Hindus and Muslims! Ironically this
Robinson, 1975. conclusion is put in the mouth of Gandhi, the apostle of Hindu-
3. An impressive list of riots is to be found in Ghurye, 1968, Muslim unity. (But Gandhi, it should be recalled, was against
pp304-351. marriages across communal lines as well as across caste lines).
4. For reviews of (part of) this literature see for instance: 10. The phrase 'protected communities' translates here
Ghurye, 1968, ppl29-221; Robinson, 1975, Introduction; directly the concept of dhimmi as elaborated by the Muslims
Gokhale, 1984, ppl5l-172. to designate the Hindus (see note 7); it also applies, from the
5. There are many political studies of Hindu-Muslim riots; Hindu point of view, to the Muslims and other barbarians,
for an anatomy of recent riots see Schermerhorn, 1971 and 1976; mleccha, since a Hindu king had traditionally among his duties
Graff, 1977. to 'protect' the mleccha and to 'take into consideration their
6. This study of the idiom is based mainly on the material duties and usages' (for evidence see Gaborieau, 1972, p90).
I collected in Nepal and Northern India; detailed evidence will 11. Much has been made, in nationalist Indian historiography,
be found in Gaborieau, 1972; 1977, part II; 1978a; 1982a; and of the employment of people belonging to the rival creed in
1983, part I. A considerable body of analogous evidence from South Asian mediaeval states. But if one looks carefully at the
another area of South Asia, Maharashtra, has been recently evidence, one sees that they were mostly used as subordinate
published in Gokhale, 1984. experts; only a few were symbolically placed at key positions
7. For a vivid expression of this cleavage see Chaudhuri, 1967, in order to win the allegiance of the dominated community.
pp57-65. Particularly pp62-63: 'The Muslims were established For the Muslim side recent research on the Mughal empire has
in India as a society parallel to that of the Hindus. No convincingly shown that at the level of the high aristocracy
adjustment between these two societies took place except in Hindus remained few in number (Athar Ali, 1966). In Hindu
minor matters, and therefore with the Muslim conquest the states, as Vijyanagar and the Maratha empire, Muslims were
country also saw the emergence of the second basic ethnic confined to the role of military and administrative experts.
cleavage in its population. In its emotional aspect the new 12. For a classification of contemporary South Asian states
division was infinitely more embittered than the old opposition from a religious point of view, see Gaborieau, 1982b, ppl9O-192.
between the primitives and the civilized Hindus. Though the For Pakistan as an 'Islamic republic' see Binder, 1963;
previous antithesis was more fundamental from the Gaborieau, 1982b, ppl95-200. For Nepal as the last 'Hindu
anthropologist's point of view it did not generate a fraction kingdom, see Gaborieau, 1982c, pp277-284. India is
of the venom which the Hindu-Muslim enmity engendered... constitutionally a 'secular' state; but it is dominated by a Hindu
This animosity inflicted irreparable harm on the country, and majority, and other religious communities, all in a minority,
it is as active today as it ever was in the past, and as toxic. suffer defacto many disabilities (Gauba, 1973; Graff, 1983,
The invention of this cleavage is often ascribed to the British ppl86-187). Bangladesh and Sri Lanka occupy a midway
administrators of the 19th centuries, even in balanced accounts position between religious states and secular states: one religion
as that of Lelyveld, 1958, pp3-16. The British, so the argument has officially a privileged position without being proclaimed
goes, were able to see Indian society only as juxtaposition of the state religion. In Bangladesh Islam is the privileged religion:
religious communities. This view is in fact much older. It is disabilities are suffered by the Hindus and by the Buddhists
attested in Nepalese documents long before the writings of the of Burmese origin in the Chittagong Hilltract. In Sri Lanka
British. It represents in fact the legal classification of social Buddhism, the religion of the Sinhalese majority, is privileged;
groups in the Middle ages. From the Hindu point of view, all disabilities fall in fact on the Hindu Tamils; Muslims (although
people here broadly classified as Hindus were theoretically Timil-speaking, but long associated with the Sinhalese) as well
subject to the Hindu Law as codified in the dharma-shastra; as Christians usually get a fair political representation.
