SUMMARY

The non-state conflict between India's majority Hindu and minority Muslim population groups is first included in UCDP data in 1989. It is unclear how and when conflict between the two groups first began, but its roots can be traced to religious and political disputes in pre-colonial India. In modern India, age-old religious and cultural differences between the groups, as well as competing nationalist ideals have contributed to tension between the groups. Also contributing to inter-group tension has been another conflict, that between the predominantly Hindu India and the majority-Muslim Pakistan, which has varied in intensity over the years. At times, the tense domestic situation has escalated to violence, as a consequence of some triggering event. The conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India has been active for some years in the late 1980s - early 1990s, in 2002, in 2013, and in 2020. The Hindu demographic group is the majority group in most Indian states, except for a few northern ones. Throughout India's existence, one idea which has gained momentum among many Hindus is that of 'Hindutva', which equates religious and national identity, or that “Indians are Hindus”. A primary consequence of this idea has been that religious minority groups, such as Muslims and Christians, have been placed outside the concept of the nation. Hindu nationalists have often branded particularly the Muslim community in India as a dangerous and foreign element, which is not truly a part of the Indian nation. The Muslim population is dispersed across the entirety of India. India’s secular Constitution has not provided any particular benefits or recognition of Muslims as a group, for example by reserving seats in parliament or positions within the civil services. As such, Muslims do not enjoy the same structural benefits as India’s Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes, which are recognized in the constitution. Muslims in India have suffered from both political and economic discrimination, and the socio-economic status of Indian Muslims is worse than that of Indian Hindus. Violence in the state of Bihar in India's Northeast accounts for the main share of conflict fatalities in the late 1980s - early 1990s. In the late 1980s tension built between Hindus and Muslims over the proposed construction of a new Hindu house of worship at the site of a Mosque, and untrue rumors of killings of Hindu youths spread in the community. In this volatile environment, in 1989 a Hindu procession in Bhagalpur dedicated to the temple construction escalated the situation which turned riotous and violent. The mosque was eventually razed by Hindus in 1992, which spurred more fighting. Throughout this period of time, other violent Hindu - Muslim riots also occurred throughout the country, and the state of Gujarat as well as the cities of New Delhi and Hyderabad experienced particularly high levels of violence. Following this episode of fighting which ended in 1992, the conflict was inactive until 2002. It then again flared up in Gujarat state as a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was burned. Compared to the aforementioned violent episode, few fatalities were recorded. In 2013, there was another period of Hindu - Muslim clashes, mainly in the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is unclear exactly why fighting broke out, but conflicting accounts from involved Hindus and Muslims attribute the onset of violence to escalation following either a case of sexual harassment or a traffic accident. The 2013 level of violence was comparable to that of 2002. After another seven years of inactivity, violence in 2020 again produced sufficiently many fatalities for the conflict to become active. Fighting between Hindus and Muslims broke out in New Delhi in mid-February amid soaring inter-group tensions over a new citizenship law perceived by many as anti-Muslim. Before violence ceased at the month's end, several houses of worship had been destroyed. The 2020 conflict fatalities occurred almost exclusively in New Delhi, and there were significantly fewer conflict deaths in 2020 compared to the previous active year, 2013. Much of the fighting that has taken place over the course of the conflict has taken the form of communal riots, where makeshift melee weaponry and small firearms have been used in tumultuous brawls. The majority of conflict fatalities have been Muslims. A factor which has contributed to the fatality demographics is the treatment of these riots by police. Oftentimes, they have idly stood by and allowed situations to escalate. Year begun: 1989-03-01 (month). Riots occurred during the Ram Navami procession in Bhadrak, Orissa State, killing 17.