On the Consequences of Famine

The consequences of these famines were quite dramatic. South Asian scholars like Kinsley Davis, Tim Dyson and others who study demography and productivity agree that between 1870 and 1920 the life expectancy fell by 20%, population declined by 10% and net cropped area decreased by 12%.i It can also be argued that although the colonial state reluctantly recognized only three famines in the late 19th century, yet drought like conditions prevailed in general throughout Central India taking a heavy toll of human and cattle lives.
Despite extracting millions of pounds in revenues, the state developed cold feet when it came to spending on public relief. The government was always worried about commensurate returns on its investments. And expenditure on famine relief was considered wasteful and uneconomic. In fact it was even looked down upon in official circles. Keeping in line with the imperial ideology, every effort was made to discourage people from seeking relief. The relief camps were not only hard to reach but were in fact deliberately kept in remote locations and beyond the reach of the physically weakened population. And those who somehow managed to reach these camps soon found that the conditions were more horrifying then the villages they had left behind. The sanitation was often very poor and prison like conditions prevailed while the relief camps gained notoriety as centers of epidemic diseases. It will be worth repeating here that all government relief was conditional upon heavy work in colonial projects on which both cash and kind wages were deliberately kept low.ii And in general, the state did not show much interest in famine relief.
But even in this weakened state, there was resistance to what Partha Chatterjee has called the ‘colonial [in]difference.’iii There are innumerable recorded instances of grain riots, attacks on grain trains, protest against high prices and grain exports, hoarding and speculative trading, house trespass, bazaar unrest, offence against property, raids on standing debt crops held by moneylenders, raids on government establishments, robberies, thefts, incendiaries, and dacoities.iv Some of them like the Deccan Riots in Poona in 1870s became symbols of bigger protests launched by the nationalist organizations like the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha and the Indian National Congress.v
Coda for the Victims of Famine in Colonial India:
In conclusion then, the laissez-faire ideology of the British Empire prevented state intervention in times of calamities such as droughts and famines. Western technology like the railways took grains out and brought famine even to surplus areas. This paper argues that the famines were caused not so much by the failure of rains but by artificial price inflations driven by the colonial policies and export trade. In an oppressive situation of colonial subjection and imperial domination over forests, grazing lands, and agriculture, the society remained socially and economically involuted. But most significantly it got exposed to droughts and famines that mercilessly decimated millions in the late 19th century. However, even in their weakened state the people resisted to their last breadth and gave birth the Indian nationalism.

land survey and settlement operations

It can be noticed from the above table that as the land survey and settlement operations progressed, cultivated acreage dramatically increased from 45.7% to 71.3% of the total acreage. The result of this was a simultaneous decline in the unoccupied areas to the point of total extinction. This meant that the grazing lands and common grounds virtually disappeared under the onslaught of colonial commercialization. The official term for designating such areas was ‘wastelands.’ For the British this meant lands that did not generate revenues, hence uneconomic and therefore the need to make it productive and economic by putting it under the plough. But for people in the villages, these lands were a part of their daily life and survival in times of calamities such as famine and drought. Its disappearance had serious repercussions. In the most populated plain districts of Amraoti, Akola, and Buldana, the wastelands completely disappeared falling under 1%. In other districts also, it fell below 2%. In Wun district it stood at about 5%. Every district experienced the problem of space and overcrowding. Amraoti and Akola district suffered the worst because of the topography. When cotton cultivation expanded in the 1860s, these two districts were the very first to be denuded of all tree and forest cover. Most of the railways passed through these two districts. The population density got high and the ravage of drought, famine, disease, and death became intense.i
The Empire’s voracious appetite for revenues targeted the mobile people to sedentarize. The pressure of colonial institutions like the police, law and courts were employed to coerce pastoral nomads and forest dwellers to settle on the land and take up agriculture. Further pressure of imperial revenues forced pastures and common lands under the plough. Neeladri Bhattacharya in his study of the Punjab pastoralists shows how the extension of British control through punitive grazing taxes hit the transhumance pastoral nomads while depriving the peasantry of the traditional grazing runs and common lands.ii Thus the extension of the imperial arm deprived pastoralists of their main source of survival while survey operations extended and froze the boundaries of agriculture. Revenue and Agriculture Department was the largest and the most organized executive arm of the British Empire in India. In fact it extracted more then 85% of the imperial revenues and made sure that agriculture closed boundary with forests. It also encouraged cash crop cultivation and helped connect India to the London based world economy.iii
While commercialization of land and agriculture threatened the existence of pastoral nomads, control over forests put pressure on forest dwellers. Writing in the context of Central India, Mahesh Rangarajan has aptly described the colonial commercialization of timber and other resources as ‘fencing the forest.’iv From time immemorial everyone in the subcontinent had depended on forest and common land resources for their daily survival. According to Neil Charlesworth, the ratio of plough cattle to land in the Deccan plateau heavily depended on the availability of these resources.v As mentioned before, the people also fell back on these resources in times of drought, famine and other natural calamities. Ramachandra Guha in a recent article has suggested that historically, forests in South Asia had been under the management of local society and utilized as a common property resource.vi The forest dwellers and plains agriculturists had always exchanged goods and services on balance.vii The colonial Forest Department took control of forests and began putting restrictions on people’s access to its resources through a series of Forest Acts and Laws beginning 1866.viii The forest dwellers were gradually pushed out of their natural habitat and dhya (slash and burn agriculture) was prohibited. The forests were taken over and declared government reserves in order to serve the needs of imperial railways and the military.ix The commercialization of forest resources such as wood, leaf, manure, grass, fodder, wild grains, fruits, roots, nuts, honey, vegetables, flowers, medicinal herbs, gums, plants, spices, lac, game, etc., removed the famine and drought cushion on which the people had traditionally relied in times of crisis. According to the well known famine scholar B.M. Bhatia, this resulted in general environmental deterioration that transformed minor calamities into disastrous events taking millions of lives.x
Bipan Chandra, Sumit Sarkar, and Amiya Bagchi in their studies have shown that the lack of economic diversity was the reason for India’s backwardness and poverty under the British Empire. Society was restrained to remain agrarian and feudal. The British imperial policies prevented the transformation of Indian economy from agrarian to industrial by skimming off the raw material and revenues without plowing anything back in return. Trapped in this classical political economy of the British Raj, India exported raw material and consumed finished goods. State investments mostly went into maintaining the institutions of control like the vast army, police, bureaucracy, and the espionage network of the Empire. Very little was made available for the development of human capital resource or even the economic infrastructure that would benefit the general populace. The colonial state and local moneylenders became parasitic classes that were not interested in either economic development or improving the material condition of the peasantry. Commercial crops not only encroached on food grains but pushed peasants into a debt cycle from which it was impossible to get out because the primary producer lost control over the crops. The burden of high state revenue demand and government refusal to remit even in times of famine made the suffering of the people intense and death difficult to allude.xi
During the great famine of 1877-78, a noted Victorian journalist William Digby observed that the root causes of famines in India was railways and markets. Accordingly, the railways carried famine to grain surplus areas through artificial price inflation in the face of any government check or control.xii Many studies since then have shown that there was never a shortage of food grains even in years of official famines. The problem was with grain prices. They were so high that the people could not afford to buy it.xiii However, one thing remained unchanged in British India and that was the wages of labourers.xiv The wage stagnation and very little movement in per capita income made food grains beyond the reach of ordinary persons trying to eke out a living off their labour. The following table explains this phenomenon for the region of Berar in Central India.
the 19th century famines in Central India were basically price-induced famines that could have been avoided with timely government intervention. However, that never happened because of the official adherence to the laissez-faire ideology of non-interference. In fact there is even evidence of grains being exported to England and Europe for speculative trading in international market while millions were dying of disease and starvation in the sub-continent.i Similarly, the problem of food shortages in colonial Berar is associated with grain exports and high prices. It is rather appalling that while majority of the Berar’s population was suffering from poverty and hunger, the region was exporting food grains. This was in fact the case even during years of drought and famine. The following table illustrates exactly how much of food grains were actually exported. These food grains included the staple crop jowari (millet), wheat, and other edible grains such as gram, bajri, masur, tur, rice, urad, etc.
Berar was exporting precious food grains worth 979,910 maunds (40,176 tons). This enormous quantity was primarily snatched from the mouths of the hungry and the poor. With the average population of 2,637,958 persons at any given point between 1867 and 1901,i this loss amounted to approximately 30.4 lbs per person. According to the general administration report of 1882-83, an average individual required 0.96 lbs of food grain per diem for survival.ii Even if this relatively low consumption figure is applied, the surplus food grain that was exported could have sustained the entire population of Berar for up to 31.7 days. Even in the worst of famine and drought years (1877-79; 1896-97; and 1899-1900) a total of 2,375,509 maunds of food grains were exported out of the province. Similarly, the people of Berar never got anything in return for the raw cotton exports that formed on average 42.9% of the total exports in any given year. The colonial roads and railways became the artery of people’s misery. With such large quantities of grains leaving the province, the traditional custom of storing grains in ‘peos’ completely declined.iii Thus the high grain prices and exports did not necessarily translate into increasing incomes for peasants as Michele McAlphin and Morris D. Morris have surmised.iv Nor did it mean a change in their material condition. In fact it led to worsening of their lives.
Vasant Kaiwar in his studies of the Deccan has suggested that the incorporation of local economy into the world market network brought devastating famines to central India. The encroachment of imperial policies and imposition of a colonial infrastructure based on conditional private property in landv and a high rate of revenue demand undermined the traditional food security chain.vi Similarly, David Hardiman argues that the neglect of traditional water works by the colonial state brought drought and famine to the Deccan plateau. These water works in the form of small irrigation systems like tanks, masonry dams, anicuts, reservoirs, lakes, ponds, canals, etc., had successfully avoided the problem of salination and malaria by tapping water for local irrigation and daily use. In pre-colonial times, the maintenance of these water works had been through local communal labour financed by the state in a situation where land, grazing grounds and surrounding forests were a common property resource of the village. The introduction of conditional private property rights in land under colonial aegis and withdrawal of state support led to the decline of local irrigation works.vii Not surprisingly, one of the most acute problems during famine in Central India was that of water scarcity. Elizabeth Whitcombe, Ira Klein, and David Gilmartin have also suggested that the British neglect of small water works in favour of large irrigation canals were the chief cause of salination, silting, leaching, disease, and famine that were triggered by a general environmental collapse.viii
P.A. Elphinstone conducted extensive survey and settlement operations in the Deccan in 1860s and 70s. In his reports he poignantly noted the neglect of traditional water works and the acute problem of water scarcity.ix But every subsequent colonial official in this cotton rich region of Central India came to believe that there was no need to develop irrigation or water works because the black cotton soil was naturally rich and did not need much water to grow crops. A strong anti-irrigation lobby among the officials created this myth that Berar was immune from drought and famine. Therefore the need for a famine code or relief measures were neither felt nor devised. With this attitude, the officials in fact refused to even acknowledge that drought, disease, and famine related deaths were taking place.x This denial and failure to put in place even a semblance of infrastructure made the famine in Central India all the more devastating. Similarly, the sanitary commissioner’s reports actually drew a strong connection between contaminated water and diseases like cholera, malaria, diarrhea, dysentery and smallpox, not to mention undernourishment caused by the low calorie intake of the general mass of population.xi Yet, no public action was forthcoming. And when serious famines did hit the region (1877-78; 1896-97 and 1899-1900) and the state was forced to recognize it on account of millions of deaths, the blame was put on natural causes like the failure of rains and crops.xii However, a simple common sense query would demolish this colonialist argument. If the region is naturally rich with black cotton soil and does not need much water to grow crops, then how can failure of rain cause famines?
Radhika Ramasubban in her work on epidemic diseases and medicine in colonial India has argued that government sanitation measures were primarily geared towards protecting British cantonments and civil lines where most of the European population was concentrated. This ‘enclavist’ nature of colonial medicine failed to protect the vast majority of the people not just during famines but also in ordinary times.xiii And the railways took plague and cholera along with grains to every nook and corner of Central India from the port city of Bombay.xiv However, Irfan Habib states that the dark underlying cause of all famines in British India was the intense poverty of its masses. And this suggests a deep relationship between the colonial political economy of exploitation and the material condition of the masses.xv
As already mentioned, the extensive land survey operations conducted in Berar in 1860s and 70s were designed for revision every thirty years. The first revision took place in 1898-99, but unfortunately most of the revision settlement reports have either been lost or yet to be found. However, only one of the report survived through time and this report was done in 1900 for the Basim talukaxvi in Basim district by a one F. W. Francis, the Director of Land Records and Agriculture. In this report there is one extremely interesting data that shows a rather rare comparison in the people’s standard of living during these two time periods twenty-five years apart. It is worthwhile here to reproduce

