India: Religious Tensions

Ongoing communal violence between Hindus and Muslims, and Hindus and Sikhs.
 
Historical background: longlasting tensions have existed between Hindus and Muslims since the Muslim invasions and particularly the 1100s, exploited by the British during the Raj by favouring minorities such as Muslims, Sikhs and Parsees over the Hindu majority ('divide and rule'). This led to dormant insecurities which bubbled up at independence, leading to the partition of India and Pakistan at independence in 1947 (500 deaths, 14m displaced). But India's social divisions are exacerbated also by its historic caste system which blocks social mobility, making several nations within one landmass and jurisdiction, dominated by Brahmins.
 
In 1992, with the rise of Hindu religious nationalism, the Babri mosque in Ayodhya was demolished by a Hindu mob. Tensions continued, leading to the burning of Muslims in a train and violence in Gujarat in 2002, killing 500 Hindus and 800 Muslims, displacing 150,000. Conflicts concern economic status and power as well as religion.
 
This has been complicated by international jihadists, connected particularly with Pakistan and Afghanistan, who have staged or sponsored terror attacks such as the Mumbai attacks of November 2008. Indian Muslims, though disadvantaged, generally do not support such attacks.
 
In recent times there have also been local conflicts between Untouchables and the traditional Hindu hierarchy, dominated by Brahmins.
 
Conflicts between Sikhs and Hindus arise from the wish of Sikhs living in Punjab for autonomy. Assassinations of public figures by Sikhs (such as Indira Gandhi, 1984) and riots by Hindus against Sikhs.
There have also been attacks on Christians, who traditionally have been tolerated as one of many social sub-groups. In recent times attacks on them have escalated in some areas - partially because of misplaced identification of Christians as Western allies.

Links:

Religious Freedom in India
India: Caste and Religious Conflicts
India: Christians
India-Pakistan Religious Conflicts