A postcolonial solidarity, finally

Southasia once again seems to be in great turmoil, with each country in the region faced with crises for which resolutions are far from easy. Consolidation of the transition to democracy is the overridingly difficult challenge in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh; while in the Maldives, the transition to democracy itself is halted. In Sri Lanka, the ethnic civil war seems to be capable only of escalation, at huge political and humanitarian cost. Although India seems to be on the path of rapid capitalist growth, its regime's instability, unaddressed socio-economic disparities of massive proportions, and its many insurgencies rooted in social and regional grievances all linger..When the SAARC leaders meet in Colombo for their periodic ritual, these issues will obviously not be included on their agenda. The initiative taken by civil-society groups in Southasia for a People's SAARC, however, does provide the forum necessary to explore the political distress that afflicts the entire region. But in order for a People's SAARC process to be meaningful, it is necessary to generate some new ideas about reforming, if not re-working, the Southasian political order..Some new thinking for Southasian people's solidarity across the borders of existing nation states in Southasia should begin with the realisation that, although many of the crucial problems faced are country specific, sustainable solutions to them would actually require broadly regional initiatives. No internal problem, whether in Nepal, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh, remains within the confines of their nation-state borders. Major political upheavals in India and Pakistan, the two big Southasian countries with extra-regional ambitions, have crucial repercussions for the rest of Southasia. This is because they are intimately, covertly and overtly, involved in shaping the political processes of their neighbours..One major obstacle to a strong movement of Southasian solidarity among the people across the borders is the oppressive influence of the notion of the nation state in shaping our political imagination. The belief in the sanctity of political and cultural identities, as defined strictly in accordance with the loyalty to one's country, has created such adversarial categories of 'us' and 'them' that solidarity among human beings across the state boundaries is vulnerable to the demands of patriotism. Cultivated by political, military, bureaucratic, religious, intellectual and media elites, these cultures of nation-state-centrism are present in various degrees in Southasia. It is most perniciously visible in India-Pakistan relations, of course, but its presence in the relations between other Southasian countries is no less visible.. New solidarity Six decades of the 'modern' nation-state system in Southasia have not managed to produce a modern political language of strong solidarity among the peoples of the region. Whenever some Southasian dignitary begins to talk about regional cooperation, the invocation is of the historical, pre-colonial links, exchange and interaction. Why is it that we need to summon the pre-colonial past to frame our imagination of present-day regional cooperation and solidarity? Why have we not yet worked out a postcolonial, or contemporary, solidarity across the modern 'nations' and 'states' in Southasia? These are questions on which the leaders and activists of the People's SAARC movement should begin to reflect. At this point, one may suggest an answer: perhaps we have not yet emancipated ourselves from the old political imagination of the 'modern' nation state.. Let me elaborate on this last point with some simple questions. Why do the Bangladeshi citizens who cross the borders to escape poverty get treated in neighbouring India as criminals? Why do genuine travellers from India to Pakistan and vice-versa get so humiliated, treated even as potential threats to national security, at visa offices, crossing border check points and airports? Why do Pakistani academics who visit New Delhi, or those from India who visit Karachi for research, or just to meet friends, have to report to the nearest police station? Why do poor people who cross the borders with undeclared goods get treated as smugglers, whereas such exchange of goods and labour has been a part of the social history of the region for centuries? Why is the notion of the videshi (the 'foreigner') so strong in our minds in relation to our fellow Southasian citizens?. The citizens of Southasian need a new culture of solidarity. But this will have to come through a radical critique of what the 'modern' state system has done to their minds, cultures and forms of political imagination. Now is certainly the time for formulating and acting upon a new epistemic frame of Southasian citizenship.. ~ Jayadeva Uyangoda is professor and head of the Department of Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Colombo.