THE RELIGIOUS DIVIDE
India is an amalgamation of several languages, cultures, food, music, dances, and religions. 80% of the Indians are Hindus, 13% Muslims, 2% Christians, about 1% are Sikhs and Buddhists and 05.% are Jains. India is the birthplace of Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and Jainism; Islam came to India in 7th century with the Arab traders.
One of the reasons that India was partitioned was because the Hindus and Muslims had conflicting religious outlooks, and could not integrate with each other. The Islamic practices opposed those of Hindus. Hinduism is based on a caste system which is social stratification into four main classes determined at birth, whereas Muslims believe that all humans are created equal. Hinduism is polytheistic, whereas Islam is monotheistic and governs the society by it's own system of law. Hindus believe in reincarnation, but the Muslims believe in the day of judgement. In Hinduism the cow is sacred and worshipped, whereas the Muslims are allowed to slaughter and eat beef. On the other hand, Muslims abstain from eating pork, but some Hindus do eat pork. In Islam, music is prohibited where as music is the integral part of the processions during the Hindu festivals. Since the Muslims pray five times in a day, these processions and playing of instruments were not allowed in front of the mosques as it may disrupt the prayers. The religious differences between the Hindus and the Muslims were fundamental which created lasting hostility between them.
Jinnah once said, "The Hindus and the Muslims belong to two different religious philosophies, social customs, and literature. They neither intermarry, nor interdine together, and indeed they belong to two different civilizations which are based mainly on conflicting ideas and conceptions. [...] To yoke together two such nations under a single State, one as a numerical minority and the other as a majority, must lead to growing discontent…"
Also, British imperialism was based on divide and rule policy and they worked hard to worsen the Hindu-Muslim relationship. British helped revive Hinduism and raised the position of the Hindus which weakened the Muslims and they felt threatened to live as a minority under the Hindu dominated government. The Muslims as a result remained discontent, which led to the partition.
Guru Nanak the founder of Sikhism was a Hindu. Sikhism was found with a backdrop of Hindu culture and politics. It shares many similarities to Hinduism, but also has it's fair share of differences which has lead to several conflicts between the two religions as well.
Akshardham, a Hindu temple Jama Masjid, a Muslim mosque Golden Temple, a Sikh temple Giant Buddha in Bodhgaya
(Buddhist temple)
(Buddhist temple)