The Indian Subcontinent

FYI .... "AfPak" and Iran

2009-06-09T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is in case you want something to read, and maybe even discuss with me, while you are working on papers and exams .... I bet you are now at a much better place, with a whole lot of information, to be able to get into such topics ....
Good luck with your finals

Slowly and steadily we are beginning to recognize the geopolitical importance of a stable Pakistan. President Obama’s administration now operates with a much more nuanced “AfPak” approach fully recognizing that Afghanistan and Pakistan need to be tackled together.

By now, it is probably a familiar fact to many that Iran shares a long border with Afghanistan. However, perhaps we are overlooking the fact that Iran and Pakistan are also neighbors, with a border that simmers with its own set of ethnic and religious tensions, and drug trafficking.

The best way to understand the Iran-Pakistan border issues is to start with one of the most under-reported stories from two weeks ago. At least twenty people were killed, and more than fifty were injured, as a result of a bomb explosion in a mosque in the city of Zahedan in Iran. Zahedan is the capital of Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan-Balochistan, and the city itself is practically at the junction of the borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

At least three aspects of this bombing deserve our attention.

First, this is a part of Iran that has a predominant Sunni population in a country that is otherwise majority Shiite. We need to keep in mind that Iran, and Iraq, are home to Shiite Muslims, while surrounded by Sunni majority countries.

Second, the timing of the explosion, which was only a few days before the presidential elections, which are scheduled for June 12th. Further, the explosion occurred only three days after a historic trilateral meeting, in Tehran, of the presidents of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Third, and most important of all, a group called Jundallah claimed responsibility for this blast. Jundallah, which means “soldiers of Allah,” is a group that has gained strength in the post-9/11 years. Jundallah claims to be fighting the Iranian government in order to secure equal rights for the Sunni and the Baloch people.

The Balochs are spread across the modern national boundaries of Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In Pakistan, the largest province—in terms of land area—is Balochistan, where about half of the ten million population is ethnically Baloch.

During the days of the Empire where the Sun never set, the British were far more interested in protecting the “jewel in the crown”—the Indian Subcontinent—and, therefore, treated the unconquerable Afghanistan and the territory of the Balochs as a buffer against a potential threat of an expanding Russia.

When the British created a new country of Pakistan in 1947, Balochistan remained quasi-independent until 1948, when it was annexed into Pakistan. A feeling of second-class treatment has slowly led to a significant Baloch militant movement, so much so that it is estimated that the Pakistani government has no control over at least ten percent of Balochistan that is now under the control of separatists.

The Balochs are yet another aspect of intricate and complex relationships that exist among Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

We should also recognize that the bombing in Zahedan was not the first time that Jundallah struck in Iran. The significant difference when compared to its violence the last few years is that Jundallah almost always targeted Iran’s security forces and other officers of the government. Thus, until the recent mosque bombing, never have such a large number of civilians fallen victims to Jundallah.

To add another layer of complexity to this context: Iran has consistently viewed this militant organization as one that has support from Pakistan and the United States. Iran alleges that the US aids Jundallah—directly or through Pakistan. Of course, Iran does not have any evidence to support these allegations.

So, what do all these mean? It took us almost eight years after the events of 9/11 to understand that stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan is of utmost importance, and that Pakistan is linked to this in many ways. However, over the same time, Pakistan has come apart to such an extent that we are now worried about it becoming a nuclear-armed failed state.

I hope that our leaders have a clear understanding of the limits of our involvement in AfPak so that we do not end up staying there for even one day longer than we absolutely have to. And, I certainly hope that we will not enlarge our engagement into the Iranian issues.

The final discussion question

2009-06-03T15:32:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts and comments.

Before I get into that, my thanks to you for playing a wonderful game. Almost everybody kept up with the schedule of various tasks, and made it very easy for me--I did not have to play the bad cop! Your responses made it clear that you have gained considerable insight into an extremely important part of the world.
Given how rapidly conditions were (and are) changing in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, in particular, I am absolutely delighted that we had this class this term.

Yes, we will hear more and more about India and China over the next few years. Not only because of the economic competition from them, but also because those two countries have a lot of issues that are yet to be worked out. And for now both the governments are doing a good job of not making those issues any worse. After all, these two countries went to war in 1962, and China came out a strong victor, and India felt humiliated. There are territorial issues to be sorted out. The Dalai Lama and his followers live in India, and sooner or later the Tibet issue has to be resolved. The two countries will be in competition for resources. ..... so, watch out.
Petroleum is one resource over which India and China will compete. Energy needs of these two countries are so huge that to a large extent we are vastly underestimating how that will affect the cost of energy for the rest of the world as well. further, of course, the more the energy comes from fossil fuels, the more the production of carbon dioxide, which will have serious effects on global warming.
They might also metaphorically duke it out over the Indian Ocean, as Robert Kaplan laid out in his essay.
Yes, there are quite a few poor in India. In numbers, it is as much as the entire population of the US. This tremendous poverty is the biggest difference between India and China--there are poor people in China too, but poverty is not as deep and broad as it is in India. Even though I grew up in India, it has always been a gut-wrenching reality for me to come face to face with poverty that I have not seen anywhere else. I suppose I will see something like that when I go to Tanzania later in December. Every time I visit India, I am forced to step out of my denial stage :-(
Editorial comment: This sheer number of millions of poor is one reason why I think it is irresponsible of our political and economic leaders to talk about outsourcing to India as one of our greatest economic challenges. It is true that the outsourcing does not mean that the poor are gaining jobs directly. But, the recent few years has lifted a lot more people out of poverty, and this was possible only because of large-scale and rapid economic growth, and outsourcing played a big role in that economic growth.

It was fun partnering with you folks. Have a fantastic summer. To those who are graduating this term, I wish you well in your endeavors.

Lunch, and more

2009-06-02T10:24:00.000-07:00

Hey, updates on a few items of interest:

A couple of students have confirmed their interest in lunch. We have agreed to meet at 12:30 on Saturday (June 6th) at the "Star of India" in Salem. In case you have changed your mind and plan to join us, please email me first--so that if there is any change in plan, well, I will be able to update you as well.
I screwed up with scheduling tests and papers from my other two classes the same time that I had you folks submit essay#3. Mea culpa. I have finished reading six or seven papers so far. I will provide you feedback before tomorrow ends.
Recent updates from the Subcontinent:

India's election: no change in the party heading the government. In fact, it is the same prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
Sri Lanka: the Tigers crushed by the military, and their leader, Prabakaran, dead. Lots of civilian collateral damage.
Pakistan: I wonder if they decided to mimic the Sri Lankan offensive strategy, by going on an all-out offensive in Swat Valley. Again, lots of civilian collateral damage, particularly in terms of internally displaced population.
Nepal: one version of Communists yielding power to another version. Could be a sign of a healthy democracy in its early stages .... but could also threaten sustaining democracy.
Afghanistan: A lot more is at stake now in the presidential elections coming up.

Will respond later to your comments on the final discussion question.

Your final (exam) paper

2009-05-20T16:59:00.000-07:00

For some reason, the fonts all got messed up in my earlier email :-(
Hence, this re-send

So, even as you are finalizing essay #3, I thought I would give you the final exam task.

After thinking for quite some time, I have decided to give you two options for the broad topic area from which you can choose one:

Your paper can be on an environmental aspect--as long as the topic is about a specific geographic area in the Subcontinent. It does not have to include the entire Subcontinent; for instance, it can be about how conservation leads to forced relocation of tribal people in a small area of India.
This option about an environmental aspect because we will not spend too much time on this, and I want you to have an opportunity to learn more about it, if that interests you.
Or
Your paper can follow-up on the issues related to the Taliban and Swat Valley that we discussed. All of a sudden, over the last two weeks, the Pakistani Taliban and Swat Valley have been all over the news, thanks to the Pakistani government launching an all-out assault there. So, this is a timely issue that you can learn more about, by writing a paper. It can even be about the internally displaced persons, for instance, and why America needs to help with reconstruction.

In either case, the following will be the schedule of tasks related to the final paper:

By Friday, May 29th: an abstract of the paper you want to write. About 75 words in length.
By Thursday, June 4th: a one-page outline of how you will develop the arguments for the paper
By Thursday, June 11th: the final paper

Finally:

It is ok to discuss with fellow students or friends or family—but, only to understand some of the big picture ideas. DO NOT engage in discussions in order to explicitly develop your arguments for the essay. The paper should reflect your understanding and not somebody else's
Observe the rules of college-level writing. This includes appropriate citations (MLA/APA/Chicago/ ... it does not matter), transition of ideas and paragraphs, spell check, double space, page numbering, decent font size, ...
You are required to refer to additional references. The ideas and arguments in your paper should be supported with evidence from peer-reviewed or authoritative analytical references that are appropriately quoted within the paper. A minimum of five such references are required.
You will typically be able to develop a cogent set of arguments in about 2,000-2500 words

It is absolutely acceptable for you to check your ideas with me. But, you should be able to demonstrate that you have done significant work before you approach me. Example significant work: you identify the theme you want to explore, read up a few relevant reference materials, ….

You have three weeks from today to put together a good paper, which I am sure you will. Let me (us) know if anything is not clear here.

sriram

FYI .... more on elections in India

2009-05-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Now that you are a little familiar with the Subcontinent, maybe you will find this interesting.
*****

Elections a world away will resonate here

By Sriram Khé

For The Register-Guard

Posted to Web: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 06:11PM
Appeared in print: Wednesday, May 13, 2009, page A9

What is the difference between elections in India and elections here in America? In India, elections are conducted over one month, and the results are announced in a day. In America, elections are held on a single day but the result may not be known for months! Just ask Al Franken.

India’s elections were geographically staggered in five phases from April 16 to May 13, and the final results will be known on May 16. Out of the eligible 714 million voters, there is a good chance that about 60 percent — more than 400 million Indians — will have cast their votes by the final election day.

Most projections do not forecast a single party dominating, which will further the practice of coalition government. The current government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, of the Congress Party, is in power thanks to the coalition referred to as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA). If it loses at the polls, the margin will be slim enough that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) might not be able to radically alter domestic or foreign policies.

