Long Live Pashtunistan

Earlier in my blog, I offered my respect to the Kashmiri people and to their right to unity and self-determination. In today's post, I would like to pay my respects to another brave people who also suffered a lot - the Pashtuns.

The history of Pashtuns is written in valor and heroism. Their fierce independence and love for freedom were mentioned in the most ancient texts, including the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata. Never surrendering to any empire or army, these people always maintained independent tribal republics. Even the mighty Alexander could not annex their lands. As chronicled by Megasthenes, his army fought a fierce battle with the Assakenoi (Ashvaganas / Afghans). Instead of accepting defeat, entire tribes (including women) took to arms and sacrificed their lives. Their feat is as stirring as that of the 300 Spartan warriors of Leonidas. One of the reasons why Alexander didn't cross the Indus river is because of the fear these warriors put into the hearts of the Greek soldiers.

Coming to modern times, even the greatest empire in history - the British empire could not succeed in occupying the Afghan lands. Afghanistan remained a sovereign state since the early 1700s, making it the most ancient sovereign state in this region of the world.

Pashtuns, with their love for freedom and their gratitude to loyalty and honesty, are an inspiration to people everywhere in the world. A few of these valiant people settled in India, called Pathans, always known for their big generous hearts.

Pashtuns love music, and a lot of famous singers and artists in the Indian subcontinent come from this region. Several ancient Indian / Iranian mathematicians and scientists originated from Gandhara (Kandahar) and Balkh.

All this history stands in stark contrast to the way media portrays Pashtuns today - as medieval tribal warriors. This portrayal comes in handy for two souces - the NATO forces fighting them in Kandahar and the Pakistani forces fighting them in Waziristan. Why did Pashtuns get dragged into this warfare is a sad story.

It begins with a betrayal. And it is we Indians (precisely Nehru) who have to suffer the blame of backstabbing Pashtuns.

Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan (fondly known as Bacha Khan) was the most inspiring freedom fighter from the Pashtun region. A devout Muslim, and also a staunch Gandhian who abrogated violence, he inspired the entire Pashtun community to stand up to the British. He said, "I am going to give you such a weapon that the police and the army will not be able to stand against it. It is the weapon of the Prophet, but you are not aware of it. That weapon is patience and righteousness. No power on earth can stand against it." He was known as the frontier Gandhi and his followers were known as the Khudai-khidmatgars (servants of God).

As the idea of partitioning India was picking up steam, Bacha Khan firmly opposed it and remained staunchly secular. He didn't want Pashtun provinces to become part of an Islamic Pakistan. At the urgency of independence, and at the threat of religious violence between Hindus and Muslims, Gandhi and Nehru have forced Bacha Khan to agree to the merger with Pakistan. Bacha Khan moaned to Gandhi, "You have thrown us to the wolves". After the merger, Bacha Khan was labeled an enemy of Islam and imprisoned several times. His followers were carefully decimated by the opponents with support from Islamabad. Military generals such as Zia-ul-Haq have taken advantage of the illiteracy and backwardness of the region, and appointed religious fundamentalists as leaders.

The second part of the story began with the attack of Afghanistan by the Soviet troops. Seeing their brothers dying across the border, many Pashtuns took to arms. Taking advantage of the situation, USA and Pakistan funded this war and supplied them with weapons and missiles. As the superpowers played their colonial chess games, ordinary Pashtuns died in large numbers. War and violence have further eroded the spirit of Pashtuns. Illiteracy and economic backwardness became rife.

The third and final part of the story was the infiltration of the Pashtun lands with Arab fighters. First arrived to fight the Soviets, these militants then started to use the lands of their hosts against new enemies - the USA. The stationing of US troops on Saudi soil, became the reason of hatred for one Osama bin Laden. He abused the hospitality of his hosts by using Afghanistan to hatch terrorist plots, which serve the purpose of no Afghan citizen. After the 9-11, the USA started bombing the Afghan lands killing Pashtuns in large numbers, but still unable to locate the main culprit.

