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About us

About PakHistory - What is PakHistory.com?



First of all, welcome to Pakhistory.com and thank you for visiting. We've started this project in order to project true historical image of Pakistan, South Asia and the surrounding region with known historical facts, in-depth research and analysis as well as expanding our sources to an international level, where we will support our research with articles from international and regional news papers, magazines, periodicals and renowned authors.



It is also important to understand that our main goal is to inform the general population as well as educate the masses about the history of region which is a place of home for more than 1.3 billion people. Over time regional (rather extremists) governments as well media to some extent have played a large role in distorting history and presenting it in such a way that people have started believing the distorted and untrue version (see links below) of the history from the regional powers and their interests. Some extremists people believe they can change few words in their text books (see links below), change the wordings on online-wikis and all of the sudden history is in their favor. Not so. We believe, history is much more than that � something that needs far more respect than what the bigots and liars show they have for history (and their own for that matter).



Pakhistory.com, though related to South Asia and Pakistan � is an international effort to tell the truth about South Asia, Pakistan and what went on in that region for past 4000 years. We ask every concerned citizen of this world, every Pakistani and non-Pakistani, every Indian and non-Indian to come forward and support us in our journey to explore history of South Asia and present it in its true sense rather than distort it so that our inner being is satisfied.



Pakhistory.com used to be hosted as "geocities sub domain" and now we've purchased this domain and any future updates will happen here. Much of the writings in the Pakistan History section are based on 'Historical Background of Pakistan and its People', is written by Ahmed Abdullah and edited by K. Hasan.

PakHistory.com team does plan on expanding this project into more in-depth study of modern Pakistani history, Pakistan's creation and its aftermath and the era after creation as well as add related content and information regarding South Asia in general. We also plan on adding a discussion forum to the mix or maybe we may link with a growing history forum if such offer is made to us in writing. Please contact us if you would like to be part of this history project and help shape the future and lets defeat the liars.



You are welcomed to send us your suggestions, q



uestions and comments through e-mail. If you would like be part of the Pakhistory.com project, please let us know, we will love to hear from you. Help us reach as many people as possible so that they can see true side of the south Asian history.



Please share on as many message boards / forums as possible send emails to your friends and tell them about Pakhistory.com � people must respect your history so you can be respected in the future. Do something for history.



These are just some of the links and sources that show how extremists and Brahmin extremists of South Asia have tried to distort South Asian history and mislead people of South Asia and the world with wrong and false information. Their lies have been exposed and now it's time for people to find out the truth.



Contact:

info@pakhistory.com



Regards,

Pakhistory.com Team





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Changes in History teaching in Pakistan:



There is increasing evidence that changes in history teaching in Pakistan were being matched with changes inside India after 1971. The western institution and think tanks ; probably are involved in this change in both countries. University of Nebraska had a program to change the curriculum of Afghanistan text books after 1980 to make Russians as enemies during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Finally AH Nayyar a Pakistani commentator said 'The fact of the matter is that jihad by sword came into not only Pakistani textbooks but Afghan textbooks as well, only because the US wanted it so. He said the task of putting jihad into textbooks in Afghanistan(and prob. Pakistan) was given to a University of Nebraska department in the Cold War years'. He said 'the same University of Nebraska entity has now been instructed by the President Bush's wife to take charge of getting jihad OUT of Pakistani(actually Afghan-corrected) textbooks.' At least one education program the U.S. did sponsor probably did little to break the culture of violence that envelops children here from an early age.



The Agency for International Development paid the University of Nebraska $50 million over eight years, from 1986 to 1994, to produce educational materials for Afghan primary- and secondary-school students. But texts on a range of subjects were highly politicized and often had a militaristic overtone, Tom Gouttierre, director of the university’s Center for Afghan Studies in Omaha, now concede. Some questions prodded students to tackle basic math by counting dead Russians and Kalashnikov rifles. In addition to arming such groups for hitech jihad, the United States became directly involved in their indoctrination process. Between 1986 and 1992, USAID underwrote the printing of explicitly violent Islamist textbooks for elementary school children. The University of Nebraska, Omaha (UNO), oversaw this $50 million contract with the Education Center for Afghanistan (ECA), a group jointly appointed by the seven mujahideen organizations that the ISI and CIA had taken under their wing. With this money, the Peshawar-based ECA published a series of first- through sixth-grade textbooks whose recurrent theme was the promotion of Islam through violence.



