Inter-communal Tensions Research Articles

A STUDY ON ETHNIC CONFLICT IN NORTH EAST INDIA WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE STATE OF TRIPURA

The North East region of India is known for its rich cultural diversity, with numerous ethnic groups, languages, identities and traditions coexisting in harmony. However, this region has also experienced its share of ethnic conflicts and communal violence over the years. The complexities of ethnicity and the history of inter-community tensions have contributed to occasional outbreaks of violence, leading to significant challenges in maintaining peace and stability. This article delves into the underlying factors that contribute to ethnicity-based communal violence in North East India and explores potential solutions to foster harmony and unity among the diverse communities. North East India comprises eight states with distinct ethnic identities and historical backgrounds. The region has over 200 ethnic groups, including Nagas, Kukis, Meiteis, Assamese, Bodos, and many others. The concept of ethnicity is deeply embedded in the cultural fabric of these communities, shaping their language, customs, and social structures. Ethnicity-based communal violence often arises from a sense of identity and belonging. Conflicts often emerge when communities perceive threats to their identity, language, cultural, political, or economic rights. Historical grievances, land disputes, and resource competition exacerbate tensions, leading to outbreaks of violence. KEYWORDS: Language, Identity Assertion, Ethnicity, Culture and Communities.

Winter-Quartering Tribes: Nomad–Peasant Relations in the Northeastern Frontiers of the Ottoman Empire (1800s–1850s)

AbstractFocusing on the winter quartering of Kurdish nomadic tribes among peasant villages, this article discusses the patterns of Kurdish nomadism and nomad–peasant relations in the Ottoman sanjaks of Muş, Bayezid, and Van during the first half of the nineteenth century. It argues that the political structure of these regions and the requirements of animal husbandry among the nomads not only created a distinct pattern of nomadism among the Kurdish tribes, but also led to the polarization of relations between nomads and peasants. Moreover, the article observes how nomad–settled, tribe–peasant relations in these regions evolved as a result of the gradual sedentarization of the pastoral nomads and related changes in their subsistence economies starting from the mid-nineteenth century. Finally, this article provides a background for a better understanding of the intercommunal tensions and conflicts over land in the Ottoman Empire of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Accounts of vulnerability within positive human rights obligations

AbstractAccounts of human beings as vulnerable have provided powerful reposts to liberal individualism in recent decades. Concurrently, the European Court of Human Rights’ jurisprudence on Convention states’ positive obligations often obliges public authorities to address particular vulnerabilities. These developments reflect elements of different theoretical accounts of vulnerability but lack a coherent approach to the human subject. Exploring the impact of this in the UK Supreme Court’s jurisprudence, we evaluate two case studies in which positive obligations have been imposed on the police; (1) public order in the context of inter-community tensions in Northern Ireland (DB v. Chief Constable of Police Service of Northern Ireland) and (2) police investigations in regard to serial sexual offending (Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis v. DSD). This jurisprudence illustrates how some domestic judges are supplying their decisions with rationalisations which are lacking in the European Court’s case law.

Study on cultural representations in mental health and psychosocial support in the Ituri region of the Democratic Republic of Congo

IntroductionIn the Ituri region of eastern DRC, Djugu territory has been the epicenter of violent clashes in 2020 and significant displacement since 2017. An initial assessment conducted by Action Contre la Faim (ACF) in January 2021 showed a significant level of psychological distress among 85% of respondents. Following this finding, an emergency response was proposed with the aim of contributing to the improvement of the psychological state of men, women, boys and girls affected by displacement and conflict while strengthening their psychological resilience. As part of this response, prior to the intervention, the NGO conducted a study on the representations of mental health and psychosocial needs as well as locally existing support mechanisms.ObjectivesThe study aimed to better understand the cultural dimension of the perception of mental health and psychological suffering as well as the use of traditional care or support systems. This will allow for better adaptation of clinical approaches to psychosocial intervention as well as the identification of risks incurred by communities in the context of mental health programming, in a context of inter-community tensions, and the development of mitigation measures, co-constructed with the targeted communities.MethodsAn analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats related to the local perception of mental health issues and pre-existing community support mechanisms was conducted using a mixed methodology. A quantitative approach was used to estimate the prevalence of psychological/psychiatric pathologies present in the intervention area and relate it to known data in the country. This was complemented by qualitative data collection including semi-structured interviews with key informants and focus group discussions with community members (adult men and women) as well as health workers, legal and customary authorities, religious leaders, community leaders, traditional practitioners, humanitarian actors, etc.Results12 interviews, 8 focus group discussions and 316 questionnaires confirmed the high rates of distress in the community surveyed.The cultural representations of mental suffering were better understood (i.e. the origin of suffering and mental illness is exogenous and a spiritual cause is often evoked: witchcraft, curse, divine punishment). Resilience factors (the most resilient would be children and women) and local support mechanisms have been identified, notably in religious leaders.A very strong group cohesion and solidarity was highlighted.ConclusionsThis study helped to understand the issues related to a mental health care and psychosocial support proposal. This type of study is fundamental to culturally adapting care in humanitarian aid contexts. Concrete details of adaptation will be presented as an example.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Back to school during the COVID-19 pandemic: Mitigating risks while promoting individual and community well-being

