You don’t mess with Americans anymore

INDIAN liberals were a confused lot last week when the United States cancelled the visa of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. This man had buckets of human blood on his hand and so he deserved a snub by the entire world, a few of the well-meaning folks argued. Others found themselves in a peculiar bind. They did not want to rust the United States as a protector of anyone’s human rights any more. Still others were unsure about the approach towards a constitutionally elected nominee of an Indian state, which Mr Modi is. Should they allow a foreign government with dubious credentials to judge him?

The Americans cited a law in their statue books that prohibits a visitor’s visa to a foreign government official perceived to have violated religious freedoms. Should India’s liberals gloat over the American denial of visa to the man they see as the one responsible for Gujarat’s anti-Muslim pogrom of February-April 2002?

The liberals’ difficulty with the somewhat esoteric problem waned on its own. The Indian government itself lodged a loud protest against the denial of visa to Mr Modi.

The Congress Party and the United Progressive Alliance had come to power last May by promising, among other things, to fight Narendra Modi’s kind of communal fascism.

But last week the Congress spokesman was expressing anger at the United States, not relief at the Hindutva leader’s quandary. And this was not out of love for Mr Modi, nor prompted by any allergies towards Washington, but purely because the Congress lives in terror of Hindutva’s street-fighting ability, the ever-present threat of a “Hindu backlash” that could destabilize Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s increasingly fragile coalition.

After all, Modi supporters were swarming the streets of Gujarat, some of them targeting Pepsi units. For a government whose economic and political interests are anchored in the goodwill of the United States, any harm to American icons would be viewed dimly by the big fellow.

On the other hand, if annoyed, Hindutva hordes could bring domestic turbulence more lethal than the one that recently visited the Singh establishment in the wake of Bihar and Jharkhand elections.

If it serves any purpose there are a couple of lessons to be gleaned from the American visa episode. First, the decision is of a piece with the tested American policy of befriending rightwing musclemen and then deserting them at will when their utility is over. Saddam Hussain and the Taliban were both dealt with according to this tenet.

Similarly, the Americans have courted Hindtuva for decades. All the brouhaha today about Modi glorifying the Nazis, one of the reasons cited to cancel his visa, is eyewash. The world knows that the foundations of Modi’s Hindutva doctrine were laid decades ago on the principles of Italian fascism.

Guru Golwakar, the founder of Hindutva order actually ordained in a briskly argued book in the 1930s that Indian Muslims may be treated the way Jews were regarded by the Nazis — as second-class citizens. The pogrom bit from the thesis was kept for successors to hone.

Why did the US Congress not see the argument about the BJP, and thereby about Modi, being rooted in Nazi philosophy all these days? Golwalkar wrote his thesis 70 years ago and Modi showed its use and practice three years ago. So what accounts for the hullabaloo now? Would the Americans have taken the attitude towards Mr Modi during Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee’s tenure as prime minister? Perhaps not.

In fact at that time, the assistant secretary of State, Christina Rocca, was busy defending the Gujarat government’s pursuit of justice for the pogrom victims. As irony would have it, a day after Ms Rocca lauded the judicial process in Gujarat before the US Congress, India’s Supreme Court ordered the trials to be shifted to neighbouring Mumbai for more transparency.

So what could have prompted this apparent change of heart? Is the second Bush administration trying to win back the hearts of the world’s Muslims it had deserted for whatever tactical or strategic reasons — in the Middle East and Central Asia or in key ally Pakistan, and quite possibly even in India? If so, the visa episode is a potentially successful gambit of a high order.

The second lesson to be learnt from the episode is a relatively simple one. And that is: No one messes with the American interpretation of what they pass for law at any given time. Why discuss a mere visa for some obscure chief minister of a distant country called India? The Americans were quite prepared in September 1983 to take on the Soviets, at that time their robust challengers. In fact they were ready to take on the United Nations too.

Recall that in late August 1983 Soviet warplanes shot down a Korean Jumbo-jet over the island of Sakhalin. The world was outraged by the tragedy of 269 deaths. Moscow claimed the plane was spying since it had strayed deep inside its airspace.

A few days later Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko was on his way to attend the UN General Assembly session. What did the Regan administration do? First it considered not letting Mr Gromyko’s plane land in New York, but later decided to allow his flight to go to a military airfield.

When Mr Gromyko protested against the American behaviour and threatened to get the UN moved out of US territory, Washington’s deputy chief at the UN wryly welcomed the idea.

“If, in the judicious determination of the members of the United Nations, they feel they are not welcome and treated with the hostly consideration that is their due, the United States strongly encourages member states to seriously consider removing themselves and this organization from the soil of the United States,” said Charles M Lechnstein, deputy chief at the UN. “We will put no impediment in your way…and we will be at the dockside bidding you a farewell as you set off into the sunset.”