The spirit of Bacha Khan seems so far away, and we are left to wonder what happened to the Khudai-khidmatgars ! The brave Pashtun people are left with no strong leader and are being made to fight foreign wars - against India and against USA, by cowardly people behind the scenes. This has to stop. Indians have to reaffirm their love and respect for the Pashtun people. The Americans should attempt to understand their fierce love for freedom, and stop a war which they can never win.

When will Pashtuns stop fighting foreign wars, funded by cowardly people from the back ? When will Pashtuns see a return to peace and prosperity ?

I wish the Pashtuns the same thing I wished for the Kashmiris - an affirmation of their self-respect and dignity, an end to the murder of their race, and a tearing down of the artificial walls which seperate brothers.

Sacrifice Delhi , Save India

There is a nice verse in my language which says, "A nation does not mean land. A nation means people". This is what I meant when I said Save India.

Let's abolish theologies, let's abolish nationalism. Let's give respect to the human spirit. Nothing is more sacred before that, not even the constitution.

Before you get your passions inflamed, try asking yourself a simple question : Do you like India or do you like Indians ? If you choose the later, then you are a true patriot.

India does not mean the empire of Ashoka. It does not mean the pillars of learning of Shankaracharya. It does not mean the kingdoms of Ramayana. It does not mean a mega utopia which was supposedly destroyed by some invading Muslims. It does not mean the glories of the Mughal empire. It does not mean the eastern bulwark of Islam. It does not mean anything in the past. India is a living notion. It exists in the "now". And it exists in its people.

These people might have had a past, but they live in the present. We should accept what they are right now.

In our journey as an independent country, we Indians are at a crucial juncture : we have to choose between territorial integrity and human integrity. Should we continue our abnormal military presence in Kashmir ? Should we subject every person to getting frisked seven times a day before he reaches to work ? Should we subject our own citizens there to continuous curfews ? Should we continue to impose the rule of the army in one of the states ? Should we give no regard to the democratic aspirations of our own citizens ? Is this what we want to achieve as a nation ? Is this our idea of India ? How many of our own brothers do we have to kill, torture and make disappear for preserving this idea ?

If we continue to tighten our fists, we risk to alienate our own citizens. This is not nation building.

India is an amazing land of diversity. In its richness or heritage, it is no way inferior to the continent of Europe. In what way is Telugu inferior to Spanish ? Then why is it that nobody outside India is even aware of Telugu ? In what way is Kashmiri culture inferior to Polish culture ? Then why does Poland deserve a flag but not Kashmir ?

These questions can be suppressed for years when the population is poor or uneducated, but they are bound to prop up in the minds of the people. What prevents the rest of the Indian citizens from the fear of a cultural subjugation from the Hindi heartland ?

You can shove these fears under the carpet, but they will keep multiplying and keep surfacing with increased ferocity. We will see ethnic strife against minorities in Mumbai. We will see the kidnap and murder of Bengalis in Tripura. We will see Naga rebels fighting in the hills. And we will see a minor issue of 40 acres rise into a full blown freedom struggle and eventually demand the lives of 30 Kashmiris.

No, we cannot shove our fears under the carpet. We have to look at them straight in the eye, and solve the problem. If we do not do that, our country will suffer the fate of Yugoslavia. When it happens, the break up will be rapid, and it will be bloody. Horrors such as genocide will be commited. Hindus and Muslims will massacre each other. India and Pakistan will face outright war, and heaven knows if nuclear weapons will be used.

Before you jump onto the pseudo nationalistic bandwagon of Hindutva, trying to build a glorious Ram Rajya or avenge for the historical wrongs of Islamic invasions etc, please think about where this will lead you. The same is true for people who jump onto the pseudo bandwagon of Islamic glory.

Under the horrors of genocide and nuclear war, can we preserve even a portion of our civilization ? Will we be able to preserve the temple of Madhura ? Will we be able to preserve the Taj Mahal ?