These results would be very different from my experience as a kid, when the Congress Party almost always had a significant parliamentary majority. The opposition was so fragmented that the joke was that even a donkey could get elected on the Congress Party ticket. The era of coalition governments is a healthy sign, indeed. While there is no immediate causal relationship, the correlation is interesting: The more India’s economy opened up, the faster its economic growth rates have been, and single-party domination seems to have ended.

Even though I grew up in India, I have never voted in elections there; I had already moved to America by the time I was eligible to vote. As a kid I always looked forward to voting, given my interest in political issues from a very young age, and given how colorful and noisy election campaigning is in India.

I suppose my first vote in America made up for all that — it was the dramatic and history-making elections of 2000! In fact, politics in the United States have been pretty darned exciting since then, including Indian-style corruption with even a U.S. Senate seat for sale, and opportunistic party-switching for no reason other than to get re-elected. And I thought I would never get to see this here in America!

While no serious policy changes might result from India’s elections alone, taken together with the results of elections to follow in two neighboring countries, we might experience significant impacts on global geopolitical discussions and decision-making.

On June 12, Iran’s current president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, will be tested at the polls. Odds seem to favor his re-election, all the more so given that he seems to have gained the support of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A second term for Ahmedinejad will strengthen the country’s hard-line stance, particularly against the U.S. and Israel, and perhaps push the country closer to its first nuclear bomb.

Afghanistan will hold its presidential elections in August. The current president, Hamid Karzai, has been heading the country since the Taliban-led government was driven out of power by the U.S. and NATO military forces. Karzai has been increasingly criticized for not being effective in the fight against the Taliban, who have been rapidly gaining ground both in Afghanistan and in neighboring Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is dealing with a possibility that democracy might get suspended there by a military coup, thanks to the democratically elected government getting more and more unstable. Unfortunately, neither a weak government nor a military coup is new to Pakistan.

Thus, whether it is the UPA or the NDA that gets elected to power in India, there will not be as many repercussions as from the political developments over the next couple of months in Afghanistan, Iran and, of course, Pakistan. How events unfold in South and West Asia this summer will have immense implications even for those of us halfway around the world.

I wonder if Al Franken will have been sworn in as senator by the time summer ends!

I wonder ... meet at an Indian restaurant?

2009-05-12T12:47:00.000-07:00

Hey, the last time I offered this class, which was also in spring, there were only eight students. I suggested to them that maybe we could have lunch together at the Indian restaurant in Corvallis, and we ended up doing just that. The benefits of a small class and, of course, the class in spring term.

Now, this is a totally different dynamic--it is an online class. But, I suppose it will then be all the more fascinating and fun to lunch together at a nearby Indian restaurant. Well, Pakistani, or Afghan, or Nepali, .... you get my drift :-) I remember eating at an Afghan restaurant (stereotypically named "Khyber Pass") in San Diego, and thinking that it was not that different from the food in northern India. (Food varies tremendously across the Subcontinent--even a hundred miles and the food style could significantly change.)

I am all game for this, even if only a couple of you are. It does not matter if the location is going to be Salem or Corvallis, or even Eugene. (BTW, did you know that I live in Eugene?) I have no idea about the relative qualities of restaurants that specialize in this food--in these seven years, I think I have been to the one in Corvallis maybe on four occasions, and to the one in Eugene only twice. I have not been to the restaurant in Salem. So, I will leave it to you interested folks.

If we do have at least a couple of students, then we will do this in the tenth week--incorrectly referred to as "dead week" here. Let me (us) know what you think.

ps: Want something "educational" about Indian food? click here to read about how the chicken tikka masala became Britain's favorite food.

Discussion Question #9

2009-05-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

So, you people have been reading up about Bollywood? Fascinating, right? It better be :-)

There is a good chance that you never knew that there was way more to Bollywood than what you might have heard about/seen--until now. So, again, this course was not without value, eh! .... (Yes, "valued added" is an increasingly talked-about concept in higher education, because, more than anything, the general public is beginning to wonder whether it is worth supporting higher education.)

As you get to understand Bollywood, maybe you will be impressed that movie-making is quite an old industry in India--going back to the first silent film before WWI. Now, in addition to the Bollywood movies--made in Hindi--there are hundreds of movies made every year in languages other than Hindi. In fact, the guy who won the Oscar for creating the music in Slumdog Millionaire, Rahman, is from Chennai--which is the city in southern India where my parents and sister also live. Rahman started with movies in that region, which are in Tamil; yes, the same Tamil that you came across in the Sri Lankan crisis. Aha, now everything is beginning to come together, right? Rahman's first major venture in the West was when he worked with Andrew Lloyd Webber on a musical called Bombay Dreams. (Webber is the guy who created phenomenally successful musicals like Cats, Evita, Phantom of the Opera. If you have not seen any of these, well, what are you waiting for?!!!)

Anyway, given how well you folks have responded to my DQs, I am sure you will have lots of wonderful things to say here too. So, I am not at all compelled to structure a discussion.
Tell us what struck you the most, and why. As always, do that after you have gone over all the materials for this week--do not post your comment based on only one article, for instance. And, whenever possible, see if you can continue with the conversation.

The week ahead: Bollywood

2009-05-10T20:26:00.001-07:00

Hey, finally all the blood and gore is behind us: now it is fun time with Bollywood.

India has a huge entertainment industry--and drama in that geographic area dates a long way back in its history. Last year, one of the plays in the Oregon Shakespeare Festival was "The Clay Cart", based on an old Sanskrit drama called Mricchakatika--well, the title translates to "the clay cart." (Yes, I watched the play; it was not one of the best I have watched at Ashland. My all time favorites from the past few years at Ashland are Coriolanus and Rabbit Hole)
How old is this play you ask? Will you be impressed if the answer is about 2,200 years old! In the Hindu traditions, the origin of pretty much everything is explained, including how theatre, too, is god's gift to humans.

I do not mean to imply that Bollywood is divine! The Subcontinent has a long history of the arts, including theatre. Modern theatre includes movies, and the ones from India we refer to as Bollywood. I should also clarify here that there are two meanings to the usage of Bollywood: one is that it refers to movies from India, and this is mostly a meaning used here in the West; the second one, the technical one, is that it refers to movies made in Bombay, and they are all made in Hindi. The reading materials I have for you will provide additional information on this.

Movies from India, mostly the highly formulaic Bollywood ones, are popular outside India, even among non-Indians. I vivdly remember a graduate schoolmate of mine, who was from Iran, describing how his mother and her friends would go to Indian movies at their favorite cinema in Tehran, and he said "she would cry when the heroine cried, and laugh when the heroine laughed."
Moulin Rouge is probably the Hollywood production that comes closest to how a Bollywood movie might be. But, imagine if hundreds are movies are made with almost similar formula :-)

However, the Taliban and similar minded groups do not like Bollywood. Its popularity in AfPak does not go well with the Taliban, and they try their best to prevent people from enjoying this entertainment, which then drives that market underground. You will get a feel for this from one of the readings.

Of course, there has been a whole lot of interest in Bollywood now thanks to the success of Slumdog Millionaire. I have my own comments on it in my "regular blog", and have included in the syllabus/readings one of the strongest critiques of the movie that I came across. BTW, I was feeling a tad envious when I saw an ad for summer courses at the U. of Oregon: one of the courses was all about Bollywood! If only I had the luxury of offering such a course here at WOU, eh :-(

Nothing would be complete, of course, without some satirical comments from Jon Stewart, and I have included one of his segments. In case it does not work from the course syllabus site, make sure you click here.

Why do they hate women?

2009-05-08T21:26:00.000-07:00

why is the Taliban so intent on closing the schools? It's not like they would have to worry about all these girls beating them physically? Is it because of the examples of women in power (thus the contradictions we've seen compared with the online articles)...are they worried women are too smart? But why continue to educate men??? I'm confused...Dr. Khe, any simple way of explaining this to me?????

Just plainly illogical, and impossible to understand, right? I am with you on this. Let me provide you with my take on it, and then you folks tell me if it sounds right, or whether it needs further clarification, or even if you think I might be wrong (yes, that actually happens. a lot, according to my family!!!)

I am going to adopt the conversational style I might use in a real classroom .... I grew up in a traditional Hindu brahmin household. My sister, who is the eldest of us three siblings, wanted to wear jeans and pants. But, she ran into stiff opposition from the elders. A generation later, her daughter runs around in jeans, and no eyebrows are raised.

In the US too, until a couple of decades ago, women wearing pants were not always without comments. For that matter, even now Hillary Clinton wearing pantsuits is a constant joke--there is no joke about male politicians wearing pantsuits.

My point is that in liberal democratic societies, yes, there is initial opposition to women changing their ways of life, from whatever it was that the culture traditionally required of them. But, at their relative paces, liberal democratic societies slowly head in the direction of equal rights for men and women.

What you saw in Swat Valley was not an example of a liberal democratic society. From our perspective, we notice that women do not equal rights.

So, why do they hate women? Aah, a tough question. Way back in 2001, soon after the fateful 9/11, when most asked the question, "why do they hate America?", Barbara Ehrenreich (author of nickel and dimed) wrote in the Los Angeles Times that to fully understand the post-9/11 word we need to examine the Taliban's hatred of women! Quite insightful, right, given what we see unfolding in Swat Valley today? She did not have convincing answers. And in the years since, we have been struggling to understand why the Taliban treat the female gender so awfully.

The Taliban's hatred for women is even more pointed when it comes to women working for women's rights, like in the following excerpt from a report in The Guardian:

A leading female Afghan politician was shot dead yesterday after leaving a provincial council meeting in Kandahar, southern Afghanistan, which her colleagues had begged her not to attend.
Sitara Achakzai was attacked by two gunmen as she arrived at her home in a rickshaw - a vehicle colleagues said she deliberately chose to use to avoid attracting attention.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the murder.

