FRAGMANTS OF A LIFE

My first academic job was with the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex
in 1966 which I joined on a four year contract. While employed by the IDS my wife and I spent
15 months researching in a Punjab village (in 1968-69). My term at the IDS was to expire in
1970. 1 had planned to go back to Pakistan at the end of it, to set up an Institute of Peasant
Studies in Pakistan which I had been promised. I informed the Director of the IDS accordingly.
My post was advertised and someone appointed. Then came the Pakistan Military action in
Bangladesh. I was traumatized. I could not return to Pakistan under the auspices of such a
regime. The IDS managed to find funds for a three month extension for me while I tried to sort
myself out. I was then invited to go to the Michigan State University as a Visiting Associate
Professor and Director of an inter-disciplinary Pakistan Rural Development Research Workshop
(which resulted in a book that I co-edited). I spent a few months there.

BANNED FROM CANADA

The day after I arrived at East Lansing (Michigan State University) in May 1971, I was
telephoned by friends in the Department of Sociology at Queen's University at Kingston,
Ontario. They were about to make an appointment when they learnt through the academic
grapevine that I was around and available. They invited me to Kingston and put forward my
name for the job. I was selected and in due course I got a formal letter from the Vice Chancellor
appointing me as Professor. I might add that Khalid Bin Sayeed was not involved in any of this.
He is in the Department of Politics and he was abroad on leave until September. He did not know
of my appointment until I wrote to him in January.

I applied for the Canadian Landed Immigrant Visa, giving them, as required, a full account of my
political activities and affiliations. It took them three months to check that out. In December
1971, they informed me that my application had been approved. We were to go to Canada in July
1972, Surprisingly, in February 1972, my wife and I were summoned by the Canadian High
Commission in London and this time we were both interviewed by their top intelligence man
about my politics and beliefs. I was then informed that I was banned from entry into Canada.
What made them have the second thoughts after they had already checked me out ? I wondered.
Had there had been some intervention by someone in the meanwhile ? I am left to guess by
whom and why ?

On being told of the ban I notified the Sociology Department and also the Vice-Chancellor of
Queens, accordingly. The Vice-Chancellor took up my case and eventually got the ban lifted. But
by that time I found the idea of going to Canada quite offensive. Behind a facade of liberalism
they had been quite vicious. I was even a bit flattered by the ban for I was in good company.
Several of my friends, all distinguished scholars, had also been banned from Canada. One of
them was my good friend, Istvan Meszaros, a distinguished Marxist philosopher, a colleague and
personal friend of Georg Lukacs. Istvan was banned when he was appointed Professor at York
University. Andre Gunder Frank, a friend since 1962 before he became a world-wide celebrity,
was banned too. Gabriel Kolko, the distinguished historian of US imperialism, and a fellow
member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Contemporary Asia, was also banned. Sadly I
have never met him. Who knows how many more ? That is the hypocritical 'liberalism' and
'freedom of thought' of the 'Democratic West' --- empty slogans. McCarthy lives on.

My ban became a 'cause celebre' in Canadian Universities. There were protests. But I was
outraged to see that there was not a single word of protest, not even a private word of solidarity,
from any of my prospective colleagues at Queens. Only a ringing silence. I was quite disgusted.
What kind of people were they with whom I would have to work ? When the ban was eventually
lifted I chose not to go there, The salary at Queens was 3 times what I got at Leeds. But that was
no attraction. A living wage was enough.

When I went to Montreal for a conference in 1974 some academics from Universite du Quebec a
Montreal met me. They told me that when Prime Minister Trudeau visited their University he
was questioned about my ban. Trudeau replied that the 'ban' was an administrative mix-up which
had been reversed. He told them that it was my decision not to go to Canada after all. That was
not his fault, he said. That was hypocritical.

LEEDS

The alternative to Canada was a Lecturer's job at Leeds which I was happy to take. I had friends
there. Justin Grossman and now Ralph Miliband who had joined as Head of the Department of
Politics. My wife and I had spent the New Year's eve at Ralph's house in London. I had told him
that we were going to Queen's. Little did I know that I would join him at Leeds instead. It so
happened that I had applied to Leeds earlier and Justin was able to reactivate my old application
when the Canadian job fell through. After due process and interview I was appointed. My friends
at Leeds gave me a warm welcome, but said that a Lectureship was all that was on offer. But that
was fine with me.

PROFESSORSHIP AT AMSTERDAM

A few weeks before my Leeds interview, I got an offer from Amsterdam that came out of the
blue. It was an invitation from the University of Amsterdam to take up Prof. Wertheim's Chair at
their 'Sociology - Social Anthropology Center'. Wertheim was retiring. I knew Wertheim, who
is a scholar of international standing. To be invited to take over from him was itself quite an
honor.

