Brown Pundits

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/01/aboriginal-genes-suggest-indian-migration/

I checked the date….only a
few months since they had shifted from Mymensingh in Bangladesh to
Calcutta….My
grandmother was pregnant with my mother….ailing with an infected appendix….She could not make the crossover to
India — passing away in Rangpur, on the Indo-Bangladesh border when my
mother was just about 10 months old…….That was 1948…..
………………….
Who knows how many such diaries – veritable treasures all of them – may be floating around. The dead tell no tales, it is the job of the new generation to ferret out the stories behind all the (inevitable) dislocations and humanize the events beyond TNT and all the one-upmanship political crap.

The new generation is reputed to be shallow and self-centered. Not really, just the youth are puzzled by us oldie-foggies and our particular fights and resentments. They are also not too impressed by ideology and propaganda dressed up as history. They want to know the truth for themselves. Sometimes they see the truth openly laid out while the (willfully blind) oldies remain content by farting at the general direction of their (imagined) enemies.

This bangal girl sure has lots of initiative and spunk. We are thankful (and grateful), but we still hope that she goes the last mile to see the diary published. It will be a sensation for sure!!! 
……..
Recently, I went on a whirlwind trip to see my ailing parents. Once
there, I heard that my aunt, who lives alone since my uncle passed away,
is unwell too. I dropped by to see her with some sundry stuff – and
since I cannot keep my brain from working overtime – imagined myself a
grown-up Little Red Riding Hood out to do some good.

………

Anyway. Once there, we talked about old things. The new things were
more attractive though — a pair of kittens managed to make themselves
comfortable on her porch sofa — including their mother. I also
remembered to check the electrical main switch down by her staircase –
it had been sputtering during the rains, and she had had to call for
help to put it right.


Checking done, I thought of looking over the heap of old books in
there. And what should I find, but an old rusty iron suitcase that
belonged to my grandfather! I wasn’t allowed to touch it as a kid — for
they feared my mischief-making prowess. However, I knew it housed a
diary apart from numerous other papers – and the diary had priceless
details about his life — his concerns over finances, his daughters’
education, new-fangled medical theories and drugs…. I had — without
anyone’s knowledge — already read parts of the diary when in high school
— under the pretext of cleaning the mess that was her staircase.


Now, of course, my aunt readily handed the suitcase over to me. She
does not see very well, and rued that I didn’t have enough time to read
the letters aloud to her.


Nevertheless, I did open a letter and read it aloud. It was a
resignation letter. My grandfather was quitting his school in
Lalmonihaat (now in Bangladesh) owing to some personal tragedies and
other factors. He had already worked in the school for 28 years, and was
requesting for 4 months’ bonus as a full and final settlement.


I checked the date — It was dated 1948. I remembered, and my aunt
confirmed that it was the year of her mother’s death. It had been only a
few months since they had shifted from Mymensingh in Bangladesh to
Calcutta owing to communal tensions during India’s bloody partition. My
grandmother was pregnant with my mother before that, and was already
ailing with an infected appendix. She could not make the crossover to
India — passing away in Rangpur, on the Indo-Bangladesh border when my
mother was just about 10 months old. That was 1948.


What must have been my grandfather’s thoughts, with four young
children, and none to advise or confer on the next course of action? My
grandfather was the oldest amongst his siblings — and everyone looked up
to him for guidance. What would this man have endured during those
crucial months when survival was at stake?


As I thought these over, I fingered a newspaper cut-out beneath the
letter. As I opened it — I saw a map of undivided Bengal plotted and
marked according to communal lines. Areas with a majority of Hindus were
shaded black. These were the western and northern parts of Bengal.
Those with a Muslim majority were shaded grey — and a few areas were
checquered indicating a rapidly increasing Muslim population.


A strange sensation overwhelmed me as I stared at that map. I could
feel the turmoil that my grandfather had possibly felt as he had cut it
out of the newspaper after careful study. Perhaps he had thought that
someone would have the time to reflect on it in better times.