Unplanned school closures such as the ones brought on during the COVID-19 pandemic are a catalyst for many developmental consequences on the youth and their families. Although guidelines exist to mitigate viral transmission, school-based interventions that can help alleviate the other consequences of the current crisis have yet to be documented. For students, these include the exacerbation of mental health difficulties, widening educational and socioeconomic disparities, and intercommunity tensions. Literature on unplanned school closures can inform best practices for school re-entry. Acknowledging educational, societal, and mental health disparities is an essential part of supporting the transition. Psychological first aid interventions, capacity-building and a response-to-intervention approach can help mitigate the effects of the pandemic and are implementable even in low-resource classrooms.

Challenging Communal Boundaries in Late Ottoman Thrace: Jews and Muslims in Dimetoka (Didymoteicho)

This article turns to microhistory to explain the targeting of Jews by their Muslim opponents following the Second Balkan War (July 1913) and the return of Ottoman rule to Dimetoka. It explores intercommunal tensions between Jews and Muslims over boundaries and representation in the public sphere that surfaced following the 1908 revolution and the project to construct a new building for the Jewish school in part of the town that was situated outside the boundaries of the traditional Jewish neighborhood. This article argues that the humiliation triggered by Ottoman defeat in the Balkan Wars, the atrocities against Muslim civilians at the hands of Bulgarian soldiers and irregulars, and calls to avenge the Muslims' suffering following the Ottoman retaking of Eastern Thrace provided legitimacy for retaliation against non-Muslims. Existing prewar tensions between Muslims and Jews in Dimetoka, combined with desires for revenge, made the latter into victims of sporadic violence and an economic boycott.

From social capital to social cohesion: Syrian refugees in Turkey and the role of NGOs as intermediaries

ABSTRACT Since the first Syrian refugees arrived in Turkey with the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, NGOs have been a crucial actor in first distributing humanitarian aid and later facilitating refugees’ access to education, employment, and healthcare services. More recently, as intercommunal tension between Syrian refugees and the Turkish community has been increasing, many NGOs shifted their focus in building refugees’ social cohesion in Turkey. This study examines these efforts from a social capital perspective. We interviewed a total of twelve local/national, international and Syrian community-led NGOs working with refugees in İstanbul. We found that the intercommunal activities promoted by NGOs provide a space for both the Turkish and Syrian communities to meet, whose pathways would likely not cross otherwise. However, our study showed serious limitations in building bridging social capital as these activities attract participants already open to intercommunal dialogue and the language barrier hinders the sustainability of the relations. At the same time, however, we found that projects connecting refugees with people or institutions of authority have the potential to enhance social cohesion. These activities can facilitate refugees’ adaptation to the national system, which in turn entails more stable and sustainable relationship with Turkish people.

Mosque Architecture in Cyprus—Visible and Invisible Aspects of Form and Space, 19th to 21st Centuries

A comprehensive analysis of Cypriot mosque architecture between the 19th and 21st centuries, from the Ottoman and British colonial periods to the present, does not exist. The phase after 1974, after the division of the island into a Turkish Cypriot, predominantly Muslim north and a Greek Cypriot, mainly Christian south, is especially insufficiently studied. This paper aims to interpret Cypriot mosque architecture and its meaning(s) through a comparative analysis, considering cultural, religious, and political developments. Based on an architectural survey and studies about Muslim Cypriot culture, this study investigates formal and spatial characteristics, focusing on the presence/absence of domed plan typologies and of minarets which, as visual symbolic markers, might express shifting cultural-religious notions and/or identities. Inconspicuous mosques without domes and minarets dominate until 1974. However, with the inter-communal tensions in the 1960s, the minaret possibly became a sign of Turkish identity, besides being a cultural-religious marker. This becomes more obvious after 1974 and is stressed by the (re)introduction of the dome. Since the late 1990s, an ostentatious and unprecedented neo-Ottoman architecture emphasizes visible and invisible meanings, and the Turkish presence in Cyprus stronger than before. The new architectural language visually underlines the influences from Turkey that North Cyprus has been experiencing.

Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites, and Collective Memory

Conflict on Mount Lebanon: The Druze, the Maronites, and Collective Memory

The Politicisation of Islam in Malaysia and Its Opponents

This article profiles four prominent detractors of Islam’s politicisation in contemporary Malaysia. While much ink has been spilt profiling the promulgators of politicised Islam, whether in Malaysia or elsewhere, comparatively little has been written about those who oppose it. This article is a modest attempt to rectify that deficiency. It begins, however, with a brief history of that politicisation process as it has occurred in Malaysia, with particular reference to Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM). This brief overview traces Malaysia’s unique form of politicised Islam to late twentieth-century intercommunal tensions driven by Malay poverty and cultural anxiety. These enabled long-standing ethno-religious associations to facilitate a blending of Islamist ideology with issues surrounding Malay rights. It is within this context that we then examine the social and educational backgrounds, principal publications, records of activism, and ideological positions of four prominent critics of Malaysian Islam’s politicisation, namely: Chandra Muzaffar, Zainah Anwar, Marina Mahathir, and Siti Kasim. The article concludes that all four figures differ from their counterparts in PAS and ABIM by possessing Western-orientated backgrounds, a long-standing dedication to multiculturalism, and a desire to orientate their work around human rights-based issues. The article concludes by suggesting how (or if) these detractors can impact the future direction of Malaysian politics.

The Genocide-Ecocide Nexus in Sudan: Violent “Development” and the Racial-Spatial Dynamics of (Neo)Colonial-Capitalist Extraction

ABSTRACT This article works with and develops the framework of the genocide-ecocide nexus to examine the relationship between environmental destruction, capitalist expansion, and genocide in Sudan. Arguing that they are more fundamentally interconnected than has tended to be recognized, it discusses how multiple rural, primarily subsistence and place-based communities on Sudan’s exploited peripheral regions have been affected by these dynamics over several decades, especially from the 1970s. To demonstrate this, three domains of ecologically destructive extraction are examined: large-scale mechanized agriculture, exploitation of water resources, and oil extraction. These cases, the article contends, show how genocide in Sudan is constitutively intertwined with racialized and class-based “development”-driven ecological destruction in ways that are direct and indirect, short-term and long-term – but always systemically related to (neo)colonial-capitalist extraction. Theoretically, the article builds on existing frameworks on the genocide-ecocide nexus. It also expands these frameworks by emphasizing, firstly, the inherently racialized dynamics of these processes in Sudan, and secondly, the devastating fragmentation of socioecological worlds brought about by the expanding frontier of violent development. The analysis highlights blind-spots and limitations with a number of other accounts of genocide in Sudan, including those which frame it as an issue of ideology or identity-based intercommunal tensions, and those which explain it as a form of counterinsurgency.

Civilians on the Front Lines of (Counter-)Terrorism: Lessons from the Volunteers for the Defense of the Homeland in Burkina Faso

In the wake of the lethal attack conducted in Solhan, northeast Burkina Faso, during the early hours of 5 June 2021, debates around the use of civilian auxiliaries in the fight against violent extremism have reinvigorated. Faced with a dramatic rise in terrorist violence since 2015, national authorities have decided to arm their own citizens, allowing, since early 2020, the recruitment of nationals willing to voluntarily defend, if necessary by force of arms, their villages or places of residence. While this initiative has been generally welcomed by the population, the creation of the Volunteers for the Defence of the Homeland (Volontaires pour la Défense de la Patrie), has continued to raise serious concerns, particularly with regard to the risk of further exacerbating violence, redirecting it against civilians, and increasing intercommunal tensions. Almost two years after the promulgation of the law, this policy brief aims to confront the rationale behind this strategy with the outcomes of its implementation and the main challenges it has raised, identifying lessons learned and providing recommendations on the way forward.