The education changes in Pakistan and Afghanistan from 1980 may considered as social engineering projects and may be one of largest ever done in history. This social engineering resulted in a steady stream of Islamic jihad militants for the next 25 years that it has changed the world as never before. India has been the biggest targeted country due to the effects of this social engineering.





Taking rather a different tack than Dr.Seuss, these USAID-funded books instructed children that, in the Persian alphabet, Alif is for Allah, Jim is for Jihad, and Shin is for Shakir, adding that “Shakir conducts jihad with the sword. God becomes happy with the defeat of the Russians.” Third- and fifth grade books depicted automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and tanks. A fourth grade mathematics text noted that “the speed of a Kalashnikov bullet is 800 meters per second,” and then asked students, If a Russian is at a distance of 3,200 meters from a mujahid, and that mujahid aims at the Russian’s head, calculate how many seconds it will take for the bullet to strike the Russian in the forehead.

One of the two official views of history also causes problems for the study of History in Pakistan. This view popularized by Dr Ahmad Dani locates Pakistan as part of a Central Asian historical and cultural entity, rather than within India/South Asia. In the first decade after Pakistan's independence, Pakistan considered its history to be part of a larger India's, a common history, a joint history, and in fact Indian textbooks were in use in the syllabus in Pakistan.



However, this changed in the early 1960s when Ayub Khan's government wanted to create a 'History of Pakistan' independent and separate from that of India's. The historians who were given this task attempted to 'take out' Pakistan from Indian history and just look at Pakistan without India. This gave rise to the writing of a Pakistani history disassociated from an Indian past and links were established with Central Asia. All the association with the Indian history has been negated or totally omitted.



It is very clear, that in Pakistan, it is 'Muslim history' that is being taught, and not 'Indian history'. In fact, this Muslim history, as we argue above, is perceived to be a Pakistani history dating from 712 AD. This has major repercussions on what is taught and the way it is taught. For example, since there is a Muslim history and there are courses and subjects called 'The Freedom Movement' which looks at the struggle for an independent Pakistan - the seeds of which according to some historians were sown in 712 AD, but for others in 1857 - seems to overlook the colonial period entirely and treats the Freedom Struggle as a struggle from Hindu domination, not colonial rule.



In none of the curricula studied, did we find a single course on British India, or on colonialism; the period after 1857 is seen as the beginning of the Pakistan Movement and of the Freedom Struggle. From the 'Muslim' period, we move on to the 'Struggle for Pakistan'. In essence, the Freedom Movement is shown to be a movement for the freedom of Muslims in India, but not of India from colonialism. What is interesting, though not at all surprising, is that post-independence modern India, is not taught as part of the history syllabus in Pakistan. For that matter, nor is there a course on the history of modern Pakistan, since both of these countries in this era, are treated under politics.



Interestingly enough, teachers at the University of Karachi's international relations department said that as late as 1989, the term 'South Asia' was "banned" in the department, since it was considered too 'pro-India' and was thought to be a part of an India-centric thinking. South Asia as a subject was introduced only after a democratic government took over in 1988-89 after the death of General Ziaul Haq.



One objective of change in Pakistani text book is to create an benign Islamic political history of the Mogul period in the sub-continent so that there is no antipathy towards the Muslim culture and Muslim people by the non-Muslims in the sub-continent. For the Muslims when a Islamic political history is glorified and is a continuum of the larger pan Islamic history; it energizes the Muslim community and unifies them over any political/ethnic differences. Pakistan after 1971 was rocked by decussating by Baloch and Sindh and unrest. The change in the education was to bring a common Muslim history to bind the provinces. This process was a way for creation of a sub-continent Muslim ruling class accepted by all the people in the sub-continent in the long run.



The assumption here is that non-Muslim population will loose their Hindu attributes and blend with the Muslims in the long run and accept their hegemony. For 30 years in its 55-year history, Pakistan has had governments that were run by the military or put into office and sustained by the military. It is not a matter of surprise that the government-textbook connection has developed into a military-textbook bond. This started in the 1970s when a former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, introduced a full two-year course on the ‘Fundamentals of War’ and ‘Defense of Pakistan’ for Class XI and XII respectively.



