Partition and independence
The end of empire, 1947 and its aftermath.
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Pakistan Punches Above Its Weight. Blame Aligarh.
X.T.M asks how Pakistan produces so much culture for its income, crediting Lucknow and Aligarh rather than Bollywood. In his account the Urdu-speaking salariat carried that culture west in 1947,…
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How Pakistan Became South Asia’s Reference Muslims
X.T.M argues that Partition cut one Muslim political world into three, and that Pakistan, having taken Urdu, now supplies the default picture of a South Asian Muslim. He calls this…
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South India funds India?
X.T.M comments on a chart suggesting the southern states and the old Punjab subsidise the rest of India, links the south’s position to Partition’s contest over rich regions, and compares…
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Did the British Divide India?
Omar Ali argues that Pakistan was ultimately the Muslim League’s creation, but that some British rulers promoted it for their own ends: divide and rule, the Congress stance in 1939,…
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Nehru Lost India, Not Jinnah
X.T.M argues that Nehru, not Jinnah, lost a united India: the 1946 Cabinet Mission Plan already offered a workable confederation, which the League accepted, and Nehru’s July press conference undid…
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Open Thread: Mother Indus is on Fire
While the commentariat counts babies, the Indus basin sits at 47 to 50°C. Radcliffe drew a paper line. The thermometer does not pause at Wagah.
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The Muslim Districts That Hold West Bengal Up
The post accepts that West Bengal Hindus have a real grievance over demographic change, but argues the three Muslim-majority border districts of Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur are the reason…
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Gurdaspur and Siliguri: The Two Necks That Held
The post argues that Pakistan opted out of the subcontinent, and that India kept both strategic ‘necks’, Gurdaspur and Siliguri, in 1947 and 1971, so claims that India is a…
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Kabir, the Anchor of the Crescent
Without Kabir, the Crescent faction disperses. A South Asian forum without a sustained Crescent voice is a drawing room pretending to be a commons. Three rulings on Author autonomy, Founder…
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Founder Sites and Institutional Sites: A Note on Sikh Sacred Geography
X.T.M announces an automatic fine for racialised language against Dravidian communities, then sets a framework for disputes over Sikh holy places. Founder sites such as Nankana Sahib lie in Pakistan,…
