In the name of God

The Cold War (CW) paradigm started in 1947 and ended in 1991. So India at its independent’s year in 1947, faced with the CW paradigm immediately. Before that, when the Western and the Eastern blocs were engaged with a mutual struggle to defeating the Nazi regime in EU territories, the Indian revolutionary forces were combating on the United Kingdom colonizing over their homeland. The UK was one of the key icons in the Western bloc at that time; so as Jawaharlal Nehru mentioned in his book An Autobiography [A], the Indian revolutionary movement at that time were satisfied with the Germany’s victory over their colonizers; like British. Although Indian had no Pro-Nazism felling; but they were happy to see the defeating of their enemies in an Inter-Europeans fighting.

 By the World War II (WWII), British was a superpower in the world and so many countries like India were under the UK control, these kinds of countries were ruling by a colonial system that arranged and managed by London; but as result of WWII, the British empire collapsed and the UK was downgraded to a second world-power level and it replaced by the USA after that. So although Indian was never faced with remarkable problem from the US side till that time, but they were very suspicious about the western bloc in general. Jawaharlal Nehru as first Prime Minister of India who were known as one of well-known world on-going trend at the time (independent era) who write a book in this regard, also in 1927 when he was reporting to the National Congress just 20 years before India Independent. Described The US as the great problem of India in near future:

  “[The] great problem of the near future will be American imperialism, even more than British imperialism [B]”

He may perhaps could predict out-side India’s problem in near future but he didn’t aware of his party’s leaders in India National Congress who will prepared red carpet for this American Imperialism in 1990s to come to India and will stay solder to solder with them to make new world!! Look at Dr Manmohan Singh expression in Washington in 2006 when he said:

  “India is today embarked on a journey inspired by many dreams. We welcome having America by our side. There is much we can accomplish together [C].”

But Indian leader who were ruling India after independent and during CW take distance of the Western bloc as well as the Eastern bloc, and they want to choose Non-Aligned policy toward the two blocs. Nehru chose a middle path, which subsequently came to be known as non-alignment. As early as 1947, in a note to India's Ambassador designate to China, K. P. S. Menon, he wrote:

“Our general policy is to avoid entanglement in power politics and not join any group of powers as against any other group. The two leading groups today are the Russian bloc and the Anglo-American bloc. We must be friendly to both and yet not join either. Both America and Russia are extraordinarily suspicious of each other as well as of other countries. This makes our path difficult and we may well be suspected by each of learning towards the other. This cannot be helped. … The Soviet Union, being our neighbor, we shall inevitably develop close relations with it. We cannot afford to antagonize Russia merely because we think that this may irritate someone else. Nor indeed can we antagonize the USA. [D]”

 Indian took distance of the Western because of:

A)   The UK as long-colonizer of India was one of the existed core element in the Western bloc.

B)     Some of the main Indian revolutionary leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Gandhi… were UK-Educated persons and raised with the UK misunderstanding about Americans;

C)     The US also had no history of relation with ancient India

D)    During US Independent war also some of the British member involved who became the runner of the later the East Indian Company so as result there had no suitable relation between the East India Company and later British Raj and Independent-US.

E)            After decolonizing also in some how this perspective generalized to the post colonial time and so as a result this lack of understanding were continue between them

F)         US more reasonable relation with other Asian civilization like China and Japan coparceners with India was not accepted by Indian.

G)        Some bad events that happened during colonial time for Indian in America cause a misunderstanding condition between the two countries after WWII also [E];

H)        Setting India aside from the US core policy in Asia by choosing Pakistan in the US doctrine to encounter the Soviet Union (USSR) as the country which had serious war with India over Jammu & Kashmir region became US core alley so India for building a strategic balance in its Asian rivals took closed to USSR.

I)            The causes of India rejecting to join any anti-Soviet coalition and the U.S. policy of seeking to achieve a strategic balance in South Asia and the latter ambition led the United States to extend large-scale economic and strategic assistance to Pakistan, in a sustained effort to develop it as a counterweight to India [F].

J)           Anti-Imperialism felling among Indian leader in 1950s also made the two sides far away from being together. 

K)          The US Black & White positioning toward the others, was another factor that distanced them from the countries like India during CW and Iran now; the world players which want to exist independent; as some US policy-makers like Secretary of State John Foster Dulles declared “They who are not with us are against us” [F] or recently the US president George.W.Bush divided the world “with us or Against us” [] also that there was no middle in between.  

L)          And finally India by choosing socialism as her internal economy and politic system; attracted by the Eastern blocs

M)       The USSR capturing central Asian countries became India’s neighbor in the north so India got closed to USSR during the CW era.

 Although there was not an inimical situation between India and the USA; but they had no friendly relation also. India at that time tried to follow a middle way policy between the two blocs; key role of India in initiating the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), which formed in early 1961s and at the same time closed and with an eye on the USSR policy in international battlefield was the character of India foreign policy. Hence it was some of the reasons that they take distance of the western bloc after the WWII.

