tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/indians-57924/articlesIndians – The Conversation2022-10-20T13:13:32Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1921582022-10-20T13:13:32Z2022-10-20T13:13:32ZNot all Asian Americans vote Democratic – and the political leanings of different Asian ethnic groups vary<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/490189/original/file-20221017-17-tn4i1e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C84%2C5615%2C3648&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Asian American voter turnout increases when an Asian American is on the ballot. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/voters-registering-voting-in-the-november-united-royalty-free-image/589584900?phrase=asian%20american%20voters&adppopup=true">fstop123/Collection E+ via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Asian Americans voted in <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">record numbers</a> in the presidential elections of 2016 and 2020, as well as in the 2018 midterm elections. </p>
<p>They are also the <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/09/asian-americans-are-the-fastest-growing-racial-or-ethnic-group-in-the-u-s/">fastest-growing racial group</a> in the country, with the population increasing by 81% between 2000 and 2019.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://polisci.indiana.edu/about/faculty/ganguly-sumit.html">political scientists</a> <a href="http://www.stevenwwebster.com/">who have written about electoral politics</a> in America and abroad, we argue that the Asian American vote could have important ramifications for the 2022 midterms. That said, this group has historically not voted in lockstep but has shown a diversity of political preferences. </p>
<h2>Asian Americans and the Democratic Party</h2>
<p>Recent years have seen Asian Americans emerge as a Democratic <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/13/us/politics/democrats-asian-american-voters.html">voting bloc</a>. This affinity for the Democratic Party manifests in public opinion polls, as well. In fact, the recent <a href="https://apiavote.org/wp-content/uploads/2022-Asian-American-Voter-Survey-Report.pdf">Asian American Voter Survey</a> found that 56% of Asian Americans have either a “very favorable” or “somewhat favorable” view of President Joe Biden. By contrast, only 29% of Asian Americans had similar views of former President Donald Trump.</p>
<p>One potential reason for Asian Americans’ preference for the Democratic Party has to do with the demographics of Democratic candidates. Of the 20 Asian Americans <a href="https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/APA/Historical-Data/By-Congress/">currently</a> serving in Congress, all but three are Democrats. </p>
<p>Political scientists have found evidence of Asian Americans’ desire for descriptive representation – a desire to see one’s race, ethnicity, gender or some other identity reflected in their member of Congress. In her <a href="https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/KDGUS6">recent analysis</a> of state legislative elections, scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=x15EqWQAAAAJ&hl=en">Sara Sadhwani</a> found that Asian American voter turnout increases when an Asian American is on the ballot, and Asian Americans make up a large proportion of the electorate. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Asian Americans may also be largely Democratic because of their policy preferences. A <a href="https://www.politico.com/f/?id=0000017c-27d8-dddc-a77e-27db16040000">recent poll</a> from Morning Consult, a public opinion outlet, found that only 23% of Asian Americans identified as ideologically conservative.</p>
<h2>Not a monolith</h2>
<p>Though Asian Americans are characterized by a general lean toward the Democratic Party, it would be misleading to refer to them as if they were a monolithic group. Indeed, despite a shared set of political views among these voters, there are also notable – and important – differences based upon Asian Americans’ particular ethnic identities.</p>
<p>This claim has a long history in political science scholarship. As scholar <a href="https://pol.illinois.edu/directory/profile/wendycho">Wendy Cho</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01498815">argued</a> nearly three decades ago, “the monolithic Asian group is heterogeneous in several respects” when it comes to voting patterns. Accordingly, her work emphasizes that a failure to examine the unique groups that compose the Asian American community can lead to misleading conclusions.</p>
<p>Consequently, breaking up these groups on the basis of ethnicity provides an extremely complex account of the likely voting preferences of Asian Americans. </p>
<p>For example, a recent comprehensive <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">national survey</a> revealed that only 25% of all Asian Americans intend to vote for a Republican as opposed to 54% for a Democrat. </p>
<p>However, broken down along ethnic lines, a more complex set of preferences emerges. As many as 37% of Vietnamese Americans are inclined to vote Republican while only 16% of Indian Americans have similar leanings. These statistics, it can be surmised, would provide a portrait of even greater complexity if they were broken down along <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2378023121996852">sociodemographic lines</a> such as gender and educational attainment. </p>
<p>Though a plurality of Asian Americans identifies with the Democratic Party, there is substantial variation along ethnic lines. When <a href="https://apiavote.org/policy-and-research/asian-american-voter-survey/">broken down</a> in terms of ethnicity, the highest levels of support for the Democratic Party come from Indians (56%) and Japanese (57%); Vietnamese (23%) and Chinese (42%) Americans register the lowest levels of support for the Democratic Party. </p>