Lessons apart, what can anyone do except to look on helplessly — much like the pulverized world when a US warship in the Gulf shot down an Iranian Airbus in July 1988 killing all 290 people on board. There was no hint of an apology, much less any offer of help. Therefore, the one lesson that both Congress and Narnedra Modi can do well to learn is this: You don’t mess with the Americans, even if you believe you are their best ally.

Reading texts from the past

I HAVE been serialising the Seventh DT Lakdawala Memorial lecture delivered by Romila Thapar, Professor Emeritus of history at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, on Feb 21, 2004. Today, we shall see what the Professor thinks of texts from the past and how they must be read.

The professor begins: One may well ask why are the proponents of this new history (March 14) repeating the colonial history of the nineteenth century and claiming it not only as new but indigenous? it should be recognized that since the political ideology derives from a colonial source, it is not surprising that the historical interpretation it wishes to project, does the same. If a claim is made to shifting the paradigm in history, then a way of explaining the past has to be constructed that is significantly different from previous attempts.

It must provide new perspectives of the nature of the data and its comprehension. It must be accompanied by a viable theory of explanation relating to the new paradigm. But the supposed new history neither addresses the questions and the concepts that other historians are addressing nor does it raise fresh ones.

Obviously history has to be rewritten from time to time since it is not a frozen body of information. Like all knowledge it has to be continually updated through advances in data and methods of analyses. This process is part of a critical enquiry, on which the historical method is founded. The assumption that such a method is not required in the reinterpretation of history is a premise that is disputed by those opposing the supposed new history.

In the last half-a-century, historians of India have moved away from the rather limited debate of colonial and nationalist interpretations, towards more precise methods of enquiry and a more critical use of sources and interpretations. Most of the changes are obvious and are observed by historians working on any aspect of history in any part of the world.

Nevertheless, they need to be reiterated where they are not being observed in claims made to historical writing. An awareness of updated information and readings is essential.

In speaking of a historical method a number of features of historical research are essential. Historical evidence consists of artifacts and texts in the main. The oral tradition is included but has its own methods of testing for reliability or assessing its intentions. Artifacts include visible remains such as architecture and icons from past periods as well as those that have to be excavated. Artifacts and texts have to be interpreted by historians and this raises the question of the basis on which interpretations are made. These are determined by the readings which when they depart from earlier accepted ones have to be justified.

This was known to earlier historical research but now there are many more techniques of analyses that can bring variant readings. The many debates on the date of the Arthashastra are a case in point. Earlier views drew on arguments based on internal evidence and corroboration from other source. More recently, the text was subjected to a computer analyses based on linguistic forms. Concordances of the symbols on the seals from the settlements of the Indus civilization were also facilitated by the use of a computer. Similar techniques and analyses have been made of titles and designations from Chola and Vijayanagara inscriptions and these studies have enhanced our understanding of the structure of administration in south India.

Interpreting a period of history means viewing it from the perspective of various social groups: the many voices of a history. Historical evidence is no longer limited to the narrative of the victorious alone. Narratives also draw from and speak to the other, and historians now seek the voice of the other. But fantasy has to be differentiated from demonstrated evidence.

Sources, therefore, are questioned before their versions are accepted. There has been a further fine-tuning of the chronology of texts, using internal criticism or even new technical aids. A random use of sources ranging over five centuries to make a point is no longer acceptable. Where chronology is under discussion, precise dated sources are given priority over evidence that comes from texts extending over large periods of time, as for example the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. The latter constitute a different aspect of historical investigation.

A significant change of the last few decades has been that of viewing history as a process and not merely a narrative of events. This involves discussing concepts from comparative history and from other disciplines that often leads to a better-defined investigation and encourages more pertinent questions. The emphasis on historical context is a major methodological departure, very different from isolating evidence and treating it as individually self-sufficient as was done earlier. Not only are the contents of texts studied but also their context in terms of the author, the audience, the purpose and the genre. This has enriched our understanding of texts and provides greater precision.

The scope of history has widened enormously to include the study of changing forms of caste, gender studies, diverse economies of various periods, the role of technologies, processes of state-formation, the social context of religious sects, the history of ideas, the impact of environment and ecology on human activity and vice-versa — in fact the normal components of what today is regarded as appropriate to historical investigation. The much wider range of casual analyses resulting from the broadening of the scope of history now requires a discussion of priorities in ascertaining causes. Over and above this, the historical context of ideas and historiography — the history of historical ideas — has become a prerequisite for historical research. The historian is not creating a belief about the past, but is attempting to understand the past through a logical analysis of the evidence.

