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India

The inhabitants of India, estimated in 2007 to number at 1.1 billion, have ancient roots in diversity. Applying a U.S. racial/ethnic framework is difficult in a country with different salient identifying characteristics. Instead, we can draw parallels between U.S. race/ethnicity and Indian group differences based on religion, caste or tribal affiliation, language/region, and skin color. This entry looks at how these differences affect Indian society, where the people are predominantly Hindu, rural-dwelling, and economically underprivileged.

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Religious Differences

Muslim Minorities

When outsiders consider ethnic conflict in India, they think of Hindu-Muslim violence. Yet, Hindus and Muslims coexisted for centuries. Muslims conquerors swept into India 1,500 years ago. Although some rulers forced subjects to convert, others were religiously tolerant, allowing intermarriage and promoting Hindus in their courts. By the early 1800s, Muslim princes were overtaken by British forces. Disdain for the British prompted Muslims to avoid all things Western. With the independence movement, Muslim leaders pushing for their own territory began to be seen as outsiders. The 1947 partition separating India and Pakistan at independence left 1 million Muslims dead and 14 million homeless as Muslims left India and non-Muslims left Pakistan. The number of Muslims in the civil service dropped, and Indian Muslims became politically aloof.

Like Hindus, Muslims are predominantly rural. Though there has been controversy for decades that Muslims have high birth-rates, these accounts are exaggerated. Muslims are currently 13.4% of the population. There is virtually no intermarriage with other groups. Many women wear full purdah and are guarded from contact with outsiders. No formal caste system separates Muslims from one another, and they have close-knit communities, especially in cities. Though cities were originally more integrated, separate neighborhoods formed in the 1930s, driven by political groups concentrating support. Today, villages see more social interaction between groups because Muslims are not separated into ethnic enclaves. Violence rarely erupts against Muslims in rural areas; most cases occur in cities where Muslims are more visible and clustered together.

Muslims tend to be less educated (with a 59% literacy rate compared with 65% for the nation) and have fewer economic resources than average. A lack of specific means to advance through “reservations” (as affirmative action is known there) or scholarships leaves few opportunities for upward mobility. Divisions within the Muslim community impede political power. Those few Muslim candidates who are successful are often sponsored by Hindu parties and have difficulty advocating for their religious constituency. Muslims are still distrusted in India by some wary Hindus, who believe their true allegiance is to Pakistan.

The Christian Community

Christianity may have come to India before spreading through Europe. It thrived along the west coast in the 15th and 16th centuries through forced conversions by Portuguese colonists. Conversions grew steadily during British rule but dropped afterward. Protestantism and Catholicism drew low-caste Hindus hoping to escape deplorable social conditions. Many converts lived within Christian compounds to avoid being shunned by disapproving villagers.

Missionaries brought not only religion but also Westernization to India, especially through British-style education. Christian schools attracted Hindus, Parsis, and other elites who wanted to learn English and gain upward mobility. With the Great Depression in the 1930s and World War II in the 1940s, Christianity went into decline, as fewer funds and greater travel restrictions thwarted missionary efforts.

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