A very good afternoon to everyone!
First of all, I wish to extend my gratitude to the High Commissioner of India to Senegal, Ambassador G.V. Srinivas and Ms. Yashika Mehta (Second Secretary, Political, High Commission of India, Senegal) for extending this invitation. We are here today to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution on this day of 1949; and to mark the 145th birth anniversary of the Iron Man of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – a lawyer, freedom fighter, the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of the country. Sardar Patel is known as the architect of modern India, for the role he played in successfully integrating the British colonial provinces and forging them into a newly independent nation of India.
Senegal and India share certain common attributes and political values. Both are pluralistic societies – multi-ethnic, multi religious with several spoken languages; and a democratic political set up; therefore Senegal is an appropriate setting to commemorate this day.
The subject of today’s webinar is: India and Senegal: commonalities, complementarities and untapped potential. Within this remit, I would like to present on one specific aspect of our relationship – people to people connections since Senegal’s independence in August 1960 under the leadership of President Léopold Sédar Senghor till date. I draw upon scholarly research done by academic colleagues; what I learnt about Senegal from my teacher and supervisor late Prof. Anirudha Gupta, at the Centre for African Studies, School of International Studies, JNU; and my visit to the Cheikh Anta Dioup University (UCAD) in February of 2019.
That Senegal is a democracy just like India, is what I read at university. The 80s, when I was a student, were years of coups and counter coups on the African continent. We studied about military and dictatorship, and read seminal work like ‘Soldiers in Politics’ by Eric Nordlinger (published, 1977), professor at Brown and Harvard University. In 1980, Senghor, the first president of Senegal (in office from 1960-1980) gave up his presidency and moved into retirement. We learnt that Senegal was one of the exceptions to the state of affairs. African countries scored much better on the barometer of democracy after the 1990s, when the democratic ‘new winds of change’ or the ‘second liberation’ swept through the continent. Senegal has been unique in so many ways till date – it is a sovereign, secular and democratic republic, known for free and fair elections and peaceful transitions from one incumbent to the other, just like in India.
The West African nation had had a long tradition of democratic values. In fact, in pre-colonial times, present day Senegal was a part of the Mali Empire of medieval West Africa that drafted the Kurukan Fuga Charter (also known as the ‘Charter of Mande’) in 1235. This was a Bill of Rights, about 450 years ahead of the landmark “Bill of Rights” Act (1689, UK), a Bill of Human Rights and about 550 years before the “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen” drafted in 1789, at the time of the French Revolution. The Mande Charter was about peace, diversity, freedom of expression, trade, food security, labour rights etc. These rights and values have been a part of Senegalese society for several centuries and have been further amplified over the years. The Senegalese preamble affirms its commitment to secularism and democracy. These commonalities of political, civil and human rights values offer a strong foundation for India-Senegal relations. India’s first embassy in French West Africa opened in Dakar in 1961 with concurrent accreditations to Cote d’Ivoire, Niger, and Upper Volta and the first Ambassador was Dr. Nagoji Vasudev Rajkumar.
I would like to move on from the shared political ideals and focus on the historical, social and cultural, people to people connections between the two countries.
Kindly note that the 1960s and 70s were the years of decolonization on the continent (Ghana was the first country to gain independence in Sub- Saharan Africa in 1957). Several newly independent states adopted the policy of nationalization, such as in East Africa. The year 1972 marked a watershed in India-Africa relations, when President Idi Amin the military dictator of Uganda expelled peoples of the Indian Diaspora, who had lived there for several generations. Relations between India and Uganda in particular, and with east African countries in general, were tenuous. At this juncture, leaders like President Senghor who fostered cordial relations with India and had a keen interest in its literature, culture and peoples, probably mellowed down the anti- India stance at the Organization of African Unity (OAU), where he was a much respected senior statesman. Besides, Senghor was also a poet, cultural theorist, linguist and a prolific writer which I will discuss shortly.
In 1968, my teacher, late Prof. Anirudha Gupta wrote that the West's colonial system "shook all the societies in the world loose from their old moorings". This is exactly what President Senghor’s concept of Negritude – a part of his cultural politics – sought to restore. He stated that Africans should ‘go back to their roots’, be proud of their culture, and celebrate their indigenous traditions which were considered ‘backward’ by the colonizers. Having been through colonialism, we in India could totally relate to his thoughts.
