tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/south-asia-17637/articlesSouth Asia – The Conversation2024-02-16T15:52:25Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2230492024-02-16T15:52:25Z2024-02-16T15:52:25ZSri Lanka: why the country’s wait for elections must end<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/576016/original/file-20240215-28-3959qo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C8%2C5535%2C3676&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sri Lankan protesters invade the prime minister's residence in Colombo, July 13 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/colombo-sri-lanka-july-13-2022-2178308091">Sebastian Castelier/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sri Lanka is grappling with its worst <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-61028138">economic crisis</a> since independence in 1948. Soaring prices, shortages of essential goods and crippling external debts have sparked widespread protests across the country in recent years. In 2022, enraged demonstrators even stormed the residence of the then president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, forcing him to flee the country and resign. </p>
<p>The following year, elections were <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/sri-lanka-delays-first-vote-since-new-president-12203902.html">postponed</a> indefinitely. Rajapaksa’s successor, Ranil Wickremesinghe, warned parliament that holding an election during the economic crisis could be disastrous. Opposition MPs criticised the move, accusing the president of using the economic crisis as an excuse to hold onto power and “sabotage democracy”. </p>
<p>But in November Wickremesinghe <a href="https://english.newsfirst.lk/2023/11/22/presidential-parliamentary-elections-next-year-ranil">announced</a> that presidential and parliamentary elections will finally be held in 2024 and 2025. Could this year be one of actual change that free and fair elections can bring? Or will they be used to tighten the grip of authoritarianism that was established by the Rajapaksa family over almost 15 years in power, and has worsened under Wickremesinghe?</p>
<p>Five elections will take place in South Asian countries this year, and most will likely return incumbent parties to power. It is not yet clear if Sri Lanka will follow suit.</p>
<h2>Unpopular candidate</h2>
<p>Wickremesinghe, who has already been Sri Lankan prime minister five times, is widely <a href="https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/For-me-to-be-back-I-must-contest-President-on-Presidential-election/108-276755">tipped</a> to run for presidency. But he faces vast criticism on the grounds that he came to power without being elected by the people. He won a parliamentary vote to replace Rajapaksa but has no popular mandate. </p>
<p>It is expected that he will capitalise on the “stability” he has brought to Sri Lanka since reaching an <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/03/20/pr2379-imf-executive-board-approves-under-the-new-eff-arrangement-for-sri-lanka">agreement</a> with the International Monetary Fund to approve a US$2.9 billion (£2.3 billion) loan to help the country through its financial crisis. </p>
<p>This stability, however, is a myth and the situation remains dire. More than <a href="https://reliefweb.int/report/sri-lanka/sri-lanka-household-food-security-survey-preliminary-findings-december-2023#:%7E:text=In%202023%2C%20WFP%20and%20FAO,estimated%20to%20be%20food%20insecure.">17% of Sri Lankans</a> are suffering from food insecurity and are in need of humanitarian assistance.</p>
<p>The loan was granted on the condition that Sri Lanka reduce its domestic debt. But Wickremesinghe’s plans to restructure domestic debt have come at the expense of the working population. </p>
<p>The government plans to <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/columns/economic-perspectives-c-p-chandrasekhar-sri-lankan-debt-crisis-to-get-worse-if-imf-prescription-is-heeded/article67045396.ece">decrease interest rates</a> on sovereign bonds held by major pension funds – a cut that would amount to a loss of <a href="https://www.pressreader.com/sri-lanka/daily-mirror-sri-lanka/20230703/281698324193687">close to 30%</a> of the value of retirement funds over the next decade. </p>
<p>Militarisation is also at an <a href="https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/we-are-among-top-10-countries-militarisation-admits-sri-lankan-mp#:%7E:text=Sorry!-,%27We%20are%20among%20top%2010%20countries%27%20for,militarisation%20admits%20Sri%20Lankan%20MP&text=A%20Sri%20Lankan%20lawmaker%20has,sector%20despite%20an%20economic%20crisis.">all-time high</a>. And efforts are being made to restrict the rights of minorities living in the north and east of the country through surveillance, harassment and unlawful arrests. His victory will only ensure continuity of all this, and more. </p>
<h2>How not to hold elections</h2>
<p>For Wickremesinghe to maintain his power, he has to honour his promise of holding elections. Local government elections were initially scheduled for March 9 2023, but they were repeatedly postponed due to a <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lankas-local-body-polls-postponed-indefinitely-due-to-lack-of-funds/article66725596.ece">shortage of funds</a>.</p>
<p>Their cancellation led to a spate of protests. Police used force to disperse crowds, resulting in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/politics-sri-lanka-colombo-cb7ad21a28ad9fac237144cb9e90ca4d">15 injuries</a>. Shortly afterwards, the election commission postponed the elections indefinitely, <a href="https://www.newsfirst.lk/2023/03/03/supreme-court-issues-interim-order-on-funding-local-government-election-2023">defying</a> a Supreme Court order. </p>
<p>Wickremesinghe then pursued constitutional amendments and <a href="https://www.sundaytimes.lk/231022/columns/president-appoints-special-commission-to-drastically-change-election-laws-536547.html">appointed a commission</a> to explore changes to the electoral system. So, when the announcement that elections would be held was finally made, it was unsurprisingly received with apprehension by the electorate.</p>
<p>The act of delaying elections is an undemocratic move. But these delay tactics appear to be a smokescreen, giving Wickremesinghe time to gather support for his presidential nomination. </p>
<p>It looks as if he is aiming to secure support from the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna party, which is led by Mahinda Rajapaksa – a former president and the brother of Gotabaya Rajapaksa. This is a calculated move as it is unlikely that Rajapaksa would have any public backing to make a reappearance as president himself. </p>
<p>In November 2023, a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/15/sri-lanka-top-court-finds-rajapaksa-brothers-guilty-of-economic-crisis">landmark ruling</a> by the Supreme Court determined that the Rajapaksa brothers, alongside former governors of the central bank and other senior treasury officials, were responsible for Sri Lanka’s economic crisis.</p>
<p>Wickremesinghe is using this extra time as a political ploy too. He has promised to implement the 13th Amendment – a provision of the 1987 <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/the-hindu-explains-what-is-the-13th-amendment-to-the-sri-lankan-constitution-and-why-is-it-contentious/article32531844.ece">Indo-Lanka Accord</a> that guarantees a measure of devolution to the country’s nine provinces. This is most definitely an attempt to appease minorities and use power sharing as a political tool to garner support.</p>
<p>But it could also have been a deliberate move to appease India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, before his visit to Colombo in January. During Jaishankar’s visit, he <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/india-pledges-strong-support-sri-lankas-debt-restructuring-plan-letter-imf-2023-01-18/">supported</a> the government’s debt restructuring plans.</p>
<p>Wickremesinghe has used the delay to rush the passing of the <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/01/sri-lanka-online-safety-act-major-blow-to-freedom-of-expression/">Online Safety Act</a> through parliament. Created to provide protection against online harassment, abuse and fraud, this highly repressive law could threaten the right to freedom of expression that is crucial for free and fair elections.</p>
<h2>The elusive winds of change</h2>
<p>Elections are only as good as their contestants. So who are Wickremesinghe and his allies afraid of? Informal surveys reveal the rising popularity of Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leader of the leftist National People’s Power alliance. Dissanayake could pose a serious threat to the leadership of Wickremesinghe. </p>
<p>Dissanayake, who also ran for presidency in 2019, has <a href="https://www.lankaenews.com/news/3634/en">pledged</a> to eradicate corruption, hold dishonest politicians and officials accountable, and establish a fresh system of governance. These pledges resonate with the kind of political party Sri Lanka wants and needs to lift itself out of the mess it is currently in.</p>
<p>Wickremesinghe originally <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/sri-lanka-delays-first-vote-since-new-president-12203902.html">claimed</a> that elections would be held when Sri Lanka had achieved greater stability. But the real reason for the delay could have more to do with the simple fact that holding elections could potentially create a more legitimate and credible government – a prospect that Sri Lanka’s entrenched ruling elite may not welcome. </p>
<p>Demanding they take place is thus of utmost importance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223049/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thiruni Kelegama does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>After months of indefinite postponement, presidential and parliamentary elections will finally be held over the next two years.Thiruni Kelegama, Lecturer in Modern South Asian Studies, Oxford School of Global and Area Studies., University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2232872024-02-11T23:38:54Z2024-02-11T23:38:54ZPakistan’s post-election crisis – how anti-army vote may deliver an unstable government that falls into the military’s hands<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574783/original/file-20240211-22-hgfmzj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=24%2C567%2C5459%2C3083&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Like at this pro-PTI protest, the smoke has yet to clear following Pakistan's election.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-khans-pakistan-tehreek-e-insaf-party-run-from-news-photo/1995105733?adppopup=true">M Asim Khan/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68226228">Pakistan’s heavily anticipated general election</a> took place on Feb. 8, 2024, with citizens of the South Asian country hoping that it might prove a step toward ending the nation’s political uncertainty.</em></p>
<p><em>But several days later, it remains unclear what the result of the vote will yield. Both of the leading contenders <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/10/pakistans-khan-sharif-claim-election-win-despite-no-clear-majority">have claimed victory</a>, amid allegations of <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/be2925f4-8cb6-41fc-ae07-b00a6493014d">vote rigging and disputed ballots</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation spoke with <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/faculty/ayesha-jalal">Ayesha Jalal, an expert on Pakistan’s political history</a> who teaches at Tufts University, about what the results of the election mean and what could happen next.</em></p>
<h2>Is it clear who will govern Pakistan next?</h2>
<p>The results as they stand mean that no party is in a position to form a government on its own. So a coalition government at the federal level is unavoidable.</p>
<p>And this is where things get tricky. The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI – headed by <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-19844270">jailed former prime minister and Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan</a> – has emerged as the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/10/what-comes-next-2">largest party in the national assembly</a>, with around 93 candidates winning seats as “independents.” They had to run as independents because the party was <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-s-pti-barred-from-using-cricket-bat-electoral-symbol-/7439552.html">barred from using its electoral symbol</a>, a cricket bat, after a three-member bench of the supreme court ruled that PTI had failed to hold intraparty elections in line with its constitution.</p>
<p>But with a total of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-vote-counts-drags-after-election-marred-by-attacks-outages-2024-02-09/">265 seats in parliament</a>, that means the PTI is still well short of the number needed to form a government on its own.</p>
<p>The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, or PMLN, came in second with 78 seats, a tally that is likely to be boosted by the addition of PMLN-aligned independent members of parliament. The party – headed by Shahbaz Sharif, who took over from Khan as prime minister in 2022, and his brother, former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif – is thought to have the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistan-army-chief-backs-ex-pm-nawaz-sharifs-call-to-form-coalition-government/articleshow/107587628.cms?from=mdr">backing of the powerful Pakistani army</a>, but it did not perform as well as expected in the election.</p>
<p>The Pakistan People’s Party, or PPP, secured 54 seats, placing it third. This puts it in a position to help another party form a coalition at the federal level.</p>
<h2>With the most seats, is the PTI the front-runner to lead a coalition?</h2>
<p>The PTI has made it clear that it wants to form a government on its own and believes that its mandate was stolen. </p>
<p>Even before the final election results became known, the <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/imran-khans-party-claims-victory-in-170-seats-vows-to-form-government-report-5032101">PTI claimed it had won 170 or so seats</a> – enough for it to be able to form a government. But that appears to be without evidence.</p>
<p>This suggests the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/11/pakistan-election-results-live-wait-for-final-tally-three-days-after-vote">PTI isn’t ready to accept</a> that it did not get enough votes to form a government outright. The party instead is challenging the results, claiming that its vote was suppressed illegally, and the PTI has already formally registered complaints in 18 constituencies. </p>
<p>I believe it is more likely that a coalition will emerge between the other parties, led by the PMLN. But the question is whether that will satisfy an electorate that voted the PTI as the largest party in parliament.</p>
<h2>That doesn’t sound very stable. Is it?</h2>
<p>It isn’t. Pakistan is now entering an uncertain scenario, which is, in effect, a post-election political crisis.</p>
<p>Coalitions are not uncommon in Pakistan’s politics, but they are not easy to manage. They can <a href="https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/08/pakistans-new-government-struggles-consolidate-control">become unwieldy</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/AtlanticCouncil/status/1756069234101133713">weak</a> and <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2023/05/10/military-disrupts-pakistan-s-democracy-once-again-pub-89724">prone to manipulation</a>.</p>
<p>It also makes it far harder for any government to push through the kind of bold economic packages needed for the country to move forward and escape the deep structural problems that are ailing the economy, such as a <a href="https://www.theigc.org/blogs/taxing-effectively/why-does-pakistan-tax-so-little">limited tax base</a> and reliance on handouts from other countries. Tackling that requires hard, potentially unpopular decisions, which are more difficult when a government is split and has a limited popular mandate.</p>
<p>The country may need another national vote before too long to secure a more stable and workable government.</p>
<h2>The election has been called flawed in the West. Is that fair?</h2>
<p>By Pakistan’s standards, the actual polling went off relatively peacefully. There was a terrible attack in the <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240118-baluchistan-explosive-region-on-iran-pakistan-borderland">restive province of Baluchistan</a> on the eve of the election that <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68226516">killed 28 people</a>. But fears of widespread violence on the day of the election did not materialize.</p>
<p>And while there were undue <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-election-human-rights-commission-khan-3258e2131ac83e89c2c376b476caccec">curbs on political activity</a> in the <a href="https://www.apstylebook.com/search?query=runup&button=">run-up</a> to the elections, the election itself appears to be largely credible by Pakistani standards, as the country’s foreign ministry has been <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2024-02-10/pakistan-hits-back-at-criticism-of-election-conduct-and-insists-cellphone-curbs-were-necessary">quick to attest</a>. </p>
<p>The fact that the PTI, a party that is out of favor with Pakistan’s current senior military leadership, has done so well suggests there was no straightforward rigging across the board. There was harassment of PTI voters in some places, but it clearly wasn’t sufficient to make huge inroads into their overall vote.</p>
<p>One can’t compare Pakistan’s democracy with that of the U.S. or any other country. The problem with many outside observers of Pakistan’s politics is that they talk normatively – that is, they see Pakistan’s elections through the eyes of what is generally seen as the norm elsewhere.</p>
<p>But Pakistani politics are unique. The country is a military-dominated state, with generals that have long been involved in the country’s politics – <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/04/world/asia/pakistan-election-imran-khan.html">and elections</a>.</p>
<p>But the alternative to managed elections, no matter how messy, is martial law. And a flawed democracy is better than the military jackboot.</p>
<p>More than that, the election itself took place relatively peacefully. There has been a great deal of criticism in the West about <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/8/inherently-undemocratic-pakistan-suspends-mobile-services-on-voting-day">cellphones and mobile internet services being blocked</a> on election day. That may seem like unacceptable interference in the electoral process to outside observers. But in Pakistan, there was <a href="https://france24.com/en/20121123-pakistan-suspends-mobile-phone-service-security-ashura-shiite-terrorism">real concern about cellphones</a> being used to detonate explosive devices.</p>
<h2>Will anyone be pleased with the election result?</h2>
<p>Ironically, while the PTI’s strong showing represents an anti-establishment vote – and, more specifically, an anti-army vote – the divided national mandate means the army high command has reason to be satisfied with the outcome.</p>
<p>A split national assembly and weak government plays into the military’s hands. Should the PMLN govern as the major party in a coalition, it will be in a position of relative weakness and will need the army’s support, especially if the PTI engages in widespread protests against the election results. </p>
<h2>Are there any positives from the election?</h2>
<p>Yes, insofar as the process of seeking the peoples’ support has been allowed to continue. But the negatives are seen by most to outweigh the positives and the 2024 elections are being viewed as equally – if not more – manipulated and controlled than the 2018 exercise. </p>
<p>The turnout this time around is <a href="https://www.nation.com.pk/10-Feb-2024/voters-turnout-remain-48-percent-in-election-fafen-report">estimated to be around 48%</a>, which is lower than in 2018 when it was 51%. The demographic breakdown is encouraging. The youth played a crucial role; 44% of voters were under the age of 35. And women, too, played a larger role in the vote – more women contested and also won seats.</p>
<p>And party politics aside, the result suggests that old tactics to intimidate and suppress voters largely didn’t work. The expectation was that the spate of <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/main-criminal-cases-against-pakistans-imran-khan-2024-01-31/">legal verdicts against Khan</a> just weeks before the election and his continued imprisonment might curb his popularity and mean PTI supporters would stay home. That clearly didn’t happen.</p>
<p>But what they helped deliver may only help continue Pakistan’s political malaise as it heads into a new, uncertain period.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223287/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Jalal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The PTI, the party of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, won the most seats of any one party – but fell short of reaching the threshold for a majority government.Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2209022024-01-17T19:24:20Z2024-01-17T19:24:20ZIndia seeks stronger ties with South Asian governments, snubbing ethnic minorities again<p>India’s regional politics are shifting. It is seeking to strengthen ties with South Asian ruling elites, including in Nepal and Sri Lanka, while ignoring ongoing ethnic uprisings in those countries in the hopes of securing its geopolitical interests. </p>
<p>The Indian government’s opposition to ethnic rights within its own borders is well-documented. In 2019, for example, Narendra Modi’s government decided to revoke Jammu and Kashmir’s special status as an autonomous region, a move <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/11/whats-article-370-what-to-know-about-india-top-court-verdict-on-kashmir">recently upheld by India’s Supreme Court</a>.</p>
<p>Jammu and Kashmir lost their constitution, flag and criminal code, and has been turned into <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/what-led-kashmir-decision-by-indias-top-court-2023-12-11/">two federally administered territories</a>. India <a href="https://minorityrights.org/2006/12/14/india-has-failed-to-replicate-success-in-tamil-nadu-to-halt-other-ethnic-conflicts/">has also failed</a> to manage ethnic conflicts in other territories, including Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Nagaland. </p>
<h2>Indian hypocrisy</h2>
<p>Ironically, the Indian government backs ethnic movements in other South Asian countries. It supports or has supported the <a href="https://elibrary.tucl.edu.np/handle/123456789/19418">Madheshi movement</a> in Nepal, the <a href="https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/citations/ADA624018">Bengali liberation war</a> in Pakistan and <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/indira-gandhi-helped-train-tamil-rebels-and-reaped-whirlwind-13913.html">Tamils in Sri Lanka</a>.</p>
<p>Because of its <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/us-report-lists-significant-human-rights-abuses-india-2023-03-20/">domestic record on ethnic rights</a>, however, India lacks any moral authority to support them elsewhere. Instead, it’s now pursuing a policy of pleasing the ruling elites in its neighbourhood, which it hopes will serve its national aspirations to become a regional powerhouse like China.</p>
<p>So far, that policy has had a limited payoff.</p>
<p>India has been making amends to Nepal since 2015, when it imposed a blockade and obstructed the transportation of petroleum products to Nepal. It wanted to force the Nepalese government to incorporate Madheshi demands in the Nepali constitution. </p>
<p>Nepal refused and, instead, tabled its constitution without addressing Madheshi concerns. It also signed trade and transit agreements with China to minimize Nepal’s dependence on India. </p>
<p>In response, India quietly withdrew its sanctions, and has <a href="https://thewire.in/external-affairs/madhes-violence-nepal-india">since
refrained</a> from pressuring Nepalese authorities. The ruling elites and Madheshi leaders <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09700161.2011.576099">were critical</a> of India’s interference.</p>
<p>In short, India paid a high <a href="https://elibrary.tucl.edu.np/handle/123456789/11340">strategic price</a> for the blockade.</p>
<h2>Past Indian missteps</h2>
<p>India has had similar missteps in the past. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/15718060120849189">It involved itself</a> in the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka in the early 1980s, irritating both government officials and insurgents. India ultimately stepped aside, and Sri Lanka overcame its ethnic strife with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0009445514523646">Chinese military and financial assistance</a>. </p>
<p>In 1971, India intervened in the ethnic conflict in Pakistan when Bengali Muslims pursued <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909609340062">independent statehood</a> to become modern-day Bangladesh. This support escalated already tense Indian-Pakistani relations. </p>
<p>Even after Bangladesh’s independence, ethnic tensions persisted. Jumma peoples fought against the Bangladesh government’s decision <a href="https://jnu.ac.bd/journal/assets/pdf/3_2_34.pdf">to transfer</a> Bengali Muslims to the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the contested homeland of Indigenous minorities. India supported their struggle by <a href="https://peaceaccords.nd.edu/provision/refugees-chittagong-hill-tracts-peace-accord-cht#:%7E:text=Approximately%2070%2C000%20indigenous%20people%20fled,internally%20displaced%20persons%20within%20Bangladesh.">providing refuge</a> to the displaced Jumma people in its Tripura state. </p>
<p>All of these efforts — past and present — to support ethnic movements in neighbouring countries have failed to help India achieve major player status in the region. Instead, they resulted in tense relations with ruling governments for years.</p>
<h2>Appeasement efforts</h2>
<p>That’s why India is in the process of mending ties with the ruling elites in South Asia. Its support for the governments of Sri Lanka and Nepal gives some hints about its future direction. </p>
<p>Sri Lanka has been facing <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043887119000182">global criticism</a> for failing to prosecute war crimes and human rights violations that occurred during 25 years of ethnic conflict. <a href="https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cdp-2023-0217/#:%7E:text=A%20report%20of%20the%20United,%2C%20reconciliation%20and%20human%20rights%E2%80%9D.">The United Nations Human Rights Council demanded</a> in 2023 that the government act promptly to address gross human rights violations. </p>
<p>While India supported previous UN resolutions on this issue in 2012 and 2013, it <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/09749284211068161">consecutively abstained</a> from supporting the last two resolutions, indicating a shift in the Indian approach towards Sri Lanka’s ethnic tensions.</p>
<p>Likewise, India has <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/14687968221135943">stayed silent</a> about the Madheshi demands in Nepal since 2015, and <a href="https://thewire.in/diplomacy/india-nepal-kalapani-dialogue-ultra-nationalism">Indian parliament has passed resolutions that focus on mending ties with Nepal</a>. </p>
<p>These gestures are part of an Indian policy to <a href="https://ecfr.eu/special/what_does_india_think/analysis/modis_approach_to_india_and_pakistan">prioritize the neighbourhood</a> in its foreign relations. Based on this policy, India can be expected to seek stronger ties with other neighbouring countries too.</p>
<h2>India’s gains, minorities’ losses?</h2>
<p>These initiatives may help India minimize China’s influence in the region, but minorities will lose global backing.</p>
<p>South Asian ethnic movements have not received significant international attention and support. </p>
<p>In the past, most of the support was coming from India. In the absence of Indian backing, ethnic minorities lack substantive global allies, which their governments can capitalize upon to further ignore or oppress them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220902/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hari Har Jnawali does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>India is pursuing a policy of pleasing the ruling elites in its neighbourhood, which it hopes will serve its national aspirations to become a regional powerhouse like China.Hari Har Jnawali, Instructor, Global Governance, Wilfrid Laurier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2126752023-09-05T19:00:13Z2023-09-05T19:00:13ZKrishna Janmashtami: Celebrating the birthday of a beloved Hindu god, renowned for his compassion and his wisdom in the Bhagavad Gita<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546430/original/file-20230905-22792-pd70to.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C0%2C4940%2C3293&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A child dressed up as Lord Krishna poses for a photo during the Krishna Janmashtami festival in Kolkata, India.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/little-child-dressed-up-as-lord-krishna-poses-for-a-photo-news-photo/1242603762?adppopup=true">Avishek Das/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many Hindus around the world <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/travel/destinations/this-is-how-the-south-india-celebrates-krishna-janmashtami/articleshow/70818421.cms">will celebrate Krishna Janmashtami</a>, the birthday of the Hindu god Krishna, on Sept. 6. The birth celebrations occur on the eighth day after the full moon in the month of Bhadrapada, or during August-September; in some parts of southern India the celebrations are held during the fifth lunar month of Shravana, which is in July-August. </p>
<p>In Sanskrit, Krishna means “dark” or “black,” and like the deity Vishnu with whom he is associated, Krishna is often depicted as dark-skinned. He is identified <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-love-story-of-radha-and-krishna-has-been-told-in-hinduism-for-centuries-198716">as the eighth avatar, or incarnation, of the deity Vishnu</a> in many texts, while other sources identify Krishna as the highest divine being. He is especially loved for his divine attributes of compassion, protection and friendship. </p>
<p>The observance of Krishna Janmashtami has moved far beyond its place of origin in Krishna’s homeland of Vrindaban, in north-central India, where Krishna is said to have been raised. Today, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2015/04/02/hindus/#:%7E:text=The%20number%20of%20Hindus%20around,pace%20with%20overall%20population%20growth">in the global community of about 1.2 billion Hindus</a>, Krishna Janmashtami is considered an important holiday among all lineages and traditions. </p>
<h2>Krishna’s birth</h2>
<p>The story of Krishna’s divine birth is told in households across South Asia on Krishna Janmashtami. According to lore, Krishna’s uncle, Kamsa, the king of Mathura, a town in northern India, heard a celestial voice prophesying in his court that his downfall would come at the hands of the <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-concise-oxford-dictionary-of-world-religions-9780198804901?cc=us&lang=en&">eighth child born to his cousin Devaki</a>.</p>
<p>In an effort to preserve his reign, Kamsa imprisoned Devaki and her spouse, Vasudeva, and killed each child born to them. According to a sacred Hindu text called the “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Bhagavata_Purana/-1WrAgAAQBAJ?hl=en">Bhagavata Purana</a>,” when the eighth child, Krishna, was born, the gates of the prison opened miraculously and a divine voice instructed Vasudeva to ferry Krishna across the Yamuna River. A torrential rain caused the Yamuna to flood, but the river rose only to Krishna’s feet; Vasudeva delivered the divine infant unharmed to his cousin Nanda and his wife Yashoda in the region in northern India known as Braj.</p>
<p>To quell Kamsa’s suspicions, the gods replaced Krishna with Yashoda’s daughter in the prison. When Kamsa’s guards attempted to kill her, she transformed into the goddess Yogamaya and reminded Kamsa of his inescapable fate and vanished from the prison cell. </p>
<p>The exploits of Krishna as a child are especially celebrated during the holiday. Devotees commemorate the love of Yashoda for Krishna and recall his playful pranks in songs and dances. </p>
<h2>Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita</h2>
<p>While many around the world may not know much about Hinduism, or about Krishna, they might still recognize him from his role in the “Bhagavad Gita,” or “The Song of the Lord,” a section in the <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo5948252.html">world’s lengthiest epic poem, the “Mahabharata</a>.” </p>
<p>Often dubbed the “Bible of Hinduism” because of its immense popularity, the Bhagavad Gita is chanted in homes and temples in the days leading up to Krishna Janmashtami.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A painting showing a charioteer with blue skin color while behind him sits a warrior holding arrows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=416&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546447/original/file-20230905-24-jyytij.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=522&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A scene from Hindu mythology featuring the god Krishna with Prince Arjuna on a chariot heading into war.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-famous-scene-from-hindu-mythology-features-the-god-news-photo/1354436400?adppopup=true">Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In the Gita, Krishna, disguised as a charioteer, advises the warrior Arjuna, who is heartbroken that he has to fight his own cousins, about his duty on the battlefield. In its 18 chapters, Krishna counsels Arjuna about three paths, or “margas,” to realize salvation, or “moksha,” from the eternal cycle of suffering and rebirth. </p>
<h2>Festivities on the day</h2>
<p>On the first day of the celebration of Krishna Janmashtami, activities culminate in a “Krishna puja,” a devotional form of worship using a form or an image, such as an idol of Krishna. After midnight, statues of Krishna are bathed in milk and water, dressed in new clothes and venerated in homes and temples. Devotees enjoy a celebratory meal after breaking the daylong fast. </p>
<p>In addition to fasting during the holiday, Krishna’s devotees sing songs called “bhajans,” or “kirtans,” dedicated to Krishna, reenact episodes from mythology about his life, known as “Krishna Lilas,” and perform folk dances, or “garbhas.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A number of young men, dressed in yellow shorts, forming a human pyramid." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/546431/original/file-20230905-23-xuho6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young Hindu devotees break a dahi-handi, or curd pot, suspended from a rope.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/indian-young-hindu-devotee-hangs-from-a-rope-after-breaking-news-photo/1242590987?adppopup=true">Imtiyaz Shaikh/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>In northern India, Krishna Janmashtami is followed the next day by a raucous and spirited event called “Dahi Handi,” loosely translated as “curds in an earthen pot.” Young men and boys imitate the childish pranks of “Makhan Chor,” an epithet given to Krishna in his beloved form during his childhood as a “butter thief.” Folklore is full of stories about Krishna and his childhood friends stealing sweetened butter from the village gopis, or cow herdesses. </p>
<p>To engage in the reenactment, a pot of sweetened butter and curds is suspended in midair, while teenage boys dressed as cowherds form human pyramids, climbing on each other’s backs to reach and break the pot, sharing the sweet yogurt within. A 2012 group from Mumbai holds the world’s record for forming <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/nine-tier-handi-breaks-into-guinness-records/articleshow/15441796.cms">a 13-meter tall</a> Dahi Handi pyramid. </p>
<h2>Beyond South Asia</h2>
<p>Krishna devotion spread in the United States with the founding of the <a href="https://www.iskcon.org/">International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or ISKCON</a>, in New York City in 1965. Since then it has become a global movement, with the devotees being referred to as “Hare Krishnas” due to their devotional chants to Krishna.</p>
<p>On Krishna Janmashtami, the devotees observe the birthday of the founder, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, as his “<a href="https://boisetemple.org/31-aug-2021-appearance-day-srila-prabhupada/">Appearance Day</a>,” believing him to be another incarnation of Krishna. </p>