In the twilight of the Cold War, the United States spent millions of dollars to supply Afghan schoolchildren with textbooks filled with violent images and militant Islamic teachings, part of covert attempts to spur resistance to the Soviet occupation. The primers, which were filled with talk of jihad and featured drawings of guns, bullets, soldiers and mines, have served since then as the Afghan school system's core curriculum. Even the Taliban used the American-produced books, though the radical movement scratched out human faces in keeping with its strict fundamentalist code. Published in the dominant Afghan languages of Dari and Pashtu, the textbooks were developed in the early 1980s under an AID grant to the University of Nebraska-Omaha and its Center for Afghanistan Studies. The agency spent $51 million on the university's education programs in Afghanistan from 1984 to 1994.



During that time of Soviet occupation, regional military leaders in Afghanistan helped the U.S. smuggle books into the country. They demanded that the primers contain anti-Soviet passages. Children were taught to count with illustrations showing tanks, missiles and land mines, agency officials said. They acknowledged that at the time it also suited U.S. interests to stoke hatred of foreign invaders. "I think we were perfectly happy to see these books trashing the Soviet Union," said Chris Brown, head of book revision for AID's Central Asia Task Force. AID dropped funding of Afghan programs in 1994. But the textbooks continued to circulate in various versions, even after the Taliban seized power in 1996.





In the ‘Fundamentals of War’ themes like objects and causes, conduct, nature, modern weapons, operations, ethics, war and modern warfare were thoroughly discussed. The ‘Defense of Pakistan’ dealt with Pakistan’s defense problems, economy and defense, foreign policy, military heritage, the role of its armed forces during peace and the qualities of military leadership. There was a military science group for intermediate students, which consisted of war, military history, economics of war, military geography, defense of Pakistan and special military studies as subjects.



General Ayub Khan abolished history from the school system, and got official textbooks prepared for history students at the university level. Between 1960 and 1980 the students read no history at all for the first 12 years of their studies.[ why from 1960 the year Indian movies were banned in Pakistan ] Instead, they were taught a newly invented subject called "Social Studies", which was an uneven and coarse amalgam of bits of civics, geography, religion, economics and history. During the 13th and 14th years (undergraduate period) they read a history book prepared by the government. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's regime did not make any change in this scheme.



General Ziaul Haq promoted the destruction of history with unswerving determination. In the name of a debatable patriotism and a supposititious ideology he made his control over history writing and teaching complete, arbitrary, coercive and totalitarian. He (1) subjected all textbooks of Social Studies to the scrutiny and approval of the Federal Ministry of Education, i.e., a group of civil servants, (2) created a new subject of "Pakistan Studies"; made it compulsory for all undergraduates in arts, sciences, medicine and engineering, and all graduates in law; and got a special textbook prepared for it by several committees and panels of experts working in close collaboration (the result was not even bad history), and (3) dictated that all these books must meet the requirements of an ideology (he did not call it Islam), of which he was the sole definer, judge and perpetrator.



Ahmed Salim and A.H. Nayyar have compiled a 140-page report on ‘The State of Curriculum and Textbooks in Pakistan’. The Report is nothing short of a sneak preview of how our Ministry of Education is preparing five and seventeen year old Pakistanis for ‘jihad’. To be certain, the ‘themes of ‘jihad’ and ‘shahadat’ clearly distinguish the pre- and post-1979 educational contents. There was no mention of these in the pre-Islamisation period curricula and textbooks, while the post-1979 curricula and textbooks openly eulogize ‘jihad’ and ‘shahadat’ and urge students to become ‘mujahids’ and martyrs. The official Curriculum Document, Primary Education, Class K-V specifically prescribes ‘simple stories to urge ‘jihad’.’ Under ‘Activity 4’, the prescription for three and eight-year old Pakistanis is: ‘To make speeches on ‘jihad’ and ‘shahadat’.’



Urdu Curriculum (First Language) for Classes IV and V, National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Ministry of Education, Government of Pakistan sets the following objective: ‘Stories: eight lessons; folk tales, mythical, moral, Islamic, travel, adventure and ‘jihad’.’ Textbook writers are officially directed that ‘a feeling be created among students that they are the members of a Muslim nation. Therefore, in accordance with the Islamic tradition, they have to be truthful, honest, patriotic and life-sacrificing ‘mujahids’.’ A specific ‘suggestion on preparing textbooks’ for Class V is: ‘Simple stories to incite for ‘jihad’.’