And a reflection it is — of us and the institutionalised brainwashing
that characterises our education and nationalist propaganda. I have
studied in one of the best schools and colleges in my country. My
country is India and I have never felt myself as anything beyond an
Indian. I know all that is told to us about our freedom struggle. I also
know about the blood-bath that marked the partition of India. I knew it
all from the comfortable nonchalance of a third-person perspective.
Nothing in life prepared me to face the plight that marked the life of
my grandfather — a generation that lived and breathed in an undivided
Bengal.


My grandfather was a professor of Sanskrit. He had studied at a
Sanskrit school in Mulajor on the western (now Indian) side of undivided
Bengal. From what I heard from my mother and aunts, he was highly
energetic, and pursued several interests that included reading, music,
playing at cards and cricket. He had many friends in Calcutta, and was
no doubt, a very sociable and resourceful man. He was a favourite with
his mother-in-law; the friendship lasted till the end — and the two
passed away in quick succession, within a span of a single day.


Had he lived today, my grandfather would probably not have understood
the pejorative undertones we associate with a theocratic Bangladesh. He
would have probably shaken his head at the dogma fed to our
impressionable minds about India being surrounded with enemy states.


On another note, it is possible that he would have understood every
bit of this. After all, it is but a basic tenet of statecraft to
organise and motivate a gullible public by giving them a collective
dream to nurture and protect. The flip side of this mass movement is of
course the extremism that blighted the hopes of millions as Hindu and
Muslim blood flowed on the streets of India.


What would have been the experiences of a man forced to leave the
country of his birth and seek employment in a land that suddenly
regarded him “foreign”? It would have been the early days of the slang
“Bangal” attributed to those who migrated from Bangladesh — and largely
held responsible for over-populating West Bengal and skewing
its economy. It doesn’t mean much to us today — descendants of “Bangals”
who brought about a social reformation in Bengal through their modern
outlook and work culture. Necessity forced “Bangal” women to step out of
their homes and earn a living — and I thank them for that.


Stories such as theirs have been conveniently tucked within the
cracks of history. It is not surprising, though, because  what
distinguishes the likes of my grandfather is their inability to turn
blind in the face of a collective tomfoolery. In his having to leave the
land of his birth resides the sordid story of our national leaders —
who sought to further personal ambitions by feeding off the mass
hysteria generated by India’s independence.


I’m not writing this simply to indict our leaders on an issue
analysed and talked about ad nauseam. There are enough contemporary
issues to do that. I’m writing this as part of my self-appraisal — as I
continue to live my life and evaluate the factors that shaped me. My
grandfather’s suitcase gives me that window through which I can
contextualize and understand the thoughts and motivations of scores of
people — relatives — that I hardly knew and understood less.


I cannot help wonder how life would have been had the fell swoop of
partition not puckered and tainted the seams of thought that bind me to
the past.

…..

Link: http://halfastory.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/my-grandfathers-suitcase/

…..

regards

He would start off with – Bandhu! kaimun acchen? After the usual Bhalo and Ami-o Bhalo, there would be the usual bari kothaye and questions about Italy….Some would be arrogant and say their bari is Rome and dont know any other bari (bari = home)….dad would nod his head disappointingly and mutter – arrogant bastard, forgetting his roots.
……
We are especially fond of quoting Tariq Ali Sahab but this comment can come from any South Asian (non-Indian, non-Hindu) blogger.

Why they ask – when India has such a brutal record as certified by the Goddess of Aymanam (you just got to love Malayalam word-mixtures – Ay is Tamil for five, Vanam is Sanskrit for forests, Aymanam is the land of five forests- ref. Wiki) – why does India get such nothing to see here just move on press, while other countries in South Asia (mainly Pakistan) get such bad press?

We were curious about this as well. While the international press certainly played up the liberals think Modi/RSS is the devil incarnate theme, they were also (in our opinion) receptive to the Vikaas Purush (god of development) image that Modi was selling (toilets before temples etc). They liked the fact that he comes from a humble back-ground. They really really liked the fact that he is a lower caste Shudra. We may have imagined it but there was tacit appreciation of the fact that India does need a strong leader to make its way in the world….

…..That said we feel there is something more than all the above…..