What can we do to avert these dangers ? This is where comes the other part of the title of this blog - Sacrifice Delhi. We have to sacrifice our union government. We have to sacrifice some of our symbols. We need to provide more autonomy to the states. I don't know what this autonomy means : does it mean different flags ? does it mean different constitutions ? does it mean different passports ? I don't know : we need to innovate and we need to do it quickly. It is inevitable, the faster we do it, the more bloodshed we will save.

I have just visited Strassburg, a lovely city of a thousand years of history. This city had a bloody past with periodic occupations from France and Germany. Now it houses the European parliament. Why can't Srinagar be given a similar status, serving as a bridge between India and Pakistan, instead of as a dispute ?

When we think about it, the issue of autonomy is exactly where differences creeped in between Nehru and Jinnah. Let's go where our freedom fighters dared not tread. Let's try to create a union of equals. Let's redefine democracy in the internet age. Let's redefine the notion of a constitution.

Let's take our subcontinent to the true place it deserves. Can Punjab be united ? Can Bengal be united ? Can Kashmir be united ? Yes, let's break the Berlin walls of the east.

Let's forget the horrors of partition. Let's rediscover our true heritage of 5000 years together. Let's model the union of SAARC countries in the fashion of the European Union. Let's have our parliament in Srinagar. Let's have our court of human rights in Jaffna. As we sacrifice Delhi, we will save our India. We will save the spirit of brotherhood between Indians.

V i s i t T o T.D.P O f f i c e

I have decided to give the letter to Chandrababu Naidu gaaru, so today, I went to the NTR Bhavan in Jubilee Hills. I didn't have any decent clothes with me, so I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I didn't expect to meet Naidu, but was planning to give the letter to his secretary.

The TDP office was swarming with political leaders from all over the state, and I looked definitely the odd man out. I heard people murmuring "So it has finally come down to this. Kids getting into the office building wearing shorts !".

Then, I was shocked to know that if I intend to meet Naidu gaaru, my turn would be just at number 7. Growing up in IIIT and around Hitec City, I always had some awe about Naidu gaaru. Already tense, meeting him in shorts was out of the question. So I gave the letter to his P.A and rushed out of the place.

I hope Naidu gaaru will get to read it, atleast in a quick glance. In any case, I feel relieved now. And I will be getting back to my research work.

T e l u g u N a t i o n a l i s m

Why TDP should befriend CPI/M

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Dear Chandrababu Naidu gaaru

Congratulations for standing firm on the Samaikyandhra issue. Unlike the Congress party, TDP has always had a clear idea on the Telangana problem. Standing together with TDP on this issue are the communist parties. I would like to say that, in fact, these two parties have much more in common.

The common ground for both TDP and the Communists will be obtaining more power to the states and thus establishing a federal structure for governing India. This decentralization of power is essential for further progress in India, and TDP and CPI/M should fight together for making the necessary constitutional amendments. I will explain why this is necessary.

From the classical viewpoint of Marx, human society progresses through the stages of hunting, pastoral, feudal, capitalist and finally communist societies. Even though some people do not believe in the final stage of communism, there is concensus in the world about the other stages. The question arises about the nature of society in India. We tend to believe that we are in the capitalist stage, but it is not true. We are in the feudal period.

When the age of the zamindars has ended, many people believed that feudalism has ended as well. But that is not true. Feudalism will continue to exist as long as we do not move into an industrialized economy. As we all know, India never had an industrial revolution. So, we have not yet moved into the capitalist society. Feudalism exists in our society in several forms - in the caste system where inter-caste marriages are not possible, in the quota system where political power is awarded based on caste equations, in the religious prejudices of people, in the widespread illiteracy and ill-health of people, in the lack of manufacturing industry, in the lack of a working class etc.

According to communist theory, feudalism can be ended only by capitalism. That is, only through an industrial revolution and the rise of the beaurgoisie class (capitalists). Among the several good things that such beaurgoisie revolution brings in are economic prosperity for the country, widespread literacy, employment to everyone, and most importantly - an educated working class. The communists believe that the working class will later become the nemesis of the capitalists and through another revolution, brings in economic equality for everyone. But, without the industrial revolution - without the rise of capitalism, there shall never be a working class. So, Marx encourages the communists to fight hand-in-hand with the bourgeoisie for the end of feudalism.

