Statesman’s books. Hundreds of books have been written on India’s first prime minister. One day The Delhi Walla checked out the books that …
City Library – Jawaharlal Nehru’s Book Collection, Teen Murti House
This post explores the representation of the Hazara community in popular culture, using the examples of a novel The Kite Runner, a TV talent show Sitara-e Afghan (Afghan Star), and a documentary Laila at the Bridge. Rabia Khan discusses the gradual change in perceptions about Hazara identity, especially in terms of community consciousness and individual agency, and highlights the manner in which contemporary depictions of the Hazaras reflect more intricate forms of engagement with the historical, political and social realities of the community.…
The Historical Context of Hazaras
The Hazara community is one of many ethnic groups from Afghanistan, but there are differences of opinion about whether they are of Turko-Mongol heritage, or are an indigenous community from central Afghanistan, an area known locally as Hazarajat. The late 1800s was a particularly turbulent period in Hazara history which saw the community massacred and enslaved at the behest of Abdur Rahman Khan, the Pashtun king at the time, who sought to conquer Hazarajat in order to consolidate his power. He did so by instigating a jihad against Hazaras who were perceived as ‘infidels’, due to their Shia beliefs in a predominately Sunni Muslim state. The insurrection of Hazarajat resulted in Hazaras being at the bottom of the country’s social hierarchy, and they were subsequently sold as the cheapest slaves at the time.
Discrimination against the community continued into the 20th century; however, the 1980s saw a significant reconfiguration of Hazara self-perception and community consciousness in Afghanistan. This was mainly due to the Hizb-e Wahdat-e Islami Afghanistan (Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan), which was formed in the late 1980s and was led by Abdul Ali Mazari with the aim of representing Hazara political aspirations, resulting in a shift in Hazara visibility in Afghanistan. The first 2 decades of this century have also been pivotal in the community’s history, with their earlier status as peripheral subjects changing markedly in recent years, particularly since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001. The Hazaras have since made great strides in the fields of politics, sports and music, with the country’s first female provincial governor Dr Habiba Sarabi being Hazara, as is Afghanistan’s first Olympic medalist Rohullah Nikpai, and the renowned singer Elaha Soroor.
Read the full piece by Dr Rabia Latif Khan, Hazara Representation in Popular Culture, 8 Feb, 2021, LSE South Asia Blog.
This account has rekindled memories of visiting the Rock Gardens in Chandigarh. I have pre-digital age photographs and will share those on my blog but this is a wonderful piece on the unique history of Nek Chand.
The Nek Chand Rock Gardens had been on our radar for a long time before we finally made it there. Located in the city of Chandigarh, at the foot of …
The Incredible Story of Nek Chand Rock Gardens, India
In January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman — released from prison in Pakistan — flew to independent Bangladesh from Rawalpindi (Pakistan) via London and …
Mujibur Rahman’s First Secret Meeting with an Indian Officer — Me
Hector Bolitho’s Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan is how it ended, in 1954; below is how it started, in 1951-2:
Hotel Metropole (Karachi), 4 February 1952, Bolitho to S.M. Ikram (Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan)
‘I have just returned from a conversation with Miss Jinnah [who had ‘issued a statement that she neither knew about, nor had anything to do with, Bolitho’s assignment’] and I feel that time has come for us to review the circumstances in which I have attempted to write the official biography of Quaid-i-Azam.
I have now been in Pakistan for almost one month [government had to issue a press note explaining the decision to engage ‘a foreigner’, in response to ‘a section of Pakistan Press’ raising a controversy], and I feel that, in the present circumstances, it would be dishonest and impossible for me to write a biography that would be worthy of the subject or acceptable to any reputable firm of publishers.
Since I have been engaged on my task, which began on October 22nd [the cabinet of Liaquat Ali Khan had approved minister I.H. Qureshi’s proposal to commission Bolitho on June 20, 1951], I have been refused all help from those officials who knew Quaid-i-Azam personally. K.H. Khurshid, his secretary, now in London, has expressed his regrets that he will not help. M.H. Saiyid, sent to me by you, has also refused to co-operate.