Those who promote the new history, object to much of the history that has been written in recent decades. It is persistently referred to as anti-national and Marxist on the assumption that this in itself will discredit it. The label of Marxist has become a catch all for any kind of history that now is disapproved of by religious nationalism, whether of the Hindu or the Muslim variety, or any other. This is because such histories often incorporate a range of opinions, enrich the understanding of the past by extending causal analyses, question popularly accepted or received notions and encourage an awareness of historical method and critical enquiry as the basis of research.

Historians in the last fifty years have made extensive analyses of the themes initiated by colonial historiography. Mill’s periodisation and the concept of Oriental Despotism have been set aside. Marxist historians have criticized Karl Marx’s Asiatic Mode of Production, as the dominant political economy of pre-modern India; and instead of directly applying familiar theories, there is a greater interest in the range of Marxist methodologies used in historical analyses. The notion of a “Golden Age” has also been questioned.

Recent studies have made visible the multiple cultures that are essential to understanding the Indian past and present. The boon to the Indian historian is the continuing presence of what has been called “the living past”, which has sensitized historians to one kind of comparative method. A view of history from the perspective of under-privileged groups that this provides, presents a more complete picture of society than was known in earlier studies. Above all, this kind of history cannot be controlled by a single ideology.

Yet such a control over knowledge is now being attempted. Issues relating to culture, aesthetics and philosophy have also to conform to the formulaic projection of what is referred to as “the Indian tradition”. It is argued that Indian civilization has been continuous and without a rupture, and that this is unlike the experience of western civilization that is seen as having broken with Greco-Roman Classicism and Mediaeval Christianism to arrive at Modern Enlightenment. It is maintained that the Indian reality of the past and the present, can only be understood through Indian theoretical constructs contained in Sanskrit texts. This is said to be the Indian cultural continuity. If taken literally this would in effect be the end of history. It is legitimate to base theories of Indian culture and tradition on textual sources — which is precisely what historians do. But it is intellectually illegitimate to ignore what one might call the double agenda of history: that each text has a historical context and an intention in the act of its composition; and that each subsequent reading of a text or of an event, is also conditioned by the context of the event and of the person writing about it and the audience for whom it is intended. Obviously texts from the past must be read, but they must be read with a comprehension of their time and function, which in turn requires that the reading be analytical. This is recognized in the methods basic to the humanities and the human sciences, where these are part of the larger discourse.

(To be concluded)

Of fans and bruised egos

One can hardly think of a place that is as guarded and as impenetrable in Karachi as the airport. There was a time when one could enter the arrival and departure lounges without any problem. The only two places where you couldn’t go were the runway and the tarmac, not because you would have been suspected of causing a nuisance — terrorism was not the buzzword then — but out of concern for your own safety.

Apart from those who went to the airport to see off or receive friends and relatives, there was a small number who went there to get, or at least attempt to get, foreign perfumes, chocolates and/or cigarettes. But there were two snags, one you had to produce dollars or pound sterling to buy what tempted you and foreign currency was not easy to get until quite recently. Vendors sold them at Boulton Market but there was always the risk of being nabbed by the police.

The second problem was that the customs officials kept an eye on non-passengers walking away with duty free booty. Today the charm of duty free shopping is no more. Thanks to liberal imports and to smugglers, there is nothing that you get in Dubai which you can’t get it here.

One of our friends who edited an English-language film magazine in the 1960s recalls that some time in early 1965, the manager of a foreign airline phoned to tell him that Dilip Kumar was on the flight that took off from Bombay and was to touch Karachi, on its way to London. The message somehow reached other journalists also. When the airline manager brought the matinee idol to the VIP lounge there were already quite a few newsmen, not to speak of airport and airline staff who mobbed the super star. People forgot to even offer him a cup of tea, and he had to ask for a glass of water (the next day an Urdu newspaper sensationalized the water part of the story. ‘I am dying for a glass of Pakistani water,’ screamed the headline). What the papers rightly said was that, that was the first time the actor had stepped on Pakistani soil, even if it was for merely half an hour.

Also sitting in the VIP lounge was the chief of protocol, who belonged to a well-known family, but will at the moment remain unnamed. Those attending to him slipped away and joined the crowd that was swelling by the minute around Dilip Kumar, and to add insult to injury, the chief of protocol’s daughter also deserted her father. The following day explanations were called and the man opening the door of the VIP lounge to Dilip Kumar was suspended. When the bruised ego became less painful the gentleman withdrew his complaint.

Dilip Kumar didn’t visit Pakistan until many years later. It was a trip he made with his star-wife Saira Bano and his affable brother Ahsan Khan. The purpose of the trip was to help raise funds for the Fatimid Foundation. The actor insisted that Sultan Arshad, the PIA manager in Bombay, accompany him to Karachi, which he did. A touching scene was enacted when Dilip Kumar visited his ancestral home in Peshawar, but much more moving moments were when he visited patients suffering from blood cancer at the Fatimid Foundation. One old lady wouldn’t leave his comforting hand.

