Communalism sans violence: A Keralan exceptionalism?

In this paper, I undertake a broad survey of communalism in the southern Indian state of Kerala. I argue that Kerala displays as a dominant trend, a non-antagonistic form of communalism or peaceful competition among religious communities, which is a rarity for the Indian subcontinent. The reasons for this can be attributed to the severity of caste oppression and the consequent salience of caste divisions, deep inter-religious civic engagement, governmental participation by communal parties, and the presence of a communist movement and the strength of class politics. However, the emergence of Hindu nationalism as a powerful force in India and its capture of state power, and the rise of Islamist extremism, largely as a response to it, have led to a new conjuncture of antagonistic assertion of religious identities. Kerala is not immune to these trends. The transformation in political economy and the de-radicalization of the communist movement have provided a conducive atmosphere to them. Yet, non-antagonistic communalism prevails, but less emphatically.