They said that they had considered about 200 applicants and interviewed some, before they
decided to invite me. I do not believe for a moment that the applicants did not include persons of
great caliber, probably better qualified than myself. But I found that they were interested in
having me because of the areas of my work in sociology and social anthropology (which ran
parallel to Wertheim's interest) and the fact that I was a South Asian, which fitted in with their
ideas of the direction in which they wanted the Center to develop its work. They wanted to move
out of the colonial rut, such as their focus on Indonesia, and broaden their work, The last thing
they wanted was another Indonesia specialist who was the next strongest candidate after me.

They invited my wife and myself to go to Amsterdam for a week as guests of the Center so that
we could see the place and make up our minds. Wertheim met us at the air terminal. He took me
to the Center where I met the gathered Appointment Board. We talked for one and an half hour. I
realized that they were overwhelmingly for me. I did not know any of them personally, excepting
for Prof. Wertheim himself. But they knew my work. Only two of the 15 members of the
Appointments Board seemed to be hostile. And one senior Professor was non-committal. He did
not yet know me. But we got to know each other during the week and he too came around
strongly to support me, as he made clear. He even gave us a dinner party at his home. The job
was mine. The appointments procedure for that senior Chair was elaborate. Recommendation
from the Appointments Board would go to the Senate for ratification. Then it would go to the
Ministry of Education. But I was also assured that once the Appointment Board had made its
recommendation, which in this case was overwhelmingly in my favor, the rest of the procedure
was a mere formality. The only time in their history, they wrote, when the recommendation of
Appointments Board had been referred back was in 1947 when the Board had been evenly
divided between the candidates.

After we got back to London my wife expressed her unhappiness at the prospect of going to live
in Amsterdam, although she did say that for my sake she would go anywhere. What would she do
in Amsterdam, she asked. She had stood by me through thick and thin and I did not wish to build
my career on the basis of her unhappiness. The job at Leeds would be attractive for us both. The
Milibands had been our personal friends for years and my wife was comfortable with them.
Miliband, for his part, strongly urged me to take the Amsterdam job. I decided on Leeds. The
Amsterdam option was there, in case Leeds turned me down. I was in correspondence with
friends in Amsterdam who pressed me to reconsider. It would have been the ultimate irony if I
had to take that up, though.

I wrote to Amsterdam withdrawing my candidature. I gave some lame excuses for my decision.
They were not only upset---they were astonished. My friends at Amsterdam found it
incomprehensible that I would prefer a mere Lectureship at Leeds to the distinguished Chair at
Amsterdam. There followed a lot of correspondence and telephone calls. They thought that I had
withdrawn because I was unsure of the Amsterdam job and was taking the Leeds job as a 'bird in
hand'. They went to great lengths to assure me that the Amsterdam Chair was mine and that I
should not worry about it. But I had decided and have never regretted that decision. I got the job
at Leeds.

MANCHESTER

I moved to Manchester after five years at Leeds. I had thought that I would never leave Leeds.
But my friends in Manchester 'twisted my arm' and persuaded me to go there. Things had
changed in Leeds for Millband left for Brandeis University In America. Without him Leeds
would not be the same. We had, between the two of us, enjoyed running an M.A. course which
attracted excellent students. Without him, it would not be the same. So now Manchester was not
a bad idea.

In Manchester we had an excellent team in Sociology of Development with Peter Worsely,

Teodor Shanin, Bryan Roberts, Ken Brown and myself. In a national survey we were rated as
one of the best University Departments in Britain offering Sociology of Development. We
attracted excellent research students. Teodor Shanin and I ran a lively seminar. I enjoyed being at
Manchester. My greatest regret is that I did not get good Pakistani students. My only good
Pakistani student did a Ph.D. with me at Leeds---an excellent study of industrial workers at
Karachi. At Manchester I had two Pakistani students about whom the less said the better. That is
not much to show for a lifetime of work. My best students were from Latin America, South East
Asia and one from Turkey.

