Punjab

How much difference does economic growth make to the nutritional well-being of young children? What effect does it have on traditional child care practices, and specifically on the tendency to favour male children? A follow-up 30 years after a classic study carried out in 1971 in Punjab villages indicates changes that are dramatic, but also that rapid economic growth, while necessary, may not have been sufficient.

The recent incidence of conflict involving members of the landowning caste of jats and the scheduled caste of â??ad-dharmis' in the Talhan village of Punjab is far from a typical case of caste violence or 'dalit oppression' frequently reported from other parts of India. Instead, it ought to be viewed as a case of 'dalit assertion' for equal rights and a share in the resources that belong commonly to the village and had so far been in the exclusive control of the locally dominant caste, the jats. Further, notwithstanding the rather peculiar and complex nature of the Talhan case, this could mark the beginning of a new phase in the history of caste relations in Punjab. Though the issues are varied, there seems to be an underlying pattern in several other cases of conflict being currently reported in the state.

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The Making of Little Punjab in Canada: Patterns of Immigration by Archana B Verma; Sage Publications, New Delhi; pp 254, Rs 495.

The dominance of the Punjabi and mohajir communities and the perceived bellicosity of India have played a deterministic role in the shaping of Pakistan. The elevation of national security as a topmost state concern and the growing centralisation of powers by a federal government has however led to a growing subordination of parliamentary procedures and the alienation of the smaller provinces. The latest constitutional reforms and a new government only heighten the inherent conflicts that democracy in Pakistan faces.