Thiruvananthapuram: Writer and critic Sunil P. Ilayidom has warned of communalism tightening its grip on Indian society, even as public resistance continues across political and social spaces. He said protests, electoral alliances, and ideological opposition exist, yet communal ideas continue to settle deeper into everyday life.
Ilayidom spoke at the Kerala Legislature International Book Festival while delivering a lecture on reclaiming Indian secularism. He said efforts to revive secular values need deeper engagement with national thinking and public discourse. According to him, opposition limited to surface-level protest fails to address the roots of communal thought.
He traced the origins of communalism to colonial-era scholarship. Nineteenth-century imperial historians portrayed India as primitive and divided. James Mill’s work divided Indian history into Hindu and Muslim phases. This framing planted the idea of permanent religious conflict. Ilayidom said later critiques reinforced this division by presenting Hindu and Muslim traditions as incompatible.
He referred to orientalist scholars such as Max Mueller and Thomas Colebrooke. Their writings promoted an idea of a golden ancient India rooted in Hindu spirituality. Nationalist thinkers later adopted parts of this view while responding to colonial narratives. In doing so, they shaped a past where ancient India appeared purely Hindu, sidelining other influences.
Ilayidom also cited historians who depicted India as historically divided. Such accounts erased records of coexistence and shared social life. Elements of history outside Brahmanical frameworks often disappeared from the national story.
He stressed India’s plural character. Cultures evolved through exchanges across regions and eras. Food habits, clothing, religious practices, and social customs blended through daily life. Ilayidom said reclaiming secularism requires recognition of this shared past and rejection of narrow historical frames.