<p>Krishna is believed to be eternally present. In the Bhagavad Gita, <a href="https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/chapter/10/verse/20">Krishna reminds Arjuna</a> that “he is not far from the soul – in fact he is closer than the closest.” For many, the commemoration of Krishna’s birth is a time to remember God’s abiding love and closeness, as well as to express gratitude for the freely given gift of grace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212675/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert J. Stephens does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated as the birthday of the Hindu god Krishna. Many Hindus reenact episodes from mythology on Krishna’s life, known as ‘Krishna Lilas,’ and perform folk dances.Robert J. Stephens, Principal Lecturer in Religion, Clemson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2087372023-08-15T12:36:05Z2023-08-15T12:36:05ZThreat from climate change to some of India’s sacred pilgrimage sites is reshaping religious beliefs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541580/original/file-20230807-675-omrts5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C0%2C3447%2C2310&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hindu devotees worship at the Kedarnath Temple in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/in-this-photograph-taken-on-june-16-indian-hindu-devotees-news-photo/698321918?adppopup=true">Shammi Mehra/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The famous <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/kedarnath-temple-opens-for-pilgrims-why-this-temple-in-uttarakhand-is-famous-1520807-2019-05-09">pilgrimage site of Kedarnath</a>, located in the central Himalayas of India, is believed to be a sacred land. It has been referred to as “deva bhumi,” or the “land of the gods,” for centuries. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.sacredyatra.com/chardham-yatra-pilgrim-stats.html">Millions of people visit this region</a> each year in search of divine blessings and other religious benefits as part of what is known as the Char Dham Yatra, or the pilgrimage to four sacred mountainous abodes devoted to different gods and goddesses. Situated at the base of 20,000-foot snowy peaks, Kedarnath is one of these four major destinations. </p>
<p>The mighty Hindu god Shiva is believed to have manifested in the middle of a meadow in Kedarnath as a conical rock formation that has long been worshiped as a lingam, an embodied form of the deity. A stone temple has stood over the lingam for at least a thousand years, at an altitude of about 12,000 feet.</p>
<p>I visited this area in 2000, 2014 and 2019 as part of research I’ve been conducting for decades on religion, nature and ecology; I have spent numerous summers in the Himalayas. Many in the vast crowds of people on the Char Dham Yatra told me that they believe it is important to undertake this pilgrimage at least once in their lifetime, often identifying it as the most significant journey they will ever perform.</p>
<p>But climate change now threatens the sacred sites of this region. As global temperatures rise, glaciers on the 20,000-foot peaks above Kedarnath that are key sources of the Mandakini River, a major tributary of the Ganges, are <a href="https://www.thecitizen.in/index.php/en/NewsDetail/index/13/21428/Rapid-Melt-of-Himalayan-Glaciers-Sounds-the-Alarm">melting and retreating at alarming rates</a>. In turn, as I argue in my book, “<a href="https://iupress.org/9780253056047/understanding-climate-change-through-religious-lifeworlds/">Understanding Climate Change through Religious Lifeworlds</a>,” climate change disasters are acting as powerful drivers of religious transformations, reshaping religious ideas and practices. </p>
<h2>Threats to the Himalayan region</h2>
<p>Glacial deterioration is happening worldwide, but subtropical glaciers in high mountainous areas such as the Indian Himalayas <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/himalaya-glaciers-melting-faster-study-warns-will-affect-us-all">are more vulnerable</a> because of their low latitudes. Many climate scientists believe that climate change is affecting the Himalayas <a href="https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/climate/ignoring-climate-change-in-the-himalayas">more than almost any other region</a> of the world. </p>
<p>Melting glaciers leave massive amounts of water in lakes held in place by unstable natural dams formed of rubble heaped up when the glaciers were healthy and pushing down a slope. The expanding lakes left behind by shrinking glaciers are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-36033-x">increasingly prone to glacial lake outburst floods</a>. Another serious danger threatening high mountainous areas as a result of global warming is the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06092-7">shift from snow to extreme rain</a> at increasingly higher altitudes. </p>
<p>Snow clings to hillsides and melts gradually, while rain rushes down slopes immediately, causing destructive erosion, landslides and deluges. The combination of extreme rain and glacial lake outburst floods can lead to deadly flooding, as demonstrated by a catastrophe in Kedarnath in 2013.</p>
<h2>Kedarnath disaster</h2>
<p>Himalayan researchers determined that in June 2013, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269696415_Kedarnath_disaster_Facts_and_plausible_causes">more than a foot of rain fell</a> within 24 hours near Kedarnath at elevations never previously recorded. The entire watershed above Kedarnath was filled with raging water. Additionally, the Mandakini River burst out of its banks, causing landslides and devastating flooding. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An aerial view showing buildings and erosion as a result of flooding in a town, located in a valley." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541582/original/file-20230807-1292-c8shsa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Kedarnath Temple pictured amid flood destruction on June 18, 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-kedarnath-temple-is-pictured-amid-flood-destruction-in-news-photo/170800919?adppopup=true">Strdel/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To make matters worse, the rubble dam that had held back the glacial lake formed by the melting Chorabari Glacier above Kedarnath suddenly breached, releasing a high wall of crashing water. In a matter of 15 minutes, the entire content of the lake was emptied, cresting over three-story buildings with a pounding flow that University of Calcutta scientists estimated was <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/unnatural_disaster_how_global_warming_helped_cause_indias_catastrophic_flood#:%7E:text=Global%20warming%20has%20is%20also,pulse%20of%20debris%2Dfilled%20water">half the volume of Niagara Falls</a>. </p>
<p>Fortunately – or, according to pilgrims, miraculously – a 30-foot oblong boulder rolled down the mountain and stopped just before the ancient temple, parting the powerful waters and protecting the temple so that it remained standing without major damage. Every other building in the town of Kedarnath was demolished. </p>
<p>Government figures claim over 6,000 people died, but those <a href="https://www.freepressjournal.in/india/2013-kedarnath-flood-disaster-how-a-cloudburst-killed-6000-people-9-years-ago">involved in the rescue operations set the figure much higher</a>. Most of the dead were pilgrims.</p>
<h2>‘The Gods are angry’</h2>
<p>The destructive flooding is changing people’s beliefs. The gods of this region are closely associated with the land itself; and these gods, nature and humans are intimately connected. People living in this region understand the dramatic changes taking place here in terms of this triad. </p>
<p><a href="https://iupress.org/9780253056047/understanding-climate-change-through-religious-lifeworlds/">A resident of Gangotri explained</a>, “The gods are angry with us because of how we are now acting.” When I said to him that I thought this area is where people have been coming for a long time to receive the blessing from the gods, he responded, “Yes, but now they are angry with us. That is why this (Kedarnath disaster) has happened. And more will come if we do not change our ways.” </p>
<p>I found this to be a common view – weather-related disasters were being understood as a result of the immoral actions of human beings, particularly the disregard for the environment. </p>
<p>One significant theological change that appeared to be underway within Himalayan Hinduism as a result of climate change was the transformation of the primary conception of the gods from those who bless to those who punish. “There is so much sin in the world today,” <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253056047/understanding-climate-change-through-religious-lifeworlds/">a resident of Uttarkashi told me</a>. “People are making a lot of pollution. Because of this, the climate is changing and the gods are beginning to punish us.” </p>
<p>In some ways there is nothing new in the assertion that human morality and the environment are intimately linked, but the degree of change that is now happening has introduced a new level of concern. </p>
<p>Wandering holy men in this region are witnessing firsthand the dramatic changes in the Himalayas during their years of travel. One holy man living in this area explained, “The gods are nature. When we disrespect nature, <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253056047/understanding-climate-change-through-religious-lifeworlds/">we disrespect the gods</a>. They are now angry because of what we are doing to nature. This is why the destructive storms are increasing.” </p>
<h2>Conditional hope</h2>
<p>All is not lost, however, and there remains some hope for a better outcome. There is a sense that things can still be turned around and the worst avoided if humans are willing to change their ways. Specifically, many articulated this as a return to a more respectful relationship with the gods of the land. </p>
<p>When asked how to please the gods and turn things around, a man in Kedarnath put it simply: “To once again respect the land and nature.” There is no great difference between treating the gods with respect and nature well. <a href="https://iupress.org/9780253056047/understanding-climate-change-through-religious-lifeworlds/">A woman I spoke to in Uttarkashi elaborated</a> on this: “The gods and the land are the same. And we are mistreating both. The floods are like a warning slap to a child. They are a wake-up call telling us to change our ways. … If not, we will be finished.”</p>
<p>Human behavior remains a major factor in the holistic worldview that connects humans, gods and environment, and a return to respectful relationships is the key to a sustainable future. </p>
<p>Many Himalayan residents say that humans have the choice to return to a more mutually beneficial relationship with the natural world, but if the gods’ stormy warnings are not heeded, then massive destruction and a gruesome end is near. </p>
<h2>Uncertain future</h2>
<p>Destructive floods continue to happen in the central Himalayas with increasing <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/02/16/flood-himalayas-development-climate/">force and frequency</a>. Since the 2013 disaster at Kedarnath, more than 800 people have been killed in <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/uttarakhand-a-land-ravaged-by-natural-disasters/articleshow/92630543.cms?from=mdr">flash floods in the Char Dham region</a>. </p>
<p>The Kedarnath pilgrimage was <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/kedarnath-yatra-2022-suspended-due-to-heavy-rains-in-uttarakhand-details-here-11657359453169.html">suspended in 2022</a> because of deadly landslides and flooding, but the Indian government has also heavily promoted religious tourism in this area. The <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/char-dham-yatra-sees-record-footfall-this-year/article66001254.ece">year 2022 saw a record number of pilgrims</a> visiting Kedarnath and the three other Char Dham sites in the central Himalayas, which only puts more stress on the land, with additional buildings, crowded roads and polluting vehicles.</p>
<p>With vehicles, factories and other human activities continuing to pump excessive amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, warming the planet, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0855-4">experts fear</a> disasters like Kedarnath saw in 2013 <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-36033-x">will become only more common</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David L. Haberman receives funding from American Institute of India Studies (AIIS). I received a grant from AIIS to research the effects of climate change related disasters on the religious site of Kedarnath and the other Char Dham sites. the summer months of 2019.</span></em></p>At the pilgrimage site of Kedarnath in northern India, disastrous flooding has led many to ask whether the gods are getting angry about human behavior.David L. Haberman, Professor Emeritus, Religious Studies, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2057372023-05-31T12:39:43Z2023-05-31T12:39:43ZWhat is Theravada Buddhism? A scholar of Asian religions explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528340/original/file-20230525-17-7wxytv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=79%2C26%2C4282%2C2908&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A prayer altar in the main gathering hall at the temple Wat Ratchapradit in Bangkok, Thailand. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/prayer-shrine-at-wat-ratchapradit-in-bangkok-thailand-a-news-photo/1485121746?adppopup=true">Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Theravada, which means “the way of the elders,” is one of the two main schools of Buddhism. Its adherents consider Theravada to be the most authoritative branch because they believe their teachings come directly from the historical Buddha.</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://www.rhodes.edu/bio/brooke-schedneck">scholar of Buddhism</a>, I explain in my 2023 book “<a href="https://www.shambhala.com/living-theravada-9781611809718.html">Living Theravada: Demystifying the People, Places and Practices of a Buddhist Tradition</a>” that Theravada Buddhism has a number of distinguishing features.</p>
<p>Its canonical literature is preserved in the ancient language of Pali, while other branches use Sanskrit, Chinese and Tibetan. An important ritual for Theravada monks includes collecting alms every morning. Another cultural feature in mainland Southeast Asia is that young men can enter into monastic life for a short time and return to lay life. Most often they do this as young boys, but a male at any age can become ordained for any length of time.</p>
<h2>Early development</h2>
<p>A combination of factors helped Theravada Buddhism take root first in Sri Lanka and then mainland Southeast Asia: Buddhism arrived in the region from India in the second century B.C.E. through the teachings of pilgrims, traveling monks and scholars who impressed local populations with the cosmopolitan nature of Buddhist culture. </p>
<p>Kings and kingdoms became deeply engaged with those ideas. Buddhism gave rulers a cosmic framework in which the kings had a central place and carried the responsibility to protect and support the Buddhist teachings. Monks acted as advisers and supporters to monarchs because the monastic institution depended on the success and sponsorship of the royalty.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person putting cooked rice in the alms bowl of a Buddhist monk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/529140/original/file-20230530-23-9wf3s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Theravada monks collect alms from lay Buddhists during their morning rounds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/people-tak-bat-or-give-alm-to-monks-by-putting-royalty-free-image/1150323283?phrase=theravada+monks&adppopup=true">Sunphol Sorakul/Moment via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Besides monks, lay people could become involved with Buddhism in various ways. Women especially were valued as caregivers who supported the monastery through material offerings. </p>
<p>As Theravada became the dominant religious system within parts of South and Southeast Asia, it encompassed older Indigenous spirit traditions rather than degrading or purging them. This adaptation rather than competition allowed for Theravada Buddhism to become a cultural force in these regions.</p>
<h2>The scriptures</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_the_Buddha_s_Words/11X1h60Qc0IC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=bhikkhu+bodhi&printsec=frontcover">Pali Canon</a>, which records what are believed to be the Buddha’s words, is divided into three parts, called the <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/index.html">Tipitaka</a>, or the Three Baskets: (1) the Sutta Pitaka, collections of stories and poetry expressing the Buddha’s teachings; (2) the Vinaya Pitaka, stories and discussions regarding the rules of monks; and (3) the Abhidhamma Pitaka, the philosophical and metaphysical explanation of Buddhist teachings and concepts.</p>
<p>These texts passed through oral recitation and memory shortly after the Buddha’s death, around the fifth century B.C.E. At that time the oral canon is believed to have been established with a gathering of 500 enlightened monks at the First Buddhist Council, held in modern-day India. By the first century B.C.E., the Pali Canon formed a fixed collection of written texts. </p>
<h2>Diversity in the tradition</h2>
<p>Practitioners following the Theravada tradition form part of the Buddhist diaspora throughout the world, but countries with a majority population of Theravada Buddhists live in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand.</p>
<p>Within these countries there is a rich diversity of traditions in Theravada Buddhism. Myanmar is known for popularizing a form of meditation called vipassana, or insight meditation; Thai Buddhists are considered to be holders of the orthodox tradition through their preservation of the monastic rules; Cambodia has a reputation for magical and supernatural expertise; Lao Buddhism is closely connected to spirits; and Sri Lankan religious practice is integrated with Hindu gods and demons.</p>
<p>These distinctions only begin to reveal a rich diversity of traditions underneath the surface. Theravada Buddhist beliefs and practices are more than monastic lineages and meditation techniques. The tradition offers a spectrum of spiritual resources to accommodate a variety of people’s wants, needs and aspirations.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brooke Schedneck does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religious system in several parts of South and Southeast Asia, but there is a rich diversity of beliefs and practices in this tradition.Brooke Schedneck, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Rhodes CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2064862023-05-26T20:29:21Z2023-05-26T20:29:21ZHow the practice of Nichiren Buddhism sustained Tina Turner for 50 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528456/original/file-20230526-25-azqzru.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=31%2C8%2C2959%2C1971&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tina Turner performs onstage during the 50th annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center on Feb. 10, 2008, in Los Angeles.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/singer-tina-turner-performs-onstage-during-the-50th-annual-news-photo/79695027?adppopup=true">Kevin Winter/Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When Tina Turner, often dubbed the “Queen of Rock ‘N’ Roll,” died at her home in Küsnacht, Switzerland, on May 24, 2023, at the age of 83, media headlines praised both <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/arts/music/tina-turner-dead.html">her dynamism as a performer</a> and <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/24/entertainment/tina-turner-death/index.html">her many career achievements</a>. What many did not know is that for the past 50 years Turner had practiced Soka Gakkai International Nichiren Buddhism. </p>
<p>Soka Gakkai is a lay Nichiren Buddhist organization that was <a href="https://www.sokaglobal.org/about-the-soka-gakkai/our-history.html">founded in Japan in 1930</a>. Today, the international organization is known as Soka Gakkai International, or SGI. This form of Buddhism was popularized in the United States through the organization known today as SGI-USA. Turner was introduced to the organization by Valerie Bishop, a woman whom her first husband, musician Ike Turner hired to work in his recording studio. </p>
<p>Turner’s Buddhist practice developed initially against the backdrop of her first marriage and continued throughout her solo career. It provided inspiration for some of the final projects of her career. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://religiousstudies.stanford.edu/people/ralph-craig-iii">scholar of Buddhism in South Asia and in the U.S.</a>, I have closely studied the career of African American artists who practice Buddhism. Tina Turner, in particular, sought to teach Buddhism through her writings and later through her records.</p>
<h2>Turner’s early religious life</h2>
<p>Turner was born on Nov. 26, 1939, and raised in the community of Nutbush, Tennessee. Her family was Baptist and worshipped at both Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church and Spring Hill Baptist Church. They also sometimes attended a Black Pentecostal church near Knoxville, Tennessee. </p>
<p>As I found while doing research for my forthcoming book, “<a href="https://www.eerdmans.com/Products/7863/dancing-in-my-dreams.aspx">Dancing in My Dreams: A Spiritual Biography of Tina Turner</a>,” Turner’s religious influences extended beyond the forms of Afro-Protestant institutional religion. In her memoir “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Happiness-Becomes-You/Tina-Turner/9781982152154">Happiness Becomes You</a>,” Turner describes the deep, mystical connection that her grandmother had to nature, which suggests that her grandmother was immersed in the more mystical strands of Black Southern religious culture. </p>
<p>In 1957, she <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2023/05/24/tina-turner-ike-singer-dead/">met Ike Turner</a>. After she initially joined his band as vocalist, they eventually formed a musical partnership under the moniker The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A young Black couple in a black and white photograph with the man holding an electric guitar." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528457/original/file-20230526-22692-fdrly6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Ike and Tina Turner pose for a portrait in 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/husband-and-wife-r-b-duo-ike-tina-turner-pose-for-a-news-photo/74298967?adppopup=true">Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Image</a></span>
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<p>The duo scored chart success with songs like “A Fool in Love,” “River Deep – Mountain High,” “Proud Mary” and “Nutbush City Limits.” Though publicly successful, in private <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/tina-turner-ike-domestic-abuse-survivors-1234741396/">Ike frequently abused</a> Tina Turner.</p>
<h2>Introduction to Buddhism</h2>
<p>Turner was introduced to the teachings of Nichiren Buddhism in 1973. Nichiren Buddhism is based on the teachings of Nichiren, a Buddhist monk who lived during the 13th century in Japan. Central to Nichiren’s thought was the conviction that the <a href="https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-0093.xml?rskey=290t9e&result=1&q=Lotus+Sutra#firstMatch">Lotus Sūtra</a>, a Mahayana Buddhist text, was the highest of all the Buddha’s teachings.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Japanese painting showing a man in the center with two dancers on either side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=299&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/528459/original/file-20230526-25-t40yo1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Buddhist monk Nichiren Daishonin disguised as a rich man, center, entertained by performers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/buddhist-monk-nichiren-daishonin-disguised-as-a-rich-man-news-photo/1371459430?adppopup=true">Pictures from History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Nichiren taught that chanting the title of this scripture in the form of the mantralike phrase “<a href="https://youtu.be/Mt-4aA1WZlM">Nam-myoho-renge-kyo</a>” was the way for all people to reveal their inherent potential for awakening and attain buddhahood. Further, Nichiren taught that doing this practice would have profound social impact by making the <a href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/final-word-interview-jacqueline-stone/">Buddha’s highest teachings the basis of society</a>. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Mt-4aA1WZlM?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Chanting of Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>How Nichiren Buddhism was popularized</h2>
<p>Soka Gakkai members began arriving in the U.S. in the 1950s. As these members spoke primarily Japanese and were geographically spread out, they initially had limited success in their efforts to propagate Nichiren Buddhism in the U.S. That changed in 1960 when, under the leadership of the third Soka Gakkai president, Daisaku Ikeda, an American branch of the organization was formally established. </p>
<p>With his guidance, they spread the basic Nichiren Buddhist practice of chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo <a href="https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/G/44">before an inscribed scroll called the Gohonzon</a>. They taught that doing this practice would lead to “<a href="https://www.nichirenlibrary.org/en/dic/Content/S/232#para-0">human revolution</a>,” a gradual process of inner transformation and empowerment.</p>
<p>It is the SGI Nichiren Buddhist understanding of personal empowerment and human revolution that seems to have initially attracted Tina Turner. In a 2020 <a href="https://tricycle.org/magazine/tina-turner-buddhist/">Tricycle Magazine interview</a>, Turner explained: “As I began studying Buddhist teachings and chanting more, it led me to take responsibility for my life and to base my choices on wisdom, courage, and compassion. Not long after I started chanting, I began to see that the power I needed to change my life was already within me.” </p>
<p>In the ‘70s, changing her life meant separating from the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in 1976 and divorcing Ike Turner in 1978. </p>
<h2>A resurgence powered by SGI Nichiren Buddhism</h2>
<p>After her divorce, Turner struggled as a solo artist before her well-known career resurgence with 1984’s “Private Dancer” album. Platinum albums and sold-out global tours followed. <a href="https://www.lionsroar.com/tina-turners-journey-into-faith/">Turner credited</a> each success to her Buddhist practice.</p>
<p>Her practice would be chronicled in two autobiographies: the first, “<a href="https://the-world-of-tina.com/i-tina-my-life-story---book.html">I, Tina</a>,” published in 1986; and a second, “<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/My-Love-Story/Tina-Turner/9781501198250">My Love Story</a>,” published in 2018. Her practice is also represented in the 1993 biographical film “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” and on record on the 2009 interfaith album “Beyond: Buddhist and Christian Prayers” and on stage in the musical “<a href="https://tinathemusical.com/">Tina: The Tina Turner Musical</a>.” </p>
<p>Through all of these projects, Turner made clear that her practice of SGI Nichiren Buddhism sustained her for the past 50 years.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206486/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ralph H. Craig III receives funding from Stanford University. He is affiliated with SGI-USA, but he does not represent them in any capacity. </span></em></p>Turner was introduced to Nichiren Buddhism in 1973, and its teachings provided inspiration for some of the final projects of her career.Ralph H. Craig III, PhD Student in Religious Studies, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2053402023-05-10T12:28:56Z2023-05-10T12:28:56ZImran Khan’s arrest: What it means for the former prime minister and Pakistan’s upcoming election<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525247/original/file-20230509-20-ei9y1b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C0%2C5526%2C3700&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of Imran Khan protest the former prime minister's arrest.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-former-prime-minister-imran-khan-and-news-photo/1253313821?adppopup=true">Sabir Mazhar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Former Pakistani prime minister <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65531648">Imran Khan was arrested</a> amid chaotic scenes on May 9, 2023, while appearing in court on corruption charges.</em></p>
<p><em>Khan, who was <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-next-for-pakistan-after-imran-khans-ouster-181212">ousted from power in April 2022</a>, has denied any wrongdoing and has called on supporters to protest his detainment.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation asked Ayesha Jalal, a <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/faculty/ayesha-jalal">professor of Pakistan’s history at Tufts University</a>, to explain what the arrest means for the country’s politics.</em></p>
<h2>What is behind Khan’s arrest?</h2>
<p>The first thing to note is that Khan was arrested by the Pakistan Rangers rather than the police. The Rangers, a paramilitary force, are <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230110038_2">usually deployed for internal security matters</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/former-pakistan-pm-imran-khan-arrested-geo-tv-2023-05-09/">surrounded Khan while wearing riot gear</a> during the operation.</p>
<p>The arrest follows an earlier warrant issued by the National Accountability Bureau, which is tasked with investigating corruption cases. But it isn’t entirely clear why the paramilitary force was needed to make the arrest.</p>
<p>The charges that led to the arrest relate to a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/9/what-is-al-qadir-trust-case-under-which-imran-khan-is-arrested">murky corruption case</a> involving the alleged <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-global/imran-khans-dramatic-arrest-what-is-the-al-qadir-trust-case-8600234/">payment of 5 billion Rupees</a> (US$17.5 million) to Khan and his wife for legalizing a laundered sum of money for the couple’s Al-Qadir Trust. It is alleged that land and money came from real estate tycoon Malik Riaz after the then-Khan government in 2019 helped Riaz in a case involving money repatriated to Pakistan following a U.K. investigation into the tycoon.</p>
<p>Khan denies the charges, with one close aide to the opposition leader <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/party-officials-imran-khan-arrested-in-court-in-islamabad-/7084863.html">accusing the government of “state terrorism</a>” over the “abduction.” But it is just one of many legal challenges facing Khan. In fact, he faces dozens of corruption and other charges, <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/pakistani-police-file-terrorism-charges-against-former-pm-khan-after-violence-in-capital#:%7E:text=The%20charges%20include%20terrorism%2C%20obstructing,vote%20in%20Parliament%20last%20April.">even terrorism</a>. But I should add that charges of graft being levied against politicians and even former prime ministers are far from uncommon in Pakistan.</p>
<h2>Why were paramilitary Rangers involved?</h2>
<p>That isn’t entirely clear. Police had previously <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/14/1163594466/pakistan-imran-khan-police-clashes">tried to arrest Khan in Lahore</a>. But calling in the Rangers indicates that the military establishment is behind the arrest, or at the very least certainly approves of it.</p>
<p>Nothing in Pakistani politics happens <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/20/imran-khan-pakistan-military-establishment-courts-pti/">without the military’s involvement</a>, so perhaps that isn’t too surprising. And it is notable that the arrest occurred a day after the Inter-Services Public Relations – the media wing of Pakistan’s armed forces – <a href="https://arynews.tv/imran-khans-remarks-condemned-by-ispr/">denounced Khan</a> for <a href="https://www.cnbctv18.com/world/imran-khan-pti-isi-officer-faisal-naseer-was-involved-journalists-arshad-sharif-16590751.htm">alleging that a senior general</a> tried to kill him twice and played a role in the murder of a broadcast journalist, <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/party-officials-imran-khan-arrested-court-islamabad-99190488">seemingly with no evidence</a>.</p>
<h2>What has been the response to Khan’s arrest?</h2>
<p>Supporters of the former prime minister and cricket star have been saying all along that arresting Khan would be a red line. So, of course, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/party-officials-imran-khan-arrested-in-court-in-islamabad-/7084863.html">there have been protests</a>, some of which have turned violent.</p>
<p>You have to remember that Khan has a strong support base, but the country is very fragmented politically. So it is a dangerous situation.</p>
<p>My fear is that the arrest will only pour more fuel on a combustible situation. Pakistan has been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/18/pakistan-inches-away-from-civil-unrest-after-ousting-of-imran-khan">simmering since Khan’s ouster in 2022</a>, with the very real threat of political tensions giving way to widespread violence. </p>
<p>What was needed was for all involved to try to lower the temperature, but the circumstances of Khan’s arrest have only served to heighten tensions.</p>
<h2>How does the arrest reflect on the current government?</h2>
<p>The optics are bad for the Pakistani government. Many in Pakistan will view this as a form of political harassment, regardless of the merits of the case and strength of evidence against Khan.</p>
<p>It also strengthens the view that the National Accountability Bureau is a tool for the serving government to persecute political opponents. Khan’s government itself used the bureau when it <a href="https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1382996/pakistan?page=5">arrested opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif</a>, the current prime minister, in relation to a corruption case.</p>
<p>More worryingly, the arrest may be a precursor for an attempt to disqualify Khan from public office – which I believe would be a very dangerous move in an election year.</p>
<p>And this all comes while the incumbent government is facing severe challenges, having been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-02/pakistan-s-inflation-hits-record-with-no-sign-yet-of-imf-funds#xj4y7vzkg">unable to control soaring inflation</a> or <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-imf-agree-more-talks-delaying-bailout-2023-02-10/">make progress on a crucial International Monetary Fund loan</a> to dig the country out of its economic woes.</p>
<h2>How will this affect Khan’s popularity?</h2>
<p>In the short term, this could see a further surge in his popularity. Khan is framing himself as an anti-establishment figure, despite once being a beneficiary of the establishment himself. Either way, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/asia/pakistan-imran-khan-us-conspiracy-intl-hnk/index.html">anti-establishment narratives work well</a> with sections of the Pakistani population.</p>
<p>Since being ousted from power, Khan has been busy rallying his base – even surviving an apparent assassination attempt while campaigning. A <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1740892">poll from March 2023</a> showed that he is by far the most popular political leader in the country, far ahead of Sharif and his brother, and also former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.</p>
<h2>What does this mean for the upcoming election?</h2>
<p>We will have to see. Elections are expected to take place in October, although Khan has repeatedly <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-ex-pm-khan-announces-march-capital-call-early-elections-2022-10-25/#:%7E:text=LAHORE%2C%20Oct%2025%20(Reuters),to%20call%20for%20early%20elections.">called for the vote to be brought forward</a> to as soon as possible.</p>
<p>Of course, a lot hinges on whether Khan will be allowed to run, or if the government will try to find a way to disqualify him.</p>
<p>If it does find a way to prevent Khan from taking part, the government is mistaken in thinking that the opposition party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, would be easier to handle without Khan. Khan himself anticipated this in an <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165766400/pakistans-imran-khan-talks-of-prosecuting-opponents-as-they-try-to-prosecute-him">interview in March with NPR</a>: “I don’t know whether they’ll eventually end up disqualifying me, but it doesn’t matter because the party I lead now has a popularity wave unprecedented in our history. So whether I’m in jail or not, the party is going to sweep the elections anyway.”</p>
