Between god and state

Economics of Religion in India

Sriya Iyer

Harvard University Press

Rs 799; 304 pages

Religion in India offers the majority of people a framework to enter transactional relationships with God, the Divine Unknown or the Eternal Being. Offerings in temples, gurudwaras, dargahs, mosques and, during religious rituals, at other places — our homes, at river ghats and even cremation grounds — form part of some of our earliest memories. The offerings are mostly always in expectation of something, a quid pro quo with divinity. In some religions, priests sustain themselves by facilitating or acting as middlemen, brokering the “deal”. This tradition of financial offerings has not just sustained hereditary priests but also generated resources for establishing and sustaining religious institutions that have different criteria and manuals for a person to become keepers of ritual belief.

Religion has traditionally been studied or examined for its social or political impact as also for the interplay with these two elements. But never has religion, its persistence or growing stranglehold, been seen from outside the sociological or political prisms. This book states that the key objective is to study religion and processes it triggers as a “rational economic response to changes in the political, ecological, and economic environments in which religion operates”. Although there has been, to some extent, academic effort in studying economic processes and the dynamics of Christianity and Islam, little has yet been attempted — beyond hagiographic accounts of major institutions with adequate resources — on Hinduism and its institutions or organisations. The author makes a highly credible beginning and provides indicators of areas that need further examination.

It is important to study the economics of religion in India, because religious conflict, at the heart of socio-political discourse since 1980s, is sustained considerably by resources available to institutions. From the way communal riots are ignited, to institutional promotion of hate and prejudice, it is evident that an economic system exists that results not just in catalysing and perpetuating social strife, but also in sustaining itself. 

The author draws on the analogy of the ritual lighting of lamps on Diwali, a community effort at aspiring for greater knowledge, to claim she tried to shed some light on a little-studied subject. While explaining the basic methodology, she has argued that there is a need to examine economic theories of religion, especially on the interconnection as well as interdependence of religion and the political economy, besides, of course, on the contemporary scourge of religious fanaticism. The paradox, however, is that while religious sectarianism strengthens the foundations of economic of religious institutions, its most common manifestation in society — riots — hamper economic growth. The book makes a strong case that within the Indian context, protracted continuance of religious conflict will most certainly debilitate growth, partly the result of slowing influx of investments, foreign as well as national, owing to spiralling political risk.

The author devotes considerable space examining religious organisations engaged in providing public services. The author delineates between religious services and “social” services which strictly speaking should remain a welfare state’s domain. She postulates that the “rich countries are becoming more secular”, whereas the world is becoming more religious. To some extent, this is happening as the state withdraws, or at least provides inadequate services, from making available quality non-religious services. Sectarian religious organisations utilise these openings to secure legitimacy among their community and then spread the ideology of hate and prejudice towards other religious groups. 

While surveying the nature of engagement of religious organisations of different faiths, it surfaces that while Hindu groups may be more extensively engaged in food distribution, Muslims are more likely to spend similar resources on education, chiefly of the religious variety. The book offers a fascinating case study of madarsa education and concludes that these institutions thrive because the “state has failed the minority groups”. Within the current debate on madarsas and the efforts, often backed either by state or ruling party, to “enforce” certain “nationalistic” regulations, there is need to understand that a situation is created for such organisations to flourish and later, these minority religious institutions are demonised to strengthen majoritarianism.

There are repeated calls for modernising madarsa education. In most instances, however, this is used as euphemism of diluting their minority character and imposing the majoritarian viewpoint. In most occasions, modernity becomes a form of intrusion and when this is backed by the state and the ruling party, it becomes a political tool deployed as a response to so-called politics of minorityism.

In countries such as India there are deep inequalities between various religious groups and these not only get deepened with the absence of the state but also have much wider consequences. It is accepted that education provides avenues for escaping poverty. However, the author argues that besides the state playing its welfare role more diligently, the intervention would be additionally favourable if teachers from minority communities are consciously placed in the faculty.

The book also makes a case that this would lead to reduced levels of religious conflict. The book, however, suggests further study to provide answers on a major causative factor behind religious conflict: Sharp variances in the fertility rate of different religious communities. The book is a timely intervention on a field that consumes a huge amount of mind space in the country and is the prime factor behind religious intolerance.