THE SECOND CAREER: POLITICAL ACTIVISM IN LONDON

Before I moved into an academic career in 1966, I spent 10 years in London in political activism,
writing, lecturing and giving seminars at Universities. When I first came to London, I joined the
LSE for a Ph.D. on Banking in Pakistan, which given my years of first hand involvement in
building it up, I could have written blindfolded. But I was sick of that subject. And I was
disenchanted by empty academicism. I found myself attending Sociology, social anthropology
and political science seminars. I devoured a vast amount of literature. I was full of questions.
What had happened to my country ? I studied and wrote. In those days there was nothing much
to read about Pakistan, to discover what had gone wrong. So one had to study, analyze and
write ! I founded and editedPakistan Today (1957-62) a quarterly journal. Each issue would
have a substantial article that I wrote. We would bring out an issue as soon as there was a major
development in Pakistan. After the Ayub Coup we came out six times a year. PT had a circulation
of several hundred. The peak was about 1500 for our final issue which was wholly devoted to an
article entitled The Burden of US Aid. Pakistan Today was sent to East and West Pakistan and
clandestinely reproduced there or placed in libraries. The US Aid Issue was reprinted as a
booklet by Faiz Ahmad Faiz . It was also reprinted in the US by a New Left journal called New
University Thought and as a booklet by the Detroit Radical Education Project (who also
reprinted some of my later articles in booklet form). Tariq Ali acknowledged it as a source in his
first book. We got letters from sympathisers in Europe and North America. When there was total
silence in Pakistan itself, it was a worthwhile thing to do. A lot of my time was invested in it.

I became a political activist. My wife and I joined one or two like minded friends, notably
Tassaduq Ahmad from Dacca and his wife. We worked amongst Pakistani students and workers
very successfully from 1955 to 1966. We founded a number of organizations designed for
activity at different levels. ThePakistan Youth League was a broad liberal to socialist forum. We
met fortnightly and about 150 to 200 would turn up. Besides ourselves, speakers included
scholars on the Left like Stuart Hall, Tony Benn and Eric Hobsbawm. The Pakistani Socialist
Society was a smaller group. At a broader political level, soon after the Ayub Coup, we set up
a Committee for the Restoration of Democracy in Pakistan. At an international level we ran a
group called The Forumwhich brought together socialists, from Asia, Africa and Latin America,
for a dialogue. It fell apart when Khruschev intervened in the Belgian Congo and our common
ground of free and open, non-sectarian, debate with mutual respect, was gone. We were also
active organizing Pakistani workers through twoPakistan Welfare Associations, one based in
the East End of London (mainly Bengali) and the other in Slough (Punjabi).

I was a founding member of CARD, the Campaign Against Racial Discrimination, a UK-
based wide multi-racial Organization of Pakistanis, Indians, West Indians and White British, to
join forces to fight the rising tide of racism. Some of us, so-called 'leaders' of black communities
in Britain, were invited by Martin Luther King at his London hotel to talk about racism in
Britain, when he was on his way to receive his Nobel prize. We met not only Martin Luther
King. We also met each other. We realized that there was much to be gained from joining forces
against racism In Britain. So we met again and launched CARD. Dr. David Pitt, a West Indian
member of the Greater London Council, who was an 'establishment' figure in the Labor Party,
was elected Chairman. An Indian Maoist and a white American Trotskyite (both women) were
elected Joint Secretaries. At CARD's first national convention I was elected Vice-Chairman. With
David, I was a member of the National Council of the British Overseas Socialist
Fellowship (Our Chairman was Fenner Brockway).

A decade of political activism was exhilarating. But I could not keep it up for much longer for a
number of reasons. There were too many problems, some of them personal. So far we had
managed on a small income that my wife had from Tanzania. But that could not go on. I needed a
job, an academic job, simply to live. I had also to think of making the best use of my time. Our
political activities had turned into full time welfare work for immigrants. One would get
telephone calls from Indian and Pakistanis friends whenever there was a problem, usually at the
airport. One had to intervene. It was more than I could cope with. I could not go on like that. I
decided to leave political activism and turn to full time academic work. So in 1966 1 joined the
Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex.

FARMING IN TANZANIA

I had come to London from Tanzania. I had gone there after resigning from the State Bank of
Pakistan. I decided to take to farming ! There was an element of romantic escapism in that. Both
my wife and I took it seriously. We spent a several months, at first, on a derelict farm in the
Usumbara Mountains. We lived amongst local peasants (so-called 'tribal' people) which was
great. But we did not seem to get anywhere when it came to farming. Realizing that it would take
an expert to rehabilitate a derelict farm, I took a job on a modern farm near Arusha to learn how
to farm. Unfortunately, while I was there I became ill with some peculiar kind of infection and
was taken to Tanga where I was operated, unnecessarily as I was later told, by a drunken white
surgeon (a character straight out of Hemingway !), After several weeks when my wound from the
operation wound not heal, I was advised by a doctor to go to London and to get myself sorted
out. I needed two operations and several weeks at the University College Hospital in London to
put me together again. That was a time for reflection, which brought me back into the real world.
We decided to stay in London. I would find my way into the academic world. But I was full of
deep concern about what had happened to Pakistan. I was drawn instead into political activism,
of which I have given an account above. I had gone to Tanzania having resigned from the State
Bank of Pakistan. So let me say something about that, my first career.

MY FIRST CAREER: STATE BANK OFFICIAL

I had joined the Reserve Bank of India in 1945 as a Research Officer on the recommendation of,
indeed at the behest of my supervisor for Ph.D. at the Gokhale Institute at Poona. Prof. D. R.
Gadgil had been asked by the Reserve Bank to recommend candidates for their research
department. He asked me if I wanted the job. When I told him that my aim in life was to make a
career in the academic world he said: 'Young man, you had better learn something about life
before you start teaching'. He pointed out that my starting salary in the Reserve Bank would be
far higher than that of a University Lecturer. 'You can come back to the academic world at any
time on your own terms'. So I joined the Reserve Bank of India in 1945.

When the Partition was announced Governor Deshmukh called me and pointed out that too few
Muslims officers had opted for Pakistan, The State Bank of Pakistan would have great problems
without trained officers. It is interesting that a Maharashtrian Brahmin was so concerned whether
the State Bank of Pakistan would be able to function properly or not. Why should he care? He
pointed out that research was a luxury. The State Bank of Pakistan would need people who could
do practical jobs. He suggested that I should get some training. So I was put on a program of
intensive training in the Exchange Control Department.

With the Partition I came home to Karachi. Technically we were to remain under the Reserve
Bank of India until July when the State Bank would take over. But as soon as I found myself in a
position to do so, in March 1948, I decided to take over, de facto and set up a headquarters for
Exchange Control at Karachi which would give us time to build up our Organization well before
the D-Day.

Everything was in a state of chaos. We moved from crisis to crisis. Part of the problem was the
clerical mentality of many of our senior colleagues (though with one or two brilliant exceptions--
without them we would have been doomed). Most of the senior officers were twice my age.
Their style of work and thinking had been shaped by long experience of serving virtually as
clerks under White masters. The first concern of these glorified clerks was personal survival. As
long as they acted in accordance with their precious manuals no one could hang them. They were
petty bureaucrats and lacked the imagination to see what was at stake. They blocked innovation
at every stage, which took up a lot of our energy when we tried to get things done. They had
neither the will nor the ability to take responsibility. Mercifully, there were one or two brilliant
exceptions to them. Thanks to them we survived.

I flourished in that climate of successive crises. Looking back I realize that I had two assets. One
was my ignorance. It was a blessing in disguise that I did not know the manuals backwards as
my senior colleagues did. Those manuals were, in any case, out of date and had little relevance to
our conditions. I realized that given our situation we will have to write our own manuals. I
actually did just that in 1950 when I compiled the Exchange Control Manual for the guidance of
Banks. Some of us were able to see things from a fresh perspective. Every time that a problem
landed on my desk, I would work out a logical solution from first principles and act on it. We
were constantly innovating and improving on old, out of date, systems.

The exchange control system was set up in India in 1939 by a man called Cayley, a true
colonialist. The system that he built up discriminated blatantly against Indian interests. Cayley
had groomed his successor, a Parsee called Jeejeebhai who carried on in the same way. In
Pakistan I realized that we would have to change Cayley's system radically, to end discrimination
against our own banks and our own people. I had a great time discovering these and making
changes. I was able to act with confidence as I enjoyed the full backing of our Ministry of
Finance. I had great fun in a game of one-upmanship with Jeejeebhai, for technically I was still
under him until July 1948. But I set up our own de facto independent Head Office, in advance of
the formal change. Jack Kennan who soon joined us as my boss, backed what I was doing. We
went in for innovations that the Reserve Bank of India would, belatedly, copy.

My other asset was sheer naivete. Unlike my petty bureaucratic colleagues, I assumed that my
job was to get things done. I had not yet absorbed the bureaucratic ethos of first worrying about
saving my skin and not acting unless I was covered by rules or sanction from a higher authority.
Time was always of the essence. Once I had worked out what needed to be done I would go
ahead and do it. I did not particularly worry about 'covering myself' by referring the matter to my
superiors. In the situation in which we were at the time of Partition, we could not have survived
otherwise. I soon acquired a reputation of being a 'trouble-shooter', a man to cope with crises. I
had the confidence and backing of Governor Zahid Hussain and the Ministry of Finance. I could
not have carried on like that without that backing. I rose rapidly in the Bank's hierarchy.