the non-Hindus, as mleccha, could follow their own law, but 13. First one should not forget that for nearly a thousand
were considered socially and legally inferior. From the Muslim years Muslims and Hindus fought continuously until, at the
point of view, the Muslims on the one hand were theoretically end of the 17th century, the Mughal empire became practically
bound by the Islamic law, the sharia; the Hindus on the other coextensive with South Asia; and until the British progressively
hand, as 'protected people'. dhimmi or ahl-i- dhimma demilitarized Indian society. As far as periodi or areas of peace
(Friedmann, 1984, 32-34), could follow their own religious law are concerned, there has been a tendency to describe Hindu-
but were considered legally inferior. Many discussions on this Muslim relations as devoid of hostility; this view, in my opinion,
basic cleavage go wrong because they fail to realize both its should be considered as a version of the myth of the golden
antiquity and its legal dimension (which had been carefully age. The oldest evidence I came across is from Ibn Battuta,
described by al-Beruni). the 14th century Moroccan traveller. He speaks of the South
8. Conflicts may arise also at the level of such sub- Indian town of Mangalore which was still under Hindu rule.
dichotomies, for instance between Hindus and Sikhs, or Hindus There was there a community of 4,000 Muslim merchants who
and tribals, or between Hindus of different ethnic and linguistic lived in a suburb near the Hindu town (note the spatial
groups; or on the other side between Muslims of different sects segregation). Then, Ibn Battuta continues, 'war frequently
(Sunnis and Shias in the Lucknow area and more recently in breaks out between them (the Muslims) and the (Hindu)
Pakistan), or of different ethnic groups (in the 1971 secession inhabitants of the town; but the Sultan (the Hindu King) keeps
war, the Bengali Muslims fought against the Panjabi dominated them at peace because he needs the merchants' (Ibn Battuta,
Western Pakistanis as well as against the local Bihari Muslims; vol.4, p80). This text is interesting for two reasons: it describes
tensions are still going on in Pakistan between Panjabis and the religious communities as living separately and as hostile;
Sindhis). But these localized conflicts must not obscure the and it emphasizes the role of the medieval ruler as an

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 indispensable peace-maker protecting the rights of religious 21. Music has played a prominent part in the 19th and 20th
communities other than his own. centuries riots. Defilement with pigs must be a very old practice
14. Whatever the political and financial motives of hostilities, since it gave birth to a ritual which has long been performed
Muslim rulers had always in hand a religious justification. in a Hindu shrine: in an Indian district not far from the Nepalese
Muslims fought for the glory of Islam, to extend the territory border, near a Hindu temple is found a structure which is called
under Muslim rule; their wars were holy wars, jihad, against 'the tomb of the Muslim'; Hindu devotees regularly desecrate
heathens, kafir. This language was already used by Mahmud it by slaughtering pigs on it. The defiling of Mosques with pigs
of Ghazni when he invaded India in the 11th century; it is still was encountered as late as 1980 in the Moradabad riots.
found in the mouth of the first Mughal emperors. 22. An early example of sheer provocation is found in a 17th
Among Hindus, I see two poles of ideological resistance to century text: 'Once an army of naked Madaris and Jalalis
Muslim encroachments. One is Rajasthan: in spite of their well- (Muslim ascetics) came to a place of pilgrimage of the Hindus
known accommodation with the Muslim rulers, the Rajputs where Sanyasis (Hindu ascetics) had collected in large numbers.
nurtured an ideology of resistance to Muslims whom they The Muslim sectaries having brought a cow wanted to kill it.