<p>With elections being decided by small swings from one party to the other, Asian American voters could play a key role in determining who obtains political power. The heterogeneous preferences of this group, often falling along ethnic lines, provide ample opportunities for both political parties.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192158/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sumit Ganguly receives funding from the US Department of Defense.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steven Webster 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>As the fastest-growing racial group in the US, Asian Americans form an important voting bloc and could play a key role in swing states, write two political scientists.Sumit Ganguly, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and the Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations, Indiana UniversitySteven Webster, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1510962020-12-03T04:33:17Z2020-12-03T04:33:17Z6 unis had Hindi programs. Soon there could be only 1, and that’s not in Australia’s best interests<p>La Trobe University is in talks to <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/audio/la-trobe-university-s-hindi-program-at-risk-of-being-axed">discontinue its Hindi program</a>, along with Greek and Indonesian. In the mid-1990s, <a href="https://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/publications/very-short-policy-brief/strategies-to-expand-hindi-education-in-australia/">six Australian universities taught Hindi</a>. If La Trobe ends its program, Australia will be left with just one university (ANU in Canberra) that teaches Hindi. </p>
<p>This would be a significant setback for Hindi in Australia. The decision reflects a COVID-induced <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/hundreds-more-university-jobs-to-go-as-la-trobe-vic-uni-announce-cuts-20200813-p55lbo.html">budget crunch at La Trobe</a>, but also a long-term <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-hawke-to-turnbull-asian-language-learning-in-decline-47163">decline in the study of Asian languages</a> in Australia.</p>
<h2>Good relations with India are vital</h2>
<p>Hindi’s decline may seem strange, since it’s the <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2014/opinion/is-hindi-indias-new-english">official language of India</a>, with <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/other/hindi/guide/facts.shtml">more than half-a-billion speakers</a>. Australians have a growing interest in India and <a href="https://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Report-Australian-Engagement-Indias-Higher-Education-System-Freeman.pdf">connections between Australian and Indian universities are increasing</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hindi-indias-new-english-28259">Hindi: India's new English</a>
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<p>Given the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-australia-china-relationship-is-unravelling-faster-than-we-could-have-imagined-145836">current tensions with China</a>, Australia’s relationship with India – and other large Asian nations – has never been more important.</p>
<p>Even before the feud with China, the benefits of improving the Australia-India relationship were <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/%7E/media/wopapub/house/committee/jfadt/India/indiach2_pdf.ashx">widely acknowledged</a>. Australia and India have <a href="https://india.embassy.gov.au/ndli/pa5009jsa.html">converging geostrategic interests</a>. There is tremendous potential for mutual benefit by enhancing economic, social and cultural ties.</p>
<p>Here in Australia, the Indian diaspora is large, <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/indian-population-in-australia-increases-30-per-cent-in-less-than-two-years-now-the-third-largest-migrant-group-in-australia">numbering around 660,000</a>, and <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/indian-population-in-australia-increases-30-per-cent-in-less-than-two-years-now-the-third-largest-migrant-group-in-australia">growing fast</a>. </p>
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<p>In the 2016 census, Hindi was <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/language/english/hindi-is-the-top-indian-language-spoken-in-australia">among the fastest-growing languages</a> in Australia. A closely related language, Punjabi, was the fastest-growing.</p>
<p>Community enthusiasm for Hindi is reflected in more than 2,400 community members signing <a href="http://chng.it/SX2NTCjzKF">a petition</a> to save the La Trobe program.</p>
<h2>Language helps bridge diplomatic gaps</h2>
<p>In 2018, University of Queensland chancellor <a href="https://about.uq.edu.au/chancellor">Peter Varghese</a>, a former senior diplomat and public servant, released his government-commissioned <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/india/ies/pdf/dfat-an-india-economic-strategy-to-2035.pdf">India Economic Strategy to 2035</a>. This report sought to guide Australia’s engagement with India for years to come. </p>
<p>Varghese noted Australia has struggled to match its enthusiasm for India with substantive engagement. Efforts to establish connections often fall short due to failures of mutual understanding.</p>
<p>The report argues “people-to-people” links between Australia and India will be as important as political linkages. They will help shape perceptions and foster mutual understanding in ways political delegations could never do.</p>
<p>Varghese was not alone. The Victoria government’s 2019 <a href="https://www.vic.gov.au/victorias-india-strategy">India Strategy</a> made its first priority to “celebrate and strengthen our personal connections”.</p>
<p>Most recently, the 2020 <a href="https://www.dfat.gov.au/geo/india/Pages/joint-statement-comprehensive-strategic-partnership-between-republic-india-and-australia">joint statement</a> on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Australia and India, signed by their prime ministers, Scott Morrison and Narendra Modi, gives people-to-people connections a prominent place in “enriching all aspects of bilateral ties”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-and-india-some-way-to-go-yet-76085">Australia and India: some way to go yet</a>
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<p>Government talk of “people-to-people connection” has not been followed up with support for this goal. In particular, support for language programs has languished.</p>
<h2>Classes foster people-to-people connections</h2>
<p>Language education cultivates people-to-people connections. These personal connections start from the very first day of a language class.</p>
<p>Hindi classrooms in Australia have immediate positive effects for Australian students and society. Students are immersed in a complex of perspectives that reflect life in all parts of South Asia and in global diaspora communities.</p>