That elusive factor (in our opinion) is that the West (politicians, press, public to some extent) do not simply see Hindus as a threat. They see Hindus integrating into Western society in fairly large numbers and doing well. Their interactions with India (business, sports-IPL, medical tourism) may be frustrating but manageable. They see India well integrated into the Western-Westminister model. They may even feel that India is doing a good job of keeping 1.3 bil people calm and peaceful (relatively). To the extent they think that BJP is going to keep muslims down, they may even approve of this (in small doses). Common enemies and all that.

OTOH the West is scared shit of muslims (also Chicoms). They really think that the Taliban may one fine day capture the nuclear arsenal. A muslim man is automatically considered a terrorist (unless proven innocent). You want sharia laws, you keep women in burqas, your mosques are taking over ancient pubs, you want to even islamize schools. You want to join  the jihadis in Syria, fine, just go and dont come back. BTW did you know that muslim snitches are highly valued by MI6/FBI/CIA, you can make some serious money by acting funny in the mosque? Deal??

The point is that (we imagine) the societal pressure on a South Asian immigrant from muslim background will be much more intense (as opposed to non-muslims). If asked (even by fellow browns) they may be forced to say something like Rome is our home not Rangpur. That is sad and even a bit pathetic. Or maybe it is all our imagination. Sorry to have wasted your time.
…………
Amar

I think I have been witnessing, in little visual
sightings over 4 years, the rise of the Bangladeshi community in Italy.  

In the early years, they were selling umbrellas and knick knacks on
street corners, carrying everything they sold. Then I started seeing
them behind the counter in semi-permanent and corner shops, and in
restaurants, as waiters and chefs.

Then I saw that some of them
had their own small shops, and I even found a place with Bangladeshi
candidates for rival parties competing in local elections.

This
year, for the first time, I saw that women had followed the men, and I
saw families together – man, woman, and little children. These families
were not selling products, they were checking out things like normal
family on weekend, and then to cap it all, I even saw overly ghettoised
Bangladeshi teens, in expensive sneakers wandering on their own.

I feel like I have seen community evolution in high speed.

Akbar

My
father just picked on any Bengali vendor whenever i was busy looking
for a street on the map – one of his ways to keep himself entertained.

He would start off with – Bandhu! kaimun acchen? After the usual Bhalo and Ami-o Bhalo, there would be the usual bari kothaye and questions about Italy and waghiara waghaira, and directions – which bus to take etc.

Some would be arrogant and say their bari is Rome and dont know any other bari (bari = home), and dad would nod his head disappointingly and mutter – arrogant bastard, forgetting his roots.

Near the colloseum, dad combined an old Pakistani film dialogue into his own – Yeh woh jaga hai jahan Rome kay zaleel kuttay kharey hokar tamasha dekhtay tey. I responded – Ab Bengali kharey hotay hain!!

We bought coconut slices and fruit salad from a Bengali vendor. In the heat the taste was heavenly.

……

Link: http://www.amar-akbar-anthony.blogspot.in/2008/10/a-on-italys-deshis.html

…..

regards

…..the US demanded Pakistan use its influence in Tehran and persuade it to
transfer control of its oil fields to the US….Liaquat Ali Khan declined to accede to the
request…..The US then threatened to annul the secret pact on Kashmir. Liaquat replied that Pakistan has annexed
half of Kashmir without American support and would be able to take the
other half too…..Liaquat also
demanded that the US vacate air bases in Pakistan….Liaquat’s demand was a bombshell for Washington…..
…………..
It is wonderful what we can learn from declassified documents- incontrovertible proof that American and Pakistan have been frenemies from birth. 

Apart from L.A.K. we also have (Tariq Ali) claims that ZA Bhutto was killed on instructions from the CIA. Osama-ji was definitely killed by the Great Satan (or was he?). And the show goes on……
……………
Declassified US document discusses the possible reason for the
disenchantment of the US and the UK governments with the Pakistan prime
minister and his government. Liaquat was not ready to toe the US line,
the newspaper pointed out and hence the US wanted him eliminated.

…….

While the UK was pressing Pakistan for support on the issue of Iran,
the US demanded Pakistan use its influence in Tehran and persuade it to
transfer control of its oil fields to the US (oil apparently has
remained a major issue with the Americans ever since, especially while
Mohammad Mosaddeq was in power in Tehran then).