describe as defiling and as hereditary enemies (see Tod, passim). The Sanyasis bought the cow from them. They became insolent,
This Rajput ideology spread all over Northern India, as far and counting on their number brought a third cow and killed
as Nepal. The second pole was the Southern Kingdom of it. The Sanyasis, indignant at this, attacked them and a battle
Vijyanagar. Both traditions were inherited in the 17th century ensued in which the Sanyasis got the upper hand and killed
by the Marathas who made the transition to the modern several hundreds of the Jalalis and Madaris' (quoted in Yasin,
ideologies. p86). For other examples of provocation and rumours see
15. I have developed this point at length in previous Ghurye, 1968, pp304-351. Graff, 1977, 195-201.
publications (particularly Gaborieau, 1972; 1977a, part II; and 23. This is the common feature of all riots. In Ahmedabad
1983, part I). My conclusions have been qualified and, in places, in 1969, not less than 6,600 dwellings and 100 factories and
criticized in Blustain, 1977. I do appreciate the novelty of the warehouses were looted and destroyed (Graff, 1977, pp207sq).
material brought forth by Blustain, especially about the relations 24. In Ahmedabad in 1969, to keep to the same example,
between Muslims and Untouchables, and the way they affect 3 Hindu temples, 37 Mosques, 50 tombs of Muslim Saints and
the relations between Muslims and high caste Hindus. But six cemeteries were destroyed (Graff, ibid).
Blustain made too much out of a very localized observation 25. The aim of the riots is usually to take control of the
(in a village I have visited several times) in a recent period. territory and the resources. The size of the forced migration
Keeping in mind the wider South Asian context and its history, may vary from the inhabitants of a few building to whole
I stick to my view as summed up here. quarters of villages and towns. At the time of partition it even
16. For segregation at the village level, see a detailed account affected whole provinces: practically all the Hindus who lived
in Gaborieau, 1978b, particularly p63. For segregation in North in Western Pakistan and a sizable proportion of those who lived
Indian towns, see for instance Metcalf, 1982, p91: in 1868 'the in what is now Bangladesh left for India. Virtually all the
population of Deoband was a substantial twenty thousands, Muslims who lived in the Indian Panjab (if they survived the
somewhat more than half of whom were Muslim. The Hindu 1947 massacres) left for Pakistan. The total number of displaced
and Muslim communities lived separately their respective areas persons is estimated to have been from 10 to 14 millions.
defined by the long bazaar that ran North-South - their only 26. Conversion, which was a very minor issue in the Middle
apparent meeting place'. Several recent riots, in Moradabad and Ages, has gradually become a constant preoccupation on both
Hyderabad for instance, were fought to conquer or reconquer sides and in competition with Christian missionaries. Each
town quarters previously owned by one or the other community. community has (or is thought to have) the conversion of the
In the suburbs of modern industrial towns, this traditional other to its fold as its ultimate end. Missionary activity is
pattern has somewhat been blurred; in case of riots, the people consistent with the spirit of Islam; on the Hindu side this is
who live in 'mixed' surroundings are less secure (Graff, 1977, clearly a modern phenomenon inspired from Christian models.
188). Peaceful conversions by marriage, persuasion or financial
17. Holiis a Spring carnival during which the Hindus, after enticement remain rare. Forcible conversions are sporadically
lighting the new fire, play instrumental music, dance, sing attested in time of crisis: for instance in Kerala during the
obscene songs and throw red powder, all things considered Moplahs rebellions in the 19th and 20th centuries, Hindus were
offensive to Muslim religious sentiment (although in the past forcibly circumcised. Abduction of women is also a kind of
Muslims did not hesitate to join in the festivities). forcible conversion. On the Hindu side the fashion has been
18. Elliot and Dowson, vol.VII, pp454-455. since the 1920s to claim back to the Hindu fold castes and tribes
19. These two symbols, the cow and the Brahmin, were long converted to Islam, like the Meos; this reconversion, styled
already put forward by the Marathas from the end of the 17th as suddhi, purification, was carried on peacefully, except in
century. In the mid 18th, Prithwi Narayan, the founder of the time of crisis like the partition, a time when in places Muslims
unified kingdom of Nepal, is hailed by the Brahmins as an ideal were compelled under threat to submit to a purification
Hindu King because of his respect for 'cows, Brahmins, ascetics ceremony and declared to have become Hindu again.