Urdu Curriculum (first and second language) for Classes VI-VIII, National Bureau of Curriculum and Textbooks, Ministry of Education, instructs teachers that students ‘must be made aware of the blessings of ‘jihad’...’ and that teachers must ‘create yearning for ‘jihad’ in their hearts.’

The authors say :



Our curriculum still equates Islam, Pakistan and ‘jihad’. We are still ‘inspiring’ our children to become guerrilla fighters. The Islamic Republic of Pakistan still insists on making her children ‘aware of the blessings of ‘jihad’, to ‘make speeches on ‘jihad’ ‘, to ‘create a yearning for ‘jihad’ ‘, to ‘love and aspire for ‘jihad’.



Stephen Cohen ( Brookings Institution) Quote : By 2001 The Pakistan history and identity was being contested once again. Although Army had been able to impose its vision of the state other ideas exist for what Pakistan should be. The important clash inside Pakistan is not a civilization clash between Muslims and non-Muslims but a clash between different concepts of Islam, particularly how Pakistan should implement its Islamic identity.

Currently there is a movement to eulogize Allama Iqbal the poet during the pre-independence movement as the ideologue of Pakistan to replace Jinnah the Father of the nation. This clearly shows a deep search once again for a reason for the creation of Pakistan by the elite and they have been able to change the debate inside the country to suit their objective. There is a great debate on nationalism and Islamic ummah concept and what does Pakistan stands for.



Pakistan Studies, like most area studies, came into being at a time of crisis. The political and military upheavals of 1971 forced a rethinking of national life, which seems to have led to the conclusion that there was a need to study Pakistani society so as to contribute to our national cohesion.

In 1973, therefore, a university department of Pakistan Studies was established at the Islamabad (later Quaid-e-Azam) University. By 1976 a comprehensive programm for the promotion of the field was chalked out. Several centers were established, and curricula were developed for the secondary level. In 1978 Pakistan Studies was made compulsory up to the bachelor level. Since then knowledge of Pakistan affairs has been examined in tests and interviews for jobs in practically all government departments. The institutional framework for the growth and development of the discipline is furnished by a 1976 act under which was established the National Institute of Pakistan Studies at the Quaid-e-Azam University in 1983.



Pakistan Studies has its cognitive, practical and affective aspects. Cognitively, its main purpose is to promote knowledge of the individual about himself, his country, and the world around him. In its affective aspect, Pakistan Studies is intended to help socialize him to national life and inculcate patriotism and confidence in the future of Pakistan. The field is thus an instrument to create love and loyalty for Pakistan, and thus in the long run produce better policymakers and administrators.



The greatest threat to Pakistan’s future may be its abysmal education system. Pak¬istani schools—and not just madrassahs— are churning out fiery zealots, fueled with a passion for jihad and martyrdom. The obstacles to reform are great. For example, recent street rampages by Islamists forced Musharraf’s former minister of education, Zubaida Jalal, to declare herself a fundamentalist and denounce as unacceptable school text-books that do not include Quranic verses on jihad.



The United States, along with the United Kingdom and the European Union, has recently poured hundreds of millions of dollars into the Pakistani educational system but with minimal effect. US-AID officials in Pakistan have shown little inclination or desire to engage with the government on the issue of eliminating jihad and militarism from school books. Indeed, rather than calling Musharraf ’s government on the continuing espousal of jihadist doctrine, the White House, out of either ignorance or compromise, even praised former Education Minister Jalal for her “reforms.” Jalal’s successor, General Javed Ashraf Qazi, is a former intelligence chief known for his ruthless tactics. It therefore appears that Musharraf’s educational curriculum will go unchanged.



This difficulty, of course, reflects the underlying problems of Pakistan’s govern¬ment. Aware of its thin legitimacy and fearful of taking on powerful religious forces, no reigning government has made a serious attempt at curricular or educa¬tional reform, quietly allowing future minds to be molded by fanatics. But without such critical reforms, the long-¬term prospects for Pakistan are anything but comforting.