<p>Hindi language teachers capitalise on the bicultural experiences of students with South Asian heritage. These students are already experts in negotiating a relationship between Indian and Australian cultures. These skills make our students the best ambassadors for Australia in the “nooks” of Indian life that evade official state actors.</p>
<p>Equal contributors to our classrooms are non-heritage students who enrol in tertiary-level Hindi courses because of their personal interest in South Asia. Together, heritage and non-heritage students negotiate learning Hindi and understanding Indian culture. They form lasting friendships that deepen the ways in which Australians of many different backgrounds understand each other.</p>
<p>Cultivating culturally literate Indian-Australian and non-Indian-Australian speakers of Hindi depends on providing a learning environment that is found only in university classrooms.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/get-ready-to-learn-hindi-education-in-the-asian-century-10394">Get ready to learn Hindi: education in the Asian century</a>
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<p>La Trobe’s proposal, by halving the national university-level Hindi teaching capacity, would also undermine our capacity for building human connections between India and Australia.</p>
<h2>A blow to the local Hindi ecosystem</h2>
<p>University-level Hindi programs <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=m9QRBwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=van+lier+ecology&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=van%20lier%20ecology&f=false">form part of larger language ecosystems</a>. They depend on thriving primary and high school programs. This ensures a supply of Hindi students and educators at all levels. </p>
<p>In Melbourne, <a href="https://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/publications/very-short-policy-brief/strategies-to-expand-hindi-education-in-australia/">a Hindi language ecosystem was just starting to take root</a>. Two schools, Rangebrook Primary and The Grange College, now offer Hindi as their main language other than English. A number of energetic informal networks and societies focus on Hindi language and literature. </p>
<p>La Trobe’s Hindi conferences and events have been an important focal point for these groups over a number of years.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-languages-should-children-be-learning-to-get-ahead-74305">What languages should children be learning to get ahead?</a>
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<p>The loss of the La Trobe program is thus not only a blow to students wishing to study Hindi at a university level, but also to this entire emerging Hindi language ecosystem.</p>
<p>While dynamic and engaging curriculums are needed to ensure sustainable Hindi programs at Australian universities, they are not enough on their own. There must also be sustained government support for establishing Hindi ecosystems in clusters around these universities.</p>
<p>One of us made this point in a co-authored <a href="https://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/publications/very-short-policy-brief/strategies-to-expand-hindi-education-in-australia/">policy brief</a> published in 2018. It echoes <a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Unlocking-Australias-Language-Potential-Hindi-Urdu-Marika-Vicziany/9781875578474">commentary</a> by others on the decline of Hindi education in Australia since the mid-1990s. Current events in Australia and in the Indo-Pacific should make it clear why we need to reverse this trend.</p>
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<p><em>Update: In the months after publication of this article, La Trobe University announced its <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/la-trobe-s-greek-language-program-saved-by-community-cash-injection-20201217-p56ofa.html">Greek</a>, <a href="http://www.southasiatimes.com.au/news/?p=12112">Hindi</a> and Indonesian programs would be retained for the time being.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151096/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher L. Diamond is affiliated with the School of Culture, History, and Language in the College of Asia & the Pacific at the Australian National University. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Trent Brown is affiliated with the School of Geography at the University of Melbourne and the Australia India Institute. </span></em></p>Hindi is the most widely spoken language of India and of the many people of Indian origin in Australia. The teaching of Hindi has been in decline at a time when the need for it has never been greater.Christopher L. Diamond, Lecturer in Hindi, Australian National UniversityTrent Brown, DECRA Research Fellow, School of Geography, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1438932020-08-05T02:35:21Z2020-08-05T02:35:21ZIndia’s impressive new education policy could create opportunities for Australian universities and young people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/350986/original/file-20200804-18-18615ey.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/three-portrait-girls-smiling-school-1st-1244852419">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In recent days, the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/national-education-policy-2020-all-you-need-to-know/articleshow/77239854.cms">Indian government approved</a> a new education policy — the first for 34 years. The policy comes after an expert group produced a <a href="https://theconversation.com/india-is-reforming-education-for-the-first-time-since-1986-heres-why-australia-should-care-121812">draft report</a> last year. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/india-is-reforming-education-for-the-first-time-since-1986-heres-why-australia-should-care-121812">India is reforming education for the first time since 1986 – here's why Australia should care</a>
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<h2>What’s in the policy?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf">National Education Policy</a> (NEP) is an impressive document. It would help deliver a school curricula that’s more flexible and multidisciplinary, and less exam-focused.</p>
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<p>It is also ambitious: the Indian government plans to have 50% of 18-21 year olds enrolled in university by 2030, an almost doubling of enrolment in ten years. </p>
