Eqbal Ahmad

Paper Summary:

The paper explains how Eqbal Ahmad saw the Kashmir conflict as the last aspect of the terrible Partition violence of 1947 to produce India and Pakistan. The paper refers to the hysteria of nationalism in both countries, but with a section noting that women have forever suffered as in 1947, or today in Kashmir, as policy-makers around the world debate what to do with a South Asian nuclear flashpoint area. The paper refers to Khushwant Singh/Shauna Singh Baldwin and the commemorative Eqbal Ahmad film.

From the Paper:

"The 1947 Partition of India involved unspeakable violence. For 50 years, few people wished its dark months of massacres, separated families and communities,and what was for many complete economic ruination. In the film, "Crossing the Lines," Pervez Hoodbhoy and Zia Mian, scholars and activists inspired by the example of Eqbal Ahmad (1933-1999) explained what can be hysterical divisions between Muslim and Hindu versions of history and of the future, too. Ahmad's approach to history and sectarianism in South Asia will continue to inspire all those willing to examine the roots of the Hindu-Muslim divide and how it has become tangled, disastrously, with what should be secular nationalism."

More papers on Eqbal Ahmad:

• Analytical Essay # 144109 : "Nazir Ahmad: Life and Art"
• Book Review # 141544 : "Nazir Ahmad's "Mirat Ul Urus" or "The Bride's Mirror"
• Term Paper # 99843 : "Sayyid Ahmad Khan"

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