[Khurshid would later publish his Memories of Jinnah (1990, 2001). Saiyid would also publish A Political Study of Jinnah (1953, 1962), titled The Sound of Fury (1981)]
Mazhar Ahmad, A.D.C. to the Quaid, whom you promised as my helper, has not been made available. Prof. Mahmud Brelvi [?], appointed to help me, has not appeared for six days. Although he has been scrupulous in his courtesy, your office has ignored my situation, and has offered no explanation of Prof. Brelvi’s withdrawal. Nor has anyone been deputed to take his place. Nor, in this past month, have I been given even one of the promised documents relating to the Quaid. Nor has Miss Jinnah been approached by the Government. I have taken legal advice, and I find that Miss Jinnah owns the copyright of all her brother’s documents. She has stated to me that these are being used for the biography on which she is now engaged [Ghazanfar Ali Khan (then Pakistan’s Ambassador in Iran) had given a statement ‘welcoming Miss Jinnah’s decision’, adding that ‘she “should have been the first person to be consulted by the Government”’. I.H. Qureshi had been ‘seeking the assistance of his colleagues acquainted with Miss Jinnah to approach her, but these efforts failed’. Her book My Brother (1955) came out in 1987.]
As an indication of the frustration and discouragement I have endured from your department, I would draw your attention to my letter of January 19th. There I mentioned the Aga Khan’s offer to help me. His collaboration would be almost as valuable as that of Miss Jinnah. Sixteen days have passed since I wrote this, without the courtesy of a reply from you.
All this suggests that the Government is apparently unable, or unwilling, to abide by our contract. I consider that I have been deceived in this matter of documents, and the promised help of “members of the family” of the Quaid. I am wondering, therefore, if it would not be best for us to terminate our contract, under terms which I shall made as reasonable as possible. I propose:
I am anxious to conclude this matter as soon as possible, because it is desirable for both of us that the story should not become distorted in the world press. I have already been approached to make a statement to a New York newspaper, and to an Indian newspaper.
I have no wish to see the Government embarrassed, and I am sure that we could come to an arrangement. I ask only for speed. Although our agreement was made in London, and, therefore, any legal action would no doubt have to be taken there, I trust that we can close the matter amicably, thus avoiding publicity unpalatable.
[The agreement text spoke of ‘not less than 90, 000 words’ biography for ‘the fee’ of 1000 GBP ‘on the signing of this contract’, 1000 GBP ‘on delivery of the finished manuscript to the publisher’ and, 1000 GBP ‘on publication in England or America (whichever first) + 1st class return sea passages, rail fares, travelling facilities and hotel accommodation for a period of 4 months, a liaison officer and all ‘reasonable assistance and facilities for the purpose of obtaining information, examining documents and interviewing government officials and members of the family’]
A disgruntled Bolitho, before writing the above letter, gave an interview to the Sind Observer, without warning to the government, published on 29 January 1952, in which he ‘hinted at the possibility of his giving up the assignment and seeking compensation because he had put all his work aside to fulfil this request which came first from Liaquat Ali Khan’.
Source: File No. 3 (6) – PMS/52 (Government of Pakistan, Prime Minister’s Secretariat)
What happened in-between, recalled In Quest of Jinnah: Diary, Notes and Correspondence of Hector Bolitho, edited by Sharif al Mujahid, 2007.
Hector Bolitho of New Zealand (1897-1974); author of 59 (!) books & biographer of George VI, Victoria & Albert and Edward VIII). Further Bio details.
