Italian Diary
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Pradip Phanjoubam, editor of the major newspaper of the Indian state Manipur, at the border with Burma, the Imphal Free Press. In his articles he wrote about the experience of his recent travel in Italy: from the exchange workshop at the EURAC to sightseeing tours in different places. |
In 10 days we got to learn quite a bit of a uniquely successful model of regional autonomy that managed to resolve what may have been an ethnic insurgency in Italy. Not many of us were aware that insurrections arising out of identity incompatibility of national minorities and those of mainstream culture and politics of the nation they live in were also a feature of European countries as in extremely ethnically diverse South Asia. Most of us were under the impression that European nations were mono-ethnic, until the political upheaval experienced in the Eastern Bloc Europe in the erstwhile Cold War days. The ethnic clashes in the former Yogoslavia after the fall of the Iron Curtain, was an eye-opener. The sequence of events since then sketched in indelible ink, a new picture of Europe's demographic fault-lines in a rather startling fashion. Still, many or most in Asia continued to believe that it was mostly the former Communist East which was ethnically riven, and that Western Europe was by and large spared of such divisions. At least not many would have believed Italy too had its share of this peculiar burden.
The EURAC sponsored workshop in Bolzano was in this sense a very important primer in our understanding of Europe's lesser known demographic structures and their profound influences on the politics of nations here.
In 10 days it would not have been possible to learn of the nuances of this politics even if were to be of just a single region – in our case South Tyrol. The knowledge that we had gathered (or were imparted to us) during the duration of the workshop, would be without doubt just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, but none the less, I have no doubt a very important beginning has been made.
To say the least, the course was well structured, lectures were meaningful, field trips educative and the reading material provided a wealth of information on the subject under scrutiny. They would remain reference material for as long as the question of political autonomy as a conflict resolution mechanism remains relevant in public discourses in Asia and Europe. As far as I can gather it, the subject will remain a burning issue, at least in South Asia for a long time to come, hence the unquestionable value of the course.
The case study of the South Tyrol model was in itself a subject worth serious study, so that it can ultimately be emulated in South Asian conflict situations after suitable adaptations and modifications to meet regional needs and demands of the varying nuances of the problem. But what was also interesting is the course has whetted the participants' appetite to learn more of the ethnic conflict situation in Europe. We were very briefly introduced to the problems of the Sami people in Finland and the other Scandinavian countries, and how a resolution to the problem is being sought by evolving a new concept of a non territorial nationalism that would make the Sami people keep alive not only their identity but also their sense of spiritual unity without infringing on the sovereignty of the nations in which their population is spread. We also got a glimpse of the Aland Island situation in Finland, and also of the Basque country in Spain. These again are just primers, but the more important thing is the course has been able to evoke enough interest as well as sensitize the participants to these problems.
All in all, I would say that the present program, of which the workshop at Bolzano was a part, to promote cooperation on the issue of conflicts between nations and "sub-nations" within them, is a good step towards sharing not so much the different techniques of tackling the problem in Europe and Asia, but the knowledge bases on the human costs and causes of these problems. I am certain that at the end of the program, a valuable data bank on the dynamics of ethnic conflict would have been developed for the benefit of all.
(Pradip Phanjoubam)
19.10.2004
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