By 1952 1 was appointed to the rather senior position of Secretary to the Central Board, i.e. one
of five 'Principal Officers' of the Bank, who ranked after the governor and Deputy Governor. The
job of Secretary to the Central Board, in those days, involved a lot more than what its name
suggests and the work was too much for one person. The post was later bifurcated into two
Executive Directorships. The name of Jamil Nishtar, who was one of them, will be familiar to
Pakistanis. His was a political appointment. The other Executive Director, Naziruddin Mahmood,
was a seasoned and competent banker.

RESIGNATION FROM THE BANK

Political pressures, especially from ministers to get things done for their friends, had always been
a problem. I was able to resist them thanks to my boss, a remarkable Englishman named Jack
Kennan, who took over as the Controller of Foreign Exchange. He was from the Lloyds Bank in
London. I shared an office with him and learnt a lot from him. He was professionally very
competent. Moreover, unlike Cayley, he was always prepared to consider what was in Pakistan's
best interest rather than that of British Banks or companies. Equally important, he made it clear
from the outset, to senior bureaucrats and Ministers, that no favors would be done to anyone.
After an unsuccessful attempt or two, Ministers gave up trying to push him around. This was a
man I could shelter behind. When Kennan left at the end of his contract, I lost my shield. I had
also moved up to more responsible positions and there was no one behind whom I could now
shelter. It was not easy.

The situation became quite intolerable for me after I was sent to Dacca in 1951-52, with full
powers in East Pakistan. I was based in Dacca but was also responsible for our other office at
Chittagong where I would spend one week in every month. I was posted to Dacca on a few
hours' notice. After we concluded an agreement with India in 1951, we had to introduce
exchange control with India. This raised new and difficult problems and fears. East Pakistan had
a very large informal trade with India, in fish and firewood, chicken and eggs, which was
handled by enormous numbers of very small people and carried by country craft. The
Government was afraid that any ham-fisted bureaucratic interference with that trade could create
incalculable and terrible political repercussions. They needed someone who could be relied upon
to take quick and sensible decisions on the spot and treat the small fishermen and farmers with
understanding,
I had played a role in the negotiations with India. Immediately when they were concluded I had
to prepare instructions for the Banks (for which I had contingency drafts already). It was a
Sunday morning. Governor Zahid Hussain summoned me to his office. Mumtaz Hussain, Joint
Secretary Finance, who was responsible for State Bank affairs in the Ministry, was with him. I
told them that the circulars were ready and were being printed. The Banks would have them on
Monday morning. Everything was under control. Zahid Hussain then told me that in that case I
should catch the afternoon plane to Dacca and take up overall charge in East Pakistan. I was sent
to Dacca at a few hours' notice. Zahid Hussain and Mumtaz Hussain told me about their worries
about East Pakistan, of which I was already aware. Zahid Hussain gave me my marching orders
saying that I would have complete responsibility and full powers in East Pakistan. It will be
entirely up to you, he said. Mumtaz Hussain was more emphatic. 'Do what you think best. For
God's sake do not refer anything to Karachi'. They knew that references to Karachi would mean
delay and possibly trouble. It was a heavy burden of power for me to carry. After all I was as yet
only in my late twenties, even if only just.

No one had gone before to East Pakistan with such a carte blanche. It was to be expected that I
would become the focus of attention. There were many interests who would want to exploit me. I
would be courted and flattered. I had to be on my guard. Predictably, soon after I landed In
Dacca, Ghulam Faruq, Chairman of the Jute Board, accompanied with his close friend Mirza
Ahmad Ispahani (who controlled 30% of the Jute trade) called on me at my office to welcome
me to East Pakistan. At first they indulged in predictable flattery. Ghulam Faruq was a powerful
member of the bureaucracy, an old ICS man who later became a multi-millionaire industrialist !
As Chairman of the Jute Board, he said to me rather patronizingly: 'Young man, I am sure you
know nothing about jute. Look at me. I am a seasoned old official. I have spent my entire career
in Bengal. I still do not know anything about jute. Luckily we have amongst us Mr. Ispahani who
knows everything there is to know about jute. Jute is in his blood. When I have any problem I
consult him. It would be wise for you to do the same'. Ispahani wanted to have the State Bank in
his hands, just as he had all other relevant departments of government under his thumb. It was
the beginning of a long struggle.