This was less than a month ago--April 12th! And, more recently, according to the NY Times:

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that “the Pakistani government is basically abdicating to the Taliban,” but the spokesman, Haji Muslim Khan, said that Taliban anger was partly caused by the presence of female American soldiers in the region. Mr. Khan said that Pakistan’s prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, “should think about Western white women who take up arms and come from 20,000 miles away to fight against us here.”

An aside: I wish this guy had taken some basic geography classes: if the problem is white women who came from 20,000 miles away, he is referring to, for all purposes, local women because the circumference of the planet is about 25,000 miles!

I know that I have not answered your question of what does the Taliban have against women? I just don't think there is THE answer to the question. I think it is a combination of tradition, religion, politics, economics, .... one often quoted explanation is that this is a highly literal interpretation of the Koran. this then also explains why women in Saudi Arabia cannot get a drivers license where, only two months ago, "Police in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca Wednesday arrested a woman for violating the country's ban on women driving, according to the Saudi English-language daily Arab News."

Who is better than Dr. Khe when it comes to explaining Afghanistan and Taliban? Why, it is the powerful combination of Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, from June 2001 :-) In case the embedded video does not work, click here ...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Headlines - Afghan Tourism

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

Follow-up to DQ#8 responses

2009-05-08T13:03:00.000-07:00

So, as I hoped, the materials I had for you for DQ#8 did leave you with mixed-up notions on many respects.

Robert noted that the materials seemed to be rather jumbled, not quite coherent. I suppose it is because of the nature of the course we are dealing with here: As a 300-level course, which is the first-ever introduction for most of you to the Indian Subcontinent, it requires a broad overview of some of the unique aspects of that geographic realm. So, the overview then results in this format.
I wish I could offer a follow-up course to this, and focus only one particular aspect of the Subcontinent--such as the role for/of women. Then we can get into a lot more detail, and more systematically too. Take for instance the number of female goddesses in Hinduism. Which is why then in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, we watch/hear the line "Kali ma, shakti de", which translates to "Mother Kali, grant me strength" :-)

As I noted earlier, everything we are reading/watching/discussing is also in the news. If you augment this knowledge with a basic understanding of the Middle East, I think you will have covered the geographic areas that will have tremendous geopolitical implications in the immediate years ahead. Of course, I am assuming that China's stability will continue; if it collapses like how the USSR did, we might as well party like there is no tomorrow!

Ok, now on to some specific comments:

Yes, the two videos are not easy to watch. In fact, last term, which is when the Taliban rapidly started gaining strength in the Swat Valley, I showed one of these videos to my intro class. (I think Noonie was there.) One of the students later commented that I should have warned the class about the graphic nature of violence/blood/... I replied to her that I did not think it was necessary because it was a class of adults--it was not a high school class I was dealing with. And, hey, this is reality for those people, how much ever we might want to be in denial. However, because now I am dealing with an online class, I wanted to make sure that in your homes you were not dragging your kids to watch bambi prancing around in Swat Valley only to find out otherwise.
It is in this Swat Valley that Pakistan's military has apparently launched an all-out offensive. Some commentators wonder if Pakistan is doing it, because that is the only way it can get the US to give more aid. What do I think? We are dealing with Pakistan here--of course!
I appreciated some of your comments that you now feel that much more grateful that you live and go to school in the US. Yes, that was the very message that I too gave my intro class last term. I am not sure how many cared for that message though. So, I am delighted that the sentiment was expressed by you folks and not by me. Courses like this and GEOG 410 serve two main purposes for me: for students to gain an idea of other parts of the world, of course. And the second reason: we understand how much of a safe and wonderful place the US is, and perhaps why then we ought to play a constructive role in international affairs.
Interesting, right, that almost all the women leaders in the Subcontinent became leaders because of their family connections? And, of course, Zardari too owes his presidency to family connections--his wife who was assassinated. But, isn't that largely the case in this country too? the presidential elections of 2000 was between two people who did not come from nowhere, but even their names were the same as their respective fathers': GW Bush and GHW Bush; Al Gore and Albert Gore, Sr. :-) An even better example? Sonny Bono died in a ski accident when he was a member of the US House of Reps. His seat was then filled by his wife, Mary Bono, and there are many other examples too ....
For that matter, it is not uncommon, for instance, for a movie actor's son or daughter to get into the same business, and they certainly do get a leg-up because of the family connections, right? Anyway, if we had the luxury of time, we could have then looked at some interesting (not necessarily good, mind you) female leaders like Mayawati, or Phoolan Devi aka the Bandit Queen!
Yes, English is spoken a lot of people in the Subcontinent. The importance of English is the reason why China has now made it mandatory (I seem to have read something to that effect--not sure though) for school children to learn that language starting from the third grade. Now, given China's importance, shouldn't we in the US have at least a few people learn Chinese? Apparently even in Eugene, despite all its stereotypes, it is not easy to introduce Chinese into the curriculum :-(
Regarding your comment on how maybe women wear chador not because it is imposed on them, but because it is their choice. Yes, we begin to get into highly controversial issues--not only in the Subcontinent, but in many Islamic countries, and non-Islamic countries too. A couple of years ago, a team of men, women, and children, visited Eugene from Bahrain (in the Middle East) and we hosted one of them for about ten days. She--in her mid-twenties--always wore a hijab. (Click here for hijab versus chador versus burka) She said it was her choice, and even explained how there are different fashions in wearing hijabs :-) Wearing a head-scarf became a big controversy in France, and continues as a hot political issue in Turkey.
The "girl power" of the Pink Vigilante is pretty interesting in that it is grassroots activity. BTW, "Gulab" means the flower "rose", which of course is also the color. One of the sweets you will find in any Indian restaurant is called "gulab jamun". Not that it will look pink :-) You will find them as brownish colored small rounds soaking in a sweet syrup. The "gulab" refers to the essence of rose being used--but rarely is that the case.
Anyway, there are lots of such grassroot activities, triggered by women simply getting "po"ed at the injustice, and injustice in the form of abusive males.

Finally, here is a fellow-American (way more knowledgeable and known) discussing Pakistan with Jon Stewart. In case the video does not come across embedded in the email, click here. And, yes, as always, let me (us) know if you have any additional thoughts on these.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Fareed Zakaria

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

The timing of this course!

2009-05-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, it is my pedagogical responsibility to point out how timely this course has been:

The Obama administration has been seriously working on a combined Afghanistan/Pakistan strategy. Today, yes, today the sixth of May, the President is scheduled to meet with Afghanistan's Karzai, and Pakistan's Zardari--individually first, and then with both of them together in the White House. But, according to Time, the Congress is not as impressed with Pakistan and Zardari as the White House might be--for all the reasons we are familiar with.
Swat Valley is all over the news now, with heightened tensions between the government and the Taliban. it is estimated that about half a million people might flee the valley.
Sri Lanka's civil war (what is so "civil", right?) included reports that the military bombed so called safe havens, and even a hospital, for the population trapped in the middle. Of course, the Tamil Tigers are not being fair--but then, come on, guerillas fight by the rulebook?
The rapid deterioration in Sri Lanka has found a huge echo in India's Tamil Nadu. This comes as India is in the middle of elections. And that is not the only issue that concerns Indians. Nepal's government is in trouble with the Maoist prime minister having resigned over all he brouhaha over the firing of the army chief. Yes, my thought too: why does Nepal have an army? :-)
Analysts think that Nepal's continuing political issues might give China an advantage over India, and India is not happy about that.
So, all is quiet only on the Bangladeshi front? How interesting! Oh yes, Bhutan :-)

I understand that it might have been a steep learning curve for you folks, trying to keep track of all the names of people, places, and how they all relate to each other. But, hey, if it were the same ol' stuff, it will be boring, right?

DQ#7: Follow-up

2009-05-04T19:04:00.000-07:00

Even as we near the deadline for DQ#7, a few clarifications/responses:

Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, in 2006. It was for the work he did in micro-credit, through the Grameen Bank. "Grameen" means "village" in Bengali.
Research has shown that entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well even among the rural poor in developing countries. However, they often lack the means to get small loans to implement their ideas. More often than not, formal banks require some kind of a collateral against the loan--so that if the borrower does not pay back the loan, then the bank can legally take that collateral. Obviously the poor own nothing that they can provide as collateral. Which means they don't get loans, and they kind of are stuck.
At the same time, research has also shown that a number of transformations happen as women are empowered in countries that are economic laggards. The transformation is more than merely economic, and begins to show up even in demographic and health dimensions. Women also work much for much longer hours, which might be for anything from carrying water from a couple of miles away to taking care of the few chicken they own. So, anything that helps them means that they are that much more productive in what they do.
So, Yunus brought all these together with the Grameen Bank. (I am simplifying things in order to keep the post short; ask me questions when needed.) It provides small loans, which is what most need. The collateral is nothing but a shared responsibility to pay back the loans. And, the empowerment of women ..... well, that is obvious.
An important facet of this is that this is no charitable giving. Borrowers pay interest on loans, similar to how we pay interest on loans. Borrowers form groups, and they keep an eye out on each other. So, if anybody in the group is messing up things, then the bank does not have to send its loan officer--the groupmates take care of things first because they have a mutual interest in their successes. The net result: the phenomenally high 98% repayment rate that any commercial bank will be happy to achieve. And, remember, there is no cooking up of the books that happens with the banks, many of which are now solvent only thanks to us taxpayers!
Micro-credit, or micro-loan, or micro-finance, yes, there are so many names that essentially refer to the same, have taken off as a big time idea, more so thanks to the Web. It becomes a case of individuals helping individuals; here is an example. In fact, one of the pages at that site has pretty much the answers to all your questions, including the one on why interest rates for Grameen Bank's loans are high.
Connecting individuals to various problems around the world have taken on interesting avenues thanks to the Web. Check this site for how you can contribute rice to starving people by merely expanding your English vocabulary!
Yes, the Onion video was nothing but satire. But, a satire that shows the tough conditions that might be the case with many women workers--in textiles, electronics, .... Of course, as always the Onion exaggerates in order for the satire to be punchy; but, it is a tough life for the working poor. If you liked that, well, there are a whole bunch of satirical videos that you can watch for a long time :-)
On a serious note though, yes, there is that direct link between our penchant for low prices, which then translate--quite frequently--to environmental screw-ups and ultra-cheap labor somewhere else on the planet. As economists love to point out, "there is no free lunch."