Jawaharlal Nehru as a first Prime Minister and the architect of India's post-independence foreign policy ruled India within 1947 till 1964 and lead India in socialist bloc. He believes that socialism could help Indian to pass transitional period from a looted nation by colonizers with destroyed economy and disordered culture after near 3 centuries being under western invaders ruling. Although Indian had seen pressure of the escaped-US from colonial system’s president Franklin D. Roosevelt to giving independent to countries like India on the UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1940s to give independent to India also; but emerging US as super power in middle 20^th was not welcomed by India. Indian during CW had been using the USSR capacity in UNSC for encountering the US-backed Pakistani movement in international atmosphere. India and US in so many international main event like the Korean War and China membership in UNSC and the US Pro-Israeli positioning were opposite United State of America; but US humanitarian aid to India was considerable; for example during 1950 till 1965 50% of foreign aid belong to US. Although US had lost the best opportunity during 1962 Indo-Sino war, when India ask military assistant from the West and she didn’t received appropriate help; but Indo-US economic relation is also backed to 1960s and on the shadow of ups and downs in intergovernmental relation, was start and continue till now. At the time of separation of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971 the Indo-US relation came to lowest point and by its first nuclear test 1974 some sanctions imposed to India by US; The Mikhail Gorbachev coming to power in USSR and his changes and reform in the Soviet policies; led India to improve her relation with US during President Reagan (1980-8) and this trend started and it continue in Bush presidency (1988-92) and this time was the end of CW and there was no Soviet Union more and India even provided some logistic help to US military during the first Persian Gulf war in 1990; on the other hand based on this situation India’s reform in his economic regulation started and open a new era of cooperation between India and US; so India by adopting liberalizing process on the eve of collapsing the USSR is going to open her doors to the western capitals.

The Cold War era had strong effect on the South Asia strategic balance and the two superpower rivalry made Pakistan on the core position in US-policy and India also with the help of USSR renewed her military ability and both were armed with the nuclear bombs ability. The end of the Cold War caused a major shift in world politics and fundamentally restructured a number of relationships around the world, the India-US one being no exception.

Conclusion:

Indo-US division in somehow was the legacy of long centuries British colonizing; The UK membership in the West bloc as one of the important members after WWII and also American approach toward India and Pakistan during the CW. presentation of socialism in Nehru policy to transmit India from pre-colonial to post-colonial era, was another factor of Indo-US separation. About half century long CW started with anti-capitalism by Nehru and ended with being closeness to US by Manmohan Singh as architecture of new India that identifies India close to West. During the cold war also the US play with India and keep it in its process the lead it to open its market to capitalistic bloc.     

References:

A)            An Autobiography was written by Nehru during spending his time in colonizer’s jail and he described independent struggle process.

B)            Jawaharlal Nehru, "Report to the all-India congress committee on the international congress against imperialism held at Brussels in February 1927," in Bimla Prasad, The Origins of Indian Foreign Policy: The Indian National Congress and World Affairs, 1885- 1947 (Mumbai: Bookland, 1960), appendix I, 265

C)            Manmohan Singh, "Address to the joint session of the United States congress," Washington, DC, 19 July 2005," reproduced in Seminar 560, April 2006.

D)            India-US Relations in a Changing Strategic Environment - Dr Ravi Tomar - Research Paper no.20 2001-2002-http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp0102/02RP20

E)             Article “INDO-AMERICAN RELATIONS IN A NEW LIGHT” Dr. Madan Lal Goel - University of West Florida- Delivered at the Annual Meeting of the Indian Association of American Studies, 1999.  Revised

F)             U.S.-India Initiative Series - The Strategic Implications of Indo-U.S. Private-Sector Ties - By Rajiv Kumar (the

G)            Director general of the Federation  of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry)

H)            Quoted in Angadipuram Appadorai and M.S. Rajan, India's Foreign Policy and Relations (New Delhi: South Asian Publishers, 1985), 216.

Seyed Mostafa Mostafavi

M.A Student in The Subcontinent Studies

Faculty of world Studies

 University of Tehran

 For the subject “Indian Foreign Policy”

 by Dr. Mandana Tishehyar

+ نوشته شده در سه شنبه هفتم آبان ۱۳۹۲ ساعت 13:11 شماره پست: 343

In the Name of the Creator of Mothers

Women situation in Hindu society is so disastrous, in time, some of Indian families get aware of a child-girl pregnancy they try to abort it (1), because they know that based on Hindu cultural rules, they will face with a lot of social and financial problems such as high-cost dowry (2) and so on in future. Hence Indian families mostly prefer to have a male sex than a female one. The survivors and born child-girls, in future will impose high-cost dowry to her family to get marry. The issue to be focused on this article is  bad-luck girls in Hindu culture who by losing their husbands, will face a chain  of new problems afterwards; they cannot have a new chance to get married again culturally (not legally) ,for instance. (3) Because based on Hindu culture it is forbidden for a Hindu widow to start and taste new life with a new man, the right that other women in the world have it mostly. In other cultures like Iranian or the Middle East, if a women feels no satisfaction with her husband and reach to this point that continuation is impossible for her( or his also), they can legally get divorce and try another chance.

 Another Indian girl’s problem backs to the ancient customs, girls used to get married at a very early age, (4) by this kind of marriage, little girls should be separated from their family and join to a new one that is not so familiar and close to them and they had to live with their in-laws in other place maybe long distance from their birth place. This occurs while they weren`t ready to live separate of their parents. And after marriage, if they faced any problem with her-in-laws or husbands, she would have no one to talk or seek support from. Unreachably of parents and relatives for giving help to little girls would make worse the damages they faced. Arrange marriage as an on-going tradition which brings other problems for them, its devil face will  be shown  when the little girl finds her husband intolerable, but at this time also there is no choice for her and she should live besides an unlovable man till the life ends  and culturally it is not evaluative  and a moral act to get divorce. (5)

Hindu culture as a male-dominance society, (6) during a marriage’ negotiation also don’t pay attention enough to the girl side’s needs and considers them as an object that based on a contract exchanged among two families, and marriage is not considered a contract between a couple, that reached together during marriage process. (7)

Female’s inferiority in an Indian male-dominated society downgrade half of an Indian society, for example, the people who in Vedic time were enjoyed equal right with men, to have properties.(8) But during the time they changed to an inferior against superiority of males.

Remarry also was a right which was recognized for Hindu’ widows in Vedic period; (9) this right too is taken by the time from women society during centuries and now based on new Hindu culture the widows could not get married again and they should wait to die after their husband death. Although we can see some progresses in Hindu culture in contemporary reforms, by putting Sati (सती) away, a custom that has caused for centuries death of Hindu widows, the people who would throw themselves on their husbands' funeral pyres, to reflect the view of that, they were of little social worth without their protector and breadwinner; a radical Hindu cultural rule that based on an atmosphere for widows   constructed that they burnt themselves side of their husband dead body. Although practice sati, has been outlawed, but widows are still traditionally considered inauspicious and the Hindu widows situation is not backed in normal position till now and they are suffering big problems.

At the absent of Sati, now social-cultural compulsory lead widows to leave their society and take shelter somewhere else. for instance , Vrindavan (10) is a city in central India, that is known as a holy town for Widows. Some census reported that, nearly 15,000 widows have taken a roof over their heads in this city. Vrindavan is where, the Hindu god, Krishna is said to have grown up there. Many widows come to this city that have 4,000 Hindu temples, to escape from abuse of others in their home town, or banished by their husbands' families so they won't receive property. Some of these widows also were accused as a cause of their husbands' deaths and so their-in-laws put them under more pressure. So they wish death and escape from such situation and suicide based on Sati, is thought to be better than living likewise.

This is an imposed situation by an old Hindu law, that suggests to widows to reach enlightenment, they should reject luxuries and showy clothes, and should pray, eat a simple vegetarian diet and devote themselves to their husband's memory. (11)

But some social changes show a growing number of widows, who remarry especially in urban areas. Another positive movement is a low that passed by Indian government that all widows over 60 year olds are eligible for receiving a $16 monthly government pension, and food allowance, the capacity that is provided by legal system to use it in favorer of power this backless people, but up to 80% of illiterate widows cannot reach to it during Indian long troublous bureaucratic system. So the charity which has become available by temples and some social activist is the hope for such illiterate widows. Another sources of living fund for this widow is the money who receive from begging.

 Regard to Hindu widows, we have face with two kinds of them; the widows who backed by their sons or families and the widows who do not receive any help from their families, So the latter as backless women face with so many problems. Recently Indian Women’ movement regard to improvement of their situation brought some important results; as the act that passed by Lok Sabha (India’ lower house) for protecting women recently. (12)

On the other side you can see some Hindu who because of such cultural laws changed their religion, like Dr.Behim.Rao Ambedkar who converts to Buddhism (13) or the recent case that Miss Kumari Mayawati (born 15 January 1956 in New Delhi) whose Nick Name is Bahenji (Respected Sister) as leader of BSP (Bahujan Samaj Party) is converted to Buddhism also, (14) etc.

Apart from unsuccessful widows in India who are suffering problems, some of them like Miss Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (1917–1984) who rule India two times as Prime Minister and managed her problems perfectly and control her rivals powerfully. Or Miss Sonya Gandhi as widow of former Prime Minister of India, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, is one of the world powerful women who announced by Forbes Magazine as one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world. But most of Indian widows are not in the position of Miss Sonya Gandhi or her mother-in-law, Miss Indira, to place as India National Congress party (INC) leaders and  mobilizing their ability to lead a vast country like India. Most of them are the ordinary people who should live with their-in-law or with their sons or families. If their sons help them they can live as mother among their grandchildren and on the other hand they should return to their families and live with them, otherwise they will find no shelter and no support and should take shelter in some temples; the city like Vrindavan is an example for it.

The first chose for a Hindu’s widow is living with their son’s family; because India is a male-dominance society and their sons can provide a good situation for them in their house, but they can find such facility in their daughter’s house rarely, and it is imaginable that their daughters may also have the same position as inferior in their husband house.

Cultural reforms and governmental legal activity is going to control this situation and in urban area is going to less this problem, but in rural area still this social problem shows itself more strongly than urban area.

 The women as the most effect taker and vulnerable in any social - political change or a natural disaster, should be at the core of society’ attention; to less their problem. Mothers who bring us up and give use a safe shelter when we are at a weakness, etc; should keep safe when they need our help, so Hindu society have to solve widow’s problems, when they face with large number of troubles; the difficulties that traditionally imposed to widow’s community.

Hindu society should review its approach to innocent widows who lost their breadwinners. They all are a part of women society with just a small difference; they have just lost their husbands.

