It is amazing how much more one can learn from experience rather than books or lectures.

Since returning from my eight-week study in India during the summer of 2003, I have been telling everyone that I learned more in my short time there than I could ever learn in an entire semester here.

I am not demeaning the education here at Missouri Southern; I am simply agreeing with the poster that hangs in the third floor of Webster Hall: Culture shock is a good thing. I have learned so much from it.

First of all, I have to thank those who gave me the opportunity to experience this culture shock.

Dr. Karl J. Schmidt was my adviser for this project. He heightened my interest in India in 2001 when he first invited me to travel to India with him though the University. Unfortunately, that trip was canceled due to unforeseen incidents (the possibility of nuclear war between India and Pakistan). But last year, as soon as another opportunity came up, Schmidt immediately told me about the Summer in India Program. So of course, I jumped at the chance.

And while I was in India this summer, I was able to complete this project through the McCaleb Initiative for Peace. So of course, I must thank the late Kenneth McCaleb for creating it and Margaret McCaleb for continuing its legacy. I would also like to thank Dr. Chad Stebbins and the Institute of International Studies for helping me out with the cost of this trip.

But this entire project would not have been possible without the assistance of the great people of India, who showed me how wonderfully different the world can be. I must extend an extra-special thanks to Dr. Manjari Katju, who is one of the most open-minded and intelligent people I have ever had the privilege to meet. She taught me more than can be imagined in my six weeks of knowing her.

I only hope those who read this can gain at least a bit of the knowledge I did while working on this project.

With that said, I must first provide a brief history of Hindu-Muslim conflict in India before the reader can begin to understand what has happened in Hyderabad.

The root of this conflict lies in the misinterpretation of what Hinduism itself actually is. The term “Hindu” was originally a Muslim word. Muslims, most of whom were Arab traders from Persia, came to India’s west coast in the ninth and 10th centuries.

These traders had to cross the Sindhu (now called Indus) River. The Muslims could not pronounce “Sindhu,” so they said “Hindu.” The Muslims, therefore, called all of India’s inhabitants south of the river “Hindus.”

Most of these inhabitants belonged to different tribes, groups and sects that often practiced different rituals. These practices were eventually grouped under one religious term, “Hinduism.”

Another historical factor that has contributed to communal conflict is the destruction of the Rama temple at Ayodhya.

In the 16th century, a Muslim mosque called the Babri-Masjid was built in dedication to Babur, the founder of the Mughal dynasty in India. Hindu activists claimed, and today continue to insist, this mosque was built on the birthplace of the Hindu god Rama. This argument led many to believe Muslims destroyed Rama’s temple in order to erect the Babri-Masjid.

This argument has spanned centuries, and in December 1992, 200,000 members of the Hindu right destroyed the Babri-Masjid. Parties of the Hindu right, namely the Bharatiya Janata Party, continue to use this issue as part of their platform for Hindu nationalism. The Hindu right says a temple for Rama should be built in place of the Babri-Masjid. It has funded excavations to prove this was Rama’s birthplace, but so far, none of these efforts have provided such proof. This case is currently under scrutiny in court.

Perhaps the most well-known cause of Hindu-Muslim communalism in India is partition, which occurred after India gained its independence from Britain in 1947.

The British had established a “divide and rule” policy in India, meaning the dissension between the Hindu and Muslim communities made British rule necessary. Many Indians thought otherwise, however, and pushed for the freedom they eventually won. Unfortunately, though, the divide between religions remained.

Along with independence came the partition of the Indian subcontinent into two separate countries – India and Pakistan. Although this split was meant to provide peaceful territory for Muslims, partition actually led to more problems than it solved.

Many Sikhs and Hindus were forced out of the new Pakistani territory into India, and Muslims moved from India to Pakistan. Violence resulted from these migrations, and estimates of deaths during this time range from one to two million.

Partition instigated yet another conflict that continues for India and Pakistan today – the disputed territory of Kashmir. Hindu nationalists in India consider this the “Motherland” of their religion. The Muslims of Pakistan think of Kashmir as an Islamic state, and the militants there are fighting a holy war, or jihad, against the oppression of Indian Hindus.

The dispute over Kashmir has caused two wars between India and Pakistan, and nuclear war over this territory became a possibility between these two nations in 2002, as I previously mentioned.

This is a concise briefing of the major factors that have caused conflict between Hindus and Muslims in India. Hyderabad is a special example of communalism within the country because of its large Muslim population. India has a Muslim population of 11.5 percent, but in Hyderabad, it increases to 30 percent. Seventy percent of the city’s Muslim population is concentrated in Hyderabad’s Old City, where much of the city’s rioting has occurred.

Throughout this supplement, the history of communal conflict in Hyderabad is provided, as well as information about the city’s current communal harmony.

The history of violence between the Hindu and Muslim religions in India is a complex one, and the city of Hyderabad provides a great point of research into this past. The future for both the nation and city could be as equally complex. But ultimately, the two religions have one choice: conflict or peace.