Discussion Question #8

2009-05-04T16:56:00.000-07:00

So, we realized one of the advantages of an online class: campus closure because of a virus does not affect this class in any way. Maybe you were thinking that is exactly the disadvantage, eh!
If a computer virus shuts down our computing systems down for a day or two, guess what? No class cancellations even then ..... :-)

We begin the second half the term. In other words, we have been having so much fun that we did not realize that we are done with half the quarter .... what?, do I hear you say, "yeah, right?" hmmmm....

Even as we wait for discussions to wrap up on #7, I thought I would set up the context for DQ #8.
In high school, there was not anything different between the career goals of talented and hardworking female students from that of male students. In fact, the school topper from my cohort was a girl, who went on to medical school. Most parents, more so now, see their girls as having as much abilities as boys do, and rarely do they discourage their daughters from pursuing, yes, math and science. And then I come to the US where since my first day as a grad student, and even now, there is the constant chatter about how very few girls go into math and science.

Similarly, I suppose the low percentage of women executives in American politics is an odd one for a highly developed economy .... I grew up when India's prime minister was a woman--Indira Gandhi. So, there was not even a subconscious questioning of the intellectual abilities of girls .... I was shocked though when an absolutely smart girl who was one year my senior, and a neighbor, suddenly discontinued her schooling--her parents got her married off when she was only 16! A year later she had a kid too .... And this was in an industrial town, and her father was an engineer ....

As much as you noted all kind of contradictions when it comes to India and the entire Subcontinent, you will also notice heights (or depths?) of contradictions when it comes to the role of, and for, women.
Take Pakistan, for instance. A country where a woman, Benazir Bhutto, was so popular that somebody decided to assassinate her. It is the same country where, as you will find in one of the videos, schools for girls are being closed down by the Taliban. India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangla Desh, have all had female prime ministers, and continue to have big time female political leaders. Yet, not all females feel safe within their own countries ....

I have put together a few materials that might give you an idea of some of these complexities. As you read them, watch them, and think about them, keep in mind that we are looking at a complex set of issues through a very, very, small list of selected materials. As with other topics, we can devote an entire course simply to women in the Indian Subcontinent.

I will keep it unstructured a discussion even for this one. Well, you know what to do.
Soon I shall respond, and add, to your comments on DQ#7

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Mumbai Tragedy

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

First 100 Days

Discussion Question #7

2009-05-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

I thought I might engage you about Bangladesh for this one. On poverty and women there, but not by finding out how horrible it is there--instead, we will understand the very transformative and successful approach of microfinance that Muhammad Yunus pioneered, and for which he was also awarded the Nobel Prize in peace back in 2006.

Your reading, well, viewing materials:

This YouTube clip, which is an Australian production, and
this YouTube clip produced by Ashoka.org

Watch the videos in this order because, well, you will see why.

You can see why I love the Onion for its satire: here is one about Bangladesh. Watch this only after watching the YouTube clips.

Your task for DQ #7:
In the context of all these videos, your reflective comments and interpretations.

New Portable Sewing Machine Lets Sweatshop Employees Work On The Go

Follow-up to DQ#6

2009-05-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

That was a lot of new stuff for DQ #6, eh!

I am delighted that this provided you an opportunity to learn about the parliamentary system of government. Even up north, in Canada, that is the system. However, the major difference between Canada and India is this: India is a republic, but Canada still has a governor-general who is essentially the "representative" of the British monarch; the British queen is the queen of Canada too .... Australia, which is like Canada, every couple of years goes through debates on whether or not to get rid of the queen ... The interesting thing: the governors general for Canada and Australia are women ....
Because the chief executive comes from the party elected to power, well, usually it is way easier to pass bills in the parliamentary system. I way prefer the American system where the powers are shared between the president and the Congress, which itself has two equally powerful House and Senate. Yet another reason why I live here and not in the US, eh!

Ok, to some specific comments/questions you had:

Is there any update to the Bhutan story? Yes. I wrote an op-ed about this too, but figured I won't use too much of my own writings in my class :-) The idea that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter plays out in Bhutan too, where the Nepali minority claims it is not treated well, which has resulted in Nepali insurgency ..... oh well. Yes, Bhutan does have a constitutional monarchy now.
Updates to Nepal? You betcha :-) Nepal has moved away from a monarchy to a republic. Koirala's party is now a minority, and the party in power is, get this, the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal--the same ones you read about in the Norton article.
Yes, India is way too big a player in that region. Which is why the elections in India are absolutely important for us (more than the class--the world) to follow. Caste and religion always play important roles in India's politics. Because of the restricted time-frame we have, I could not set aside time to discuss caste or religion, or for that matter even the issue of Kashmir. If you have any specific item of interest, watch out for the topic for essay #3 :-)
Yes, India always seems to do things its own way, which is why it is fascinating for me to study it from a safe distance :-) And, here is the interesting thing about India's national anthem: it was written by the Nobel-prize winning Rabindranath Tagore, whose another work was adopted as the national anthem of Bangladesh. Tagore is the only one with such a distinction of having authored the national anthems of two countries!
Vegetarianism: One thing to note here is that it is not that all Hindus are vegetarians. No, I am not referring to choices that people make. Traditionally, one could expect the "high caste" Hindus to be vegetarians. There are lots of Hindus who are non-vegetarians even by tradition. The notable thing: traditionally even the non-vegetarian Hindu would not eat beef, because the cow is held to be holy. Holy cow!
Yes, India's election uses electronic voting machines. At least one reason why it is not as controversial as it is here in the US: despite all kinds of funny business at elections, people by and large trust that the system works. We Americans are a strange lot--we have a deep-seated distrust of government, bureaucracy, elected officials, .... which means that we end up fighting over every small thing. What a country!
Minorities have been elected and appointed to all kinds of high offices in India. The current prime minister is a Sikh. The president is a woman, who was preceded by a Muslim. And, yes, a foreign-born Catholic almost became the prime minister. How significant are these? Imagine if the US elected a Jewish female as president. That significant. Irrespective of our political preferences, we ought to note that for the US, this is a significant moment--a female speaker of the House, and an African-American as President.
finally, what is the deal with China and India? Well, lots of problems there. Will have to be a course by itself. For one, these two countries fought a war in 1962, and not only India lose the war it also felt stabbed by China. Territorial issues still remain to be settled, but are not pressing issues as much as Tibet becomes--remember that the Dalai Lama lives in India .... I wrote about this too; but shall spare you the pain of reading it.
I am glad with your comments that you are now able to understand and appreciate India that much more. It is a land with possibly every sort of contradiction that one can imagine. I am always amazed at how difficult it is for me to understand India, despite being born there, growing up there, and then following it as an academic. And then when I hear politicians making some absolutely simplistic comments about India, I can only laugh :-(

Discussion Question #6, and more

2009-04-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

Having lived in Oregon for almost seven years now, I have come to understand that spring drags on until the fourth of July :-( At least we are past the freezing overnight temperatures, right? One of these days, we will see the sun for a while :-)

This week, we are looking at a bunch of materials related to some of the political aspects in the Subcontinent. Lots of similarities, and quite a few differences too. To quite some extent, the similarities are because of a shared history, and that too a shared colonial history. So, thanks to the British, you find that most of the countries there have parliamentary systems, in contrast to our system where there is a separation of powers between the elected legislators--the Congress--and the chief executive. I assume somewhere along you have picked up an understanding of the parliamentary system; if not, hey, now is your chance to read about it and ask me questions.

It is also interesting to note that with the exception of India, the rest of the countries in the Subcontinent have very shaky governments now--well, except Bhutan. But then Bhutan is way too small--almost an ant next to the elephant that India is :-) No, I don't mean to put Bhutan down--in fact, I am in the middle of cooking up a plan to go to Bhutan this upcoming summer. I hope it works out, and I will be one happy professor when I return! BTW, do you want to know where I am heading to later in December? Tanzania. A very educational year for me. I shall worry about paying bills later on--I am doing my part to stimulate the global economy :-)

Ok, that was quite a digression!
In addition to the articles from Norton, you have a few materials other materials related to a contemporary event--India's elections. The sheer millions of voters across a vast land and as temperatures are shooting up mean that we are not looking at a one-day event, but elections spread over weeks. We can have a course all by itself on India's politics and elections, and we don't have the time for that. So, I have illustrated some of the aspects of India's elections through three reading materials, and one video clip.

The video is from Colbert--his interview with Kanishk Tharoor, who is the son of Sashi Tharoor. Sashi Tharoor is an academic/intellectual/writer who was also the #2 guy in the UN--he sought the position that eventually went to the current UN Secretary, Ban Ki-Moon. Since then Tharoor has launched yet another career, which is what the Colbert interview is about.
Narendra Modi, featured in the essay by Kaplan is, in my opinion, responsible for a horrible tragedy that unfolded in Gujarat--a state in India where Modi is the chief minister (comparable to a state governor here.) That tragedy is also discussed in Kaplan's essay. India's court recently ruled that a commission needs to examine Modi's role in that tragedy.
India's elections have always had extensive involvement of celebrities, particularly from Bollywood. Having had that experience in India, well, neither Reagan nor Schwarzenegger was a big news to me :-)
Finally, I also threw in that piece on how climate change is featured in the election hype.

So, to the task for discussions:
My only concern with DQ#5 was that I felt that the comments did not address the range of readings, but were focused only on a couple of items, particularly on Sri Lanka. On the one hand, I understand it might simply be a reflection of what was new to you that just simply mesmerized you. Kind of. On the other hand, I want to make sure that you do indeed do all the readings.
Of course, even in the "real world" class I cannot force every student to read all the materials, and all I can do is remind and nudge :-)

Yet, I am not concerned enough to curtail a free flowing discussion. So, your task is to engage us through your informed and reflective posts on whatever sparks your interest from all the materials for this week. And, yes, ASK questions and you shall receive plenty of answers from me; as my family likes to point, apparently I am "full of it" :-)

The civil war in Sri Lanka

2009-04-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

So, the situation in Sri Lanka somehow has gotten worse than worse, if that can be possible.
In an opinion piece way back in January, which I have copied/pasted from a post in my regular blog, I noted that there was not even an official US statement on the crisis.

