Book Review: Ethnicity and Politics in Pakistan by Feroz Ahmed

The author believes that theory is generalization and systematic and meaningful ordering of empirically verified facts. Ahmed suggests that concepts by themselves are not the motive forces of history. It is the material realities behind these concepts which call for change.

Before the formation of Pakistan there was a center which delegated powers to the provinces for the sake of administrative convenience. Pakistan retained its unitary character, after formation. Before the partition of Indian sub-continent the emerging capitalist class of India was almost totally non-Muslim, and the commercial life of the regions which later became Pakistan was dominated by Hindu and other non-Muslim, and the commercial life of the regions which later became Pakistan was dominated by Hindu and other non-Muslim businessmen. While landlords and peasants in West Pakistan were Muslims, rural life in East Pakistan was stratified along religious lines, with almost all landlords being Hindus and almost all rural beings Muslim.

Migration of Hindus landlords created a power vacuum in East Bengal. The land left behind was redistributed among peasants. In the urban areas the elite in Bengal consisted of the decaying Muslim aristocracy, represented by the regional Muslim League. The urban bourgeois was absent. Instead the small traders, shopkeepers, professional people, teachers, and clerks, became potentially the most important class. West Pakistan also did not have a bourgeois class. Absentee landlords became the most powerful class. The landlords were not politically well organized in this part of Pakistan. The bureaucracy formed strong relations with the landlord class. It rise as a social force and filled the vacuum created by the British departure. The bureaucracy was drawn mostly from Punjab and Urdu speakers of Sind.

West Pakistan received traders belonging to the Memon, Bohra and Khoja communities. These immigrants had come from Gujarat and Bombay.  In East Pakistan due to the absence of capitalists, feudal landlords, bureaucracy, and the military the power structure of West Pakistan became the national power structure.  At independence the GDP of East Pakistan was more than that of West Pakistan. Education was also more extensive. The economic infrastructure of West Pakistan was certainly an advantage. The industrialization of West Pakistan created disparities in the socio-economic development of both the regions. West Pakistan based capital penetrated into East Pakistan. Distrusting the Bengalis the West Pakistani capitalists brought their own managers from West Pakistan.

Pakistan received economic aid from USA in early 1950s. Later it also signed SEATO. The US expanded its share in Pakistan’s imports from six percent in 1952 to forty percent in 1960s. As a result of the capitalist model followed by Pakistan, twenty families came to control 80 percent of the banking, 70 percent of the insurance and 66 percent of the industrial assets of Pakistan. When the decade of development ended in 1968, the GDP of West Pakistan exceeded that of West by 34 percent.

In 1958 there was a coup in Pakistan. Later Ayub Khan revealed that he had consulted officials in Washington, including CIA Chief Allen Dulles, before declaring martial law in Pakistan. During Ayub’s rule Tagore’s songs were banned on Radio Pakistan. As Tagore was a Hindu and considered as a bad influence. Anti-Bengali and anti-Hindu bigotry was rampant in West Pakistan. The remarks made by Major Kamal were highly disturbing. He said once that once the West Pakistanis had conquered East Bengal each of his soldiers would have a Bengali mistress. He compared the Bengalis with dogs.

A devastating cyclone and tidal wave hit coastal areas of East Pakistan. The military government was inefficient in providing relief to the affected people of East Pakistan. Yahya Khan refused to convene the Assembly in Zulfiqar Ai Bhutto’s support. Further in the book the author narrates about the language riots in 1972. He stresses on the basics of language and the makeup of language communities in Pakistan. The author believes that Pakistan is a multinational state with four major nations. Earlier on in the book the author mentions that China, Switzerland and Afghanistan as countries which have various nationalities within its borders.

In West Pakistan very small ethnic groups who could not assist themselves culturally on a nation-wide basis and who had to conform to the prevailing ethos of the ruling oligarchy. Thus, among the non-Urdu speaking communities, Urdu essentially became the language the language of the elite, of the privileged. The author believes that as the feudal system vanishes and is replaced by capitalism or socialism, enlargement of the resource base, consolidation of the productive forces and integration and expansion of the market, will be inevitable. The language which serves as the medium of this commercial intercourse will naturally grow, flourish and become increasingly acceptable to people who speak other mother tongues.

