South Asian Journal

Contents

In this Issue

Dedicated largely to discussion regarding religion, nation, state and identity in South Asia, the second issue of the South Asian Journal begins with an essay by Professor Peter van der Veer of the University of Amsterdam, in which he discusses the issues of fundamentalism and radical religious movements, in general, and in South Asia, in particular. Looking at the concept of modernisation and globalisation and locating the growth of these radical religious movements, van der Veer questions the nature of the ‘religiousness’ of these movements in contrast to more ‘secular’ demands. He argues that what are often perceived to be religious movements need not purely be that and are more broadly ‘political’ in nature. He cautions us about using such concepts and dichotomies as religious/secular which, he says, are historically located and are being transformed by and affecting the modern state.

Balbir Punj, Rajya Sabha Member and convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) think tank in India, attempts to clarify the perception held by many, that the BJP and its sister organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), are anti-secular and communal parties. He argues that the BJP is far more secular than most other Indian political parties, by quoting from writings of ideologues of the party and from the party’s manifesto, constitution and rules. Citing examples from recent Indian history and from the Indian Constitution, Punj tries to argue that the BJP has played a leading role in trying to take genuine secular course than what he dubs as ‘pseudo secularism’. He also argues that the terms ‘Hindu’, ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Hindutva’, have a cultural and national connotation, rather than a religious or sectarian content which most people believe.

Praful Bidwai, a secular analyst, presents a comprehensive analysis of Hindutva or Hindu-communlism and goes back in time to explain the factors behind the emergence of ethno-religious nationalism and Hindu communalism. Further, he traces the evolution of the Sangh Parivar (fraternity of Hindu revivalists) and the growth of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a mainstream political force, backed by its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Critically evaluating its ideological platform and the politics of temple behind the facade of cultural renaissance, Bidwai exposes the designs of Hindutva by castigating it as fascism. He explores the social basis behind the rise of Hindu fanaticism and authoritarianism without sparing even the most moderate faces of the BJP, such as Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.

Khaled Ahmed, Consulting Editor of the Friday Times, deals with the rise of Islamic fundamentalism and sectarian violence in Pakistan, while presenting a detailed history of how Pakistan has been affected by these phenomena. Tracing the origins of Islam in the area which became Pakistan and Islam’s impact on the Pakistan Movement, he shows how different notions of Islam existed - a High and Low Church. However, in the mid-1980s, under General Zia-ul-Haq, with the changed situation in Afghanistan and through the involvement of Islamic countries, the nature and form of religious expression changed in Pakistan. Gradually, religious extremism began to take root and jihadi culture and sectarianism became far more militant and visible in Pakistan. The article closely examines how jihadi groups operate in Pakistan and documents many cases and incidents of sectarian violence in the country.

The way Islam is categorised and castigated, more recently, is the theme of the paper by Dr. Iftikhar Malik, Professor at Bath University, U.K. Bringing in notions of neo-orientalism and neo-conservatism, Malik presents a defence of what he calls ‘Political Islam’. He argues that the West has too simplistically categorised Islam as a monolithic category, and is not concerned with developments (and schisms) within Islam. For him, Islam is not simply a religion but its variations give rise to different expressions of politics as well. Using examples from across the Muslim world, Iftikhar Malik talks about the class nature (and class conflict) of movements within political Islam. He argues that leaders and activists in the Muslim world are forced to address political, social and economic issues in their own context while relying upon the religious idiom.

The case of religion, identity and the state in Nepal is discussed by Dr. Krishna Hachhethu, Reader of Political Science, Centre for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS), Tribhuvan University, who argues that Nepal has always been a Hindu state, although Hinduism should not be seen merely as religion in the context of Nepal, where it has a far broader social and cultural manifestation and where it has been more ritualistic rather than a doctrine. Presenting a history of the formation of the Nepalese kingdom and state, he shows how religion has played a role in this formation. In modern day Nepal, there has been a growing tension between demands for a democratic and secular state by some sections of society and the fact that under a monarchy, Nepal is a Hindu state. Ethnic andeligious minorities, including marginalised Hindu groups, Maoist and other mainstream democratic parties have been active in their demands to push Nepal towards a secular direction that is different from its history of Hinduisation.