An Examination into the Nature and Causes of Famines

The scholars of ancient and medieval India like H.D. Sankhalia, D.D. Kosambi, Romila Thapar, D. N. Jha, R.S. Sharma, Irfan Habib and others have observed that the South Asian society had always been shaped and reshaped by a close interaction between pastoral nomads, agriculturists, and forest dwellers.i Sumit Guha in his recent book has further elaborated this observation by stating that the boundary between the three environmental regions, i.e., forests, grazing grounds, and cultivated fields had always been fluid before the advent of British rule. And this fluidity also extended to occupational flexibility whereby people acquired skills in accordance with the political economy and social culture of the times.ii However, this fluidity and flexibility threatened the colonial state’s greed for revenues and desire for territorial expansion. The fluid boundaries had to be frozen and occupational flexibility had to be put into the straightjacket category of caste for better control and management of the empire and its subjects.iii
So the first order of business for the colonial state was to conduct extensive land survey and settlement operations while the process of empire building was in progress during the nineteenth century.iv The following table shows the movement of cultivated and wasteland acreages as a result of British survey and settlement operations in six selected districts of Central India collectively called Berar.

Atlantic slave trade

Just as the Europeans justified the Atlantic slave trade in terms of civilizing the savage, Christianizing the heathen, and making the barbarian productive through a work ethic based on reason, so was the British imperialist project in India and Asia.i Here the so-called ‘tropics’ were condemned as naturally unhealthy, diseased and famine prone.ii Overtly implying that somehow European weather, climate and geographical environment was healthier than the conquered territories.iii But the most influential ideology behind western imperialism was the classical political economy propounded by Adam Smith in his Wealth of Nations. Accordingly, a laissez-faire doctrine of market capitalism was introduced in the late 18th century, which guided the European imperialist project whereby government interference in the economy was objected to even in the face of acute crisis like the famine. Although it should be noted here, this market capitalism was in fact imposed on conquered territories with the might of European gunboats and arms. However, to this doctrine was later added the Malthusian theory of population whereby famine was regarded as a natural check to over population, relieving the state and government from the responsibility of expenditure on relief.iv However, the driving ideas behind the Indian Famine Commission Reports of the 19th century were those of Jeremy Bentham. The utilitarian principle that relief should be bitterly punitive in order to discourage dependence upon the government was purely Benthamite. The reports relieved the British government of India any responsibility for the horrific mortality. It was asserted that the cheap famine labour could be fruitfully used in modernizing projects such as the railways, road construction, and repair of tanks, stone and masonry works, etc. The famine reports further held that the calamity was caused by natural phenomenon and that human agencies have no control over it. The staunch Benthamite cronies like James Mill and his son John Stuart Mill also supported this utilitarian orthodoxyv of the East India Company and the British Empire after 1857.
All the British imperial viceroys, governors, and proconsuls like Lytton, Temple, Elgin, and Curzon strongly adhered to the doctrine that it was the climate and failure of rains that caused failure of crops and famine. It was believed that the empire had to be governed for revenues and not expenditure. And any act that would influence the prices of grains such as charity was to be either strictly monitored or discouraged. Even in the face of acute distress, relief had to be punitive and conditional. So the ‘Temple Wage’ propounded by Sir Richard Temple, a staunch laissez faire doctrinaire on government famine relief was set at only 16-22 oz of food or 1-2 annas with a minimum of 9-10 hours of work per day. The whole idea was to strongly discourage dependence on government relief. Viceroy Lytton (in late 1870s) vehemently supported the Temple wage of below minimum while Curzon (in early 1900s) implemented a tight press censorship to prevent Indian nationalists from making a political capital out of the macabre famine of 1899-1900.vi Amartya Sen and Jean Dreze in their study have suggested that the reasons why famines suddenly seized with the end of British Empire (post-1947) was not so much because the nationalist government was more benevolent but because the free press and public opinion put constant pressure on the government to respond. This kind of pressure could not be exerted under conditions of colonial subjection.

The British Empire, Ecology and Famines in Late 19th Century Central India

More than thirty million famine related deaths occurred in British India between 1870 and 1910, a phenomenon Mike Davis in his recent book has called the “Late Victorian Holocaust.”i The Deccan region of central India was the worst victim of these famines. This paper will analyze the official ideology, the reasons, and consequences of these famines.

