Urmila Phadnis: Enthnicity and Violence

During my studies on ethnicity and violence in the university, I gathered a lot of respect for an Indian writer Urmila Phadnis who wrote 'Ethnicity and Nation-building in South Asia'. She had deliberated at length why tribes, societies and ethnic groups resort to violence and cooperation on two extremes. An excellent book written in 1989 that established a linkage between varying factors and violence. I made frequent use of this book and the bibliography while writing a paper on the civil war in Kazakhstan.
In the same stride I studied the concept of TRINITY of Clausewitz in which he discussed three dimensions of strategy viz a viz Politics, Military and Society. To him the social factor was the most unpredictable and a floating phenomena bound or split by the varying degree of hate and love. To him no war could be won without winning the hearts and minds. Michel Harvard of Kings College has dealt in detail with this thesis and agrees that in the final analysis, it is the emotions and love hate relationship. Those Interested must read 'Causes of War' by Michel to determine what I mean.
The issue is not to justify violence but to try and understand why some people are willing to brace death with pride.
The world lost a great writer in Urmila who died in 1991.

Cherrios