Excommunication

== Hinduism ==
[[Hinduism]] is too diverse to be seen as a homogenous and monolithic religion. It is often described an [[folk religion|unorganised]] and [[syncretist]] religion with a conspicuous absence of any listed [[doctrine]]s. There are multiple [[religious institution]]s (equivalent to Christian [[Church (congregation)|ecclesia]]) within Hinduism that teach slight variations of [[Dharma]] and [[Karma]], hence Hinduism has no concept of excommunication and hence no Hindu may be ousted from the Hindu religion, though a person may easily lose [[Caste system in India|caste]] status through [[gramanya]] for a very wide variety of infringements of caste prohibitions. This may or may not be recoverable. However, some of the modern organised sects within Hinduism may practice something equivalent to excommunication today, by ousting a person from their own sect.

In medieval and early-modern times (and sometimes even now) in South Asia, excommunication from one's ''[[caste]]'' (''[[jāti]]'' or [[Varna (Hinduism)|''varna'']]) used to be practiced (by the [[Caste panchayat|caste-councils]]) and was often with serious consequences, such as abasement of the person's caste status and even throwing him into the sphere of the [[Dalit (outcaste)|untouchables]] or [[bhangi]]. In the 19th century, a Hindu faced [[Kala pani (taboo)|excommunication for going abroad]], since it was presumed he/she would be forced to break caste restrictions and, as a result, become polluted.<ref name="Britannica - Outcaste">{{citation | url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/435540/outcaste |title=Outcaste |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref>

After excommunication, it would depend upon the caste-council whether they would accept any form of repentance (ritual or otherwise) or not. Such current examples of excommunication in Hinduism are often more political or social rather than religious, for example the excommunication of lower castes for refusing to work as scavengers in Tamil Nadu.<ref name="Article-TheHindu">{{citation | url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-sundaymagazine/article1074200.ece | location=Chennai, India | newspaper=The Hindu | title=Imprisoned for life | date=9 January 2011}}</ref>

Another example of caste-related violence and discrimination occurred in the case of the Gupti [[Isma'ilism|Ismailis]] from the Hindu Kachhiya caste. Interestingly, Hindu members of this caste began prayers with the inclusion of the mantra “[[Om|OM]], by the command, [[Basmala|in the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful]]” (''om farmānjī bi’smi’l-lāh al-raḥmān al-raḥīm''), but never found it objectionable or Islamic. However, in the early 1930s, after some conflict with caste members due to their profession of allegiance to the [[Imamate in Ismaili doctrine|Ismaili Imam]], this group, known as the Guptis, were excommunicated from the caste completely as they appeared to be breaking caste solidarity. This was also significant for the Gupti community as, for the first time, they could be identified as a distinct group based on their religious persuasion. Some of the more daring Guptis also abandoned their former practice of [[Taqiya|pious circumspection (''taqiyya'')]] as Hindus, claiming that since they had been excommunicated, the caste no longer had any jurisdiction over their actions.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Virani|first=Shafique N.|title=Taqiyya and Identity in a South Asian Community|url=https://www.academia.edu/36996009|journal=The Journal of Asian Studies|year=2011|volume=70|issue=1|pages=99–139|doi=10.1017/S0021911810002974|s2cid=143431047|issn=0021-9118}}</ref>

An earlier example of excommunication in Hinduism is that of [[Shastri Yagnapurushdas]], who voluntarily left and was later expelled from the [[Vadtal Gadi]] of the [[Swaminarayan Sampraday]] by the then Vadtal acharya in 1906. He went on to form his own institution, ''Bochasanwasi Swaminarayan Sanstha'' or ''BSS'' (now [[BAPS]]) claiming [[Gunatitanand Swami]] was the rightful spiritual successor to [[Swaminarayan]].<ref name="isbn0-691-12048-X">{{cite book |title=The camphor flame: popular Hinduism and society in India |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, N.J |year=2004 |page=172 |isbn=0-691-12048-X}}</ref><ref name="isbn052165422X">{{cite book | author=Raymond Brady Williams | title=Introduction to Swaminarayan Hinduism | publisher=Cambridge University Press | year=2001 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tPkexi2EhAIC|isbn=0-521-65422-X |access-date=26 March 2011|page=54}}</ref>