Saturday, July 27, 2002: Huntington Beach, CA

Addressing a gathering of about 100 people,
including expatriates from all South Asian
countries in The Talbert Meeting Room of the
beautiful Huntington Beach Library, Lahore,
Pakistan born Swedish citizen Ishtiaq Ahmed,
Professor of
Political Science with an emphasis on State,
Nation, and Ethnicity in South Asia, at the
Stockholm University, narrated the stirring saga
of Ghadarites at the beginning of the last
century, here on the western coasts of the United
States and Canada, Sikh, Hindu, and Muslim
workers joined hands to start a movement for the
liberation of India from the yoke of British
Imperialism and to establish a free India where
equal rights would be enjoyed by all citizens
without any distinction. The very name of their
organization, the Ghadar Party, suggested that
they identified themselves with the 1857 uprising
against the British, a sort of first war of
independence. The bid was betrayed, but those
martyrs of 1857 became a source of inspiration
and patriotic pride.

At the beginning of the 21st century, almost a
century afterwards, he said, we should have been
meeting here to celebrate. What we find around
us is indeed most depressing. We have just about
escaped a nuclear war, but the most barbarous
acts of inhumanity took place just a few months
ago in which a hapless minority was subjected to
collective punishment for the crimes allegedly
committed by some extremists belonging to it.

ìWhat type of thinking or mindset underpins the
two, and how does one understand fundamentalism?î

He said, ëthe Ghadarite Babas were inspired by
the emancipatory ethos of western modernity, but
also experienced its double standards. The
racist ideology of those times conferred rights
and freedoms on the whites but excluded Asians,
Africans, and Native Americans.í

ëThe current ideology of Fundamentalism, on the
other hand, practically rejects the emancipatory
aspects of modernity -- I have never seen the
respect for human rights, equality between the
sexes and so on figure in their programs.
Instead, fundamentalism seeks to make a virtue of
the racist legacy of modernity by privileging the
real and imaginary and I would say fictitious
achievements of their group, culture and so on
and thereby identifying themselves as the bearers
of all that is good and virtuous.í

ëNaturally, when doing so, they develop political
doctrines, ideologies and so on that require the
backing of the state for implementation. One can
say that the fundamentalists proceed to capture
the State using both domestic issues as well as
activities in the neighboring countries as a
basis to advance their agendas.í

Author of several books, numerous articles, and a
regular Columnist for the Daily Times, Lahore,
Dr. Ahmed summarised the history of
fundamentalism in South Asian politics, beginning
with the Partition of India, through the Cold
War, the consolidation of fundamentalists with
the Saudi money and influence in Pakistan, the
establishment of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) with
help of diaspora money in India, the anti-modern
Iranian revolution, the Khalistan movement,
followed by the rise of militancy in Kashmir, and
so on, made the fundamentalists stronger in each
country. But the September 11, 2001 and the War
on Terrorism has indeed internationalized the
climate of intolerance and fear. Is it a green
light for attacks against minorities in South
Asia and the world?

ìThe Gujarat carnage,î averred Dr. Ahmed, also
the Moderator of ëThe Asiapeace Internet
Communityí, ìepitomizes the ultimate failure of
the politics of reason and the triumph of those
beastly impulses and urges which human beings
have been trying to tame since antiquity.î

Not all was gloomy, however. There were periods
of hope and vistas of possibilities of
reconciliation and peace ñ like the India-
Pakistan cooperation soon after the early 2001
devastating earthquake in Gujarat, Vajpayee's bus
trip to Pakistan, Agra summit, and so on -- but
the fundamentalists in each country succeeded in
sabotaging them all.

What should be done?

ìI think it is high time that we all strive for a
grand alliance of all peace loving, tolerant and
enlightened people. Hindu fundamentalism cannot
be isolated and defeated if Muslim fundamentalism
is not extinguished and vice versa. I think we
have to accept the fact of several states in
South Asia but not necessarily the fact of closed
borders. We have to distinguish between the
emancipatory aspects of modernity but take a
critical position on global capitalism. The
diaspora communities have to play their historic
role, which began with the pledge to make South
Asia a region of peace, communal harmony, and
equal rights.

The meeting started by statements from
spokespersons of the sponsoring organizations,
Prof I.K.Shukla for the Coalition for an
Egalitarian and Pluralistic India(CEPI-LA), and
Ishtiaq Chisti for the Inter-National South Asia
Forum (INSAF-LA); Syeda Khundkar introduced the
speaker to the audience. There was a friendly
exchange of ideas at the end of the lecture, and
the meeting ended with the announcement of
upcoming events.