Keep in mind I wrote that in January, and we are at the end of April. A very long time when bombs are falling all over the place.

Today, the BBC reports that:

In the first official US statement on the situation, the White House said it was "deeply concerned about the plight of innocent civilians caught up in the conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Tigers and the mounting death toll".

I shall spare you some of the horribly graphic images that I have seen on a few websites.
Of course, in one of the Indian states--Tamil Nadu--the Sri Lankan situation has become a convenient political issue for parties to engage in demagoguery.

Anyway, here is my opinion piece from last January:

Out of sight, out of mind.

That seems to be the bottom line when it comes to the crisis in Sri Lanka.

A civil war has been raging in the former Ceylon since 1983, despite several attempts by outsiders to diffuse the tensions and to put an end to the conflict. The rebel group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and referred to as the Tamil Tigers, has adopted a violent approach to achieve an autonomous homeland for the ethnic Tamils who, it alleges, are discriminated against by the majority Sinhalese. The Sri Lankan government, over the years, has attempted to squelch the rebellion without much success.

Until recently.

For the first time after many years, the Tamil-dominated Jaffna Pensinsula, in northern Sri Lanka, is now under the control of the Sri Lankan army and government. The Tamil Tigers are now boxed into an area of just over 200 square miles—much smaller than the area that they controlled up until the latest military offensive.

International groups watching the war rather helplessly from the sidelines are worried about the fate of civilians, which is my concern too. The government, sensing that an ultimate military victory might be within reach—something that has been quite unimaginable over the 26 years—has apparently banned aid groups from entering the war area and assisting civilians.

Reuters reports that “aid agencies say there are about 230,000 refugees in the war zone, where rights groups say the Tigers are keeping them as human shields.”

Of course, the Tamil Tigers flatly deny that civilians are being used as shields.

It is not only Tamils who are being caught in the crossfire. A Sri Lankan newspaper editor, Lasantha Wickrematunge, a Sinhalese himself, was shot dead while he was on his way to work. Ironically, it was not the Tamil Tigers who killed this journalist, even though he has described the rebels as “among the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations to have infested the planet.”

While the killers are yet to be identified, it is believed that Wickrematunge was a target because he was highly critical of the government’s handling of terrorism in his country. Wickrematunge predicted his end in an editorial, where he wrote that "When finally I am killed, it will be the government that kills me."

Wickrematunge’s death and the ongoing war highlight how much the ferocious fanaticism of the rebels is being matched by the government's, and how civilians—Tamils and Sinhalese alike—are paying a huge price for this mano a mano behavior.

Over the Christmas break, I was in Chennai—the capital of Tamil Nadu, and the largest city in the state. “Tamil Nadu” means the “land of the Tamils” and, as one would surmise, there is, therefore, immense sympathy for the Tamils in Sri Lanka. There were public demonstrations urging the government—at the state and federal levels—to act in order to help both the Tamils and the Sri Lankan rebels.

Of course, while there is enormous sympathy for the Tamil civilian population in Sri Lanka, the same cannot be said for the Tamil Tigers—after all, this same rebel group was responsible for assassinating India’s former prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi, back in 1991, at an election campaign rally only a few miles south of Chennai.

Yet, I find that there is very little coverage in the US of this serious development. I do not think there has been a statement on this from our State Department and White House, either.

Granted that this news item has to compete against updates on the global economic meltdown, the presidential transition, or the situation in Gaza. But, even the controversy over Russia turning off the flow of natural gas to Ukraine and other European countries gets more coverage, not to speak of the hours that were spent on the recently concluded Golden Globes.

I would think that the Sri Lankan situation where hundreds of thousands of civilians are caught in the crossfire merits our attention. However, and unfortunately, it turns out that the importance of destruction of life and property depends on the geographic area where that happens.

William Shakespeare said it best, although in a different context: “there is something rotten in the state of Denmark.”

note: this was published in the Register Guard on January 19, 2009, under the title "Sri Lanka flies under the radar"

Concluding comments on Discussion Question #5

2009-04-25T12:57:00.000-07:00

So, it turned out to be a lot of materials since I posted the task for DQ #5. I am delighted!

Many of you referred to the Sri Lanka situation. I have addressed them in my previous post. BTW, I noticed that the email garbled the paragraph formatting; so, if you want a cleaner version of my response, go to the blog post. In this installment, I want to address some of the other issues you raised.

* Using women or children as suicide bombers or simply as decoys is not restricted to Islamic militants alone. If that is something we have clarified thanks to this course, then we have already added immense value through this class. It is unfortunate, but a reality. And, yes, families might even celebrate these as martyrs. From their perspective, it is a war they need to fight with whatever weapons they have at their disposal--which is not a whole lot. Well, enough said there .... But remember that you can always try to engage your classmates in this asynchronous conversation, and ask me questions .....

* While trivial, here is an update: Harvard last year accepted only 7.1 percent of the applicants :-)

* On a more informative note, if you are interested in understanding more about Marc Sageman's Leaderless Jihad (that Sarah referred to) and you have a few minutes to spare, you may as well watch a video of him talking about the book--from a lecture and Q/A at MIT. I have embedded the video here, and if the email does not show the video, well, head to the class blog, where you will find this post.

* BTW, that MIT video is an example of how much resources are freely available now. MIT started making such materials freely available through Open Courseware, and then more universities joined in, and is now a huge network called the Open Courseware Consortium. Knowledge is for free--well, mostly. And, we get the benefits of MIT and Harvard without paying those astronomical fees :-) This free knowledge, which is how it ought to be, comes in handy in many of my classes.

* Finally, what is the benchmark of success when it comes to terrorism and instability? Aha, if I had the magic formula wouldn't the whole world be after me? :-)
Well, in one of his many explanations for non-violent approaches, this is what Mohandas Gandhi--the father of modern India--said: "an eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind."

FYI: Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Cricket

2009-04-24T15:38:00.001-07:00

It was a remarkable discovery--for me, that is--when I realized that blogging is a simple and efficient manner in which I can keep track of the things that fascinate me, which might come in handy for my classes or scholarship. This post is a result of my regular blogging--I have copied and pasted a post from my regular blog; hey, it is not plagiarism if I copy from my own blog, right? :-)

(The date of the original post is March 3, 2009)

When I was a kid, the phrase "it is not cricket" meant more than just the game--it was a phrase that described behaviors and actions that were not sportsmanlike.
How do I describe the act of shooting at cricketers, the violence and mayhem? "It is not cricket" is way too lame in this context.

It is sad to read about the attack on Sri Lankan cricket players while they were in Lahore. It is sad on so many grounds. Sri Lanka itself is not a happy place, with its own madness. Pakistan is rapidly spinning out of control. This was in Lahore--not even some small town in Pakistan's northwest.

I just don't understand how the US and the West did not see the coming anarchy in Pakistan, when even an idiot like me, sitting cozily in my home in the Pacific Northwest, have been warning about this for years :-(

Here are a few links to this story:
A video news report from the BBC
A BBC report that also includes a map of Lahore (note that the cricket stadium is named after one of the world's leading thugs--Gadaffi!)

Sri Lanka, suicide bombing, and .... plagiarism?

2009-04-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

We academics bug the &%$# out of students by talking about plagiarism in every class. Relax. This post has nothing to do with any of your behaviors :-)
It is about how a Sri Lankan newspaper plagiarized my column on suicide bombings!

After reading my op-ed, my closest friend and colleague here at Western, remarked, “this is such a good piece that I bet other newspapers will pick it up.” I ignored her remarks at that time, thinking that she was merely flattering me. But when she repeated her comment later some time, I was surprised with the Google search results—my column on suicide bombings in Sri Lanka, which was published in Register Guard on February 6^th had been republished in the Ceylon Daily News in the February 8^th edition—merely a day after it was published here.

Three things caught my attention in the Sri Lankan republication: first, words re-written to suit the British spelling. The “Honors Program”, for instance, was the “Honors Programme”. Second, there were two photographs. One was the aftermath of the suicide bombing on February 3^rd, which I had referred to, and of Rajiv Gandhi moments before his assassination. The two photographs made the essay powerful, reinforcing the notion that a picture is well worth a thousand words. The third was more than a mere eyebrow-raiser—there was no acknowledgment that the Ceylon Daily News had republished the column.

There was no mention of the Register Guard anywhere. The omission of this critical information would have, therefore, easily misled readers into thinking that the commentary was an original contribution on a highly politically sensitive topic from an American professor. (Yes, "American" still carries a lot of weight in many parts of the world.)

Furthermore, it turned out that this commentary in the Ceylon Daily News was then republished in the web pages of the Sri Lankan army. Interestingly enough, the army web page did not include the photographs from the Ceylon Daily News, but had a photograph of a suicide vest. It is easy to understand why the military showcased this opinion—after all, I was making an argument that the rebels that the Sri Lankan military was fighting were the ones who perfected the insanely evil strategy of using suicide bombers.

Before I contacted the Ceylon Daily News personnel, I checked with the Register Guard to find out whether the paper had approved the republication. As I suspected, there was no inquiry or request to republish the column. In his email, the editor remarked, “the Sri Lankan newspaper that used your column without permission has done something that would be illegal in this country.”

So, after making sure that I did have a case to make, I pointed out the facts in a polite, short email to the editor of the Ceylon Daily News, and suggested that they publish a correction in their next issue as an admission of the editorial oversight.

I was pleasantly surprised to read in the February 11^th issue of the Ceylon Daily News the following clarification: “The article ‘Suicide Bombings: An Evil Phenomenon’ by Sriram Khe which appeared in the Daily News of February 8, 2007 was first published in the Register-Guard, Eugene, USA on February 6. The original article did not carry any photographs.” I resisted the urge to email the editor that the year in question is “2008” and not “2007”.