Equality and Human Rights News

On 2 February, young activists from the Children’s Rights Alliance for England (CRAE) will call for the Government to take action to address key children’s rights issues at a reception in Parliament. (more…)

Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Press Releases, Reports and Papers
NEP: An Anatomy of Economic Inequality in the UK
February 2nd, 2010

On THE 27th January 2012, the National Equality Panel (NEP) published its evidence on the relationships between inequalities in people’s economic outcomes – such as earnings, income and wealth – and their characteristics and circumstances – such as gender, age, ethnicity – and the ways in which who you are affect the resources and opportunities available to you. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion, Race/ethnicity
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers, eNewsletter
Centre for Cities index: gap between UK cities has widened
February 2nd, 2010

Centre for Cities annual index published on the 18th January shows recession has widened the gap between UK cities. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers, eNewsletter
Work Entry, Progression & Retention, & Child Poverty
February 2nd, 2010

The Department for Work and Pensions published on the 21st January 2010 the report ‘Parents’ work entry, progression and retention, and child poverty’. (more…)

Subject(s): Age - children/young people, Employment, Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers, eNewsletter
Update on Single Equality Bill
February 2nd, 2010

Click here for an update on the Single Equality Bill from the Winning the Race Coalition (http://www.rota.org.uk/pages/WTRC.aspx) (more…)

Subject(s): Age - older people, Equality general, Multiple discrimination, Race/ethnicity
Posted in Briefings and Leaflets, Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News, Other, eNewsletter
Consultation: Indicators for Children & Young People
February 2nd, 2010

This is a specialist consultation launched by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the 25th January 2010 and is about selecting a set of indicators for children and young people. (more…)

Subject(s): Age - children/young people, Equality general
Posted in Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News, eNewsletter
Voluntary measures proposed for publishing pay gaps
February 2nd, 2010

On the 19th January 2010, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) released proposals outlining the voluntary measures organisations with more than 250 employees can use to publish information on pay differentials between men and women. (more…)

Subject(s): Employment, Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Ideas and Policy, eNewsletter
WNC consultation on single sex services
February 2nd, 2010

The WNC has launched a consultation on single sex services after concerns raised by a number of partner organisations that women-only services are currently under threat. (more…)

Posted in Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News, eNewsletter
Public Appointments- Awareness, Attitudes & Experiences
February 2nd, 2010

On the 14th January 2010 the IPSOS MORI research ‘Public Appointments- Awareness, Attitudes & Experiences’ was published. (more…)

Subject(s): Employment, Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers, eNewsletter
New websites bringing together data & statistics
February 2nd, 2010

The data.gov.uk site enables the public to freely access government data in one place. (more…)

Subject(s): English regions, Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Other, eNewsletter
The TUC and Volunteering England: Volunteers’ Charter
February 2nd, 2010

On the 7th December 2009 the TUC and Volunteering England produced a joint ‘Charter for Strengthening Relations Between Paid Staff and Volunteers’. (more…)

Subject(s): Employment, Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Training and Guidance, eNewsletter
Call for evidence on the impact of hate crime
February 2nd, 2010

Stop Hate in Central Scotland is a group of public and voluntary sector organisations working together to identify and eliminate unlawful discrimination, attacks and harassment and to promote good relations. (more…)

Subject(s): English regions, Equality general, Scotland, Sexual orientation, Violence/hate crime
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, eNewsletter
EU Rules on Gender Equality and national law
February 1st, 2010

The European Commission has published its report ‘EU Rules on Gender Equality: How are they transposed into national law?’ (August 2009). (more…)

Subject(s): Employment, Equality general, Europe, Gender
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers, eNewsletter
GEO Responses to the Proposed Equal Treatment Directive
February 1st, 2010

On 2 July 2008 the European Commission published a draft anti-discrimination Directive. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Europe
Posted in Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News, eNewsletter
Survey: ‘Transatlantic Trends: Immigration’
February 1st, 2010

‘Transatlantic Trends: Immigration’, a collaboration led by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, German Marshall Trust and three other foundations, has carried out a survey into attitudes about immigration in the UK, as well as the USA, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, International, Refugees/migrants
Posted in Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News, eNewsletter
Call for Abstracts: European Diversity and Autonomy Papers
February 1st, 2010

The European Academy in Bolzano, Italy, seeks papers contributing to the development and exploration of various approaches to diversity in Europe. Closing date for abstracts is the 20th February 2010.

Click here for more information:

Subject(s): Equality general, Europe
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers, eNewsletter
Access to Volunteering: 2nd Round of Funding
February 1st, 2010

The £2million fund aims to increase the number of disabled people volunteering through giving grant funding to volunteer-involving organisations. (more…)

Subject(s): Disability, Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Vacancies, eNewsletter
EHRC: Equality Impact Assessment Guidance
January 20th, 2010

This document published on the 21st December 09 by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) provides a step-by-step guide to integrating equality impact assessment into policymaking and review. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Training and Guidance
Letter from Commissioner for the Compact on New Compact
January 20th, 2010

On the 19th January Sir Bert Massie (Commissioner for the Compact) sent an open letter to the Equality and Diversity Forum highlighting the content and relevance of the refreshed Compact including the “advancing equality” section and what the third sector is specifically asked to take forward. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general
Posted in Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News
The Equality Bill: Duty to Reduce Socio-Economic Inequalities
January 20th, 2010

This is a guide published by the Government Equalities Office (GEO) in January 2010 designed to form a bridge between the wording of the socio-economic duty, which was published in the Equality Bill in April 2009, and the draft statutory guidance to go with it, which we will be drafting and consulting on formally in the summer of 2010. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Training and Guidance
Speaker’s Conference on Parliamentary Representation
January 20th, 2010

This report was launched on the 6th January 2010. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers
DCLG: Tackling Race Inequality – A Statement on Race
January 20th, 2010

On the 14th January 2010 the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) launched a report detailing the progress made in recent years on tackling racism and securing race equality. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Race/ethnicity
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers
Call for Evidence Showing Positive Value of Human Rights
January 20th, 2010

The British Institute of Human Rights (BIHR) is coordinating a new micro-website to showcase the powerful stories about how the Human Rights Act (HRA) is making a positive difference to people’s lives. (more…)

Subject(s): Human rights
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News
Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Guidance
January 20th, 2010

The Government Equalities Office (GEO) has launched a communications guidance and toolkit: ‘Tackling Violence against Women and Girls: a guide to good practice communication’, in order to support and inform government communication in the area of violence against women and girls. (more…)

Subject(s): Gender, Violence/hate crime
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Training and Guidance
Government Response to Report on Fair Access to Professions
January 20th, 2010

On the 18th January the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills published: ‘Unleashing Aspiration: The Government Response to the Final Report of the Panel on Fair Access to the Professions’. (more…)

Subject(s): Employment, Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers
DCLG Report on Tracking Economic Deprivation
January 20th, 2010

‘Tracking economic deprivation in New Deal for Communities areas’ was launched on the 7th January 2010 by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers
ONS Report: Wealth in Great Britain
January 20th, 2010

The ‘Wealth and Assets Survey 2006/08’ by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) collected information about the economic well-being of households and individuals in Great Britain. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers
Tackling Worklessness & the Social Impacts of the Recession
January 20th, 2010

The Cabinet Office’s Social Exclusion Taskforce published in December 2009 a report outlining how previous recessions have resulted in not just rising unemployment, but also increases in crime, mental health problems and family and relationship breakdown. (more…)

Subject(s): Employment, Equality general, Poverty/social exclusion
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Reports and Papers
European Commission: UK breaches two EU Equality Directives
January 11th, 2010

In November 2009 the UK was found by the European Commission to have incorrectly implemented two EU Equality Directives. The first breach concerns the EC Equal Treatment Framework Directive, which prohibits discrimination based on religion or belief, disability, age or sexual orientation. The second relates to the EC Equal Treatment Directive, which covers equal treatment between men and women in employment. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general, Europe
Posted in Equality and Human Rights News, Press Releases
Refreshed Compact is Launched
January 6th, 2010

On 16 December 2009, the refreshed National Compact document was launched. (more…)

Subject(s): Equality general
Posted in Consultations and Responses, Equality and Human Rights News

Journey of a 60-year-old republic |

Journey of a 60-year-old republic
By Tushar Gandhi Jan 24 2010
Tags: Opinion
Tomorrow, we will be a 60 year-old repu­blic. On this day, 60 years ago, we ado­pt­ed our Constitution. It took a lot of collective effort to arrive at what was then the perfect Constitution for a newly liberated nation. Our founding fathers took gre­at care to create a document that would serve everyone eq­ually and fairly. The docume­nt addressed the needs of ev­ery group that comprised a diverse amalgamation of the privileged and those who enjoyed none, the various religi­ous groups and their need to maintain their distinct identities, the discriminated gender and the vast number of poverty-stricken, illiterate Indians. The Constitution has stood us in good stead for 60 years, but six decades is a long time, changes occur and to accommo­date those changes, the systems must also evolve, and so should our Constitution.