<p>But this is a situation that is still unfolding. With Pakistani politics, anything could happen between now and the election – whenever that will be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205340/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Jalal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Protests took hold across Pakistan following the detention of the opposition leader and former cricket star – raising tensions in an election year.Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2002142023-04-04T12:16:46Z2023-04-04T12:16:46ZHow much is the world’s most productive river worth? Here’s how experts estimate the value of nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519125/original/file-20230403-22-i7bnbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5520%2C3668&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Establishing the financial worth of a river's fish is complicated when many people don't sell the fish they catch.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photo-taken-on-january-5-2018-shows-women-removing-news-photo/902376180">Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Southeast Asia’s Mekong may be the most important river in the world. Known as the “mother of waters,” it is home to the world’s largest inland fishery, and the huge amounts of sediments it transports feed some of the planet’s most fertile farmlands. Tens of millions of people depend on it for their livelihoods.</p>
<p>But how valuable is it in monetary terms? Is it possible to put a dollar value on the multitude of ecosystem services it provides, to help keep those services healthy into the future?</p>
<p>That’s what my research colleagues and I are <a href="https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/cambodia/fact-sheets/wonders-mekong">trying to figure out</a>, <a href="https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/cambodia/fact-sheets/wonders-mekong">focusing on</a> two countries that hold <a href="https://wwfasia.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/key_findings_mekong_river_in_the_economy.pdf">the river’s most productive areas</a> for fishing and farming: Cambodia and Vietnam.</p>
<p>Understanding the value of a river is essential for good management and decision-making, such as where to develop infrastructure and where to protect nature. This is particularly <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/mekong-river-cambodia-recovery">true of the Mekong</a>, which has <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/trouble-mekong">come under enormous pressure</a> in recent years from overfishing, dam building and climate change, and where decisions about development projects often do not take environmental costs into account.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A brown river winds through a steep cliffs with a road and some buildings along the banks." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519126/original/file-20230403-28-5xowi1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mekong River winds through six countries, across 2,700 miles (about 4,350 kilometers) from the mountains to the sea.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/downstream-from-the-controversial-gongguoqiao-dam-on-the-news-photo/479183194">Leisa Tyler/LightRocket via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“Rivers such as the Mekong function as life-support systems for entire regions,” said Rafael Schmitt, lead scientist at the Natural Capital Project at Stanford University, who has studied the Mekong system for many years. “Understanding their values, in monetary terms, can be critical to fairly judge the impacts that infrastructure development will have on these functions.”</p>
<p>Calculating that value isn’t simple, though. Most of the natural benefits that a river brings are, naturally, under water, and thus hidden from direct observation. Ecosystem services may be hard to track because rivers often flow over large distances and sometimes across national borders.</p>
<h2>Enter natural capital accounting</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.cbd.int/business/projects/natcap.shtml">theory of natural capital</a> suggests that ecosystem services provided by nature – such as water filtration, flood control and raw materials – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.289.5478.395">have economic value</a> that should be taken into account when making decisions that affect these systems.</p>
<p>Some people <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/may/15/price-natural-world-destruction-natural-capital">argue that it’s morally wrong</a> to put a financial price on nature, and that doing so undermines people’s intrinsic motivation to value and protect nature. Critics say valuations <a href="https://neweconomics.org/2020/01/can-a-natural-capital-approach-restore-nature-in-the-uk">often do not capture</a> the <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/6569122-Pelenc-Weak%20Sustainability%20versus%20Strong%20Sustainability.pdf">whole worth of a natural service</a>.</p>
<p>Proponents maintain that natural capital accounting puts a spotlight on <a href="https://theconversation.com/putting-a-dollar-value-on-nature-will-give-governments-and-businesses-more-reasons-to-protect-it-153968">natural systems’ value</a> when weighed against commercial pressures. They say it brings visibility to natural benefits that are <a href="https://www.greenbiz.com/article/case-natural-capital-accounting">otherwise hidden</a>, using language that policymakers can better understand and utilize. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two people in a motor boat move through a section of lake with trees and small islands of vegetation." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519127/original/file-20230403-18-8kpwds.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More than a million people live on or around Tonle Sap lake, the world’s largest inland fishery. Climate change and dams can affect its water level and fish stocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/this-photo-taken-on-october-13-2020-shows-a-boat-driving-news-photo/1230240288">Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several countries have incorporated natural capital accounting <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2017.09.008">in recent years</a>, including <a href="https://www.wavespartnership.org/en/knowledge-center/natural-capital-accounting-and-policy-costa-rica">Costa Rica</a>, <a href="https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5114">Canada</a> and Botswana. Often, that has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/interactive/2021/gretchen-daily-natural-capital-environment/">led to better protection</a> of natural resources, such as mangrove forests that protect fragile coastlines. The U.S. government also <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/news-updates/2023/01/19/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-releases-national-strategy-to-put-nature-on-the-nations-balance-sheet/">announced a strategy</a> in 2023 to start developing metrics to account for the value of underlying natural assets, such as critical minerals, forests and rivers.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://seea.un.org/news/new-business-and-natural-capital-accounting-case-studies-released">natural capital studies</a> have largely focused on terrestrial ecosystems, where the trade-offs between human interventions and conservation are easier to see. </p>
<p>When valuing rivers, the challenges run much deeper. “If you cut down a forest, the impact is directly visible,” Schmitt points out. “A river might look pristine, but its functioning may be profoundly altered by a faraway dam.”</p>
<h2>Accounting for hydropower</h2>
<p>Hydropower provides one example of the challenges in making decisions about a river without understanding its full value. It’s often much easier to <a href="https://www.omnicalculator.com/ecology/hydroelectric-power">calculate the value of a hydropower dam</a> than the value of the river’s fish, or sediment that eventually becomes fertile farmland.</p>
<p>The rivers of the Mekong Basin have been widely exploited for power production in recent decades, with a proliferation of dams in China, Laos and elsewhere. The <a href="https://monitor.mekongwater.org/virtual-gauges/?v=1642195188734">Mekong Dam Monitor</a>, run by the nonprofit <a href="https://www.stimson.org/project/mekong-dam-monitor/">Stimson Center</a>, monitors dams and their environmental impacts in the Mekong Basin in near-real time.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Map showing the river through Vietnam and Cambodia" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=718&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518678/original/file-20230331-26-r2tgxq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=902&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The lower Mekong River.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/lower-mekong-river-basin-0">USGS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While hydropower is <a href="https://www.energy.gov/eere/water/benefits-hydropower">clearly an economic benefit</a> – powering homes and businesses, and contributing to a country’s GDP – dams also <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/is-building-more-dams-the-way-to-save-rivers">alter river flows</a> and block both fish migration and sediment delivery.</p>
<p>Droughts in the Mekong in recent years, <a href="https://asmc.asean.org/asmc-el-nino/">linked to El Niño</a> and exacerbated by climate change, were made worse by dam operators holding back water. That caused water levels to drop to historical low levels, with devastating consequences for fisheries. In the Tonlé Sap Lake, Southeast Asia’s largest lake and the heart of the Mekong fishery, thousands of fishers were <a href="https://www.voacambodia.com/a/fishers-leave-crisis-hit-tonle-sap-lake-in-search-of-livelihoods-ashore/6695988.html">forced to abandon their occupation</a>, and many <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/mekong-river-fish-migrations">commercial fisheries</a> had to close.</p>
<figure>
<iframe frameborder="0" class="juxtapose" width="100%" height="400" src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/juxtapose/latest/embed/index.html?uid=7b7e5f2e-cf6e-11ed-b5bd-6595d9b17862"></iframe>
</figure><figure><figcaption>Hydropower dams like the one in the photos above in Cambodia can disrupt a river’s natural services. The Sesan River (Tonlé San) and Srepok River are tributaries of the Mekong. Move the slider to see how the dam changed the water flow. <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/91761/a-new-reservoir-in-cambodia">NASA Earth Observatory</a></figcaption></figure>
<p>One project under scrutiny now in the Mekong Basin is a small dam being constructed on the Sekong River, a tributary, in Laos near the Cambodian border. While the dam is expected to generate a very small amount of electricity, <a href="https://www.iucn.org/news/viet-nam/202205/sekong-a-dam-lao-pdr-and-mekong-delta-a-moment-decision-viet-nam">preliminary studies show</a> it will have a dramatically negative impact on many migratory fish populations in the Sekong, which remains the last major free-flowing tributary in the Mekong River Basin.</p>
<h2>Valuing the ‘lifeblood of the region’</h2>
<p>The Mekong River originates in the Tibetan highlands and runs for 2,700 miles (about 4,350 kilometers) through six countries before emptying into the South China Sea.</p>
<p>Its <a href="https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/cambodia/fact-sheets/wonders-mekong">ecological and biological riches</a> are clearly considerable. The river system is home to over 1,000 species of fish, and the annual fish catch in just the lower basin, below China, is estimated at more than <a href="https://www.mrcmekong.org/our-work/topics/fisheries/">2 million metric tons</a>. </p>
<p>“The river has been the lifeblood of the region for centuries,” says Zeb Hogan, a biologist at the University of Nevada, Reno, who leads the USAID-funded <a href="https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/cambodia/fact-sheets/wonders-mekong">Wonders of the Mekong</a> research project, which I work on. “It is the ultimate renewable resource – if it is allowed to function properly.”</p>
<p>Establishing the financial worth of fish is more complicated than it appears, though. Many people in the Mekong region are <a href="https://www.theforgottenintl.org/in-the-world-today/subsistence-fishing/">subsistence fishers</a> for whom fish have little to no market value but are crucial to their survival.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two women row a small boat in through a narrow channel in the Mekong Delta. Another boat is passing them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/519129/original/file-20230403-14-qk2mdy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Mekong Delta in Vietnam is essential to transportation, food and culture.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/woman-on-a-rowing-boat-on-mekong-river-near-my-tho-village-news-photo/849862626">Sergi Reboredo/VW PICS/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The river is also home to some of the largest freshwater fish in the world, like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adb2956">giant stingray and catfish</a> and critically endangered species. “How do you value a species’ right to exist?” asks Hogan.</p>
<p>Sediment, which fertilizes floodplains and builds up the Mekong Delta, has been relatively easy to quantify, says Schmitt, the Stanford scientist. According to his analysis, the Mekong, in its natural state, delivers <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2175">160 million tons of sediment each year</a>.</p>
<p>However, dams let through only <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aaw2175">about 50 million tons</a>, while <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-is-facing-a-global-sand-crisis-83557">sand mining</a> in Cambodia and Vietnam extracts 90 million, meaning more sediment is blocked or removed from the river than is delivered to its natural destination. As a result, the Mekong Delta, which naturally would receive much of the sediment, has suffered <a href="https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/livelihoods/in-vietnam-mekong-delta-sand-mining-means-lost-homes-and-fortunes/">tremendous river erosion</a>, with thousands of homes being swept away.</p>
<h2>A potential ‘World Heritage Site’ designation</h2>
<p>A river’s natural services may also include <a href="https://doi.org/10.3390/w15071279">cultural and social benefits</a> that can be difficult to place monetary values on.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/12/cambodia-seeks-unesco-world-heritage-status-to-protect-a-mekong-biodiversity-hotspot/">new proposal</a> seeks to designate a bio-rich stretch of the Mekong River in northern Cambodia as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. If successful, such a designation may bring with it a certain amount of prestige that is hard to put in numbers.</p>
<p>The complexities of the Mekong River make our project a challenging undertaking. At the same time, it is the rich diversity of natural benefits that the Mekong provides that make this work important, so that future decisions can be made based on true costs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200214/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stefan Lovgren works as a research scientist on the Wonders of the Mekong project, which is funded by USAID, at the University of Nevada, Reno.</span></em></p>Putting a dollar value on nature has staunch opponents who say it’s morally wrong, but without it, building dams and other infrastructure can run roughshod over vital ecosystems.Stefan Lovgren, Research scientist College of Science, University of Nevada, RenoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1975042023-03-08T13:40:23Z2023-03-08T13:40:23ZRobots are performing Hindu rituals – some devotees fear they’ll replace worshippers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513699/original/file-20230306-18-wqvorn.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C0%2C831%2C422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A robotic arm (below on right) is used to worship by maneuvering a candle in front of the Hindu god Ganesha.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1pwR5yABnY&t=4s">Monarch Innovation</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It isn’t just artists and teachers who are losing sleep over advances in automation and artificial intelligence. Robots are being brought into Hinduism’s holiest rituals – and not all worshippers are happy about it.</p>
<p>In 2017, a <a href="https://patilautomation.com/">technology firm in India</a> introduced a robotic arm to perform “aarti,” a ritual in which a devotee offers an oil lamp to the deity to symbolize the removal of darkness. This particular robot was unveiled at the Ganpati festival, a yearly gathering of millions of people in which an icon of Ganesha, the elephant-headed god, is taken out in a procession and immersed in the Mula-Mutha river in Pune in central India.</p>
<p>Ever since, that robotic aarti arm has inspired several prototypes, a <a href="https://www.monarch-innovation.com/ganesh-aarti-with-robotic-arm-technology/">few of which</a> continue to regularly perform the ritual <a href="https://www.deccanchronicle.com/technology/in-other-news/140918/techno-artistic-ganesha-watch-lord-ganesha-levitate-robot-conduct-aa.html">across India today</a>, along with a variety of other religious robots <a href="https://brill.com/view/journals/rrcs/7/1/article-p120_120.xml?language=en">throughout East Asia</a> and <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-cow-in-the-elevator">South Asia</a>. Robotic rituals even now include <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/kerala-temple-elephant-robot-peta-b2291054.html">an animatronic temple elephant</a> in Kerala on India’s southern coast.</p>
<p>Yet this kind of religious robotic usage has led to <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/all-that-matters/hindu-epics-are-full-of-ai-robots-legend-has-it-that-they-guarded-buddhas-relics/articleshow/68648962.cms">increasing debates</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/meenakandasamy/status/1577242445913370624">about the use of AI</a> and robotic technology in devotion and worship. Some devotees and priests feel that this represents a new horizon in human innovation that will lead to the betterment of society, while others worry that <a href="https://doi.org/10.4000/assr.27792">using robots to replace practitioners</a> is a bad omen for the future. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jUOo9sXdU2g?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Ganesha aarti being done by a robotic arm.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=d_8EGoUAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">anthropologist who specializes in religion,</a> however, I focus less on the theology of robotics and more on what people actually say and do when it comes to their spiritual practices. My current work on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxfYcSC-MRY">religious robots</a> primarily centers on the notion of “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/717110">divine object-persons</a>,” where otherwise inanimate things are viewed as having a living, conscious essence. </p>
<p>My work also looks at the uneasiness Hindus and Buddhists express about ritual-performing automatons replacing people and whether those automatons actually might make <a href="https://www.globalbuddhism.org/article/view/1285">better devotees</a>. </p>
<h2>Ritual automation is not new</h2>
<p>Ritual automation, or at least the idea of robotic spiritual practice, isn’t new in South Asian religions. </p>
<p>Historically, this has included anything from special <a href="https://www.hindu-blog.com/2012/09/symbolism-in-water-pot-above-shivling.html">pots that drip water continuously</a> for bathing rituals that Hindus routinely perform for their deity icons, called abhisheka, to <a href="https://rubinmuseum.org/collection/artwork/wind-powered-prayer-wheel-20.406">wind-powered Buddhist prayer wheels</a> – the kinds often seen in yoga studios and supply stores. </p>
<p>While the contemporary version of automated ritual might look like downloading a <a href="https://appadvice.com/apps/hindu-prayer-apps">phone app that chants mantras</a> without the need for any prayer object at all, such as a mala or rosary, these new versions of ritual-performing robots have prompted complicated conversations.</p>
<p>Thaneswar Sarmah, a Sanskrit scholar and literary critic, <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/69030981">argues that the first Hindu robot</a> appeared in the stories of King Manu, the first king of the human race in Hindu belief. Manu’s mother, Saranyu – herself the daughter of a great architect – built an animate statue to perfectly perform all of her household chores and ritual obligations. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A male figure wearing a crown and holding a red bag in one hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/513705/original/file-20230306-22-u4zgsi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=936&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Visvakarman, considered to be the architect of the universe in Hindu belief.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1880-0-2021">British Museum</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Folklorist <a href="https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Mayor.html">Adrienne Mayor</a> <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691183510/gods-and-robots">remarks similarly</a> that religious stories about mechanized icons from Hindu epics, such as the mechanical war chariots of the Hindu engineer god Visvakarman, are often viewed as the progenitors of religious robots today.</p>
<p>Furthermore, these stories are sometimes interpreted by modern-day nationalists as evidence that ancient India has previously invented <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/all-that-matters/hindu-epics-are-full-of-ai-robots-legend-has-it-that-they-guarded-buddhas-relics/articleshow/68648962.cms">everything from spacecraft to missiles</a>.</p>
<h2>Modern traditions or traditionally modern?</h2>
<p>However, the recent use of AI and robotics in religious practice is leading to concerns among Hindus and Buddhists about the kind of future to which automation could lead. In some instances, the debate among Hindus is about whether automated religion promises the arrival of humanity into a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Digital-Hinduism/Zeiler/p/book/9781032086484">bright, new, technological future</a> or if it is simply <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768616652332">evidence of the coming apocalypse</a>. </p>
<p>In other cases, there are concerns that the proliferation of robots might lead to greater numbers of people leaving religious practice as temples begin to rely more on automation than on practitioners to care for their deities. Some of these concerns stem from the fact that many religions, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2018/06/13/young-adults-around-the-world-are-less-religious-by-several-measures/">both in South Asia</a> and <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/33489?login=false">globally</a>, have seen significant decreases in the number of young people willing to dedicate their lives to spiritual education and practice over the past few decades. Furthermore, with many families living in a diaspora scattered across the world, priests or “pandits” are often serving smaller and smaller communities.</p>
<p>But if the answer to the problem of <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/why-not-rituals-with-robotic-precision-/articleshow/60214893.cms">fewer ritual specialists is more robots</a>, people still question whether ritual automation will benefit them. They also question the concurrent use of robotic deities to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12369-019-00553-8">embody and personify the divine</a>, since these icons are programmed by people and therefore reflect the religious views of their engineers.</p>
<h2>Doing right by religion</h2>
<p>Scholars often note that these concerns all tend to reflect one pervasive theme – an underlying anxiety that, somehow, the robots are better at worshipping gods than humans are. They can also raise inner conflicts about the meaning of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/122339/the-religion-of-technology-by-david-f-noble/9780307828538">life and one’s place in the universe</a>. </p>
<p>For Hindus and Buddhists, the rise of ritual automation is especially concerning because their traditions emphasize what religion scholars <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-3881.2011.00188.x">refer to as orthopraxy</a>, where greater importance is placed on correct ethical and liturgical behavior than on specific beliefs in religious doctrines. In other words, perfecting what you do in terms of your religious practice is viewed as more necessary to spiritual advancement than whatever it is you personally believe.</p>
<p>This also means that automated rituals appear on a spectrum that progresses from human ritual fallibility to robotic ritual perfection. In short, the robot can do your religion better than you can because robots, unlike people, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0037768616683326">spiritually incorruptible</a>. </p>
<p>This not only makes robots attractive replacements for dwindling priesthoods but also explains their increasing use in everyday contexts: People use them because no one worries about the robot getting it wrong, and they are often better than nothing when the options for ritual performance are limited.</p>
<h2>Saved by a robot</h2>
<p>In the end, turning to a robot for religious restoration in modern Hinduism or Buddhism might seem futuristic, but it belongs very much to the present moment. It tells us that Hinduism, Buddhism and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11841-019-00753-9">other religions in South Asia</a> are increasingly being <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4623070">imagined as post- or transhuman</a>: deploying technological ingenuity to transcend human weaknesses because robots don’t get tired, forget what they’re supposed to say, fall asleep or leave. </p>
<p>More specifically, this means that robotic automation is being used to perfect ritual practices in East Asia and South Asia – especially in India and Japan – beyond what would be possible for a human devotee, by linking impossibly consistent and flawless ritual accomplishment with an idea of better religion. </p>
<p>Modern robotics might then feel like a particular kind of cultural paradox, where the best kind of religion is the one that eventually involves no humans at all. But in this circularity of humans creating robots, robots becoming gods, and gods becoming human, we’ve only managed to, once again, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197549803.013.3">re-imagine ourselves</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Holly Walters does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The use of AI and robotic technology in worship is raising profound questions about its long-term consequences. Will it lead to the betterment of society or replace practitioners?Holly Walters, Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology, Wellesley CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008862023-03-07T13:44:36Z2023-03-07T13:44:36ZDiscrimination based on caste is pervasive in South Asian communities around the world – now Seattle has banned it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/513238/original/file-20230302-344-1unfus.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C0%2C5635%2C3759&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Speakers discussing the proposed ordinance to add caste to Seattle’s anti-discrimination laws at Seattle City Hall, on Feb. 21, 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SeattleCasteDebate/adce28b7f87c4f5896b9650d20b89d43/photo?Query=seattle%20caste&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=33&currentItemNo=18">AP Photo/John Froschauer</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Seattle became the first city in the U.S. to <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158687243/seattle-becomes-the-first-u-s-city-to-ban-caste-discrimination">outlaw caste-based discrimination</a> against immigrants from stigmatized groups in South Asia’s traditional social hierarchy.</p>
<p>The ordinance, adding caste to Seattle’s existing anti-discrimination policies, was proposed by Kshama Sawant, the only Indian American councilwoman in the city, which is home to an estimated 75,000 Indian Americans. Sawant, herself from a privileged caste background, has been a vocal critic of the discriminatory caste system. Sawant said the ordinance – which was approved on Feb. 21, 2023 – would help put an end to an “<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/17/seattle-council-to-vote-on-law-banning-caste-discrimination">invisible and unaddressed</a>” form of discrimination in Seattle.</p>
<p>A year ago, in January 2022, the California State University, America’s largest public higher education system, also added caste to its <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-20/csu-adds-caste-to-its-anti-discrimination-policy">anti-discrimination policy</a>, allowing students, staff and faculty across its 23 campuses to report caste bias and discrimination. </p>
<p>Influential interest groups advocating for the Hindu community in the U.S. have opposed the Seattle decision. The Coalition of Hindus in North America, a Hindu advocacy group, <a href="https://cohna.org/org-letter-opposing-seattle-caste-ordinance/">has called it</a> “nothing but bigotry against the South Asian community by using racist, colonial tropes of caste.”</p>
<p>While the caste system is often conflated in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616">Western media</a> with the Hindu religion and India alone, that is far from the truth. As <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2016.1152173">social</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12309">scientists</a> specializing in South Asian studies, we assert that the caste system neither is exclusive to the Hindu religion nor is it restricted to India and Indians.</p>
<h2>Caste in South Asia</h2>
<p>While the caste system originated in Hindu scriptures, <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691088952/castes-of-mind">it crystallized in its current form during British colonial rule</a> and has stratified society in every South Asian religious community. In addition to India, it is present in <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=1875415">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25764189">Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24365026?seq=1">Maldives</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3295446">Bhutan</a>.</p>
<p>Social, economic and political status in this pernicious system is tied to traditional occupations fixed by birth. Brahmins, for example, who were traditionally assigned priestly work, are at the top, and Dalits, relegated to the bottom, are forced into occupations that are considered abject in South Asia. These include janitorial work, maintaining sewage systems, skinning dead animals, and leather tanning. Strict rules of caste-based marriages maintain these boundaries firmly.</p>
<p>Caste organizes social life not only among Hindus but also in Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist communities in the region. It is an intergenerational system based on birth into a caste group. Caste identities stay even generations after someone converts out of Hinduism and into any of these faiths.</p>
<p>Among <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-caste">South Asian Christians</a>, Anglo-Indians – of mixed descent from Indian and British parents – are parallel to Brahmins, who remain at the top of the hierarchy. Middle-level Hindu castes come next, followed by those from Indigenous backgrounds. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/12/8-key-findings-about-christians-in-india/">Those who converted to Christianity from Dalit groups</a> are placed at the bottom. In other words, the system remains unchanged.</p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Caste_and_Social_Stratification_Among_Mu.html?id=8dGFAAAAIAAJ">Muslims across the region</a> are organized with the minority Ashraf communities at the top. The Ashraf community claims noble status as the “original” Muslims in South Asia because of their descent from Central Asian, Iranian and Arab ethnic groups. The middle in this social hierarchy is composed of Ajlaf, considered to be “low-born” communities that converted from Hindu artisanal castes. The group at the bottom includes converts from Dalit communities who are identified with the demeaning term Arzal, which means vile or vulgar. </p>
<p>In the Sikh community, the powerful landowning caste, Jat-Sikhs, <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2003/26/special-articles/scheduled-castes-sikh-community.html">are at the top</a>, followed by converts from Hindu trading communities in the middle and converts from lower-caste Hindu communities, Mazhabi Sikhs, at the bottom. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sikh men wearing colorful turbans and women with their heads covered gather together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dalit Sikhs gather for a protest in New Delhi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaDalitProtest/87814b9fc16e412aa1933d416f10d360/photo?Query=hindus%20caste&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=191&currentItemNo=12">AP Photo/ R S Iyer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Buddhism in India is close to being casteless, its dominant versions in Sri Lanka and Nepal have <a href="https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8676">caste-based hierarchies</a>.</p>
<h2>Caste carries over after conversion</h2>
<p>While many of the so-called lower-caste groups converted to escape their persecution in Hinduism, their new religions did not treat them as fully equal.</p>
<p>South Asian Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists with Dalit family histories continue to face prejudice from their new co-religionists. They are excluded from or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4412102?seq=1">experience segregation</a> at shared places of worship <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11229170">and sites of burial or cremation</a> across all these regions.</p>
<p>Social scientists have shown that strict caste-based rules continue to regulate social organization and everyday interactions. Intercaste marriages are rare: for example in India, they have stagnated at about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909619829896">5% of all marriages over the past several decades</a>. When they take place, rule-breaking individuals risk <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47823588">violent retribution</a>.</p>
<p>While urbanization and education have normalized everyday interactions across caste groups in shared urban spaces, entertaining lower-caste individuals in upper-caste households is still taboo in many families. A 2014 <a href="https://www.ncaer.org/news/biggest-caste-survey-one-in-four-indians-admit-to-practising-untouchability">survey</a> found one in every four Indians to be practicing untouchability, a dehumanizing practice in which people from Dalit castes are not to be touched or allowed to come in contact with upper-caste individuals. Untouchability was prohibited in India in 1950 when its egalitarian constitution came into force. </p>
<p>However, homeownership is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247818812330">segregated</a> by caste, and religion and caste discrimination is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24482557">pervasive in the rental market</a>, where residential associations use flimsy procedural excuses for keeping lower-caste individuals out. </p>
<p>Lower castes are expected to defer to the higher status of upper castes, refrain from expressing themselves in shared spaces and avoid displaying material affluence. They risk being punished by <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/social-boycott-of-dalit-families-odisha-rights-panel-takes-cognizance-seeks-report-from-officials-6569912/">socioeconomic boycotts</a>, which could include ostracizing the Dalits or keeping them out of employment. </p>
<p>It may even include <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/21/india-dalits-wedding-horse/">assault</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/13/nepal-to-investigate-dalit-killings-following-arranged-marriage-dispute">murder</a>. In Pakistan, anti-blasphemy laws are used as a pretext for <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/15/it-is-time-to-talk-about-caste-in-pakistan-and-pakistani-diaspora">caste violence against Dalits</a>, many of whom have <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35910331">converted to Christianity</a>. </p>