I was soon fighting a quixotic battle against two of the most powerful men in East Pakistan. It is
a long story. I survived more by good luck than good sense. I seemed to win every round in our
extra-ordinary contest. But it was a very tense period for me. I knew that if I made just one slip,
they would have me hanged. Fortunately I had the backing of Governor Zahid Hussain though I
do not think he knew just how the cards were stacked. It was all very stressful. For the first time I
wondered about resigning from the Bank. My wife in fact suggested it. Not unreasonably she had
long complained that I was 'married to the Bank'. Was this all worth it, she asked. While I was
still thinking about resigning, I was appointed to the post of Secretary to the Central Board at
Karachi, one of five 'Principal Officers'. of the Bank. It was sheer vanity that made me set aside
thoughts of resigning. I wanted to hold that post, at least for a while. The promotion had come
rather soon, though I was next in line for it. I half suspect that it was manipulated by powerful
men to get me out of East Pakistan. I would not put it past them.

My health was deteriorating from overwork. In May 1953 1 was finally allowed to go on leave.
We went to Tanzania to spend time with my wife's family. It was there that, looking at everything
in perspective and encouraged by my wife's brother who was like a father to her, I finally
decided to resign from the State Bank. The Bank was astounded by my resignation, for I had
given no inkling of it and there was no immediate reason for it. Except perhaps for Governor
Zahid Hussain. He had an almost fatherly affection for me. During our travels together we had
opportunities to talk freely and from the heart. He knew that I had hankered after an academic
life though he never thought that it was anymore a serious option for me. When I resigned he
wrote to me a personal letter in which he said: 'I knew that you had inclinations for an academic
career but I had formed the impression that having cast your lot in the Bank you did not feel that
you could turn back and do something else. As you know I had the greatest regard for you and
every confidence that you were destined for a big career in the Bank. You had in fact already
reached a senior position in its service and with a large number of years before you, there was
indeed no place beyond your reach.' However, Zahid Hussain seemed to have accepted the fact
that my decision was final for he added that: 'It has been my innermost wish to do something in
the educational field. ... When I do so I shall look forward to association with you which I will
value'. Zahid Hussain was a passionate nationalist and could be regarded as an advance
representative of Pakistan's nascent bourgeoisie. He was against an unconditional red carpet
given to foreign capital and equally he was committed to land reforms. Later when we met In
London in 1956 he spoke to me of his plan to set up a research Institute and three associated
weekly journals modeled on the London Economist, published simultaneously in English, Urdu
and Bengali which, he hoped, would generate in the country an understanding of our problems
and generate support for independent national development. He said that he had already secured
the needed financial backing for the project. He believed that it would lift political debate in the
country to a new and higher level. Sadly he died of heart failure within days of our meeting,
during his flight back to Pakistan.

It was the Deputy Governor, however, who was in charge of the Establishment and had to deal
with my resignation. He thought differently. He and the Central Board could not understand why
I had decided to throw away my exceptional career. Given our careerist values, my decision did
not seem to him to be rational, I suspect that the only explanation of my insane action that he
could think of was that I had suffered some kind of a breakdown. After all I had worked under
unrelenting pressure for 5 years without respite. He therefor got the Central Board to offer me,
exceptionally, 9 months leave with full pay. He wrote to me: 'This is not the time to make plans
for the future. You have been working very hard and under great pressure. Now is the time to rest
a bit. 'You and your wife, have a good time and recover your health. There will be plenty of time
to take big decisions after that.' He asked me not to decide about my future until the end of my
leave. I was free to return or not to - there were no strings attached. It seems that they were sure
that I was bound to go back to the Bank, once I had got back to my senses. No one who was
already at the peak of his career at a young age, would do otherwise.

Knowing that I had no wish to return, I felt that it would be unethical just to draw salary for the
extra leave. So I wrote to the Bank telling them that as my decision was already final I would not
take advantage of their generosity. So ended my first career.

EDUCATION

School education: My grandfather, a businessman, was a dedicated educationalist. When he died

the daily Dawn published a long obituary notice, describing him as 'Sir Syed Ahmad Khan of
Sindh'. He was an old Khilafatist who knew and greatly admired Dr. Ansari. He was committed
to the education of the urban poor. He wanted his grandson to understand the way in which the
urban poor live. I was sent to Municipal Primary Schools in Soldier Bazaar and (for some time)
Khadda, where my class mates came from slum areas. It was good social education for a middle
class boy. After that in the Karachi Academy High School I was put in the B stream where the
bulk of the students again came from very poor backgrounds. I developed a social conscience
and became a socialist before I ever heard the word.

University: D.J. Sindh College, Karachi then Wadia College, Poona (B.A., Bombay University),
Aligarh Muslim University (M.A.). Then, finally, the Gokhale Institute at Poona for Ph.D. At the
Gokhale Institute I worked under Prof. D. R. Gadgil on whose suggestion (at whose behest I
should rather say) I joined the Reserve Bank of India, Central Office, at Bombay as Research
Officer.

BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS

Books Edited

South Asia - Sociology of Developing Societies (with John Harriss), Macmillan Press London
Monthly Review Press New York, 1989

State and Ideology in the Middle East and Pakistan, (With Fred Halliday) Macmillan Press,
London /Monthly Review Press, New York, 1988

Capitalism and Colonial Production (with Doug McEachem et. al.) Croom Helm, London
1983

Introduction to Sociology of the 'Developing Societies' (with Teodor Shanin) Macmillan Press,
London/ Monthly Review Press, New York, 1982

Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan (with R. Stevens and P. Bertocci) University
of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1976

Sections of Books

1. 'The Two Biraderis- Kinship in Rural West Punjab' In T. N. Madan (ed) Muslim
Communities of South Asia, (second enlarged edition), New Delhi, 1995
2. 'The Origin and Significance of the Pak-US Military Alliance' In Satish Kumar
(ed) Indian foreign Policy, 1990-91, New Delhi, 1991
3. 'Pakistani Women In a Changing Society' In Hastings Donnan & Pnina Werbner
(eds), Economy and Culture in Pakistan, London 1991.
4. 'Authoritarianism and Legitimation of State Power In Pakistan' In Subrata Mitra
(ed) The Post-Colonial State in South Asia, (London and New York) 1990
5. 'Formation of the Social Structure of South Asia Under the Impact of
Colonialism' in Alavi & Harriss, Sociology of Developing Societies: South Asia, 1989
6. 'Politics of Ethnicity in India and Pakistan' in Alavi & Harriss, Sociology of
Developing Societies: South Asia 1989
7. 'Introduction' to Karl Kautsky, The Agrarian Question with Teodor Shanin , Zwan
Publications, London & Winchester Mass, 1988
8. 'Capitalism and the Peasantry' in Teodor Shanin (ed) Peasants and Peasant Societies
revised edition, Blackwells, Oxford, 1987
9. 'Pakistan and Islam: Ethnicity and Ideology' in Alavi & Halliday (eds) State and
Ideology in the Middle East, 1988
10. 'Ethnicity, Muslim Society and Pakistan Ideology' in Anita Weiss (ed) Islamic
Reassertion in Pakistan' Syracuse University Press, Syracuse NY 1986
11. The Social origins of Pakistan and Islamic Ideology' in Kalim Bahadur (ed) South
Asia in Transition, Patriot Publishers New Delhi, 1986
12. 'India: Transition from Feudalism to Colonial Capitalism' in Alavi et al Capitalism
and Colonial Production
13. 'State and Class in Pakistan' in Hassan Gardezi & Jamil Rashid (eds) Pakistan: The
Roots of Dictatorship, ZED Press, London 1963
14. 'Colonial and Post-Colonial Societies' 'Populism' 'Marxism and the Third World' in
T.B. Bottomore et al (eds) A Dictionary of Marxist Thought Oxford, 1983
15. 'State and Class under Peripheral Capitalism' in Alavi & Shanin (eds), Introduction to
Sociology of the 'Developing Societies'
16. 'The Structure of Peripheral Capitalism' in Alavi & Shanin (Des), Introduction to
Sociology of the 'Developing' Societies'
17. 'Die Koloniale Transformation in Indien: Ruckschritt Vom Feudalismus Zum
Kapitalismus' in Jan-Jeeren Grevemayer (ed) Traditionale Gessellschaften und
Europaischer Kolonialismus, Frankfurt 1981
18. 'Indien und Die Koloniale Produktionweisse' in Dieter Senghaas (ed) Kapitalistiche
Weltekonomie - Kontroversen uber ihre Ursprung und ihre Entwicklungsdynamik,
Frankfurt 1979
19. 'The State In Post-Colonial Societies' in Harry Goulbourne (ed) Politics and the State in
the Third World, Macmillan, London 1979
20. 'Kinship in West Punjab Villages' in T.N. Madan (ed) Muslim Societies in South Asia,
Vikas Publications, New Delhi 1978
21. 'The Rural Elite and Agricultural Development in Pakistan' in Hamza Alavi, R.
Stevens & Peter Bertocci (eds) Rural Development in Bangladesh and Pakistan,
University of Hawaii Press, Hawaii, 1976
22. 'Armee et Bureaucratie Dans la Politique du Pakistan', in A. Abdel Malek (ed)
L'Armee Dans La Nation SNED Alger, 1975
23. 'Pakistan' ,In Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edition 1974
24. 'Peasants and Revolution' in Joseph Lopreato & L.S. Lewis (eds) Social Stratification:
A Reader, Harper & Row, New York, 1974
25. 'The State in Post-Colonial Societies' In Kathleen Gough & H. Sharma (eds),
Imperialism and Revolution in South Asia, New York 1973
26. 'Peasants and Revolution' in Kathleen Gough & Hari Sharma (eds) Imperialism and
Revolution in South Asia, New York, 1973
27. 'Peasent and Revolution' in A.R. Desai (ed) Rural Sociology in India, 1969
Articles in Journals