We are a 60 year-old republic, but have our democratic institutions and practices be­en audited honestly and sincerely? Some will say that el­ections are people’s audit in a democracy. This may be true in many democracies, but in India, we don’t have free and fair elections. Elections are rigged and unfairly conducted. Many people will object, but take a look at how political parties manipulate elections. Candidates are selected based on the caste mix of the consti­tuency, not on ability but ‘win-ability’. Political parties have the caste equations perfected for every constituency, so a candidate from the influential or ‘vote bank’ caste wins.

Since there are no debates in Parliament and Bills are pa­ssed with negligible participation from people’s representatives, the ability of the member of Parliament to understand the Bill and then vote, is not essential. This is how our democratic system is rigged.

We call ourselves a democratic nation, but in 60 years, we have never had a referendum on any issue. At present, Andhra Pradesh is burning on the issue of a separate Telangana. Why is the government dithering and allowing the iss­ue to become vitiated? Why isn’t it holding a referendum on Telangana? Let the people, who are directly affected by the move, vote and decide.

There are demands for oth­er smaller states, too. Let the­re be a nationwide referendum on whether these dema­nds should be accepted and smaller states created. Then, based on the results of the refer­en­dum, constitute a states re­organisation commission and let it carve out smaller states.

People’s representatives, bu­reaucrats and the judiciary are constantly attempting to snatch away citizen’s rights. Take the example of right to information (RTI). In a demo­cracy, why should anyone be permanently protected from RTI queries? On issues that are confidential, the questioner can be told that it cannot be answered. Why keep someone permanently immune to qu­es­tioning. Isn’t that undemocratic? On the one hand, we ta­lk about the need for transpa­rency, and on the other, we pro­tect people behind ‘privileges’.

For too long our judiciary has been shielded by the provision of ‘contempt of court’. People questioning the judiciary have been bullied into silence with the threat of ‘contempt’ proceedings. Why sh­ou­ld the system of delivering justice be thus protected? Th­ere have been many instances of intentional miscarriage of justice, why can’t it be expos­ed and challenged just like ev­erything else in a healthy, fun­ctional democracy? Why are­n’t judges punished when they act illegally and immorally? With the number of cases of corruption at the highest levels in our justice system coming to light, one wonders if justice in India is free and fair any more.

Our founding fathers realised that the persecuted cl­ass of our untouchables and other lower castes were not equipped to be able to stand on equal terms with the upper castes, so a time-bound incentive of reservations was introduced. Let no one misunderstand this, but BR Ambedkar was convinced that after 10 years of reservations in education and jobs the persecuted and deprived classes would be able to hold their own in our democracy.

Sixty years have passed since the equalising incentive was introduced but there is no equality. Post-‘Mandal’, reservations, which have become a tool for electoral gains, are becoming a tool for fragmenting our nation on caste lines. Sh­ouldn’t there be a healthy debate on the efficacy of reservations, and why they haven’t ac­hieved the results that Ba­basaheb was convinced wou­ld occur within 10 years?

In a healthy democracy, why should there be any unchallengeable holy cows? It’s time that an honest, unselfish and sincere audit of our de­mo­cracy and democratic machinery is conducted. Why can’t citizens be trusted to be mature enough to vote on issues that vitiate and weaken the fabric of our nationhood? At 60, shouldn’t we now truly become a democracy?

I leave you, with the words of the Father of our Nation, “You may get the finest constitution that is conceivable... It will be worthless, if there are not men and women fit enough to work that constitution.” Young India; September 15, 1927.

Indian Republic Day Military Parade

Brief History,Geography and Government in India

One-third the area of the United States, the Republic of India occupies most of the subcontinent of India in southern Asia. It borders on China in the northeast. Other neighbors are Pakistan on the west, Nepal and Bhutan on the north, and Burma and Bangladesh on the east.

The country can be divided into three distinct geographic regions: the Himalayan region in the north, which contains some of the highest mountains in the world, the Gangetic Plain, and the plateau region in the south and central part. Its three great river systems—the Ganges, the Indus, and the Brahmaputra—have extensive deltas and all rise in the Himalayas.

India is a Federal republic.
One of the earliest civilizations, the Indus Valley civilization flourished on the Indian subcontinent from c. 2600 B.C. to c. 2000 B.C. It is generally accepted that the Aryans entered India c. 1500 B.C. from the northwest, finding a land that was already home to an advanced civilization. They introduced Sanskrit and the Vedic religion, a forerunner of Hinduism. Buddhism was founded in the 6th century B.C. and was spread throughout northern India, most notably by one of the great ancient kings of the Mauryan dynasty, Asoka (c. 269–232 B.C. ), who also unified most of the Indian subcontinent for the first time.

In 1526, Muslim invaders founded the great Mogul Empire, centered on Delhi, which lasted, at least in name, until 1857. Akbar the Great (1542–1605) strengthened and consolidated this empire. The long reign of his great-grandson, Aurangzeb (1618–1707), represents both the greatest extent of the Mogul Empire and the beginning of its decay.

Origins of Salwar Kameez

In the hinter lands of Central Asia, which was then under the domination of Iranian and Turkish people; Salwar kameez as an expression of Indian ethnicity made its presence felt for the very first time. The general habit of the Iranian and Turkish people were putting in baggy trousers whilst drawing it tight with strings. Research says that this pattern was indeed the progenitor of today’s salwar kameez. Thus this era actually states the origin of salwar kameez.
Amidst its royal grandeur, enigmatic feel and feminine charm salwar kemeez breathes the sighs of history. With its roots deeply seated in the antiquities of medieval India, the origin of Salwar Kameez still carries the rich sartorial chronicle amidst its fall, stitch, luster and feel.

Ethnicity And Ethnic Fragmentation

The primordialist explanation cannot explain the development of new identities out of the melting pot. Manipuri society is the collectivity where the primordial attachments of the ethnic groups had been melted down. In order to understand the ethnicity and ethnic fragmentation, we have to look for a new paradigm that will enable us to answer the question of ethnic formation, ethnic interests, ethnic fragmentation that took place during the colonial and post-colonial periods of the Third world.

Circumstantialist explanation

Fredrik Barth, a student of Edmund Leach, took ethnicity as a type of social process in which the notions of cultural differences are communicated. Barth was influenced by Edmund Leach’s Political System of Highland Burma (1954). According to Barth and other members of this school, the changing identities of ethnic actors are because of rational choice. The ecological, economic, political circumstances make it the instrument. So, ethnic group is rather self-ascription, subjective group.

A larger section of Bishnupriyas fled away from Manipur along with a good numbers of the Meiteis (including the Pangal) to Assam, Tripura and Bengal (specially the places, now in Bangladesh), at the wake of Burman occupation and atrocities in 1819. The Burmans installed puppet kings in Manipur and occupied the state for seven years. Out of fear of the tortures inflicted, many Manipuris fled westwards. The Burmans killed thousands of Manipuris and had decimated the population of the state to one-third. Those who fled away settled in various places in these foreign countries and had been living there for about one century. However, they had a strong sense of oneness with the Manipuri identity and had preserved the age-old traditions.

New Ethnic Groups Creation

During the 19th century, new ethnic groups were created by European colonial governments in order to facilitate ruling their new indigenous subjects. This was the case in Australia and over much of Western North America where there had been small, independent bands of foraging societies. The bands were combined into larger political units by government officials in order to simplify the control of them. Indigenous leadership positions, such as chiefs, were created for peoples who previously did not have the concept of a leader who could act and speak for their societies.
Map of European colonies around the world in 1938--Belgian, British, Dutch, French, Italian, and Portuguese

European colonial empires in 1938

Similarly, the colonial powers forced diverse ethnic groups to see themselves as being part of larger nations with common ethnicity. This was the case in India, Malaysia, New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, and much of Africa. In part, these new nations were created to facilitate control.

Some ethnic groups have been created by themselves for the rational goal of gaining political and economic power. It has been suggested that this was the case with Latinos in the United States. Until the 1960's, their identity was mostly as distinct Mexican American, Cuban American, and Puerto Rican groups. Since then, a feeling of shared cultural identity as "Hispanics" has been fostered by Latino leaders. At the same time, the significant cultural differences between these groups have been underplayed in order to reinforce Latino unity. As new Central and South American immigrants arrived, the Latino ethnic group redefined itself to incorporate them as well. Even Portuguese speaking Brazilians have been included. The creation and recognition of a homogenous Hispanic identity was fostered by the national government. The term "Hispanic" was actually created by federal bureaucrats working under President Nixon in the early 1970's.

Process Of Ethnic Identification

African Americans are not unique in having a relentless negative image of themselves portrayed in the popular media. Mexican Americans, Arab Americans, and some Southeast Asian groups are also experiencing it to some degree. In fact, most minority groups in heterogeneous societies like the United States have had a similar experience. Even European immigrants, such as the Irish in the 19th century, were commonly portrayed in the press as being dirty, stupid, alcoholic, and violent. Before the Civil War in the southern states, Irish immigrants were hired for construction jobs that were considered too risky for black slaves because they were monetarily valuable, unlike the Irish. Even as late as the mid 20th century, unemployed Irishmen in the Northeastern U.S. were at times faced by signs saying "No Irishmen need apply."