<p>Among many notable features, the report focuses on universities as sites for holistic student development; calls for multidisciplinary approaches that combine physical, emotional, moral, social, intellectual and aesthetic learning; and seeks to break down the distinction between “curricular” and “extra-curricular” activities, for example via internships and community-related work. </p>
<p>“Service” is a key theme running through the document. Drawing on historical examples of India’s contributions to university development, the report calls for a new focus on universities as sites in which faculty and students serve their local and regional communities to help fulfil the public mission of universities. As the National Education Policy notes on page 33:</p>
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<p>The purpose of quality higher education is, therefore, more than the creation of greater opportunities for individual employment. It represents the key to more vibrant, socially engaged, cooperative communities and a happier, cohesive, cultured, productive, innovative, progressive, and prosperous nation.</p>
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<p>Building on this vision, the National Education Policy sets out a series of sweeping changes to university education in the country. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>establishing a single national regulatory body to oversee all aspects of university functioning</p></li>
<li><p>setting up a National Research Foundation </p></li>
<li><p>introducing four-year multidisciplinary degrees with multiple exit options (after one, two, three or four years)</p></li>
<li><p>encouraging internationalisation, for example through allowing foreign universities to operate in India</p></li>
<li><p>developing a set of elite multidisciplinary universities geared towards achieving the standing of Ivy League institutions in the US. The National Education Policy sees India as becoming a “world teacher” (<em>vishwa guru</em>).</p></li>
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<h2>Will it work?</h2>
<p>There are many issues to think through in relation to implementation. For example, it is not wholly clear how the National Education Policy’s move to introduce a new national test for university sits alongside the emphasis on moving away from exams. Moreover, the process through which universities that currently work in specialist areas transition to become fully multidisciplinary institutions may be difficult.</p>
<p>The National Education Policy will require careful negotiation with state governments, who share responsibility for education, as well as consideration of how to ensure the benefits of educational change occur in all regions of India and benefit communities underrepresented in higher education.</p>
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<p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/india-tomorrow-part-6-what-young-indians-want-117024">India Tomorrow part 6: what young Indians want</a>
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<p>But these comments must be read in context: the National Education Policy navigates numerous complexities quite effectively and contains a wealth of important ideas.</p>
<h2>What does it mean for Australia?</h2>
<p>The policy allows for universities in the top 100 in the world to set up in India. Ultimately, this might encourage some Australian universities to start facilities in India. But this change will require the passing of a new law, and foreign universities are unlikely to build new facilities in India in the short term. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students gather at a university in India." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=393&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/351025/original/file-20200804-20-nbe19w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=494&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">The new policy could also help both countries reflect on the role of universities in the 2020s and beyond.</span>
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<p>What is more likely in the short and medium term is that Australian universities will use the National Education Policy and its emphasis on internationalisation and flexibility as an opportunity to enhance collaboration in specific areas such as:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>the co-development of new subjects and programs</p></li>
<li><p>the collaborative design of open and distance learning products and facilities, such as virtual classrooms</p></li>
<li><p>greater joint PhD supervision between Indian and Australian researchers</p></li>
<li><p>the development of post-doctoral research opportunities that bridge both countries building on the example of the New Generation Network developed by the <a href="https://www.aii.unimelb.edu.au/programs/new-generation-network/">Australia India Institute</a> </p></li>
<li><p>greater research collaboration on areas of mutual interest, for example in relation to water, health, education, energy, information technology, and the successful implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals</p></li>
<li><p>greater reflection between Australian and Indian higher educational institutions on how universities engage with industry, government and the community</p></li>
<li><p>building on the principle of India as a “<em>vishwa guru</em>”, efforts by Australian educator and administrators to examine what can be learnt from India’s history of education.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Such collaboration could improve the quality, diversity and relevance of university education and research in India and Australia. It could widen understanding within both countries of the contributions of the other globally. </p>