<h2>Caste and life outcomes</h2>
<p>Studies show that caste-based identity is a major determinant of overall <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109226119">success</a> in South Asia. Upper-caste individuals have better literacy and greater representation in <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1293431.pdf">higher education</a>. They tend to be <a href="http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Bharti2018.pdf">wealthier</a> and dominate <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2007/41/caste-and-economic-discrimination-special-issues/legacy-social-exclusion.html">private-sector employment</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/06/special-articles/caste-and-entrepreneurship-india.html">entrepreneurship</a>. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/9038/WDR2006_0012.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">affirmative action programs</a> initiated by the British and continued in independent India have made improvements in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414021989755">educational levels of lower-caste groups</a>, employment opportunities for them have been limited.</p>
<p>Studies also demonstrate how caste identity affects <a href="https://gsdrc.org/document-library/discrimination-and-childrens-nutritional-status-in-india/">nutrition and health</a> through purchasing power and <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FA117/FA117.pdf">access to health services</a>.</p>
<p>Most socioeconomic <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2394481118808107">elites in South Asia</a>, regardless of religion, are affiliated with upper-caste groups, and the vast majority of the poor come from lower-caste groups. </p>
<h2>Caste in the diaspora</h2>
<p>Scholars have documented similar discriminatory practices in the diaspora in the <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2002/31/commentary/punjabis-england.html">U.K.</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-11/caste-system-of-india-and-south-asia-in-australia-dalit-rights/13135622">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indian-caste-system-in-canada-called-a-disease-worse-than-racism-1.3090441">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/37/notes/caste-among-indian-diaspora-africa.html">African continent</a>. </p>
<p>Caste has started getting recognition as a discriminatory category, especially in the U.S., in recent years. A 2016 <a href="https://www.equalitylabs.org/castesurvey">survey, “Caste in the USA</a>,”
the first formal documentation of caste discrimination within the U.S. diaspora, found that caste discrimination is pervasive across workplaces, educational institutions, places of worship and even in romantic partnerships. </p>
<p>In 2020, the state of California <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cisco-lawsuit/california-accuses-cisco-of-job-discrimination-based-on-indian-employees-caste-idUSKBN2423YE">sued</a> Cisco Systems, a technology company in the Silicon Valley, on a complaint against caste-based discrimination. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/harvard-adds-caste-bias-protections-graduate-student-workers-rcna7279">Harvard University</a>, <a href="https://www.colby.edu/admission/nondiscrimination-policy/">Colby College</a>, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-11-18/uc-davis-adds-caste-to-its-anti-discrimination-policy">University of California, Davis</a>, and <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/president/letters/2019-12-17-adding-caste-to-our-nondiscrimination-harassment-policy.html">Brandeis University</a> have recognized caste as a protected status and have included it in their nondiscrimination policies. </p>
<p>Seattle’s new ordinance may trigger similar moves across other U.S. cities where South Asian Americans from nonelite caste backgrounds are settling down and address caste-based discrimination among other South Asian faith communities as well. For now, this ordinance will help put the spotlight on this centuries-old system that denies equality to a substantive section of the population on the basis of an oppressive ideology.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of a <a href="https://theconversation.com/caste-doesnt-just-exist-in-india-or-in-hinduism-it-is-pervasive-across-many-religions-in-south-asia-and-the-diaspora-180470">piece first published</a> on April 27, 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200886/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two social scientists explain how caste-identities are pervasive in not just Hinduism but other South Asian faith groups as well.Aseem Hasnain, Assistant Professor of Sociology, California State University, FresnoAbhilasha Srivastava, Assistant Professor of Economics, California State University, FresnoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1938932022-11-04T12:29:43Z2022-11-04T12:29:43ZImran Khan shot: How attack will affect protest campaign led by Pakistan’s ousted leader<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/493376/original/file-20221103-19-slhwu6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=13%2C90%2C4615%2C2991&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Imran Khan addresses his supporters during an anti-government march.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/pakistans-former-prime-minister-imran-khan-addresses-his-news-photo/1244400755?phrase=Imran%20Khan&adppopup=true">Arif Ali/AFP via Getty Images.</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan survived what <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/shots-fired-near-convoy-former-pakistan-pm-imran-khan-media-2022-11-03/">supporters described as an assassination attempt</a> on Nov. 3, 2022, as he led protests against the government.</em></p>
<p><em>Khan, a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-19844270">former national sports hero turned political leader</a>, was shot in the leg, as he led a march to the country’s capital Islamabad.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation asked Ayesha Jalal, a <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/faculty/ayesha-jalal">history professor at Tufts University</a>, to explain how the attempt on his life may affect Khan’s campaign – and what happens next in the country.</em></p>
<h2>What was Khan doing when the assassination attempt was made?</h2>
<p>Khan was in the process of <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-28/pakistan-s-imran-khan-starts-rally-to-push-for-early-elections">leading a lengthy protest march</a> when the attack happened.</p>
<p>Having been <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-next-for-pakistan-after-imran-khans-ouster-181212">ousted from power</a> in a no-confidence motion earlier in the year, Khan is pushing for new elections to take place immediately in a bid to oust his successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The current government has said <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/pak-will-not-hold-elections-before-2023-warns-imran-khan-against-gravedigging-101653378715263.html">elections will take place in a year’s time</a>, as planned, despite the ongoing protests.</p>
<p>Khan says that his ouster in April was caused by <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/pakistan-why-is-imran-khan-blaming-the-west-for-his-downfall/a-61316499">outside forces</a>, including the United States. He is also protesting a recent decision by the Election Commission of Pakistan to <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/21/asia/imran-khan-pakistan-election-commission-disqualified-intl-hnk">ban him from holding public office</a> for five years.</p>
<p>The protest march <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1716867">began on Oct. 28, 2022</a>, and has been inching towards Islamabad, the country’s capital, from the city of Lahore. It is part of a strategy to increase Khan’s popularity and exert pressure on the government to hold new elections. Khan has said that he is prepared to continue his protest for months, if necessary. The tactic follows a similar successful series of rallies after the 2013 elections that helped propel Khan to office in 2018.</p>
<h2>Why is he seeking immediate elections?</h2>
<p>First off, he doesn’t accept the legitimacy of his ouster. But a big part of this is the appointment of <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/strategic-insights/pakistans-next-army-chief/">Pakistan’s next army chief</a>. The current head of the army, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is due to retire on Nov. 29. Under Pakistan’s constitution, it is the <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/pakistan-ex-pm-s-comments-over-appointment-of-army-chief-fuel-tensions/6732273.html">prerogative of the serving prime minister</a> to appoint the army chief – so at present, that would be Khan’s political rival Sharif, who took over as the country’s leader in April.</p>
<p>The reason this is so important is that <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/south-asia/2011-04-15/getting-military-out-pakistani-politics">support of the military has traditionally been crucial</a> for governments in Pakistan. Put simply, without the support of Pakistan’s army, no political party can remain in power for long.</p>
<p>As a result, Khan sees it as crucial for any future success that he have a say in who is appointed the next army chief – and for that to happen he, or his party, needs to be in government. </p>
<p>But the idea of a loyal Army chief is a myth. The current chief was given an extension by Khan and although their relationship started off well, <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/08/31/imran-khan-pakistan-army-political-crisis-zulfikar-ali-bhutto/">it later soured</a>.</p>
<h2>How popular is Khan’s campaign?</h2>
<p>His protests have <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-61189745">garnered huge crowds</a> and seen his <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/1f623241-5dfd-4ab2-8cc7-a5062f112020">popularity surge</a> – with a big chunk of the Pakistani youth seemingly behind him.</p>
<p>You have to remember that Khan was already a hugely popular figure in the country – he is a former captain of the national cricket team who presents himself as an anti-corruption politician.</p>
<p>Khan has also been able to play on the unpopular decisions by the current government. It was forced into an <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/d3d57c66-35a8-4815-82e7-20057638129d">unpopular financial bailout</a> from the International Monetary Fund and has suffered over its handling of <a href="https://www.unicef.org/emergencies/devastating-floods-pakistan-2022">devastating floods in the country</a> – about <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/09/12/the-flood-seen-from-space-pakistans-apocalyptic-crisis/#:%7E:text=One%2Dthird%20of%20Pakistan%20is,wide%20and%2060%20miles%20long.">a third of the country was under water</a> in September and some <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Natural-disasters/In-flooded-Pakistan-11m-people-deal-with-severe-food-insecurity2">11 million people are facing severe food insecurity</a>.</p>
<p>With this as a backdrop, I think it is fair to say that Imran Khan is currently winning the propaganda battle with the government.</p>
<h2>What is happening with Khan’s campaign now?</h2>
<p>It was clearly an unfortunate incident, but the attempt on his life might work to his advantage. It could <a href="https://www.eurasiareview.com/03112022-pakistan-the-shot-in-the-leg-is-a-shot-in-the-arm-for-imran-khan-analysis/">draw sympathy, invigorate the campaign</a> and add to his popularity.</p>
<p>But will it solve the political stalemate or increase the chances of early elections? Or mean he has a say in who gets appointed the next Army chief? I don’t know, but I think it is unlikely.</p>
<p>In Pakistan, it is easy to muster up anti-establishment, anti-government sentiment, but a lot harder turning that into action. Khan can certainly exert pressure on the government. But the question is: will that be enough to force it into giving in to his demands or cutting a deal?</p>
<p>That said, Khan has been resolute that he will not give up his campaign. He has previously said that what is happening with his march <a href="https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1005373-revolution-could-be-soft-or-thru-bloodshed-imran">amounts to a revolution taking over the country</a> – with the only question being whether the revolution will be brought about via the ballot box or through bloodshed. I – and many others – will be hoping for the former.</p>
<h2>Is political violence unusual in Pakistani politics?</h2>
<p>Tragically, no. The history of Pakistan has been dotted by assassinations and attempts on the lives of both serving and former prime ministers.</p>
<p>Pakistan’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1213461">was shot in front of a crowd in 1951</a>, and later died in a hospital. More recently, former prime minister – the country’s first female leader – <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42409374">Benazir Bhutto was assassinated</a> in a gun and suicide bomb attack while campaigning in Rawalpindi in 2007. Imran Khan himself has been subjected to numerous threats in the past.</p>
<p>Some of these acts of political violence have led to lasting consequences. Liaquat Ali Khan’s assassination led to a shift away from democracy for Pakistan, for example.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The next few weeks will be crucial and the fear is there will be an escalation of violence. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, has <a href="https://www.republicworld.com/world-news/pakistan-news/in-a-fiery-first-response-pti-vows-to-avenge-assassination-attempt-against-imran-khan-articleshow.html">vowed to “avenge</a>” the attack but the wounded leader himself <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2022/11/3/live-news-ex-pakistan-pm-khan-shot-and-wounded-at-rally">has called on supporters to remain peaceful</a>. Meanwhile, the PTI has said it will continue with the protest march.</p>
<p>In an apparent attempt to tamp down tensions, the Pakistani government has said it is <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/2383814/pm-forms-committee-to-hold-talks-with-pti-over-long-march">willing to negotiate with Khan</a> – but it isn’t clear yet what the substance of the proposed negotiations will be, what they could yield or whether Khan will agree to talks.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Jalal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Former prime minister emerges from assassination attempt wounded, but vowing to continue protest against government.Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1880962022-08-12T12:16:46Z2022-08-12T12:16:46ZIndia turns 75: Fast facts about the unusual constitution guiding the world’s most populous democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478360/original/file-20220809-26-5rv221.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=27%2C20%2C4500%2C2993&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Celebrating the 75th anniversary of Indian independence in Bangalore, Aug. 8 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/employees-of-the-postal-department-wave-the-indian-flag-as-news-photo/1242379427?adppopup=true">Manjunath Kiran/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>India will celebrate its 75th birthday on Aug. 15, 2022.</p>
<p>Its independence from British colonial rule followed a complex process, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/aug/06/75-years-india-partition-britain-generations-india-pakistan">Partition</a>: the division of India into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. Partition displaced tens of <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple">millions of people</a> and caused loss of life and property that remains in living memory for many.</p>
<p>India’s future remained unresolved for over two years after Partition. While the country attained its independence on Aug. 15, 1947, it only became a fully sovereign republic with its own head of state on Jan. 26, 1950. </p>
<p>Between those dates, the <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_making_process/constituent_assembly">299 men and women</a> of India’s Constituent Assembly worked to imagine their emerging country and to inscribe their vision and foundational legal principles in a national constitution. The outcome of their efforts is a remarkable document that remains a source of both inspiration and contention today. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Black-and-white photo of a city street with police running and tear gas explosions in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=469&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478358/original/file-20220809-15346-3s77rh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=589&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Police respond to unrest over Partition in Kolkata in 1946.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/calcutta-policemen-use-tear-gas-bombs-during-the-communal-news-photo/2628264?adppopup=true">Keystone/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here are a few things to know about the Indian Constitution. </p>
<h2>#1: High word count</h2>
<p>Perhaps fittingly, the world’s most-populous democracy has the world’s longest national constitution. </p>
<p>At the <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india">time it was adopted</a> in 1949, the Indian Constitution contained 395 Articles and had approximately <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india">145,000 words</a>. The only longer written constitution belongs to the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/opinion/alabama-fines-fees.html?searchResultPosition=1">state of Alabama</a>, where I currently <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=46JY5CIAAAAJ&authuser=1">live and teach law</a>.</p>
<p>By comparison, the U.S. Constitution – generally considered the world’s oldest national charter – <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/constitution#section_5">originally contained</a> just seven articles and around 4,200 words. The <a href="https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-country-has-the-shortest-written-constitution-in-the-world.html">world’s shortest</a> constitution belongs to its second-smallest country, Monaco. It has just around 3,800 words.</p>
<h2>#2: Early exemplar</h2>
<p>When the Indian Constitution was ratified, constitutions were not as common as they are today. India’s was just the world’s <a href="https://humansofdata.atlan.com/2016/01/data-behind-indian-constitution/">23rd national constitution</a>. In comparison, Pakistan didn’t ratify its constitution until 1956.</p>
<p>Consequently, ratification was itself a major achievement. In societies like India with many <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Comparative_Constitutional_Law/x5AETTkgsyQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">deep cultural, religious and socioeconomic divides</a>, the process of drafting and ratifying a shared founding document can serve a valuable symbolic function. </p>
<p>Some countries, faced with the challenges of drafting a constitution for a deeply heterogeneous population, never <a href="https://m.knesset.gov.il/en/about/pages/declaration.aspx">agree on a single, unifying document</a>. Israel is one example. </p>
<h2>#3: Crowdsourced inspiration</h2>
<p>Because constitutions were still relatively rare in the 1940s, India’s Constituent Assembly’s Drafting Committee sought inspiration wherever it could. </p>
<p>The committee chairman, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhimrao-Ramji-Ambedkar">B.R. Ambedkar</a>, drew on his education in the U.S. and United Kingdom. <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/32217">Advisor B.N. Rau traveled</a> in the fall of 1947 to Canada, the U.S., Ireland and the U.K. to learn from their experiences. </p>
<p><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120220030736/http:/arunshourie.voiceofdharma.com/articles/ambedkar.htm">Rau even indicated</a> which country had inspired each element of the draft constitution he prepared for the Assembly. For example, India’s 1947 constitution did not contain a “due process” clause like its American counterpart: <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/a-tale-of-two-judgments/article8586369.ece">U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter had warned</a> Rau <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/blogs/b_n__rau_s_draft_constitution_and_world_tour">that due process would give Indian courts</a> too much power to overrule legislation, while simultaneously imposing a heavy burden on the judiciary. </p>
<p>India’s constitution does, however, contain non-justiciable “Directive Principles.” The term non-justiciable means these constitutional provisions cannot be enforced by courts. This <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/blogs/contrasting_the_directive_principles_in_the_indian_and_irish_constitutions">feature was borrowed</a> from the Irish Constitution of 1937 to give lawmakers and judges a set of values to keep in mind. </p>
<h2>4: Easy adjustments</h2>
<p>Today, India’s Constitution is among the most amended in the world. It has <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amendments_of_the_Constitution_of_India">105 amendments</a> with the last one passed in August 2021. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five men in bottom of frame look up at an Indian tricolor flag flying high, while saluting" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4809%2C3201&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478357/original/file-20220809-15291-qqm53q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Saluting the Indian flag in Hyderabad before a rally to mark the 75th anniversary of the country’s independence on Aug. 8, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/employees-of-department-of-posts-india-salute-to-the-indian-news-photo/1242378413?adppopup=true">Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Easy change was intentionally encoded into the Indian Constitution. “[T]here is no permanence in Constitutions,” <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Endurance_of_National_Constitutions/mpgs_tqfuwUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=Nehru">declared</a> India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. “There should be a certain flexibility.” </p>
<p>Consequently, <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/amendment_of_the_constitution/articles/Article%20368">Article 368</a> only requires that a sole member of parliament propose a bill to change the constitution and that parliament approve proposed changes by a simple majority to pass them. </p>
<p>By contrast, <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/article/article-v">the U.S. requires</a> two-thirds of Congress to propose a constitutional amendment or two-thirds of the states to propose a constitutional convention to consider amendments. Ratification requires two-thirds of the states. Consequently, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/12/a-look-at-proposed-constitutional-amendments-and-how-seldom-they-go-anywhere/">only 27 of roughly 12,000 amendments</a> to the Constitution proposed since 1787 have been adopted.</p>
<p>Easy change is credited with being one contributor to the Indian Constitution’s longevity, which at 75 years old far exceeds the <a href="https://www.law.uchicago.edu/news/lifespan-written-constitutions">global average lifespan of 17 years</a>. In Asia, <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/the-indian-constitution-in-numbers-11579444816636.html">only two other</a> countries that gained independence soon after World War II still have their original constitutions: <a href="https://english.president.gov.tw/page/93">Taiwan</a> and <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/constitution/Republic_of_Korea_1987.pdf?lang=en">South Korea</a>. <a href="https://www.constituteproject.org/countries/Asia/Thailand?lang=en">Thailand</a>, by contrast, has had around 20 constitutions since 1932.</p>
<h2>5: Striking features</h2>
<p>The Indian Constitution has several other elements that are remarkable – for better and for worse.</p>
<p>Two provisions have received widespread acclaim. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2017">Article 17</a> responded to widespread and debilitating caste discrimination by abolishing untouchability – the practice of segregating and persecuting certain groups because they are considered “impure” – “in any form.” </p>
<p>And <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2021">Article 21</a>, protecting life and personal liberty, has directly contributed to Indians’ right to a free, public elementary education and was cited in the Indian Supreme Court’s 2018 decision to <a href="https://www.scobserver.in/reports/navtej-singh-johar-section-377-judgment-of-the-court-in-plain-english/">decriminalize consensual same-sex conduct</a>. </p>
<p>Other parts of the Indian Constitution, such as a <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2022">provision on preventative detention</a> that allows the government to <a href="https://www.legalserviceindia.com/legal/article-751-preventive-detention.html">imprison people before they commit a crime</a>, have prompted considerable criticism from scholars, activists and lawyers. </p>
<p>Finally, some features of the Indian Constitution are unusual, but not necessarily good or bad. </p>
<p>The constitution has two provisions on religious freedom. <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2025">Article 25</a> establishes “the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion” to all persons. That is, the article grants individuals religious freedom. More unusually, <a href="https://www.constitutionofindia.net/constitution_of_india/fundamental_rights/articles/Article%2026">Article 26</a> recognizes “religious denomination[s]” as also having specific rights regarding property, institutional management and “matters of religion.”</p>
<p>Those two rights – the individual and the collective – <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcl/avw002">often conflict</a>, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/lsi.2020.1">my research</a> on the high-profile dispute over <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/28/asia/india-temple-women-banned-intl/index.html">women’s access to the Hindu temple at Sabarimala</a> shows. What matters, when these two rights collide, is which limitations apply to Article 25 and which communities count as religious denominations for Article 26.</p>
<p>In 1991, after analyzing both Articles 25 and 26, a <a href="https://scholarship.law.ua.edu/fac_working_papers/407/">high court decided</a> that Sabarimala could ban women at all times, despite good reasons to believe women had historically been granted entry under some conditions. Then, in 2018, the <a href="https://www.scobserver.in/cases/indian-young-lawyers-association-v-state-of-kerala-sabarimala-temple-entry-background/">Indian Supreme Court invalidated that decision</a>, declaring that because some women had likely always visited Sabarimala, all women should be allowed to enter. The Supreme Court’s ruling was also based on an interpretation of Articles 25 and 26.</p>
<h2>Future of Indian democracy</h2>
<p>Despite its long and generally promising history, Indian constitutional democracy faces turbulent times. </p>
<p>Several recent scandals, including a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/als.2021.20">chief justice accused of sexual harassment</a> and another chief justice accused of <a href="https://scroll.in/article/909825/ranjan-gogoi-objected-to-how-dipak-misra-ran-supreme-court-as-cji-now-he-is-acting-similarly">abuse of power</a> by his own colleagues, have compromised the Supreme Court’s reputation as a steward of the constitution.</p>
<p>And certain political developments, such as <a href="https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/global-studies/2020/12/10/citizenship-amendment-act-caa-and-national-register-of-citizens-nrc/">a controversial 2019 law</a> that made religion a criterion for citizenship for the first time, threaten India’s status as a non-theocratic state.</p>
<p>When they began drafting India’s constitution 75 years ago, the 299 framers intended to create a charter that would serve all Indians, no matter their faith, caste or gender. Whether that democratic tradition continues for another 75 years will depend on whether lawmakers and judges stay true to that vision.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to accurately reflect the status of India’s constitution as among the most amended in the world.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deepa Das Acevedo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Adopted in 1949, India’s original constitution has withstood the test of time to help shape the world’s largest democracy. But as India hits turbulent time, so does its landmark constitution.Deepa Das Acevedo, Assistant Professor of Law, University of AlabamaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1873402022-08-12T12:16:11Z2022-08-12T12:16:11Z5 books and films that tell the story of the trauma of the Partition of India and its aftermath<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478780/original/file-20220811-4172-96iiux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C4%2C3126%2C1881&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Muslim refugees sit on the roof of an overcrowded coach railway train near New Delhi, trying to leave India after the 1947 Partition.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PakistanRememberingPartition/a5d0f116750b4ce0801e3867886119c8/photo?Query=india%20partition&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=148&currentItemNo=24">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Editor’s note: At midnight on Aug. 14, 1947, India achieved independence from British colonial rule and Pakistan was created as a separate homeland for Muslims. More than 200 years of British rule had come to an end – a painful process in which some <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple">15 million people were displaced</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-british-royals-monumental-errors-made-indias-partition-more-painful-81657">another million or more killed</a>. The trauma of the Partition is seared in the collective memory of the two countries to this day.</em> </p>
<p><em>For the 75th anniversary of this momentous day, The Conversation asked scholars from the U.S., Canada, France, U.K. and Australia to provide a list of the best Partition films, literature or art. Here are some recommendations:</em></p>
<h2>1. ‘My Name is Radha: The Essential Manto’</h2>
<ul>
<li>Recommended by professor Madhur Anand, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada</li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="book cover with title" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=911&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478702/original/file-20220811-27-5abx08.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1145&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Book cover for ‘My Name is Radha’ by Saadat Hasan Manto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Partition in South Asia refers to that horrific year when an arbitrary red line was drawn across a map by British colonial rulers – namely, the last viceroy, Louis Mountbatten, and Cyril Radcliffe, a barrister from England who was given five weeks to draw the line that severed India and created Pakistan. The violence of that crooked line has traumatized an uncountable number of people. I know some of this history through the lives of my own parents. </p>
<p>While writing <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/602590/this-red-line-goes-straight-to-your-heart-by-madhur-anand/9780771007774">my memoir based in part on the Partition and my parents’ childhood</a>, I hunted for nonfiction books and memoirs written by witnesses, but when I found little, I turned to fiction and poetry. One of the most influential books for me was Saadat Hasan Manto’s “<a href="https://penguin.co.in/book/my-name-is-radha-the-essential-manto/">My Name is Radha</a>,” a collection of translated short stories. </p>
<p>A former journalist and screenwriter, Manto was one among the millions who were displaced: Manto moved to Pakistan and wrote fiction about the lives of marginalized people. He wrote about Partition from the perspective of insane asylum residents and prostitutes and, in so doing, powerfully illustrated the unimaginable horrors and absurdities of Partition. He was tried in India for obscenity in his writing, but never convicted. He said, “With my stories, I only expose the truth.”</p>
<h2>2. ‘Midnight’s Children’</h2>
<ul>
<li>Recommended by professor Geetha Ganapathy-Dore, “Université Sorbonne Paris Nord” </li>
</ul>
<p>Salman Rushdie’s “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/158932/midnights-children-by-salman-rushdie/">Midnight’s Children</a>,” which won the Booker Prize in 1981, the “Booker of Bookers” in 1993 and was judged “Best of the Bookers” in 2008, has not aged one bit. Translated into over 24 languages, the book was adapted for the stage by British directors Simon Reade and Tim Supple in 2003. In 2012, filmmaker Deepa Mehta brought out a cinematic version of it. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="Cover of Salman Rushdie's book" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=934&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1174&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1174&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478704/original/file-20220811-19-mv38ak.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1174&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Midnight’s Children’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Penguin</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is a must read on the multiplicity of India: There are as many dreams of India as there are people in this dramatically diverse land – plus the “moth-eaten” Pakistan, as founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah described it, with a divided Punjab and Bengal.</p>
<p>History, in this novel, is inseparable from story, as its protagonist Saleem Sinai was born on the same day as the nation. The twin hero of “Midnight’s Children,” Shiva, though he shares his name with one of Hinduism’s most important deities, is ironically the son of a Muslim couple. Yet this embodies the hybrid nature of identity in the subcontinent, which is almost always multicultural. The epic narrative also incorporates the history of Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was carved out of Pakistan in 1971. </p>
<p>Writing back to the empire, asserting its independence in “chutnified” Indian English, this masterpiece of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/magic-realism">magic realism</a> borrows the device of the storytelling scribe from the “<a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Mahabharata">Mahabharata</a>,” an ancient Indian epic.</p>
<p>“Midnight’s Children” thus remains an incontrovertible narrative on decolonization and the birth of new nation states.</p>
<h2>3. ‘Train to Pakistan’</h2>
<ul>
<li>Recommended by professor Amitabh Mattoo, University of Melbourne, Australia </li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A book cover showing a burning train" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=903&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478799/original/file-20220811-17-rw1vqt.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1134&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">‘Train to Pakistan’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_to_Pakistan">Abe Books</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Khushwant Singh’s <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Train_to_Pakistan.html?id=naLu3tkS-RwC">“Train to Pakistan”</a> is one of the most moving accounts of the Partition of India and the way local communities, which had lived peacefully for generations, were torn apart by the forces of <a href="https://byjus.com/free-ias-prep/communalism-in-post-independent-india/">communalism</a>. As the Partition plan is announced in the summer of 1947, millions of Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs flee across the new border between India and Pakistan. Mass violence ensues.</p>
<p>“Train to Pakistan” is set in what at first seems like an island of hope: the imaginary village of Manmo Majra, on the border of India and Pakistan, inhabited primarily by Sikhs and Muslims. In the viciousness of the violence, this small village’s traditional social structure and relative harmony is destroyed to a point where all sense of humanity is lost. There is still hope, however, in the resilience of love.</p>
