NowOrNeverIntro
From UoWiki
We are republishing 'Now or Never' of January 28, 1933, not because we share the political sentiments of Choudhary Rahmat Ali, but because we recognize its significance in the political evolution that has shaped contemporary realities in the sub-continent of India. Although Rahmat Ali has on occasion been dismissed as a maveric scholar of little significance, in this text he first espouses his political ideas and formulates the name of Pakistan from the initial letters of Punjab, Afghania (North West Frontier Province), Kashmir, Sindh, and "stan" from Balochistan.
This text supplies a missing piece in the political jigsaw of how capitalist social relations were restituted with British withdrawal from India. Globalisation is not a new phenomenon. 'Now or Never' disrupted proposals for an All-India Federation, but yet remains obscure in most accounts of the history of Pakistan and the sub-continent. This text does not fit well with offical histories, and it is hard to tell whether the welter of documents missing from the archives is merely chance, or indicates more deliberate erasure. By re-publishing this text we hope to facilitate and stimulate a deeper understanding of how our modern world has developed and challenged current restrictions on this debate.
We also recognise Rahmat Ali as a pioneer of what is now know as psychogeography. Transcribing the D from the middle to the beginning of the name 'India', he reconceptualised the sub-continent as "Dinia" http://www.zyworld.com/slam33/pakistan.htm : a land of faith. From this standpoint he created a series of maps and at one time, ran five separate nationalist movements from his Cambridge student lodgings. This praxis has been taken up by contemporary movements such as Khalistan, Dalistan and even Mughalistan.
Rahmat Ali's maps, based on cultural, historical and linguistic sensitivities, are an alternative to the colonial cartography sanctioned by the then-British secretary of state for India, Edwin Montague and his favoured indigenous candidates. This document clearly indicates that there were alternative visions of de-colonialisation in place, the most significant of which was an independent Bangistan (which eventually evolved as Bangladesh) with no need for an East/West polarisation of the Pakistani national project, potentially avoiding the subsequent wars and current anguish, distrust and hatred that still serves colonial interests in our supposedly post-colonial era, fomenting segregation amongst the diasporic communities. To address this further, we next intend to re-publish Rahmat Ali's last pamphlett, published 28th January 1950: "Pakistan or Pastan? Destiny or Disintegration?" which deals with the issues of Kashmir, the integration of "Bangistan" as East Pakistan and alliance with the Western bloc as well as other matters, with a prophetic clarity and vision that we remember him for.
We would like to thank Sir Cam for his help in the presentation of this text, for a long time he has cherished the memory of Rahmat Ali and collated historical material about him and made it available to the public.
