Composite nationalism[a] is a concept that argues that the Indian nation is made up of people of diverse ethnicities, cultures, tribes, castes, communities, and faiths.[1][2] The idea teaches that "nationalism cannot be defined by religion in India."[3] While Indian citizens maintain their distinctive religious traditions, they are members of one united Indian nation.[3][4] Composite nationalism maintains that prior to the arrival of the British into the subcontinent, no enmity between people of different religious faiths existed; and as such these artificial divisions can be overcome by Indian society.[3]
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- ^ Bahadur, Kalim (1998). Democracy in Pakistan: Crises and Conflicts. Har-Anand Publications. p. 33. ISBN 978-81-241-0083-7.
One of the two was the dominant ideology of composite nationalism represented by the Indian National Congress. It was based on the belief that India with its vast diversities of religions, creeds, castes, sub-castes, communities and cultures represented a composite nation.
- ^ Sajjad, Mohammad (2014). Muslim Politics in Bihar: Changing Contours. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-55982-5.
This chapter argues that, as far as Bihar is concerned and unlike the areas just mentioned, strong voices were raised by Muslim communities against the separatist policies of the Muslim League. The Muslims in Bihar displayed far more affinity for mushtareka wataniyat, that is, common/composite nationalism--the expression used by one of the Muslim leaders of the Bihar Congress, Shah Mohammad Umair (1894–1978), in his Urdu autobiography (1967), Talaash-e-Manzil (In Search of Destination), as also for muttahidah qaumiyat, that is, united/composite nationalism--the expression used by the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Hind, the organization representing the clerics of the Deobandi school.
- ^ a b c Hardiman, David (2003). Gandhi in His Time and Ours: The Global Legacy of His Ideas. Columbia University Press. p. 22. ISBN 978-0-231-13114-8.
- ^ Bennema, Cornelis; Bhakiaraj, Paul Joshua (2011). Indian and Christian: Changing Identities in Modern India. SAIACS Press & Oxford House Research. p. 157. ISBN 978-81-87712-26-8.
Both these approaches are shown to be within the framework of 'composite nationalism', where Indian Christians maintained their communal distinctiveness while aspiring for national integration.