<p>It could also help both countries reflect on the role of universities in the 2020s and beyond, a theme woven through the National Education Policy and now deserves much greater global discussion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143893/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Craig Jeffrey receives funding from the Australian Research Council (DP170104376, DP200102424). He is the Director of the Australia India Institute, which receives grants from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment as well as the Victorian Government. The views expressed in the article are the author's own.</span></em></p>India’s new National Education Policy is impressive, and could create opportunities for Australian universities. The key issues, however, relate to implementation.Craig Jeffrey, Director and CEO of the Australia India Institute; Professor of Development Geography, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1032792019-01-13T14:13:49Z2019-01-13T14:13:49ZHidden from history: Indigenous women’s activism in Saskatchewan<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253283/original/file-20190110-43544-1bqwsa0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Indigenous women's activism in Canada has a long history. The organizing work of Isabelle McNab, first president of the Saskatchewan Women's Indian Association, can be seen as the precursor to later activism like this First Nations Idle No More protest for better treatment of Indigenous peoples at the Douglas-Peace Arch near Surrey, B.C., on Jan. 5, 2013.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Although Indigenous activism in Canada has a long history, the origin stories of official and formalized organizations are hidden from common view because of gaps in history books and media accounts. The early formations of Indigenous women’s organizing in Saskatchewan is an example of these resilient stories hidden from history.</p>
<p>Indigenous women who remained on reserves in Saskatchewan throughout the 20th century, when government-designed third world conditions made survival precarious, organized to challenge those conditions. </p>
<p>Isabelle McNab, president of the <a href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a72feb11.htm">Saskatchewan Indian Women’s Association (SIWA)</a> in the 1970s and Sadie Cote, president of SIWA from 1979, are two such women (<a href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a72seps9.htm">Irene Tootoosis of Cutknife was the first president in 1971</a>). McNab was instrumental in the formation and expansion of SIWA, an organization of treaty Indian women who lived on reserves in Saskatchewan. </p>
<p>The sexist Indian Act had prevented women from either voting in band elections or holding office from 1876 until 1951. A revised Act enabled Indigenous women to participate politically, and take their rightful roles to ensure the health and well-being of their communities, especially the elders and children. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/245567/original/file-20181114-194516-1cajzlk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Leaders of the Saskatchewan Women’s Association circa 1971/72.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a72seps9.htm">Saskatchewan News</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>McNab’s journey from the personal to the political in the 1960s was one many women embarked upon during <a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/womens-movements-in-canada-196085">the second wave of feminism</a>. In 1974, McNab <a href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a74mar23.htm">reflected on her entrance into Indian women’s politics</a>, and her role in its expansion, to a reporter from the <em>Saskatchewan Indian</em>, a local newspaper. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“One day I was walking to town to get groceries — we didn’t have a vehicle and I thought to myself, dammit, I don’t have to be this poor. There has to be a way out for me.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253265/original/file-20190110-43541-h5thky.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=628&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Isabelle McNab, circa 1971.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a80feb02.htm">'Saskatchewan Indian'</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Daughter of <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/4138938?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents">Chief John Gambler, a staunch advocate for treaty rights in Saskatchewan and the leader of the Protective Association for Indians and their Treaties (PAIT) in the 1940’s</a> and <a href="http://www.ubcpress.ca/urban-indian-reserves">the granddaughter of “The Gambler,” a critically important leader at Treaty 4 negotiations in 1874</a>, McNab came from a long line of Indian leadership in the <a href="http://www.trcm.ca/treaties/treaties-in-manitoba/treaty-no-4/">Treaty 4</a> area. Originally from Muskowpetung First Nation, McNab married into neighbouring George Gordon First Nation in the Touchwood Hills area of Saskatchewan. </p>
<p>Despite being discouraged by Indian Affairs, her chief, Hilliard McNab suggested McNab attend university in Saskatoon and take a teacher’s aide course. Once she got to school, McNab’s passion for education caught the attention of fellow students and professors. </p>
<p>“I was always being asked to go and speak at different places …,” said McNab. “There was never an idle moment after that.” </p>
<h2>Third-world conditions</h2>
<p>Indigenous women’s political activism in Saskatchewan was shaped by the cultural and historic experiences of colonization, broken treaty promises and loss of land; racial discrimination and sexualized violence; and, unfortunately, the prevalence of sexism within their own Indigenous communities.</p>
<p>During the late 1960s, with Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s release of the 1969 White Paper, “<a href="https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-white-paper-1969">a Canadian government policy paper that attempted to abolish the Indian Act and all treaties, and assimilate all Indian peoples under the Canadian state</a>,” Indigenous political activism took on an intensified vigour. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=378&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253276/original/file-20190110-43517-wmxr4r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=475&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Isabelle McNab.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Saskatchewan Indian</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s on reserves in Saskatchewan, <a href="http://activehistory.ca/2017/10/selling-the-sixties-scoop-saskatchewans-adopt-indian-and-metis-project/">the infant mortality rate for Indian and Métis people was more than double that of non-Native Canadians</a>. One in five deaths was a result of violence, compared to one in twenty in non-Native society. </p>
<p>In 1973, fewer than four per cent of reserves had running water, and two per cent had indoor toilets. </p>
<p>Only half a per cent of the First Nations and Métis student population was in Grade 12, and approximately 60 per cent of Indigenous students were behind in their grade; 60 per cent of Indigenous people were unemployed. </p>