1. 'Politics of Ethnicity in Pakistan', Pakistan Progressive, Vol 9 No 1, Summer 1987

2. Material Foundations of Communalism in India' in Pakistan Progressive, vol 9 Nos. 2 &3
Fall 1988
3. Pakistan: Women in a Changing Society' in Economic and Political Weekly, June 25
1988, reprinted in Viewpoint Lahore November 1988
4. 'Structure of Colonial Social Formations' in Economic -and Political Weekly Vol XVI
Nos 10-12, ANNUAL NUMBER 1981
5. 'India: Transition from Feudalism to Colonial Capitalism' in Journal of
Contemporary Asia Vol 10, No 4, 1980
6. 'India and the Colonial Mode of Production' in
o i. Economic and Political Weekly Special Number, August 1975
o ii. Socialist Register 1975, R. Miliband & J. Saville (eds) London 1975
7. 'Rural Bases of Power in South Asia' In Journal of Contemporary Asia Vol 4 No 4,
1974
8. 'Peasant Classes and Primordial Loyalties' In Journal of Peasant Studies Vol 1 No 1
Oct 1973 ( also published as a book in Spanish)
9. 'Elite Farmer Strategy and Regional Disparities in Pakistan' In
o i. Pakistan Economist, Feb 1973,
o ii. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. VIII No 13, March 1973
10. 'The State in Post-Colonial Societies' in New Left Review No 74, 1972
11. ''L'Etat Dans les Societes Post-Coloniales'' in Les Temps Modernes, 1972
12. 'Lo Stato Nele Societa Post-Coloniali', Problema del Socialism, 1972
13. 'Kinship In West Punjab Villages' in Contributions to Indian Sociology, NS VI, 1972
14. 'Bangladesh and the Crisis of Pakistan' in
o i. Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol I No 3, 1971
o ii. Socialist Register 1971, R. Miliband & J. Saville (eds)
15. 'Politics of Dependence - A Village in West Punjab' in South Asian Review, Vol 4 No
2, Jan 1971
16. 'Constitutional Changes and Dynamics of Political Development in Pakistan' in
Collected Papers on Post-Independence Constitutional Changes, Institute of
Commonwealth Studies, London 1969
17. 'The Structure of the Agrarian Economy in West Pakistan and Development
Strategy' in Pakistan Administrative Staff College Quarterly, 1968
18. 'Army and Bureaucracy in Pakistan' In
o i. International Socialist Journal, Vol 3, No 14, 1966
o ii. Revue Internationale du Socialisme, April 1966
19. 'Peasants and Revolution' in
o i. Socialist Register 1965, R. Millband & J. Saville (Des)
o ii. French: Les temps Modernes, No 306, Jan 1972 (Paysans et Revolution)
o iii. German: 'Theorie der Bauern-revolution, by Plakat Bauernverlag
o iv. Spanish: Three translations from Argentina, Columbia and Mexico
o v. Arabic and Persian translations.
o vi. Book form, published by Radical Education Project, Ann Arbor, Mich.
20. 'Imperialism Old and New' in
 o i. Socialist Register 1964, R. Miliband & J. Saville (eds)
o ii. 'La Nouvel Imperialisme' in Les Temps Modernes 219-220, 1964
o iii. Critica Marxista, No 2, 1965 ( Italian )
o iv. translations in Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic and Hebrew.
21. 'Pakistan: The Burden of U.S. Aid' in
o New University Thought, Chicago, Autumn 1962
o Pakistan Today, Autumn 1961
o iii. published as a book by j4ew England Free Press, Boston, Mass.
o iv. published as a book by Syed and Syed Publishers, Karachi 1965
o v. reprinted in R.I. Rhodes (ed) Imperialism and Underdevelopment 1970
22. 'Race Relations in Britain' in Afro-Asian and World Affairs, 1966
23. 'Pakistanis in Britain' in Sheila Patterson (ed) Immigrants in London
24. 'The Rise of Prejudice', Plebs, Special Issue on Immigration, Dec 1965
25. 'Nationhood and Communal violence in Pakistan' In Journal of Contemporary Asia,
Vol 21, No. 2, 1991.