On the one hand, I am happy that half way around the world, somebody actually found my opinion to be that much worthwhile to republish it. By the same token, it is yet another professional and pedagogical lesson that reproducing some other person’s work is a simple matter of computer clicks, and this is precisely what my faculty colleagues and I try to ensure that our students do not ever attempt.

Finally, the incident is a reminder that even though there is a lot of talk about the death of the newspaper industry, this Sri Lankan copy and paste incident points out that thanks to the same internet, even newspapers like the Register Guard are able to reach an audience that could not have been served even a mere decade ago. A local paper is now able to transcend geographic distance, and is magically transformed into a global newspaper.

ps: I googled for it, and it turns out that the "republished" opinion piece is still available on the Sri Lankan newspaper's web site; check out the result for yourself :-)

Essay #2, and feedback on Essay #1

2009-04-23T07:51:00.000-07:00

Instead of waiting to complete all the grading, I thought it might be better to update the grades on the web site. I have done that.

I have also emailed you--individually--my comments on your essays. The comments will be along the right margin. Which is why I am so particular about you double-spacing the document :-) Let me know if the comments don't show up in your document.

A few general remarks:

Make sure you follow the directions I give you. There is a chance that in most other courses--regular or online--you were required to submit essays/papers on topics of your own choosing. In my classes, almost always, I restrict the range of topics by providing explicit guidelines. Thus, for Essay #1, you could choose to focus on a topic that interested you--as long as it was in response to something that Musharraf said in his interview with Jon Stewart.
Essays and final papers are formal writing, which means that the style cannot be casual and conversational. (Your responses to DQs do not have to be ultra-formal, and can be casual and conversational.)
While you do not have to list as a bibliography the materials we use in this class, make sure you do point out to the reader (ahem, that is me) where you got the data/argument that you are providing. (E.g., "As stated in the article #21 of the Norton text, ....)
By and large I almost always am the easiest grader for the first essay, and slowly ramp up as we proceed along. So, please make sure you pay attention to your essay assignments--content, and the mechanics of writing.

For Essay #2, I would like you to think about the materials you have for this week, and all these deal with instability and terrorism. As you think about them, I want you to see if there is any common thread that links them all. Maybe after thinking through, you decide that there is no common thread after all. Either way, lay out your argument, and write up a paper. While doing this, make sure you don't simply summarize country by country, or incident by incident.
I hope I am making sense; if not, yes, ASK questions :-)

Finally, at least one student prefers Tuesday as the deadline. No problems if you want that additional day.

Earlier today there were news reports of suicide bombings in Iraq, which killed more than 75. I am afraid that the final tally will be more than 100. As Hannah noted in her response to the DQ, suicide bombings are way too horrendous--not that somehow other bombings are ok either. Here is one video that captured a suicide bombing as it unfolded in Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka, the British Empire, and more

2009-04-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

A follow-up to Kim's comments on Sri Lanka (yes, raise more questions and concerns)

* At some point in my Global Issues class, it is typical of me to comment that most contemporary problems in the world can be traced back to the British Empire! From Iraq to Afghanistan to Zimbabwe .... there is a constant presence of the British Empire in the past.
* Sri Lanka is no exception, unfortunately. Here is a neat chronological listing of major events in Sri Lanka's history. Is it an irony, in this context, that it is from the BBC? :-)
* The Sinhalese and the Tamils have had some serious coexistence problems after the country's independence in 1948. (India and Pakistan became independent in 1947.) The British, who were quite notorious for a "divide and rule" policy; as this BBC backgrounder notes:

The British colonial policy of divide and rule sowed the seeds of renewed tensions between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities after independence.

* So, yes, the "West" had a significant role in the past that has then resulted in some unpleasant and horrible outcomes. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, the crisis then took the shape of terrorism/civil war, which has raged on since 1983.
* As I note even in my op-ed about suicide bombings, Sri Lanka's rebels--the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)--perfected this horrible method to destroy life and property.
* I tell my Global Issues class that one of the lessons, as far as I am concerned, from the British Empire, is that we ought to keep in mind that the American Empire will be evaluated for its performance a few decades down the road :-)
* A final note: humans have mostly had problems dealing with "others"--the other could be based on language, religion, ethnicity, .... One of the fantastic achievements in very recent times has been the ability of humans to live together despite differences. Whether this is in India or the US or in Europe, the majority has no problems coexisting with "others". We ought to celebrate this development, and recognize this phenomenal achievement.

Now, regarding Emily Dickinson:
Here is how "Ample make this bed" was read in Sophie's Choice.

Interestingly enough, both Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson are noted in one of Simon/Garfunkel's wonderful hits, "The Dangling conversation", where they sing:

...
And you read your Emily Dickinson
And I my Robert Frost ....

Discussion Question #5

2009-04-21T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hey, I am wondering why I am still stuck in my office, when it is such a fantastic day outside! More so when the forecast is that clouds, and rain too?, will roll in starting tomorrow ....
But then, as Robert Frost so wonderfully noted,

But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

One of the promises is to bug you with a discussion question :-)

This week is all about terrorism and instability, and very few areas in the Subcontinent have been lucky enough not to experience them. Some areas more than others. Even the much talked about Bangalore, which is the IT capital of India, was not an exception. But, then this is a land of more than 1.5 billion people, which means as a percentage of the population, terrorism (outside of AfPak and Sri Lanka) takes on a different dimension.

However, it is crazy that there are terrorist acts all over the Subcontinent. Thanks to our discussions on AfPak, we are familiar with the issues there. Kind of.
But then there are rebels and terrorists in Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka .... and here is the interesting thing: while here in the US media reports may lead one to conclude that terrorists are always only radical Islamists, terrorism in Nepal or Sri Lanka have nothing to do with Islam. In fact, the acts are not really responses to religious differences at all. There is nothing to the equivalent of a jihad. Yet, Sri Lanka, for instance, experiences some of the bloodiest acts of terrorism, as the readings and the video show.

I want to make sure to note that it does not at all mean that India or Nepal is unsafe. No, these are not in the same category as Afghanistan or Iraq. Normal life flourishes there. In fact, and as we will find out next week, India is in the middle of the largest ever elections anywhere in the world.

So, you are thinking, gimme the question already!
Because you folks have made wonderful observations thus far, even without pointed questions from me, I am confident that you will provide insightful observations here too, without me directing your attention with any specific question.
As always, read all the materials, watch the video, think about all of them, and then provide us your focused point. Make sure you don't summarize any reading.

DQ #4, update on grades, and more

2009-04-21T09:54:00.001-07:00

Hey, we begin week #4. Warm sunshine outside--not for long, though :-(

* I will update the grades at http://www.wou.edu/~khes/geog315online/about.htm
As of now, I have completed grading only eight essays, and have a long way to go. The primary culprit that slowed me down? My responsibilities as the editor of Pacifica, which I had to get to the print shop earlier this morning so that by this week's end or early next week the issues will start appearing in the mailboxes of the about 700 members of this professional association. In other words, it is not a case of "my dog ate my homework!" :-)

* I am pleased with the quality of responses to the discussion questions. You are making it clear that you are doing the readings, watching the videos, and thinking carefully. Keep this up. (To the couple of students from whom we did not get responses: please let me know if there are problems that I might be able to address.) When it comes to the essay, you can always check with the evaluation rubric as quality-assurance tool.

* It looks like the tech people and I might have figured out why the audio and video of my video-clips with this new computer are not syncing. It does not mean that we have the solution, however :-( It is frustrating ... but, oh well ....

* your comments on DQ #4 (and the essays too) show that we have already added a great deal to your knowledge base. I, too, think that this class has the kind of materials that will be even more enjoyable (and understandable?) in a classroom environment. I would have offered it as a regular class, but for the fact that the last time I scheduled it I had to cancel the class because, if I rememer correctly, only four students signed up for the class :-( I was, therefore, more than pleasantly surprised with how rapidly this class got filled up. I do not know, however, how much the enrolment was due to an interest in the topic, as opposed to it being an online class. Any which way, I am happy that we are here exchanging thoughts on the Indian Subcontinent.

* I will add a couple more materials to the list for next week, and will alert you when that is complete.

* This week, our focus is on terrorism and instability, and this is not merely by looking at AfPak. If everything was hunky-dory in that part of the world, then the readings I have put together will not be this depressing and anxiety-causing. But, ....
It is also a neat transition, after spending two weeks on AfPak; you can visualize gliding eastwards from AfPak and getting to know some of the issues related to other countries in this region that we refer to as the Indian Subcontinent.

BTW, as you look at this map on the left, you may notice that Afghanistan is on the "other side" of the mountains, compared to the rest of the countries we are looking at in this course. It is the same reason why some scholars classify Afghanistan not with South Asia/Indian Subcontinent, but with the Middle East, or with Central Asia. However, there is a great deal of culture, politics, history that so much interlinks Afghanistan and Pakistan (and India) that, hey, we look at Afghanistan also in this course.

As always: ASK questions :-)

No video!!! Comments on DQ #3

2009-04-19T21:52:00.000-07:00

So, not able to work out the problem with my laptop--the audio and video don't want to sync, which makes the serious video clip seem like one of those viral YouTube clips where a different audio is superimposed on an audio for hysterical effects :-(
Let us see if the tech people can figure out the reason tomorrow or the day after ....