<p>Indigenous women who laboured on reserves <a href="https://harvest.usask.ca/handle/10388/ETD-2015-04-2021">under these third world conditions</a> saw gender balance in Indigenous leadership as crucial to the solutions and they brought an Indigenous feminist perspective of treaty rights.</p>
<p>On Sept. 1, 1971, the newly formed Saskatchewan Indian Women’s Association met in Prince Albert. SIWA identified four focus areas: to help women organize; to prevent young people from drug and alcohol misue; to stop juvenile delinquency on reserves; and to promote the importance of education to on-reserve families. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253280/original/file-20190110-43517-vdgyjd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The 1976 SIWA executive: L-R: Angeline Roberts, Isabel McNab. Standing, L-R: Gladys Ironchild, Mrytle Goodvoice.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a76dec35.htm">Saskatchewan Indian</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite these conditions and the lack of formal political support, Indigenous women continued to press forward positively. On the reserves, SIWA women’s clubs played an education role, distributing information on nutrition, birth control and environmental health and as well as counselling. SIWA also sought to assist women leaving violence and end alcohol misuse. </p>
<h2>Racial and gender stereotypes</h2>
<p>Attempting to work within the colonial Indian Act regime hampered Indigenous self-determination, but the First Nations women of SIWA also faced resistance from some First Nations men in power. In adopting Eurocentric notions of male dominance taught in residential schools, the male leadership was initially dismissive of SIWA. </p>
<p>As well, negative racial stereotypes of Indigenous women pervaded Prairie society. The women of SIWA sought to present new images of First Nations women derived from a positive depiction of strong Indigenous mothers and women. </p>
<p>Although many Indigenous women’s groups occasionally worked alongside and within larger Indigenous political organizations, neither mainstream feminist nor Indigenous organizations met the specific needs of Indigenous women. </p>
<p>After much discussion, on-reserve Indian women decided their best way forward was to affiliate with the provincial Indian organization, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians (FSI). However, SIWA’s relationship to the FSI was tenuous and remained that way throughout this period. </p>
<p>As President of SIWA, McNab initially took a conciliatory approach when making a case for gender-balanced leadership in the FSI. She described their political activities as non-threatening: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“ …these ladies have a lot they can offer to support their men in, doing what has to be done for Indian people… As Indian women we respect our men very much … [Women] have proven themselves as assets and as leaders, they’ve proven themselves in their training, and they’ve proven themselves in the self-respect they have.” </p>
</blockquote>
<h2>‘We are the mothers:’ Sadie Cote</h2>
<p>After a two year lapse, First Nations women revived SIWA in 1979, led by Sadie Cote from the Yorkton District. The revitalized association continued to press for a formal role in the FSI.</p>
<p>By 1980, Indian women in Saskatchewan had amplified their demands for change. In the article “<a href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a80feb02.htm">Women Wage War</a>,” President Sadie Cote’s tone changed significantly from earlier meetings. </p>
<p>Cote demanded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Where are the so-called heads of the households? The so-called elected leaders of the bands? … we as mothers are trying to keep our homes and raise our children properly. No wonder we have so many juvenile delinquents; very young people turning to drugs and alcohol. There is absolutely no future for the young people to look forward to.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/253268/original/file-20190110-43514-7hh9gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sadie Cote.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.sicc.sk.ca/archive/saskindian/a80feb02.htm">Saskatchewan News</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The women waged a war on both alcohol and political apathy, calling on male First Nations leaders to step up and join them in the raising of the next generations. As a mother, Cote drew attention to the experiences of families on reserves living under the federal Indian Act regime:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“We are the mothers who have to accept and not complain about the pathetic substandard housing units, poor heating systems, and no indoor plumbing or running water. We are the mothers who have to contend with the poor health services provided to Indians at the reserve level. We are the mothers that have to walk with a sick child a number of miles in order to see a doctor.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cote drew attention to the colonial conditions imposed by the Canadian state as little better than the genocidal Nazi “final solution:” </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It was not our fault that we were herded onto small parcels of lands, known today as Indian reserves. These small reserves are little better than the concentration camps we read about from the Second World War.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>First Nations women in Saskatchewan struggled mightily to gain a voice in Indigenous politics in Saskatchewan through decolonizing gender relations to create communities that were safe, nurturing and above all, conducive to reproducing Indigenous nations into the future. </p>
