Professor will discuss how India has grown into global superpower during Lake Oswego talks

During his recent trip to India, Lewis & Clark history professor David Campion noticed a fervent sense of optimism amongst the population.

Economic development has accelerated at a rapid pace and Campion could sense that India’s residents have noticed. The new highways, airports and bridges were further proof of the country’s metamorphosis.

Campion will discuss how India has transformed itself from a colonized nation to a world superpower during a talk at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3 at the Oswego Heritage House. He will then cover law, tradition and power in modern India during another talk at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 23 at the Lake Oswego Public Library. The talks are a part of the library’s Lake Oswego Reads program, during which the community reads a book and the city hosts a series of events based on the selection. This year’s book, “Honor” by Thrity Umrigar, depicts a journalist returning to her home country of India to document a story centering on a Hindu woman who was attacked by her family and members of her village for marrying a Muslim man. It involves multiple love stories and details the challenges of bridging cultural divides.

Campion said the April 3 presentation will cover “a general narrative of major changes and continuities that have taken place in the decades after independence. A lot of it has to do with the dynamics of Indian democracy and how that intersects with religion and castes and economic class, as well as India’s rise as a superpower and a regional and military power. And culturally it is very influential.”

Campion’s research has focused on the British Empire, Britain, Ireland and South Asia. In India, he has studied how law enforcement and administrative systems established during British rule have carried over to today. Britain, he said, was known for progressive policing back home — but did not apply that to India when it ruled the country for about 200 years until 1947. Today the police force remains relatively authoritarian.

“Leaders of nationalist movement retained a lot of the old laws,” he said of the criminal procedure code and the top-down nature of the police system. He added that many of the officers policing India during the colonial period were from places like Ireland and Scotland and also had an ambivalent relationship with the British empire.

“I’m also interested in how foreigners came and interacted with Indian police, constables, and tried to maintain order and political control in a culture they were not a part of,” he said.

Campion relayed some observations he had about modern India. He said that, in the West, people often think of traditionalism and religion as being countervailing forces to modernity and economic growth, but Indians do not see it that way. He added that the country continues to ascend in tandem with widespread religious belief.

Further, Campion recently walked across the heavily militarized border between India and Pakistan. Although the partition of the two countries, wars and nuclear armament have created a tense ecosystem, he felt that the animosity between Indians and Pakistanis was overblown and something politicians used as a means of distraction from problems they aren’t addressing.

“I was in the city of Lahore (in Pakistan) and a lot of people there have satellite dishes where they play cricket, watch Indian television. There are similarities and the hostility between the people of India and Pakistan is vastly overstated,” he said.

Campion enjoyed “Honor” and how it depicted some of the smaller villages in India that are governed by small councils. He also appreciated that the book includes how the caste system established by the British empire still plays a part in society even though there are constitutional protections against discrimination based on caste.

“Most decisions and laws were traditions in the villages informed by caste, religion, ethnicity, and are still a powerful force in India. I think the book captures that quite well,” he said.

Campion also felt that while Westerners often think of India in its relation to the British Empire, the time Britain ruled the country was relatively short compared to its vast history. He posited that Britain was more impacted by its colonialism of India than the other way around.

“In terms of culture, languages and the demography of Britain, Britain is a very different country than it would have been because of its relationship with India,” he said.