References:

1-       www.english-online.at/news.../abortion-of-girls-on-the-rise-in-india.

2-       www.abcnews.go.com › Health

3-       http://lawcommissionofindia.nic.in/51-100/Report81.pdf

4-       http://bookofsex.com/go/page/bookofsex.com_cover_v2?pid=g1049942.sub0newbing

5-       http://www.indiaparenting.com/relationships/article.cgi?art_id=107

6-       ttp://hsc.csu.edu.au/society_culture/belief_systems/focus_studies/2499/BSFocus_Hinduism.html#power

7-       www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduism/h_marriage.asp

8-       http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Women_in_Hinduism.htm

9-       http://creative.sulekha.com/rig-veda-position-of-women-part-two_306106_blog

10-    http://www.sikhchic.com/current_events/widows_hinduisms_other_untouchables

11-    www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/03/...hindu-widow.../499...

12-    www.guardian.co.uk › World news › India

13-    http://anckarnataka.page.tl/Breif-History-Of-Dr-.-B-.-R-Ambedkar-.-.htm

14-    http://kafila.org/2012/03/07/why-mayawatis-defeat-is-the-bsps-victory/

Course:

Social Structure of India
by: Dr. Heshmat Sadat Moinifar

Occasional paper on a film Review

By:  Seyed Mostafa Mostafavi

M.A Student in Indian Studies

Faculty of world studies - University of Tehran

1392/خرداد/دوم

+ نوشته شده در چهارشنبه هشتم خرداد ۱۳۹۲ ساعت 12:54 شماره پست: 292

In the Name of GOD

The untouchable as a society who Mahatma Gandhi (the leader of “India Independent Movement) named them “Harijans” (God’s Children). The people, who are located out skirt of the caste (Jati) pyramid in Indian socio-cultural system. This article will have a look to this subject. The people, who are considering as untouchables religiously, and based on the caste ruling system, must be, avoid them of not affecting of their impurity and pollution. Nowadays they have known mostly as “Dalit” or “scheduled backwards” that it identifies and separated from the main four “Aryans” classification Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Cast system as a strong Identity-giver, framework or principles, classify people by race and blood and it determines, what kind of job every member of Hindu society can occupy and in which filed each person can work. In this categorized society, a person would be born and live there and ultimately will die within the caste which is belonging to it.

 The history of India shows the opposes movements against same unjust Hindu rules, such as Buddhism or Jainism reforms, and also enlighten among Hindu society like Upanishad, Mahabharata, etc but they didn’t have full success in this matter and even contemporary social reformist icons like Mahatma Gandhi and Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (as a Dalit leader), and so on, before Independent start their oppositeness against the discrimination toward this society and they made it illegal under legislation passed during British rule. The new constitution of independent India in 1950 also outlawed this old traditional practicing, especially under the article number 17 and other articles like 15(1), 15(2), 16(2), 23, 29 (2). The Constitution abolishes the discrimination on the basis of cast (1), but despite of this illegalness, basically the Social discrimination is going on among Indian society and it is even performs between Harijans as a most affected victims of this custom, as well as other social classes. For instance Sub-castes amongst Harijans, such as the dhobi and nai should not interact with lower one Bhangis, who were explain as "out-castes” among Harijans. The Untouchables’ phenomena as a cruel imposed fixed believe is based and found on the minds sets of Indian, during long history of religion and culture of Hinduism. Hindu culture considers inferiority and superiority of different castes as a God-given Item for mankind. So as it is clear, psychologically untouchably believe remains during the time, even now it is the accepted rule and it is practicing among its victims also, so long social reformists struggle to remove the Caste system won’t be successful till now perfectly. Especially in rural context it still has fans. Dr. Ambedkar in 1933 referred to this subject as below:

“The Out-caste is a bye-product of the Caste system. There will be outcastes as long as there are castes. Nothing can emancipate the Out-caste except the destruction of the Caste system. Nothing can help to save Hindus and ensure their survival in the coming struggle except the purging of the Hindu Faith of this odious and vicious dogma” (2),

The Indian government officially recognizes historical discrimination on its lowest castes like Shudra and Untouchables, as they named them Scheduled Castes. The society that concludes near 3000 different untouchable groups that officially recorded as “Other Backward Classes (OBC)” and categories by “The Mandal Commission”, and unofficially they estimates around 52% of the Indian population, at the same time the National Sample Survey announced them 32% (3). According to the 1991 official census, there were 138 million Scheduled Caste members in this society, just about 16 % of the total population.

The Indian low caste presence in political filed as well as Indian jobs, are showing improvement, as it increased from 1.18 % of all jobs in 1959 to 10.12 % of all jobs in 1995. The attendance of Dalit’s icons in high political ranks and judiciary jobs show clearer horizon for this backward classes, such as :

- Indian president post, as K.R. Narayanan selected in 1997

 - Selection of K.G. Balakrishnan in 2007 as the Chief Justice of India

- Electing of Miss Meira Kumar as speaker of Indian parliament in 2009

- Another successful Dalit woman who occupied chief minister post of Uttar Pradesh as the most important state in India is Miss Mayawati, etc.

Long high caste-ruled India, has faced with undeclared confrontation between the long-ruling high caste groups in one side and its Scheduled Caste groups on the other side. This confrontation brose itself in political face and some main political movement with the goal of improving Dalit class, were started in the Uttar Pradesh state and Bihar state, the two hubs for Dalit residence in India. This movement was successful, especially in UP by the effort of two main Dalit-ruled political parties like BSP (Bahujan samaj party) and SP (Samajvadi party) gain some results. They are very active and based on their activities, previous state government established by BSP and now the state government in UP is in the hand of SP leader. This socio-political struggle faces with some important success in Bihar also. The UP-Bihar Dalit political movement is a good example for this society to make a change in their political presence at least in India’s political filed. Nowadays Dalit leaders by attracting Muslim minority vote banks in this state were achieved a big victory for low class of society and themselves and these two (Minorities and Dalits) can improve their position bilaterally and their join work toward removing long backwardness would be very affective.

It is a good example for Indian backwards that they can united on their backwardness and India’s political system have the capacity to tolerant such a diversion in its socio-political field. But beside all the progress that this society achieved, still the majority of them face with huge problems that are suffering them during the long history of India. Lack of land for providing enough food and also good place for living and doing agriculture is the main problem for them. Lack of education opportunity, bring lack of job opportunity for them, and impose very bad situation ultimately to low castes.

Shortage of job opportunity in rural areas; send large numbers of this community to the suburbs of Indian big cities, the huge immigrants whose aim is finding new jobs in service or industrial sectors there. Bombay as well as other big cities in India, is the best example in this regard, So many members of this community attracted by the commercial capital city of India and now Bombay hosts a large number of them, who are living in slums as shelter.

The Times of India (4) on Mar 22, 2013 reported that one out of six urban Indians are living in slums houses in around 4000 towns across the country, an amount of 17% of urban population. Based on NSSO (National Sample Survey Organization) in 2008-9 about 49000 slums are in India, the drinking water resources of 95% of them are tap or tube well. 57% of slums build on public lands, for instance 12% of them located along railway line. (5)

India 2011 (6)census report 63% of 4,041 constitutional towns face with Slums phenomena (2,543 India towns), about 108000 Slums with different size, as it is clear from 2009 to 2013 the number of slums doubled, and this census show that the largest number of Slums located in Maharashtra state. Greater Bombay (M) with 41.3% has the highest rate of slums, Kolkata (W.B) with 29.6% at the second level, Chennai (TN) with 28.5% at third level and Delhi with 14.6% fourth level hosts slums in India.

As it mentioned in India census, Bombay slums are the most populated place which build by very small house and narrow passages with lack of drinking water and healthy place for children, it does not prepare the needed items for their growth. It has not healthy and suitable atmosphere for mothers to bear their children.  It has no social and educational facilities to upward its resident socially, it just provides somewhere to sleep and pass the night and start a new frequent day for its residences. So India backwards society suffered very bad situation that it becomes the subject of so many novels and story that contain their problems. The people that in a small place cook, bath, sleep and live. Now Bombay as a rich city in India as well as other Indian big cities faces with two different side of the economic and social spectrum of poverty and richness. So within a small distance you can see radical side of these two together.

References:

1-       "Constitution of India" (http:/ / lawmin. nic. in/ olwing/ coi/ coi-english/ coi-indexenglish. htm). Ministry of Law, Government of India. . Retrieved 2012.

2-       B.R. Ambedkar (February, 1933). "A note to Gandhi" (http:/ / www. worldcat. org/ title/ harijan/ oclc/ 1803552?referer=di& ht=edition). Harijan 3.

3-       Reply to SC daunting task for government (http:/ / www. tribuneindia. com/ 2006/ 20060611/ main2. htm), Tribune India.

4-       One of the famous newspaper in India

5-       www.indiafacts.in/pverty/slums-in-india/

6-       www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-Documents/On_Slums-2011Final.ppt

7-       http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/caste.html

Course:

Social Structure of India
by: Dr. Heshmat Sadat Moinifar

Occasional paper on a film Review

By:  Seyed Mostafa Mostafavi

M.A Student in Indian Studies

Faculty of world studies - University of Tehran

       1392/2/22

+ نوشته شده در چهارشنبه یکم خرداد ۱۳۹۲ ساعت 9:41 شماره پست: 289

“Few regions of the world are fraught with as many security questions as Asia. Within this region it is possible to study great power rivalries, irredentist conflicts, nuclear and ballistic missile proliferation, secessionist movements, ethno-religious conflicts, and inter-state wars. 1”

In the name of God the munificent the merciful

India’s direction in our transitional world is one of the subjects of future studies, because India’s movement and position in this regards is one of the world trend determinants. Therefore finding where India is going and how would be the world that India and some other will stand on its top, is a subject matter of world’s movement observes. With this approach this article by using Kuhn’s Paradigm theory and putting the 123 Indo-US Nuclear Deals as a turning point in India world policy, tries to show India direction in regards with policy. India’s flicker steps towards the U.S campus started by its economic reforms in 1990s and ultimately revolutionized to a Strategic Partnership point by the 2005 Bush-Singh nuclear deal. Despite of the on-going trend, what the future will become is the question that future should answer to it, this article tries the best to clear on-going India world policy.

