From subjects to citizens: society and the everyday state in North India and Pakistan, 1947-1964
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leeds
Department Name: School of History
Abstract
South Asia's transition from colonialism to independence and democracy was one of the most momentous events of the mid twentieth century. Large scale institutional histories of India and Pakistan for this period are mostly concerned with issues of economic development, the nature of the secular state (for India) and the development of party politics. Sixty years on, this project looks, for the first time, at how ordinary Indians and Pakistanis experienced the transition from colonial rule to Independence in two parts of the subcontinent: Uttar Pradesh, India, and Sindh, Pakistan, between 1947-1964. It asks how comparisons between India and Pakistan at this level provide unique insights into the question of the relative success or failure of the state in this politically sensitive part of the world. It examines how far Independence was explicitly relevant and meaningful for ordinary Indians and Pakistanis, by comparing subcontinental experiences of local state institutions. Specifically, the project will compare regions of Uttar Pradesh, India (Lucknow and surrounding districts), and the Sindh region of Pakistan.
In particular, the project will focus on three critical themes as a way of unravelling the nature of popular responses to the state in this transitional period. Firstly, it will look at popular responses to secularism in India, and to religious and sectarian difference in Pakistan. It will investigate how prominent individual officials managed community festivals and processions, the building and maintenance of holy sites and the regulation of community activities. In this light, the project analyzes the routine, daily application of ideas about 'secularism' and 'communalism' or religious conflict in the administrative machinery of the state in Uttar Pradesh and Sindh after Independence. While the new Pakistani state did not introduce for itself a secular constitution, local officials in practice still needed to supervise religious/community activities in much the same way as their Uttar Pradesh counterparts: eg handling and diffusing possible clashes between different religious groups (eg Shias and Sunnis), and controlling (often contested) sites of religious significance. Their role in this respect inevitably raised questions about the nature of the state and its involvement in the day-to-day management of religious activity.
Secondly, the project will examine everyday South Asian responses to citizenship, governance, corruption and political representation. The focus would be upon the everyday experience of the state and in its manifestations in Indian and Pakistani lives, through the prism of the Provincial Civil Services, and the Police Services. Here, the project will consider the changing ideologies of rule and governance at local levels in UP and Sindh. What were the particular social and professional notions underpinning administrator's views of bureaucratic power? How far did these reflect broader changes from a colonial to a democratic political system over the period of independence? This section of the project will go on to examine how popular attitudes in government and society, fuelled social expectations in relation to civil service recruitment, and it will look at how this process reflects on the emergence of Indian and Pakistani middle classes.
The research will also examine the extent to which local political groupings based on caste or religious community alliances geared their broader political strategies towards control of local administrations. How did ordinary South Asians mobilise state resources? This objective will engage with the huge interest in contemporary South Asia in state reservations on the basis of caste, and how lobbying groups have adopted particular kinds of political strategies for recruitment into government services. How did these processes compare to the control of state agencies in Pakistan by the middle class north Indian refugee?
In particular, the project will focus on three critical themes as a way of unravelling the nature of popular responses to the state in this transitional period. Firstly, it will look at popular responses to secularism in India, and to religious and sectarian difference in Pakistan. It will investigate how prominent individual officials managed community festivals and processions, the building and maintenance of holy sites and the regulation of community activities. In this light, the project analyzes the routine, daily application of ideas about 'secularism' and 'communalism' or religious conflict in the administrative machinery of the state in Uttar Pradesh and Sindh after Independence. While the new Pakistani state did not introduce for itself a secular constitution, local officials in practice still needed to supervise religious/community activities in much the same way as their Uttar Pradesh counterparts: eg handling and diffusing possible clashes between different religious groups (eg Shias and Sunnis), and controlling (often contested) sites of religious significance. Their role in this respect inevitably raised questions about the nature of the state and its involvement in the day-to-day management of religious activity.
Secondly, the project will examine everyday South Asian responses to citizenship, governance, corruption and political representation. The focus would be upon the everyday experience of the state and in its manifestations in Indian and Pakistani lives, through the prism of the Provincial Civil Services, and the Police Services. Here, the project will consider the changing ideologies of rule and governance at local levels in UP and Sindh. What were the particular social and professional notions underpinning administrator's views of bureaucratic power? How far did these reflect broader changes from a colonial to a democratic political system over the period of independence? This section of the project will go on to examine how popular attitudes in government and society, fuelled social expectations in relation to civil service recruitment, and it will look at how this process reflects on the emergence of Indian and Pakistani middle classes.
The research will also examine the extent to which local political groupings based on caste or religious community alliances geared their broader political strategies towards control of local administrations. How did ordinary South Asians mobilise state resources? This objective will engage with the huge interest in contemporary South Asia in state reservations on the basis of caste, and how lobbying groups have adopted particular kinds of political strategies for recruitment into government services. How did these processes compare to the control of state agencies in Pakistan by the middle class north Indian refugee?