Selvy Thiruchandran, Director of the Women’s Education and Research Centre in Colombo, presents a historical examination of the Sri Lankan religious and ethnic question and the role the state has played in causing and dealing with the Tamil question. She argues that Sri Lankans are divided by ethnicity, race and religion, where religion was usually tied to ethnicity in the past, and language as the marker of ethnic groups, is the major divisive factor in Sri Lanka. After independence, Buddhism, which was the religion of the majority Sinhalese, was made the state religion, alienating many of the other religious and ethnic groups. The overlapping of religion/ethnicity/language and the domination by one group, that has also controlled a centralised state, has given rise to very bloody struggles between Tamil-Hindu minority and Sinhala Budhist majority in Sri Lanka over the last two decades.

A.H. Nayyar, a physicist at the Quaid-e-Azam University and an educationist, looks at the curriculum content of social science and Urdu text books, at the primary and secondary levels, in Pakistan. He presents numerous examples and quotations from these secondary-level books showing that young minds are being indoctrinated by religious ideas which do not inculcate tolerance towards other cultures and minorities. Nayyar shows that the instructions for and curriculum at lower grades is instrumental in inculcating a militant Islamic spirit among the students, rather than giving them a rational and truly national picture.

This is a case study of a dargah (shrine) in Karnataka, in South India, by Yoginder Sikand, at the International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, in Leiden, the Netherlands. Using the location of the dargah of a Muslim sufi, he shows how a relatively uncontroversial site for veneration for both Hindus and Muslims, has now turned into a site for communal contestation between Muslims and Hindus and their political representatives. Tracing the history of Islam in Karnataka, Sikand argues that Hindus and Muslims lived together for centuries and shared a common cultural world. Yet today, with growing communalisation in India, the shrine has become a ‘communal’ issue with the fear that it could even escalate into another Ayodhya in order to serve divisive contemporary political purposes.

Salman Akram Raja, a leading constitutional lawyer of Pakistan, has focused on the process of Islamisation of laws in Pakistan with the legalistic precision of an advocate. Briefly starting with the ideological debate surrounding the nature of state and laws, Raja takes note of both the distortion of and deviation from the guiding principles set by the Father of the Nation, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. In a comprehensive evaluation of the process of Islamisation of laws, especially during the reign of General Zia-ul-Haq, he discusses various laws that have been supposedly derived from the Quran and Sunnah. Referring to land-mark cases, and conflicting judgements, he narrates the effect these laws have had on different segments of society, particularly women and minorities, besides showing their conflict with the realities and known norms of justice.

Many readers of the South Asian political scene believe that religion has become a critical factor in politics in the region, and in India, given its large minority population, this has taken on the colour of communalism. Achin Vanaik, political commentator and former journalist, examines how religion has evolved in India, examining its political and cultural manifestation. He shows how over time, the role as well as notion of religion has changed in India, arguing that there has been a significant decline in the social importance of religion. He examines the impact of colonialism and modernisation on religion in India and shows that with regard to economic, political and social life, there has been an enormous secularisation in India. Nevertheless, acknowledging the visible presence of communalism in India, Vanaik provides ideas as to how to further maintain and deepen the secularity of the India state and to further secularise Indian civil society.

A leading human rights activist, Teesta Setlavad, editor of Communalism Combat and Secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP), narrates her account of what happened during and after the Gujarat Pogrom and hurdles to bringing the culprits to justice who had committed crimes against humanity by targeting the Muslim minority. While leading the cause to fight communalism and violence, she got the time to compile her observations along with the evidence she and others have been collecting in a hostile environment to show how difficult it is to seek justice for the survivors of such a ghastly tragedy. As opposed to those who perpetrated the crimes, the role played by the conscientious representatives of civil society, by standing up against the scourge of communal violence and coming to the rescue of the Muslim minority in Gujarat, shows communal hate and violence can be challenged, even if the authorities have yet to answer many questions. The testimony of a Hindu whose wife was burnt in a train by accident or by Muslim zealots shows how people are used for communal politics and suffer from its consequences.