A Critique of Muslim Orthodoxy and Inter-communal Tensions in Hamid Dalwai’s Indhan

The present paper intends to offer a critical reading of Hamid Dalwai's celebrated novel Indhan (1965) as “a critique of Muslim orthodoxy and inter-communal tensions”. This classic Marathi narrative has acquired the status of pan-Indian masterpiece after its brilliant English translation under the title Fuel by the renowned translator Dilip Chitre (1938-2009).The novel offers a deeply perceptive view of small-town life in rural Konkan and the emerging inter-communal tensions. The references to key historical events and time-markers in the narration help in contextualizing this novel in larger perspective and making it a pan-Indian masterpiece deserving to be placed among the immortal literary classics like Khushwant Singh’s Train to Pakistan, Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar (1956), Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas (1973), Chaman Nahal’s Azadi (1975).

Religious Freedom in Theory and Practice in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is a small Island in South Asia and most of its inhabitants are Buddhists. Hindus, Muslims, and Christians live as minority communities in Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan Constitution guarantees religious freedom for all minority communities, but the religion of Buddhism is given a prominent place as 74% of inhabitants are Buddhists. The primary objective of this paper is to examine, evaluate and gauge the scope and leverage of religious freedom in Sri Lanka with the focus on the recent deterioration inter-communal tensions and violence among different communities. Does the government of Sri Lanka promote the notion of religious freedom impartially? Do the minority communities enjoy religious freedom in Sri Lanka? If so, what extent do they do so ? If not what are the main causes of religious discrimination in Sri Lanka? We have recently noticed a rapid increase of the religious tension and conflict between different religious groups in Sri Lanka. Ultra nationalist political parties and some Buddhist extremist groups with the approval of some segments of Buddhist religious leaders have been attacking minority communities verbally and physically in recent times. This has put the question of religious freedom and human rights into jeopardy in Sri Lanka. Some sections of Hindu, Muslim and Christian communities believe that their religious identities are under threat in Sri Lanka. How far is such a contentious claim justifiable? What could minority communities do to protect their cultural and religious identity within the limits of Sri Lankan constitutional rights? The ethno-religious discriminations are deliberately created by some political and religious groups for political and religious reasons and yet, 95% of Sri Lankans are peace loving people. The socio-political and religious hierarchical orders of the Sri Lankan communities have helped these radical groups to violate religious freedom of people. The notion of religious freedom is inherently related to politics in Sri Lanka. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the political culture in Sri Lanka to gauge the degree of religious freedom in Sri Lanka. This paper examines these questions objectively from an academic perspective without any prejudice for any communities. The main contention of paper is that neither Buddhist religious leadership nor Buddhist public violate religious freedom of minority communities, but some Buddhist politicians exploit religious differences and sentiments for their political gains and benefits. They play politics with religious freedom in Sri Lanka against all democratic and religious rights of minority communities. I will substantiate this claim with some evidences throughout this paper. What Sri Lanka needs is a political correctness to protect the religious freedom of minority communities. This paper examines the notion of religious freedom in this following structures. 1) What does the Sri Lankan Constitution say about religious freedom? 2) What does Buddhism say about religious freedom? 3) What does Islamic texts say about religious freedom? 4) A relative religious freedom in practice and application in Sri Lanka. 5) Some nationalists and extremist Buddhist groups challenge religious freedom in Sri Lanka? 6) Some viable mechanisms and strategies to promote religious freedom in Sri Lanka.

Establishment, Breakup, and Amalgamation of Ethnic Local Governments in Ethiopia: Towards Understanding the Legal And Political Matrix

Abstract Ethiopia’s ethnic federalism manages the diversity problem by giving ethnic territorial homelands to the constituent ethnic groups. This, in ethnically diverse regions, has meant the establishment of ethnically defined local governments. However, as the clear mismatch between available local governments and the number of constituent ethnic communities demonstrate, many are left without a local government of their own – resulting in rife inter-communal tensions. This has also proved to be a fertile ground for competing ethnic nationalisms to flourish and proliferate at sub-regional levels. As a result, some local governments were broken apart after their establishment to arrest ethnic conflicts that followed while others were amalgamated to maintain regional territorial integrity. By using the snnp region as a case study, this article argues that the political atmosphere, propelled by political exigencies, dictates the establishment, breakup, and amalgamation of ethnically defined local governments, while constitutional principles are side-lined.

