WH 24 & 30: Gandhi and India
How did Indira Gandhi combat rural poverty?
-She nationalized banks, provided loans to peasants on easy terms, built low-cost housing, distributed land to the landless, and introduced electoral reforms to enfranchise the poor
Reasons for using traditional values
-Should not become a carbon copy of the West (national identity) -Provide ideological symbols that the common people could understand and would rally around--needed to enlist most population in common struggle
Benazir Bhutto
-(1953-2007) -The daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto -Supporter of secularism who had been educated in the United States -Removed from power by a military regime, in 1990, on charges of incompetence and corruption -Reelected in 1993, attempted to crack down on opposition forces but was removed once again in 1997 amid renewed charges of official corruption -Returned from xile to present herself as a candidate in presidential elections to be held early in 2008, she was assassinated, leading to widespread suspicions of official involvement
Punjab
-*State in northwestern India with a largely Sikh population* -Contains the city of Amritsar -Militant Sikhs were demanding autonomy or even independence from India -Indira Gandhi did not shrink from a confrontation and attacked Sikh rebels hiding in their Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar-
A. B. Vajpayee
-10th prime minister of India -Prime minister ascended to power and played on Hindu sensibilities to build its political base -In the spring of 2004, a stunning defeat in national elections forced the Vajpayee government to resign
Kashmir
-A Hindu prince ruled over a Muslim population -After independence declared, flight of millions of Hindus and Muslims across the borders led to violence and the deaths of more than a million people -Gandhi assassinated on January 30, 1948 on his way to morning prayer -Rulers of Hyderabad and Kashmir both followed their own preferences rather than the wishes of their subject populations -India was also able to seize most of here, but at the cost of creating an intractable problem that has poisoned relations with Pakistan
Sati
-A former practice in India whereby a widow threw herself on to her husband's funeral pyre
Congress Party*
-A major national political party in India - also known as the Indian National Congress.
Mohandas Gandhi
-A philosopher from India, this man was a spiritual and moral leader favoring India's independence from Great Britain. He practiced passive resistance, civil disobedience and boycotts to generate social and political change. -Son of a government minister -Studied in London and became a lawyer -Set up a movement on nonviolent resistance-satyagraha (hold fast to the truth) -Concerned about the plight of the millions of untouchables (children of God) -Told followers to refuse to obey British regulations -Organized mass protests to achieve his aims -Hindu lawyer returned from South Africa to become active member of INC in 1915
Shalimar the Clown (2005)
-Addressed the quagmire in Kashmir -Written by Rushdie
Civil Disobedience
-After released from prison, Gandhi returned to his earlier policy by openly supporting protests
What were the primary themes of Nehru?
-Anticolonialism and antiracism
New Party
-As impatient members of the INC became disillusioned, the radicals split off and formed -Called for the use of terrorism and violence to achieve national independence
Partition
-As riots escalated, the British reluctantly accepted the inevitability of this and declared that on August 15, 1947, two independent nations would be established -Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan -Gandhi warned that this would provoke an "orgy of blood" , but now he was regarded as a figure of the past, and his views were ignored
Shari'a
-Became the basis for social behavior as well as for the legal system -Laws governing the consumption of alcohol and the role of women were tightened in accordance with strict Muslim beliefs
Green Revolution
-Began in the 1960s helped reduce the severity of the population problem -The introduction of more productive, disease-resistant strains of rice and wheat doubled grain production between 1960 and 1980 -Increased rural inequality -Only the wealthier farmers were able to purchase the necessary fertilizer, poor peasants were often driven off the land -Millions fled to the cities, where they lived in vast slums, working at menial jobs or begging for a living
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
-Breakup of union led to the replacement by a civilian government under (---)
What was Nehru influenced by?
-British socialist and patterned his economic policy roughly after the program of the British Labour Party
Dhoti
-Clothing made of coarse homespun cotton -Adopted the spinning wheel as a symbol of Indian resistance to imports of British textiles
Muslim League
-Created to represent the interests of the millions of Muslims in Indian society
Gandhi (the movie)
-Directed by Richard Attenborough -Seeks to present a faithful rendition of the life of its subject -From introduction to apartheid in South Africa at the turn of the century to his tragic death after WWII -Ben Kingsley, son of an Indian father and an English mother, plays Gandhi (received an Oscar in the Best Actor category) Widely praised and earned 8 Academy Awards
The Moor's Last Sigh (1995)
-Examined what Rushdie perceives as the excesses of HIndu nationalism -Written by Rushdie
Taslima Nasrin
-Female author of Bangladesh -Became famous when she was sentenced to death for her novel Shame (1993) -An outspoken feminist -Critical of Islam for obstructing human progress and women's equality -In 2004, she moved to India, where the government was fearful that her presence would instigate Muslim unrest -Now lives in exile in Europe
Martha Nussbaum
-Female historian -Points out in The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future
Madhu Kishwar
-Founder and editor of a women's journal in New Delhi -Author of editorial, Finding Indian Solutions to Women's Problems -Talking about feminism
Salt March
-Gandhi organized -Took place from March to April 1930 -Joined several dozen supporters on 240-mile walk to the ea, where he picked up a lump o salt and urged Indians to ignore the law -Britain's Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staple in their diet
Armitsar
-Gandhi organized mass protests to achieve his aims -In 1919, British troops killed hundreds of unarmed protesters in the enclosed square in the city -Gandhi was horrified at the violence -Gandhi was arrested for his role in the protests and spent several years in prison
Satyagraha
-Gandhi set up movement based around nonviolent resistance -Hindi term meaning "hold fast to the truth" -To try to force the British to improve the lot of the poor and grant independence to India
The Labour Party
-Had long been critical of British colonial policies on both moral and economic grounds -Come to power in Britain -Nehru had been influenced by British socialism and patterned his economic policy roughly after the program of this
World War I (check definition for this)*****
-Hastened the collapse of the old empires (Ottoman Empire-been growing weaker since the end of the 18th century, troubled by rising governmental corruption, decline in sultans, and loss of territory in Balkans and southwestern Russia) -Ottoman government allied with Germany in the hope of driving the British from Egypt and restoring Ottoman rule over the Nile valley
Sarda Act
-In 1929, this raised the minimum age of marriage to 14
Bangladesh
-In 1971, when riots against the Pakistani government broke out in East Pakistan, India intervened on the side of East Pakistan, which declared its independence as the new nation of (---) -Pakistani troops attempted to restore central government authority in the capital of Dhaka, but rebel forces supported by India went on the offensive, and the government bowed to the inevitable and recognized independent (-----)
General Zia Ul Ha'q
-In 1977, a new military governent under him came to power with a commitment to make Pakistan a true Islamic state
Kyoto
-In 2001, President George W. Bush refused to sign the (---) Agreement on the grounds that it discriminated against advanced Western countries
Asif Ali Zardari
-In September 2008, amid growing political turmoil, Benazir Bhutto's widower was elected president of Pakistan
Mumbai terrorist attack
-In the fall of 2008, an attack in the city -Left nearly 200 dead and raised serious questions about the effectiveness of Indian security procedures -Indian officials charged that the inspiration for the attack came from Pakistan
The Dutch East Indies/Indonesia
-In this, Sarekat Islam began as a self-help society among Muslim merchants to fight domination of the local economy by Chinese interests -Eventually, activist elements began to realize that the source of the problem was not the Chinese merchants but the colonial presence, and in the 1920's, Sarekat Islam was transformed into a new organization, the Nationalist Part of Indonesia -This party would eventually lead the country to independence after WWII
Manmohan Singh
-India's prime minister since 2004, has lamented what he calls an assault on India's "composite culture"
Sutan Sjahrir
-Indonesian intellectual lamented, many westernized intellectuals had more in common with their colonial ruler than with the rural population in the villages -Prominent leader of the Indonesian nationalist movement who briefly served as prime minister of the Republic of Indonesia in the 1950s -Like many Western-educated ASian intellectuals, he was tortured by the realization that by education and outlook he was closer to his colonial masters (the Dutch) than to his own people -Wrote letter to his wife and then put it in his book Out of Exile in 1935
Democratic Socialism
-Like Nehru, Indira Gandhi embraced this and a policy of neutrality in foreign affairs, but she was more activist in promoting her objectives than her father
East Pakistan
-Made up of the marshy deltas of the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers -Densely populated with rice farmers, it was the home of the artistic and intellectual Bengalis -East Pakistan felt that the west ignored their needs
What was Gandhi increasingly known as?
