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JTCDM, TISS IV Roundtable Abstracts 2012

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South Asia has been home to amongst the major, and most violent intra-state armed conflicts of this century. Almost all countries in the region have battled with, and continue to witness inter-group ethnic conflicts, violent sub-nationalisms, left wing and other (often multiple) protracted insurgencies. India ranks high on the list of internally embattled states, grappling at once with multiple secessionist movements, communal violence and an increasingly powerful left insurgent movement. Do the growing numbers and intensity of ethno-nationalist and other state-armed group conflicts in the region indicate a need for us to revisit state structures as they exist in South Asian nation-states today? Do our structures of governance need to be refashioned to be more accommodative of sub-national aspirations? How can states effectively address their internal security needs without suppressing the voices of their poorest and most dispossessed people? How can any of this be practically done without endangering the state’s ability to at all govern? Are there lessons that South Asian states still struggling to deal with ethnic riots may have to learn from elsewhere across the globe? The Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management (JTCDM) of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) hosts its fourth international roundtable conference to engage with questions such as those posed above. To facilitate discourse amongst diverse stakeholders, papers are invited from scholars, as well as from members of non-government and state institutions engaged in research and intervention in conflict and post conflict situations. The interest in the roundtable is both to share original academic and other field-based work in the area, as well as to provide an informed and discursive forum to actively explore possibilities for the role of the state in conflict transformation in South Asia. Janki Andharia, Ph D

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Fourth JTCDM Roundtable Conference

17th & 18th April 2012

STRUCTURING PEACE

The State and Conflict Transformation: Prospects and Challenges in South Asia

JAMSETJI TATA CENTRE FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT

Tata Institute of Social Sciences

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Contents

INTRODUCTION TO THE ROUNDTABLE 5 INAUGURAL SESSION

NANDINI SUNDARStatehood, Justice and an Alternate Model of Development

6

PAPER PRESENTATIONSAHEIBAM KOIRENG SINGH First Ever Peace Initiative involving State Government SoO with Chikim Outfits in Manipur

7

ASHU PASRICHA Challenges and Prospects of Peace Building in South Asia: A Way from Conflict to Cooperation

9

ELLORA PURIStructuring Peace: Lessons from Jammu and Kashmir

11

GOLDY M. GEORGE Planned Development, Mining & Conflicts: Issues and Challenges

12

M. AMARJEET SINGHPolitics of Belonging: Migrations, Citizenships, and Conflicts in India

14

MADHURINaxalite Movement in Bihar: Current Trend and Remedies

15

MANOJ JHAThe Saga of Elusive Peace in a Chaotic World of Demonised Others

16

MRIGENDRA KUMAR SINGH and SUJAY KUMARConflict Resolution in Afghanisthan

18

MONISH GULATITerrorist Life Cycle and Criminalisation: Implications for Curbing Insurgency

20

MUSHTAQ UL HAQ AHMED SIKANDARReligion and Politics in Kashmir – A Study of the Conflict, Dialogue and its Peaceful Resolution

22

PANKAJ CHOUDHURYTelengana and Gorkhaland: Contesting the Ideal of Nation State

24

PAUL GEORGEPost Conflict Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Karbi Anglong, Assam: A Study of Model Villages

26

PRABHAT KUMARStructuring Peace: The State and Conflict Transformation: Prospects and Challenges in South Asia

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PRANAV KUMARMajority Assertion and Challenges to Peace and Security in Bhutan

29

RAMESHCHANDRA NINGTHOUJAMMigration and Conflict in Manipur, India

31

RITUPARNA PATGIRIIllegal Migration from Bangladesh: Transforming the Dynamics of Identity Politics in Assam

32

ROHIT JAINState and the Doctrine of Public Trust – Need for Restructuring the Relationship between the State and the People for Conflict Transformation

34

RUBINA JASANICitizenship from the Margins: Gujarat Riots and the Everyday State

36

SAIMA FARHADYears 2008, 2009 and 2010 – the Three Years of Conflict in Kashmir – Common and Peculiar Characteristics

37

SAMIR AHMAD BHATKashmir Conflict: Failure of Democratic Processes

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SANGHITA DATTAThe Role of Government in Restoring Peace: A Study of the Enclave of Bengal