<p>One day, a train arrives from Pakistan, “a ghost train” full of corpses of Hindus and Sikhs. The Sikhs are provoked to retaliate, with a plan to murder en masse Muslims leaving the village on a train traveling back to Pakistan. But a local outlaw, Jugga – a Sikh – sacrifices his life to save the train. He does so because be believes his Muslim lover, Nooran, is traveling on it. </p>
<h2>4. ‘Earth’</h2>
<ul>
<li>Recommended by professor Ajay Verghese, Middlebury College, U.S.</li>
</ul>
<p>Deepa Mehta’s 1998 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0150433/">Earth</a>” is a chilling story about the horrors of the Partition. Based on Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel “<a href="https://milkweed.org/book/cracking-india">Cracking India</a>,” the film revolves around three friends in colonial Lahore, in present-day Pakistan: Shanta, a Hindu nanny to a young Parsi girl named Lenny, and two Muslim suitors, Hassan and Dil. The film portrays how their carefree friendship is upended by the violent division of India, slowly turning them against each other and finally into enemies solely on account of their religion. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="A man and woman flying a kite." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=315&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478703/original/file-20220811-21-caczya.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A scene from the film ‘Earth’ by Deepa Mehta.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Earth/Jhamu Sugandh</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Several aspects of the movie provide viewers with a unique window into the ground-level realities of the Partition, which included, as one grisly scene shows, an entire train car of slaughtered Muslims arriving to Lahore. The narrative is presented via the recollections of a young girl who lived through the event. Lenny is also from a wealthy Parsi family, a minority religion in India and one that is not normally featured in Partition discussions. Her family’s naïve attempt to stay neutral during the conflict when the mob comes reflects the reality of times when not just Hindus and Muslims but every religious group was involved in some act of violence. It was almost impossible to stay neutral.</p>
<p>Finally, the film powerfully centers the narrative around Shanta. She’s last seen when she is abducted and taken away by a Muslim mob, and viewers never learn of her ultimate fate. Shanta’s story is a reminder that Partition was not just about religion or land, but also about widespread, underreported sexual violence against women. </p>
<h2>5. ‘The Long Goodbye’ (album)</h2>
<ul>
<li>Recommended by professor Uditi Sen, University of Nottingham, U.K. </li>
</ul>
<p>Riz Ahmed’s album “<a href="https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/riz-ahmed-the-long-goodbye/">The Long Goodbye</a>” is a commentary on contemporary race relations in Britain. It explores British-Asian belonging in the context of rising racism and xenophobia, using the metaphor of a breakup. It takes a deeper look at the lyrical complaints of the dumped partner, whose pain and anger mirror the emotions of contemporary British Asian and Muslim communities – shot through with a historical awareness of the British empire and the Partition of India. </p>
<p>In the song “The Breakup (Shikwa),” “Brittney baby” is the partner who took the money (“my stash was a quarter of the cash in the world”) and labor (“my people built the west”, “fought for you in the war”), and yet seeks to disown “the new kids” (the South Asian diaspora in the U.K.). It’s impossible to separate what Ahmed says of the now from the then as he evokes the history of the equally impossible Partition of India. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/A2tGEVwUuKw?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Ahmed raps that during the Partition, Britain “carved a scar down my middle just to leave me stretched out.” It’s left a bloody legacy of conflict: “My Kashmir jumper still stained red” and “the bleeding never ends man.” </p>
<p>He highlights how seemingly overnight, Muslims in India and Hindus in Pakistan became foreigners in their own home. Ahmed notes in the song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DmabQguml4&ab_channel=RizAhmed">Where You From</a>” that this racist question takes on a deeper meaning for British Pakistani Muslims, whose ancestors survived the Partition’s <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2019/08/what-really-caused-the-violence-of-partition/">displacement</a>: “My ancestor’s Indian but India was not for us.” </p>
<p>Ahmed uses the Partition to lay bare the violence inherent in racist ideas of national belonging. “The Long Goodbye” dares listeners to learn from the past and imagine a form of belonging that celebrates being from “everywhere and nowhere.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187340/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madhur Anand received funding from the Ontario Arts Council for This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ajay Verghese has received funding from The Fulbright Program and the American Institute of Indian Studies. He has consulted with the Pew Research Center and the Foreign Service Institute of the US Department of State. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geetha Ganapathy-Doré has organised several scientific events with the non profit organisation SARI (a research association about the Indian world) which she coordinates. She also recently presented work at the international summit ont 'Gender, Governance and Sustainable Development” organised at the University of Pondichery with support from the Indian Ministry of Development and Human Resources. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amitabh Mattoo and Uditi Sen do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>On the 75th anniversary of India’s partition, scholars from the US, Canada, France, UK and Australia write about their favorite book or film that best explains the trauma of a violent division.Madhur Anand, Professor & Director, Global Ecological Change & Sustainability Laboratory, University of GuelphAjay Verghese, Assistant Professor of Political Science, MiddleburyAmitabh Mattoo, Honorary Professor of International Relations, The University of MelbourneGeetha Ganapathy-Doré, Maîtresse de conférences HDR en anglais, Université Sorbonne Paris NordUditi Sen, Assistant Professor the history of modern and contemporary India, University of NottinghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1872382022-08-11T12:14:33Z2022-08-11T12:14:33ZAt 75, Pakistan has moved far from the secular and democratic vision of its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476580/original/file-20220728-32863-63te5q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C2901%2C2057&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mohammad Ali Jinnah addressing the assembly in Karachi on Aug. 15, 1947, after the creation of Pakistan.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PakistanJinnahandMountbatten1947/0b799f7f407344be8715b0240f948c69/photo?Query=jinnah&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=195&currentItemNo=5">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This month marks the 75th anniversary of Pakistan’s independence and of its Partition from British India in a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple">devastating process</a> that uprooted more than 15 million people and resulted in 1 million to 2 million dead. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs – communities that had coexisted for hundreds of years – all participated in the sectarian violence. Countless people have borne the scars from these events over multiple generations. </p>
<p>Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, sought to create a <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sole-spokesman/53629540A69011A6E2719E347AA80E91">democratic, egalitarian and secular</a> country where the Muslims of the subcontinent, who constituted about <a href="https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/fr/document/hindu-muslim-communal-riots-india-i-1947-1986.html">25%</a> of the population, could enjoy full equality. For most of his life, he sought to achieve this equality within an undivided Hindu-majority India. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sole-spokesman/53629540A69011A6E2719E347AA80E91">Later</a> he became convinced that a separate homeland was necessary to realize such equality.</p>
<p>Today, widespread and escalating <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/02/19/india-government-policies-actions-target-minorities">violence against Indian Muslims</a> under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691206806/modis-india">right-wing, Hindu-nationalist</a> rule seems to confirm Jinnah’s fears.</p>
<p>Jinnah died just a year after Pakistan was born. As a <a href="https://ir.sas.upenn.edu/people/farah-jan">scholar of South Asia</a>, I know that in the years that followed, the military and the business elite consolidated their power and helped shape a country that bears little resemblance to his vision – although many continue to fight for it. </p>
<h2>Pakistan today</h2>
<p>Ideology and religion are divisive forces in Pakistan today – from <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2022/03/sectarian-terror-strikes-pakistan-again/">sectarian violence</a> against Shia Muslims to the state’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-48204815">blasphemy laws</a> that authorize a death sentence for anyone who insults Islam. Religion, as interpreted by the state, plays a significant role in politics and governance. An example of its harmful role can be seen in the deterioration of the rights of <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-pakistans-ahmadis-and-why-havent-they-voted-in-30-years-100797">Ahmadis</a>, members of a religious minority targeted by the state. </p>
<p>Other religious minorities also face discrimination, with <a href="https://hrwf.eu/pakistan-statistics-about-victims-of-blasphemy-laws-1987-2021/">Christians</a> subject to particularly harsh treatment. According to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/10/in-pakistan-most-say-ahmadis-are-not-muslim/">Pew Research</a> statistics, 75% of Pakistanis say blasphemy laws are necessary to protect Islam, while only 6% say blasphemy laws unfairly target minorities. </p>
<p>Pakistan also remains on a turbulent political and economic trajectory. The army has been in direct control of the state for most of its existence, with four military coups and decades of military rule since 1958. The military and notorious intelligence services remain in direct <a href="https://www.foreignaffairs.com/pakistan/will-pakistans-military-lose-its-grip-power">control of domestic and foreign policy</a>, making decisions to protect their power and economic interests, including vast <a href="http://www.plutobooks.com/9780745399010/military-inc/">commercial holdings</a>. </p>
<p>Economically, Pakistan has <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/pakistan-stares-at-bankruptcy-as-economic-crisis-worsens/articleshow/92512596.cms">lagged behind</a> other developing countries, with <a href="https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3186274/political-pressure-crippling-efforts-stave-economic-crisis-pakistan">debt as high as 71.3%</a> of its GDP. <a href="https://mhrc.lums.edu.pk/why-do-income-and-wealth-inequalities-matter-for-pakistan/">Inequality is high</a>, with the top 10% of households owning 60% of the national wealth, and the bottom 60% owning just 10%. </p>
<p>The elite <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2010/09/15/pakistan-s-roller-coaster-economy-tax-evasion-stifles-growth-pub-41562%209-10">evade taxes</a> on a massive scale, contributing to the country’s economic instability. While millions live in <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/1509963/rising-inequality-pakistan">dire poverty and hunger</a>, the government’s spending to mitigate poverty is among the <a href="https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/knowledge-products/SDD-SP-Social-Outlook-v14-1-E.pdf">lowest</a> in the region. Dissidents, human rights activists and <a href="https://cpj.org/asia/pakistan/">journalists</a> face <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/pakistan/report-pakistan/">censorship and repression</a>.</p>
<p>Jinnah had hoped for much better.</p>
<h2>Jinnah: An advocate for Muslims in British India</h2>
<p>Born in Karachi in 1876 to a Muslim family, Jinnah was first educated at a local Muslim school and later at Karachi’s Christian Missionary Society High School.</p>
<p>At 16, Jinnah was sent to London, where he decided to study law. After returning to India, he established himself in Bombay as a successful and eloquent lawyer.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Two men -- one dressed in a white suit and another with a white shawl draped over him -- standing next to one another and laughing." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=388&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476576/original/file-20220728-20589-kls226.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=488&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Happier days: Mohammad Ali Jinnah with Mahatma Gandhi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/muhammad-ali-jinnah-lawyer-politician-and-the-founder-of-news-photo/985011434?adppopup=true">Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Jinnah <a href="https://pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/political_career.html">joined</a> the Indian National Congress in 1906, becoming part of the largest Indian political party organizing for independence from British colonial rule. At this time, he was the foremost proponent of Hindu-Muslim harmony in India and pursued a strategy of a unified front against the British.</p>
<p>He considered himself “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sole-spokesman/53629540A69011A6E2719E347AA80E91">a staunch Congressman</a>” and rejected political organizing that separated Muslims and Hindus in India. Accordingly, Jinnah delayed joining the All-India Muslim League, the political party formed to represent the rights and concerns of the Muslims of British India, until 1913. For years he remained a member of both parties.</p>
<h2>Jinnah’s concerns over Hindu nationalism</h2>
<p>Jinnah’s faith in the Congress party would wane, and he resigned in 1920. He was increasingly concerned with Congress’ growing emphasis on India’s <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/P/bo3637242.html">Hindu identity</a> and the lack of political representation for the country’s Muslim minority.</p>
<p>Jinnah was also deeply disturbed by the emergence of right-wing Hindu nationalist groups like the <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-hindu-nationalist-movement-in-india/9780231103350">Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS</a>, a violent paramilitary group that drew inspiration from <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/01/21/india-kashmir-modi-eu-hindu-nationalists-rss-the-far-right-is-going-global/">European fascist parties</a>, opposed Muslim-Hindu unity and increasingly sought to force Muslims to convert or leave India. </p>
<p>In 1934, Jinnah was unanimously elected as the president of the Muslim League, and he continued to advocate for the rights of Muslims in a unified India. He did not embrace dividing the Indian subcontinent into separate Muslim-majority and Hindu-majority areas <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/sole-spokesman/53629540A69011A6E2719E347AA80E91">until the 1940s</a>.</p>
<p>In this period, escalating sectarian violence stoked by both Hindu and Muslim right-wing groups, and Congress’ refusal to accept a federation in which Muslim-majority regions enjoyed greater political representation, contributed to foreclosing an alternative to partition. During this period, Jinnah stressed that Muslims would never enjoy security and full equality in the Hindu-majority nation. </p>
<p>Jinnah eventually led the Muslims of India to form a nation of their own with the creation of Pakistan in 1947. He insisted that this new nation be a secular democratic country with equal rights for all who resided there.</p>
<h2>Jinnah’s vision for a secular Pakistan</h2>
<p>Jinnah <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010316506&view=1up&seq=119&skin=2021&q1=Jinnah">emphasized the necessity of secular education</a> to improve social and economic conditions in the Muslim community, argued for <a href="https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015010316506&view=1up&seq=119&skin=2021&q1=Jinnah">equality between the sexes</a> and advocated for the discarding of the parda, or veil. </p>
<p>Jinnah did not write a book or memoir, but his speeches give an insight into his vision for Pakistan. Notably, his speech a few days before becoming Pakistan’s first president, delivered on Aug. 11, 1947, expressed his secular aspirations for the newly formed country. In it he <a href="https://na.gov.pk/en/content.php?id=74">stressed</a>: “You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed – that has nothing to do with the business of the state.” </p>
<p>Four days later, on Aug. 14, 1947, British India was divided into the independent nations of Pakistan and India. As the first president of Pakistan, Jinnah again emphasized his secular vision for the new country, <a href="https://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/constituent_address_11aug1947.html">saying</a>, “We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and another. … We are all citizens and equal citizens of one State.”</p>
<h2>Jinnah’s dream unrealized</h2>
<p>Jinnah’s achievement remains a significant milestone of the 20th century. But 75 years later, Pakistan is far from the country he envisioned.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A Happy Independence Day billboard with images of founder leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476584/original/file-20220728-32331-s1rvmj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Pakistan today is far from the country that its founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, envisaged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/PakistanIndependenceDay/8fd8945d17c24ae08ba8f966e82ad0a3/photo?Query=pakistan%20jinnah&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=180&currentItemNo=53">AP Photo/Anjum Naveed</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>People from the region, nostalgic for a unified country and cognizant of the suffering during Partition and beyond, sometimes express that it might have been better if they had not been divided based on their <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/06/29/the-great-divide-books-dalrymple">religious identity</a> but had instead continued the struggle for a pluralistic society with equal rights for all. Others maintain that <a href="https://www.trtworld.com/opinion/jinnah-was-right-but-pakistan-has-a-long-way-to-go-38894">Jinnah was right</a> to conclude that Muslims in India were bound to face continued violence and be treated as second-class citizens in a Hindu-majority country.</p>
<p>What is certain is that Jinnah’s dream of a compassionate homeland for the minorities of the subcontinent remains unrealized. But glimmers of it have lived on in movements and people who have gone on to dream of a more equitable, inclusive and just Pakistan. </p>
<p>For example, Christian and Muslim landless farmers in the <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=26757">Peasant Movement</a>, one of the largest and most successful land rights movements in South Asia, have resisted violent efforts to quash their demands for a more equitable society. Some 80,000 lawyers were part of the <a href="https://www.nonviolent-conflict.org/pakistans-lawyers-movement-2007-2009/">Lawyers Movement</a>, which challenged the power of the military and fought for a free and independent judiciary. And individuals such as human rights activist <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-life-and-death-of-sabeen-mahmud">Sabeen Mahmud</a> have paid with their lives for their dream of a just and pluralist Pakistan. </p>
<p>And while today’s Pakistan is far from Jinnah’s vision, the work of these people and movements reflects the famous words of Pakistan’s most <a href="https://mronline.org/2010/07/17/the-dawn-of-freedom-august-1947/">celebrated revolutionary poet</a>, Faiz Ahmed Faiz: “We must [continue to] search for that promised Dawn.”</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187238/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Farah N. Jan has received funding from Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania. Thanks to Leili Kashani for contributing ideas and edits to this piece.</span></em></p>Jinnah insisted on secular education, gender equality and equal rights for minorities – all of which remain unrealized dreams in Pakistan.Farah N. Jan, Senior Lecturer, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1879592022-08-10T12:27:41Z2022-08-10T12:27:41ZAmerican Sikhs are targets of bigotry, often due to cultural ignorance<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478344/original/file-20220809-15464-qsfa3v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5499%2C3536&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A candlelight vigil in Oak Creek for the victims of a mass shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in August 2012.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SikhTemple-Shooting/7cb40719da8c4c9bb2219192e64a18b7/photo?Query=sikhs%20united%20states&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=735&currentItemNo=61">AP Photo/Tom Lynn, File</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ten years ago, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/08/05/1115931555/remembering-the-oak-creek-killings-a-harbinger-of-white-supremacist-violence">a white supremacist opened fire</a> on a Sikh congregation in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six people and injuring several others before taking his own life. An eighth person, <a href="https://www.wpr.org/priest-paralyzed-2012-sikh-temple-shooting-dies">Baba Punjab Singh, was left partially paralyzed and died from his wounds</a> a few years later.</p>
<p>At the time, it was among the deadliest mass shootings in a place of worship since the <a href="https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/education/teachers/curricular-resources/high-school-curricular-resources/the-sixteenth-street-baptist-church-the-response-from-the-white-house">16th Street Baptist Church bombing</a> by the Ku Klux Klan in 1963. It was also the most lethal assault on Sikh Americans since they began migrating to the U.S. more than a century ago.</p>
<p>I recall journalists covering the massacre not knowing much about the Sikh community. One anchor referred to the gurdwara as a mosque and referred to the murdered as Muslims. Another reporter described the gurdwara as a Hindu temple. A third described the Sikh religion as a sect of Islam, using the term “sheikhs” rather than “Sikhs.” </p>
<p>Scholars and government officials estimate the Sikh American population to <a href="http://pluralism.org/religions/sikhism/sikhism-in-america/the-sikh-community-today/">number around 500,000</a>. Cultural ignorance has often made them targets of bigotry. </p>
<p>As the author of “<a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/623324/the-light-we-give-by-simran-jeet-singh/">The Light We Give: How Sikh Wisdom Can Transform Your Life</a>” and as a practicing Sikh myself, I have studied the prejudices and barriers that many Sikhs in America face. I also experienced racial slurs from a young age.</p>
<p>The bottom line is there is little understanding in the U.S. of who exactly the Sikhs are and what they believe. So here’s a primer. </p>
<h2>Founder of Sikhism</h2>
<p>To start at the beginning, the founder of the Sikh tradition, Guru Nanak, was born in 1469 in the Punjab region of South Asia, which is currently split between Pakistan and the northwestern area of India. A majority of the global Sikh population <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203982600">still resides in Punjab on the Indian side of the border</a>.</p>
<p>From a young age, Guru Nanak was disillusioned by the social inequities and religious hypocrisies he observed around him. He believed that <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315014449">a single divine force</a> created the entire world and resided within it. In his belief, God was not separate from the world and watching from a distance, but fully present in every aspect of creation. </p>
<p>He therefore asserted that all people <a href="http://www.iuscanada.com/journal/archives/2011/j1312p42.pdf">are equally divine</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jaarel/lfj002">deserve to be treated</a> as such.</p>
<p>To promote this vision of divine oneness and social equality, <a href="https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/articles/origins-and-development-of-sikh-faith-the-gurus">Guru Nanak created institutions and religious practices</a>. He established community centers and places of worship, wrote his own scriptural compositions and appointed successors, known as gurus, who would carry forward his vision. </p>
<p>The Sikh view thus rejects all social distinctions that produce inequities, including gender, race, religion and caste, the predominant structure for social hierarchy in South Asia. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Men and women seated on the floor in two rows, being served food." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478348/original/file-20220809-16002-mtzcdn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A community kitchen run by the Sikhs to provide free meals irrespective of caste, faith or religion, in the Golden Temple in Punjab, India.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/shankaronline/38938496121">shankar s.</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Serving the world is a natural expression of Sikh prayer and worship. <a href="https://therevealer.org/why-sikhs-serve/">Sikhs call this prayerful service “seva</a>,” and it is a core part of their practice.</p>
<h2>The Sikh identity</h2>
<p>In the Sikh tradition, a truly religious person is one who cultivates the spiritual self while also serving the communities around them – or a <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/2005/06/03/june-3-2005-sikh-saint-soldier/12270/">saint-soldier</a>. The saint-soldier ideal applies to women and men alike.</p>
<p>In this spirit, Sikh women and men maintain <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=TJb_i97CG70C&pg=PT149&dq=sikh+identity+articles+of+faith&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXx4TZtszcAhWm44MKHU-ICfQQ6AEIQTAE#v=onepage&q=sikh%20identity%20articles%20of%20faith&f=false">five articles of faith, popularly known as the five Ks</a>. Those are: kes (long, uncut hair), kara (steel bracelet), kanga (wooden comb), kirpan (small sword) and kachera (soldier-shorts). Sikh philosophy teaches that all Sikhs are responsible for standing up against injustice, and that doing so is an act of service and love.</p>
<p>Although little historical evidence exists to explain why these particular articles were chosen, the five Ks continue to provide the community with a collective identity, binding together individuals on the basis of a shared belief and practice. As I understand, Sikhs cherish these articles of faith as gifts from their gurus.</p>
<p>Turbans are an important part of the Sikh identity. Both women and men may wear turbans. Like the articles of faith, Sikhs regard their turban as a gift given by their beloved guru, and its meaning is deeply personal. In South Asian culture, wearing a turban typically indicated one’s social status – kings and rulers once wore turbans. The <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17448720500132557">Sikh gurus adopted the turban</a>, in part, to remind Sikhs that all humans are sovereign, royal and ultimately equal.</p>
<h2>Sikhs in America</h2>
<p>Today, there are <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=7QEjPVyd9YMC&pg=PA275&lpg=PA275&dq=sikhs+30+million&source=bl&ots=urtHXKjCPx&sig=nyZTGrreOK6owh5EmmPA16YVD8A&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_8Lbk9M7cAhXis1kKHWCPB-UQ6AEwFXoECAIQAQ#v=onepage&q=sikhs%2030%20million&f=false">approximately 30 million Sikhs worldwide</a>, making Sikhism the world’s fifth-largest religion. </p>
<p>After British colonizers in India seized power in Punjab in 1849, where a majority of the Sikh community was based, <a href="http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/9789004257238">Sikhs began migrating to various regions controlled by the British Empire</a>, including Southeast Asia, East Africa and the United Kingdom itself. Based on what was available to them, Sikhs played various roles in these communities, including military service, agricultural work and railway construction.</p>
<p><a href="https://pioneeringpunjabis.ucdavis.edu/eras/1899-1922/">The first Sikh community entered the United States</a> via the West Coast during the 1890s. They began experiencing discrimination immediately upon their arrival. For instance, <a href="http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_intro.htm">the first race riot in the U.S. targeting Sikhs</a> took place in Bellingham, Washington, in 1907. Angry mobs of white men <a href="http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/bham_history.htm">rounded up Sikh laborers</a>, beat them up and forced them to leave town.</p>
<p>The discrimination continued over the years. For instance, after my father moved from Punjab to the United States, around the time of the <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/middle-east/iran-hostage-crisis">Iran hostage crisis in 1979</a>, racial slurs like “Ayatollah” and “raghead” were hurled at him. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2013/09/15/world/meast/iran-hostage-crisis-fast-facts/index.html">Fifty-two American diplomats and citizens had been taken captive in Iran</a>, and tension between the two countries was high. Sikhs had nothing to do with it, but they faced a racist backlash as their appearance corresponded with how Americans viewed their new enemies in Iran. Our family faced a similar racist backlash when the U.S. engaged in the Gulf War during the early 1990s. </p>
<p>The racist attacks spiked again after 9/11, particularly because Americans did not know about the Sikh religion and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/17448727.2013.822138">conflated the unique Sikh appearance with popular stereotypes</a> of what terrorists look like.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-trump-sikhs-20170509-htmlstory.html">rates of violence against Sikhs surged</a> after the election of President Donald Trump. The Sikh Coalition estimated in 2018 that Americans Sikhs were being targeted in hate crimes <a href="https://www.sikhcoalition.org/blog/2018/new-wave-hate-crimes-demands-vigilance/">about once a week</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A colorful tableau with a horse and men and women in bright attire standing on it." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/478350/original/file-20220809-16002-u88r0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Sikh American parade in Pasadena, California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/RoseParade/3dbb167c0ea74c9ba4f269f4b8aeaa0b/photo?Query=A%20Sikh%20American%20Journey%20parade%20in%20Pasadena,%20Calif&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=4&currentItemNo=2">AP Photo/Michael Owen Baker</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a practicing Sikh, I can affirm that Sikhs’ <a href="http://digitalrepository.unm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1296&context=law_facultyscholarship">commitment to the tenets of their faith</a>, including love, service and justice, keeps them resilient in the face of violence. For these reasons, many Sikh Americans, including those affected by the massacre in Wisconsin, I believe, will continue to proudly maintain their unique Sikh identity. </p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-the-sikhs-and-what-are-their-beliefs-97237">first published</a> on Aug. 9, 2018.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simran Jeet Singh is affiliated with the Aspen Institute</span></em></p>On the 10th anniversary of the Oak Creek massacre, a Sikh scholar writes that there is little understanding of the Sikh faith in the U.S.Simran Jeet Singh, Visiting Lecturer, Union Theological SeminaryLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1859322022-08-08T12:19:37Z2022-08-08T12:19:37Z75 years ago, Britain’s plan for Pakistani and Indian independence left unresolved conflicts on both sides – especially when it comes to Kashmir<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475023/original/file-20220720-13-79gmsh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C1%2C1007%2C579&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Leaders in New Delhi agree on the plan to partition India: From left, Jawaharlal Nehru, Hastings Ismay, Louis Mountbatten and Ali Jinnah.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/during-an-historic-conference-in-new-delhi-lord-mountbatten-news-photo/104401851?adppopup=true">Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1947, the United Kingdom was exhausted. World War II had ravaged its military and economy, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230117389_12">anti-colonial movements</a> had begun to challenge empires. Within the Indian subcontinent, the U.K. faced two powerful, seemingly irreconcilable nationalist movements: one calling for the creation of Pakistan, a homeland for the Muslims of South Asia; the other for India, a pluralist democracy.</p>
<p>The U.K. chose to partition the region and withdraw. Under the terms of the <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/evolutionofparliament/legislativescrutiny/parliament-and-empire/collections1/collections2/1947-indian-independence-act/">Indian Independence Act</a>, the subcontinent was formally divided into two new dominions at midnight of Aug. 14, 1947 – <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/partition-of-india/oclc/311769360">75 years ago this month</a>. </p>
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<p>Dividing a diverse land of hundreds of millions of people was far messier than the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-a-british-royals-monumental-errors-made-indias-partition-more-painful-81657">Partition plan itself</a>. Around 1 million people died, and more than 12 million were displaced, by the <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-other-side-of-silence">mass violence that broke out immediately afterward</a>.</p>
<p>One particularly complicated piece of this history, which I have written about in my work as <a href="https://polisci.indiana.edu/about/faculty/ganguly-sumit.html">a scholar of Indian politics</a>, is the fate of the regions known as “princely states,” which had some autonomy under the British. This dilemma still shapes the region, especially in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been ridden with conflict ever since.</p>
<h2>Time to choose</h2>
<p>Under British rule there had been two classes of states. One set of states, those of British India, were directly ruled from London. The other, the “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511583292">princely states</a>,” were nominally independent as long as their rulers recognized the “paramountcy” of the British Crown.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A black and white map shows India before independence from the United Kingdom." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=542&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475026/original/file-20220720-20-x38x1u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=681&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A map of India before the Partition shows the areas considered ‘British India’ and the ‘princely states,’ also called ‘Indian states.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/map-of-india-before-the-partition-of-the-british-indian-news-photo/1216140133?adppopup=true">Photo 12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Under the terms of this doctrine, these “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521267274">princely states</a>” could largely manage their internal affairs but had to defer to Britain on three critical policy issues: defense, foreign affairs and communications. Around the time of independence and Partition there were approximately 562 such states, many of them quite small.</p>
<p>As the British prepared to depart, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/03086539308582896">Lord Louis Mountbatten</a>, the last British viceroy – the British monarch’s representative in India – decreed that the rulers of the princely states had a choice: They could join either India or Pakistan. Independence, as an option, was effectively ruled out.</p>