He also started the ambitious Afro-Dravidian project and wrote about it in the September 1974 issue of the Journal of Tamil Studies, published by the International Institute of Tamil Studies. He affirmed the cultural, linguistic and geographical linkages between the Dravidians in southern India and Black Africa. He stated that geographically, only the Indian Ocean separated India and East Africa, which was a contiguous landmass centuries ago. As a scholar of linguistics, he was particularly interested in the linguistic similarities between the Senegalese languages (Wolof, Serer and Fulani) and the Dravidian language – Tamil. Thus he ‘Africanized’ the Dravidians of Southern India and extended the geographical arc where he opined that peoples of African /Black ancestry were present. Senghor’s thesis was contested and needs to be studied further.
As a part of this project there was a two way exchange of scholars. Three faculties from India- K.P. Aravaanan, U.P. Upadhyaya, and his wife Sushila Upadhyay were invited to the l'Institut Fondamental d'Afrique Noire (IFAN), at UCAD in 1973. Professor Aravaanan published “The Serpent Cult in Africa and Dravidian India” (1977) and “Dravidians and Africans” (1979). Three Senegalese scholars, Dr. Cheikh Tidiane N’Diaye (1974), Professor Souleymane Faye and Mamadou N'diaye (1977) came on Government of India scholarships to do their doctoral research on the linguistic affinities between the Senegalese languages and Tamil. I had the great privilege of meeting Professor Souleymane Faye who shared experiences of his student days, while he was a student in the state of Tamil Nadu.
In 1974, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India, and President Senghor collaborated with IFAN, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) and Annamalai University (Tamil Nadu) to set up the Indo-African Studies Department in Dakar. It could potentially offer the study on commonalities of culture and languages between India and Africa; and areas of mutual interest. This project did not go further after President Senghor left office. This is an unfinished agenda that I think could be taken forward through centers of critical learning at UCAD.
Cognizant of the friendly relations between the people of India and Senegal, President Senghor was inducted as an honorary fellow into the Indian National Academy of Letters- the Sahitya Akademi in 1974; and awarded the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding, in 1982.
Further to an academic interest, there is an evident curiosity about India’s cultural ideals. I met some of the older generation of Senegalese, maybe in their 70s or thereabouts. They did not talk about India’s economic or diplomatic prowess but wanted to know more about India’s cultural values – of peace, non- violence and about, Indian philosophy, spiritualism, indigenous knowledge and traditional medicine systems.
President Senghor had great respect for all that Mahatma Gandhi stood for – peace, Satyagraha, non-violence, deliberations and dialogues for conflict resolution. All these principles have had a natural appeal to the people of Senegal, a diverse country in terms of its religion, languages and ethnicity, and known for its pluralistic traditions, attained through the politics of accommodation and dialogue. The role of Muslim Sufi brotherhoods – the Murid (politically and economically influential); the Tijaniyya (largest in number); and the Qadiriyya (oldest) and their contribution to society is unique to the country. The relation between the state and the religious groups is underscored by; ‘rituals of respect’; ‘policy of cooperation’; and the state’s policy of non-interference in religious affairs. The public practice of ‘rituals of respect’ has furthered good relations between different groups and with the state. Further, the proactive role of the Sufi orders- such as the Murid for example, and the support they have extended to the state in its efforts to contest practices such as Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), or more recently, to combat the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 pandemic is laudable. Respect for diversity- for the multiple ethnic and religious denominations is what India strives and works towards as well.
The presence of an old India Diaspora is considered to be a precondition or a basis for an engagement between countries in Africa and India. However, it needs to be noted that despite the absence of the Diaspora, Senegal and India have been connected since antiquity through the material medium of textiles. Cloth was transported through the overland trans-Saharan trading routes. Indian made cloth was a prized commodity and much in demand by local elites across West Africa.
