Two notable books on social linguistics and terrorism
By Syed Afsar Sajid
- ‘Language and Society in Gilgit-Baltistan — Shifting Patterns of Politeness in
Burushaski and Shina’ by Ijlal Hussainpur
- ‘Combating Terrorism — Saudi Arabia’s Role in the War on Terror’
by Ali S. Awadh Asseri
The two books mentioned in the title have recently been published by Oxford University Press in Pakistan. The first encompasses a socio-linguistic study of Gilgit-Baltistan whereas the second relates to Saudi Arabia’s role in the war on terror.
‘Language and Society in Gilgit-Baltistan’
Author Ijlal Hussainpur, a noted education policy expert, is a founder director of the Silk Road Centre, which is engaged in promotion of cultural heritage, education, and civil society. He holds a PhD in Asian Studies and an MPhil in Pakistani Linguistics. The instant book is purported to be a pioneering research study intended to explore three key aspects of language research in Pakistan: first, the evolution of linguistic diversity in Gilgit-Baltistan region; second, the use of language in social contexts across cultures to express politeness, deference, and affection in real life situations; and third, the efficacy of research in presenting a seminal account of the influence and impact of the powerful languages and modernization process on language use in the present-day Gilgit-Baltistan.
The book is meant ‘to fill the huge gap of research on language use in everyday life in Pakistan’. The author terms this exercise as an exploration of the ‘linguistic pragmatics’ leading to an extensive coverage and analysis of the phenomena of politeness in numerous languages of the world. The use of language in various cultures to express politeness and deference forms the crux of this study.
The book is broadly divided into six chapters titled (1) Language in Social Life — Theoretical Considerations, (2) Approaches and Methods, (3) Languages of Gilgit-Baltistan, (4) Linguistic Expressions of Politeness in Burushaski and Shina, (5) Non-Verbal Signals of Politeness, and (6) Patterns of Change in Politeness. Figurative tables, diagrams, and illustrations where necessary add to the contextual value of the book. The author concludes that ‘this study is an attempt to fill the gap in the literature on the nature and scope of language use in real life’ in the sociolinguistic context of the languages of Gilgit-Baltistan.
‘Combating Terrorism’
The author of the book Ali S. Awadh Asseri is a graduate from the Police Academy, Riyadh with various training courses in US and UK in the areas of combating terrorism, hijacking, hostage negotiations, physical security, ambassadorial security, and high crisis management, to his credit. Commissioned in the Interior Security Forces, he rose to the rank of Brigadier and served as Director General of the Diplomatic Security Department working on numerous diplomatic assignments related to security and ambassadorial issues.
This book brings to the fore the efforts of the Saudi Arabian Government to combat terrorism with particular reference to a three-pronged innovative strategy i.e. the strategy of prevention, the strategy of cure, and the strategy of care, which was successfully implemented in the Kingdom. The writer ‘traces the problems around defining terrorism, highlighting the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter, and goes on to a functional definition’. He further discusses the practical aspects of terrorism by pinpointing its purposes and goals, defining it in its historical perspective and concluding with terrorism practised under the guise of religion.
The book has eight chapters besides an extensive bibliography and index. The subjects outlined in the chapters embrace terrorism in theory and practice, the Islamic perspective on terrorism, root causes of terrorism, Saudi strategy against terrorism: its domestic dimensions as well as international initiatives, emulating Saudi strategy with examples, and rethinking counter-terrorism.
The author claims that the book is an academic work emanating from his dissertation for his Master’s in International Relations. At the end, he also presents some case studies on the Saudi strategy and reiterates ‘pursuit of a world free of terror’.
