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Communalism as a challenge to our unity and harmony:
(i) The word ‘communalism’ refers to aggressive chauvinism based on religious identity. Chauvinism itself is an attitude that sees one’s own group as the only valid group, the remaining group are considered as inferior, illegitimate and opposed.
(ii) In this way, Communalism is an aggressive political ideology linked to religion. In this sense the meaning of the world communalism is altogether different from the sense of the ordinary English world. In the English language 'Communal' means something related to community where as the Indian or the South Asian meaning is strongly charged.
(iii) In this regard we can say that communalism is about politics, not about religion. Though communalists are totally involved with religion yet there is no necessary relationship between personal faith and communalism.
(iv) All communalists intensely believe in a political identity based on religion. Basically, communalists have an aggressive political identity. At the some time, they are always read to condemn, criticise or attack everyone who does not share their identity or ideology.