Moreover Ahmed writes about the Arab conquest of Sind. The rule of Soomro and Samo after came after the lapse of the Arab rule. This Rule of Soomro and Samo lasted for about 500 years. Later Arghuns and Tarkhans arrived from Central Asia. In 1592 the Mughal Ruler Akbar omposed direct rule over Sind. There were at least 40 clans who were in rebellion against the Mughals. The Sameja Unar, Chandio and Nomri were particulary were noted for their resistance to alien rule. Kalhoro, a native ruler of Sind emerged after the crumbling of Mughal rule. Before the British conquered Sind in 1843, the latter had established itself as a fully sovereign state, ruled by the Talpur Mirs. Commander Hosho, who became a hero, raised the slogan of Murresoon Sindh na desoon( we will die but not give up Sindh).

The author views the resistance in Sindh as something significant. He believes that it was the most sophisticated tactics of indigenous guerilla war. The British had imposed martial law in Sind in 1942 and did not lift it until a few months before the independence of 1947. Concentration camps and barbed wrires were common sights in Sind. Derailment of trains, breaching embankments and ambushing police parties were common too. Police was brought in to assist in the counter insurgency operations. Ahmed stresses that the idea behind the Hur movement was independence of Sind. In Sind the Talpurs who are Baloch, came from outside. The major portion of immigrants in Sind were from UP, Dehli, Hyderabad and Bihar. The remaining are from Kathiawar.

One million Hindu Sindis left for India. On the other hand more than one million Urdu-speaking persons came from India and settled in Sind.The land brought under cultivation by the construction of Kotri and Guddu barrages was also awarded to non- Sindi military and civil officers or ‘purchased’ by prosperous Punjabi farmers in give-away auctions. The author narrates an incident from Dadu district. A factory was located in Sind. This was a rural area with no non-Sindi population. But when the factory was located there, all the managerial staff and most workers were recruited from Punjab and N.W.F.P. Even the Imam of the mosque was brought from Punjab.

In addition to that Ahmed also mentions about the Mujahir identity in Pakistan. In March 1984 a new force in the form of Mujahir Qaumi Movement emerged on Pakistan’s political stage. This movement took the urban centers of Sind by storm.  In Karachi, of all the immigrants (including 19.3 percent from Bombay and Gujarat), the largest proportion came from the UP and the ‘North-West Zone’ (Dehli, Ajmer, Rajputana and Punjab). When General Yahya Khan refused to honor the results of 1970 elections, the Mujahirs overwhelmingly joined the Punjabis in supporting the action and went into a frenzy of ethnic bigotry against the Bengalis. The author opines that General Zia found broad support among the Mohajirs for his decision to hang Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.

Zia’s active involvement in the Afghan insurgency facilitated a dramtic rise in Pashtoon power in Karcahi. Drugs, guns and black market for various goods expanded due to the Afghan war.In 1985 Bushra Zaidi, a Mohajir College girl was run over by a driver identified as a Pashtoon in Nazimabad, Karachi. This incident created more conflict. Mohajirs were disenchanted with Zia regime. Islami Jamiat-i-Tulaba IJT leadership in Karachi had passed into the hands of Punjabi students. Muhajirs felt they were being used to serve Punjabi interests.

The author strongly believes that no struggle will have legitimacy if the common masses do not see it as their own struggle.

Note: Read in July 2013, the review for this book was written earlier today. This review is extracted from the notes (written in 2013) of the reviewer.

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Libraries in ICT

Last month I visited libraries near my house and in total I found only three. One of them is in G-11 Markaz. This library is a dingy room with insufficient light. One corner of the roof gives a view of the sky as corrugated roofing sheet is not in place. An employee at the library informed me that the roof was affected by a storm a few years ago. This building needs serious renovation.

Travelling to another library in G-8/1 I saw a library located on the dead end of a street corner. This structure is a shanty metal container. In fact, it looks more like a makeshift shelter. Lastly I visited a library in F-9. This library seemed reasonable. I applied for membership when the staff informed me that it would take a maximum of two days. I got my membership card after three weeks.

I wonder who is responsible for all these ills. Is it inefficiency, lethargic attitude or red tape? When would this stop?

Note: This article was written in October 2018.

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Book Review: The Asian Paradise Hunza by Rahmatullah Beg

Rahmatullah Beg got his education from Hunza and Gilgit and Srinagar. Later he moved to Karachi after the partition of United India. He held various portfolios during his lifetime. Most of these portfolios were honorary positions within his community. This particular book of the author covers numerous themes. Most of the chapters in the book are written by the author.

