Postmodernism and Islam by Ahmed Akbar S.; Ahmed Akbar S.;

Author:Ahmed, Akbar S.; Ahmed, Akbar S.;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1433566
Publisher: Routledge

Since Independence the Indian army has maintained the reputation of a professional fighting force, not least because it has avoided involvement in administration and politics. The actions of the army in Pakistan and Bangladesh have provided salutary examples. The Indian army is the pride and joy of a secular India. Members from the minority communities have headed the army with professional competence and confidence. But its soldiers are sons of the South Asian soil. Their actions in Kashmir are taking them into dangerous waters; they do not augur well for the army's professional stance and future (see ‘The generals get jittery as Delhi's democracy falters’, by Tony Allen-Mills, in The Sunday Times, 19 May 1991. We have already heard the agony of the Israeli soldier guarding Arab civilian prisoners in Chapter 2; Shavit 1991).

It is also relevant to raise the issue of another powerful force that has, of late, assumed an important role in South Asian affairs: the ‘intelligence services’. There is little literature on this, but for a detailed account of the role of the Israeli intelligence agencies see Black and Morris 1991. Their vast powers and wide influence are a phenomenon worthy of serious study. They have their own autonomous organization, ethos, leaders and methods of working. With stories of mayhem, terrorism and assassination spilling out of their dirty-tricks' bag they pose a challenge to notions of liberalism, humanism and tolerance. Habeas corpus is invariably the first victim of their activity. Anonymous hit-men operating from numberless ‘safe houses’ are neither accountable to the public nor discriminating in their victims. They need to learn lessons from the toppling of the statue of the founder of the Soviet secret police, Felix Dzerzhinsky, in Moscow.

These agencies are known to be active beyond their borders, sometimes acting on their own volition: in 1990 both Benazir Bhutto and V.P. Singh, as the respective Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India, complained of this publicly. Their definitions of loyalty to the state and of who should be on their hit-lists are not necessarily shared by the civilian government. Events in Kashmir, in Indian Punjab and in Pakistani Sind are commonly assumed to be influenced by these agencies. Pakistani agencies are seen as supporting the JKLF in Kashmir by Indians; India's are believed to be master-minding the turmoil in Sind by Pakistanis. Their involvement in daily life and stories of brutality feed and explain the bitter and sustained nature of the movements.

Three: Major internal social and political changes are taking place in each of these three countries. It is a period of transition, coalition and weak governments, of leaders with uncertain futures. Internally, the law and order in many districts, right across the land, appear to have collapsed, with horrific stories being reported in the press. A vocal, restless younger generation adds fat to the fire, being all too ready to bring out processions and damage property or people. Materialism is the current ideology, and possession of television and a fridge every house-owner's ambition. Urban groups

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