-Mahatma (meaning India's Great Soul)
"City of Joy"
-Many Indians have not benefited from the new prosperity -Nearly 1/3 of the population lives below the national poverty line -*Millions continue to live in urban slums, such as this famous city in Kolkata (Calcutta) and most farm families remain desperately poor* -Inequality of wealth in India is as pronounced as it is in capitalist nations in the West
Indo-Anglian Literature
-Many authors chose to write in English -Known as this, such works are written primarily for the Indian elite or for foreign audiences -For that reason, some critics charge that this type of literature lacks authenticity
Gopal Gokhale
-Many tended to prefer reform to revolution and believed that India needed modernization before it could handle independence -Exponent of this view -A moderate nationalist who hoped that he could convince the British to bring about needed reforms in Indian society -Did have some effect
Sikhs
-Militant demanded autonomy or even independence from India -Indira Gandhi did not shrink from confrontation and attacked Sih rebels hiding in their Golden Temple in the city of Amritsar -Aroused anger among the community, and in 1984, members of Indira's personal bodyguard assassinated her -Congress party protected minority groups like this and Muslims from discrimination -Religious tensions intensified
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
-Militantly Hindu -Actively vied with Congress for control of the central and state governments -Under Prime Minister A. B. Vajpayee ascended to power and played on HIndu sensibilities to build its political base -Leaders underestimated the discontent of India's less affluent citizens
Harijans
-Mohandas Gandhi was particularly concerned about the plight of the millions of untouchables whom he called by this name -Meaning "children of God" -Another group of followers for Mahatma Gandhi
What is the difference between Gandhi and Nehru?
-Nehru favored industrialization to build material prosperity -Gandhi praised the simple virtues of manual labor
The Nationalist Party of Indonesia (PNI)
-New name of Sarekat Islam and transformed into this new organization -Like the Thakins in Burma, this party would eventually lead the country to independence after WWII
Did Nehru follow Gandhi?
-No, he departed sharply from Gandhi, who believed that materialism was morally corrupting and that only simplicity and nonviolence
Anita Desai
-One of the first prominent female writers to emerge from contemporary India -Her writing focuses on the struggle of Indian women to achieve a degree of independence -Wrote Cry, the Peacock
Salman Rushdie
-One of the most famous Indian-born authors -Wrote Midnight's Children (1980) and The Satanic Verses (1988) Shalimar the Clown (2005) -Like his contemporaries Gunter Grass and Gabriel García Márquez, Rushdie used the technique of magical realism to jolt his audience into a recognition of the inhumanity of modern society and the need to develop a sense of moral concern for the fate of the Indian people and for the world as a whole -Later novels tackled such problems as religious intolerance, political tyranny, social injustice, and greed and corruption
Srimivao Bandaranaike
-One of the three main women prime ministers -Next to Indira Gandhi and Benazir Bhutto -Came from prominent political families and owed their initial success to a husband or father who had served as prime minister before them
Progressive Organization for Women (POW)
-Organized efforts to protect the rights of women were under way in India since the 1970's, when this organization instituted a campaign against sexual harrassment and other forms of discrimination against women in Indian society
Taliban
-Pakistan became the focus of international attention when a coalition of forces arrived in Afghanistan to overthrow this regime and destroy al-Qaeda terrorist network -Despite considerable support for them among the local population, President Musharraf pledged his help in bringing terrorists to justice
The Nationalist Quandary
-Patriots throughout the colonial world were engaged in a lively and sometimes acrimonious (angry and bitter) debate over such questions as whether independence or modernization should be their primary objective -Primarily seen as an impediment to change, the first priority was to bring it to an end -Majority convinced that to survive, societies must adopt much of the Western way of life; yet many were equally determined that the local culture would not become a copy of the West
West Pakistan
-Perennially short of water and was populated by dry crop farmers and peoples of the steppe -Diverse and included Pushtuns, Baluchis, and Punjabis
Communalism
-Problem after Nehru's death in 1964 -Allegiance to one's own ethnic group rather than to the wider society -Beneath the surface unity of the new republic lay age-old ethnic, linguistic, and religious divisions -Because of India's vast size and complex history, non national language ever emerged
Dowry
-Property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage -Constitution expressly forbade discrimination based on gender and called for equal pay for equal work -Laws prohibited child marriage, sati, and the payment of a dowry by the bride's family
Midnight's Children
-Published in 1980 -Written by Salman Rushdie -Author linked his protagonist, born on the night of independence, to the history of modern India, its achievements, and its frustrations
Sri Lanka
-Rajiv Gandhi sought to play a role in regional affairs, mediating a dispute between the government in here and Tamil rebels (Elam Tiger) who were ethnically related to the majority population in southern India
What was Salman Rushdie's message in his novels?
