The Clash Within Democracy Religious Violence and India's Future (Essay Sample)

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CLASH WITHIN DEMOCRACY AND RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE IN INDIA
Introduction
This case study focuses on India and targets audience from Europe and America who still defile and dominate others. The main objective of this case is to discuss cases of religious violence- the Gujarat pogrom in 2002 and enable audience from European and American nations know more about it. The second objective is to research on the phenomenon of violence resulting from religious backgrounds by challenging the common thesis “clash of civilians” advocated for by Samuel Huntington. Samuel emphasizes that a split exists in the world between democratic cultures of North America and Muslim monolith.
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The author identifies India as the third nation in the world with the highest number of the Muslim community, but the claims of Huntington do not fit there. Pakistan and Indonesia have the largest number of Muslims in the world. When innocent Muslims were murdered in the Gujarat pogrom in 2002, Hindu extremist used the European fascist ideologies to justify their actions (Nussbaum, 2008). The author through this case study argues that ideological debates revolving around the violence and its historical background indicate that the violence did not emanate due to civilization between the West and Islam but was a clash that virtually occurs in all modernized nations.
The fight was between people who were ready to coexist with other people bearing differing character on grounds like equal respect as well as people seeking homogeneity protection that is attained by the domination of one ethnic or religious tradition. At depth, the Gandhian claim becomes the thesis of the book. The claim that the actual fight that democracy must wage remains an individual’s fight, between the need to defile and dominate the other and the determination to coexist respectfully regarding equality and compassion with all the challenges that occur in life. Nussbaum (2008, pp. 136) observes that due to persistent inequalities in the society, India embraced as a measure to tackle the vice.
The book also provides an overview of America regarding its internal weaknesses like discrimination on religious backgrounds as well as the external world with complex cultures. The author establishes that consulting with other nations and comparing the current challenges with historical problems can assist America to know the internal differences and complexities that exist and how to tackle them. The author notes that it is important to check on the internal aspect to identify tensions, complexities and oppositions present in their nation and which are similar to the ones in India. The author advocates for adequate attention on internal and external problems because many nations do not succeed in the fight for a unified country because they fail to address these challenges adequately. Countries are allowed to embrace foreign ideas as their own and use them in a way that shapes their aspirations (Nussbaum 2008 pp. 164).
The author also dwelt on the reasons why India’s democracy has remained healthy. She claimed that the democracy of India has remained healthy as a result of its ability to withstand the identity of its country as an easy Manichean way- Hindus with good character and nonviolent against Muslims who are bad and violent) but rather have accepted the complicated truth of numerous tensions and the sharing of political life among individuals with varied backgrounds and opinions. Same issues are witnessed in America where people are torn into two. One group portraying Americans and America as pure and good while their enemies as the axis of evil. The other group is an outcome of self-criticism and brings out a picture of a complex and flowed country where some forces control others but are resisted by forces promoting democratic equality. The second picture implies that Americans, similar to people in other parts of the world have the ability to be both aggressive and respectful to both anxious domination and democratic mutuality.
The author is of the opinion that all people and nations are closely bound together, and it is not possible for any of them to live apart. Though the Gujarat program story has been told on several occasions both in the publishing industry and Indian press, most of it have gone unnoticed in Europe and the United States. The author thinks of mounting loudspeakers to make Americans and Europeans realize the importance of the story.
The author uses the Indian case to show that people can use various reasons to embrace same nation. For example, the author claims that numerous American scholars of his time associated with India because of the ability to link the 1960s and 1970s counterculture to Hindu spirituality. A section of them followed Hindu gurus while others converted to Hinduism. Most of them were keen on the mystical aspects of tradition and Indian culture. Several scholars were drawn to India to study due to the respect Indians accorded religion that made sexuality a sacred aspect. Other religions do not view sexuality the same way Hinduism does, but rather conceal and condemn it. The author’s link to India is mainly political as it is based on matters relating to social justice. The same applied to his relationship to religion.
The author also gives a highlight on her interest in India, which she claims started in 1986 while working with Amarty...