and gods'. In Indo-Muslim history, the role of the Brahmin is 27. Conversion remaining rare, the alternative for the
important. For instance the Hindus objected to the levy of the defeated party is either to run away (as seen above) or to be
jizya, the capitation tax, not because it was discriminatory, but killed. Each riot brings a new toll of victims: 2,000 to 3,000
because it fell on Brahmins and ascetics who were traditionally people killed in the 1969 Ahmedabad riots, and several hundred
tax-exempt. In popular lore Muslim emperors, specially thousands at the time of partition as mentioned above.
Aurangzeb, are accused of persecuting the Brahmins. From the 28. The remotest origin on the Hindu side is the Maratha
end of the 19th century the Brahmin lost his role as a key symbol, resurgence at the end of the 17th century and its claim for 'Hindu
as event for which an explanation should be sought. rule. The movement was continued during thb British period
20. Gandhi wrote: 'I regard cow protection as the central in princely states like Nepal; it was finally taken over by Hindu
fact of Hinduism' (Young India, May 29, 1919). In the early revivalist movements which culminated in the creation of the
period of the conquest, Muslims indulged in such games as Hindu Sabha in 1915, which in turn was to become the Hindu
destroying temples and defiling idols. But by the second half Mahasabha in 1922.
of the 16th century they were very well aware that the cow was 29. This trend may have its ultimate origin in some aspects
the key symbol. Akbar, after the conquest of Kangra, had of the policy of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the second
desecrated the main temple in the fort by slaughtering a cow half of the 17th century. But its precise formulation emerged
in it; he later on prohibited cow slaughter out of consideration in the Delhi school of the 18th-19th centuries around Shah Wali-
for Hindu feelings. His younger contemporary, Ahmad Sirhindi, u-LLah and his disciples; it was abortively put into practice
gave on the contrary provocative advice: 'one of the most by Sayyid Ahmad Barelvi who, in 1824-1831, launched a first
glorious commandments of Islam in India', he said, is to jihad to carve out a Muslim state in the North-Western Province
slaughter cows in order to show how Muslims despise Hinduism (now Pakistan) (On this first fundamentalist trend see for
(quoted in Friedmann, 1971, p71). The same advice was given instance Metcalf, 1982, ppl6-86).
three centuries later by Abd-ul-Bari, a prominent leader of the 30. Gaborieau, 1982b. Maududi (1903-1979) was the most
Khilafat Movement (Robinson, 1975, pp285 and 339). forceful theoritician of the Islamic state (see Binder, 1963).

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 31. Gaborieau, 1978a, part III; and 1982c. a few sentences from a pamphlet published in 1964 by the Hindu
32. There are at present in India two organizations Mahasabha in Delhi under the title: 'Mahasabha stand on
campaigning openly for turning India into a Hindu state: the exchange of population' : 'We are proud to say that we stand
Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Sewa Sangha. A third for a Hindu Rashtra (state)'. 'Let all the Muslims go to Pakistan.
organization, the Bharatiya Jana Sangha, militates in fact for We, the Hindus of India would build a strong Hindu nation
the same purpose, though this aim is not explicitly written in here'. 'No doubt the logical corollary to the partition of India
its statutes; its members have been prominent in recent anti- on a religious basis is an exchange of population' (quoted in
Muslim riots. Gauba, 1973, pp43 -50).
