Revision summary
After 1991, markets, private jobs, and mass media grew together. Ethnic claims for language, tribe, and new states continued inside that growth. Communal mobilisation used television, rumour, and later social media. Riots and polarising politics showed that GDP does not cancel religious conflict. The market can mix people at work and still sell identity at home and at the vote.
Model answer
Flow diagram
flowchart TD L[1991 market media cities] --> M[Middle class inequality] M --> E[Ethnic statehood diaspora claims] M --> C[Communal news riots vote] E --> I[Identity re-tooled] C --> I
Conclusion
- Enforce the rule of law after riots as strictly as after a tax default, or the market will treat communal peace as optional.
- Reduce inequality and informal insecurity so ethnic entrepreneurs find fewer angry customers.
- Keep public culture, textbooks, and platform rules from turning every economic rumour into a communal story.
The post-liberal economy enriched a consumer India and did not automatically secularise it. Ethnic identity and communalism gained media, money, and grievance; the way forward is equal law and less economic fear, not a hope that growth alone will cool identity.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
Did liberalisation cause communalism?
It did not invent it. It changed the stage: media, cities, inequality, and vote markets re-tooled older communal and ethnic stocks.
-
Can the market reduce ethnic conflict?
Shared workplaces can dilute daily boundaries. Without equal law and less insecurity, the same market funds identity entrepreneurs.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2024 · Q9 · GS I · 10 marks
Intercaste marriages between castes which have socio-economic parity have increased, to some extent, but this is less true of interreligious marriages. Discuss. -
2023 · Q19 · GS I · 15 marks
Why is caste identity in India both fluid and static? -
2022 · Q18 · GS I · 15 marks
Analyze the salience of 'sect' in Indian society vis-a-vis caste, region and religion. -
2022 · Q19 · GS I · 15 marks
Are tolerance, assimilation and pluralism the key elements in the making of an Indian form of secularism? Justify your answer. -
2020 · Q8 · GS I · 10 marks
Has caste lost its relevance in understanding the multi- cultural Indian Society? Elaborate your answer with illustrations. -
2020 · Q10 · GS I · 10 marks
Do you agree that regionalism in India appears to be a consequence of rising cultural assertiveness? Argue. -
2019 · Q10 · GS I · 10 marks
What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism? -
2018 · Q8 · GS I · 10 marks
"Caste system is assuming new identities and associational forms. Hence, caste system cannot be eradicated in India." Comment.
More from this paper
Q1 · UPSC Mains 2023 · GS I · 10 marks
Explain the role of geographical factors towards the development of Ancient India.
World's Physical Geography
Harappan cities grew on the Indus system and later states on the Ganga plains because alluvium and monsoon rain supported surplus. The Himalaya, Ghats, and Deccan split cores of settlement and directed routes. Passes in the north-west and ports on both seas linked India to Central Asia, Rome, and South-East Asia. Copper, iron, and gold supplied tools and craft. Geography set the stage; it did not replace human institutions.
Q2 · UPSC Mains 2023 · GS I · 10 marks
What was the difference between Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore in their approach towards education and nationalism?
The Freedom Struggle
Gandhi’s Wardha scheme of 1937 put mother tongue, craft, and character at the centre of schooling. Tagore’s Santiniketan and Visva-Bharati put nature, art, and world learning at the centre. Gandhi’s nationalism was mass satyagraha and village swaraj. Tagore’s nationalism was freedom without the cult of the nation. Both opposed colonial rule; they split on industrial civilisation and on how open India should stay.
Q3 · UPSC Mains 2023 · GS I · 10 marks
Bring out the socio-economic effects of the introduction of railways in different countries of the world.
World's Physical Geography
Britain used railways to move coal and factory goods and to urbanise the industrial north. The United States used a transcontinental line to make a continental market and to settle the west. Japan and Russia used state-backed trunk lines for catch-up and empire. Colonial India and Africa often saw lines that moved export cargo and troops, with mixed social gains. Everywhere, railways changed time, travel, and the idea of a national space.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.