Thomas Samuel Kuhn (1922-1996) by writing its masterpiece, The Structure of Scientific revolutions 2 in 1962, brought the notion of “Paradigm” as a scientific theory or useful method and tool in scientific analysis, to existence. Although Kuhn‘s theory was pointed towards natural sciences, but found itself more successful in social sciences and was most welcomed by the social scientists campus and subsequently made a revolution in analyzing social phenomenon and showed itself effective in “problem solving” of social fields. Kuhn’s method was the outcome of his supremacy over historical trends and theories of physics and the philosophy of science. This article finds Kuhn’s theory as a suitable tool to analyze the 2004-9 India National Congress (INC) ruling over India, period and signing of the Indo-American Nuclear Deal. So having a look at the structure of Kuhn’s theory will clear our way to answer questions such as: Is India really entered in liberalized paradigm? And Is India now in “normal science” era of liberalized paradigm? Especially this article will have a look on the nuclear deal between India and United State of America (U.S.A) as a core issue in this regard.

The paradigm takes meaning in the concept of “normal science” that “for a time provides model problems and solutions to a community” (Kuhn 1996 px). Normal science or conventional period of a science is placed against “Scientific Revolution”, the trend that every science experiences during their history and the development of any science will happen throughout the shifting of normal science and the scientific revolution. In Kuhn’s theory, paradigm is what the members of a scientific community share, seen by others as the sole idea responsible for the pursuit of a set of shared goals, for instance the training of their successors. Both normal science and revolutions are community-based activities.

Kuhn’s theory, is trying to have a clear explanation on how one dominant scientific theory at the exact era of its being, is entering in its normal science phase, to have “puzzle-solving” role or ability to find “acceptable solution” for suppositious problems of a science. It wants to say how a “scientific community” shapes around a theory or how they interact with each other, and when a dictated paradigm encounters with its weakness period by facing “Anomalies” that as a result make question on its credibility, then what will happen to its supporters, and by which mechanism, a formed scientific community terminated by appearing hesitation over its scientific ability to solve its followers problem and showing their way in future, and gradually leads the paradigm to a scientific revolution point and ultimately it shifts from an exist paradigm to a new one. Or why one paradigm is replaced by another one and how would be the quality and procedure of “shifting”. Furthermore, Kuhn showed the mechanism of “incommensurability” among different paradigm devotees and competing paradigms, and how the two groups of scientists see different things at the time that they look from the same point in the same direction.

Paradigm in some way is a kind of a “Structure” theory. One of its goals is to analyze the normal science structure that a paradigm has come to exist in it. Kuhn believes that when anomalies shake the foundations of a dominant paradigm, it will alarm for a “crisis” that perhaps it will be evidence for the time of scientific revolution and necessity of emerging new theory and a paradigm that finally should have more capacity for problem solving. Kuhn’s examples show that each of normal science during the history of a science tasted being in the position of normal science and they passed “pre and post-paradigm” atmosphere and scientific revolutions, change them till now.

Kuhn’s “common Disciplinary (as common possession of the specialists of a particular discipline) Matrix (a composed of ordered elements of various sorts, each requiring further specification)” or on other hand paradigm, is a community of scientists with common values, methods, tools and techniques, and also with a unification of theoretical and even metaphysical approach, gathers them around it, and finally replaced by their successor through a scientific revolution path.

The founder of Paradigm theory by using some other scientific theories as example wants to say, it is a common trend of all sciences and it is repeated during scientific history each paradigm would not taste a permanent position and this cyclic will repeat in future. He believes that when a scientific revolution happens it would revises the community’s perspective that experiences it, and that change, effects the structure of post-revolutionary textbooks and research direction and gradually its publication, also by starting of the Normal science era, some particular scientific community acknowledges for a time shape as supplying the foundation for further practice around an accepted model or pattern that he name it paradigm, that its work is to sets the problem to be solved.

Normal Science or an established paradigm in some way make a kind of conservative atmosphere and its scientists try to save it, so it directs to articulate of those scientific phenomena and theories that the paradigm already supplies. A Successful paradigm tries to solve its member’s problems and save its scientific achievements to make them permanent. And on-going fact-gathering, is at the service of paradigm stabilization and its conformation to fix it more.

A paradigm’s aim is to display the order by approve its long accepted belief by a sets of repeated scientific problem-solving process. Every skilled member of a paradigm community also engages in puzzle-solving process that till a time has not been solved by others. This scientific forward movement will continue till a scientist faces a situation that the on-going law or the theory doesn’t work well. This kind of scientists always can evaluate its weak points so they suggest new way for their scientific problem solving and their logic suggestion will attract community to change direction and progressively a scientific revolution lead them shift to a new paradigm, although some fanatic and conservative scientists may show resistance to conserve an on-going normal science, but the majority of its community will approach the new theory and finally shape a new paradigm that could determine a new normal-science era that brings by a community with shared beliefs.