The unfavorable portrayal of African Americans still continues today, to some extent, with TV news programs focusing on black gang violence, welfare mothers, and relatively poor performance in school. After generations of images reflecting this view, many African Americans came to define themselves negatively. It was not a mere coincidence that the "black power" political movement of the 1960's created the catch phrase "black is beautiful." This was a conscious effort to counter negative images with a positive one.

What is relation between class and ethnicity?

Each culture has it's own class system, some very well defined, and others (like in the US) not very clear at all. However, this happens amongst all ethnic groups that I am aware of, to greater or lesser extents.

Where differences happen is when the culture of one ethnic groups comes to dominate another. 300 years ago, Arabs and blacks in Africa captured blacks, and sold them to Europeans, who took them primarily to the Americas. Thus, a white person would be in a higher class than black one, automatically. This held true for a long time, and some still think that way today. In the same way the Japanese dominate the Ainu, a white aboriginal trip in Northern Japan. And so one. There are many examples. In Bermuda, British whites are on top, the Portuguese merchants are the middle, and blacks are at the bottom.

But, these are due to the histories of domination, and are by accident, not ethnicity. I do not think you can make a connection between the two that holds universally. Perhaps in one country or areas, but somewhere else, the situation might be reversed

Ethnicity, Security, and Separatism in India

South Asia is one of the most challenging examples of the supranational state's efforts to manage a population of overlapping nationalities whose demands frequently spill across national boundaries. There are three security flashpoints for the Indian state--Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil concerns--to argue that domestic conflicts have a crucial impact on the making of foreign policy. There are tensions generated in India's multi-ethnic society by the coexisting demands of allegiance to the Indian state as well as to the ethnic group.When these tensions lead to violence, interference from neighboring states turns a domestic concern into a regional conflict.
There is no separatist movement in the Muslim community of India outside the State of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). A separatist movement amongst the minorities---whether ethnic, linguistic or religious--- generally arises due to feelings of discrimination and feelings of unhappiness/anger and both ultimately leading to feelings of alienation. Successful separatism also requires national minorities constituting the regional majority in definable geographical areas. Outside J & K, such a contingency does not exist at present except in some bordering districts of Assam.
By and large, Indian Muslims, despite all their grievances, unhappiness and anger against the Government for various reasons, have kept themselves miles away from pernicious pan-Islamic ideologies advocated by jihadi terrorist organisations such as Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda and his International Islamic Front (IIF) because, for them, their cultural and political identity as Indians is as important as their religious identity as Muslims. Indian democracy and the liberal Indian society have provided them with adequate and effective means of ventilating their grievances and having them redressed. In times of distress for their community, their greatest supporters and defenders have been liberal leaders of the Hindu community, the media, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Minorities Commission and many non-governmental organisations.
However, there is a separatist movement in sections of the Muslim community in J & K due to historic, political, geo-political and religious reasons. The Indian State had in the past been confronted with insurgent-cum-terrorist movements in Nagaland and Mizoram in its North-East to which it managed to find a political solution through negotiations with the insurgents and by convincing them that violence would not pay. The militants/insurgents of the past in these areas have given up their resort to insurgency/terrorism and have taken their due place as responsible and enlightened political leaders of their communities.
A similar outcome in J&K is being impeded by the infiltration and operation in Indian territory of thousands of Pakistani jihadi terrorists in the name of Islamic solidarity and in pursuance of bin Laden’s pan-Islamic ideology, which advocates the division of the Islamic world into Islamic Caliphates in different geographical regions.

It is, therefore, not surprising that it is taking the Indian State a long time to find a political solution in J&K. There is, however, no doubt that it will find a political solution to the indigenous aspect of the problem in course of time in accordance with its ideals of democracy and secularism.
Independent India, as it was born in 1947, consisted of provinces, which had been constituted by the British on the basis of administrative convenience. There was no province, which was definable ethnically, linguistically or religiously. After India achieved independence, there was a movement for the re-organisation of the Federation in order to constitute linguistically definable federating units or provinces. This demand was accepted by the Government of India after considerable violence, particularly in the South. There was also a demand for the constitution of ethnically definable provinces in the North-East, where people of mongloid origin are found. This too was accepted.

At present, the Indian Federation has some ethnically definable federating units in the North-East (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Meghalaya), one religiously definable federating unit in J&K and linguistically definable federating units in the rest of the country, which constitute about 90 per cent of the total area of the country.
The Muslim population of the pre-1947 undivided India had two components:

· The descendents of the Muslims, who had migrated to the sub-continent from outside-----mainly from Afghanistan and Central and West Asia. They were in a majority in the areas which now constitute the State of Pakistan.

· Those and the descendents of those, who had been converted to Islam from Hinduism. They were in a majority in the Muslim communities of what constitutes the present India, including J & K, and Bangladesh.

Before 1947, Muslims constituted the majority of the population in what is Pakistan of today, in certain districts of undivided Bengal, which form Bangladesh of today, and in the Srinagar Valley and certain areas of the Jammu Division of J & K. The remaining Muslims were spread over the rest of the country and constituted a minority in the areas of their habitation.

The Indian National Congress (INC---now called Congress (I) )---headed by Mahatma Gandhi, which led the struggle for independence from the British rule, realised that the unity and territorial integrity of a country like India----with its plurality of ethnic, linguistic and religious groups--- depended not only on its political and territorial integration, but also on the emotional integration of all sections of its people---to whichever ethnic, linguistic or religious group they belonged. It also realised that social harmony in such a pluralistic society depended on the protection of the religious, cultural, economic and other rights of all sections of its people. This realisation marked the policies of the party, which drew its members and leaders from all sections of the people.

As against the INC’s philosophy and policies, those of the Muslim League (ML), which fought for the partition of India and the creation of an independent State for the Muslims, were based on its two-nation theory, which maintained that the Hindus and the Muslims of the sub-continent constituted two nations and hence could not live together. Its political campaign, often violent, sowed the seeds of disharmony in the relations between the two communities in many areas. It ultimately led to the partition of India and the creation of two independent States. To meet the demands of the ML, the British created the State of Pakistan consisting of the Muslim majority areas of Sindh, West Punjab, Balochistan, the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (NWFP) and East Bengal.


This led to a backlash and counter-assertiveness in sections of the Hindu community. Such feelings of Hindu assertiveness to counter the Muslim assertiveness are not confined to the so-called Hindutva elements alone . Many Hindus not identifying themselves with the Hindutva organisations share the opinion that there is a need for a more assertive response to the Muslim assertiveness. This backlash has manifested itself in the form of opposition to the proselytisation activities of the Muslim clerics and special pilgrimage concessions to them, demands for action against illegal immigration from Bangladesh and the mushrooming madrasas, demand for the enactment of a uniform civil code for all religions, criticism of the opposition of many Muslim leaders to family planning, which is seen as intended to encourage an increase in the Muslim population etc.

The Hindu assertiveness has also taken the form of a movement to have what is perceived as the historic wrongs committed by the Muslim rulers/invaders of the past corrected. In this connection, one could cite the movement for the replacement of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya by a Hindu temple devoted to Ram. Many believe that a Ram temple, which existed at the place, had been destroyed by the Muslim invaders of the past and replaced with a mosque. The matter is now sub-judice.

PSEUDO-SECULARISTS VS HINDU NATIONALISTS: THE MUSLIM VOTE BANK

The Hindutva elements, who project themselves as Indian and not Hindu nationalists, maintain that secularism does not mean what they describe as minorityism, that is, pampering the minority communities and accepting all their demands, whether justified or not. According to them, it does not also mean refraining from articulating one’s concerns over what are viewed as disturbing trends in the Muslim community.

The present generation of the so-called secular leaders cannot escape a share of the responsibility for the substantial appeal of the so-called Hindutva elements to large sections of the Hindu community, not only in India, but also in the Indian diaspora abroad. The Indian nation had not produced more genuine and committed secular leaders than Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Mrs.Indira Gandhi. They strongly defended and protected the interests of the religious minorities. At the same time, they did not hesitate to act against disturbing trends in the minority communities, which could be detrimental to the national interests. One could cite the action taken by them against foreign Christian missionaries, who used foreign money for their poselytisation activities, the action taken by Indira Gandhi against Muslim proselytisation in Tamil Nadu in the 1980s and her promised action against illegal Muslim immigration into Assam following the outbreak of student violence on this issue in Assam in the 1980s.