The social engineering started during the Zia rule has transformed the next generation of Pakistani. Dr Hoodbhoy says since Zia the Pakistani society had become more “Islamised”. The changes made in textbooks during his regime had taken effect and the young generation was extremely conservative. He said in his physics class there were 13 girls, seven of whom remained burqa-clad, three donned hijabs and only three retained a normal appearance. The change had been profound and it had penetrated to the roots, he added. The military had changed too and its slogan given by Zia and retained today was jihad in the cause of God. This social engineering done on the Pakistani society was initiated and influenced by the western think tanks and universities in a covert manner. The Indian elite and experts failed to comprehend the scope and breadth of the social engineering being done inside Pakistan for more than 30 years leading to a dangerous vacuum in understanding the threat to India and its society. From available information it is the RAND Corporation which has been the lead think tank in the social engineering project for the last 30 years primarily in Pakistan and Muslim world at large.

<b>In the last ten years there has been considerable growth in India in the Civil Aviation Sector. In the last one year itself a number of Private Airlines have started their operations. It has resulted in air travel becoming cheaper and also generation of employment not only for pilots but for all categories of staff. However, this has not kept pace with the development of facilities in the existing airports. This overcrowding is very much visible in both Mumbai and Delhi airports. This year, with the introduction of international flights by private airlines from India and the open air policy for foreign airlines to operate to India, the situation is going to be getting much worst as time passes.
It is good some of the new airlines are having international flights from Hyderabad and Bangalore. This has taken some load from the Mumbai airport but there is no such alternative in sight for the Delhi airport. Delhi being the capital of India has its ever increasing pressure from the domestic operators in addition to the ever increasing number of new foreign operators. According to media reports, on a particular night there were 6000 passengers chasing 2500 baggage trolleys. The ever increasing number of landings and take offs may cause a major accident any time and now delays are frequent due to congestions in the air corridors.
It is time that Government should seriously think of establishing a civil enclave at the airbase on the Eastern side of the capital so that some of the domestic flights can be operated from that airfield. To start with a limited start can be made in respect of low cost airlines to operate from here. Secondly, the airport at Jaipur needs to be upgraded for allowing international flights. A start was made in a small way but no major effort has been made in this direction. It is good that foreign charters are now being allowed to directly land at Agra. Such operations need to be encouraged so that the situation in Delhi airport can be kept under control.</b>

Left pressure prompted change in education policy, says Yechury

Special Correspondent

Left tells Government to maintain an independent foreign policy



RED SPIRIT: West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee (second from right), CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury, Left party leader B.V. Raghavulu and other delegates at the 12th All India SFI conference in Hyderabad on Thursday. — Photo: D. Gopalakrishnan

HYDERABAD: The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government at the Centre has decided to bring in policy changes to make education affordable to the poor.

The Centre has promised to introduce a Bill to this effect in the winter session of Parliament, which is slated to start on November 23. It has also expressed its willingness to amend the Constitution to ensure that all sections of society can access education, CPI(M) MP and Polit Bureau member Sitaram Yechury said. Addressing a public meeting to mark the commencement of the 12th all- India conference of the Students' Federation of India (SFI) here on Thursday, Mr. Yechury said the continuous pressure mounted by the Left., which was extending outside support to the UPA Government, had forced it to adopt a proactive approach towards the education sector. He said the sector was facing a crisis owing to privatisation and commercialisation and the Left had favoured a social or Government control over it.

The Left was watching UPA's activities to ensure that it did not violate the Common Minimum Programme. "There is no threat to the stability of the UPA Government as long as it abides by the CMP," he said. Mr. Yechury said the Left was asking the Government to maintain an independent foreign policy, which was not dictated by the United States.

West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said that his Government was trying to obtain loans from external agencies only if it did not involve any conditions. The Government was prepared to forego opportunities of securing loan rather than allowing external agencies such as the World Bank interfere in its fiscal, economic and budgetary matters, he said.

Blaming the Congress for ills such as poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, Mr. Bhattacharjee said the country could not achieve what China could as the Congress was giving relief to the rich who comprised only 12 per cent of the population at the expense of the poor. On the lines of the previous NDA regime, the UPA was adopting pro-US policies to become a "younger brother." CPI(M) State secretary B.V. Raghavulu and SFI general secretary Kallol Roy were among those who spoke. SFI all-India president K.K. Raagesh presided over the meeting.

Pioneer.com
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>100 kids, 15 wives, one man </b>
Syed Zarir Hussain / Baktawng (Mizoram)
A tribal Christian cult leader in Mizoram could well claim a slot in the Guinness Book of World Records - 15 wives and more than 100 children staying together.

