Issue 56 Vol III, January 31, 2008

F E A T U R E S

The Indic Civilisation
Ishtiaq Ahmed

Today's article coincides with India's declaration as a republic in 1950. The civilisational roots of modern India are always worth discussing, because despite all the odds against it -- the caste system, poverty and hunger, illiteracy and other such debilitating factors -- it became a democracy and has remained so.

Civilisation denotes a complex society with distinct cultural and ideational features that takes shape in the long, historical process through the division of labour and a concomitant social hierarchy. Therefore, civilisations cannot be understood only in contemporaneous terms; historical antecedents and legacy weigh heavily in forming the present. On the other hand, civilisations are also dynamic and change, adjust and transform, while retaining links with the past.

Studying civilisations is a daunting task. I admire the courage of the veteran journalist and writer, Reginald Massey, born in Lahore to a Punjabi Christian family of Sikh Jatt origin, educated at the St. Anthony's High School in Lahore and later in India, and who now lives in an idyllic village in Wales. He has taken up the challenge and acquitted himself admirably.

His book, India: Definitions and Clarification (Hertford: Hansib, 2007) is a tour de force of truly encyclopaedic proportions. The book, however, is not exclusively about the current geographical entity called the Republic of India; it is about the historical, cultural and civilisational entity: the Indic civilisation. It includes not only India but also Pakistan and other states in this region. The Indic civilisation bears influence of not only Hinduism but also Buddhism, Jainism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and indeed the modern period of secular rationalism and scepticism. It is pluralistic in its deepest ethos.

The author makes the interesting observation that the Aryans called the main river they confronted when they entered the plains of the subcontinent, Sindhu, which is known as River Sindh and is the lifeblood of today's Pakistan. However, in Persian and Greek usage it began to be pronounced without the "s" at the beginning and over time the people who lived in the valley of the Indus River and east of it began to be called Hindus.

The Aryans crossed into the Indo-Gangetic Plain where they established their stronghold, but the whole region from Afghanistan to the lower Ganges was named by them as Aryavarta. That name, however, did not get established. Rather this region became famous as Hindustan.

The central thesis Massey sets forth is that the caste system has been the ultimate organising principle of the social, political and economic life in the subcontinent. The author condemns it in the strongest terms as it compartmentalised, society and established strict hierarchy. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, himself a Kashmiri Brahmin and thus belonging to the highest place in the caste hierarchy, made no secret of his abhorrence for the caste system.

Therefore, Nehru saw to it that Dr Ambedkar, the leader of the so-called Untouchables, who prefer to be called Dalits, was made chairperson of the committee that prepared the Indian Constitution. The constitution gives equal rights to all citizens, irrespective of caste. That has been the basis for India becoming a democracy, though in the wider society prejudices against the Dalits and lower castes still abound. The author narrates many anecdotes that highlight the continuing humiliation faced by the Dalits in contemporary India.

He observes that the caste system continued to fashion social hierarchy even among the followers of Islam and Christianity. Thus, among Muslims the distinction between the ashraf (superior) and the ajlaf (low-born) meant that they existed as two separate communities, while Christians who converted from Brahmin or other superior castes avoided contact with low-caste Christians.

The author examines northern and southern Indian societies over the historical period. We learn about important dynasties that came to power and what legacy they have left behind. Some Hindu dynasties were founded by men of humble origin who had themselves promoted to the second highest caste of the Kshatriyas through bribery and coercion.

The book compares the three leading personalities of the freedom struggle -- Mahatma Gandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru. Each is treated with fairness. The author thinks that Jinnah was a brilliant leader, without whom Pakistan would most probably never have come into being, and it is Nehruvian secularism which he believes has helped India remain a democratic polity.

He reserves scathing criticism for the ruling classes of both India and Pakistan. He writes: "The corrupt ruling classes of both India and Pakistan have done an excellent job in that they have succeeded in fooling the masses of their respective countries. Their success in this enterprise was, of course, assured since the majority of the people on both sides of the border are poor, superstitious, gullible, illiterate and an easy prey to state propaganda and the poisonous rantings of religious bigots"

Reginald Massey is currently writing a follow-up volume, in which he wants to probe the directions the South Asian region could take in the future. He is optimistic about the youths of this region, who he believes want to move on, rather than remain hostage to past conflicts and rivalries.