Following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh Bodyguards on 31 October 1984, parts of Delhi, North India and other areas with Sikh populations became engulfed in an anti-Sikh pogrom. From 31 October to 3 November 1984 in the national capital, organised violence against the Sikh community was unleashed, unlike anything it had witnessed previously since the anti-Muslim carnage of September 1947. The ‘official’ claim later was that 2,800 Sikhs were killed in Delhi and 3,350 elsewhere in the country. However, independent sources suggest a much high figure. Among these, one of the first to come out was this fact-finding report by political scientist Rajni Kothari of the People’s Union For Civil Liberties and Gobinda Mukhoty of the People’s Union for Democratic Rights, which investigated the murders, looting and rioting that took place during those 10 days and published it later the same month. It starkly concluded that:
…the attacks on members of the Sikh Community in Delhi and its suburbs during the period, far from being a spontaneous expression of “madness” and of popular “grief and anger” at Mrs. Gandhi’s assassination, as made out to be by the authorities, were the outcome of a well organised plan marked by acts of both deliberate commissions and omissions by important politicians of the Congress (I) at the top and by authorities in the administration. Although there was indeed popular shock, grief and anger, the violence that followed was the handiwork of a determined group which was inspired by different sentiments altogether.
Further reading:
Manoj, Mitta & H S Phoolka. When a tree shook Delhi: the 1984 carnage and its aftermath. Lotus. 2007.
Mukhopadhyay, Nilanjan. Sikhs: The Untold Agony of 1984. Westland, 2015.
Pandey, Gyanendra. “Partition and Independence in Delhi: 1947-48.” Economic and Political Weekly (1997): 2261-2272.
Suri, Sanjay. 1984: The Anti-Sikh Riots and After. HarperCollins, 2015.
Shaker, Why don’t you sing? by Maya Angelou (Random House, 1983), p16-17
Caged Bird
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Swaran Singh (Civil Lines, Jullundur City) to Sardar Baldev Singh, 6 March 1951 (Nehru Papers post-47 file 75)
“A very serious situation has arisen in Jullundur district over the language controversy. You must be already aware of the propaganda which was carried on by a certain class of Hindus for persuading the Harijan classes to state at the time of census that Hindi was their mother tongue. Partly as a result of this propaganda and partly on account of the predominance of Hindus amongst the enumerators, a very large section of Harijan population has been recorded as Hindi-speaking population…Illiterate Harijans in the villages who cannot speak or understand even one word of Hindi have been recorded as Hindi-speaking individuals. This has naturally caused resentment in the minds of the Sikhs and they have in a quiet and peaceful manner told the Harijans that the latter have nothing to do with them and a state of peaceful boycott prevails in a fairly large number of villages…The Hindu communalists nakedly in some cases and under the grab of Congress and nationalism in other cases, have fully exploited this situation. They have instigated the Harijans to pick up some quarrel or the other and thus to afford a pretext to the police to make arrests. During the last 3-4 days over 100 persons have already been arrested from villages situated in the different tehsils of the district. Of the arrested persons, about 30-40 so far are the Harijans and the remaining persons are Sikhs, mostly Jats. The action is taken for breach of peace and bails are purposely delayed in order to demoralize the rural people…I had a long talk with [Chief Minister] Dr. Gopi Chand who was on tour at Jullundur yesterday, but as usual he is extremely indecisive. [Some] MLAs are doing their worst to instigate the Harijans and are poisoning the ears of the local officers. Lala Jagat Narain [future founder/editor of Punjab Kesari] has been particularly poisonous in his writings. A very serious situation prevails, and I won’t be surprised if the province is hurled into chaos and if serious effort is not made to straighten out this matter…The self-styled leaders, the press and the local officers should be made to realize that they are playing with fire and the consequence can be extremely disastrous”.