Some of the others include speech, radio address, and articles from Dawn newspaper, personal letters and proposals. Beg has named the book Asian Paradise only because an American Film company had visited Hunza in the past and shot a film titled Hunza as Asian Paradise. In the introduction Beg mentions the presence of a Tarkhan house in Sost, Hunza. He further writes about Liaquat Ali Khan. While addressing people in Gilgit Liaquat Ali Khan expressed his hope the people of Gilgit would liberate Kashmir. I was unaware of Liaquat Ali Khan’s visit to Gilgit. The author mentions his visit. Beg further talks about the development and challenges of Tourism in the Northern Areas. Writing about Marcopolo he states that he had travelled from Gilgit to Hunza. At that time Hunza was under Buddhist rule.

In the 15^th century 200 individuals arrived in Hunza with the bridegroom from Shigar. Among them some families settled in Altit as they are known as Musinkuz. Moving on he says that Mir Nazim Khan of Hunza built a special guest house for VIPs in 1925. After Nazim Khan’s death his son Ghazan Khan shifted residence from Shumolbog to the old castle in 1938. He remained there till his death in 1945.

The author narrates an event from the Saint Gazette of London 1898. He writes that Queen Victoria made Aga Khan sit on Pope’s throne. Beg elaborates on Lord Curzon and Lord Kitchner’s visit to Hunza.  In addition to that he briefly writes about Queen Victoria’s monument in Hunza.

Aga Samad Shah’s visit to Hunza in Oct 1921 is briefly mentioned. He spoke Persian. Wazir Inayatullah and Subedar Muhammd Rafi served as interpreters. Aga Samad went to China via Hunza in Oct 1921 and returned in March 1922. He had gone to China for the enquiry of the murder case of Counselor at Chini Bagh, where the British Counselor was staying. Pir Subjally Ramzanally, Aga Khan Radio address of the 1940 to the Jamat of Northern Areas, Nanga Parbat expedition of 1953, Aga Khan IV visit to Hunza in Oct 1960 and education development in Hunza are covered in the subsequent chapters.

Construction of Karakoram Highway, Pak-Sino Boundary agreement, Haseegawaa Public School, Health in Northern Areas, and KADO and AKRSP’s efforts are also mentioned. Woes of Hunza are interesting chapters to read. PIA is severely criticized by the author. Referring to PIA he says: “I have been flying for the last many years between Rawalpindi and Gilgit but there is no improvement. People suffer as they are made to waste their precious time and money at Rawalpindi. PIA has failed to serve people on this route.”

The last pages of the book consist of colored and non-colored photographs. The rulers of Hunza from Ghazan Khan I to Jamal Khan are included. Others photographs include that of the author with different dignitaries in Hunza and elsewhere.

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Book Review: The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State by Frederick Engels

Frederick Engels wrote this book between March and May 1884. Originally written in German, appearing in book form first in 1884, the English translation of this got published in 1891. Based on nine interesting chapters, the author has starts from ancient stages of prehistoric culture and ends with the critique of civilization.

Engels believes Morgan was the first person who attempted to introduce a definite order into the prehistory of human kind. This order includes savagery, barbarism and civilization. Engels mentions Morgan dividing savagery and barbarism into lower, middle and upper stages according to the progress made in food production.  During the lower stages of savagery human race depended on fruits, nuts and roots. Crabs, mussels and aquatic animals came in the next stage.  This became possible with the use of fire. The upper stage of savagery began with the invention of bow and arrow. In this stage game became a regular source of food. Bow and arrow was for savagery what the iron sword was for barbarism and fire-arms for civilization- the decisive weapon.

Moreover in chapter two Engels again refers to Morgan. He explains Morgan reference to unrestricted sexual relations. This unrestricted sexual relation prevailed within every tribe, every woman belonging equally to every man and very man to very woman. According to Morgan the primitive state of unregulated sexual intercourse developed very early. Engels discusses consanguine family, Punaluan family and the pairing family. The increase in prohibitions made group marriages more and more impossible and they were displaced by the pairing family. The author writes about the overthrow of mother right with the decision that in the future offspring of male members should remain within that genes.