The communists in India have imagined the Congress party to be the bourgeoisie class mentioned by Marx. But this had been a mistake. Congress party has only served as a front for the feudalists. Until the Soviet Union came down in the 1980s, there had also been dreams about ushering in an industrial revolution the Soviet style. Both the Congress and the Communists have floundered on this course. Now it has been established beyond doubt that industrialization of the country can happen only through economic reforms.

Any right wing party should have a concrete idealogy of nation-state. The spirit of nationalism is very important for the industrialization. Unfortunately, the only party with such an idea is the BJP. It equates the spirit of Indianness with Hindutva. Since the capitalists currently have no other option, they are backing the BJP. Hindutva, however, is a very stupid idealogy. It alienates Muslims and other minorities of India. It also ignores the enormous differences within the Hindu community. In principle, it is a religious idealogy, so it belongs to the age of feudalism. It has no place in capitalist society (secularism is a by-product of the industrial revolution). Since it is not a true bourgeoisie party, BJP is not getting any support from the communists.

In effect, the bourgeoisie revolution (industrialization) is being suppressed for the lack of alternative political outfits. In fact, it is not possible to have a true right-wing party at the nation level. Because India is not a simple nation, one cannot frame the idea of a nation-state.

However, these ideas can be defined properly at the state level. Indeed, TDP owes its birth to the rise of Telugu nationalism. This Telugu nationalism is not regionalism, and is not antagonistic to the unity of India. Infact, Telugus have always been the most open to outside influences. Telugu language is a living testimony to the happy marriage of Dravidian and Sanskrit influences. What Telugu nationalism brings in - is a spirit of development and a spirit of transforming Andhra Pradesh into an economical and cultural superpower.

As a Telugu nationalist, I would like to see Andhra Pradesh developing as rapidly as Malaysia. I would like to see it as a tourist destination as reputed as France. I would like to see an industrialized Andhra Pradesh with excellent education and health facilities. I would even like to see an Andhra Airlines where gongura chutney is served.

Carving a separate Telangana state will be suicidal for its people because the valuable coastline will be lost. The prosperity of the Telugu people will hold good only when they stand together. This is a vital element in the rise of Telugu nationalism. Telangana issue is only a force of the feudalists (TRS, BJP) which prevents industrialization. It is time it is exposed in that manner.

Telugu people have always been enterprising as well as liberal. They do not have religious fanaticism. They are humble and inviting for other cultures. Andhra Pradesh has an excellent coast line and fertile lands. Nothing can prevent it from the path of development. Except - nonsensical policies from Delhi, wasted time in the Delhi parliament, religious riots provoked from outside.

What TDP and CPI/M should fight for - is a higher share in the economic revenue for the states, and a higher freedom for making laws. We need a federal structure for the government like the one which exists in the USA. Delhi can still take care of the nation's defence and foreign affairs. But Telugu people would like to handle their economic affairs by their own hands. They still consider themselves as Indians and pride themselves in being part of a great and diverse cultural landscape.

If that happens, there will be a voice for the right-wing bourgeoisie in Andhra Pradesh. The expatriate Telugu people who made it big in the USA and Europe will come back to invest in the growing Andhra economy. With the rise of working class, the communists will find a voice in the political scene as well. Finally, democracy will start functioning properly without any stupid coalition governments. It will either be a leftist government or a rightist government depending on the wishes of the people. The forces of feudalism (illiteracy, caste-system, quota-system & religious fanaticism) will be deeply buried.

Thus, I request you to take the initiative and make friends with the Communists. In this fight against feudalism, you make the rightful friends. Finally, in an industrialized and economically developed Andhra Pradesh, TDP and CPI/M will get to fight each other. In this process, there will be nobody else left on the political scene. Andhra Pradesh, in effect, will inspire other states in India towards economic development and cultural pride. Like Europe, which is getting together now, India is as big and as diverse as a continent. It will also become as rich and as developed.