A Post-Nationalist South Asia

Published on

The South Asian Nation needs to re-invent itself before it is torn apart by internecine conflicts.

In South Asia, ´nation´, ´nationalism´ and ´nationhood´ are all products of colonial history. There is no evidence of such concepts or ideas having any relevance to South Asia´s history prior to the arrival of the Europeans.

Indeed, the very fact that the Europeans (first the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch, the French and the British) arrived in South Asia as ´nations´ contributed to the diffusion of such ideas propagating a ´governing principle´ for reproducing and replacing colonialism— the former by way of organising the power of the colonialists for the benefit of the European fatherland and the latter by way of uniting the indigenous population under the leadership of the local dominant forces.

Loading content, please wait...
Himal Southasian
www.himalmag.com