Silence of the Wolves: Memories and Anti-Memories of Genocide
by Ashis Nandy, India
Like most contemporary genocides, the one that took place in 1946-48 in South Asia, has also produced its distinctive versions of silence. This silence is sometimes cultivated, sometimes involuntary; it is individual as well as collective. The barriers the silence has erected have made it difficult for an entire generation of Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis to avoid any serious study of the violence that accompanied the partitioning of British India. While there are at least two hundred major works on virtually every aspect of the partition that precipitated the violence, some of them running into several volumes, the only two social-science accounts of the violence I have discovered till now are both by North Americans—one, which is a book on violence in general has small sections on the partition, the other concentrates on the social psychology of the twenty million refugees that the violence produced. The former is by the distinguished psychologist Gardner Murphy and his associates, the latter by Stephen Cohen, done as a part of his doctoral work. Only in the 1990s, a trickle of work by Pakistanis and Indians on the nature of the genocide has begun to come out.
Social and Communal Harmony: Real Stories of Success
by Mahboob Sada, Pakistan
Promotion of social harmony is a daunting task in the Pakistani perspective where vested interests have created and are gradually widening the gulf between people of different faiths, races, nationalities and cultures. The minor differences between different communities are exploited which add to the calamities of masses. Unfortunately, compared to Western media, our own media takes the lead in presenting a negative picture of our society. This increases the communal friction.
In reality, the graph of religious and social harmony is very high in Pakistan. On countless occasions people have put aside religious, regional, cultural, sectarian and linguistic differences and manifested genuine human values and emotions. Our history is replete with stories of peaceful co-existence amongst various communities.
In this paper, I have documented almost thirteen stories based on Christian-Muslim harmony. These have been narrated by Christians friends, towards who, Muslim brethern lent a supporting hand in troubled times. This paper is an effort towards buidling longlasting peace and harmony between Christian and Muslim communities in Pakistan. I hope the readers may also be able to express their emotions in a sincere manner and harmoniously work together with their fellow citizens in putting our country on the road to prosperity.
Future of Disharmony in the Context of History of Harmony in South Asia
by Arshed H. Bhatti, Pakistan
In my presentation on the subject, I wish to share a few insights regarding how and why harmony or disharmony in a social set up (South Asia in this context) and sub-social set up (inter-communal) prevail, occur, flourish and spread.
The presentation will argue that there are two strands of interest groups who contribute to ‘harmony’ or ‘disharmony’ as a catalyst of social cohesion or otherwise; and who have a predictable preference for harmony or disharmony.
One group – The Power Group (P-Group) - who could be represented by a powerful individual, an organized interest or an institution/ set of institutions, tends to use the tool of ‘harmony’ or ‘disharmony’ – as it may fit the demands of a particular time – for the consolidation and perpetuation of status quo advantaging this group in the said social setting. This group’s preference is ‘disharmony’, and drivers are power, its perpetuation and consolidation of privileges based on conflict.
‘Harmony’ and or ‘disharmony’ is articulated, reported, projected and portrayed by this group to fit with its agenda. This group is mostly organized, and in the observation of this presenter, either closely linked with the State and or its proxies (also referred to as the Establishment).
The other group, which one would like to term as the ‘People’s group’ (p-Group), has by and large, historically and traditionally been, scattered and unorganized (This however is not quite the case anymore). This group opts for ‘harmony’ as its preferred mode of social transactions. The members of this group are mostly common people or enlightened activists in the communities of common people.
The members of this group live, celebrate and value harmony but are not always inclined to project or portray it at a mass level. Their motivational reasons are social, cultural, life style and needs of attachment and pull of matching multiple identities.
The presentation argues that with advances in communication, the situation is changing and the people’s group could also compete to promote harmony in order to counter pervasive ‘disharmony’.
Road for Peace: A9 Opening a Road to Peace Post-Conflict Transformation in Sri Lanka
by Nirmali Wijegoonaawardana, Sri Lanka
The Colonial administrators of Sri Lanka resorted to the strategy of ‘divide and rule’ and even the majority of Sri Lankan politicians who emerged in post-independent Sri Lanka ignored the need to seek avenues to prevent the alienation of communities.
Until the recent ceasefire agreement, the protracted ethnic war, which had been going on for nearly two decades, had instilled hatred, fear and suspicion in both the young and the old. The opening of the Kandy – Jaffna A9 highway after a hectic mine clearing and repair program is not only symbolic but also a “real” opening for peace. The A9 has played a bloody role in the 20-year old conflict, with both sides trying to claim the strategic land route for their use.
Treating this opening of A9 as a major success story, the present paper examines the progress of on going peace in Sri Lanka. The opening itself is a bridge between the two ethnic groups in the conflict; a real example of inter-communal harmony at the grassroots level. Jay Rothman has proposed a framework for “action evaluation” in the field of Conflict Resolution based on the methodology of bringing together “formative” and “summative” data. He proposes this approach in order to provide a mechanism for identifying the “base line” of an initiative elicited from the value structure of the people involved. Literature survey will be based on interviews from people in the North-South, events and rehabilitation programs etc. What is important now is not only to analyze the events and the history of the ethnic conflict but to seek avenues to create trust, confidence and understanding among the communities of ’pluralistic’ Sri Lanka. This paper will reflect on the post conflict transformation, peace-building framework.
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