In addition to that Engels believes: “Modern individual family is founded on the open or concealed domestic slavery of women, and modern society is a mass composed of these individual families as its molecules.” During the three principal stages of human development the forms of marriages developed. In the first stage of savagery group marriage developed. In the second stage of Barbarism pairing marriage came into place. In the last stage of civilization monogamy supplemented by adultery and prostitution developed. The writer views monogamy to have arisen from the concentration of large wealth in the hands of single individual-man.

With private property gaining ascendency over communal property and with the father right getting more prominent the dependency of marriages on economic considerations became even greater. Furthermore Engels suggests that supremacy of man in marriage is only due to his economic supremacy. The abolition would disappear once the economic supremacy ends.

In chapter three Engels addresses the Iroquois Gens of Americas. He writes about their prevalent hierarchy. Each tribe has a particular dialect, tribal council for common affair is present and war chiefs are elected. The Iroquois Confederacy had no powerful head and no chief with executive power. Outside the tribe was considered outside the law.

Chapter number four focuses on the Greek Gens. Engels quotes Grote’s A History of Greece. The Greeks had a common burial place. Right of adoption into the gens, right to elect chiefs and to depose them were present. The fifth chapter is about the rise of the Athenian state. The Athenian people fused into a single people. A common Athenian Civil law arose above the legal customs of tribes and gentes. The entire people were divided into three classes. This included tillers of land, artisans and nobility. Nobility only had the right hold office. In Athens there was no supreme official with executive power.

The author covers The Gens and the State in Rome in chapter six. The first constitution of the Roman people mentioned that public affairs were managed by the Senate. The Senate composed of the Chiefs of the 300 gentes. The Romans in the age of the so-called kings lived in a military democracy founded on gentes, phratries and tribes and developed out of them.

Chapter seven focuses on The Gens among the Celts and Germans. Among the Germans respect for female sex was very firmly in place. The thought of the wives and daughters taken captive or into slavery was terrible to them. Chastity for girls was maintained unlike the Celts. Among the Germans private associates had already become permanent. A military leader who had made himself a name gathered around him a band of young men eager for booty who he pledged to personal loyalty, giving the same pledge to them. Under the chapter formation of the state among the Germans the author emphasizes that “all that was vigorous and life-giving which the Germans infused into the Roman world was barbarian.”

In the last chapter Engels considers separation of pastoral tribes from the mass of the rest of barbarians as the first great social division of labor. Cattle-the chief article acquired a money function and already at this stage did the work of money. For the first great social division of labor arose the first great cleavage of society into two classes: masters and slaves, exploiters and exploited.

Engels believes that emancipation of woman becomes possible only when woman take part in production on a larger scale. Engels considers merchants as the class which without any participation in production subjugates the producers. This is a class of middleman which exploits any two producers.

Engels writes about how private land property, money, trade expansion and usury played a role in economies. Furthermore the arising of the state is described. Athens is considered as the purist example. Here the state sprang directly and mainly out of the class antagonisms which develop within gentile society itself. Hegel’s definition of state is also provided. Hegel believed that state would moderate conflict between classes with conflicting economic interests. State distinguishes itself from the old gentile organization on territorial basis, public power, taxes, and national debts.

Furthermore civilization is elaborated by Engels. “It is the stage of development in society at which the division of labor, the resulting exchange between individuals, and commodity production which combines them both, come to their full growth and revolutionizes the whole of previous society. Slavery is the first form of exploitation, the form peculiar to the ancient world, it is succeeded by serfdom in the Middle Ages, and wage labor in modern times.

Engels criticizes civilization: “From the first day to this, sheer greed has been the driving spirit of civilization; wealth and gain wealth and once more wealth, wealth, not of society but of this single-party individual- here was its one and final aim.” The more civilization advances it would introduce a conventional hypocrisy unknown to earlier forms of society.

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Book Review: In the Shadow of History by Mubarak Ali

In the shadow of history is a book which consists of articles written by Mubarak Ali. The writer believes that political history is mostly used by dictators and tyrants whereas social history focuses cultural and social values which bring people together. He views history taught at our educational institutions as political history, which serves the ruling classes. Moreover he also talks about attempts by historians to mold history in their own ways. Under the article Colonization and Language Dr. Mubarak Ali explains that military defeat is followed by attacks on social and cultural institutions and traditions in an attempt to make them worthless.

