On BP: A Diagnosis

First of all, I want to thank X.T.M for enforcing a “ceasefire” between myself, BB and RNJ.  I really do think it is better for the mental health of everyone concerned to not indulge in these “low-signal” exchanges which are mostly just personal acrimony.  Insulting someone’s career as “grift” for example or posting a picture of the Netanyahus at the Taj are not adding anything to the discussion and only serve to trigger the other party.

I would be open to revisiting this “ceasefire” after a certain period (a few weeks or months) provided the people concerned learn how to debate without being disagreeable.  However, for now, it is best to limit interaction.

With that preamble out of the way, I want to turn to the main topic of this post: A diagnosis of what BP is or isn’t.    I am including the (somewhat tongue-in-cheek) song “A Diagnosis” from the TV Show Crazy Ex-Girlfriend to illustrate the importance of obtaining a correct diagnosis.  Before one can prescribe a cure, one has to first understand what the problem is.  This post is my attempt to do so.  It is inherently subjective and of course there is room for respectful disagreement.

First of all, BP is NOT an intellectual forum. This may be the aspiration but this cannot be said to presently be the case.  An intellectual forum–such as 3QuarksDaily— is one that covers various topics such as Literature, Philosophy, Art, Science etc.  This is absolutely not happening at BP.  I have posted several book reviews and articles on Hindustani music as well as translations from the Urdu. These have not been picked up.  I’m OK with acknowledging that that is not particularly what the audience is interested in and adjusting accordingly. But then it is important to be clear about what the audience is interested in.

As an aside, I will note that when Razib was actively involved, BP was much more of an intellectual forum. Along with his specialty of genetics, there were posts about History–and not just “Brown” history but world history in general.  And I say this as someone who didn’t particularly like Razib as a person (the feeling was mutual).

In my opinion–and of course this is subjective–  what BP is now is a forum for India-Pakistan contestation.   There are clearly two teams: The “Saffroniate” and The “Crescentiate” who are at each other’s throats.  Allegiances mostly break down along national and religious lines though I will note that I don’t always agree with Q and EK and have put that disagreement on record when necessary.

One can see that the threads which get 100 or 200 comments are those which allow these two teams room to air their grievances against each other’s countries.   Many of those comments are frankly “low signal”. I will admit that I have contributed to that phenomenon.

To BP’s credit, it is one of the few forums where Indians and Pakistanis are at least engaging with each other.  It’s fine for BP to be a forum specializing in the geopolitics and history of South Asia.  All I’m advocating is that we be clear about what the aims of the forum are.

It is also worth noting that most of the “debates” that occur on this site are not new. One can go back and look at the archives from the peak “Razib era” (let’s say 2019-2020).  Anyone who does this exercise will see that the discussions were about the Mughals, Hindutva, Pakistan, Kashmir, Partition etc.  Many of the positions being stated now were being stated then.   As an example, my own first piece on this forum dates from 2018 and is a review of Shamsur Rahman Faruqi’s The Sun that Rose from the Earth.

It’s true that many of these topics remain open wounds for South Asians and I’m not saying that they shouldn’t be discussed. But they should be kept in proportion.

Finally, there are other countries in South Asia besides India and Pakistan. BP doesn’t discuss developments in Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka as much as those countries deserve.

I would welcome respectful discussion about alternative visions for BP.