-Rushdie used the technique of magical realism to jolt his audience into a recognition of the inhumanity of modern society and the need to develop a sense of moral concern for the fate of the Indian people and for the world as a whole
Indian National Congress
-Slow pace of reform convinced many Indian nationalists that rely on British benevolence was futile -In 1885, a small group of Indians, with some British participation, met in Bombay to form -Hoped to speak for all India, but most were high-caste English-trained Hindus -Did not demand immediate independence and accepted the need or reforms to end traditional abuses like child marriage and sati -Called for an Indian share in the governing process and more spending on economic development and less on military campaigns along the frontier -Had difficulty reconciling religious differences within its ranks -Many of its leaders were Hindu and reflected Hindu concerns
Bhopal
-Some critics, reflecting the traditional anti-imperialist attitude of Indian intellectuals, blame Western capitalist corporations for the problem, as in the highly publicized case of leakage from a foreign-owned chemical plant here
Jawaharlal Nehru
-Son of an earlier INC leader -Educated in the law in Great Britain and a brahmin by birth, personified the new Anglo-Indian politician: secular, rational, upper class, and intellectual -Appeared to be everything that Gandhi was not -With his emergence, the independence movement embarked on two paths, religious and secular, Indian and Western, traditional and modern -Dual character strengthened the movement by bringing together the two primary impulses behind the desire for independence: elite nationalism and the primal force of Indian traditionalism -New prime minister for the Congress Party -Determined to include both states within India -Devotee of Western materialism
General Pervaiz Musharraf
-Successor of Benazir Bhutto -Came under fire for the same reason and in 1999 was ousted by a military coup led by him -Promised to restore political stability and honest government
Hyderabad
-The British instructed the rulers in the princely states to choose which nation they would join by August 15, but problems arose in this Hindu state -Governor was a Muslim, and in the mountainous province of Jammu -Followed own preferences rather than the wishes of their subject populations -In 1948, Indian troops invaded here and annexed the area
Purdah
-The practice among women in certain Muslim and Hindu societies of living in a separate room or behind a curtain, or of dressing in all-enveloping clothes, in order to stay out of the sight of men or strangers -The role of women changed much less in rural areas -In the early 1960's, many villagers still practiced the institution of this
What was Gandhi's goal?
-Two-fold -To convert the British to his views while simultaneously strengthening the unity and sense of self-respect of his compatriots (a fellow citizen or national of a country)
Parliamentary form of Government
-Under Nehru's leadership, India adopted a political system on the British model -With a figurehead president and a this type of government -Sought to avoid excessive dependence on foreign investment and technological assistance -All businesses were required by law to have a majority Indian ownership
The breakup of the union between East and West Pakistan
-Undermined the fragile authority of the military regime that had ruled Pakistan since 1958 and led to its replacement by a civilian government under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
What was the goal of the INC?
-Was to seek self-determination for all Indians regardless of class or religious affiliation, but many of its leaders were Hindu and inevitably reflected Hindu concerns
Government of India Act
-While Gandhi was in prison -In 1921, the British passed this -Transforming the heretofore advisory Legislative Council into a bicameral parliament, two-thirds of whose members would be elected -Wanted to push aggressively for full independence
How did the British respond to the Indian National Congress?
-With a few concessions, but change was glacially slow
Cry, the Peacock
-Written by Anita Desai -Heroine finally seeks liberation by murdering her husband, preferring freedom at any cost to remaining a captive of traditional society
The Clash Within: Democracy, Religious Violence, and India's Future
-Written by Martha Nussbaum -Much of India's rural population continues to hold traditional beliefs, such as the concept of karma and inherent caste distinctions, that are incompatible with the capitalist work ethic and the democratic belief in equality before the law -Beliefs provide a measure of identity and solace often lacking in other societies where such traditional spiritual underpinnings have eroded
The Satanic Verses (1988)
-Written by Salman Rushdie -Attack on Islamic fundamentalism -Won plaudits from literary critics but aroused widespread criticism among Muslims, including a death sentence by Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini
Shame (1993)
-Written by Taslima Nasrin -Sentenced to death for this novel -She criticized official persecution of the Hindu minority
A Suitable Boy
-Written by Vikram Seth (1952) -Describes the dilemma faced by a Hindu family when a daughter wishes to marry her Muslim boyfriend -Rupa Mehra is the mother of two daughters, Savita and Lata -Savita has married Pran, a fellow Hindu, but Lata has fallen in love with Kabir, a Muslim student at her university -In passage, author portrays the anguish experienced by family members as they seek to resolve the problem -Lata finally agrees to follow family tradition and marry the young Hindu her mother has chosen -Lata hopes that respect for her husband will eventually turn to love, as happened with her sister Savita
V.S. Naipaul
-Wrote India: A Wounded Civilization -A Trinidadian of Indian descent who received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2001, charged that Mahatma Gandhi's glorification of poverty and the simple Indian village was an obstacle to efforts to overcome the poverty, ignorance, and degradation of India's past and build a prosperous modern society -Gandhi's vision of a spiritual India, this person complained, was a balm for defeatism and an excuse for failure