The Congress of the past enjoyed unchallenged political primacy and its leaders could, therefore, take decisions objectively and in the national interests without unduly worrying about their impact on the number of votes they could get from the Muslims. Today’s Congress is a much weakened political force dependent on other political formations for coming to power and surviving in it. Its dependence on the Muslim vote is consequently greater than that of the past leadership of the party. Decisions relating to the Muslim community are consequently taken not objectively with the national interests in view, but subjectively, with partisan political interests being the main consideration.

NO POLARISATION

It needs to be underlined, however, that the emergence of the competitive assertiveness of sections of the Muslim and Hindu communities and the ongoing debate on the true nature of secularism are part of India’s democratic process. It should not be misinterpreted to mean as the beginning of any polarisation of the two communities. It is definitely not.

It is true that sections of the Muslims are increasingly assertive in projecting their religious identity, but, despite this, an overwhelming number of the community continue to be vigorously nationalist and patriotic. It has not supported the pan-Islamic ideas emanating from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, it has kept away from organisations such Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda and the International Islamic Front (IIF) and their pernicious pan-Islamic ideologies and has not played any role in the jihads of Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya and Iraq.

There has so far been not a single act of terrorism in Indian territory attributable to Al Qaeda. The report of the USA’s National Commission, which enquired into the 9/11 terrorist strikes, contains over 350 references to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, with over 200 references to Pakistan alone. There are also many references to secret preparatory meetings held in other countries such as Malaysia, Spain, Germany etc.

As against this, there is only one reference to India--- to a visit by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. The report, however, does not say when and why he came to India. It is evident from the report that Al Qaeda elements preferred to keep away from India. This was because of the lack of local support from the Indian Muslim community, without which one cannot keep meetings and preparations secret.

Indian Muslims, despite all their grievances, unhappiness and anger, have kept themselves miles away from such pernicious organisations and ideologies because Indian democracy and the liberal Indian society have provided them with adequate and effective means of ventilating their grievances and having them redressed. In times of distress for their community, their greatest supporters and defenders have been liberal leaders of the Hindu community, the media, the National Human Rights Commission, the National Minorities Commission and many non-governmental organisations.

Having stated that, one has to flag two disturbing trends which need attention from the policy-makers and national security managers:

· Incipient signs of the prevailing unhappiness/anger in some sections of the community driving some of the Muslim youth to take to terrorism to give vent to their anger. Examples: The Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), which has been responsible for many acts of terrorism in different parts of India involving the use of explosives, and the Al Ummah of the South ( mainly Tamil Nadu and Kerala), which has been responsible for many acts of explosions in Tamil Nadu, including the series of co-ordinated explosions in Coimbatore in February,1998. The indications are that both these organisations have been provoked into taking to terrorism by the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992. While there is strong evidence of the linkages of the SIMI with the jihadi terrorist elements in Pakistan and the Gulf countries, similar evidence is lacking in the case of Al Ummah.

· The attempts of Pakistani jihadi organisations allied with Al Qaeda in the IIF, which are in the forefront of the terrorist movement in J&K since 1993, to spread their pan-Islamic ideologies and activities to members of the Muslim community in other parts of India outside J & K. They have been responsible for a number of acts of terrorism in other parts of India such as the attack on the Indian Parliament in December 2001 and the series of explosions in Mumbai (Bombay). Their clandestine cells have been detected even in the South, particularly in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh.

SEPARATIST MOVEMENT IN J & K

There are two aspects to any analysis of the separatist movement in J & K---the Pakistani factor and the domestic factor. Before discussing them, it would be in order to make some general observations. Firstly, J&K is the only State of the Indian Federation where Muslims, the national religious minority (14 per cent of the national population), are in a regional religious majority (60 per cent of the State’s population of 7.7 million ).

Secondly, J & K (50,513 sq.miles) has three distinct geographical and administrative regions---the Kashmir Valley (6,893 sq.miles), the Jammu Division (9,880 sq.miles) and the Ladakh Division (33,740 sq.miles). The Muslims, the State majority, are in a regional minority in the Jammu and Ladakh Divisions. Their majority is concentrated in the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, the capital, which constitutes about 13 per cent of the land area of the State. The Hindus are in a majority in the Jammu Division and the Buddhists in the Ladakh Division. Thus, the Muslims are in a minority in about 87 per cent of the land area of the State.

Thirdly, parts of the pre-1947 J&K State are presently occupied by Pakistan and China. The part occupied by Pakistan consists of what Pakistan calls Azad (meaning Free) Kashmir (4,144 sq.miles) and what India calls Pakistan-occupied Kashmir ( POK) and the Northern Areas (Gilgit and Baltistan—29,814 sq.miles ). Of the part occupied by China, one portion (the Aksai Chin area of the Ladakh Division—1971 sq.miles) was occupied by it in the 1950s by taking advantage of the absence of an Indian army presence there and the other portion, which originally was part of the Northern Areas, was transferred by Pakistan to China in 1963 (1,868 sq.miles) in return for Chinese military assistance to Pakistan.

Fourthly, while the Muslims of J&K are largely descendents of converts from Hinduism, those of the POK are largely descendents of the migrants from Afghanistan and Central and West Asia. The Muslims of the Northern Areas, including the territory transferred by Pakistan to China, are partly the descendents of the migrants and partly the descendents of converts from Hinduism and Buddhism

Fifthly, culturally, the Muslims of J&K and the Northern Areas have more in common with the Hindus and the Buddhists of India than with the Muslims of Pakistan. The Muslims of the POK have more in common with their co-religionists in Pakistan than with those in J&K.

THE PAKISTAN FACTOR

The pre-1947 undivided India consisted of large areas in different provinces directly controlled and administered by the British and a number of princely States, ruled by their traditional rulers, which enjoyed a certain measure of administrative autonomy. Under the agreement entered into by the British with the INC and the ML, while the British-controlled territory was partitioned between India and the newly-created State of Pakistan, it was decided that the rulers of the princely States would decide whether their State would join India or Pakistan.

Though J&K was a Muslim majority State, its ruler was a Hindu and he decided that the State would join India. The State was, therefore, made a part of India. Pakistan has not accepted the decision of the ruler and has repeatedly claimed the State as rightly belonging to it under the two-nation theory under which the ML fought for the partition of India. It has described the decision of the ruler as a violation of the agenda for the partition and describes the future of the State as constituting “the unfinished agenda of the partition.”

Even before the ruler could make his decision in favour of joining India, Pakistan tried to pre-empt it by sending its troops in the garb of tribals into J&K in order to forcibly occupy it and instigated a revolt by the para-military forces in the Northern Areas against the ruler. After the ruler’s decision, the Government of India sent its troops into J&K and stopped further intrusion by the Pakistan Army into the State. However, it could not eject the Pakistan Army from the territory already occupied by it before a cease-fire agreed to at the UN came into force.

India, which took the issue before the UN, agreed to the holding of a plebiscite in the State in order to ascertain the wishes of the people of the State on its future. A UN Security Council Resolution on the subject recognised India’s locus standi in the entire State pending a plebiscite and stated that the holding of a plebiscite had to be preceded by the withdrawal of the Pakistani forces from the territory occupied by them and the restoration of the Indian responsibility for the maintenance of law and order in the entire State.

This resolution subsequently became untenable due to the following reasons:

· Pakistan refused to withdraw its forces from the territory occupied by it and to restore the Indian authority for the maintenance of law and order till a plebiscite was held, as demanded by the UN.

· Unilaterally, in violation of the UN resolutions, it made changes in the administrative dispensation of the territory occupied by it. It divided it into two parts. The POK, populated largely by the Sunnis, was given the façade of autonomy with its own Constitution, but with the Government in Islamabad having powers of superintendence over it. The name of the Northern Areas of Jammu and Kashmir, populated largely by the Shias, was changed as the Northern Areas of Pakistan and it was made directly governable by the Government in Islamabad, with the Government of the POK not having any powers for its governance.

· A part of the Northern Areas was transferred to China in 1963 and merged with the Xinjiang province of China.

· In order to dilute the Kashmiri component of the population, the Islamabad Government re-settled a large number of Punjabis and Pashtuns in the POK and the Northern Areas. This included about 150,000 ex-servicemen.

Because of these reasons, India has held that the UN resolution on a plebiscite has become untenable. During a visit to India in 2001, Mr.Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, also agreed that the UN resolution had become untenable.

The State of J&K has its own Constitution drafted by a Constituent Assembly. Elections have been held regularly in the State. While there were allegations of the rigging of one of the elections held in the late 1980s, the remaining elections have been free and fair. The last elections held in October,2002, in which over one- third of the registered voters exercised their franchise in defiance of acts of terrorism and intimidation against those participating in the elections by the jihadi terrorist organisations, resulted in the defeat of the then ruling party, the National Conference. Diplomats of foreign embassies, who were present in the State during the elections, certified that they were free and fair. Mr.Robert Blackwill, the then US Ambassador to India, also certified that the elections were free and fair.