Meanwhile, here are my responses to some of our comments:
* The Durand Line demarcated the border between the British Raj and Afghanistan. Durand was the empire's foreign secretary. Left to the British, they would have loved to expand the empire into Afghanistan and beyond. But, they were yet another group that simply could not conquer Afghanistan. Much later, the USSR suffered the same fate, and this costly Afghan venture was a critical reason for the fall of the Soviet empire. Now, the Durand Line is the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. About 1500 miles of border, which for all purposes is an open border.
* One big problem with the Durand Line is that it divides up the Pashtuns, who did not see themselves as different people up until the line was drawn. It is not difficult to imagine Pashtuns on the Afghan side having close family and other connections with Pashtuns in the Pakistani side of the line.
* Way back when the USSR was occupying Afghanistan, Pashtuns and sympathizers from around the world freely roamed these same border areas, trained there (with US help too), and Osama bin Laden was one of the foreigners who joined the mujahadeen in the jihad against the Soviets. Now, once again it is a near-jihad situation, if not already one.
* In the intervening years, the Taliban in Afghanistan gained political power as well and ruled the country. And offered a safe haven to bin Laden.
* One of the many casualties in all the chaotic conditions since 9/11 was Benazir Bhutto. I have embedded in my blog post a lengthy interview that David Frost conducted with her only a month before her assassination. In case the video does not come through in the email, here is the link.

* All these mean that to a large extent, it is quite a mess out there. Aren't you glad we are here, far away from all that confusion? At the same time, I am glad you took it upon yourself to learn more about the Indian Subcontinent, of which AfPak is a major component.

Slumdog Millionaire. Child star for sale. Poverty.

2009-04-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

To some extent, given the nature of the course contents, it is difficult to restrain myself from commenting on a topic that is a couple of weeks away. So, even though I am blogging/emailing it now, it is FYI; we will "talk" about this later on. Unless you, too, are simply unable to hold on to your thoughts :-)

Nothing ever surprises me anymore about life in this world.
More so when the news is from India, which everyday offers more plot twists and turns than any soap opera can.
Here is another example. A child actor from Slumdog Millionaire is (or was potentially) up for sale! I have excerpted the following from a news item in the Times of India, which investigates about the reports of the potential sale:

‘We expect
Rubina More Pics
compensation’

Slumdog Millionaire child actress Rubina Ali’s father has, reportedly, decided to put her on sale. In a bid to cash in on Rubina’s international stardom, her father Rafiq Qureshi has put her up for adoption, demanding nearly 200,000 pounds (Rs 1.8 crore approx). He offered the deal to an undercover fake sheikh from the international tabloid News of the World. “Yes, we’re considering Rubina’s future,” Rafiq told the undercover reporter. “I have to consider what’s best for me, my family and Rubina’s future,” he added.

Rafiq blamed Hollywood bosses for forcing him to put his daughter up for sale and claims, “We’ve got nothing out of this film.” News of the World’s undercover reporter approached Rafiq acting as the representative of a wealthy Arab sheikh, who wanted to adopt the girl. “Yes, we’re considering Rubina’s future,” Rafiq replied, and asked him to talk to his brother-in-law.

Rubina’s uncle Rajan More confirmed, “Yes, we’re interested in securing our girl’s future. Rubina’s life is miserable and she lives with her stepmother. Most of the time she stays with me because she’s not happy at her parents’ home. Obviously, if you wanted to adopt, we could discuss this, but her parents would also expect some proper compensation. We’re talking of around 50,000 pounds for this to happen.”

Just awful. But, in a way it also exposes the reality of life in the slums.

Was, therefore, reminded of the stinging criticism of the movie a couple of months ago--that the movie is nothing but "poverty porn". A quick google search, and here is an excerpt from that Times column:

Like the bestselling novel by the Americanised Afghan Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Slumdog Millionaire is not a million miles away from a form of pornographic voyeurism. A Thousand Splendid Suns is obsessed with rape and violence against women, the reader asked to pore over every last horrible detail. Slumdog Millionaire is poverty porn.

The columnist then noted:

When we are suckered into enjoying scenes of absolute horror among children in slums on the other side of the world, even dubbing them comedy, we ought to question where our moral compass is pointing.

And, this observation in Huffington Post certainly makes us wonder about "poverty porn":

Apparently, tours of Mumbai slums are experiencing a boon since Slumdog Millionaire won eight Academy Awards -- more evidence that this film created an emotional connection between Western audiences and the characters it depicts.

A report in USA Today certainly adds credibility to the notion that the movie has triggered a touristy interest in poverty:

The movie's recent premiere in Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay) sparked complaints among some of Dharavi's estimated 1 million residents, who live and work in an area smaller than New York's Central Park. But it also has boosted business for Reality Tours and Travel, which leads eight to 15 tourists a day on guided tours of the slum.

Reality Tours co-founder Chris Way estimates that sales are up by about 25% since Slumdog Millionaire's release. Though he credits some of the increase to a gradual rebound in tourism after terrorist attacks in Mumbai killed more than 170 people in November, publicity surrounding the film has played a big role.

Oh well .... we will talk more about this later on in the course.

FYI .... no problems if you don't read this :-)

2009-04-17T14:47:00.000-07:00

I have excerpted the following from a news report in The Hindu, which is a Indian newspaper that has been in the business for 12o years and has the 3rd largest circulation in the country.
Notice how the report also uses the term "AfPak"; You now know for sure that you can impress the hell out of others by casually making references to AfPak :-)

Obama pick for India has ear of White House Siddharth Varadarajan
“The problem for India this time will be not lack of access”

Roemer’s forthright views on terrorism can give comfort
Wants tension over Kashmir addressed

New Delhi: A senior Democrat politician and former Congressman who helped deliver the crucial state of Indiana to Barack Obama in the American presidential race is likely to be named the next U.S. ambassador to India.

Tim Roemer, currently head of the Center for National Policy, a Washington think-tank, was identified by Foreign Policy magazine’s normally reliable beltway blog, The Cable, as President Obama’s pick for New Delhi. If confirmed, he would have beaten veteran India hands Karl Inderfurth and Marshall Bouton to the job despite not having much of a South Asia connection of his own.

Given his proximity to Obama and his Chief of Staff, Roemer certainly will have a line to the White House, a former U.S. State Department official told The Hindu from Washington, something Robert Blackwill and David Mulford, the previous two U.S. envoys in Delhi had. “But I think the problem for India this time will be not lack of access but lack of interest, given the preoccupation of everybody here with AfPak,” the former official added.

Mr. Roemer served in the House of Representatives from 1991 to 2003. He was a member of the bipartisan commission established by the Congress to look into the events leading up to 9/11. More recently, he served on the bipartisan Weapons of Mass Destruction Commission, whose alarming report, The World at Risk, released last year, spoke of the danger of WMDs being used in a terrorist attack by 2013 unless the world community acted decisively now. Pakistan was singled out by the commission as the weakest link in world security. “Were one to map terrorism and weapons of mass destruction today, all roads would intersect in Pakistan,” the report stated.

Discussion Question #4

2009-04-16T14:34:00.000-07:00

So, with this week we bring to a close (sort of) our focused attention on AfPak. Of course, materials throughout this term will have something about Afghanistan and Pakistan; but, they will not be only about these two countries and how they are inter-linked as AfPak.

There are so many comments of yours, with respect to DQ#3, that we can discuss forever. On Saturday, after we close the door on DQ#3, I will contribute my thoughts--as a video clip :-) Yes, I get excited about the video clip because I am forever trying to convince my faculty colleagues, and students too, that given the possible bandwidth these days, online classes ought to include lots of multimedia materials, including video clips. So, again, a reminder to you that instead of typing out your responses to the discussion questions, you may also respond through a video. Of course, the thought of videos ending up on YouTube because of some faux pas is quite a dampening one. I hope that none of my videos ever ends up in something like America's Funniest Videos!

Meanwhile, even the so-called mainstream American media are slowly waking up to the reality of a Pakistan Taliban. Finally! Of course, I keep thinking to myself: "if only people had been listening to me!!!" But when even my daughter or my students don't pay attention to me, why should the world, eh! ha ha ha :-)

In case the embedded YouTube video does not come across in the email, here is the link to the same video. You may also want to scan through the few comments there; I am sure some of them will completely surprise you.

All right, here is your task for the Discussion Question #4:
I am sure there was at least one new thing that you learnt from these two weeks of AfPak-related materials. Or maybe the materials clarified a misconception. So, your task is to reflect on the two weeks of materials and tell us what was joltingly new to you, or made you throw out your old view of AfPak?
Looking forward to your responses.

Discussion Question #3

2009-04-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

So, things are getting more and more awful in AfPak. According to a recent news item, the Taliban shot dead a young couple who tried to elope. It was a 21 year old man and a 19 year old woman. They were executed in front of a mosque.

Meanwhile, in Pakistan, all is not well. After violence and protests, life is slowly returning to normal in Quetta, which is the largest city in, and the capital of, Balochistan--the protests were in response to murders of three leaders.

All the more reasons we are justified in our attempts to understand AfPak this week also, continuing with the materials from last week.

There are lots of materials, which means that you will have lots of "new" stuff. Here is your task for DQ #3:
After reading them all, thinking about them, tell us what caught your attention the most, and why you think that is important in order to improve our understanding of AfPak.

As an aside, according to the NY Times,

Despite threats of retaliation from Pakistani militants, senior administration officials said Monday that the United States intended to step up its use of drones to strike militants in Pakistan’s tribal areas and might extend them to a different sanctuary deeper inside the country. ....
Officials are also proposing to broaden the missile strikes to Baluchistan, south of the tribal areas, unless Pakistan manages to reduce the incursion of militants there.

Afghanistan and Pakistan are simply too intertwined, particularly when the US interests there are concerned. And, definitely when it comes to geopolitical implications.

On this map, you notice where Quetta is? Close to the Afghan border. Also a mountainous territory--it is at about 5000 feet elevation.
BTW, have you figured out yet the capital cities of the South Asian countries? So, what is Pakistan's capital city?

BTW, a reminder: as you run into ideas/information that you think deserve clarification or discussion, please ask me questions.

Short Essay #1, and more

2009-04-09T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody:

First a quick note on the Buddha/Taliban video--the video itself is from a couple of years ago, and the destruction of the statues happened way back in March 2001. So, keep those time-frames in mind as you respond to the question.

Now, to the essay question:
In the interview with Jon Stewart, Pervez Musharraf has quite a few comments on which we could write essays! Your task is to focus on any one of Musharraf's comments, and write an essay (in the neighborhood of 750 to 900 words long) using the class materials; you do not need to do any additional research at all.