<b>"My father was married to 15 wives and we have more than 100 brothers and sisters although I am not sure about the exact number. Maybe it could more than a hundred but definitely not less,"</b> 45-year-old Nunparliana, the eldest of the siblings, said.

The head of the family, 70-year-old Zionnghaka, is in good health although he prefers to shy away from the outside world and leads a solitary life inside their hilltop commune of Baktawng, a tiny village 70 kilometres south of Mizoram's capital, Aizawl.

Three of Zionnghaka's wives deserted him and as many of them have died. The family practices a Christian cult called 'Channa' named after Zionnghaka's father, Challianchana, who died in 1997.

Challianchana was believed to have 50 wives with Zionnghaka being the eldest of his many children - there is no count available of the number of children Challianchana had.

The Channa cult founded by Challianchana sometime in the early 1930s is now spread over four generations and boasts of having some 1,600 members.

<b>"We are all happy and like any other churches we believe in the existence of God but the only distinctive difference is that our denomination allows us to marry more than one wife,"</b> Nunparliana said.

From a playground to a school and a church, the village of Baktawng resembles any other tribal village but for the fact that the community members belong to one single family. Most of the community members are today known across Mizoram for their skills in carving out wooden furniture and pottery items.

The circumstances leading to the establishment of the cult was as bizarre as the traditions and practices followed by the Channa sect whose ancestors worshipped a traditional drum called the 'Khuang' until the arrival of the Welsh missionaries.

<b>"The Welsh missionaries banned the worship of the Khuang and upset over this, my grandfather Challianchana and his brother severed ties and founded this sect whom we call either Channa or the Lalpa Kohhran," </b>another community member said.


But church leaders, Presbyterian being the dominant denomination, reject the cult's claims to be Christians.

"Christianity does not allow polygamy and hence accepting the cult as Christians does not arise at all. Polygamy is very rare in Mizoram," Reverend Lalvirinawma, moderator of the Presbyterian Synod in Aizawl, said.

<b>There are an estimated 95 different Christian cults in Mizoram with strange practices - some of them do not allow their children to mingle with others and attend schools, while some of the sect claims their members to be Gods.</b>
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Same in US.

Please post all articles related to Dharampal's writings in this thread.

Folks
I am new here(registered today) and thought I will start a thread rightaway!
I thought there is no one location where one can discuss the histories of various places and the myths and legends associated with them. This is important especially in India where our combined Indic history can be a emotionally uniting factor. Lord Rama the Prince of Ayodhya(in UP) crossing over to Lanka from Rameswaram(in TN) immediately connects the people of 2 small towns in UP and TN thru a legend and a shared past. IMHO there no other single binding force like this in an incredibly diverse India. This thread will hopefully throw more light on indian places from our mythologies, puranas and right upto to modern day India.
I must admit I have nothing to offer on this thread other than starting it. I am here to learn(unlike what my nickname suggests <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo--> ) and probably contribute later.
Over to you Gurus <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif' /><!--endemo-->

How Indians' dentities often get reprogrammed to 'South Asian'.


Until reading your articles I never really gave much thought to this 'South Asian' movement on campuses. I am currently enrolled in college and I have personally seen many of my own friends reprogram their identities to 'South Asian'. It is alarming to me how impressionable many Indian youth are while in college.

Nowadays most Indian kids are more concerned about being politically correct and appearing "open minded". After reading your articles I have tried to my best to convince people to assert an Indian-American identity however, I believe my efforts so far have been failures. You have written about how Indians' identities are "South Asianized" but you have not written why so many Indian youth have followed this path. I think one reason is that this 'South Asian' movement has been successful is because Indian kids often have strict upbringings and this creates a rebellious mentality in many youth. I believe that Indian girls are often the most susceptible to brainwashing of "South Asianists" because they are often subject to stricter treatment from parents and the rest of the Indian community then boys. "South Asianists" seem to exploit this and exaggerate it to the point where Indian/Hindu culture is associated with social ills against women. These "South Asianists" also exploit the way Indian parents push their kids to enter wealth generating fields and denounce this as being materialistic and superficial. Another trend I've also noticed is the way "South Asianists" dismiss the success of Indians in America as not being the result of hard work, intelligence and education but because of "immigration law" as Mr. Vijay Prashad put it.
http://www.asiansinamerica.org/museum/comm_ind.html