PV Bhaskaran (Deputy Director – Intelligence Bureau) to HVR Iengar (Ministry of Home Affairs), VP Menon (Ministry of States) & Dharma Vira (Pr. PS to PM), 15 March 1951 (Nehru Papers post-47 file 75)
“The bitter animosity which has been witnessed in Punjab and the PEPSU between the Sikhs and the Hindus over the Punjabi-Hindi language controversy in the census has had unpleasant repercussions for the Harijans in many centres of these two states. There have been several complaints of the coercion [arson] and economic boycott [departure] of the Harijans of the PEPSU by the Sikhs, [across villages] in Kapurthala and Patiala district(s). Security proceedings have had to be commenced against Harijans and Sikh Jats…
A deputation of Hindus and Harijans of [some] villages of Kapurthala district, waited on the District Commissioner with complaints of oppression, but were reported to have been told that they had themselves invited this trouble by furnishing Hindi as their language, while living in a Punjabi-speaking area…of Sikh Zamindars. Some of them complained that Akali workers had forcibly obtained their thumb impressions on applications, which sought to have their language changed from Hindi to Punjabi. Some harassment of Harijan women has also been mentioned, [amidst] reported, [en]forced [departures]…Some Harijans, apparently acting under intimidation, actually applied to the DC to alter their language from Hindi to Punjabi in the census returns. In Sangrur district, the Harijans are reported to have been boycotted by the Sikh Zamindars, with the result that they had to march long distance to the town to fetch their food-grains and other daily necessities of life. The districts of Bhatinda and Fatehgarh Saheb were the [other] areas from which such trouble has been reported [with] Harijans of rural areas reported to have moved to town for safety.
In Punjab, Jullundur district has been the worst affected. 98 Jat Sikhs and 45 Harijans have been arrested in this district. A Harijan was murdered by Jat Sikhs…on February 28. Some of the houses of the Harijans who furnished Hindi as their language were reported to have been set on fire…It is reported that the Harijans of these areas have refused to remove the dead bodies of the animals belonging to the Sikhs, and that the latter have boycotted them…Similar complaints have also been made against the Sikhs by the Hindus and the Harijans of some centres of Gurdaspur district…Hoshiarpur and Ferozepur district have also been scenes of similar communal trouble.
The PEPSU Achhut Federation has protested strongly against the “unprovoked high-handedness and injustice” done to Harijans during the census and has demanded their immediate resettlement in their own villages. [There was] a well-attended conference of the depressed classes’ league at Patiala on March 4. A resolution was then accepted, urging the central government to order an independent enquiry on the high-handedness of the Sikhs and the maltreatment of the Harijans of Punjab and the PEPSU in the course of the census operations. [A] speaker warned that the Harijans could cause havoc by staging a week’s hartal of sweepers. [Another] warned the Sikhs not to poison the atmosphere with the language controversy.
The Harijan Sabha of Amritsar convened a meeting on March 6 and warned the Harijans to beware of the tactics of both the Hindus and the Sikhs, and to remain aloof as a separate group. The government was also requested to take the necessary action against the aggressors, failing which, it was warned that a movement of satyagraha would be commenced by refusing to do scavenging and other menial services. The Sweepers Federation of Simla also held a meeting, to deplore the communal tension created by the census operations due to the coercion of the Sikhs. One of the speakers…threatened a strike of sweepers. Resolutions were adopted protesting against the victimisation of the Harijans and demanding the appointment of an enquiry committee consisting of officials drafted from other states.
A refugee camp has been set up at Amritsar by the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSSS, with the assistance of the local Scheduled Castes Federation, to shelter the Harijans who have been migrating from rural areas…There are now only 25 inmates in this camp, but about 245 other Harijans are in shelter in the town with the help of local Hindu hide merchants…This situation was mentioned by NC Chatterjee of the Hindu Mahasabha, at a public meeting at Amritsar on March 11, when he said that the social boycott of the Harijans of Punjab would lead to civil war and anarchy. [A] Punjab Hindu Mahasabha [speaker] advised the Sikhs to stop their oppression of the Harijans in rural areas, warning them that the Sikhs might similarly be victimised in other states of India where they were n a minority.
As is well-known, Master Tara Singh and other leaders of the Shiromani Akali Dal have been bitterly critical of the Hindus and their action in recording Hindi as their language in the census…[Their] visit in Patiala, in the last week of February, gave rise to rumours of impending communal disturbances…Several refugees are reported to have left…Unless firm measures are taken both at official and non-official levels, there may be the danger of the situation getting out of hand”.
Further reading: Singh, Atamjit. “The Language Divide in Punjab.” South Asian Graduate Research Journal 4, no. 1 (1997). Available via Apna.org
BAGICHA 