Conflict Resolution Styles Among Hindus and Muslims in India

Introduction: Religion and Conflict in India

India is a remarkably diverse country in terms of religion. The Hindu population constitutes approximately 828 million people (80%), the Muslim population constitutes roughly 13.5%, the Christian population constitutes 24 million (2.5%), and the Sikh population constitutes 19 million (2%), while other religious groupings — including Jains and Buddhists — constitute approximately 19.5 million people. Religion is an important aspect of the Indian political scene. Although India maintains that it is a secular nation, Indian politics has always carried a deep religious flavor. This has resulted in religion becoming a core component of the identity of many Indians.

There are many cases of religious identity being invoked in response to communalist politics. Communalism connotes the functioning of organizations or religious communities — or the bodies that claim to represent them — in a manner that is prejudicial to the nation as a whole or to the interests of other groups. Historical evidence shows that communalism in the Republic of India arose as a result of partisan imperialist politics. For example, available literature shows that communal identity among the Sikhs developed toward the end of the seventeenth century owing to their struggles throughout Mughal rule in India. During the colonial period, the British created separate electorates for different religious communities, thereby effectively engineering the Muslim-Hindu divide within the nationalist movement. Ultimately, this contributed to the partition of India (Dalal, 2006).

This essay comparatively analyzes conflict style preferences in India, concentrating particularly on differences between the country's key religious groups. The major history of India has been greatly influenced by both ethnic and religious conflict. Nonetheless, communication-based research has resulted in a deeper understanding of the impact such a history has had on present-day India. As some scholars note, most conflict communication studies center on Eastern or Western Asian geographic settings, leaving other parts of the world underexplored. This research is one of several endeavors to understand conflict style preferences linked to the two major religious groups in India — Muslims and Hindus. Some scholars maintain that culture provides the context within which we can understand how and why conflict exists, and that culture can greatly influence the success of communication in a conflict context. In a nation sharply divided along religious and political lines, knowledge about what conflict styles exist and the factors linked to those preferences is of paramount importance (Dalal, 2006).

How Hindu and Muslim Cultures Approach Conflict

India is generally considered a collectivistic, high-context nation. Beyond the cultural parameters conventionally examined in intercultural communication, religion may also influence conflict styles. In India, two major religions — Hinduism and Islam — have significant effects on the country's politics and culture, including conflicts that occur throughout the country. Some researchers have indicated that religion in India tends to play a leading role in conflict, a dynamic that has been further shaped by recent trends toward religious fundamentalism. Scholarly attention has been drawn to the roles — both destructive and constructive — that religion plays in conflict. It is therefore necessary to examine whether broad patterns exist between Hindus and Muslims living in India (Avruch, 2003).

The Muslim world has received greater scholarly attention at the macro level through conflict and peace studies, but has not been examined sufficiently within conflict style research. As a result, Muslims across the globe have often been characterized as collectivistic and positioned in opposition to Western civilization. Major studies assert that productive conflict resolution requires attending to the "attitudes, beliefs, history, and customs" within Islamic culture that serve as important models for conflict transformation. Nevertheless, Muslims and Islam are frequently treated as "other," and the Muslim world is regarded as one-dimensional — for instance, every Muslim is labeled "Arab," even though Arabs constitute only a small minority of the global Muslim population. Little has been done to account for the numerous cultural and geographic differences that exist within the Islamic world. Muslims in many locations have been exposed to colonization, which has created context-specific experiences that shape their responses to conflict. Each distinct subculture to which Muslims belong carries its own traditions and values, forming distinct interpretations of the five major conflict styles. In Islam, conflict is viewed as highly negative and detrimental, which is likely to shape the conflict style types that Muslims tend to prefer (Avruch, 2001).

Although Islam does not have a formal caste system, Muslim culture in India has been significantly influenced by Hindu caste structures. As the country's second-largest religious population, Muslims have often been perceived as a challenge to Hindus and their caste system. With regard to Islam specifically, little research has been conducted to establish the connection between conflict styles and Hinduism. Nevertheless, a number of sources have highlighted the conflict that exists among members of the Hindu caste system itself (Avruch, 2001).

Counting mechanisms used during the colonial period constructed "differences" between the four castes of Hindu society, thereby imbuing individual religious identities with greater substance. As Indian society expanded, tradition-oriented religious identities were reinforced. When people were placed into one caste or another, they were encouraged to hold firmly to those identities. Because castes were treated as clearly distinct from one another, opportunities for conflict increased accordingly (Avruch and Wang, 2005).

The Role of the Caste System in Shaping Identity

Education has a more significant impact for Hindus than for Muslims. Lower levels of education are associated with a higher preference for avoiding among Muslims, while higher education reverses this tendency. The reverse pattern holds for Hindus. Regardless of religion, females show a higher tendency toward avoiding than males, and this gender gap is more pronounced among Hindus (Gupta, 2007).

Education has a more significant effect for Hindus than for Muslims. Among Muslims, lower education is associated with higher tendencies toward compromising, while higher education reverses this. Among Hindus, higher education is associated with a greater preference for compromising. Females show higher tendencies toward compromising than males, and this gender gap is more pronounced among Hindus (Gupta, 2007).

Conclusion

Conflict is a defining characteristic of every social system. India's caste system is genuinely unique and is widely believed to significantly influence the level and nature of conflict in the country. As a social structure, the caste system has intensified the degree to which certain groups hold to their cultural and religious identities, and substantial literature supports this view. In general, Hindus interact primarily with members of their own caste, making integration the most preferred conflict method. Dominating may occur when a higher-caste member is in conflict with a lower-caste member, or when interacting with someone outside the caste system altogether. Muslims may interact in a similar — though not identical — manner, since the caste system exerts a significant influence on Indian culture more broadly. Compromise and integration may be the most appropriate styles when managing conflict among individuals of similar social standing, or with members of one's own religious group.