{"id":1367,"date":"2026-08-09T19:11:48","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T13:41:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/religion-is-still-an-important-factor-in-indian-politics-discuss-upsc-psir-2017-2402\/"},"modified":"2026-08-12T21:24:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:54:19","slug":"religion-is-still-an-important-factor-in-indian-politics-discuss-upsc-psir-2017-2402","status":"publish","type":"psir_pyq","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/psir-pyq\/religion-is-still-an-important-factor-in-indian-politics-discuss-upsc-psir-2017-2402\/","title":{"rendered":"Religion is still an important factor in Indian politics. Discuss."},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pq-flow\">\n<div class=\"pq-flow-h\">Flow snapshot <em>\u2014 how the answer moves<\/em><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p1\"><span>Intro routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> secularism adopted, communal electorates abolished <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <i>yet<\/i> religion never left <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> Arts. 25\u201328 protect belief; faith still drives mobilisation, identity, voting<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> start from live flashpoints (Ram Mandir \/ CAA \/ NRC) <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> religion visibly active today <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> trace it back to its colonial embedding<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p2\"><span>Body flow<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>colonial inheritance <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Bipan Chandra<\/b>\u2019s three stages of communalism <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> divide-and-rule + separate electorates + Partition institutionalise it <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> contemporary majoritarian turn <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Savarkar<\/b>\u2019s Hindutva <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> ethnic-territorial nation, minorities outside the core <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> mobilisation <i>through<\/i> conflict <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Brass<\/b>: organised, managed violence <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> fear converted into vote polarisation <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> religion <i>not only<\/i> communal <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Gandhi<\/b>\u2019s ethical use <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> <b class=\"pq-sc\">Bhargava<\/b>\u2019s \u201cprincipled distance\u201d as the state\u2019s response<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p3\"><span>Counter-view<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p>religion rarely acts alone <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> it competes and combines with caste, welfare, development<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-fb\">\n<div class=\"pq-pill p4\"><span>Conclusion routes<\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"pq-ft\">\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 1<\/i> remains important but not the sole driver <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> guard religious freedom without polarisation weakening citizenship<\/p>\n<p class=\"pq-r\"><i class=\"pq-rt\">Route 2<\/i> religion has moved from colonial communal representation <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> contemporary ideological nationalism <span class=\"pq-ar\">\u2192<\/span> important, but works with governance and development<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"pyq_year":[45],"pyq_marks":[35],"pyq_topic":[65],"pyq_paper":[33],"class_list":["post-1367","psir_pyq","type-psir_pyq","status-publish","hentry","pyq_year-45","pyq_marks-15-marks","pyq_topic-caste-religion-and-ethnicity-in-indian-politics","pyq_paper-paper-1"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/psir_pyq"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1367\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4779,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/psir_pyq\/1367\/revisions\/4779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"pyq_year","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_year?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_marks","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_marks?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_topic?post=1367"},{"taxonomy":"pyq_paper","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/psir\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pyq_paper?post=1367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}