While Pakistan has considerably changed the demographic composition of the territory under its occupation in order to dilute the Kashmiri composition, the Government of India has preserved the Kashmiri composition as it was in 1947 by enacting laws, which prohibit non-Kashmiris from settling down in the State. The only demographic change since 1947 has taken place in the Valley from which the Hindu Pandits, the original inhabitants of J&K, were driven out by the jihadi terrorist organisations sponsored/supported by Pakistan.

Pakistan failed in its efforts in 1947-48 and in 1965 to acquire J&K through the use of military force. At the Shimla conference held in 1972 after its humiliating defeat at the hands of the Indian Army in the war of December 1971, the late Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, its then Prime Minister, had reportedly agreed with Mrs.Indira Gandhi, India’s then Prime Minister, that the only viable solution to the problem would be on the basis of the conversion of the Line of Control (LOC) into an international border. He did not want this to be formalised in writing in the Shimla Agreement, but promised to work towards this after India released the thousands of Pakistani prisoners of war in its custody.

But, having achieved their release and return to Pakistan, Bhutto went back on his word and denied any such agreement or promise. However, till 1989, with memories of its 1971 defeat still fresh, it refrained from another military adventure in J&K. Since 1989, taking advantage of signs of alienation in J&K against the Governments of the State and India, it has embarked upon a proxy war against India, by using various Kashmiri and Pakistani jihadi organisations as surrogates for organising acts of terrorism in the State, without its own army directly getting involved.

This proxy war has passed through four phases. In the first phase, between 1989 and 1993, Pakistan’s military-intelligence establishment relied largely on indigenous Kashmiri organisations for sponsoring terrorism in J&K and kept the acts of terrorism confined to the State. Between 1993 and 1999, after finding that the indigenous Kashmiri organisations were unable to make headway, it started infiltrating a large number of well-trained and well-armed mercenaries of Pakistani jihadi organisations into the State to step up the acts of terrorism. Simultaneously, it started spreading the acts of jihadi terrorism to other parts of India outside J&K.

In 1999, after finding that even the mercenaries were not able to make headway, it infiltrated its army units into the Kargil area of the Ladakh Division and occupied the mountain heights there, in an attempt to disrupt movements on the Srinagar-Kargil road and help the mercenaries to spread their acts of terrorism to the Ladakh sector.

Its attempts to project its troops as indigenous militants, as it had done in 1947-48 and again in 1965—were rejected by the international community and many countries, including the USA and China, exercised pressure on Pakistan to withdraw its troops from the Indian territory and respect the LOC. It had to succumb to American pressure in this regard.

This failure of another attempted use of its Army led its military-intelligence establishment to revert to its pre-1999 policy of using the mercenaries of Pakistani jihadi organisations, now allied with Osama bin Laden in his IIF,for stepping up terrorism in the State as well as in other parts of India.

The attack on India’s Parliament in December,2001, by two of these jihadi organisations and the consequent mobilisation of Indian troops once again brought pressure on Pakistan from the USA and other countries to stop using terrorism against India and to dismantle the anti-India jihadi terrorist infrastructure in Pakistani territory.

During the visit of A.B.Vajpayee, India’s then Prime Minister, to Islamabad in January,2004, to attend the SAARC summit, President Pervez Musharraf gave a written undertaking that Pakistan would stop the use of the territory under its control for acts of terrorism directed against India. This assurance has not resulted in the dismantling of the terrorist infrastructure in Pakistani territory. Nor has it led to any decline in acts of terrorism in J&K. However, Pakistan-sponsored jihadi terrorist organisations have not mounted any major act of terrorism in Indian territory outside J&K since August 25,2003, when there were two explosions in Mumbai (Bombay).

THE INDIGENOUS FACTOR

Pakistan’s proxy war against India to acquire J&K has been facilitated by the existence of pockets of discontent and alienation in the local Muslim community. Such pockets were not due to any feelings of discrimination against the local Muslims. None of the indigenous militant organisations has levelled allegations of discrimination against the Government of India. Successive Governments in New Delhi had, in fact, gone out of their way to avoid any action or policy, which could be misinterpreted as interference in the local religious affairs or as an act of discrimination.

Nor were they due to any economic reasons. In fact, a common impression amongst large sections of the Hindus outside J&K has always been that the Govt. of India has been over-generous to the people of the State in matters of economic development. There were and even now there are more signs of abject poverty in other States of India than in J&K.

If at all there were any acts of discrimination in the State, those were against the Hindu and Buddhist minorities than against the Muslim majority. The Kashmiri diaspora in the West consists largely of the Muslims, commonly called Mirpuris, who fled the POK and the Northern Areas of Pakistan, because of acts of discrimination, economic deprivation and repression directed against them by the Pakistani authorities and Hindu Kashmiri Pandits, who fled the Valley because of similar acts directed against them by the local authorities. There has hardly been any exodus of Muslims from J&K to the West. Those, who had fled because of the acts of terrorism, have fled to other parts of India and settled down there. The Muslims of J&K feel safer in other parts of India and do not feel the need to migrate abroad. The Mirpuris, on the other hand, do not feel safer in other parts of Pakistan, particularly the Shias of the Northern Areas, and, therefore, find themselves forced to migrate abroad.

The pockets of discontent and alienation in the J&K Muslim community were largely due to political reasons such as the resentment over the domination of the State’s political scene by the National Conference for many years, perceptions of its autocratic ways of functioning, poor governance, perceptions of widespread corruption and favouritism in recruitment to Government services, allegations of rigging of elections to ensure the dominance of the National Conference etc.

The pockets of discontent and alienation in J&K are not confined only to the local Muslim community. They are to be found even in the Hindu and Buddhist communities for similar reasons. The alienation in those communities has been aggravated by a lack of genuine autonomy for their regions. While the mainstream political parties of the State keep demanding more and more autonomy from the Govt. of India, they are not prepared to grant similar autonomy to the Hindus and the Buddhists in the areas inhabited by them.

. When the militancy started in 1989, spearheaded by jihadi terrorists who had been put through their jihadi inoculation by the ISI in the jihad against the Soviet troops in Afghanistan, the Indian Security Forces were taken by surprise. Though the Indian Security Forces had faced ethnic, ideological and religious terrorism of various kinds in the North-East, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab before 1989, they were new to the kind of brutalities, in the name of jihad, inflicted by the jihadi terrorists in J& K on innocent civilians. A consequent over-projection of the capability of the terrorists and an over-estimation of the threat posed by them by the police and the intelligence agencies led to an over-reaction by the Security Forces and excessive use of force, leading to a number of incidents of perceived human rights violations. This contributed to an aggravation of the feelings of alienation in the Muslim community. Within a couple of years, the Security Forces managed to evolve an appropriate counter-terrorism response, which brought down such instances of human rights violations and avoided hardships to the civilians.

The counter-terrorism response took into account not only the need for an operational response, which would avoid hardships to civilians, but also the need for an appropriate economic response which would protect the livelihood of the common people and an appropriate humanitarian response to keep the educational and medical services going. In J&K, India has been confronted with what we call cross-border terrorism, that is, acts of terrorism by trained and armed terrorists infiltrated across the border from Pakistan. There is a counter-infiltration aspect to the State's response, which is handled by the Indian Army, assisted by the para-military forces and a counter-terrorism aspect, which is handled by the Police, with the help of the para-military forces.

India has never used its Air Force and heavy infantry weapons in its campaign against the jihadi terrorists. The Police is always used as the weapon of first resort and the Army as the weapon of last resort in specific instances in which the Police finds itself overwhelmed by the superior force of the terrorists.

The indigenous terrorist organisations operating in J&K fall into the following groups:

· Those who want J&K to become part of Pakistan under the two-nation theory. They are spearheaded by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI), which is a branch of the JEI of Pakistan, and its militant wing called the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), whose leader Syed Salahuddin, though a Kashmiri, is based in Pakistan.

· Those who want independence for the whole of Kashmir, including J&K, the POK and the Northern Areas. They are spearheaded by the J&K Liberation Front (JKLF), some of whose leaders are based in Pakistan and others in J&K.

· Those who merely call for granting what they call the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris, without specifying whether they want it to join Pakistan or become independent. They say it is for the people to decide.

The anti-Government campaign is co-ordinated at the political level by the Hurriyat Conference based in J&K and at the operational level by the United Jihad Council based in Pakistan.

