Birth of Post-colonial South Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh October 18, 2010 Based primarily on Bose and Jalal Jalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism.

Birth of Post-colonial South Asia: India,

Pakistan, Bangladesh

October 18, 2010

Based primarily on Bose and JalalJalal, Democracy and Authoritarianism

Jahan, Bangladesh

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Main questionsI. What was the nature of the political and

institutional developments in India and Pakistan?

II. Why did we have democracy in India and military dictatorship in Pakistan?

III. Why did Bengalis fight a War of Liberation?

IV. What was the nature of the political and institutional developments in Bangladesh?

V. How are these histories reflected in contemporary events in the countries?

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Recap 1: August 15, 1947• India achieves

independence and incorporates West Bengal and Assam

• Pakistan is created; incorporates East Bengal (the East Wing, or East Pakistan) and territory in the northwest (the West Wing, or West Pakistan);

• Jinnah becomes governor general of Pakistan; Nehru, the PM of India

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Recap 2: Two Nation theory• First articulated in the

Presidential address to the All India Muslim league in 1930 by Allama Iqbal, the famous poet, philosopher and politician.

• Argued that the aspirations of two different communities, especially when one was a minority, and the other a majority, could be addressed within one state

• Was in disagreement with both Nehru and Gandhi

• In India’s nationalist discourse this came to be known as Muslim separatism.

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Recap 3: Savarkar and Hindutva

• Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was the President of the Hindu Mahasabha (General council)

• Advocated the idea of Hindu Rashtra (Hindu state) and supported the two-nation theory

• Argued that more than a religion, Hindus were ethnically and territorially connected to India

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Recap 4: Colonial rule and the Nature of identities

• Both Hindus and Muslims fractured by class, region and rural-urbal divide, sect, caste, doctrine

• This too complex to hence the effort to forge one Muslim and one Hindu identity

• For this allegiance was sought with the elites• In the end, partition was a combination of these

factors, domestic elite politics and the arbitrariness of colonial power.

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Partition by W.H.Auden• Pg 155 of Bose and Jalal. • Full text here • The poem is about the work of Cyril

Radcliffe who actually designed the Partition of the territory

• To think: do you know of any other country/region where borders have been imposed arbitrarily? What have been its consequences?

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Question II. What was the nature of the

political and institutional developments in India and Pakistan?

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India: Nature of the political and institutional developments• Centrism• Dominance of elected politicians, particularly

parties, and particualrly the Congress• Democracy• Fundamental rights • Economy – state intervention• Overall: Centrist, interventionist but liberal,

accommodation of minorities through constitutional measures

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India

India’s two goals emerging from the struggle • Social transformation and• Projection of a unified nation • Jalal suggests these are contradictory:

Why? • Single party dominance in a multi-party

democracy• Laid the ground for patronage politics

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Pakistan: Nature of political & institutional developments

• Conception of Pakistan• P=Punjab• A=Afghan• K=Kashmir• S= Sindh• Tan from BaluchistanWhat did this mean for the Pakistani state?

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State formation in Pakistan (2)• What did this mean for the Pakistani

state?

• The tension between provinces and the ‘centre’ was inscribed into the very heart of the polity

• In this conflict, bureaucracy rather than party emerged as victorious.

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Pakistan (3)• Tensions with India, Kashmir situation etc.,

also created insecurity

• This led in turn to a strengthening of the military

• Resource scarcity

• Assassination of first PM Liaqaut Ali Khan

• By 1951, the US saw this as an opportunity to extend Cold War politics

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Sources of Power: Pakistan• Military• Bureaucracy• Landowning Classes• Prime Minister and Party in government• President• Religion & Religious Leaders• External relations (in particular, with the US)

Locus of power

President Undemocratic constitutions (especially since Zia), with unprecedented concentration of powers in the President

Military Weakness of the political system; Perceived threat of external aggression

Bureaucracy History & state formation;Elitism of the Muslim League;Concentration of power in the head;Cultural bias against politicians;

Religion Perhaps the most complex locus of power

The US The US’s own interests - oil- anti-communism

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II. Why the difference?