Make sure that your essay has a well-defined, and narrow, focus, and that you are not all over the place.
Support your arguments with appropriate and relevant quotes from the readings
Double-space the document, and make sure to follow the rules of good writing :-)
Email the document to me--NOT to the entire class--as an attachment.

A few comments on the reading materials this week:

The Idiot's Guide to Pakistan clarifies lots of details that are normally overlooked, or misunderstood. It is a valuable resource document that way.
Can Pakistan be governed? has immense details on the chaos in that country. Of course, you need to concentrate while you read this piece because it has so many characters--all new names to you, perhaps.
Osama bin Laden located is the "academic" piece among the essays. It serves lots of purposes for me; in particular: (a) to show how modern analytical tools are used in geography; (b) to follow-up on the widely-held views on where bin Laden might be--as a scholarly research question.

To a large extent, these essays are not complicated ideas, but probably present a whole bunch of new information to you. Information about Afghanistan and Pakistan--from the names of places and mountains to ethnic groups to politicians' names. Hey, exactly the reason why we have upper-division courses :-)

Feel free to ask me questions .... as students in my real-world classes are (painfully) aware, I bug students with questions, and am always eager to take questions from students :-)

Finally, what does "taliban" mean? It means "students". (And the singular would be "talib") Students of/in Islam, and Islamic teachings. One of the many reasons the Taliban and "AfPak" go together: the Taliban are mostly ethnic Pashtuns.

As an aside: one of the strongholds of the Taliban was the city of Kandahar. As this Wikipedia entry notes, even the Hindu epic, Mahabharata, refers to Kandahar. Given that this is merely one class on the subcontinent, we cannot possibly discuss everything :-(
The Mahabharata is not a mythological story to the religious Hindus, but is absolutely sacred. As a piece of historical literature, it represents one amazing human achievement--it is many times longer than the Iliad, for instance. As a story, it is simply fantastic and complex with many characters, and sub-plots. I suppose it is easy for me to talk about it because, well, listening to those stories, and reading them, was a part of the growing up experience. An important piece there, which is also read as a stand-alone text, is the Bhagvad Gita.

My comments on DQ #1, and more

2009-04-07T22:00:00.001-07:00

So, that was a lot of comments there, eh, in response to Stevenson's multi-part essay, which provided the context for DQ #1!

Hey, remember to ask questions. In a regular classroom, I would ask students for their take on the readings, and then would follow up on what came across to me as points that I needed to clarify. And, of course, students would also actually ask specific questions. Anyway, my point is that you ought to think that this is a "classroom" where you can ask questions ....
(I have provided hyperlinks in my notes here)

Yes, the Oberoi hotel was in the news last November when terrorists blasted their way through in Bombay (Mumbai).
It is true that foreign tourists do get offers to star as extras in Bollywood movies. Here is one YouTube video on that.
Making peace with the level of poverty there is quite a challenge, at least for people like me. In this op-ed, I refer to the philosophical/pedagogical struggle, which is an on-going one :-(
But, did you note how Stevenson finally ends his travel notes? The guy gets finds a lot to love that country. Yes, I feel the same way--it is a love/hate relationship that is fully aware of "the warts and all" :-)

Remember, you can always check into my blog for the class--this email itself is nothing but a post at the blog.

Discussion Question #2, and more

2009-04-07T10:54:00.001-07:00

Hey, perhaps you are wondering how your responses to the Discussion Questions will be evaluated. Even if you hadn't given it a thought, well, let me tell you how I evaluate them :-)

I will rate your responses from this week on (last week was a free pass!) as one of the following three: M, DM, NR.

"M" signifies that your response meets the requirements.
"DM" signifies that your response did not meet the requirements.
"NR" means that there was no response from you.

I suppose your follow-up thought will be, "what are the requirements?"
There is no upper-limit on the length of your posts, but I think a response that is shorter than 75-words might not convey enough. (No, I do not count words!!!) A response that merely says something to the equivalent of a "ditto" will not measure up either. You may also respond as many times as you want to comments from your fellow students; subsequent follow-up posts can be short, even a "ditto"-like response.

What I am looking for is evidence that you have done the reading/watching, critically thought through the ideas/information, and then developed your response. If you are not the first responder, then make sure you have also considered other responses.

So, here is your task for Discussion Question #2:
First watch this video clip, which is just under four minutes in length.
Then, think about it against the background info on Afghanistan that you find in the Norton text, and other materials.
Finally, provide us your comments/thoughts related to the content of the video.

Later today I will chime in with my comments on the slate.com article(s); I have a new laptop (yay!!!) but I need to figure out how to work the webcam. So, maybe it will be only a text response from me for now :-(

ps: not related to the question .... but, FYI
Notice how there is a sliver of Afghanistan that extends to the border with China? It is the historic Wakhan Corridor. And, yes, notice the Hindu Kush mountains there?

Syllabus is ready, and more

2009-04-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

Based on your input, I have put together a syllabus that I think will work really well.
Note the following though:

For almost every week, I have identified readings from the Norton text, and some additional materials. While it might look like it is a lot, you will soon find out that they do not add up to very many pages, and they are also very interesting stuff (though, sometimes, quite awful stuff!)
Particularly for my online classes, I like to include as many multimedia pieces as possible. Hence, the video links there.
Soon, I will also communicate to you through YouTube videos. You are also welcome to respond to questions through videos.
I am yet to complete the syllabus for weeks 7 and 9. It is because I need to think through and figure out how to best discuss Bollywood and the Indian film industry in a mere week--quite a challenge. And week 9 will be complete soon.
I have included a place-holder in week 5--soon lots of stories about India's elections will start flooding the web. I will use some from that.

Now, with respect to the content of the syllabus, we ought to recognize up front that the Indian Subcontinent is a geographic area that is home to almost a quarter of the world's population. (If you want, read this to understand my own thoughts on my role here at WOU in this context.)

It is, therefore, a challenge to figure out what to focus on, and what to omit.

Given your interests in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Taliban and al-Qaeda, and given that this is something that is now in the front and center of our international focus, I thought we ought to spend some time understanding a few relevant issues.
However, terrorism and instability extends far beyond "AfPak", though not because of the same reasons. Hence, that unit.
When it comes to understanding other cultures and the developing countries, it is absolutely important to understand how women are treated there. We could spend an entire course on this topic alone. I have highlighted a few issues that we can discuss and understand.

Before next week ends, the entire syllabus will be done. Hopefully nothing extraordinary will happen in that part of the world, and we can stick to the syllabus. But then, we will correspondingly respond to any significant events.

Also, make sure you always keep referring to maps in the Norton text or, even better, consult with maps online. The more you locate the areas in maps, the more you will understand those areas.

Discussion Question #1

2009-04-02T08:11:00.001-07:00

Hey, I suppose the best way to kick-start understanding the South Asian region is through an interesting series of travel observations about India.
This five-year old travel piece from slate.com is wonderful; the last time I shared this with students, they thought it was awesome. Later, I was not surprised at all when Slate recognized it as one of the best in its ten-year history.

Your task: tell us what caught your attention, and why?
There is no upper-limit on the length of your posts, but I think a response that is shorter than 75-words might not convey enough. You may also respond as many times as you want to comments from your fellow students.
As noted in the schedule of tasks for this class, Monday morning is the deadline for responses.

Make sure you respond to the entire class--simply reply to this email, or reply to an email response from a fellow student. DO NOT change the subject of the email--retaining the subject will help us track the conversations.

A quick note on the syllabus: I have tried to incorporate as much of your interests as possible in the syllabus--it is difficult to cover everything within a ten-week term. So, before I finalize it, let me know before Sunday if you would like any minor tweaks there.

What do you want from this class?

2009-03-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

Hey, if you have checked out the syllabus already, you would have found out that there is no list of readings.

It is for a reason: I want to incorporate, as much as possible, your interests in the Indian Subcontinent.

So, before Thursday, email the class, by simply replying to this email, the following info:

* Your name
* Your major/minor
* At least three things you want to understand about the Indian Subcontinent. (Remember that this includes India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh)

Once I get this input from you, I will see how much I can structure the course that will include most, if not all, of your specific interests. Of course, there are a few things that I want to make sure we cover, which I will bring in even if you folks do not list in your interests. By Friday, the syllabus will be complete, and our "discussions" will also begin.

sriram

ps: in the course information page, when you move the cursor over the links, more sub-links will appear. Make sure you read through all that info.

Syllabus (tentative) is ready, and more

2009-03-29T18:50:00.000-07:00

Hey, welcome to GEOG315: The Indian Subcontinent.

Note the following:

The tentative syllabus is online. The URL is www.wou.edu/~khes/geog315online
You can email the entire class at: geog451@wou.edu.
Yes, it is weird that the course number used is not "315". Well, it is a long story :-) Or, simply reply to one of the class emails and it will automatically be sent to the entire class.
Email me--the instructor--at khes@wou.edu
Most of my communication to you is actually coming from the blog for the course that I will maintain. So, you can always check the blog too at geog315.blogspot.com

Welcome to GEOG 315D

2009-03-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Hey folks:

Even as you are working on the final paper, and prepping for the final exams, I am sure you are excited about the spring term classes (yeah, right!)
So, to get you even more jazzed up, I thought I would send you a quick note :-)

* Yes, I am the instructor for the class. More details about me here.

* I am yet to put together the website/syllabus for the class. Will let you know as soon as that is up and ready.

* There is one text we will use for this class:
GLOBAL STUDIES:
India and South Asia, Eighth Edition
James H K Norton;
ISBN: 0-07-337971-9,
PublicationDate: May 2007

The bookstore will have copies of the text soon. I had hoped that the ninth edition will be out .... but, apparently it will be available only later in the summer. So, we will use the eighth edition.

* Well, that is NOT the only resource we will use. Over the break (oh what fun!!!) I will put together a reading list, and a few video materials also. Watch out for an email from me by the Saturday or Sunday before the Spring term begins.

In the meanwhile, feel free to contact me at khes@wou.edu

sriram