…
According to the article, Liaquat Ali Khan declined to accede to the
request. “The US then threatened to annul the secret pact on Kashmir
(between Pakistan and the US). Liaquat replied that Pakistan has annexed
half of Kashmir without American support and would be able to take the
other half too.” Not only that, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan also
demanded that the US vacate air bases in Pakistan.

…
“Liaquat’s demand was a bombshell for Washington. Americans who had been
dreaming of conquering Soviet Russia from Pakistan air bases were
flabbergasted,” the article emphasized. And hence the plot to kill
Liaquat was hatched, says the article.

…
However, “the US wanted a Muslim assassin, so as to obviate
international complications. The US could not find a traitor in Pakistan
(apparently for the reason that the new country was then brimming with
nationalistic pride and hope for future),” the article added.

…
The US then turned to Kabul. “Washington contacted the US Embassy in
Kabul. They in turn got in touch with Pashtoonistan leaders, pointing to
Liaquat as their only hurdle and assuring them that if some of them
could kill Liaquat, the US would undertake the task of establishing
Pashtoonistan by 1952.”

…
At this the “Pashtoon leaders induced Akbar to take the job and also
made arrangements for him to be killed immediately after so as to
conceal the conspiracy. The Pakistani currency recovered from the
assassin’s body also reveal that others were also involved. Due to
already strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan no currency
exchange was then taking place between the two countries. Hence only the
“American Embassy (in Kabul) could have supplied the Pakistani currency
notes to the assassin,” the summary argued.
 
The article also mentioned that the cartridges recovered from the body
of the assassinated Pakistani premier were US made. The type of bullet
used to kill the Pakistani prime minister were in “use by high-ranking
American officers”, and were “not usually available in the market”. The
rest is for us to deduce.

…
The article then summarized that all these facts prove that the real
culprit behind the killing was the US, which had committed similar acts
in the Middle East as well.
 
There are many parallels between then and now. And all this could not be
just a matter of chance. Oil, assassinations, dollars, Iran, air bases,
all these sound familiar even today. Fifty years have passed, yet
things may not have really changed.

…….

Link: http://defence.pk/threads/which-foreign-agency-killed-liaqat-ali-khan.234612/

…….

regards

“My mom said she didn’t want such an expensive treatment”……The family then consulted a homeopathic doctor…..Within a matter of days she caught an infection and passed away…..
………..
Homeopathy for curing blood cancer? Really??

Yes, really, when a poor-rich middle class family is unable to afford a 10 lakh medical bill, even a shaman can help…at least something was done for Ma, na?

India is a poor country hosting too many people without work. Normally this would be a ripe situation for launching revolutions and that may yet happen. We need further de-centralization of powers and more use of power with a sense of purpose (not just for distributing gifts to supporters).

The main problem in the coming days will be a rapid degradation in environment and the impact on health of the aam admi. The situation in India (also China) is simply alarming, you have reports of rich people ready to move out of their country for safer (healthier) pastures. In the meantime all of us who will be left behind will have to struggle with antibiotic resistance, tuberculosis and of course that familiar malady- cancer. The relatively well-off will also have to deal with obesity- diabetes which is spreading like wildfire and problems in conceiving children.

Punjab has benefited from being at the cutting edge of green revolution and is stereotyped as the home of the prosperous farmer which survives on slave labor imported from the East and North-East (also Bangladesh). Now a counter-revolution is required when the country-side is being swallowed alive by the drug menace. Not to mention that familiar malady- cancer (again).

NGOs are trying to help out in focused areas, especially the high cost of drugs that are driving poor and middle-class people to desperation. But we need much more help in cleaning up of the environment and to improve awareness amongst people about the need to use (and re-use) environmentally friendly goods.

Why not a specific initiative on the use of jute instead of plastic? Yes, previous efforts have not succeeded but perhaps we can do a better job this time. It will help impoverished jute-growers in the East, reduce our oil bill and reduce the rate of poisoning of  the ground-water. Most importantly we need a sense of urgency amongst the ruling class. In the words of Tagore, when the city burns, the temple will not be spared.
………………
Three days after her mother died, Rajinder Kaur sat quietly on the
edge of a rope cot, staring at her sandaled feet as the buzz of her
friends and family filled the courtyard of her village home in Sher
Singh Wala in rural Punjab.