It should be clear that scientific paradigm shifts or change, could have deferent angle size, so a science can face with deferent size of scientific revolution or changes, it could range in a spectrum from small to very large ones, it should be mentioned that new sort of facts or any important change in an on-going paradigm perception, does not necessarily lead to a paradigm shift. But it is clear that when serious anomalies appear and crisis hits a paradigm, it leads to large-scale change, at this time scientists usually develop theoretical concepts which can themselves point the way to discovery new theory and the new successful one would become a paradigm. It is also noticeable that new discoveries are not the only destructive or constructive source of paradigm changes, the source of crisis can be any problem (that considers in normal science as a puzzle) or anomalies that can be seen as a counter instance. The crises will lose the rules of normal puzzle-solving or the rules for normal research and paradigm-nature fit, ultimately it leads to increase varieties of the paradigms and at the end of the day it will permit a new paradigm to emerge and dominate the science. When transition from one paradigm to other one is complete, the career will have change its view of the ground, its methods, and its goals. It’s a fact that crisis alone is not enough for shift.

Paradigms play as form-giver to scientific atmosphere and as a vehicle for scientific theory, it determine each entity in which way, should behave. Paradigm also clears nature of scientific research, as Kuhn said “since nature is too complex and varied to be explored at random, that map is as essential as observation and experiment to science's continuing development. Through the theories they embody, paradigms prove to be constitutive of the research activity”. (Kuhn 1996 p109) Paradigms supply scientists a map and the directions that is essential for map-making.

 Paradigm’s Textbooks are educational vehicles for the continuation of normal science. After a scientific revolution, post-revolutionary science activity will start to reconstruct history of science that is regularly completed by its texts. Kuhn believes that a series of individual discoveries and inventions, group together and represent the modem body of technical knowledge. He refers to paradigm testing conception that arises only after persistent failure to solve an important puzzle has given rise to crisis. Testing occurs as part of the competition between two rival paradigms of a scientific community. Kuhn also confesses that no theory ever solves all the puzzles which are confronted at a given time; nor is the solutions already achieved often perfect.

Kuhn as physicist who shifted to philosophy says, if all followers of a community answer back to each anomaly as a source of crisis or involve each new theory advanced by an associate, science would stop, or if no one react to anomalies or the brand-new theories in high-risk ways, there would be few or no revolution and as result no develop in sciences.

By these explanations, now a look at the signed strategic US-India nuclear deal, as a second political, technological as well as commercial key step on the road to a shifting in India’s world policy, will clear the new Indian paradigm, internally and externally. Oxford-educated economist, Mr. Manmohan Singh (1932- ) completed his first major revolutionary step, which became operational through his liberalization of economic reforms when he served as Finance Minister during Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao (1991–1996). India’s entering in its new world policy phase got more completed when in 2005 G. W. Bush and Manmohan Singh signed 123 Agreement 3, concerning the Indian nuclear issue. It could be considered as a revolutionary change for India’s path toward the US, as well as others, mostly in the West Bloc. “The 123 Agreement has been widely seen as a strategic coup for both states 4”. Some main steps forward after this agreement are:

a) The Hyde Act passed by American Congress, to enable its government to consider India as an exception in U.S.A nuclear non-proliferation policy and made it able to transfer sensitive technology to India in this regards. b) It facilitates India-IAEA 5 agreement for safeguarding India’s civil nuclear reactors. c) It also make possible an agreement with NSG 6 so the nuclear weaponized India, became able to buy nuclear fuel, etc without signing the NPT 7.

 “The 123 Agreement has a clear purpose: to "enable full civil nuclear energy cooperation between the Parties. peaceful nuclear cooperation and not to affect the unsafeguarded nuclear activities of either Party (Article 2 of 123)” the first time that a state possessing nuclear weapons outside the framework of the NPT, namely India, has had its civil nuclear energy program "brought into the fold." 8.

The question is how new paradigm came to exist and got shaped, when India and U.S.A situated in two opposite sides during previous world paradigm. In the Cold War era India’s problem-solver was the U.S.A rival, USSR, in front of the US-backed Pakistan as its operational enemy. The following fast changes in the world trend entered this two in new paradigm:

 a) India’s Economic reforms changed it from a socialized unit to capitalized one. It happened as a major shift in India investment policy. b) Common values (democracy, English heritage, etc), c) Common security threat (terrorism, etc). d) Collapse of USSR. e) Post 2001 sep. 11 process, f) China as a common factor, as U.S.A wants to bring “China to a global liberal order” 9 and at the same time it was India’s biggest rival. g) U.S.A ambiguity about Pakistan as its previous ally in south Asia, etc,

These factors, plus some high rank delegations exchanging, during a decade, shift them to implement the Next Steps in Strategic Partnership (NSSP) in 2004 and progressively the natural allies entered in the new paradigm of cooperation and transformed them to a Strategic Partnership 10 in 2005 by signing the nuclear deal. From this time Indo-U.S.A partnership places in a new period and its new normal science atmosphere starts. They boost their assistance in some field that in the near past was iced. So, although Indian said no to U.S.A repeated world-wide invitation to presence in Iraq war and after it. In the new paradigm India started economic, political, financial, intelligence, etc operation in occupied-Afghanistan, beside U.S.A and others, which shaped the new alliance, was reacted by Pakistani side. Another case in this regard happened when a founder of NAM 11 took place in the World’s Powers campus side in IAEA and voted three times against Iran peaceful nuclear program.

This diversion in India’s world policy appeared as a puzzle solver in new paradigm for India, by a) Entering in cooperation with US military mechanism in South Asia 12 as well as cooperation with US East Asia partners 13, bilaterally and multilaterally. b) Improvement of Indian position toward its traditional rivals like China and Pakistan. c) Backing India’s demand for emerging as permanent member for U.N Security Council, formally by US highest 14 official rank. d) Improvement in Indo-U.S.A bilateral trade 15, etc.