<p>These women represented both an innovation in First Nations politics but also drew inspiration from the past. As they sought to decolonize Indian politics and fight for treaty rights, SIWA demanded their return to their rightful place in Indigenous leadership.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Allyson Stevenson received funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) for this research and a Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship from the University of Guelph. The title of the project is: “Born out of struggle, determination and hard work:” First Nation and Métis women’s Organizing for Indigenous Reproductive Justice in Twentieth-Century Saskatchewan.” Parts of the research will be published with Cheryl Troupe, "From Kitchen Tables to Formal Organization: Indigenous Women's Social and Political Activism in Saskatchewan to 1980” in eds, Sarah Carter and Nanci Langford, The History of Women’s Political and Social Activism in the Canadian West, University of Manitoba Press. </span></em></p>Built on historical research, this article tells the resilient, fascinating and rarely told history of Indigenous women’s organizing and resistance in Saskatchewan.Allyson Stevenson, Tier II Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Peoples and Global Social Justice, University of ReginaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1007972018-08-08T10:36:22Z2018-08-08T10:36:22ZWho are Pakistan’s Ahmadis and why haven’t they voted in 30 years<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230931/original/file-20180807-191013-j19bb0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A portrait of Imran Khan, whose party won the recent elections, in Islamabad, Pakistan.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Anjum Naveed</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Pakistani cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan, <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/2018/aug/04/imran-khan-may-take-oath-as-prime-minister-of-pakistan-on-august-14-1853248.html">is all set to be the country’s new prime minister</a>. His party emerged the single largest in recent elections.</p>
<p>It is only for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jul/26/imran-khan-claims-victory-in-pakistan-elections">the second time</a> in the 71-year history of this second largest Muslim majority country that a democratically elected government, will transfer power to another after completing its full term. The nation’s <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310667/pakistan-on-the-brink-by-ahmed-rashid/9780143122838/">military has intervened</a> repeatedly to remove leaders and has directly controlled the country for about half of its history.</p>
<p>And so this recent milestone in Pakistan’s democracy has <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1417636">elated many citizens</a>. However, one community boycotted the recent elections, as they have for over three decades: the Ahmadi, a religious minority. </p>
<p>Who are the Ahmadis and what does their boycott tell about the role religion has played in Pakistan’s nationalist politics? </p>
<h2>The Ahmadi of Pakistan</h2>
<p>The origin of the Ahmadi community goes back to the British-ruled India of 1889. At the time, in the province of Punjab (a region that would later be split between an independent India and Pakistan), a Muslim religious leader, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, became disenchanted with what <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=807412">he viewed as Muslim decadence</a> that allowed for the humiliating experience of foreign rule.</p>
<p>Like <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/religion-science-and-empire-9780195393019?cc=us&lang=en&">many Indians</a>, he wondered what needed to change in order to overcome the invaders.</p>
<p>Many European missionaries wanted to “free” Indians – both Muslims and Hindus – of what they <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=3193">characterized as their religious ignorance</a> by bringing them to the “truth” of Christian traditions.</p>
<p>With the British government’s consent, some traveled through cities and rural areas <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/religion-science-and-empire-9780195393019?cc=us&lang=en&_">to publicly denounce</a> Islamic and Hindu traditions, while others published pamphlets doing so.</p>
<p>To restore the wholesomeness of Islamic traditions that had once influenced much of South Asia, Ghulam Ahmad reinterpreted branches of Islamic thought. He broadcast the message of reform through his prolific writing. Most prominently, he claimed to be both <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Prophecy_Continuous.html?id=rv8EAAAACAAJ">the Messiah and a prophet</a>.</p>
<p>Most Muslims believe that Isa, or Jesus – whom they recognize as a prophet akin to Muhammad – will return as a Messiah, a figure expected to prepare the world for <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Prophecy_Continuous.html?id=rv8EAAAACAAJ">Judgment Day</a>. In contrast, Ghulam Ahmad claimed to displace Isa in this role and announced that the end times were near.</p>
<p>What was more problematic, particularly to Islamic scholars, was his claim as a prophet. Most Muslims understand Muhammad as the “seal of the prophets,” the last sent by God. The Quran represents the final revelation offered to humanity by God. Ghulam Ahmad addressed these concerns by <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=807412">claiming to be a lesser type of prophet</a>. </p>
<p>His message attracted growing numbers of followers among Muslims struggling to deal with the realities of British rule. Many were drawn partly to his <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=807412">strident criticism</a> of Christian missionaries and Hindu activists who denigrated them. In 1889 he inaugurated a small group called the Jamaat-i Ahmadiyya (the Organization of Ahmad), that <a href="http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/product_info.php?products_id=807412">helped spread</a> his message. </p>
<p>Although some Ahmadis later turned away from their leader’s most disputed assertions, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Islam_and_the_Ahmadiyya_Jama%CA%BBat.html?id=yDIqAQAAMAAJ">the Jamaat-i Ahmadiyya held steadfast</a> to his claim to prophethood. This group viewed him as nothing less than the Messiah who had returned to help humanity as it faced its end. </p>
<p>They made Rabwah, a town in Pakistan’s province of Punjab, their headquarters. </p>
<p>During Ghulam Ahmad’s life, Islamic scholars expressed disapproval with other scholars or individual Ahmadis. However, in 1947, after Pakistan was established as a separate Muslim homeland, some Islamic scholars publicly attacked the theology of the Ahmadis. Various politicians harnessed the controversy to their nationalist politics. </p>
<h2>The politics of defining the true Muslim</h2>
<p>The first major expression of anti-Ahmadi sentiment <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/788358">targeted an Ahmadi, Chaudhry Zafarullah Khan,</a> who held the foreign minister’s post in 1953. </p>