In this regard, it would be interesting to examine more closely if the Laws of Manu or the Constitution of Ambedkar is winning. Also, I hope he visits Lahore where he was born and about which he is so very proud. It would be interesting to know what he thinks happened to Jinnah's Pakistan.

[The writer is a professor of political science and a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore. Email: isasia@nus.edu.sg
Courtesy News Pakistan http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=92945]

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Opposition to Indo-US Deal can be fatal for BJP
Harjap Singh Aujla writes from New Jersey

Recently I attended a meeting of the Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce in New Jersey. Among the attendees were some senior functionaries of Smith Barney. They seemed worried about the fate of INDO-US nuclear deal. But they were guardedly optimistic about the implementation of this deal by the BJP led NDA government. I already believe in their optimism. The BJP will eventually find a reason to accept it, may be with just a cosmetic change.

In India’s highly fissured political system, intransigence and the tendency of scoring political points has taken an ugly and unbecoming shape and form. Some very well meaning economy boosting measures taken by the ruling coalitions are vehemently opposed by some of their strategic supporters due to their rigid, never changing ideological dogmas and by the main opposition parties just for the sake of the “Dharma” of opposition. The impression is going around that the political parties are taking the opinions and aspirations of public for granted. They somehow believe that whatever they do will go down well with their traditional vote banks. This sometimes gives a false sense of guarantee to their leadership that all that they are doing will end up meeting the approval in the rank and file of their faithful vote-banks. But when the vote-bank consists of the most intelligent business and industrial community and the educated intelligentsia, the leaders can at times go fatally wrong, even when common nationwide indicators point to their victories. The BJP is perhaps doing the biggest blunder when it feels that it can oppose the Indo-US Nuclear Deal and still retain the support of shop-keepers, big businessmen and the small and big industrialists. These classes want 24 hour uninterrupted power supply more than anything else. These classes are not anti-America. The BJP is dead wrong in believing that anti-incumbency will hurt only the Congress. The BJP is forgetting that there is a serious anti-incumbency undercurrent in Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and Rajasthan, although they have won a landslide victory in Gujarat and have wrested Himachal from the Congress. The poor were responsible for their loss in 2004. Only the rich and the middle class Hindu voted for the BJP in 2004 but due to extreme heat their numbers fell much short of their expectations.

The biggest problem that the business and industrial community in India is experiencing is the shortage of electric power. We are by nature bestowed with a large hydel power potential. But this resource is certainly not unlimited. We have large reserves of coal, but coal needs a lot of space for storage and its burning is highly polluting. Most of the rich countries are using petroleum based fuels to generate electricity, but we simply can not afford this luxury. The rich countries can afford to hike the prices of electricity, without much public outcry, whenever the cost of fuel justifies an increase. But in India, we do not have this option with the nation. The left wing supporters of the ruling coalition, without going into the justification of the increase, will not let these increases to happen. That is why we have not gone in for crude oil based thermal power plants. The petroleum based fuels can become cost competitive in India, if the price of crude per barrel can be around $15 and 20. Given the greed of the OPEC nations and the supply and demand regime, such low prices of crude oil are simply not possible now. That is why, the government contemplated to go for the nuclear fuel as an alternative mode of producing electricity. America is the largest producer of nuclear power in the World and its scientists have mastered the technique of mass production of nuclear power in virtually accident free, state of the art, generating facilities.

