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Unit 1: Indian Society

now the only strong trend but it does not threaten the social harmony. Moreover the neo-Buddhists Notes
like converted Sikhs continue to enjoy all the benefits meant for Scheduled Castes. This, further
rules out the possibilities of any dalit conversions to Islam and Christianity. If in some stray cases,
some dalits, continue to embrace these religions despite these deterrents, it may be taken as a
matter of faith and freedom of conscience which the constitutions guarantees them.
Inter-religious Interaction and its Manifestation
Close socio-cultural interaction between different religious communities would never have been
possible without the spirit of religious accommodation between such communities. There have
been different perceptions of social realities in terms of inter-religious interaction and it’s
manifestation. While one group of people perceive a situation where inter-religious conflicts have
worsened and threaten to tear the social fabric of India. They perceive this situation in the face of
growing communal conflicts and violence. The other group of people have a different perception.
They look at this phenomenon as an ‘elite concern’ of mainly the urban populace because the
communal violence is largely an urban phenomenon: Even in the urban centres, the toiling masses
are still not involved actively in such conflicts. They maintain lot of social, economic and cultural
sharing. Perhaps, that is why, it is said that communalism in India is largely the problem of ‘urban
educated middle class’. People in the urban slums and vast multitude of rural masses live in socio-
economic and cultural symbiosis. These marginalized people share the agonies of human
exploitation. “That they become the centres of worst communal conflagrations during the riots is
an altogether different political issue - these do not surface due to religious differences but built up
manipulations - mainly political-economic in nature” (J.J. Roy Burman, 2002).
One of the most important manifestations of inter-religious interaction may be explained through
the concept of ‘syncretism’ which is an age old social fact. Unfortunately it received little attention
in sociology and cultural anthropology. “Syncretism refers to the hybridization or amalgamation
of two or more cultural traditions. Anthropology shares the concept of syncretism with scholars of
comparative religion who have used the term at least since the ealry 1600s (often disparagingly to
condemn the adulteration of true Christian belief). Theologians continue to apply the term to
religious systems” (Lamout Lindstorm, 1996). Syncretism is a general feature of the development
of religious and cultural systems overtime, as they absorb and reinterpret elements drawn from
other traditions with which they are in contact. The term is, however, particularly employed to
refer to situations of culture contact which generate religious systems which are mixture of two or
more systems of beliefs and practices. It may be understood in terms of reconciliation of, or
attempts to reconcile, different system of belief. Here the concept of eclectic religion may also be
brought out which conveys the meaning of religions, which are the result of synthesis of several
religions. This is possible only on the basis of mutual acceptance of elements of two religions.
Inter-religious interaction and it’s manifestation may also be seen in terms of Little and Great
Traditions. The Great Traditions of a religion, largely textual, contained in sacred scriptures and
epics may not be showing much sharing to the common masses but the sharing of Little Traditions
which are local in nature are more important for the students of sociology and anthropology. The
vast multitude of masses, especially rural masses, largely live by their Little Traditions.
If we look at the inter-religious interaction, the study of religious groups may be seen in the
context of the regional synthesis of identities. The regions present an example of remarkable
cultural synthesis where the people belonging to different religious faiths, castes and ethnic
formations have been united together by a common cultural tradition specific to the region. “It is
this cultural tradition which places a distinctive stamp on their identity. Hindus, Muslims, Christians
and Sikhs have all been cast in regional moulds. It is in the personality of the region that their
roots lie and of which they are an insperable past. To visualize them simply as elements of
demographic composition will be distortion of the social reality” (Aijazuddin Ahmed, 1999). A
remarkable survey, People’s of India Project, conducted by Anthropological Survey of India recently,
revealed that people of a region irrespective of their caste and religious variations share 88 per
cent elements of their common culture.

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