Publications
ANSARI S
(2008)
Polygamy, Purdah and Political Representation: Engendering citizenship in 1950s Pakistan
in Modern Asian Studies
Dr William Gould (Author)
(2011)
60th Anniversary Commemorative Volume on the Indian Election Commission
Gould W
(2013)
The Flux of the Matter: Loyalty, Corruption and the 'Everyday State' in the Post-Partition Government Services of India and Pakistan
in Past & Present
GOULD W
(2010)
From Subjects to Citizens? Rationing, refugees and the publicity of corruption over Independence in UP
in Modern Asian Studies
Gould W
(2017)
Paper, public works and politics: tracing archives of corruption in 1940s-1950s Uttar Pradesh, India
in Contemporary South Asia
Gould, William
(2013)
Bureaucracy, Community and Influence in India: Society and the State, 1930s - 1960s
Sherman, Taylor C.
(2012)
State Violence and Punishment in India
William Gould (Author)
Moral Economies of Violence in Hyderabad State, 1948
Title | India's Denotified Tribes |
Type Of Art | Film/Video/Animation |
Description | The main findings of the project can be divided into three areas: Intellectual, scholarship/networking and public engagement (see 'non-academic contexts' section beneath). In all three areas (particularly the second and third) there were unintended as well as intended outcomes and findings. Intellectual The project resulted in both specific individual research outputs, and collaborative and larger scale findings. Gould, Ansari and Sherman generated specific research within their own area |
Exploitation Route | Public engagement As a result of Gould's work on corruption and anti-corruption around India's independence which came about through the project, a medium-large scale NGO based in UP and Bihar (with which Gould had research interaction during the project) has collaborated with the University of Leeds in setting up 'citizens' Public Information Centres. Their primary role is to guide and promote Right to Information applications within a range of government departments in the state. So far t |
Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
URL | http://www.leeds.ac.uk/subjectstocitizens/index.html |
Description | Please see 'Key findings'. I have developed two large scale impact projects in india from this research. The first involves Asha Parivar and led directly to the development of electronic Public Information Centres since 2010, which allow economically deprived communities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India to access information on government projects in a systematic and widespread manner. Centres/booths are run in six locations in two Indian states and assist in the filing of Right to Information (RTI) applications. Around 1,300 applications have been filed so far. The second involves a large scale movement to promote the arts and movements of Denotified Tribes in Gujarat. Gould's research resulted in the creation of a documentary film which is being screened across the USA, UK and India. |
First Year Of Impact | 2011 |
Sector | Education,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Societal |
Description | Bringing Partition Studies into UK Education Sector |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Membership of a guideline committee |
Impact | I was invited to attend a guidance panel, which was also attended by a member of the House of Lords, and organised by a committee in the Church of England, to explore the development of educational resources for the study of India's partition among school children. This took place on 22 September 2014 |
Description | Expert witness for Ambedkar House, King Henry Road, Primrose Hill, London |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | I provided evidence as the expert witness, based on a long Proof of Evidence rooted in my research, to the Ambedkar House appeal, against Camden Council's move to restrict the use of the King Henry Road property as a museum. The case overall went up to the Secretary of State for Housing. The outcome is imminent. |
Description | Invitation to Cabinet Office Round Table on Corruption in Global South |
Geographic Reach | Asia |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Description | Public Information Centres |
Geographic Reach | Europe |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Gould's research between 2007 and 2010, resulting in his 2011 monograph on corruption in India, led directly to the development of electronic Public Information Centres since 2010, which allow economically deprived communities in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India to access information on government projects in a systematic and widespread manner. Centres/booths are run in six locations in two Indian states and assist in the filing of Right to Information (RTI) applications. Around 1,300 applications have been filed so far. |
URL | http://ashaparivar.org/projects/jsk/ |
Description | Identity, Performance and the State: India's Denotified and Nomadic Tribes over Independence |
Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SG121038 |
Organisation | The British Academy |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2012 |
End | 09/2013 |
Description | Identity, Performance and the State: India's Denotified and Nomadic Tribes over Independence |
Amount | £10,000 (GBP) |
Funding ID | SG121038 |
Organisation | The British Academy |
Sector | Academic/University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 11/2012 |
End | 09/2013 |
Description | Centre for Civil Society in Cultural and Historical Perspective - Collaboration between Leeds, Sheffield and York |
Organisation | White Rose University Consortium |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | This is a collaboration which is setting up two workshops in September and November 2013 and which is also based around a large ESRC bid. |
Start Year | 2013 |
Description | Collaboration to develop Public Information Centre with Asha based in Lucknow. |
Organisation | Asha Parivar |
Country | India |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | Information taken from Final Report |
Description | Formal partnership with Asha Parivar, India, to set up Citizens' Public Information Centres |
Organisation | Asha Parivar |
Country | India |
Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
PI Contribution | This partnership builds on Gould's research from his monograph (2011) that came about from the project. It has involved the setting up of 6 Public Information Centres across north India, used by poorer Indians to file Right to Information applications. So far nearly 1000 applications have been filed and all Centres are financially sustainable. |
Start Year | 2010 |