<p>Some Muslims circulated rumors that Ahmadis proselytized among Muslims and represented a Western-supported conspiracy. This spurred riots throughout the country in 1953 that led to six deaths. Subsequently the government <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/788358">removed all Ahmadis, including Zafarullah Khan</a> from prominent official posts.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230934/original/file-20180807-191038-1otmyr3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A minaret of the Ahmadi’s Garhi Shahu mosque.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/K.M.Chaudary</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For the next two decades, the campaign against the Ahmadi proceeded haltingly, staggering between occasional local tensions and evolving political agendas.</p>
<p>In 1974, however, the town of Rabwah became the epicenter of antagonism. Following riots targeting Ahmadis in many parts of Pakistan, Prime Minister Zulfikar Bhutto – among the least religiously inclined of Pakistan’s leaders – bowed to Islamist pressure to make constitutional amendments <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/788358">declaring Ahmadis as non-Muslims</a>.</p>
<p>Later in 1984, legislation <a href="https://herald.dawn.com/news/1152871">prohibited Ahmadi from proselytizing</a> or even professing their beliefs.<br>
Matters worsened a year later when the government divided Pakistan’s electorate into “Muslim” and “non-Muslim.” This required voters to declare whether they accepted Muhammad as the final prophet. Ahmadi who declared themselves Muslim <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/980272/beleaguered-community-jamaat-i-ahmadiyya-to-stay-away-from-forthcoming-polls/">faced penalties.</a></p>
<p>The bottom line is since 1985 most <a href="http://newsweekpakistan.com/pakistans-ahmadis-to-boycott-elections/">have not participated in an election</a>. Casting a vote would require them to <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/538686/franchise-ahmadis-still-out-of-electoral-process/">explicitly denounce themselves as non-Muslims</a>, which would have its own consequences. </p>
<h2>Nationalism’s double-edge</h2>
<p>What is important to understand is that the roots of the current electoral conflict do not inherently lie either in Mirza Ghulam Ahmad’s message nor the Ahmadiyya community. </p>
<p>The conflict emerges from <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-republic-unsettled">an ideology of nationalism</a> that inherently promotes a sense of belonging in its citizens, at the risk of exclusion of certain “outsiders.” </p>
<p>As Britain abandoned South Asia in 1947, Pakistan’s founders established a secular state meant to protect Muslims as a separate homeland from the political threats they saw in a Hindu-majority India. Certain Islamist political groups and politicians <a href="http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?content=reviews&isbn=9780674979833">combined religious identity, language and symbols to foster national unity</a>. </p>
<p>Specific domestic religious groups <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/10/in-pakistan-most-say-ahmadis-are-not-muslim/">were targeted</a> as the enemy of the public in order to garner popular support. In 2011, <a href="http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2013/09/10/in-pakistan-most-say-ahmadis-are-not-muslim/">Pakistan was ranked at the top</a> on Pew Research Center’s index on social hostilities involving religion. The Ahmadis were one targeted group. </p>
<p>Just as the Trump administration <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781538107379/Islamophobia-and-Anti-Muslim-Sentiment-Picturing-the-Enemy-Second-Edition">questions the loyalty of Muslim-Americans</a> and simultaneously defines “true” Americans, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310667/pakistan-on-the-brink-by-ahmed-rashid/9780143122838/">increasing numbers of Pakistani politicians and Islamists </a> after 1947 portrayed the Ahmadis negatively in order to project themselves as protectors of “true” Muslim Pakistanis. </p>
<p>By 2012, <a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2012/08/09/the-worlds-muslims-unity-and-diversity-5-religious-identity/">only 7 percent of Pakistanis</a> considered Ahmadis as Muslims.</p>
<h2>Target of attacks</h2>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/230933/original/file-20180807-191013-fw0psb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=511&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An Ahmadi mosque in the eastern city of Sialkot, Pakistan, demolished by extremists in May 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Shahid Ikram</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In this environment the Ahmadis, <a href="https://tribune.com.pk/story/1652980/1-ihc-seeks-ahmadis-population-figures-since-1947/">representing perhaps 0.2 percent</a> of Pakistan’s <a href="http://www.pbs.gov.pk/content/provisional-summary-results-6th-population-and-housing-census-2017-0">208 million</a> population, continue to struggle. They have been been the targets not only of electoral discrimination but also of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1409714">vandalism against their places of worship</a>. They have been accused of <a href="https://www.dawn.com/news/1363201">blasphemy</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-election-ahmadis/the-town-that-doesnt-vote-pakistans-ahmadis-say-forced-to-abstain-idUSKBN1KB079">laws have made it illegal</a> for them to recite the Quran. They are also not <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-election-ahmadis/the-town-that-doesnt-vote-pakistans-ahmadis-say-forced-to-abstain-idUSKBN1KB079">allowed to have Islamic inscriptions on headstones</a>, or even call their places of worship “mosques.”</p>
<p>Many have despaired of finding acceptance in their national homeland and <a href="http://www.worldpress.org/link.cfm?http://www.thefridaytimes.com/">emigrated to other nations.</a> In Pakistan, as the recent election shows, they continue to struggle with a nationalist politics of exclusion.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/100797/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Gottschalk 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>A religious minority of Pakistan, the Ahmadis have been boycotting elections for decades. Casting a vote would require that they denounce themselves as ‘non-Muslims.’Peter Gottschalk, Professor of Religion, Wesleyan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.