‘Phaddeybaz’ of Karachi

A colleague recently received an enlightening lecture from a child. This is what she has to report: a friend’s daughter came for a sleepover and while my own teenage children were busy with their things, she gave me a real insight into what’s in and out, what’s real, what’s not and what we, as parents, have no clue is happening in the life of the kids in Karachi.

She gave me the real lowdown and looking at my face kept wondering how I didn’t know about these things. I, for my part, thought a lot of it was exaggerated, although she swears by all that she told me.

So we all know they are a weird breed, these kids, and indulge in not-so-healthy activities. It’s every teenage home’s story – love the sheesha culture that seems to have invaded the cafes, hate healthy home-made food, hate eating at home with the family, fear being called a loser for staying home for more than a couple of hours at any given day (exams or no exams), give parents company, if ever, at dinner times only, chat incessantly on the Internet or on the phone, don’t sleep till well over midnight while parents are fast asleep, etc. Some enterprising bathroom singers have upgraded themselves and are even part of underground bands. “Orkut” is their virtual company on the Internet and they love to shop for clothes.

And all that is fine in this fast-paced city of Karachi. But there is a seamy side to this lot which can be scary. The little monsters, not yet 18, indulge in some unhealthy activities, and that too right under their parents’ watchful eye. They party a lot, are into smoking, often followed by alcohol and drugs, and love to get into ‘phaddas’. Yes, these bored kids having seen too much too soon from various upmarket schools that claim to turn your kids into useful well-rounded citizens get into dirty fights, not on the street and not with street kids but at a club, wielding real guns (borrowed from their own security guards in tow), knives and even clips just for the heck of it. Either the police can’t get there or if they do dare butt in, the gang leaders have enough money on them to pay them off to look the other way.

But what is the point of getting into these pre-meditated fights? “Oh, for getting the attention of the girls or for showing attitude,” says the girl who seemed to know it all.

Unread leaflets

Some may regard this incident as merely surprising. But a former colleague says it was an eye-opener as far as she was concerned. Some 334 kilometres from Karachi, and just 50 kilometres from Indian border villages, in a small village in Badin, Acchro Thar, Gameer Singh still remembers the fateful day when leaflets flew down from the sky.

“The year was 1965, many leaflets written in Urdu were dropped by an airplane in our village. We collected these leaflets and kept them in safe custody. Unfortunately, at that time no one in our village or even those surrounding ours was literate or could read the message. I walked 35 kilometres to have it read. The note asked us to evacuate the village as there was danger of war breaking out between India and Pakistan.”

He feels that such a situation would never arise again, as now even the womenfolk in their village are getting educated through female adult literacy centres recently started by SAFWCO, an organization based in Sanghar which is running 10 adult literacy centres for women —- five in taluka Khipro-Acchro Thar supported by ADRA-International and five in Taluka Shahdadpur supported by the ministry of women.

“In future, we would not have to go far to get anything read or even to get anything written. Another good thing that will come about through these literacy programmes is that these educated women will see to it that their children, especially their daughters, get proper education,” he hopes. Most villagers also feel that with the women being able to read and write, they would be able to communicate frequently with their relatives on the other side of the border.

Malfunctioning clocks 

When the new digital clocks that can be seen on many city traffic lights were installed, the city government said that this was being done to facilitate motorists and at the same time earn revenue for the city. Barely a year has passed now and most clocks are either inoperative or malfunctioning – showing the wrong time in most instances.

What is surprising, however, is that the commercial part of these clocks – the portion above the time piece which displays the advertiser’s message — seems to be working just fine. While this may be a quirk of fate, the city government needs to take notice and ensure that the electronic clocks are made functional again and made to run to time. If this is not done, then these innovative additions to our city traffic lights would defeat the purpose for which they were installed — unless of course this was done only to advertise and not to inform the people of the city.  

New buses 

With the introduction of new large buses on many city routes, the government needs to start implementing the second phase of its transport upgrading scheme, which includes removing the minibuses, coaches and other old and large smoke-emitting buses.

It is understood that for the new transport plan of the government to succeed, these old buses have to be removed from the city streets at the earliest. Many of them have already been de-registered but are running on the “goodwill” of the traffic police department. The city government plans to allow several hundred new buses on many routes in the year, but investors insist that unless the old buses are removed, they will not have the number of passengers that would be required to run a profitable service.

Incidentally, most of the new buses are charging the same fares that coach and minibuses charge. It is believed hundreds of buses are standing in different warehouses all over the city as investors insist that the government honour its promise of removing the minibuses and coaches. So far, the city government has been dilly-dallying on what is a very important issue.

— By Karachian

Email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com