Confronting them politically are the mainstream parties. Unlike the States of the North-East, which did not have a tradition and a history of a mainstream political movement, J&K has had a long history of such a movement inspired by the democratic, liberal and secular ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian National Congress. The National Conference, headed by the late Sheikh Abdullah, rejected the Muslim League’s two-nation theory and suuported the Congress’ struggle for a united independent India. The Congress itself has had a strong presence in the Jammu and Ladakh Divisions. The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which is presently in power in coalition with the Congress and other parties, is an offshoot of the National Conference formed by some leaders who left it due to unhappiness over the domination of the party by the Abdullah family. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is closely identified with the Hindu community, too has a strong presence in the Jammu Division. J&K has always had a small, but active communist movement looking after the interests of the workers.

All these mainstream political parties, to whichever part of the political spectrum they belong, have always rejected resort to insurgency and terrorism for achieving political objectives. They take note of the feelings of alienation in some sections of the Muslim community and advocate or demand more autonomy to the State in various degrees. Some of them question the contention of the Government of India that the State already enjoys genuine autonomy to a considerable extent.

The questions before the Government of India in its efforts to find a political solution to the problems confronting the State are:

· How to meet the aspirations of the mainstream parties for genuine autonomy for the State as a whole?

· How to meet the aspirations of the people of the Jammu (mainly Hindus) and Ladakh (mainly Buddhists) Divisions for sub-regional autonomy for the regions?

· How to make the indigenous terrorist organisations realise that violence is not an option and persuade them to negotiate with the Government of India in order to find a political solution to their grievances?

· How to deal effectively with the terrorist activities of the pro-bin Laden jihadi terrorist organisations of Pakistan such as the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI) and the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JEM), which are members of bin Laden’s International Islamic Front (IIF) and neutralise them? They pose a threat not only to peace and stability in J&K, but also in other parts of India.

There is a need for a comprehensive counter-terrorism doctrine, based on national and regional consensus, which could simultaneously address all these questions. The Indian State had in the past been confronted with an insurgent-cum-terrorist movement in Nagaland and Mizoram to which it managed to find a political solution through negotiations with the insurgents and by convincing them that violence would not pay. The militants/insurgents of the past in these areas have given up their resort to insurgency/terrorism and have taken their due place as responsible and enlightened political leaders of their communities.

A similar outcome in J&K is being impeded by the infiltration and operation in Indian territory of thousands of Pakistani jihadi terrorists in the name of Islamic solidarity and in pursuance of bin Laden’s pan-Islamic ideology, which advocates the division of the Islamic world into Islamic Caliphates in different geographical regions.

In Nagaland and Mizoram too, there was considerable ISI involvement in the insurgency in the form of training and supply of funds and arms and ammunition, but there was no involvement of foreign mercenaries. Despite this, it took the Govt. of India 19 years to find a political solution in Nagaland and 18 years in Mizoram.

Its task is much more complicated in J&K because of the factor of cross-border terrorism and the role of the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment in keeping terrorism alive. It is, therefore, not surprising that it is taking it a long time to find a political solution. There is, however, no doubt that it will find a political solution to the indigenous aspect of the problem in course of time in accordance with its ideals of democracy and secularism.

Explore the monumental heritage of India

Explore the monumental heritage of India, It became quite clear to me that Indian architecture is a rich mix of various architectural styles. What I could make out was that it was due to the influence of various regions and dynasties

In fact, India is surrounded with the remains of ages of bygone era and endorse many world famous monuments like the Taj and Qutab Minar, cloaked in obscurity, off the tourist circuit, waiting to be 'discovered', but architectural gems nevertheless.

As I explored, several facts came out and things became more clearer. I found that Islamic style of architecture concentrated only on monuments and Hindu being more religious. The most enduring achievements of Indian civilization is undoubtedly its architecture, which extends to a great deal more than the Taj Mahal or the temple complexes of Khajuraho and Vijayanagara.

Personally, I feel that architecture of India, is indeed, of the creativity of the unsung artisans who dedicated their lives to bring to life such marvelous pieces of magnificent beauty. India boasts of a myriad of architectural delights such as the majestic Taj Mahal, the temples of Southern India, the Jain temples and the Buddhist monasteries, to name a few. In fact, today I recommend everbody to pay special attention to architecture on their trip to India.

One of the travelers, Alyse, who visited Taj Mahal, have beautifully scripted thearchitecture of the Taj Mahal in his travelog. Another explorer who visited Golden temple have narrated the beauty of the Golden temple architecture.

Even I covered few of the Indian temples on my voyage. They all were marveously built, in fact, I have written my experiences and thoughts about them. All the temples that I explored were beautifully built. I have some very vivid memories about them.

And Lot more ....... stay connected ......!!!!!!!!!

RELIGION IN INDIA

India, the land of spirituality and philosophy considers religion as an integral part of its entire tradition. The worship of various religions and its rituals play a significant role in every aspect of human life in the country.

India is the birthplace of two great religions of the world, namely, Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also the birthplace of one of the oldest religions of the world, Zoroastrianism, and home to an ancient religion, Jainism. Sikhism is another very recognizable religion which began here bringing together the best aspects of Hinduism and Islam. Followers of religions originated in other countries such as Islam, Christianity, Bahaism and Judaism also form a part of the population of secular nation, India.

Hinduism is the dominant faith. According to 2001 Census, 80.5% of the population of the country are designated 'Hindu'. It is one of the ancient religions in the world, which began about 6000 years ago. Besides Hindus, Muslims are the most prominent religious group and are an integral part of Indian society. There are approximately13.4% Muslims (over 100 million), 2.3% Christians (over 20 million), 1.9 % Sikhs (18 million) and others including Buddhists (6 million), Jains, Parsis (Zoroastrians), Jews, and Bahais, less than 2 percent.

Hindus and Muslims are spread throughout the country. Muslims are found mostly in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. They represent a majority in Jammu and Kashmir and Lakshadweep. Christian concentrations are found in the northeastern states like Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya and the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Goa. Sikhs are a majority in the state of Punjab whereas Buddhists are found in large numbers in Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Bengal and Sikkim. Though a tiny minority, Jains are found all over India. Majority of Jains live in the states of Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Gujarat

Discover India inside out !!!

India is a fascinating country where people of many different communities and religions live together in unity. Indian Population is polygenetic and is an amazing amalgamation of various races and cultures.

It is impossible to find out the exact origin of Indian People. The species known as Ramapithecus was found in the Siwalik foothills of north western Himalayas. The species believed to be the first in the line of hominids (Human Family) lived some 14 million years ago. Researchers have found that a species resembling the Austrapithecus lived in India some 2 million years ago. Even this discovery leaves an evolutionary gap of as much as 12 million years since Ramapithecus.

There are many diverse ethnic groups among the people of India. The 6 main ethnic groups are as follows.

Negrito

Proto - Australoids or Austrics

Mongoloids

Mediterranean or Dravidian

Western Brachycephals

Nordic Aryans

Negroids
The Negritos or the Brachycephalic (broad headed) from Africa were the earliest people to have come to India. They have survived in their original habitat in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The Jarawas, Onges, Sentinelese and the Great Andamanese are some of the examples. Some hill tribes like Irulas, Kodars, Paniyans and Kurumbas are found in some patches in Southern part of mainland India.

Pro-Australoids or Austrics
These groups were the next to come to India after the Negritos. They are people with wavy hair lavishly distributed all over their brown bodies, long headed with low foreheads and prominent eye ridges, noses with low and broad roots, thick jaws, large palates and teeth and small chins. The Austrics of India represent a race of medium height, dark complexion with long heads and rather flat noses but otherwise of regular features. Miscegenation with the earlier Negroids may be the reason for the dark or black pigmentation of the skin and flat noses.

The Austrics laid the foundation of Indian civilization. They cultivated rice and vegetables and made sugar from sugarcane. Now these people are found in some parts of India, Myanmar and the islands of South East Asia. Their languages have survived in the Central and Eastern India.

Mongoloids
These people are found in the North eastern part of India in the states of Assam, Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Tripura. They are also found in Northern parts of West Bengal, Sikkim, and Ladakh. Generally they are people with yellow complexion, oblique eyes, high cheekbones, sparse hair and medium height.

Dravidians
These are the people of South India. They have been believed to come before the Aryans. They have different sub-groups like the Paleo-Mediterranean, the true Mediterranean, and the Oriental Mediterranean. They appear to be people of the same stock as the peoples of Asia Minor and Crete and pre- Hellenic Aegean's of Greece. They are reputed to have built up the city civilization of the Indus valley, whose remains have been found at Mohenjo- daro and Harappa and other Indus cities.

Western Bracycephals
These include the Alpinoids, Dinarics and Armenoids. The Parsis and Kodavas also fall in this category. They are the broad headed people living mainly on the western side of the country such as the Ganga Valley and the delta, parts of Kashmir, Kathiawar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Nordics or the Indo-Aryans
This group were the last one to immigrate to India. They came to India somewhere between 2000 and 1500 B.C. They are now mainly found in the northern and central part of India.