KARACHI: A seminar at the launching of the book titled The Post- Colonial State and Social Transformation in India and Pakistan was held at the Nipa Auditorium here on Saturday.

The erudite Prof Hamza Alvi known the world over for his intellectual discourse and socio-economic researches was also there as were the chiefs of the Oxford University Press and the Irteqa Institute of Social Sciences. Khalid Nadvi, one of the two editors, the other being S. M. Naseem, was also there who described, in brief, how he was inspired to work on this project; the editing of sixteen chapters relating to the themes which were the central focus of Prof Alvi’s work. “The volume contains contributions by academics, researchers and social activists from various disciplines such as philosophy and economics.”

The speakers, who paid homage to the learned professor and briefly touched on issues besetting Pakistan in economic, social and cultural development included Dr Tahera Shahid Khan, Dr Asad Saeed, Dr Tariq Rahman and Dr Mubarak Ali. Dr Jaafer Ahmed conducted the proceedings and introduced the chief guests and the speakers. The seminar concluded with a passionate speech by the chairperson, Justice Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim, asking the rulers to trust the people of Pakistan and form a caretaker government to hold elections. The people were illiterate, but not uneducated, he said, adding that the present scheme of things was “a sure recipe for disaster.” He recalled the statement of the Quaid-i-Azam who did not think it proper to give a constitution to the nation and had said that constitution-making was the prerogative of the elected representatives of the people, and not of an individual.

Earlier, Prof Alvi gave a brief review of the economic policies pursued by the government of Pakistan in different periods. He said that globalization was an American slogan, a ploy to deny the people the benefits of industrialization, and to take over the entire world economy for their own benefit. Despite the fact that America at the very outset was unhappy with the process of industrialization in Pakistan, the government till Ayub Khan’s martial law maintained the pace of industrial development through the PIDC, PICIC and other policy-making bodies. Later, the emphasis was shifted to agriculture under the patronage of governor Kalabagh and his minister of agriculture, Malik Khuda Bakhsh Bucha. The feudals, the bureaucracy and the army were the real power wielders, and the economic policies pursued in those years destroyed the industrial structure. Flight of capital and also flight of capitalists began and whatever left was ransacked during Bhutto’s nationalization. As the army’s priority was the purchase of military hardware, the country’s economy suffered and the social sector remained poor and underdeveloped as ever.

Prof Alvi recalled that during this period industries in India developed immensely, making that country a huge industrial power. The learned professor quoted interesting episodes from South Asian history pertaining to the social order and economy.

Dr Asad Saeed paid homage to Prof Alvi who did a pioneering work in the study of the post-colonial society, the state, the military-civil bureaucratic oligarchy, and also the concept of salariat, the middle class in between the two poles of power — the capitalist and the working class —, the role of middle class in democratizing society and its nature and dynamics as explained by Prof Alvi paved the way for further research.

Khalid Nadvi said Prof Alvi’s work was of global nature. “A truly Pakistani intellectual,” his works on anthropology, political economy, gender politics and peasant societies were of great importance in understanding people. He recalled Prof Alvi as a great teacher, humane and caring treating his students as equals.

Dr Mubarak Ali, admiring the researches of Prof Alvi, described him as an independent thinker, keeping aloof from state patronage.

Dr Tariq Rahman, known for his studies in linguistics, briefly referred to the articles included in the book, also one by himself.

Dr Tahera’s thesis on women NGOs and comments on their class character provoked a protest and walkout by Sheema Kirmani, but to Dr Tahera what women NGOs were doing was not a movement and their failure was caused by the class conflict, a clear division of rich and poor women.

Earlier, Ameena Syed welcomed the guests and introduced some new titles of the OUP.— Hasan Abidi