Literature and Art
Pakistan — the culprit, or victim?-Ed. Rajshree Jetly
]Pakistan — the culprit, or victim?
Review by Randeep Wadehra
Pakistan in Regional and Global Politics
Ed. Rajshree Jetly. Routledge.
Pages: xxxv+365. Price not mentioned.
 Across the border things are getting increasingly worrisome; the situation is threatening to engulf Pakistan in a civil war that will have rather catastrophic ramifications for the entire subcontinent. While American and NATO forces are involved in the war against terror Russia, China and Iran are waiting to jump on either side of the fence.
The conditions have become unpredictable. What’s gone wrong? Are we witnessing a cumulative effect of the various domestic and foreign policy blunders committed by different rulers in Pakistan? Has the 9/11 set off this geo-political instability? Is the Af-Pak region its victim or perpetrator? Most importantly, would Pakistan survive in its present form as a nation-state? How good or bad Pakistan’s former President Parvez Musharraf’s policies have been to the country’s economic and political health?
These are some of the questions that have been dealt with in this well thought out anthology that examines Pakistan’s post 9/11 status and role in the emerging geo-strategic situation, with main focus on the events that happened during the Musharraf regime.
Caste-Class Struggle-1
By Sukhdev Singh Janagal. Hashia Publications.
Pages 223. Rs 200.
There are several schools of thought vis-à-vis the caste system’s origins. For some the system is an obnoxious instrument of oppression while for others it is a time-tested societal mechanism for coping with the dynamics of ever-changing socioeconomic and political environments. Caste system was never an "ism", but a social tool for division of labour, others claim.
While debating caste related issues most of us make the mistake of adopting a simplistic approach towards India’s social stratification, viz., "upper castes" versus "lower castes". Not only is this convenient for the purposes of indulging in polemics and tirades (as this book has done) but also papering over the intrinsic intellectual slothfulness. In order to illustrate the atrocities committed on Dalits the author quotes various authentic sources. He errs in lending racial overtones to caste hierarchy. The term "Arya" was not used to denote ethnicity but a certain lifestyle. Any ethnic group or sub-group could be called "Aryan" if its lifestyle was identical to the one described in the Vedas and other relevant texts. Observes John Keay, "An Aryanized society may be defined as one in which primacy is accorded to a particular language (Sanskrit), to an authoritative priesthood (Brahmins) and to a hierarchical social structure (caste)"
It was not uncommon for a brahmin, a shudra and even a vanik to indulge in warlike activities, something one always associated with the kshatriya caste which essentially was a club that admitted new members from time to time without ethnic considerations. In fact, anyone who could coerce, cajole or convince the priesthood about his claims to being a kshatriya was duly legitimised as one. So we have blue-blooded kshatriyas from such diverse origins as the verdant Deccan, the sandy Thar and the distant Caucasus.
Sukhdev Singh Janagal traces the caste formation’s history in India and then goes on to identify it with class in faulty syntax and intemperate language, which makes a reviewer’s task rather daunting.
Problems of Indian Nationalism
By Bhagwan S. Gyanee. Unistar.
Pages 140. Rs 295.
The late Bhagwan Singh Gyanee was a noted patriot and thinker who enjoyed close proximity to Jawaharlal Nehru. This book is a collection of the speeches that he had delivered on various occasions. He examines issues ranging from education to culture to nationalism, national integration and national development. There is a separate chapter on religion, religiosity and religious institutions too, ending with philosophical musings on man’s place in the universe. This book should appeal to the student community.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20091108/spectrum/book9.htm
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