<p>Moreover, Mountbatten added two important stipulations: that the states could be merged with India or Pakistan on the basis of demographic features and their geographic location. Accordingly, predominantly Muslim states would go to Pakistan and others to India. Finally, he also stipulated that states that were geographically situated inside the borders of one of the two emergent countries, regardless of their demographic composition, had to join that particular country.</p>
<h2>Dragging their heels</h2>
<p>The vast majority of the rulers of the princely states, despite harboring reservations about this plan, recognized that they had little or no choice and <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/ramachandra-guha/india-after-gandhi/9781447281887">acceded to either India or Pakistan</a>, though a few did have to be prodded or cajoled. However, a small number of them, for a variety of complex reasons, were reluctant to agree to the terms that Mountbatten had spelled out.</p>
<p>Three of them proved to be especially trying. The first of these was the monarch of Jammu and Kashmir, in the northwest. <a href="https://doi.org/10.7765/9781526156167.00011">Maharaja Hari Singh</a> was a Hindu ruling over a predominantly Muslim population. To compound matters, his state lay between the two emergent countries of India and Pakistan. </p>
<p>India, which was created as a secular state, wanted to incorporate Kashmir to demonstrate that a predominantly Muslim region could thrive in a Hindu-majority country committed to secularism. Pakistan, on the other hand, sought Kashmir because of its physical proximity and Muslim majority.</p>
<p>Singh was unwilling to cast his lot with either of the two states. He did not wish to join India because he was aware that India’s principal nationalist leader, Jawaharlal Nehru, had socialist leanings and would likely induce him to dispense with his vast landed estates. Simultaneously, he was averse to joining Pakistan because he was mostly at odds with <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/book/the-crisis-kashmir-portents-war-hopes-peace">his predominantly Muslim subjects</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="A black and white photo of a formal portrait of a man with a mustache and a headwrap with a feather." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=808&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475027/original/file-20220720-12-lvvdju.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1016&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Portrait of the Maharaja of Kashmir, Hari Singh.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-maharaja-of-kashmir-hari-singh-circa-1920-1939-news-photo/104416016?adppopup=true">Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Even after the independence of Pakistan and India was declared, Singh <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Great_Divide.html?id=OJygzgEACAAJ">vacillated about which country to join</a>. In October of 1947 a tribal rebellion broke out in Poonch, a district of Jammu and Kashmir. As his troops sought to quell the rebellion, the insurgents quickly found military support from Pakistan.</p>
<p>As the rebels approached his capital, Srinagar, Singh appealed to India for military assistance. Nehru, India’s first prime minister, agreed to provide assistance as long as two conditions were met. Singh would have to obtain the support of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the leader of the largest popular and secular political party in the state, and he would have to formally sign <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520076655/war-and-secession">the Instrument of Accession to India</a>.</p>
<p>After Singh agreed to the conditions, India sent troops into the state, leading to a <a href="http://cup.columbia.edu/book/conflict-unending/9780231123693">war with Pakistan</a> – the first of four between the two countries, the most recent in 1999. The first conflict came to a close in 1948 with Pakistan gaining control over a third of Kashmir.</p>
<p>Neither country has wholly reconciled itself to Kashmir’s status. India claims the state in its entirety, as it became a part of its territory legally. Pakistan, however, has historically held the view that Kashmir was ceded to India by a ruler who did not represent its majority Muslim population. Indeed, this dispute between two nuclear-armed powers remains a potential global flashpoint.</p>
<h2>Consequential choices</h2>
<p>Another contentious case involved the Muslim ruler of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/001946460704400404">the state of Hyderabad</a>, well inside central India, who did not wish to join India. Nehru initially sought to negotiate an end to this impasse. However, when the ruler, the Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan, proved resistant to his requests, Nehru authorized the use of force to ensure the state’s integration into India.</p>
<p>Finally, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0019464616651167">a third difficult case was Junagadh</a>, a princely state in western India. The ruler, the Nawab Muhammad Mahabat Khan Babi III, acceded to Pakistan despite its predominantly Hindu population. Unhappy with <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/9780230277519_3">his decision</a>, which defied the directive that states located within the new dominion of India should accede to it, India’s leaders sent in troops to reverse the outcome. To legitimize the decision, the government held a referendum in 1948, in which over 90% of the citizenry voted in favor of the accession.</p>
<p>The departure of the British from their Indian colony left a host of unresolved issues, ranging from the traumas of the Partition to the ongoing dispute over Kashmir. These consequences still shape geopolitics in the region, and beyond.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185932/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sumit Ganguly has received funding from the Smith Richardson Foundation and the US Department of State.</span></em></p>The fate of the so-called princely states was a particularly contentious issue during India’s Partition, which killed about 1 million people and left millions more displaced.Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1872282022-07-22T20:42:08Z2022-07-22T20:42:08ZSri Lanka’s crisis: Can the South Asian economy break from the past and find a route to stability?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475513/original/file-20220721-13056-ehhhix.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4309%2C2864&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The writing was on the wall in Sri Lanka.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-rides-a-bicycle-walk-past-slogans-painted-on-a-wall-news-photo/1242028894?adppopup=true">Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sri Lanka <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lanka-could-tip-back-chaos-if-six-time-pm-voted-president-2022-07-20/">has a new president</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/07/22/1112873020/rajapaksa-ally-named-prime-minister-sri-lanka">prime minister</a> – but a change in who leads the crisis-hit South Asian nation alone will not solve the country’s severe economic problems.</p>
<p>Ranil Wickremesinghe – who on July 20, 2022, was voted in by lawmakers to replace fleeing former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa – and his appointed premier Dinesh Gunawardena inherit an economy grappling with <a href="https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/news/inflation-in-june-2022-ncpi">record inflation as high as 59%</a>, a currency that <a href="https://www.xe.com/currencycharts/?from=LKR&to=USD">has lost almost half its value</a> since March 2022 and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/09/world/asia/sri-lanka-fuel-shortage-food.html">severe shortages of daily necessities</a> such as food and fuel. Nearly all economic activity in the country <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lanka-needs-to-do-more-on-debt-restructuring-before-a-bailout-package-is-finalised-says-imf/article65585692.ece">has ground to a halt</a>.</p>
<p>The government’s deficit <a href="https://www.newscutter.lk/sri-lanka-news/no-money-to-pay-government-salaries-money-to-be-printed-14052022-35982/">is so large it can’t afford</a> to pay public workers, and the central bank has almost no foreign currency – needed to finance imports and pay back foreign debt. </p>
<p>In short, Sri Lanka <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lanka-teeters-on-economic-edge-from-pandemic-fueled-financial-crisis-and-ukraine-war-spillovers-179741">is facing an unprecedented economic crisis</a>, placing tremendous pressure on the new leaders to act fast to fix things. </p>
<p>As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jxC8cesAAAAJ&hl=en">economist and former official at the Central Bank of Sri Lanka</a>, I believe the path forward will be difficult. The country will need to break with past <a href="https://theconversation.com/behind-the-crisis-in-sri-lanka-how-political-and-economic-mismanagement-combined-to-plunge-nation-into-turmoil-187137">policies and practices that put it in a financial hole</a> while putting in place reforms to get the economy back on track. In particular, there are four key economic challenges the new government will have to address, though they’re all interconnected. </p>
<h2>Addressing Sri Lankans’ immediate needs</h2>
<p>To avoid the fate of his <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/self-exiled-former-sri-lankan-125541354.html">now exiled predecessor Gotabaya Rajapaksa</a>, President Wickremesinghe will have to address the immediate needs of his people.</p>
<p>After being sworn in, <a href="https://www.newscutter.lk/sri-lanka-news/no-money-to-pay-government-salaries-money-to-be-printed-14052022-35982">Wickremesinghe said his priority</a> was to ensure that people are able to eat three meals a day.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man in an orange cap stands in a smoky street surrounded by strewn bits of paper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/475703/original/file-20220722-3516-k8a7la.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A supporter of Ranil Wickremesinghe celebrates the announcement of his election as Sri Lankan president.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporter-of-ranil-wickremesinghe-celebrates-the-news-photo/1409897243?adppopup=true">Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Image</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While food inflation has reached 76%, prices of many basic food items have increased by a higher margin – <a href="http://www.statistics.gov.lk/InflationAndPrices/StaticalInformation/retail/DCSB-WRP-2022-07-W2">rice by 160%, wheat flour by 200% and sugar by 164%</a>. To put that in context, a preschool teacher earning <a href="http://www.labourdept.gov.lk/images/PDF_upload/ExtraGazettes/2138-03_e.pdf">minimum wage</a> would need more than a day’s wages to purchase a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sugar and a kilogram of wheat flour or rice. A cylinder of <a href="http://www.colombopage.com/archive_22A/Jun05_1654443342CH.php">cooking gas</a>, if they were lucky to find one, would cost more than a half-month’s salary. </p>
<p>Cost of living ranks alongside other pressing issues. Reopening the <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-07-03/with-no-fuel-and-no-cash-sri-lanka-keeps-schools-closed">shuttered schools</a> and universities is another priority. The other urgent need is restoring transportation services. With no fuel to purchase, <a href="https://www.newsfirst.lk/2022/07/20/fuel-crisis-private-bus-services-in-limbo/">private bus services are in limbo</a> and <a href="https://newsable.asianetnews.com/weird-news/watch-amidst-fuel-shortage-in-sri-lanka-people-hang-from-loaded-bus-gps-rea66d">public transportation has become an adventure ride</a>, with passengers <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_F05Mv0d7I">dangling from the door and windows</a> and even sitting inside the luggage box. </p>
<p>Restoring transportation and electricity services requires foreign currency to import fuel, but support from the International Monetary Fund, which provides financial help to struggling economies through loan packages, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-20/sri-lanka-seeks-bridge-loans-as-imf-aid-may-need-six-months">is months away</a>. Unless the new president can persuade its regional powerhouses – India and China – to provide more help, economic hardships will continue and life in Sri Lanka will not be normal. </p>
<p>In the past, Sri Lanka has been able to rely on tourism to help bring revenue to the island nation. But this will be impossible while social unrest continues and shortages of essentials limit the country’s ability to serve visitors. Meanwhile, remittances from overseas Sri Lankans have also suffered because of a lack of confidence in the national currency, known as the rupee.</p>
<p>As Wickremesinghe has noted, <a href="https://www.newscutter.lk/sri-lanka-news/no-money-to-pay-government-salaries-money-to-be-printed-14052022-35982">things will get worse</a> before they get better. </p>
<h2>Balancing the budget</h2>
<p>The next item on the president’s to-do list will likely be finding a way to bring the budget deficit down. Last year, <a href="https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/statistics/statistical-tables/fiscal-sector">expenses were 240% of revenue, and 91% more was needed to repay debt</a>. Money printing covered a large portion of this gap but only exacerbated inflation.</p>
<p>The primary reason for Sri Lanka’s current crisis <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lanka-teeters-on-economic-edge-from-pandemic-fueled-financial-crisis-and-ukraine-war-spillovers-179741">is decades of fiscal mismanagement</a>, with too much spending and too little revenue. </p>
<p>Fixing this problem will require a combination of higher taxes and significant budget cuts. But the <a href="https://www.cfr.org/blog/sri-lankas-crisis-likely-wont-be-resolved-soon">budget gap is too wide</a> to eliminate completely the need for money printing. The best that can be hoped for is an aggressive reduction.</p>
<h2>Restructuring Sri Lanka’s huge debt</h2>
<p>Such budgetary reforms will likely be necessary to solve another challenge Sri Lanka faces: overseas debt. </p>
<p>Sri Lanka has amassed about <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/yellen-says-its-chinas-interest-restructure-sri-lankas-debt-2022-07-14/">US$51 billion in foreign debt</a> over the past decades but has virtually no foreign currency with which to pay it back. The government <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lanka-temporarily-suspend-foreign-debt-payments-c-bank-governor-2022-04-12">suspended payments on foreign debt</a> in April, sending it into default. </p>
<p>At the end of 2021, <a href="https://www.cbsl.gov.lk/en/publications/economic-and-financial-reports/annual-reports/annual-report-2021">about 45% of the debt was owed to private investors</a>, while the rest belonged to countries and multinational institutions. The Asian Development Bank owned the biggest share, at 16%, while Japan, China and the World Bank held 10% apiece. </p>
<p>For Sri Lanka to emerge from its crisis, it will need significant help from the IMF. But the IMF requires assurances that <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2022/06/30/pr22242-imf-staff-concludes-visit-to-sri-lanka">Sri Lanka’s debt sustainability be restored</a> before lending it money. </p>
<p>And other international organizations, such as the World Bank, will not be willing to lend Sri Lanka more <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/statement/2022/05/24/world-bank-statement-on-sri-lanka">until the country signs an agreement with the IMF</a>. And U.S. lawmakers <a href="https://twitter.com/SFRCdems/status/1542979994892357633">have recently suggested</a> IMF support will be contingent on Sri Lanka’s increasing the independence of its central bank, fighting corruption and doing more to promote the rule of law.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/g7.asp">G-7 countries</a>, the group of leading economies, including Japan, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-61028138">appear willing to help Sri Lanka</a> in its effort to restructure its debt, some bondholders – such as Caribbean-based Hamilton Reserve Bank, which <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/sri-lanka-sued-by-us-bondholder-after-island-nation-s-historic-default-122062300224_1.html">holds just $250 million worth</a> – <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-21/sri-lanka-sued-by-bondholder-in-us-following-historic-default#xj4y7vzkg">have already taken legal action</a> to claim their dues. </p>
<p>In May, <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/sri-lanka-picks-lazard-clifford-chance-as-advisers-for-debt-restructuring-122052400610_1.html">Sri Lanka took a first step</a> toward restructuring its debt, but <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62161350">it may take several months</a> before the country is able to successfully negotiate with its creditors to ensure debt sustainability.</p>
<h2>Garnering public support for reforms</h2>
<p>Wickremesinghe’s biggest and most unenviable challenge, however, is less about the economy and more about the politics of fixing it. </p>
<p>He won’t be able to do much about Sri Lanka’s economy until he’s able to bring about political stability. And right now, Sri Lanka <a href="https://apnews.com/article/elections-asia-presidential-race-and-ethnicity-9f43a592bd31eea614a25c35438d920b">remains in turmoil</a>. </p>
<p>Wickremesinghe, who previously served as prime minister appointed by his toppled predecessor, will need a wide mandate and support from opposition politicians if he is to drastically change Sri Lanka’s policies. Upon election, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/protests-economic-and-humanitarian-crises-sri-lankas-new-president-faces-an-uphill-battle/3qze8th7x">he immediately urged his rivals</a> to join him and “work together to bring the country out of the crisis,” adding, “Our divisions are now over.”</p>
<p>He will also need to address <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/rajapaksas-resignation-what-are-the-demands-of-sri-lankan-protesters-101657370420588.html">protesters’ demands</a> over reducing executive powers while bringing in strong anti-corruption measures and strengthening democratic institutions.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-61429791">many doubt Wickremesinghe’s ability to unite Sri Lanka</a> and question his mandate to serve out the remaining term of the presidency. <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sri-lanka-news-protests-colombo-president-ranil-wickremesinghe/">He has been a target of protesters</a> since being appointed president. And a <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/sri-lanka-crisis-news-live-updates-july-22/liveblog/93037932.cms">confrontation between armed forces and protesters</a> soon after Wickremesinghe took power doesn’t bode well.</p>
<p>Turning around an economy so deep in crisis will take time. Inflation in Sri Lanka is <a href="https://apnews.com/article/inflation-asia-south-prices-93a4cc1c829e4cd53aaaf6afacb06a26">not believed to have peaked yet</a>, and people will continue to face economic hardships for some time. </p>
<p>But political stability will be needed before Sri Lanka can get out of its economic mess. The fiscal reforms expected by the IMF will be painful and will be viable only with public support, and that of all major political parties in Sri Lanka’s Parliament.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187228/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vidhura S Tennekoon was a former employee of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.</span></em></p>An expert on Sri Lanka’s economy identifies and explains three key challenges that Ranil Wickremesinghe will have to overcome if he hopes to steer the country out of its crisis.Vidhura S. Tennekoon, Assistant Professor of Economics, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1871372022-07-18T17:42:25Z2022-07-18T17:42:25ZBehind the crisis in Sri Lanka – how political and economic mismanagement combined to plunge nation into turmoil<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474442/original/file-20220717-26-6pn18l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=16%2C107%2C5489%2C3549&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The sun sets on Sri Lanka's protest movement (for now).</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/protestors-gather-at-presidential-secretariat-in-colombo-on-news-photo/1241898185?adppopup=true">Arun Sankar/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/14/asia/sri-lanka-gotabaya-rajapksa-thursday-intl-hnk/index.html">formally resigned</a> on July 15, 2022, having earlier fled the country amid widespread protests in the Southern Asian nation.</em></p>
<p><em>The man who replaced him, Prime Minister and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62176758">now interim President Ranil Wickremesinghe</a>, is <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/76f232c0-cac2-48be-819a-d81b883fa1ca">likewise facing calls to go</a> amid political and economic turmoil.</em></p>
<p><em>Although the drama escalated over a matter of days – during which the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/sri-lankan-protesters-cook-swim-sleep-in-idUSRTS9KFY5">presidential palace</a> and the <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/sri-lanka-president-flees-as-thousands-of-protesters-storm-official-residence-12648619">prime minister’s residence were both occupied</a> by demonstrators – the crisis is years in the making, argues Neil DeVotta, <a href="https://politics.wfu.edu/faculty-and-staff/neil-devotta/">professor of politics and international affairs at Wake Forest University</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked DeVotta, who grew up in Sri Lanka and specializes in South Asian politics, to explain what brought about the crisis and where the nation of 22 million goes from here.</em></p>
<h2>Can you talk us through the latest events?</h2>
<p>What happened in Sri Lanka was really quite revolutionary. For the first time in the country’s history, you had a president resign – and in the most humiliating manner.</p>
<p>Gotabaya Rajapaksa had earlier announced his intention to step down but did not do so immediately, because once he did that he would lose <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-62132271">his presidential immunity</a> from prosecution. Instead he fled the country, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/sri-lanka-president-rajapaksa-set-fly-singapore-via-maldives-government-source-2022-07-13/">first going to the Maldives</a> and then to Singapore. Some claim he <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sri-lanka-rajapaksa-saudi-arabia-safe-haven-ousted-leaders">may now be looking to get to Saudi Arabia</a> – all of which is somewhat ironic given that Dubai, the Maldives and Saudi Arabia are Muslim states, and during his tenure in power Rajapaksa stood accused of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2019/11/21/sri-lankas-muslims-have-reason-to-fear-the-new-rajapaksa-era">encouraging Islamophobia to bolster his lock on power</a>.</p>
<p>The catalyst behind all this was a protest movement. Demonstrators have since left the president’s and the prime minister’s official residence, but the protest movement has only partly succeeded. They wanted <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/sri-lanka-crisis-no-to-all-party-govt-say-protest-leaders">Rajapaksa and his brothers</a> gone. But many <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/12/sri-lanka-crisis-no-to-all-party-govt-say-protest-leaders">also wanted the ouster of Prime Minister Wickremesinghe</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A man washes graffiti saying 'Go Home Gota' from a wall." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/474620/original/file-20220718-22-m4yifv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A staff member washes graffiti left behind by protesters.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/staff-member-washes-graffiti-left-behind-by-protestors-from-news-photo/1409431290?adppopup=true">Abhishek Chinnappa/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Instead, Wickremesinghe, who was not elected to Parliament and got a seat only through a national list that tops up the legislature, has now been sworn in as interim president. So a man with no mandate – his party got only a <a href="https://anfrel.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sri-Lanka-Report-2020-FINAL-ol.pdf">small fraction of the 11.5 million</a> valid votes cast in the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/06/world/asia/sri-lanka-elections-rajapaksa.html">2020 election</a> – is now acting president and may end up with the job full time once the <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/sri-lanka-crisis-live-updates-july-15-2022/article65642747.ece">Sri Lankan Parliament holds a secret ballot</a> on July 20, 2022.</p>
<h2>What was the spark to the crisis?</h2>
<p>The spark was really set off in April 2021 when Rajapaksa announced a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/fertiliser-ban-decimates-sri-lankan-crops-government-popularity-ebbs-2022-03-03/">ban on fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides</a>.</p>
<p>Successive Sri Lankan governments have long been <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lanka-teeters-on-economic-edge-from-pandemic-fueled-financial-crisis-and-ukraine-war-spillovers-179741">living beyond their means</a> and employing a debt rollover strategy to keep the country afloat – in short, the country was relying on new loans, alongside revenue from tourism and international remittance, to pay down its debt.</p>
<p>But then came COVID-19, which <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3181671/can-sri-lanka-tourism-recover-triple-whammy-terrorism-covid-19">severely affected tourism</a> and contributed to what economists call a “<a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/nft/op/186/index.htm">balance of payments crisis</a>.” In other words, the country was unable to pay for essential imports or service its debt. This pushed the government to abruptly announce a ban on herbicides and fertilizers – something they <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/7/15/23218969/sri-lanka-organic-fertilizer-pesticide-agriculture-farming">hoped would save the country US$400 million dollars</a> on imports annually. The president had previously indicated that the move to organic agriculture would take place over 10 years. Instead, it was implemented abruptly despite warnings over the <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/environment/article/2022/06/14/in-sri-lanka-the-sabotage-of-an-organic-revolution_5986670_114.html#:%7E:text=It%20was%20April%2027%2C%202021,nation%20the%20first%20country%20in">impact it would have on agriculture yields</a>.</p>
<p>That led to <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/lanka-s-agri-minister-forced-to-flee-as-farmers-protest-his-visit-report-122061800859_1.html">farmers’ protesting</a>. They were soon joined by sympathetic unions. The balance of payments crisis went far beyond farming. It got to the point when the government couldn’t pay for almost anything it was hoping to import, leading to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/covid-health-asia-south-5217195484ef4c8d858d86bbfb79d35c">shortages in medicines</a> and milk powder. And that led to people from other sectors also protesting.</p>
<p>On top of this, the government was <a href="https://www.timesnownews.com/world/sri-lanka-is-printing-money-to-pay-salaries-but-this-could-cause-a-further-economic-implosion-article-91612814">printing money</a> to pay for goods. This inevitably led to inflation – which is <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-05/sri-lanka-aims-to-stop-money-printing-as-inflation-nears-60">running above 50%</a>.</p>
<p>The tipping point came when people found that they could no longer pay for cooking gas and fuel. A few weeks ago, the government announced that it would <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/27/asia/sri-lanka-fuel-non-essential-services-intl-hnk/index.html">provide fuel for essential services only</a>, shuttering schools and ordering workers to stay at home.</p>
<h2>So this was a purely economic crisis?</h2>
<p>Not quite. While the spark was a balance of payments crisis, I believe that underpinning the mess is a <a href="https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/cleansing-sri-lanka-of-ethnonationalism/">deep-rooted ethnonationalism</a> that has allowed and encouraged <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Sri-Lanka-crisis/Nepotism-bad-policy-push-Sri-Lanka-to-brink-of-economic-ruin">corruption, nepotism and short-termism</a>.</p>
<p>Since at least the 1950s, Sri Lanka has been in the grips of <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/when-politics-are-sacralized/genesis-consolidation-and-consequences-of-sinhalese-buddhist-nationalism/D4627144C3A7090A32F13E1DC4288E63">Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism</a>. The Sinhalese make up around 75% of the population, with Tamils at around 15% and Muslims at 10%. </p>
<p>Sinhalese Sri Lankans have <a href="https://www.eastwestcenter.org/publications/sinhalese-buddhist-nationalist-ideology-implications-politics-and-conflict-resolution-s">long been favored when it comes to access to universities and government positions</a>. This has been to the detriment of not only the country’s minorities but also its governance. It has <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lankas-crisis-is-not-just-about-the-economy-but-a-long-history-of-discrimination-against-minority-groups-186747">led to a decay in how the state functions</a>. Sri Lanka has ended up with a system that disregards merit and is instead rooted in enthnocracy – rule by one dominant group. And that has <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/07/12/sri-lanka-crisis-politics-economics-rajapaksa-protest/">helped spread nepotism and corruption</a>.</p>
<p>The fact that the Rajapaksa brothers helped <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/nov/17/the-terminator-how-gotabaya-rajapaksas-ruthless-streak-led-him-to-power-sri-lanka">brutally suppressed and defeated</a> a three-decade Tamil insurgency bolstered their credentials among Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists and consolidated their grip on power.</p>
<p>That <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/sri-lankan-civil-war/">civil war</a>, which ended in 2009, also contributed to the current crisis. Through the conflict, the Sri Lankan government ran national deficits to finance the counterinsurgency.</p>
<p>After the war, the Rajapaksas looked to develop the country by <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/china-s-infrastructure-projects-have-worsened-sri-lanka-s-economic-woes-992445.html">building up its infrastructure</a>. What the country instead got was “blingfrastructure” – vanity projects, often financed by China, that were <a href="https://srilankabrief.org/sri-lanka-massive-kickbacks-in-unsolicited-projects-with-china/">dogged by corruption and graft</a>. One such project is an airport that sees <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/wadeshepard/2016/05/28/the-story-behind-the-worlds-emptiest-international-airport-sri-lankas-mattala-rajapaksa/">very few planes land or take off</a>. I visited the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in 2015, and the only other people there were a coachload of students from a school on a field trip. Nothing has changed since then.</p>
<p>Other such wasteful projects include a conference center and cricket ground – called the <a href="https://www.espncricinfo.com/srilanka/content/ground/434210.html">Mahinda Rajapaksa International Cricket Stadium</a> – not far from the Mattala airport that hosts next to nothing. And then there is the Lotus Tower, the tallest communications tower in South Asia, which was supposed to contain other facilities and was ceremonially opened in 2019 but <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sri-lanka-tower/opening-of-sri-lankas-tallest-tower-marred-by-corruption-allegation-idUSKBN1W123I">remains out of operation</a>.</p>
<p>The construction of such projects has been <a href="https://srilankabrief.org/sri-lanka-massive-kickbacks-in-unsolicited-projects-with-china/">dogged by suggestions of corruption</a>. Such projects largely <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/12/13/784084567/in-sri-lanka-chinas-building-spree-is-raising-questions-about-sovereignty">involved Chinese construction firms</a>, often using Chinese laborers – <a href="https://www.sundaytimes.lk/091206/BusinessTimes/bt18.html">including the reported use of Chinese prisoners</a>, in the case of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html">the Hambantota Port</a>, now leased to China for 99 years because Sri Lanka could not pay its debts. Sri Lankans themselves have benefited only little.</p>
<p>On paper it looked like the <a href="https://opecfund.org/news/accelerating-economic-growth-in-post-conflict-sri-lanka">country was developing and GDP was rising</a>. But the growth was from external money rather than goods and services generated in Sri Lanka.</p>
<p>Chinese loans with short terms and high interest played no small role in quickening Sri Lanka’s debt problem. As a result, the country currently owes <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/yellen-says-its-chinas-interest-restructure-sri-lankas-debt-2022-07-14/">between $5 billion and $10 billion to China</a>, and its overall debt stands at <a href="https://gulfnews.com/business/sri-lanka-defaults-on-entire-51-billion-external-debt-1.1649748538720">$51 billion dollars</a>.</p>
<h2>What happen next?</h2>
<p>The most important thing that Sri Lanka needs going forward is political stability. Without that, you will not get the help required from the international community.</p>
<p>And Sri Lanka is not going to get out of its economic mess without help from international actors, such as the <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/07/15/sri-lanka-imf-bailout-protest-gotabaya-rajapaksa-flee-singapore/">International Monetary Fund</a>, the <a href="https://www.adb.org/countries/sri-lanka/main">Asian Development Bank</a> and <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/srilanka">the World Bank</a>. It also needs help from partners like India, Japan, China and the U.S.</p>
<p>As it is, Wickremesinghe, the interim president, has said the country will <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/sri-lanka-admits-bankruptcy-crisis-to-drag-through-2023-wickremesinghe-122070600054_1.html">suffer shortages in goods until the end of 2023</a>.</p>
<p>Sri Lanka needs large-scale, long-term economic restructuring. And for that to happen, the government will have to restructure its bilateral debt – the IMF will not give Sri Lanka money simply so that it can pay off its debt to China or any other entity.</p>
<p>But China knows that <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-15/china-will-agree-to-aid-at-some-point-sri-lanka-envoy-says">cutting any debt deal with Sri Lanka</a> will mean that other countries that hold large Chinese debt – like Pakistan and some African countries – will expect the same. And Beijing doesn’t want to set that precedent. On the other hand, China will most likely have to work with Sri Lanka and other bilateral donors, especially now that the Rajapaksas are out of power. It needs to cultivate goodwill to maintain influence in the island and will not want to be seen as exacerbating Sri Lanka’s woes. </p>
<p>The IMF will also likely expect painful measures to tamp down costs if it is to come to Sri Lanka’s aid. It will most likely insist that Sri Lanka free float its currency rather than peg it to the dollar, since right now Sri Lankans abroad are <a href="https://www.themorning.lk/the-war-against-the-undial-system/">using unofficial channels</a> – and not the banking system – to remit foreign currency. So it will likely have to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/rates-bonds/sri-lanka-allow-rupee-weaken-230-per-dollar-2022-03-07/">devalue its currency beyond what it already has</a>. The IMF will also likely expect that the government cut back on the number of state employees – which <a href="https://island.lk/only-traitors-wont-accept-urgent-economic-reform-agenda-acceptable-to-imf/">currently stands at around 1.5 million people</a>.</p>
<p>This will be a very painful process, and it will take some time. And it will likely worsen the country’s turmoil in the days ahead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187137/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil DeVotta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Protests over shortages forced the ouster of Sri Lanka’s president, but the crisis has deep-set roots in ethnonationalism, which has encouraged corruption, argues an expert on the country’s politics.Neil DeVotta, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Wake Forest UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1862932022-07-04T20:00:19Z2022-07-04T20:00:19ZSri Lanka scrambles for aid – but Australia still seems preoccupied by boats<p>When Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/23/sri-lanka-prime-minister-economy-completely-collapsed">conceded</a> ten days ago that the Sri Lankan economy has “completely collapsed”, his words would have come as no surprise to the island’s 22 million people. </p>
