Forum explores South Asian peace

Ayesha Jalal, a history professor at Tufts University and a renowned academic scholar in South Asian studies, was the featured speaker at a forum co-sponsored by the South Asian Students Association (SASA), the Global Justice Project, and the women's studies program. The forum, titled "A Human Tragedy, A Strategic Nightmare: Kashmir in the Indo-Pakistan Peace Process," sought to inform listeners of the shaky international relations between India and Pakistan, tracing them back to historical events and current public policies.

Jalal is one of the leading scholars in the field of South Asian history and study of the region. She has won numerous awards and has retained positions at various prestigious colleges both in the United States and outside of the country.

She has been a fellow at Trinity College Cambridge, as well as at the Center for South Asian Studies at Cambridge University in England, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars in Washington, DC.

Jalal is an Academy scholar at Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies. She has had professorships at various universities including Harvard University, Columbia University, and is presently at Tufts University. She also has various publications to her name.

She began by noting the historical roots of the Indo-Pakistan conflict, including the rise of jingoistic pride and the how territorial nationalism gave rise to a religious rivalry between Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan.

"There was that notion that religions were territorially specific and were therefore unsuited to the temperament of some nations," said Jalal. "It was nationalism therefore and not religion, that by compartmentalizing people into different nations is the source of national conflict."

Jalal argued that a détente between the nations is vital for the region, stating that "the costs of failure are unimaginably high."

She noted that the United States is playing an important role in the background of these foreign affairs, but that she was concerned as to whether or not policy makers understood the long term repercussions of actions taken in the region.

Kashmir was described as a major flashpoint for the Indo-Pakistan conflict, due to the struggle of both countries to claim the region. Jalal described Kashmir as a heterogeneous region, an amalgamation of the nation-states of Jammu, Ladakh, Baltisan, Gilgit, and the Kash Valley.

The state, created in 1846 by treaty from the British East India Company and ruler Maharajah Gulab Singh, is comprised of Hindus, Muslims, and Buddhists. Jalal noted that Kashmir was acceded to India in August 1947 and was then invaded by Pakistan in a violation of the Standstill Agreement in October of the same year. Since then, both countries have been in a struggle to gain control over Kashmir.

Jalal said that the Kashmiri people should be given a chance to declare their independence of any foreign nation. She said that the policy regarding Kashmir should take its people into account, not solely territorial gains.

She also advocated the promotion of new, innovative ideas by the United States in helping to solve the Indo-Pakistan conflict. Other topics of her lecture included state sovereignty and the political structures of both India and Pakistan.

Wajiha Ahmed, SASA member and A&S '06, expressed that a forum on Indo-Pakistan relations was needed at BC in order to better inform students of international events."I thought that the BC community needed to learn about South Asia in general and why not start with the Kashmir Pakistan conflict?" said Ahmed. "I do not think there is enough awareness at all on campus [of these issues]. That's why I wanted to bring her [Jalal] here.

"Kashmir is one of the biggest flashpoints in the conflict and not a lot of people are familiar with it," she continued. "It's sad when you're at a school like BC and you don't know about it. If other departments aren't bringing these speakers in then it becomes our duty to do that."

Ahmed also hoped that students, both from South Asia and not from the region, would come away with a better understanding of the conflict and its importance.

"This is important for everyone, and I feel like most of the audience was so diverse," said Ahmed. "These issues shouldn't only be important to South Asians. I'm happy that different people came out for the event."