But as Kuhn believes although paradigm is responsible for solving many problems, but it doesn’t solve all of them. So India’s policy-makers at the same time of moving in this trend, which sets them closer to US and its allies, they show their decision to diversify their international relation with other blocs of power, as well as second rank world’s power like the EU and its main members, or Japan. Also India had participated in the BRICS bloc (the countries that by 2030 will shape world new powers) 16 actively, and expanded its relation with some regional structures like ASEAN 17.

India is showing that it cannot rely to one side among world’s powers or its traditional mainstays in all aspects. For instance India is diversifying its energy supplier resources. So it is looking in Middle East, Central Asia, Russia, Africa, etc 18 for its energy resource need. In military filed also India at the same time that continues buying military equipment from its traditional suppliers like Russia, signed big deals with other main world supplier such as Israel, United State, France, etc. So Delhi became the destination of so many world leaders that try to sign new contract during last five years. The most important leaders like Barack Obama, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and Vladimir Putin had selected Delhi as their trip-destination. In trade filed also India diversified its import and export targets 19. At least it can imagine four main scenarios for adopting such policy by Indian decision-makers:

A)    It dedicates to a new-given role by world powers to new-India in new paradigm and so India is preparing itself for doing the job well.

B)      It dedicates to the potential threats that India in new paradigm feels (From China, US side, etc) in future.

C)    It shows an expansionist India that in new paradigm wants to come out of its traditional policy and follow an expansionist policy in the region.

D)     Mix of the three items

India at the eve of 21^st century faced a new world order, and as naturally every country by facing new paradigm will chose an exact puzzle-solving system for itself, India accepted solution for its problems like poverty, non-developing, low economic growth rate, long facing with powerful rivals like China, military weakness, etc was the on-going India world policy trend that has directed it toward closing to US campus. Whiles India since 1947 (Independence) till now at least had tasted two main paradigm; from 1950s till 1990s as a USSR ally, related to the main two super powers (U.S.A, USSR), and at the same time as major non-aligned member among the others. The second paradigm is started with two major steps, economic reforms toward capitalizing its economic rules especially investment, that are become operational in 1990s and finally signing 123 nuclear agreement in 2005 at the threshold of 21^st century, that completed this process fairly during 21^st first decade. So India steps toward its new paradigm as a destination that leads it to became Strategic Partner for US. Although these moves solved some of India’s problems, and internationally improved its position and its relationship with the world’s major players, but India’s behavior shows that it doesn’t feel confident and safe enough in this new mechanism. So this anomaly forces India to have some reactions. One the reaction that could be mentioned in this regard is increasing in India arm-expenditures and becoming first arms importer in the world, which a big competition to capture this new big market is going on between world’s largest arm-producers. At the time that India’s direction and move in transitional world is one of the important world’s trend determinants in future and now, putting the Indo-US Nuclear Deal as a turning point in India’s world policy would make clearer the path that India is going and maybe will go. But in some way India’s behaviors now, shows a kind of flicker steps toward US campus and despite of on-going trend in India’s policy, the future will answer to question of future.

References:

1-                 US–INDIAN STRATEGIC COOPERATION INTO THE 21ST CENTURY - ASIAN SECURITY STUDIES - US Army College - Edited by Sumit Ganguly, Brian Shoup, and Andrew Scobell - published 2006 by Routledge

2-                 The Structure of Scientific revolutions by Thomas Samuel Kuhn in 1962 - Third Edition in 1996 - The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London © 1962, 1970, 1996

3-                 This name refers to Section 123 of the U.S.A-Atomic Energy Act that under this Act transfer of nuclear technology to other countries is banned.

4-                 http://www.reading.ac.uk/123agreement/123-project-overview.aspx

5-                 International Atomic Energy Agency

6-                 Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) is a group of nuclear supplier countries who seek the non-proliferation nuclear weapons. It was a reaction to India nuclear test in 1974

7-                 The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.

8-                 http://www.reading.ac.uk/123agreement/123-project-overview.aspx

9-                 http://gt2030.com/2012/06/01/the-indian-ocean-region-and-the-challenges-of-order-building-in-a-post-unipolar-post-western-world/  By Andrew Phillips

10-              US-India Strategic Partnership: Implications for China – by Zhang Guihong - http://isq.sagepub.com/content/42/3-4/277

11-              Non-Aligned Movement has 115 members. It came to exist in 1955

12-              http://csis.org/files/publication/1203qus_seasia.pdf

13-              http://csis.org/files/publication/1203qindia_asia.pdf

14-              www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11711007‎

15-              http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5330.html#2005

16-              Four developing countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China establish it 2006 and in 2010 South Africa also attend to it.

17-              Association of South East Asian Nations is a geo-political and economic organization of ten countries located in Southeast Asia, which was formed in 1967 

18-              http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=IN

19-              http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/balance/c5330.html#2005

Course:

Research Methodologies and Methods
by: Dr. Mohammad Samiei

Article by:

Seyed Mostafa Mostafavi - M.A Students in Indian Studies

Faculty of world studies - University of Tehran

1392/2/25

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