Three factors:

• Concept of the ‘center’

• Pre-existing and non-existing state structures

• Consequences of partition

Principle Authoritarian Representative Democracy

Extent of  Govt Power   

Govt is not limited. Govt is limited by the consent of the people

Control of  Power   

Power is held by an individual or small group

Power is excerised by elected officials chosen by ballot

Civil Liberties  & rights   

Rights are not guaranteed in practice.

Liberties and rights are guarateed by  a constitution

Elections     

Elections do not offer a choice.  Single party system

Elections offer a choice of candidates

Rule of law    

Govt does not always follow rule of law

Govt. & people are  under the rule of law

Order    

Force or threat are used Orderly demonstrations, protests are legal

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Regimes Sources of legitimacy

M.A. Jinnah (1947-8) Creator of independent Pakistan

Ayub Khan (1958-69) Developmentalism

Yahya Khan (1969-71) Democratization

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (1971-77) Democracy/populism

Benazir Bhutto & Nawaz Sharif

‘Democratic regime’ (?)

Pervez Musharraf (1999-2008) War on Terror

Present Democracy (?)

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Q III-IV: BangladeshI. Why did Bengalis fight a War of

Liberation? II. What was the nature of the

political and institutional developments in Bangladesh?

Link to map and timeline

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Turning points in History• 1952 – Language revolution, February 21

• “Politicians and students join their forces for a broader movement under the leadership of Awami League. As demonstrations and unrests seem to get out of control, the Government cracks down by imposing a curfew in Dhaka; a number of demonstrators are killed in front of the Dhaka Medical College over a period of one week (February 21-27, 1952). Hundreds and thousands of people took the streets to protests unanimously and the seeds of Bangladeshi nationalism was sown

1969• tension between E. and W. after nearly 500,000

Bengalis die in a cyclone• Pakistani military rulers hold the first democratic

elections• The Awami League, representing Bengalis in

East Pakistan, won the majority of seats in the National Assembly. The military leadership refuses to allow the Awami League to form a government.

• The siege of East Pakistan by the Pakistani Army had begun. War was now inevitable.

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War and Liberation• 1971 March:Liberation War begins• 1971 - Sheikh Mujib arrested and taken to

West Pakistan. In exile, Awami League leaders proclaim the independence of the province of East Pakistan on 26th March. The new country is called Bangladesh. 10 million Bangladeshis flee to India as troops from West Pakistan are defeated with Indian assistance

• Dec 16 1971: Surrender of the Pakistan Army (termed Victory Day)

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Birth of Bangladesh• Internal colonialism• Challenge of facing both a state apparatus

and a political community• Disarray of civil bureaucracy and the

military• Schism between ‘collaborators’ and

‘patriots’• Institutionalization of the ‘freedom fighters’

into a political entity

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Bangladesh • Continuing militancy

• Debates over the constitution – extent of political power of the Prime Minister

• Mujibbad – Mujibism – nationalism, socialism, democracy and secularism

• Supposed to correct the deficiencies of communism and capitalism (the third way)

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Bangladesh timeline1971-5: The Mujib era. This is the formative period, associated

with a strong nationalist and statist fervour, with Mujibur Rahman and his party Awami League in power;

1977-81: The Zia regime. This is the beginning of military rule in Bangladesh, marked by the adoption of Islam in the constitution;

1982-91: The Ershad regime. Military rule, and declaration of Islam as state religion;

1991-6: the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) regime, with Khaleda Zia as Prime Minister;

1996-2000: The second Awami League regime, with Sheik Hasina as leader;

2001-2006: Coalition government headed by the BNP2006-2008: Caretaker government, postponement of elections,

declaration of a state of Emergency and political violence

Bangladesh (2008-)

• PM: Sheikh Hasina (since 2009)

• Party: Awami League

• Population: 162 million (UN, 2009)

• People under $1.25 a day: 80 per cent

• Capital city: Dhaka

• Language: Bengali• State religion: Islam (8th amendment, 1988)

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