Civil society and the contemporary threat to religious freedom in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Against the international backdrop of rising religious tensions, this article explores contemporary civil society views on religious freedom in Bangladesh. It uses critical frame analysis of the corpus of civil society organizations’ (CSOs) submissions to the United Nations’ third cycle Universal Periodic Review (UPR), 2013–18. It provides a timely assessment of Bangladesh’s fulfilment of international obligations on religious freedom, and shows how the politicization of religion and the resultant conflict between ‘secularism’ and ‘extremism’ have been fuelling inter-communal tensions and religious intolerance. In particular, CSOs’ UPR submissions present powerful accounts of the principal human rights pathology affecting the country today, religious-based violence. This is accompanied by a narrative of police malpractice, judicial failings, discrimination, oppression and incitement. A further key finding is ‘situated knowledge’ or first-hand accounts of legal restrictions and government repression of civil society organizations. Consonant with the classical work of liberal theorists, we argue that unprecedented importance now attaches to safeguarding civil society criticality in order to defend religious freedom and uphold human rights in the Republic.

Motion, Contact and Profanity in Rutebeuf’s Tales of ‘Charlot Le Juif’: (Not) Going There, (Not) Touching That

Abstract This article explores what we can learn about the context of thirteenth-century Paris from the relation between what is explicit and implicit in Rutebeuf’s tales of Charlot the Jew. Dated to the 1260s, these two texts – ‘La Disputaison de Charlot et du Barbier de Melun’ and ‘Charlot le juif qui chia dans la peau du lièvre’ – survive in Paris, BnF, MS fr. 1635. In themselves, in relation to one another and in their manuscript context, these tales reveal much about the function of hints and hidden jokes as soundings of intercommunal tensions and polemic in the period between the Paris Disputation of 1240 and the outbursts of violence later in the century. The discussion of the text focuses on the representation of cultural and religious provocation, and especially Rutebeuf ’s possible adumbrating of sensitive issues not always addressed in explicit fashion. Charlot’s seeming resistance to provocation in various regards may thus reflect a context in which Louis IX encouraged the lay population to take direct action in response to any perceived insults against Christianity from the Jewish population.

Community resilience: Insights from UNICRI experience in the Sahel-Maghreb

In physics, “resilience” is a measure of how well a material, such as rubber or metal, responds to pressure by bending, adapting, and changing, without breaking. However, this concept is more than a scientific term. Resiliency can also describe a community’s ability to bounce back from pressures, including natural disasters, economic downturns, and - in the case of UNICRI’s Pilot Project on Countering Radicalisation and Violent Extremism in the Sahel-Maghreb - violence and terrorism. In the Sahel and Maghreb, the pressure on communities is certainly intense, and ever-growing. Conflicts in Libya and Mali threaten to spill over porous borders, while drought and desertification have increased food insecurity and heightened intercommunal tensions. Increasingly active extremist militant groups have brought violence and chased out tourists, which once had been an importance source of income. Now, more than ever, an approach aimed at building the resilience at a community level is needed - one that can empower communities to respond to these pressures by adapting and changing, without “breaking” and entering into conflict.

Manufacturing the Jihad in Europe: The Islamic State’s Strategy

ABSTRACT As the Islamic State (IS) caliphate in the Middle East has collapsed, it is seeking to extend its influence elsewhere, particularly in Europe where there are existing inter-communal tensions to exploit. IS has deployed the management of savagery doctrine through acts of terrorism as part of its strategy to increase polarisation by exacerbating fear and distrust among communities, encouraging sympathies for far-right actors among non-Muslims and potentially alienating counterterrorism policies by governments, pushing Muslims out of what it terms the ‘grey zone’. The desired outcome is to drain state resources and showcase Europe as hostile to Muslims, promoting the notion of a ‘war on Islam’.

Building Communities in Tense Times: Fostering Connectedness Between Cultures and Generations through Community Arts.

The worldwide upsurge in social polarizations generates intercommunity tensions that challenge the social fabric of urban neighborhoods and undermine the relationships between their members. Because community arts can foster the creation of connections between people that would not have been in contact otherwise, they are often perceived as being powerful tools to foster community resilience. Through a multiple case study approach, this article describes how three community arts projects, carried out in two socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods of Montreal (Canada), influenced the social relationships between participants from diverse ethnocultural backgrounds and generations. Using participant observation and arts-based data collection methods (photography, video, and arts productions), the authors examine how the three projects illustrate (a) the interactive processes at play, (b) the transmission and hybridization of stories and images of adversity and resiliency, and (c) the access to a collective voice.