Ali further talks about the role of conspiracies in history. Quoting examples of Greek, Egypt and the Mughals he condemns romanticizing history. He firmly believes that history is not a romantic tale rather it is full of sorrow and misery. Blaming the Sufis he holds them responsible for making people passive and turning them into submissive beings. In addition to that he writes about the falsification of history giving examples of Hamaudur Rehman Commission and Jinnah’s speeches. In addition to that the author adds that Vasco de Gama and Columbus were guided by Muslim seafarers.

Emphasizing on the need to learn from history the author advocates that any nation should accept its mistakes. Ali writes about the need for young researchers to play an active role in historical writing. He quotes Engels who says: “He who writes history textbooks, writes history”. He addresses the problems in Pakistan regarding the writing of history and problems of research in Pakistan. With that he considers the future of research in Pakistan very bleak.

During Ayub Khan’s military dictatorship the subject of history was replaced by social studies. As a consequence history lost its independence. Further in the book the author criticizes Z.A Bhutto for lack of far-sightedness and lust for power. Due to this he lost the chance to strengthen democratic traditions in the country. 23 March was regarded significant after the independence of Bangladesh as it had challenged the very basis of two nation theory. Thereupon its celebration and importance started gaining strength.  

The landed aristocracy of India was the backbone of the modern school system introduced by the British. In a residential school there was no common mess and each boy had his own cook and kitchen. VIP Culture is traced back in history. During the decline of the Mughal Empire an anecdote regarding Mirza Ghalib is shared. Mirza Ghalib refused to serve in a college only because the principal did not come to receive him.

The author considers the prevalent system of democracy in Pakistan as feudal. Dr. Mubarak Ali criticizes fascism, hero-worship and dictatorship. He believes that societies which only rely on heroes for their survival do not prosper. This approach creates confusion in human minds. Instead of remedying their problems they wait for messiahs.

In the second half of the book, most of the articles are written on Sindh. This includes the Arab conquest of Sindh, feudalism, Sindh under foreign rule, Hindu Muslim conflict, and separation of Sindh from Bombay Presidency and nationalism in Sindh. Some of the other articles are about Mazilgah Mosque, communal violence, Sindhi nationalism, Ethnic division in Sindh, peasant rebellions in Sindh and banditry.

This book give one a flash back of major events in history and also highlights the distortions of history which have aggravated problems  and hindered a progressive approach.

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Book Review: We Indians by Khushwant Singh

I remember the time when I first saw one of Khushwant Singh’s books in my childhood. It was a blue book of jokes which I reckon was on one of the bookshelves in my house, although I do not remember reading the book.

Today I finished reading We Indians.  I found really interesting as it is about Khushwant Singh’s personal observation about the society he lives in. Published in 1982 the author analyzes the good and bad character of Indians. In the very first chapter he tries to explain who really Indians are. He adds: “The only group in or midst who had some reservations about being Indian were the Muslims”. He explains his reasons for thinking so.

The second chapter highlights the effects of religion on Indians. He considers them possessing desire for self-praise, sycophancy (worship of the successful), character assassination of others, love for wealth, being envious and claiming to be know-all. Singh opines that a new concept of work-based religion should be evolved otherwise religion is going to deteriorate people’s growth. In addition he is in favor of giving a modern reorientation to religion.

Moreover the author has included a chapter titled ‘The Women of India’. In this chapter he writes about the history of the social life of Indian women. Beginning from matriarchy in India he describes how things change at a later stage. Singh narrates how Suttee got introduced and was later outlawed during the British Raj in 1829 by Viceroy Lord William Bentinck. In the same chapter he praises Nehru’s role in the advancement of women in India.

While addressing the problem of corruption Singh suggests that laws are not enough to counter corruption. Instead social values have to change and society has a major part to play in this change. Further in the book he quotes Voltaire: “Corruption grows respectable with age”. Moving on the author writes a separate chapter on prohibition. He traces the history of prohibition in India and concludes by making an argument against prohibition in India.

In the concluding chapters of the book Singh writes about the debate regarding English in India. He says that he feels more comfortable in using English. Another chapter reflects on the British advantages and disadvantages for the people of India. He presents the viewpoints of the Indians and that of the British.

The last chapter discusses the international relations between India and the U.S. The author comments on political issues such as state relations, such as that of Indo- Pak, Indo-China, Soviet Union and the U.S. He stresses on the need to bridge the gap between India and U.S as India needs more help from U.S than vice versa.

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