India’s yearning to mass produce nuclear power stems from its never diminishing shortage of electricity. At present our nation-wide shortage of electricity is to the tune of 100000 megawatts. Our economy is growing at the annual rate of 8.5%. Such a fast economic growth needs more and more electricity. It is anticipated that in another five years, if massive additional generation is not undertaken, the shortage will swell to 200000 megawatts. Our prime minister is a great economist and a scrupulously honest human being. He is a great judge of the vital needs of the growing economy. He understands it well that the left in India is inherently anti-America and to change its mind set is not all that easy. But in his scheme of things, the needs of the nation deserve top priority. He knows that since 1974, India is experiencing the worst technological boycott by the nuclear club nations. This deal and its acceptance by the 45 nation group constituting the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) opens the doors wide open for supply the of fuel and technology to India by 44 non-American nations. Some of these nations will not blackmail India, even if America decides to penalize us for exploding a nuclear device. The agreement with the IAEA gives us a lot more options than dealing exclusively with USA and the BJP should be wiser in not opposing it.

America is in the vanguard of the nuclear club nations and is also the most powerful and vocal amongst them. Manmohan Singh knows that without getting America decisively on its side, India can never hope to break the log jam of nuclear and dual technology boycott of India by advanced nuclear power capable nations. This thirty three year long boycott of India by nuclear nations has totally muzzled our grand plans of generating nuclear power in bulk. On the other hand, the needs of America’s import centric economy dictate bulk export of the latest nuclear technology and the nuclear fuel to responsible regimes like India. America knows that India’s is a fast developing giant sized economy and its burgeoning shortage of electricity is its biggest impediment in its healthy growth. America also knows that, in spite of her 1998 nuclear explosions, India is a highly responsible non-proliferating nuclear power. India has not sold its technology to not only the so called rogue nations, but also to any other nation of the World. Manmohan Singh knows that if America enters into a civilian nuclear energy pact with India, the other 44 nations will also slowly and surely fall in line. That is why such a time consuming process for this deal was undertaken by America. Its passage in the opposition dominated U.S. congress is a miracle of sorts indeed. Striking another similar deal may not be possible for a long time to come.

In a snap parliamentary poll, if held, the left shall not be a gainer that is why they are not in a hurry to bring down the government. Their citadels in Rural West Bengal and Kerala are also vulnerable and their head count in the Lok Sabha is expected to divindle. There will be some seats in the city of Calcutta that may change hands. The gains may not accrue to the BJP lead front, but Mamta Bannerjee and the Congress shall definitely be the gainers. The left front shall lose big in other states, where they benefited immensely during the last round of polling from the tactical voting engineered by the consolidation of anti-BJP vote bank. This time after such a bitter acrimony, it will be difficult to transfer the pro-Congress vote-bank to the left. If it happens it will be a mockery of politics.

The BJP is not perceived as an opponent of America. During their 1998-2004 stint in power, they bridged a lot of gap in the viewpoints between India and America. They were seriously contemplating a strategic partnership with America. And now they have taken a 180 degree turn from their original stand and are on the forefront of opposition to this hard fought civilian nuclear deal. Perhaps some leadership of the BJP did not do its homework properly. Their vote bank in terms of caste equations consists primarily of the upper castes. In economic terms, the rich and the upper and lower middle classes form their mainstay. As mentioned above, this elite group consists of the businessmen and industrialists, who are worst hit by the perpetual shortage of electricity. They have no ill feeling towards America, India’s largest trading partner. The BJP’s vote-bank does not want this government to fail on the issue of Indo-US Nuclear deal. They want 24 hour uninterrupted supply of electricity for their businesses and their factories. In present power deficit scenario, they are suffering mounting losses due to scheduled and unscheduled stoppages of work.

The BSP has surprisingly turned out to be a dark horse in the U.P. politics. Her administration in U.P. is still passing through a period of honeymoon with the electorate. Such honeymoons are generally expected to last more than one year. The next poll, if held sooner or later is likely to be held during this period of honeymoon in U.P. India is a very emotional country, we like to side with the victim. And the perceived victim today is Dr. Manmohan Singh Government. In 1999, when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s Government was dethroned on flimsy grounds. At that time the people rewarded Vajpayee with four and a half years of BJP-NDA Rule. Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government is in the same situation today in which Mr. Vajpayee was in 1999. The BJP shall be committing a blunder by taking the middle class support for granted. In present day scenario they can tilt in favour of the pro-business Congress too.

E-Mail: harjapaujla@gmail.com

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