The Punjab University’s Pakistan Study Centre organised a seminar on Politics of Crisis and Development: Contemporary Struggle for Identity in India, here on Friday. David Karnail Singh, a scholar from France, Director PSC Prof Dr. Naumana Kiran, Associate Professor Dr. Amjad Abbas Magsi, Dr. Ahmad Ajaz, faculty members and students were present. In her address, Dr Naumana Kiran said that the centre offers a course on Evolution of Muslim Nationalism in Colonial India and analysed the Muslim struggle for identity in colonial era. She said that although the theme of discussion dealt with the contemporary struggle for identity in India, she hoped it would be of great interest to know and analyse the colonial context of identity-formation with the developments taking place in this regard in contemporary India. In his keynote address, Dr. Karnail Singh talked about politics of crisis and development in India’s border region of Kutch. He said that the Congress government started anti-Muslim bias since early years after independence to control the region; however, after 2001 earthquake Muslims and Dalits were gradually excluded from development move of the region. He said that the rise of industrial development had further marginalised Muslims of Kutch.
