Pakistan As A Peasant Utopia: The Communalization Of Class Politics In East Bengal, 1920-1947Dr. Hashmi's study brings to light the important and often-ignored role of East Bengali peasants in the formation of Pakistan. The author shows how religion and ethnicity played more important roles than did class differences in this process. Because most zamindars, moneylenders, and professional elites in East Bengal were high-caste Hindus, and peasants and other working-class people were mostly Muslims, religion and ethnicity always had the potential to become more important than class differences. The British government, apprehensive of the Hindu nationalists, helped develop the Muslim and low-caste peasant cause to counteract Hindu nationalism. Similarly, Muslim elites and bourgeoisie supported the government's efforts because of their own conflicting interests with the Hindu nationalists. Ultimately, both the Muslim aristocracy and rich peasants collaborated in arousing a "false consciousness" between themselves and the poorer peasants, thus weakening the class struggle and paving the way for the peasants' support of a homeland for Indian Muslims. |
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Contents
A Background | 26 |
Krishak and the Ascendancy of the Proja 192936 | 124 |
Ashraf 193741 | 174 |
Copyright | |
2 other sections not shown
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Common terms and phrases
Abdul activities agrarian Ahmed areas ashraf attacked Bangladesh bargadars became believed Bill Board British Calcutta cent communal communist Conference Congress consciousness countryside cultivators Dacca demand Dinajpur district dominant early East Bengal economic elections elites especially exploitation Famine Fazlul Huq groups half hand held Hindu Hindu bhadralok History Ibid important India influence interests Interview Islam jotedars June jute Khan Khilafat Krishak Krishak Samity labourers land landlords leaders leadership leading Legislative lines London mahajans March masses Maulana meetings middle mobilized moneylenders movement Muslim League Muslim peasants Mymensingh Namasudra nationalist Nawab Noakhali Officer op.cit organized Pabna Pakistan Party period places police political poor peasants Proja Proja Party Rajshahi Rangpur regard region religious Report riots rural sharecroppers social Society soon struggle sub-region swaraj tebhaga tenants throughout Tippera tribal ulama village zamindars
References to this book
Nation and Religion: Perspectives on Europe and Asia Peter van der Veer,Hartmut Lehmann Limited preview - 1999 |
Bibliographic information
| Title | Pakistan As A Peasant Utopia: The Communalization Of Class Politics In East Bengal, 1920-1947 |
| Author | Taj Ul-islam Hashmi |
| Publisher | Avalon Publishing, 1992 |
| Original from | the University of California |
| Digitized | Mar 18, 2008 |
| ISBN | 0813378265, 9780813378268 |
| Length | 309 pages |
| Subjects | › History / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |