Amma and Other Stories

Amma and Other Stories

By- Omprakash Valmiki and Naresh K. Jain (tr. and Introduction)

Amma and Other Stories is an English translation of fifteen stories of the leading Hindi dalit writer, Omprakash Valmiki, best known for his autobiography Joothan.

Together these stories vocalize the anguish and anger of the lowliest of the low in the caste hierarchy. More specifically, they deal with their sufferings at the hands of the dominant high castes and their questioning of their oppressors; their slender hopes and their small dreams; and their problems of identity as they try to make their way up the social and economic ladder. Omprakash Valmiki lists women of all classes among the dalits and there is a story in the collection that shows a high caste woman suffering at the hands of her male relatives. Softer emotions of love and longing are also not left out. Valmiki is acutely aware of the caste hierarcy among the dalits themselves and his story ‘Shavayatra’ makes for a deeply poignant reading. ‘Amma’ of the title is almost an epic tale of a dalit woman’s resolve to keep her progeny away from the broom and the canister.

At their best the stories are not merely dalit stories but a deeply human collection that will compel attention, engage the sympathies of the readers and make them ask inconvenient questions. The stories will also add a new dimension to dalit discourse.

The English translation is being published in the hope that the stories will reach a much wider audience and will sensitize readers to the travails of the dalits and their efforts to make a space for themselves, and help prepare the climate for social change.

Omprakash Valmiki, a leading Hindi dalit writer and author of the celebrated autobiography Joothan (1994) has published three collections of poetry Sadiyon ka Santaap [The Centuries-old Anguish], Bas! Bahut Ho Chuka [Stop it! That’s Enough] (1997) and Ab Aur Nahin [Not Any More] (2008); and two collections of short stories, Salaam [Obeisance] (2000) and Ghuspaithiye [Intruders] (2003). He has also written Dalit Sahitya Ka Saundarya Shastra [The Aesthetics of Dalit Literatue] (2001) and a history of Valmiki community, Safai-Devata  [God of Cleanliness] (2008).

Naresh K. Jain, formerly Reader in English, School of Correspondence Courses, University of Delhi, has written several books including Love in Modern American Drama and is the editor of Women in Indo-Anglian Fiction: Tradition and Modernity.

ISBN  81-7304-783-9    2008   244p.   Rs.595/ pounds 40

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The Mushirul Hasan Omnibus

The Mushirul Hasan Omnibus

I. Nationalism and Communal Politics in India, 1885-1930
II. A Nationalist Conscience: M.A. Ansari, the Congress and the Raj
III. Islam in the Subcontinent: Muslims in a Plural Society

The omnibus presents the seasoned reflections of Professor Mushirul Hasan, an eminent historian of Modern India. In his three major books, he explores the vast common heritage shared by the Hindu and Muslim communities. He also examines the troubled relations
between them.

Nationalism and Communnal Politics in India, 1885-1930 analyses how various segments among Muslims related to the defined their relationship with nationalist forces, spearheaded by the Indian National Congress. It offers a reappraisal of some important themes that are described in historical literature as ‘Communal’ or ‘Separatist’.

A Nationalist Conscience: M.A. Ansari, the Congress and the Raj focuses on the political career of Mukhtar Ahmad Ansari. It examines, with rich empirical data, political developments from 1912 to 1936, offers a reappraisal of the nature and character of the pan-Islamic movement in India, and reviews some of the existing notions on what is usually described as the communal question.

Islam in the Subcontinent: Muslims in a Plural Society is a painstakingly researched and passionately written account of the ideas and movements that constitute the historical experiences of the Muslim communities in the subcontinent over the last two centuries.

This omnibus is indispensable for those interested in Islam, Indian history, culture and
politics.


In addition to these three books, Mushirul Hasan, currently Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia.




ISBN  81-7304-686-7    2006   1146p.   Rs.750/ Pounds 95


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Composite Nationalism and Islam: Islam/Muslim Politics

Composite Nationalism and Islam: Islam/Muslim Politics

By- Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani

Introduction by Barbara Metcalf

Written in 1938, Composite Nationalism and Islam laid out in systematic form the positions that the author had taken in speeches and letters from the early 1920s on the question of nationalism as well as other related issues of national importance. The book aimed at opposing the divisive policy of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League. It mainly deals with two aspects, i.e. the meaning of the term qaum and how it is distinct from the term millat, and secondly, the crucial distinction between these two words and their true meanings in the holy Koran and the Hadith tradition. By proposing composite nationalism, this important book strongly argues that despite cultural, linguistic and religious differences, the people of India are but one nation. According to the author, any effort to divide Indians on the basis of religion, caste, culture, ethnicity and language is a ploy of the ruling power.

Maulana Hussain Ahmad Madani (1879-1957) was born in village Bangarmau, District Unnao of Uttar Pradesh, India. He graduated from the famous Islamic Seminary, Darul Ulum, Deoband. He served as president of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind for seventeen years (1940-1957). He played a leading role in India’s freedom struggle. For more than three years, he was incarcerated at Malta with Maulana Mahmood Hasan and his companions. He was severely opposed to the Two-Nation theory and was a great critics of Muslim League. The Government of India conferred upon him the ‘Padmabhushan’ award in 1952. He, however, politely declined to accept it.

Translators: Mohammad Anwer Hussain (M.A. Political Science, AMU) is currently associated with Jamiat Ulama-i-Hindi, New Delhi.

Hasan Imam is a Mumbai based writer and journalist.

ISBN  81-7304-590-9    2005   152p.   Rs.300/ pounds 35

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Academic Dependency in the Social Sciences: Structural Reality and Intellectual Changes

Academic Dependency in the Social Sciences: Structural Reality and Intellectual Changes

By- Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff and Syed Farid Alatas (eds.)

This book deals with the academic dependency of scholars variously positioned in the South. All contributors to this book acknowledge that though place might play a different role in the contemporary globalized world, yet the location of people have not become irrelevant. However, there is limited knowledge about the impact of place among academicians differently located in the South and of the costs and benefits of academic globalization. The main purpose of this book therefore is to increase our knowledge about the net result of such a calculus today for various regions in the South. Though all scholars in this book look upon academic dependency as a problem, there are differences of opinion as to what constitutes academic dependency, what its manifestations are, and how we may cope with academic dependency.

The papers in this volume deal with two major differences or levels of the problem of academic dependency, that is, the theoretical and practical. The editors think it is essential that academic dependency be understood and dealt with along these two levels as this will enable us to appreciate the magnitude of the problem and seriously consider the options available to us as we consider measures to overcome academic dependency.

Kathinka Sinha-Kerkhoff: was Director Research at the Asian Development Research Institute (ADRI) till 2010. She obtained her Ph.D. from the Centre of Asian Studies in Amsterdam (CASA). She resides in Ranchi (India) and is currently finishing a book on the social history of tobacco in Bihar.

Syed Farid Alatas is Associate Professor of Sociology at the National University of Singapore. He obtained his Ph.D. in Sociology from the Johns Hopkins University. His work has been widely published in journals and edited books. Currently, he is finishing a book on the thought of Ibn Khaldun. He is also working on another book on the Ba‘alawi Sufi order.

ISBN  978-81-7304-894-4    2010   334p.   Rs.995/ pounds 50

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Beyond the Myth: Indian Business Communities in Singapore

 Beyond the Myth: Indian Business Communities in Singapore

By- Jayati Bhattacharya

This book is a macro-study of Indian business communities in Singapore through different phases of their growth since colonial times. It goes beyond the conventional labour-history approach to study Indian immigrants to Southeast Asia, both in terms of themselves and their connections with the people’s movements. It looks at how Indian business communities negotiated with others in the environments in which they found themselves and adapted to them in novel ways. It especially brings into focus the patterns and integration of the Indian networks in the large – scale transnational flows of capital, one of the least studied aspects of the diaspora history in this part of the world. The complexities and overlapping interests of different groups of traders and businessmen form an interesting study of various aspects of these trading bodies, their methods of operation and their trade links, both within and outside Singapore. The book also chats their mobility and progress, in terms of both business and social status. The research aims to construct linear threads of linkages through generations and situate them in the larger framework and broader paradigms of business networks in Singapore.

In shedding light on aspects of Indian connectivities to Southeast Asia, the narrative is particularly relevant in the context of India’s economic rise. This study raises economic, social and cultural issues regarding the transition.