<p>With the country enduring its worst economic crisis since independence, authorities continue to scramble for aid from the international community. Families have been forced to skip meals and limit portion sizes. “If we don’t act now,” the United Nations has <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/06/1120032">warned</a>, “many families will be unable to meet their basic food needs.” </p>
<p>In a move to curb dire food shortages, authorities have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/14/crisis-hit-sri-lanka-allows-govt-workers-4-day-week-to-grow-food">approved</a> a four-day working week for public sector workers so they can “engage in agricultural activities in their backyards or elsewhere as a solution to the food shortage that is expected”. </p>
<p>Tamil fishers in the north of the island are facing starvation because they <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/22/sri-lanka-tamils-protests-economic-crisis">lack paraffin</a> to power their boats. Women whose livelihoods depend on occasional work on the boats face even grimmer circumstances. One of them, a 59-year-old Tamil woman who lost five of her children in the civil war, is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/jun/22/sri-lanka-tamils-protests-economic-crisis">living off</a> donations, leftover fish and the vegetables she picks from the side of the road. </p>
<p>From July 10, the government will no longer sell fuel to ordinary people because it won’t have enough currency to pay for it. Frustration is palpable across the island. The deployment of the military is only adding to the distress. In one case, Sri Lankan troops <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/19/sri-lanka-troops-open-fire-to-contain-fuel-riots">opened fire</a> on people queuing for petrol after motorists clashed with troops; four civilians and three soldiers were wounded. </p>
<h2>Aid over geopolitical strategy</h2>
<p>Sri Lankan authorities are turning to the international community for assistance. An official visit to Russia this week will attempt to secure discounted oil. Much of the world might be slamming Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, but Sri Lanka is no longer in a position to be choosy about who it deals with. </p>
<p>So far this year, India has been Sri Lanka’s main source of assistance. The Indian government has <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/6/23/india-says-ready-to-help-sri-lanka-in-quick-economic-recovery">signalled</a> a willingness to go beyond the US$4 billion in loans, swaps and aid to support its neighbour. The political winds seem to be swaying away from China and <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/sri-lanka-crisis-india-chance-gain-sway-china-85979868">in India’s favour</a>. </p>
<p>At the Future of Asia conference in Tokyo in May, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa pleaded for medical, food and fuel donations. But his appeal came at a <a href="https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/rajapaksa-turns-tokyo-aid-relations-remain-tense">low point</a> in Sri Lanka–Japanese relations. </p>
<p>Earlier in his presidency, Rajapaksa had cancelled key Japanese-funded infrastructure projects, including a US$1.5 billion light rail project for Colombo and the US$700 million-plus East Container Terminal project at the country’s main port, which Japan, India and Sri Lanka had agreed on before Rajapaksa came to power. </p>
<p>At the Tokyo conference Japan agreed to provide <a href="https://www.wfp.org/news/japan-contributes-usd-15-million-help-sri-lanka-provide-food-assistance-people-affected">US$1.5 million</a> through the World Food Program for three months’ essential food supplies, but remained tight-lipped about other support.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-happening-in-sri-lanka-and-how-did-the-economic-crisis-start-181060">What's happening in Sri Lanka and how did the economic crisis start?</a>
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<p>The United States has announced a series of assistance measures since the crisis set in, including US$120 million in <a href="https://lk.usembassy.gov/u-s-embassy-announces-dfc-approval-for-120m-in-new-loans-and-investments-from-the-united-states/">loans to small and medium businesses</a> – which risks adding to the country’s debt crisis – US$27 million to Sri Lanka’s dairy industry and US$5.75 million in humanitarian assistance. At the G7 summit in Madrid last Tuesday, President Joe Biden pledged a further $20 million to feed 800,000 children through a school nutrition program. </p>
<p>A team from the International Monetary Fund, meanwhile, was in Sri Lanka last week to discuss a $3 billion bailout under the fund’s <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/About/Factsheets/Sheets/2016/08/01/20/56/Extended-Fund-Facility">Extended Fund Facility</a>. The scheme is designed to assist countries experiencing serious payment imbalances. While the team said it expected negotiations about the terms of the bailout to reach agreement in the “near term”, it <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2022/06/30/pr22242-imf-staff-concludes-visit-to-sri-lanka">concluded</a> Sri Lanka’s economy “is expected to contract significantly in 2022”. </p>
<p>Sri Lanka also plans to hold a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/crisis-hit-sri-lanka-plans-donor-conference-with-china-india-japan-2022-06-22/">donor conference</a> with India, China and Japan. Around US$5 billion is needed over the next six months to cover the basic needs of its people. </p>
<h2>Australia needs to reconsider how it supports its Indian Ocean neighbour</h2>
<p>Australia will provide A$50 million to Sri Lanka to meet urgent food and healthcare needs. “Not only do we want to help the people of Sri Lanka in its time of need,” Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said on June 20, “there are also deeper consequences for the region if this crisis continues.” </p>
<p>But Australia’s priorities are quite different from the concerns of ordinary Sri Lankans. A new Fisheries Monitoring Centre, jointly launched by the Australian and Sri Lankan governments, will install tracking devices on more than 4,000 Sri Lankan fishing vessels, which can be used in the “early identification” of “irregular vessel movements”. </p>
<p>Australia’s priority is “supporting Sri Lanka’s efforts to strengthen its border management capacity”, according to a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/22/australia-funds-gps-trackers-on-sri-lanken-fishing-boats-partially-to-deter-people-smugglers">statement</a> from the Australian high commission in Colombo. The centre continues Australia’s historical disregard for the plight of people seeking asylum outside Sri Lanka. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-temporary-visa-system-is-unfair-expensive-impractical-and-inconsistent-heres-how-the-new-government-could-fix-it-185870">Australia's temporary visa system is unfair, expensive, impractical and inconsistent. Here's how the new government could fix it</a>
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<p>These are some of the poorest and most persecuted people in the country, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/26/screened-out-before-arrival-questions-over-legality-of-australias-at-sea-asylum-seeker-rulings">fleeing</a> from Vavuniya, Kilinochi, Mullaithivu and Trincomalee and other Tamil-majority areas ravaged by the civil war. </p>
<p>In recent weeks, people escaping Sri Lanka by boat have been intercepted at sea by Australian authorities and returned without adequate assessments of their asylum claims. The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has previously <a href="https://www.unhcr.org/en-au/news/briefing/2014/1/52cfe2a0fcf/unhcr-seeking-details-reports-boats-forced-australia.html">said</a> that Australia’s “enhanced assessments”, which don’t properly consider individual needs for protection, “potentially place Australia in breach of its obligations under the Refugee Convention and other international law obligations”. </p>
<p>The federal opposition claims boats are arriving in Australia because of the change of government. But people have also been fleeing to other destinations, such as India and the Middle East. Some have relatives in Indian refugee camps; others have family contacts in Tamil Nadu. </p>
<p>As one Tamil activist <a href="https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/fleeing-genocide-torture-and-now-economic-crisis-tamil-refugees-arrive-india">explains</a>: “There is panic and anxiety about tomorrow.” The exodus could continue for quite some time yet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186293/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niro Kandasamy is a volunteer at the Tamil Refugee Council. </span></em></p>As authorities desperately seek aid, the Sri Lankan crisis continues.Niro Kandasamy, Lecturer in History, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1844682022-06-15T20:00:38Z2022-06-15T20:00:38ZA clinical psychiatrist reveals how Indian women in Australia experience family violence – and how to combat it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468750/original/file-20220614-12-4sljo0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C25%2C5734%2C3802&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bride and a groom perform rituals during a mass wedding in Surat India.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ajit Solanki/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Manjula Datta O’Connor is a clinical psychiatrist and chair of the <a href="https://www.ranzcp.org/membership/faculties-sections-and-networks/family-violence-psychiatry-network">Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Family Violence Psychiatry Network</a>. She has a particular interest in the mental health experiences of migrant women affected by family violence. She has been supporting women in her clinical practice for the past three decades.</p>
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<p><em>Review: Daughters of Durga: Dowries, Gender Violence and Family in Australia by Manjula Datta O’Connor (MUP)</em></p>
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<p>Her new book, <a href="https://www.mup.com.au/books/daughters-of-durga-paperback-softback">Daughters of Durga</a>, draws on her research and clinical experience. It introduces readers to the complexities of family violence as experienced by South Asian migrant women in Australia, with a primary focus on Indian women.</p>
<p>Daughters of Durga unpacks the historical context of gender roles in Indian society under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manusmriti"><em>Manusmriti</em> laws</a>. The <em>Manusmriti</em>, India’s ancient legal text, sets out laws, rights, duties, virtues and conduct. Written during the first century AD, it redefined Indian women. Once strong and fearless, they were recharacterised as dependent, submissive creatures. This ideal of women as submissive has persisted throughout India’s history, although to varying degrees. </p>
<p><em>Manusmriti</em> was written by the highest caste for the highest caste. British colonisation introduced several legal reforms, including the universal application of <em>Mansumriti</em> to all castes. Originally intended to preserve the purity of the highest caste, <em>Manusmriti</em> became a rigid law that undermined gender equality for all Indian women.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-surprising-indian-australians-feel-singled-out-they-have-long-been-subjected-to-racism-160179">It's not surprising Indian-Australians feel singled out. They have long been subjected to racism</a>
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<h2>Indian migrants in Australia</h2>
<p>Daughters of Durga critically examines the influence of social change over time on women’s inferior status. It describes how women of India organised themselves to resist the effects of British colonial rule. Datta O'Connor particularly draws on the experiences of educated women who have sought equality in their relationships and better opportunities for their families in Australia.</p>
<p>The book sets the scene by describing the lives of women in India and those who migrate to Australia. After the United Kingdom, Australia is the country with the largest population of Indian migrants, who currently make up <a href="https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/country-profiles/profiles/india">2.8% of Australia’s total population</a>. Indians also make up around 15% of Australia’s international university student population and around 20% of Australia’s skilled migrant visa program. </p>
<p>Indian women, men and families therefore form a significant part of Australia’s multicultural population. It is critical for Australia to better understand the experiences of Indian women who migrate to Australia. </p>
<h2>Dowry abuse and devalued daughters</h2>
<p>Datta O'Connor unpacks the cultural context of dowries – the amount of money or assets expected to be brought into a marriage by an Indian bride. She also examines the underlying assumptions that make dowries a potential tool of ongoing abuse.</p>
<p>In Indian culture, daughters are valued less than sons. Parents are likely to achieve significant financial gain from a son’s marriage, whereas the parents of a daughter start saving during her childhood to be able to afford her wedding and marriage. Daughters of Durga describes how women’s families are often solely responsible for wedding costs, including presents, garments, jewellery, and the different phases of the wedding ceremony and celebration.</p>
<p>Datta O’Connor notes that the families of many of the women she sees in her clinical practice acquired significant debts through this process. She helps the reader understand the complex nature of Indian marriages and the financial expectations placed on the bride and the bride’s family during (and often well beyond) the wedding procedures. Contributing factors include India’s patriarchal society and the reinforcement of gender stereotypes.</p>
<p>Dowries remain a common practice in Indian marriages, but the coercion of women and their families to make repeated dowry payments to the groom or his family after the wedding has been recognised as a form of family violence in <a href="https://www.dss.gov.au/women-publications-articles-reducing-violence/dowry-abuse-factsheet#:%7E:text=Any%20act%20of%20coercion%2C%20violence%20or%20harassment%20associated,gifts%20from%20a%20woman%20and%20her%20extended%20family.">Australia</a>. </p>
<p>While family violence affects a large number of Indian women, Datta O'Connor reminds the reader that many grooms and their families do not engage in dowry-related abuse. Daughters of Durga criticises the patriarchal system that enables men’s violence against women, but it also describes men who are “benevolent patriarchs” – in other words, men who may be the final decision-makers in family matters, but do so without violence and coercion. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dowry-abuse-does-exist-but-lets-focus-on-the-wider-issues-of-economic-abuse-and-coercive-control-112288">Dowry abuse does exist, but let's focus on the wider issues of economic abuse and coercive control</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Increased education means increased risk of family violence</h2>
<p>Many of the experiences described by Datta O’Connor are universal for those affected by family violence. As I have observed in my own research for over a decade, coercive control, financial abuse, and the negative impact of status incompatibility are common issues.</p>
<p>Throughout the book, Datta O’Connor investigates the status of women about to be married to an arranged partner. Modernisation has generated greater access to education for women in India. Today’s Indian women are better educated and wealthier than their mothers and grandmothers. Families increasingly invest in the education of their daughter to increase her desirability as a potential wife. </p>
<p>Many Indian women thus complete university degrees that set them up with future career and earning opportunities. Yet as soon as a woman is married, her potential career is traded for her role as a “good” wife and mother. For many Indian women, this means being subordinate to their husbands and in-laws and giving birth to at least one son – because sons promise prosperity, while daughters are a financial burden. </p>
<p>Daughters of Durga illustrates how increasing a woman’s status through education also increases her risk of family violence. Many men – Indian and otherwise – continue to feel threatened by highly educated women with career prospects, particularly where these may exceed their own. </p>
<p>Educated women in India have a chance at gender equality in theory. But in practice a woman may still find herself trapped in a patriarchal relationship that reinforces her inferiority.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/forceful-and-dominant-men-with-sexist-ideas-of-masculinity-are-more-likely-to-abuse-women-125873">Forceful and dominant: men with sexist ideas of masculinity are more likely to abuse women</a>
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</em>
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<hr>
<h2>Devaluing women harms everyone</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=550&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468730/original/file-20220614-12-ynvg0f.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=692&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author Manjula Datta O'Connor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The reinforcement of societal values that regard daughters as worth less than sons harms the mental wellbeing of the whole family. Again, this is not restricted to the Indian community: Datta O’Connor’s findings consider mental health costs associated with family violence more broadly.</p>
<p>Australia’s hyper-masculine culture has contributed to men’s mental health problems, including staggeringly high suicide rates among <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/resources/data-and-statistics/">Australian men</a>. Daughters of Durga empathetically explores how expectations of what it means to be a “real man” in Indian society similarly affect men’s mental well-being and the functioning of their relationships. </p>
<p>Social pressure to be the dominating head of the family has contributed to the deteriorating mental health of modern Indian men who seek equal relationships with a female partner. So long as the culture promotes gender inequality, Indian men who try to break out of the <a href="https://mensline.org.au/mens-mental-health/male-stereotypes-and-the-man-box/">“man box”</a> (which prescribes male dominance, strength and power within intimate relationships) will be reminded that they have failed as men. </p>
<p>This comes on top of gender inequality’s obvious cost to women. Family violence has detrimental short-term and long-term effects on women’s mental health. Datta O’Connor’s clinical practice and research highlight the devastating consequences of family violence for Indian women living in Australia.</p>
<p>Like many other advocates, Datta O’Connor argues that addressing men’s violence against women at its roots – by improving social attitudes to gender equality – would reduce the costs associated with the recovery needs of women and children, and mental health support for men. This would not only improve individual wellbeing, but promote healthy, respectful and safe relationships. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-still-legal-to-rape-your-wife-in-india-that-could-be-about-to-change-176797">It's still legal to rape your wife in India. That could be about to change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Preventing violence against Indian women</h2>
<p>Daughters of Durga makes a significant contribution to our understanding of domestic and family violence in multicultural Australia. It also adds to current conversations around educating the community and service providers about women’s experiences of non-physical forms of abuse, such as coercive control.</p>
<p>Datta O’Connor clearly situates the culturally specific experiences of South Asian women experiencing family violence within a broader context of universal, cross-cultural experiences. She highlights the importance of a nuanced understanding of family violence that considers culture, migration and gender. </p>
<p>She concludes by reimagining the <em>Manusmriti</em> in a way that reflects gender equality and freedom from individual and structural violence for women.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/468743/original/file-20220614-8082-o9sofn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Indian activists perform a drama during a protest campaign titled Stop Violence Against Women by Swayam at a public area in Kolkata, Eastern India, 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Piyal Adhikary/EPA</span></span>
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<p>Indian women have made significant progress towards empowerment and equality in recent decades. Until men join them on this journey, women’s increasingly elevated status through education will remain a risk factor for family violence. </p>
<p>Indian societal expectations need to shift away from women being “good” and obedient wives and mothers in order to prevent men’s violence against them. Men need to be expected to support gender equality by contributing to housework and childcare, and by supporting women’s career opportunities and financial independence. </p>
<p>To achieve this, Datta O’Connor concludes, we need to educate boys and engage men as allies in the fight against family violence – and violence against women more broadly.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184468/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Silke Meyer receives funding from Australia's National Research Organisation for Women's Safety, the Australian Institute of Criminology and the Queensland Department for Children, Youth Justice and Multicultural Affairs. </span></em></p>A new book by Manjula Datta O’Connor argues that family violence raises some culturally specific issues, but the problem is not limited any particular group.Silke Meyer, Professor of Social Work; Leneen Forde Chair in Child & Family Research, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1817562022-05-03T13:10:32Z2022-05-03T13:10:32ZSri Lanka’s protests show a fragile unity – for now<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460164/original/file-20220427-9662-i1tyk1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=75%2C88%2C8313%2C5244&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sri Lankan students march during a protest over the economic crisis outside the residence of prime minister Mahinda Rajapaksa in Colombo, April 24, 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Sri%20Lanka%20Economic%20Crisis/3d3c6b6a0d0f4205a6b7a69ee194289e?Query=sri%20lanka&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=46937&currentItemNo=10">AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sri Lanka is facing <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lanka-teeters-on-economic-edge-from-pandemic-fueled-financial-crisis-and-ukraine-war-spillovers-179741">its worst economic crises</a> since winning independence from Britain in 1948. Inflation is at an all-time high and protests are <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-happening-in-sri-lanka-and-how-did-the-economic-crisis-start-181060">spreading around the country</a>. </p>
<p>Most public anger <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sri-lanka-crisis-thousands-of-protestors-ambush-sri-lanka-pm-mahinda-rajapaksas-home-over-economic-crisis-demanding-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa-resig-2916111">is directed</a> toward President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. Critics point to the Rajapaksas’ <a href="https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/04/24/years-of-policy-failure-and-covid-throw-sri-lanka-into-deep-crisis/">poor handling of the COVID-19 crisis</a>, and “Gota out” signs demanding their resignations are seen across the country.</p>
<p>Protesters <a href="https://www.news18.com/news/world/sri-lanka-an-island-adrift-fights-for-a-new-beginning-4953140.html">come from all ethnicities and all religions</a>. This seeming unity is notable in Sri Lanka, which has been deeply divided for decades. The country has a violent history of ethnic and religious conflict, and of scapegoating minorities. In recent years, that has been <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-sri-lankas-muslims-115825">particularly true of Muslims</a>, who make up about 10% of the population. As <a href="https://portal.research.lu.se/en/persons/andreas-johansson-3">a historian of religion</a> who focuses on Sri Lanka, I have studied Muslims’ precarious position in Sri Lankan society amid growing discrimination.</p>
<h2>Civil war</h2>
<p>Traditionally, Sri Lanka <a href="http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Population/StaticalInformation/CPH2011/PopulationAtlas">has been divided</a> into three <a href="http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2012Visualization/htdocs/index.php?usecase=indicator&action=Map&indId=10">major ethnic groups</a>: the Sinhalese, who make up 74% of the population and are mostly Buddhists; the Tamils, about 15%, most of whom are Hindu; and Muslims, who are descendants of Middle Eastern traders and mostly speak the Tamil language.</p>
<p>In 1983 a civil war broke out between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil separatists that lasted until 2009. Violent tensions between the island’s two biggest groups had existed for years, with the Sinhalese majority believing Tamils had received <a href="https://hir.harvard.edu/sri-lankan-civil-war/">preferential treatment under the British</a>. After independence, the situation reversed: for example, Sinhala became <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=6RSHzj2EU-cC">the only official language</a>, meaning that Tamil-speaking Sri Lankans lost jobs in the public sector.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.parliament.lk/files/pdf/constitution.pdf">constitution</a> assures the religious freedom of all, but Buddhism is also given a special status. It states, “The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster” the faith.</p>
<p>The war caused the deaths of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51184085">at least 100,000 people</a>, including <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2017/03/16/thousands-of-victims-of-sri-lankas-civil-war-remain-unaccounted-for">tens of thousands</a> of civilians, though estimates vary. As many as <a href="https://hrdag.org/srilanka/">100,000 Tamils</a> might still be displaced. Both sides were accused of war crimes, including <a href="https://nofirezone.org">at the end of the war</a>, when Mahinda Rajapaksa – now prime minister – was president, and his brother Gotabaya, now president, was secretary of defense.</p>
<p>Government officials deny abuses, and have tried to block <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/world/asia/sri-lanka-civil-war-un-investigation.html">the United Nations’ ongoing investigation</a>.</p>
<h2>New tensions</h2>
<p>After the war the country’s third-largest ethnic group, Muslims, became the new target for Sinhalese nationalists, who claimed that <a href="https://theconversation.com/who-are-sri-lankas-muslims-115825">Muslims</a> had both <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/sri-lanka-saudi-idINKCN1U00LZ">economic and ideological ties</a> with the Middle East. A hardline Buddhist group called the <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/%E2%80%9Cone-country-one-law%E2%80%9D-sri-lankan-states-hostility-toward-muslims-grows-deeper">Bodu Bala Sena</a> encouraged anti-Muslim sentiment, and accused halal food industries of sponsoring international terrorism.</p>
<p>During Easter 2019, local Muslim terrorists inspired by the Islamic State carried out an attack killing <a href="https://theconversation.com/sri-lankas-easter-sunday-attacks-were-meant-for-international-audience-but-have-local-consequences-117704">over 250 people</a> in several Christian churches and hotels. This was the worst attack in Sri Lanka against civilians since the civil war ended in 2009, and prompted more discrimination against <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/302-after-sri-lankas-easter-bombings-reducing-risks-future-violence">Muslim citizens</a></p>
<p>Buddhist nationalists supported Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s election as president in 2019. Since then, the government has proposed plans to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/asia-pacific-religion-sri-lanka-51deeb417aefac87802917993825d9a6">ban full-face veils</a> in public and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/13/sri-lanka-to-ban-burka-and-close-1000-islamic-schools">to shut down many Islamic schools</a>. During the pandemic, the government <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220303-sri-lanka-ends-widely-condemned-muslim-burial-policy">forced people who died from COVID-19 to be cremated</a>, in violation of traditional Islamic funeral ceremonies. </p>
<p>In 2021, Amnesty International released <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/ASA3748632021ENGLISH.pdf">an 80-page report</a> about anti-Muslim prejudice in the country. The researchers urged Sri Lanka’s government to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act, which has been used <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2020/07/sri-lanka-on-hejaaz-hizbullah-and-the-prevention-of-terrorism-act/">to target</a> prominent <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/12/21/ahna-d21.html">Muslim activists</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Muslims stand while praying inside a structure with metal walls." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460182/original/file-20220428-16-tvhagx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In this Nov. 14, 2019 photo, Muslims offer prayers inside a temporary mosque set up next to a mosque damaged by a mob during 2018 riots in the outskirts of Kandy, Sri Lanka.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SriLankaMilitantMonks/2af61fca20834060b279dbdf301e0992/photo?Query=sri%20lanka%20muslim&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=954&currentItemNo=81">AP Photo/Dar Yasin</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Muslims have also expressed <a href="https://www.pressenza.com/2022/03/redefining-identities-land-invasion-in-sri-lankas-eastern-province/">fear of land grabs</a>, which Rauff Hakeem, the leader of the largest <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-12789-3">Muslim political party</a>, the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, has called his community’s biggest concern. Land seizures by the army have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/may/28/sri-lanka-army-land-grabs-tamil-displacement-report-oakland-institute">major concerns for Tamils</a>, as well.</p>
<h2>Unity or division?</h2>
<p>For now, ethnic tensions appear to be on hold. The common foe is the Rajapaksa family, as protesters demand that the president and prime minister step down. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="People sit on long blankets outside for a meal." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/460181/original/file-20220428-16-25qmps.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sri Lankan Muslims wait to break the Ramadan fast at a protest site outside the president’s office in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on April 20, 2022.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/SriLankaEconomicCrisis/15fa249db25d465ba1710c09c1f1c7e8/photo?Query=sri%20lanka%20muslim&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=954&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena</a></span>
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<p>An official spokesman from the Sri Lankan Muslim Congress, who requested to remain anonymous, told me that Muslims’ participation in protests has “surprised the government. Christians who came in thousands after Easter Sunday mass and the clergy of Buddhists in thousands all over the island came together under one banner as Sri Lankans. Not as Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim or Christians.”</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-asian-studies/article/abs/merchants-maidens-and-mohammedans-a-history-of-muslim-stereotypes-in-sinhala-literature-of-sri-lanka/24711B013ADDEF16680EB438B727657B">Muslims are often stereotyped</a> as wealthy. Given Sinhalese nationalists’ <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0262728014549134">past accusations</a> that Muslims have suspect economic ties with the Middle East, some, including contacts of mine inside the country, have <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/4/5/sri-lanka-gota-needs-to-go-but-so-does-the-ethnocratic-state">voiced concern</a> that leaders could channel ethnic tensions to blame minorities for the country’s economic downfall. Pro-government <a href="https://restofworld.org/2022/newsletter-south-asia-disinformation-campaigns-attempt-to-undermine-sri-lankan-protests/">social media campaigns</a> have frequently targeted minorities like Tamils and Muslims.</p>
<p>“The current protest movement’s focus on the commonality of experience, while understandable, does little to reassure Tamils and Muslims that they are safe from ethnic scapegoating for the country’s economic woes,” Mario Arulthas, a doctoral candidate studying Tamils and nationalism at SOAS University of London, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/4/5/sri-lanka-gota-needs-to-go-but-so-does-the-ethnocratic-state">wrote in a recent column</a>. Such scapegoating is “a tactic the state has historically used as a distraction during times of crisis, resulting in pogroms against these communities.”</p>
<p>As Sri Lanka goes forward, its citizens will confront not only the aftermath of the economic crisis, but these legacies of suspicion among ethnic groups.</p>
<p>[<em>3 media outlets, 1 religion newsletter.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/this-week-in-religion-76/?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=religion-3-in-1">Get stories from The Conversation, AP and RNS.</a>]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181756/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andreas Johansson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The country has a long history of ethnic and religious conflict, but the worst economic crisis in decades has brought protesters together.Andreas Johansson, Researcher at Centre for Theology and Religious Studies, Lund University, Senior Lecture at Karlstad University, Lund UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1804702022-04-27T12:19:32Z2022-04-27T12:19:32ZCaste doesn’t just exist in India or in Hinduism – it is pervasive across many religions in South Asia and the diaspora<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459541/original/file-20220425-12-7muqn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=53%2C22%2C2941%2C2025&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nuns from a group of Dalit Christians, or India's lowest caste who converted to Christianity, protest in New Delhi.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaCasteProtest/249f166d16ba461b8f6e2eb43a73b52c/photo?Query=india%20caste&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=966&currentItemNo=57">AP Photo/Gurinder Osan</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The California State University system, America’s largest public higher education system, recently added caste, a birth-based social hierarchy system, to its <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-01-20/csu-adds-caste-to-its-anti-discrimination-policy">anti-discrimination policy</a>, allowing students, staff and faculty across its 23 campuses to report caste bias and discrimination. </p>
<p>CSU’s move has drawn a sharp response from some in the Indian diaspora: About <a href="https://www.hinduamerican.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Faculty-Staff-Petition-Oppose-Addition-Caste-Faculty-Contract-PUBLIC.pdf">80 faculty members of Indian heritage</a>, as well as the <a href="https://www.hinduamerican.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/HAF-Letter-Cal-State-Board-of-Trustees-2022-0120.pdf">Hindu American Foundation</a>, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, have opposed the decision, claiming that it is potentially stigmatizing for persons of Hindu or Indian heritage. They have also threatened a lawsuit against CSU if this decision is not revoked. </p>
