Culture wars

Pakistan, Bangladesh and India should jointly organise a music festival in Europe

I am currently attending a conference arranged by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis in New Delhi. The theme of the conference is “Culture as a Factor in Regional Cooperation in South Asia”. The fact that a defence institute recognises the importance of culture and wants to harness it for regional cooperation is significant. In a way, however, it is ironic that at a time when the Indian prime minster is promoting a mono-cultural identity for India and the diverse elements in the country are under extreme pressure and threat, a conference celebrating the plurality of the cultures of South Asia is taking place at a government institution. But then this could also be a sign of the complexity of the current culture war in India with there being different forces, even within the government.

All countries in South Asia have a shared culture; and it is beyond the generic. For example, India and Pakistan share not only a lot of cultural affinity, Punjabis and Sindhis are present in both countries in significant numbers. Bangladesh’s counterpart is West Bengal (significant that the appellation ‘West’ is still kept), Tamil Nadu shares a lot with northern Sri Lanka, and Afghanistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkwa practically mean the same thing! These connections, despite official attempts by several governments to break them, still apply and in some cases, thrive. It is interesting to note that despite nearly 70 years of separation, the culture of east and west Punjab is largely similar. Yes, there has been some change and difference, but considering that there have been nearly three generations since 1947, the difference is not that significant. In fact, on both sides of Punjab, people still refer to the events of 1947 as ‘Partition’, since Punjab was partitioned, rather than ‘independence’, much to the chagrin of governments on both sides.

While political problems continue, all South Asian countries need to embrace and celebrate their shared cultures and traditions. No country in South Asia is mono-cultural and therefore, first, all countries need to recognise this. Pakistan has suffered from culture wars practically since its inception, and India is currently going through its phase. Recognising only one culture and promoting it alone will result in even scholars making fantastic claims, like the bizarre one made recently in India that the Vedic civilisation predated the Indus Valley civilisation! The Hindu right’s agenda to promote everything Hindu and Vedic has led it not only to attack people from other religions and cultures, but also to create historical falsehoods. This does disservice to both the Hindu religion and culture, and will only lead to more hallucinations and fabrications, and create a false sense and understanding of identity and culture.

Culture is primarily based on shared values, and it brings together all South Asians equally. Hence, secondly, all South Asian countries need to hold events that promote and engage with their diverse cultures, not only in their own countries, but also in other South Asian countries. This will increase shared development of our cultures and also lead to a greater understanding of other cultures and traditions. A large part of the ‘other-ing’ process in most countries is grounded in a lack of understanding of the culture and traditions of the other, and so a mutual celebration of cultures will lead to a deeper understanding and connection.

Thirdly, the shared cultures of South Asia need to be jointly promoted by the countries in other areas and regions of the world. This will not only promote cooperation between our several countries, it will showcase our region in places and venues where South Asian countries have not been able to make an impact. The joint efforts of all South Asian countries — this could happen through Saarc or otherwise — will be beneficial for all regional countries, especially the smaller ones, as working together will allow for better publicity, more public space and hence greater impact and an improved image of the region. For example, there is nothing stopping Pakistan, Bangladesh and India from jointly organising a music festival in Europe. All these countries share similar genres and use mutually intelligible languages, and therefore, such a joint exercise will collectively and particularly improve the ‘soft power’ of all the countries involved.

The two days of the conference with strong representation from all South Asian countries have given us a lot to mull over. There is nothing to lose, but a lot to gain from cultural cooperation. Time to act! 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 28^th,  2015.

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