Jayati Bhattacharya is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Nalanda- Sriwijaya Centre, Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) in Singapore with research interests in business history and diaspora studies in South and Southeast Asia in the modern period. She is currently the coordinator of the project on Comparative Diasporas at the Centre. Dr. Bhattacharya has received her Ph.D. from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She was awarded a Junior Research Fellowship by the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund, New Delhi and a scholarship by the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), New Delhi to pursue doctoral studies. Dr Bhattacharya has teaching experience as Lecturer in Loreto College, Darjeeling, India and as Guest Lecturer at Qingdao University, People’s Republic of China. She has also contributed articles on business history in the colonial period of Bengal.

ISBN  978-81-7304-954-5    2012   416p.   Rs.995/ pounds 60

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India and Southeast Asia: Strategic Convergence in the Twenty- first Century

India and Southeast Asia: Strategic Convergence in the Twenty- first Century

By- T. Nirmala Devi and Adluri Subramanyam Raju (Eds.)

Southeast Asia and India are geographically contiguous. They share common histories and colonial experiences. During their freedom struggle and later, Southeast Asian countries expected India to support them not only politically but also economically for their development. However, due to various reasons including its preoccupation with domestic problems arising from partition, inward – looking economy, the war with China and in particular the Cold War divisions, India could not take interest in the region. Some of the Southeast Asian countries did not support India when it had conflict with China and Pakistan, which made New Delhi to maintain distance with the region. Though efforts were made to evaluate the policy course, some of the developments made both the entities to drift away from each other.

Disintegration of Soviet Union and India’s relation with the US in the post- Cold War period has had a positive effect on India-Southeast Asian relations. Both the entities recognize the importance of each other. The Southeast Asian countries have begun to see India as an economic power and have now become a major player in foreign direct investment stakes in India.India is active in setting up regional economic and development groupings like BIMSTEC and Mekong Ganga project. It also aims at developing land connectivity with the region through Myanmar and Thailand. Both India and Southeast Asian countries, as this timely volume shows, now increasingly view each other in a more constructive way. The volume focuses on various issues pertaining to relations between India and Southeast Asia.

T. Nirmala Devi is the former Director of the Centre for SAARC Studies, Andhra University Visakhapatnam. She was a Baden- Wurttemberg Fellow at the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, Germany.

Adluri Subramanyam Raju is Associate Professor at the Centre for South Asian Studies, Pondicherry University, Pondicherry. He was Salzburg Seminar Fellow (2006) and the recipient of the Mahbub ul Haq Award (2003), Kodikara Award (1998) from RCSS, Colombo, and Scholar of Peace Award (2002) from WISCOMP, Delhi.

ISBN  978-81-7304-952-1    2012   362p.   Rs.995/ pounds 55

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The Bengal Army and the Outbreak of the Indian Mutiny

The Bengal Army and the Outbreak of the Indian Mutiny

By- Saul David

In 1857 the Indian troops of the Bengal Army rose against their colonial masters. They were quickly joined by tens of thousands of discontented civilians in what was to become the bloodiest insurrection in the history of the British Empire.

For much of the last century, Indian and British scholars downplayed the importance of professional grievances in their accounts of why the military insurrection of 1857 took place. Most viewed the Bengal sepoys as uniformed peasants who were affected by the same social, economic and religious concerns as their civilian counterparts. They tended to identify the defence of caste and religion as the key to the military uprising, while regarding the latter as little more than a precursor to a general revolt. Yet this study’s identification of professional concerns as the essential cause of the Indian Mutiny is very much in line with the recent historiography of military revolts.

All armies have grievances relating to conditions of service, particularly pay, career prospects and relations with officers. What set a colonial force like the Bengal Army apart is that it was a volunteer mercenary force officered by men of a different race and religion. Its loyalty to its paymasters, therefore, was entirely dependent on the incentives for service outweighing the disincentives. David argues that by 1857 this was no longer the case: primarily because the number and seriousness of the sepoys’ grievances was increasing, while the Bengal Army’s control over its soldiers was weakening.

Saul David is Professor of War Studies at the University of Buckingham in the UK, and the author of several critically-acclaimed books on the wars of the Victorian period.

ISBN  978-81-7304-780-0    2009   400p.   Rs.995/ pounds 60

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