Communalism may be defined as a belief that people who follow the same religion have common secular same political, economic and social interests. So, here socio-political commonalities arise. These common secular interests of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the follower of another religion. The interests of the follower of the different religions or of different ‘communities’ are seen to be completely incompatible, antagonist and hostile.
The effects of communalism are as follows :
• Communalism tends to separate people on the basis of religion, language, territories and ethnic origins.
• It leads to communal riots and curfew situations.
• Communalism results in terrorist activities.
• A communal thought always tends to establish political dominance over particular religious community.
• The country weakens when political parties are formed and political activities are conducted on the communal lines. One of the’ most negative impacts of communalism is riots, violence and homicides.