Cf., as an illustration of the inspiration of these organizations,

Anthropology and the Control

Tropical Disease
CAROL MacCORMACK

About 200 million people Primary Health Care section which is specifically concerned with social and
in the world are infected economic research in control of six common diseases
In 1978 WHO and UNICEF issued a joint document
with schistosomiasis in poor tropical countries.
giving guidelines for re-orienting health care in all
(bilharzia), and the
nations, and especially in developing countries. This Malaria. In this disease a protozoal parasite is taken
number of people infected
primary health care approach is based on five principles: up by mosquitos from the infected blood of one person,
with malaria is vastly
1. equitable distribution, goes through an extrinsic stage of development in the
greater, and growing. To
try to limit this suffering 2. community involvement, mosquito, and is then innoculated through the
and death is a 3. appropriate technology, mosquito's bite into another person. In areas of
humanitarian imperative. 4. multi-sectoral approach, and marginal transmission community efforts may well tip
Social anthropologists are 5. focus on prevention of disease and promotion of the balance toward effective control. An anthropologist
at work on specific health. has described people in northern Nigeria sleeping under
cognitive, behavioural and
To these ends, social anthropologists are making mats so finely woven that mosquitos cannot penetrate.
organizational aspects of Another described people in the very hot humid climate
substantial contributions. They are, for example, doing
disease control. They are of Sierra Leone sleeping entirely wrapped in thick hand-
analysis of social structure and political economy to
also involved in the
advise on strategies for including neglected ethnic woven cloths. When tested, those cloths were too thick
broader and more diffuse
groups, the rural landless, women labourers, and other for a mosquito to penetrate.
primary health care
relatively powerless groups. Others are giving technical Given this indigenous tradition of Africans using
strategy for limiting
disease and promoting advice on the training of traditional midwives, the physical barriers against night-biting vectors of malaria,
health. Carol MacCormack ethnobotany of healing herbs, or other aspects of field tests of bed nets impregnated with inexpensive
is Senior Lecturer in Social indigenous technology, sometimes linked with the insecticide are in the planning or implementation stages
Sciences at the Evaluation agricultural sector to promote appropriate strategies for in Bourkina Faso, the Gambia and Tanzania. Even if
and Planning Centre for nets become torn, the mosquito will still be killed when
improved nutrition. The primary health care document
Health Care, London it rests on the net on its way in, or after it has fed. This
specifically instructs ministries of health to collaborate
School of Hygiene and is a more cost-effective strategy than spraying whole
with traditional practitioners, and to increase the ratio
Tropical Medicine.
of community-based health workers to doctors. houses, and the technology is so simple that household
A thread running through these five principles is members can carry it out, rather than waiting passively
community participation, with people taking an active for the spray team to arrive. In the Gambia one of the
part in preventing disease and promoting their own two dominant ethnic groups has been keen on using nets
health. and the other has not. A group calling for special concern
David Werner's Where there is no Doctor was written in all these trials is weaned children who no longer sleep
in this spirit. It is a handbook written in simple language in a protected bed with their mother but on a mat on
with many drawings, serving to democratize secret the floor. They are suddenly at enormous risk from
medical knowledge and make it available to rural mosquito bites at a young age, before they have acquired
peasants. Anthropological advice on culturally any immunity to malaria. Therefore anthropologists are
appropriate health education which builds upon advising on family sleeping patterns, preference for
indigenous ideas of purity v. pollution, or indigenous using nets, ways of protecting low-status children, and
disease categories and ideas of etiology and cure, is being ways to link this simple technology into the training of
given to advance the primary health care strategy. primary health care workers.
Other aspects of malaria control on which
Community Participation in Control of Tropical Disease anthropologists have advised are the design of health
With such a broad spectrum of tasks that education which builds upon indigenous concepts, and
anthropologists are doing, we might narrow the focus how best to distribute chloroquine tablets through village
a bit and consider what they might do to promote organization - especially how to include people in
community participation in control of a few common categories of social marginality. It was an anthropologist
tropical diseases. In 1978 WHO began the Special who flrst documented in a systematic way perceived side-
Programme for Research and Training in Tropical effects from taking chloroquine. Anthropologists are
Diseases. The Special Programme includes a lively also advising on small-scale larviciding, or placing

14

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