By the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, Indian cloth was used as a currency by European traders to pay for slaves along the West African coast, who were then shipped, mainly to sugar plantations across the Atlantic Ocean. In the 19th century, Guinée cloth (from the Telegu word giniyagudda) – an indigo-dyed cloth produced in Pondicherry – was exported to Senegal, which was also under French colonial influence. During my visit to the HLM market in Dakar, I saw made-in-India printed and more embellished and designed textiles for sale by Gujaratis (mainly Kutchi traders) who also spoke the local Senegalese languages.
Yet another historical connection with Africa has been through the Siddis, who the Senegalese people knew about. The Siddis came as slaves, soldiers and sailors as early as the 13th century onwards. This trade was reinforced by the Portuguese until it was finally outlawed in the early 19th century by the British, who had emerged as the dominant maritime power in the Indian Ocean. What was notable about the Siddis was that some of them rose to high positions in the military or to positions of nobility. To cite one example, Malik Ambar (1548-1626; born in Ethiopia) rose to be the Prime Minister in the Ahmadnagar Sultanate in the early 17th century, and was a king maker in Deccan politics. Siddis keep the memory of their African origins alive through their culture, music and dance.
Indian and –Senegalese people have been connected through Indian culture; music, dance and Bollywood. I had the opportunity to attend the Tiranga festival hosted by former Ambassador Shri Rajeev Kumar, in 2019. I met a Kathak dancer who was named Hema. She came to India under the ICCR fellowship for training in this dance form. Her rendition of Krishnalila was commendable.
From the participants at the Tiranga festival, I learnt that there were about two dozen or so associations of Indophiles, located mostly in the suburb of Pikine in Dakar, and across the country. Senegalese people love Bollywood songs and dance and organize what they call the Soirees Indous (Indian evenings/parties). Bollywood films were first screened in Senegalese cinemas around the 1950s and became much more popular than Arabic films, which were seen as ‘too western’. The first Indian film screened in 1953 was called Mangala. One of the most popular Bollywood films is Mère Indienne (Mother India, 1957) and the Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and other blockbusters of the 1990s onwards such as - Kuch Kuch Hota Hai and Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham have been loved by the audience. What is intriguing is why the Senegalese- who speak French, love Indian films which are without subtitles? The informants stated that they relate to the family dramas, the Indian culture of respect for elders, the joint family system and the values that these films conveyed. Of course, they love the spectacle of dance and the music as well.
Against this backdrop of long established people to people relations, there are multiple areas of complementarity that could be built upon to further enhance these connections in varied domains. I have listed some of them here under the following subheadings.
- Academic: Setting up the Indo-African Studies Department (IFAN) at UCAD, to teach epistemologies of the global South; and Indian and Senegalese art, literature and culture.
- Academic exchanges: Of Indian and Senegalese scholars, to study the best practices in peace building, reconciliation and accommodation in multicultural, multi-religious and multi-ethnic settings. E.g. The role of Sufi organizations and their role in civil society for promoting harmony and spreading awareness about social issues such as prevention of Covid-19.
- Cultural: Exchanges of Indian and Senegalese artists at art, cultural, music and film festivals in India and Senegal.
- Historical: Establishment of museums of Afro-Indian history/ exhibitions in India and partner countries in Africa.
- Health sector: Knowledge sharing to learn proven successes in traditional medicines; Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy (AYUSH).
- Engage with partner countries through telemedicine (such as the Pan- Africa e- network) which have assumed greater significance in the post pandemic setting; build capacity for the production of medicines locally.
- Livelihood generation: Organize training for the setting up of cooperatives, micro-finance, scalable and replicable good practices in- climate resilient agriculture and value addition to agro-products through sharing best practices at women centered NGOs in Senegal and India, and
- Gender empowerment: Promoting clean and renewable energy through the scaling up training of Solar Mamas at NGOs such as at the Barefoot College (Tilonia, Rajasthan)
The above stated endeavors are bottom up and gender inclusive and could possibly further the development targets laid down in Agenda 2063, the Global Goals- the SDGs; and India’s own development partnership objectives detailed in the ‘Ten Guiding Principles’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in July 2018 .These include inter- alia, the building of local capacities, local opportunities and sharing India’s capabilities in the social sectors- education, health and digital skills; which could potentially benefit the common man in Senegal and consequently strengthen the time-honoured relations between the peoples of India and Senegal.
I thank you all for your attention.
Dr. Renu Modi
Professor and Director
Centre for African Studies