<p>The caste system is often conflated in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35650616">Western media</a> with Hindu religion and India alone. However, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14742837.2016.1152173">social</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/padr.12309">scientists</a> specializing in South Asian Studies, we know that the caste system is neither exclusive to Hindu religion nor is it endemic to India. </p>
<h2>Caste in South Asia</h2>
<p>While the <a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691088952/castes-of-mind">caste system originated in Hindu scriptures, it crystallized during British colonial rule</a> and has stratified society in every South Asian religious community. In addition to India, it is present in <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=1875415">Pakistan</a>, <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/25764189">Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka</a>, the <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24365026?seq=1">Maldives</a> and <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3295446">Bhutan</a>.</p>
<p>Social, economic and political status in this pernicious system is tied to traditional occupations fixed by birth. Brahmins, for example, who are assigned priestly work, are at the top, and Dalits, relegated to the bottom, are forced into occupations that are considered abject in South Asia, such as cleaning streets and toilets, or working in the tanning industry. Caste-based rules of marriage maintain these boundaries firmly. </p>
<p>Caste organizes social life not only among Hindus but also in Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Buddhist communities in the region. It is an intergenerational system based on birth into a caste group. Caste identities stay even generations after someone converts out of Hinduism and into any of these faiths.</p>
<p>Among <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-caste">South Asian Christians</a>, Anglo-Indians are at the top of the hierarchy. This small community includes individuals of mixed descent from Indian and British parents. Those who converted to Christianity, even generations ago, from middle level Hindu castes come next, followed by those from Indigenous backgrounds. <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/07/12/8-key-findings-about-christians-in-india/">Those who converted to Christianity from Dalit castes</a> are placed at the bottom. </p>
<p><a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Caste_and_Social_Stratification_Among_Mu.html?id=8dGFAAAAIAAJ">Muslims across the region</a> are organized with the minority Ashraf communities at the top. The Ashraf community claims noble status as the “original” Muslims in South Asia, due to their descent from Central Asian, Iranian and Arab ethnic groups. The middle in this social hierarchy is comprised of Ajlaf, considered to be “low-born” communities that converted from Hindu artisanal castes. The group at the bottom includes converts from Dalit communities who are identified with the demeaning term Arzal, which means vile or vulgar. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2003/26/special-articles/scheduled-castes-sikh-community.html">Sikh</a> community, the powerful land-owning caste, Jat-Sikhs, are at the top, followed by converts from Hindu trading communities in the middle and converts from lower caste Hindu communities, Mazhabi Sikhs, at the bottom. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Sikh men wearing colorful turbans and women with their heads covered gathered together in New Delhi, India." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/459542/original/file-20220425-2721-nf6eea.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=490&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dalit Sikhs gather for a protest in New Delhi.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/IndiaDalitProtest/87814b9fc16e412aa1933d416f10d360/photo?Query=hindus%20caste&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=191&currentItemNo=12">AP Photo/ R S Iyer</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While Buddhism in India is close to being casteless, its dominant versions in Sri Lanka and Nepal have <a href="https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/jiabs/article/view/8676">caste-based hierarchies</a>.</p>
<h2>Caste carries over after conversion</h2>
<p>While many of the so-called lower caste groups converted to escape their persecution in Hinduism, their new religions did not treat them as fully equal.</p>
<p>South Asian Christians, Muslims, Sikhs and Buddhists with Dalit family histories continue to face <a href="https://www.minorityaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/sachar_comm.pdf">prejudice</a> from their new co-religionists. They are excluded from or <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4412102?seq=1">experience segregation</a> at shared places of worship <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11229170">and sites of burial or cremation</a> across all these regions.</p>
<p>Social scientists have shown that strict caste-based rules continue to regulate social organization and everyday interactions. Intercaste marriages are rare: In India alone, they have remained at about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909619829896">5% of all marriages over the past several decades</a>. When they take place, the couples risk <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-47823588">violence</a>.</p>
<p>While urbanization and education have normalized everyday interactions across caste groups in shared urban spaces, entertaining lower caste individuals in upper caste households is still taboo in many families. A 2014 <a href="https://www.ncaer.org/news_details.php?nID=91">survey</a> found one in every four Indians to be practicing untouchability, a dehumanizing practice in which people from Dalit castes are not to be touched or allowed to come in contact with upper caste individuals. Untouchability was prohibited in India in 1950 when its egalitarian constitution came into force. However, home ownership is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0956247818812330">segregated</a> by caste, and religion and caste discrimination is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/24482557">pervasive in the rental market</a> where residential associations use flimsy procedural excuses for keeping lower caste individuals out. </p>
<p>Lower castes are expected to defer to the higher status of upper castes, refrain from expressing themselves in shared spaces and avoid displaying material affluence. They risk being punished by <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/india/social-boycott-of-dalit-families-odisha-rights-panel-takes-cognizance-seeks-report-from-officials-6569912/">socioeconomic boycotts</a>, which could include ostracizing the Dalits or keeping them out of employment. It may even include <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/21/india-dalits-wedding-horse/">assault</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jun/13/nepal-to-investigate-dalit-killings-following-arranged-marriage-dispute">murder</a>. In Pakistan, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2020/12/15/it-is-time-to-talk-about-caste-in-pakistan-and-pakistani-diaspora">anti-blasphemy laws are used as a pretext for caste violence against Dalits</a>, many of whom have <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35910331">converted to Christianity</a>. </p>
<h2>Caste and life outcomes</h2>
<p>Studies show that caste-based identity is a major determinant of overall <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2109226119">success</a> in South Asia. Upper caste individuals have better literacy and greater representation in <a href="https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1293431.pdf">higher education</a>. They are <a href="http://piketty.pse.ens.fr/files/Bharti2018.pdf">wealthier</a> and dominate <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2007/41/caste-and-economic-discrimination-special-issues/legacy-social-exclusion.html">private sector employment</a>, as well as <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2013/06/special-articles/caste-and-entrepreneurship-india.html">entrepreneurship</a>. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/9038/WDR2006_0012.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">affirmative action programs</a> initiated by the British and continued in independent India have made improvements in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414021989755">educational levels of lower caste groups</a>, employment opportunities for them have been limited.</p>
<p>Studies also demonstrate how caste identity affects <a href="https://gsdrc.org/document-library/discrimination-and-childrens-nutritional-status-in-india/">nutrition and health</a> through purchasing power and <a href="https://dhsprogram.com/pubs/pdf/FA117/FA117.pdf">access to health services</a>.</p>
<p>Most socioeconomic <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2394481118808107">elites in South Asia</a>, regardless of religion, are affiliated with upper caste groups, and the vast majority of the poor come from lower caste groups. </p>
<h2>Caste in the diaspora</h2>
<p>Scholars have documented similar discriminatory practices in the diaspora in the <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2002/31/commentary/punjabis-england.html">U.K.</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-11/caste-system-of-india-and-south-asia-in-australia-dalit-rights/13135622">Australia</a>, <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/indian-caste-system-in-canada-called-a-disease-worse-than-racism-1.3090441">Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.epw.in/journal/2015/37/notes/caste-among-indian-diaspora-africa.html">African continent</a>. </p>
<p>Caste has started getting recognition as a discriminatory category, especially in the U.S., in recent years. A 2016 <a href="https://www.equalitylabs.org/castesurvey">survey, “Caste in the USA”</a>, the first formal documentation of caste discrimination within the U.S. diaspora, found that caste discrimination was pervasive across workplaces, educational institutions, places of worship and even in romantic partnerships. </p>
<p>In 2020, the state of California <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-cisco-lawsuit/california-accuses-cisco-of-job-discrimination-based-on-indian-employees-caste-idUSKBN2423YE">sued</a> Cisco Systems, a technology company in the Silicon Valley, on a complaint against caste-based discrimination. <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/harvard-adds-caste-bias-protections-graduate-student-workers-rcna7279">Harvard University</a>, <a href="https://www.colby.edu/admission/nondiscrimination-policy/">Colby College</a>, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2021-11-18/uc-davis-adds-caste-to-its-anti-discrimination-policy">UC Davis</a> and <a href="https://www.brandeis.edu/president/letters/2019-12-17-adding-caste-to-our-nondiscrimination-harassment-policy.html">Brandeis University</a> have recognized caste as a protected status and have included it in their nondiscrimination policies. </p>
<p>These developments in the U.S. have put the spotlight again on this centuries-old system that denies equality to large populations on the basis of an oppressive and rigid hierarchical system. It is up to the American diaspora how they commit to engage with it, as they themselves strive for equality and fairness in their new multicultural society. </p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Several US universities now recognize caste as part of nondiscrimination policies. Two scholars of South Asian studies explain how caste-based violence isn’t limited to Hinduism, or to India.Aseem Hasnain, Associate Professor of Sociology, Bridgewater State UniversityAbhilasha Srivastava, Assistant Professor of Economics, California State University, San BernardinoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1812122022-04-13T17:32:16Z2022-04-13T17:32:16ZWhat’s next for Pakistan after Imran Khan’s ouster?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/457749/original/file-20220412-14-kpo79w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C22%2C4905%2C3253&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Supporters of Imran Khan take to the streets</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/supporters-of-pakistan-tehreek-e-insaf-party-of-dismissed-news-photo/1239898939?adppopup=true">Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A protracted political drama in Pakistan turned a page on April 10, 2022, with Prime Minister Imran Khan <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/09/asia/imran-khan-voted-out-pakistan-prime-minister-intl-hnk/index.html">being removed from office following a vote of no confidence</a> in the country’s Parliament.</em></p>
<p><em>He was replaced by opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif. But that is unlikely to be the end of political turmoil in Pakistan, a <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx">nuclear nation</a> that is home to <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=PK">some 220 million people</a>.</em> </p>
<p><em>The Conversation asked Pakistani American scholar <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/ayesha-jalal">Ayesha Jalal, professor of history at Tufts University</a>, to explain what is going on in Pakistan.</em></p>
<h2>What is going on in Pakistan?</h2>
<p>After various attempts to stay in power, Imran Khan has finally been voted out. A no-confidence vote was first submitted as a motion by Pakistan’s opposition parties on March 8 but was <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/timeline-the-dramatic-events-that-lead-to-imran-khans-fall-from-grace-and-the-dissolution-of-the-pakistan-parliament-10516101.html">delayed repeatedly as Khan tried to cling to power</a>.</p>
<p>On April 3, the National Assembly <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/03/pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-unlikely-to-survive-no-confidence-vote-minister-says.html">was supposed to vote</a>. But instead, Khan’s newly appointed law minister made a statement to Parliament alleging a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/03/pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-unlikely-to-survive-no-confidence-vote-minister-says.html">foreign conspiracy aimed at dislodging the government</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/03/1090490181/pakistan-imran-khan-parliament-early-elections">accused the opposition of treason</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-religion-ad929acf523850fdb63a5b6dd960f1d2">filed a motion with the deputy speaker to abandon</a> the no-confidence vote. Khan then dissolved the National Assembly and called for early national elections.</p>
<p>Opposition lawmakers lodged a petition challenging Khan’s gambit, and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/04/world/imran-khan-pakistan-news">Supreme Court</a> decided that <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/7/pakistan-court-rules-blocking-vote-to-oust-khan-unconstitutional">blocking the no-confidence vote was unconstitutional</a>.</p>
<p>The vote went ahead on April 10, resulting in 174 members – out of a total of 342 – <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/pak-parliaments-session-begins-to-vote-on-no-trust-motion-against-pm-imran-khan-key-points/articleshow/90740947.cms">supporting the no-confidence motion</a>, resulting in Khan’s removal from power. But that doesn’t end the political mess. More than 100 members of Parliament loyal to Khan have since resigned and walked out of Parliament in protest.</p>
<h2>What prompted the calls for a no-confidence vote?</h2>
<p>The basic charge against Imran Khan <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/25/why-is-pakistans-opposition-seeking-pm-imran-khans-removal">is mismanagement</a>, especially in Punjab – Pakistan’s second-largest province in terms of area and its most populous.</p>
<p>Khan <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/world/asia/who-is-imran-khan.html">came to power in 2018</a> promising a “new Pakistan” and an end to the corruption that has for decades been part of Pakistan’s politics. But he has failed to live up to that promise. Khan’s appointed chief minister in Punjab, Usman Buzdar, has been <a href="https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/712816-nab-opens-another-corruption-case-against-cm-usman-buzdar">accused of widespread corruption</a>, taking bribes and receiving money in return for making bureaucratic appointments. Even members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, party have broken with the prime minister over his backing of the now outgoing Punjab chief minister.</p>
<p>On top of this, Khan has been criticized for his handling of everything <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2021/mar/26/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-faces-flak-for-holding-in-person-meeting-despite-being-infected-with-covid-2281904.html">from the pandemic</a> to <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3163919/imran-khans-future-doubt-pakistanis-crumble-under-inflations">soaring inflation</a> in the country.</p>
<h2>What do we know about the new prime minister?</h2>
<p>Shahbaz Sharif for a long time had been chief minister of Punjab, and the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/11/shahbaz-sharif-the-diligent-administrator-now-pm-of-pakistan">general perception is that he was an effective administrator</a> there. He comes from a political family – his brother <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/24/world/asia/pakistan-nawaz-sharif-sentenced.html">Nawaz Sharif</a> served as prime minister of Pakistan on three separate occasions. And like his brother, who has been <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/10/25/former-pakistani-pm-sharif-granted-medical-bail-still-in-custody">convicted of corruption</a> and is banned from public office, Shahbaz has faced <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/who-is-shahbaz-sharif-pakistans-new-prime-minister/a-61449480">allegations of cronyism and corruption</a>. But this is not unusual in Pakistani politics, where <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/30/pakistan-anti-corruption-body-arrests-key-opposition-leader">opposition leaders</a> tend to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-politics/key-pakistan-opposition-figures-arrest-political-party-says-idUSKBN26J2GZ">face such charges</a>. Nothing has been proved in court against Shahbaz Sharif.</p>
<p>Sharif has come into office making a number of populist promises, offering relief to hard-pressed Pakistani families, such as a <a href="https://www.geo.tv/latest/410842-shahbaz-announces-in-camera-briefing-on-threat-letter-to-parliament-committee">raise in the minimum wage</a>.</p>
<h2>So what happens next?</h2>
<p>It looks likely that Pakistan will be heading to an election. But before dissolving Parliament – after which, constitutionally, an <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/3/pakistan-parliament-dismisses-no-confidence-motion-against-khan">election has to be held within 90 days</a> – Sharif will likely want to do a number of things including passing a budget and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistans-new-government-facing-severe-economic-challenges-aide-says-2022-04-12/">securing a loan from the International Monetary Fund</a> in a bid to stabilize Pakistan’s economy.</p>
<p>But stability might not be easy if there is further political unrest. And Khan has indicated that <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/defiant-pakistani-pm-calls-street-rallies-support-83966313">he wants to take this to the streets</a>.</p>
<p>So we might have months of political turmoil followed by a bitter election.</p>
<h2>That doesn’t sound good. What’s the worst that could happen?</h2>
<p>The danger is that Khan will not accept an election loss. The now-former prime minister is a superstar with a massive ego and a loyal base of support. You have to remember he was a superstar before he was prime minister, having been the captain of the country’s national cricket team and <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8532802/imran-khan-lothario-prime-minister-nuclear-button/">a global jet-setter</a>. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Imran Khan is a legend to many Pakistanis, and Khan will be trying to mobilize his supporters in street protests.</p>
<p>If he fails to recognize an election defeat and a political crisis becomes a law-and-order issue, the army – never far away from Pakistani politics, and <a href="https://time.com/6163168/imran-khan-army-crisis-pakistan/">seemingly out of patience with Khan</a> – might decide enough is enough and move in.</p>
<p>That said, there is <a href="http://gallup.com.pk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Democracy-in-Pakistan.pdf">little appetite among the population for a military dictatorship</a>.</p>
<h2>Where does the US come into this?</h2>
<p>Khan has fallen back on a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/on-pakistani-anti-americanism/">tried-and-tested tactic</a> in Pakistani politics: Blame the United States.</p>
<p>He claims to have been unseated by a <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/imran-khan-blames-foreign-conspiracy-oust-faces-toughest-political/">foreign conspiracy aimed at forcing him from power</a>. And it is America, Khan says, that was really behind the no-confidence motion filed by opposition lawmakers.</p>
<p>He accused U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu of being <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-claims-us-diplomat-involved-conspiracy-topple-govt-1933042-2022-04-03">involved in the plot to overthrow his government</a>, suggesting that Lu had warned Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington that there would be implications if Khan survived the no-confidence vote.</p>
<p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-01/u-s-denies-imran-khan-s-claim-it-wants-him-ousted-in-pakistan">has dismissed this claim</a>, and Khan has offered no evidence to support it. But he is tapping into a popular trope in Pakistan that the U.S. is up to something. <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/on-pakistani-anti-americanism/">Anti-Americanism flies</a> in Pakistan.</p>
<h2>How have relations between the US and Pakistan been of late?</h2>
<p>Khan believed that his <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/what-did-the-pakistani-prime-ministers-visit-with-trump-achieve/">relationship with former President Donald Trump</a> was rather good. But relations chilled under President Joe Biden. Khan was <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/12/pakistan-imran-khan-afghanistan-mess-taliban">critical of the Biden administration</a> over the pullout of U.S. troops from neighboring Afghanistan. The Pakistani prime minister has meanwhile found it convenient to frame himself as someone <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-19855642">long opposed to America’s drone program</a>, which targeted purported terrorist sites in the northeast of the country <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2012-07-02/pakistan-drone-statistics-visualised">but is responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths</a> in parts of Pakistan.</p>
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<p>That said, the Pakistani military is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2347797016689220">still overwhelmingly dependent on the U.S.</a>, and as such Pakistan’s generals will want to maintain some semblance of good relations with Washington.</p>
<p>But at the top level in politics it is fair to say relations with the U.S. have not been good – <a href="https://www.thestatesman.com/world/imran-khan-says-pak-endure-terrible-relationship-us-1503007994.html">“terrible” was the word Khan</a> used in a 2021 interview. It wasn’t helped by the perception held by Khan that <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/12/13/pakistan-skipped-the-us-summit-for-democracy-why/">his government has been snubbed and ignored</a> by Biden.</p>
<h2>So who is likely to win an election?</h2>
<p>Khan certainly has a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60966758">base of support that is very loyal</a>. But it isn’t clear whether it outweighs that of the other parties put together – and a coalition of opposition parties could gain enough seats to oust Khan in an election. Indeed, Khan never governed with a large mandate – his party <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/imran-khan-s-pti-short-of-majority-in-pakistan-elections-needs-allies-118072700282_1.html">did not win a majority of seats in Parliament and required the support of smaller parties</a>. And his own members have been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-18/pakistan-pm-khan-pressured-to-quit-as-party-members-desert-him">disavowing him in light of the recent events</a>. I also doubt many people in Pakistan are buying the conspiracy that it was the U.S. that toppled him.</p>
<p>He will also find it difficult to win Punjab given the mismanagement that he is blamed for there. And without Punjab, you can’t run Pakistan.</p>
<p><em>Editor’s note: Portions of this article <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-going-on-in-pakistan-and-why-has-the-us-been-dragged-into-it-180731">originally appeared in a previous article</a> published on April 6, 2022.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181212/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Jalal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The former prime minister was forced from office by a vote of no confidence. But that doesn’t mean the political drama is over, an expert on Pakistani politics explains.Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1807312022-04-06T18:44:53Z2022-04-06T18:44:53ZWhat is going on in Pakistan? And why has the US been dragged into it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/456417/original/file-20220405-27-3lc91y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3020%2C2015&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Still Pakistan's poster boy? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/activists-and-supporters-of-ruling-pakistan-tehreek-e-insaf-news-photo/1239543944?adppopup=true">Farooq Naeem/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Pakistan, a <a href="https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-o-s/pakistan.aspx">nuclear nation</a> that is home to <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=PK">some 220 million people</a>, is in a political mess.</em> </p>
<p><em>On April 3, 2022, Prime Minister – and former <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzA9TTH4on4">national sporting hero</a> – Imran Khan <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/world/imran-khan-pakistan.html">dissolved Parliament</a> to get ahead of a no-confidence vote. That vote would have seen parliamentarians decide whether or not to support Khan’s premiership and would have likely seen him ousted from power.</em></p>
<p><em>What happens next is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60978582">in the hands of the country’s Supreme Court</a> and, after that, the nation’s voters. The Conversation asked Pakistani American scholar <a href="https://fletcher.tufts.edu/people/ayesha-jalal">Ayesha Jalal, professor of history at Tufts University</a>, to help explain what is going on – and what could happen next.</em></p>
<h2>What just happened in Pakistan?</h2>
<p>A no-confidence vote, first submitted as a motion by Pakistan’s opposition parties on March 8, was supposed to take place. But it was <a href="https://www.firstpost.com/world/timeline-the-dramatic-events-that-lead-to-imran-khans-fall-from-grace-and-the-dissolution-of-the-pakistan-parliament-10516101.html">delayed repeatedly as Khan tried to cling to power</a>.</p>
<p>Finally on April 3, the National Assembly <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/03/pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-unlikely-to-survive-no-confidence-vote-minister-says.html">was supposed to vote</a>. Instead, Khan’s newly appointed law minister made a statement to Parliament alleging a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/03/pakistan-prime-minister-imran-khan-unlikely-to-survive-no-confidence-vote-minister-says.html">foreign conspiracy aimed at dislodging the government</a>, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/04/03/1090490181/pakistan-imran-khan-parliament-early-elections">accused the opposition of treason</a> and <a href="https://apnews.com/article/pakistan-religion-ad929acf523850fdb63a5b6dd960f1d2">filed a motion with the deputy speaker to abandon</a> the no-confidence vote. Khan then dissolved the National Assembly and called for early national elections.</p>
<p>There is no precedent for any of this in Pakistan, and it goes against the normal democratic process. Opposition lawmakers lodged a petition challenging Khan’s gambit, and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/04/04/world/imran-khan-pakistan-news">now it is up to the Supreme Court</a> to decide.</p>
<p>In short, Pakistan has been thrown into a serious constitutional crisis. </p>
<h2>What prompted the calls for a no-confidence vote?</h2>
<p>The basic charge against Imran Khan <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/25/why-is-pakistans-opposition-seeking-pm-imran-khans-removal">is mismanagement</a>, especially in Punjab – Pakistan’s second-largest province in terms of area and its most populous.</p>
<p>Khan <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/03/world/asia/who-is-imran-khan.html">came to power in 2018</a> promising a “new Pakistan” and an end to the corruption that has for decades been part of Pakistan’s politics. But he has failed to live up to that promise. Khan’s appointed chief minister in Punjab, Usman Buzdar, has been <a href="https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/712816-nab-opens-another-corruption-case-against-cm-usman-buzdar">accused of widespread corruption</a>, taking bribes and receiving money in return for making bureaucratic appointments. Even members of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have broken with the prime minister over his backing of the now outgoing Punjab chief minister.</p>
<p>On top of this, Khan has been criticized for his handling of everything <a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2021/mar/26/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-faces-flak-for-holding-in-person-meeting-despite-being-infected-with-covid-2281904.html">from the pandemic</a> to <a href="https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3163919/imran-khans-future-doubt-pakistanis-crumble-under-inflations">soaring inflation</a> in the country.</p>
<h2>Where does the US come into this?</h2>
<p>With his position as prime minister under threat, Khan has fallen back on a <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/on-pakistani-anti-americanism/">tried-and-tested tactic</a> in Pakistani politics: Blame the United States.</p>
<p>Khan’s new narrative is that there is a <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/climate-and-people/imran-khan-blames-foreign-conspiracy-oust-faces-toughest-political/">foreign conspiracy to oust him from power</a>. And it is America, Khan says, that is really behind the no-confidence motion filed by opposition lawmakers.</p>
<p>He has accused U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu of being <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/pakistan-pm-imran-khan-claims-us-diplomat-involved-conspiracy-topple-govt-1933042-2022-04-03">involved in the plot to overthrow his government</a>, suggesting that Lu had warned Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington that there would be implications if Khan survived the no-confidence vote.</p>
<p>The U.S. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-04-01/u-s-denies-imran-khan-s-claim-it-wants-him-ousted-in-pakistan">has dismissed this claim</a>, and Khan has offered no evidence to support it. But he is tapping into a popular trope in Pakistan that the U.S. is up to something. <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/on-pakistani-anti-americanism/">Anti-Americanism flies</a> in Pakistan. So Khan is playing to a well-embedded narrative in pointing a finger at Washington.</p>
<h2>How have relations between the US and Pakistan been of late?</h2>
<p>Khan believed that his <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/podcast-episode/what-did-the-pakistani-prime-ministers-visit-with-trump-achieve/">relationship with former President Donald Trump</a> was rather good. But relations have certainly chilled under President Joe Biden. Khan was <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/8/12/pakistan-imran-khan-afghanistan-mess-taliban">critical of the Biden administration</a> over the pullout of U.S. troops from neighboring Afghanistan. The Pakistani prime minister has meanwhile found it convenient to frame himself as someone <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-asia-19855642">long opposed to America’s drone program</a>, which targeted purported terrorist sites in the northeast of the country <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2012-07-02/pakistan-drone-statistics-visualised">but is responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths</a> in parts of Pakistan.</p>
<p>That said, the Pakistani military is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2347797016689220">still overwhelmingly dependent on the U.S.</a>, and as such Pakistan’s generals will want to maintain some semblance of good relations with Washington.</p>
<p>But at the top level in politics it is fair to say relations with the U.S. are not good – “<a href="https://www.thestatesman.com/world/imran-khan-says-pak-endure-terrible-relationship-us-1503007994.html">terrible” was the word Khan</a> used in a 2021 interview. It hasn’t been helped by the perception held by Khan that <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/12/13/pakistan-skipped-the-us-summit-for-democracy-why/">his government has been snubbed and ignored</a> by Biden.</p>
<h2>Sounds like Khan has a bruised ego?</h2>
<p>Khan is a superstar with a massive ego. You have to remember he was a superstar before he was prime minister, having been the captain of the country’s national cricket team and <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/8532802/imran-khan-lothario-prime-minister-nuclear-button/">a global jet-setter</a>. It’s not over the top to say that Imran Khan is a legend to many Pakistanis.</p>
<p>He will be hoping that this star power might serve him well in any upcoming election.</p>
<h2>Will it?</h2>
<p>He certainly has a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-60966758">support base that is very loyal</a>. But it isn’t clear whether it outweighs that of the other parties put together – and a coalition of opposition parties could gain enough seats to oust Khan in an election. Indeed, Khan has only ever governed with a very small mandate – his party <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/imran-khan-s-pti-short-of-majority-in-pakistan-elections-needs-allies-118072700282_1.html">did not win a majority of seats in parliament and required the support of smaller parties</a>. And his own members have been <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-18/pakistan-pm-khan-pressured-to-quit-as-party-members-desert-him">disavowing him in light of the recent events</a>. I also doubt many people in Pakistan are buying the conspiracy about the U.S. trying to topple him.</p>
<p>He will also find it difficult to win Punjab given the mismanagement that he is blamed for there. And without Punjab, you can’t run Pakistan.</p>
<h2>So what happens next?</h2>
<p>You never know with Pakistan’s politics – anything is possible. After all, <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/explainer/report-dna-explainer-no-pakistan-pm-has-completed-5-year-term-in-75-years-here-s-why-2943893">it is very rare for governments in Pakistan to complete a full term</a>. But no matter what the Supreme Court decides about the no-confidence vote, it does look set that Pakistan will be heading to an election in the next 90 days.</p>
<p>It will be a bitter, bitter election – and held in the middle of Pakistan’s hot summer. Uncertainty, politicking and potential unrest could dominate the next few months.</p>
<h2>That doesn’t sound good. What’s the worst that could happen?</h2>
<p>The danger is that Khan will not accept an election loss and take his fight to supporters in the streets. If a political crisis becomes a law-and-order issue, the army – never far away from Pakistani politics, and <a href="https://time.com/6163168/imran-khan-army-crisis-pakistan/">seemingly losing patience with Khan</a> – might decide enough is enough and move in.</p>
<p>That said, there is <a href="http://gallup.com.pk/wp/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Democracy-in-Pakistan.pdf">little appetite among the population for a military dictatorship</a>.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Jalal does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolved Parliament rather than face a no-confidence vote. The Conversation asked an expert: What happens next?Ayesha Jalal, Professor of History, Tufts UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.