The 20-year-old nursing student, with a girlish frame and long black
braid, listlessly recounted the details of her mother’s last 40 days –
from a sudden diagnosis of blood cancer to the unaffordable treatment
that left Kaur with few options but to watch the pillar of the family
suffer in the hospital until she passed away.


….
Kaur’s mother, who died in May, is among the latest casualties in
India’s northern state of Punjab, home to the highest rate of cancer in
India. Here, in the country’s breadbasket, 18 people succumb to the
disease every day, according to a recent report published by the state
government. There are ninety cancer patients per 100,000 people compared
to the national average of eighty. And the Malwa region, where Kaur’s
family lives, has been dubbed “the cancer belt” of the state because of
its particularly high incidence of the disease.

“We need to strike at the root,” said J.S. Thakur, professor and
researcher at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and
Research, who has conducted extensive studies on cancer in Punjab.


..
While the causes of cancer are complicated and still unknown, Thakur
and his team found that contaminated water from rapid industrialization
and excessive use of chemical fertilizers for high-yielding crops are
contributing to the steep rates in the state. Just miles away from the
Kaur family’s home are colossal industrial plants that have polluted the
irrigation system in the area.

Malkit Singh, a member of the panchayat, or village council, in Sher
Singh Wala, said cancer deaths affect almost every other home in his
2,000-person village. Including his: Singh lost his brother and two
cousins to cancer in the past decade.

Costly treatment is an undeniable burden for most people in this
agriculturally rich but poverty stricken region. For them, the
government assistance under the Chief Minister’s Cancer Relief Fund
scheme is only a temporary solution. When medicines cost almost 20,000
rupees ($400) per month, families are often left to make difficult
decisions.


…
Part of that price tag comes from lack of regulation and oversight.
Some pharmacies in the region were charging more than ten times the
original price for certain cancer-related drugs, according to a private
investigation by the Bhai Ghaniya Cancer Roko Sewa Society, a local
nongovernmental organization.


…
“We focus on poor patients,” said Kultar Singh, vice president of the
group. “We started this NGO because people were being overcharged and
we were fed up with the politics.”


…
Their efforts have proven fruitful. Last year the team wrote a letter
to the chief justice of Punjab’s high court, prompting them to hold the
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority accountable for 46
anti-cancer drugs that are supposed to be affordable. In May, the Punjab
government rolled out a plan to provide subsidized medicines to cancer
patients at public hospitals.

…
Without that support, money can prove a harsh limitation.


…
Heeding a relative’s suggestion, Kaur said her family first visited a
private hospital in Ludhiana, where they were quoted approximately
$20,000 for her mother’s blood cancer treatment – a large amount for the
middle class farming family.

“My mom said she didn’t want such an expensive treatment,” Kaur said
of her mother’s decision. “They told us there was a 35 percent chance
she would stay alive.”


…
The family then consulted a homeopathic doctor, who prescribed a
range of natural medicines. But Kaur said her mother’s health quickly
deteriorated and they were forced to admit her to a
government-subsidized local hospital without regular cancer specialists.
Within a matter of days she caught an infection and passed away before
she could receive further treatment – leaving Kaur and her younger
brother, 15-year-old Manjinder, without one parent.


…
Kultar Singh said many families who are fighting cancer also lack the
education and awareness they need to protect themselves. His NGO is
trying to educate communities at the grassroots level.

…
“People fear the word cancer and it’s like a taboo,” he said.
“There’s a myth in the village that with this disease you’re bound to
die. At first, instead of going to doctors, they go to shamans and
traditional healers.”


….
Meanwhile, Thakur, the lead researcher, said any real solution to the
problem with require accessible clean water and a change in industrial
practices, rather than simply treating the symptoms of what has become a
toxic environment.

……

Link: http://www.dailynews.com/general-news/20140717/heres-why-punjab-state-has-indias-worst-cancer-crisis

……

regards