Even my own sister constantly tries to propagate this to me. It amazes me even more how almost all the people getting caught up in this 'South Asian' movement are Indians. Pakistanis and Bangladeshis always join their own or Muslim student organizations. Every time I point this out to fellow Indians none of them can ever give a valid reason or beat me in a debate as to why Indians should bother with the 'South Asian' tag. I grew up in a mainly Bangladeshi and Pakistani part of Brooklyn. From when I was a little kid I understood how different and how little I have in common with non-Indian South Asians. I believe Indians in Britain are much more aware of their Indian identity because skirmishes and fights between the Indian and Pakistani youth there are a common occurrence from what I have heard. On top of that is the well documented gap in education and achievement between the two communities with Indians rising to the top and Pakistanis confined to ghetto areas like the ones in Bradford and Birmingham. Because America is a big piece of land and also the fact that the more affluent areas where Indians are more prominent and the working class neighborhoods/ghettos of NYC where Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are more prominent, are so geographically isolated, Indians living in places like Long Island and Edison, NJ have no idea how different their ideal of South Asian unity and how reality is. I commend you for what you are doing for the Indian-American community. It is absolutely essential that we do whatever we can to make sure India is portrayed in positive light.

"South Asian" seems to be a temporary/unstable state pending further engineering - it suggests, "I am ready to be tutored to become whatever you want." Its significance is not based on what it is, but based on what it leaves behind (by way of implied and polite rejection) so as to clear the space for fresh programming.

... Those who remain behind as "native" Indians are seen as the new outcasts; they are vulnerable to future genocides resulting from overpopulation and civilizational clashes. Are we Indians turning into global shudras-for-hire with no identity of our own other than whatever the latest master assigns?

Postmodernism is an imperialist export - via co-opted (whitened) third world intellectuals - to distribute "theories" that support this trend as being desirable and/or inevitable. Whitened intermediaries like Harvard's Homi Bhabha are rewarded with cushy Ivy League jobs and turned into role models for facilitating the bandwagon effect among Indian intellectuals who are anxious to escape the "problems of Indianness." Meanwhile, the Harvard cabal under the choirship of Sugata Bose dishes out demonology against Indian culture to make the carrots more attractive for assuming new identities: hence the role of Harvard as the epicenter for studying sati, dowry, incest, caste, gender conflict as Indian "essences."


Indian culture which is deemed valuable is repackaged as "white" (such as yoga/meditation these days...) and this appropriation is sold to confused Indians as being a compliment by the whites. Whatever is left behind after the scavenging is branded as backward/facsist Indianness. Between these two extremes of whiteness and Indianness, the South Asian labeling provides the safety of a middle ground with enough ambiguity and wiggle room to customize and personalize. The student who wrote the email rightfully blames orthodox parents. I would add to his list the role of US based lazy and pompous Indian cultural leaders who naively play into this phenomenon...

Hello All

I found India-Forum a very informative site. I am new here.

Does anyone have or know the history of KHANNAs in India and abroad ? Some web links / books / articles / etc may help me.

Thanks in advance.

B Khanna

<b>Oil-for-Food probe: Congress denies charges </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Volcker committee inquiry appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in 2004 also named External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh in the report.  <!--emo&:o--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/ohmy.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='ohmy.gif' /><!--endemo-->

The Congress Party said the allegations are baseless as it was not in power when the Oil-for-Food Programme was operated. <!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo-->
.........
<b>BJP slams Cong</b>
<b>But the BJP is accusing the minister of having personally benefitted in the case.</b>

BJP General Secretary Arun Jaitley demanded Natwar Singh's resignation and said that the Congress should give a statement on the issue.

"How can he (Natwar Singh) continue as India's Foreign Minister even for a day if the UN report mentions him as a non-contractual beneficiary for manipulated payment in UN Food-for-Oil programme.

"Every word he speaks will be suspect and his statements on Foreign Affairs will be suspect," said Jaitley.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Oil-for-Food Programme

In 2001, Iraq was awarded the Oil-for-Food Programme from the UN while it was still under sanctions. This was being done for humanitarian reasons.

