Communalism believes that People following one religion should be in one community and their interests should also be the same and those following different religion cannot belong to the same community. If they have any differences then it will be insignificant for the community life. If the followers of the different religion share some common thoughts then it will be considered as superficial. It means their interest should remain different and involve the difference in opinions and conflicts.
The negative effect of communalism are-
• If the individual believes in communalism than his only thought would politically dominate his own religious community. It takes the form of majoritarian dominance, if he belongs to the majority community and those belonging to the minority community; it becomes their motive to form a separate political unit.
• Religious prejudices, stereotypes of religious communities and the belief to make one religion superior over another one is the common aspect of communalism in everyday beliefs. All these forms are so common that it is often unnoticeable to us even though we are the one believing in this.
• Another form of communalism is the political mobilisation based on religions such as the use of sacred symbols, religious leaders, emotional appeal and plain fear to bring people of one religion together in the political sphere. Special preferences are given to the interests and emotions of the voters of one religion or community over another one in electoral politics.
• Communalism also takes the form of communal violence, riots and massacre. For example – the worst one is the communal riots between India and Pakistan during the time of partition. Even the post-Independence period witnessed communal violence to a greater extent.