The Volcker committee now says that <b>Saddam Hussein approached Natwar Singh and the Congress party to be involved in this programme</b>.

According to the report, <b>80 lakh barrels of oil was allotted to both Natwar Singh and the Congress party. The total amount claimed by both was approximately 30 lakh barrel.</b>

Against this, <b>the Congress and Singh were expected to provide humanitarian assistance through Indian industries worth for the same amount</b>.

The report alleges that in all Saddam Hussein sold oil worth US$ 64 billion internationally and got a US$ 1.8 billion kickback

More than 100 Indian companies including <b>Reliance </b>and individuals are also listed as having done business in this deal.

The list of Indian companies includes STC, Kirloskar Engines, Ajanta Pharma, Mohan Exports, L T Overseas Ltd, Jord Engineers, National Electrical Industry, Jain Irrigation Systems, Lucky Exports and Airpac Exports<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
How they did it? Is it through state they were in power? Why NDA failed to catch them?

<!--QuoteBegin-Mudy+Oct 28 2005, 03:53 AM-->QUOTE(Mudy @ Oct 28 2005, 03:53 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The writer Raja is incorrect.

The Khokkars are Jats and spread right through Punjab East and West, Haryana, Rajastan, and UP.

There is a book on Jat history written by Dr. Atal Singh Khokgar. He is the author of " Jaton ki Utpathi evam Vistar", publishedby Jaipal Agencies, 31-A Subhashpuram, Agra 282007, U.P.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->


Why we should trust Dr. Atal Singh version and not Raja? Jats can handle Raja facts in a tea cup.
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Mudy,

You are correct, and this is a good question.

The Jat clan lists, the Gotravalis, state that Khokkar is a Jat Goth (gothra)

Dr. Atal Singh Khokkar is a Hindu Jat. He identifies himself as a jat. He was born in the Patti (subdivision) of Dhankaushiyah, in the village of Chaprauli, District Baghpat, U.P.
on July 25, 1940. His father was Baldev Singh Khokkar.

He was educated in Jain College, Baraut, U.P., and did his PhD in Geography from Meerut University, Meerut (Now Chaudhary Charan Singh University). He was the librarian there

Raja, the poster, does not identify himself as a Jat, but Dr Khokkar is one.

The same poster I think) had written on Wikipedia on the Jat section. He claimed that Khokkars are not Jats.

On Wikipedia, the Jats have posted that Khokkars are Jats

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jat

See Clan names, under K.

In the Book section I have included the name of Dr Khokkar's book.

In the discussion section:

One gentleman had written:

“Khokkars are not Jat.

To state Khokkars are Jatt is a folly because they are essentially the descendants of the original Sassanids who took refuge in India after being defeated by the Arabs in Persia. They are a generally referred to as a Rajput clan owing to their ruling status on the Kuh-i-Jud regions of Punjab and have allied many times with various other clans such as Janjua in defeating and pushing back the Ghorid armies from their regions. Ghakkar is another variation for Khokkar. Although they are not essentially Chandra, Surya or Agnikula Vansh, they were referred to and given status of Rajput by the priests of their time, this was not a self proclaimed title. This therefore proves the fact that Jatts aren't neccesarily an ethnic group at all. Many fallen royals became Jatt i.e. Bhatti, Chauhans etc. again proving that Jat is a class name for farmers and agriculturists and not an ethnic group of seperating branches as I feel is being implied here. So to say that the Jats were in constant battle with Ghakkars is wrong because they are the same people."


I have posted the following.


“Khokkar/ Kokkar Jats are found all over Northern India.

Ghakkar is a variation of Khokkar.

The Jats themselves do not claim descent from the Sassanids, nor do they claim descent from Rajputs!

Dr Atal Singh Khokkar, a Jat, wrote a book on Jat History. “Jaton Ki Utpati evam Vistar". “

All one can do is to point to the information and to the various sources, and allow people like Mr. Raja to digest it, and draw their own conclusions.


To continue, The Khokkars are attested as being the Punjab /Haryana region since quite ancient time. They are linked to the Yaudheyas, and one of the ancient names for modern Rohtak in Haryana, was Khokrakot- Fortress of the Khokkars.

The Yaudheyas, as you are most probably aware, are dated from circa 6th century BCE to 4th/5th century CE

The history of the clan is worth exploring. I will see what material I have, and post something.

Take Care

Ravi