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SANJEEVINI BADIGARRelief Where There Should Be Rights: State Practices Related to Communal Violence in the Context of Gujarat

42

SHUKHDEBA SHARMA HAJABAMThe State & Political Apology: Towards Peace Building in the Northeast India

44

SHWETA VERMAVictims or Survivors? Collective or Diverse? Reflections on 2010 Scenario in Kashmir and Implications for Interventions in Post Conflict Context

45

SRISHTEE R SETHIFragile States in South Asia: An Analysis of Pakistan

47

UPASANA ROY BURMANA Deeper Look into Ethnic Conflicts of South Asia

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VALEDICTORY ADDRESSMUKESH KAPILAHealing Broken Societies: Can Development Aid Buy Peace?

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STRUCTURING PEACE

The State and Conflict Transformation: Prospects and Challenges in South Asia

South Asia has been home to amongst the major, and most violent intra-state armed conflicts of this century. Almost all countries in the region have battled with, and continue to witness inter-group ethnic conflicts, violent sub-nationalisms, left wing and other (often multiple) protracted insurgencies. India ranks high on the list of internally embattled states, grappling at once with multiple secessionist movements, communal violence and an increasingly powerful left insurgent movement.

Do the growing numbers and intensity of ethno-nationalist and other state-armed group conflicts in the region indicate a need for us to revisit state structures as they exist in South Asian nation-states today? Do our structures of governance need to be refashioned to be more accommodative of subnational aspirations? How can states effectively address their internal security needs without suppressing the voices of their poorest and most dispossessed people? How can any of this be practically done without endangering the state’s ability to at all govern? Are there lessons that South Asian states still struggling to deal with ethnic riots may have to learn from elsewhere across the globe?

The Jamsetji Tata Centre for Disaster Management (JTCDM) of the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) hosts its fourth international roundtable conference to engage with questions such as those posed above. To facilitate discourse amongst diverse stakeholders, papers are invited from scholars, as well as from members of non-government and state institutions engaged in research and intervention in conflict and post conflict situations. The interest in the roundtable is both to share original academic and other field-based work in the area, as well as to provide an informed and discursive forum to actively explore possibilities for the role of the state in conflict transformation in South Asia.

Janki Andharia

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INAUGURAL SESSION

NANDINI SUNDAR

Statehood, Justice and an Alternate Model of Development

This article looks at the conflicts over land and forest in central India, and in particular at the genesis of the Maoist movement, and State responses. I argue that far from being irresolvable, there are several potential models available that the Indian State can draw upon, if it had the will. These include:

a) Truth and Reconciliation Commissions as have been tried in Peru and Guatemala following similar civil wars between the militaries and left wing organizations. This in turn would entail freeing the large numbers who have been forcibly incarcerated, which is a continuing source of distress, a recognition of the large numbers killed, and suitable punishment for those responsible for excesses.

b) Redrawing State boundaries with innovative governance structures. A new State re-organisation commission that recognized Adivasi States like Dandakaranya (in central India), a Bhil Homeland in Western India, and a revised Jharkhand State with a majority tribal population etc. would be a major political gesture. Within this, models for revenue sharing could be worked out drawing on the experience of treaties with Australian and Native American indigenous peoples, as well as indigenous models of schooling. Elements of the sixth schedule could also replace the defunct fifth schedule in these areas.

About the Author:

Nandini Sundar is Professor of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, Delhi University, and Co-editor, Contributions to Indian Sociology. She has previously worked at the Centre for the Study of Law and Governance, Jawaharlal Nehru University, the Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi and the University of Edinburgh. Her publications include Subalterns and Sovereigns: An Anthropological History of Bastar (2nd ed. OUP 2007), published in Hindi as Gunda Dhur Ki Talash Mein (Penguin 2009), and Branching Out: Joint Forest Management in India (OUP 2001). She is editor of Legal Grounds: Natural Resources, Identity and the Law in Jharkhand(OUP 2009) and also co-editor of Anthropology in the East: The founders of Indian sociology and anthropology (Permanent Black 2007), and A New Moral Economy for India’s Forests: Discourses of Community and Participation (Sage Publications, 1999).

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AHEIBAM KOIRENG SINGH

First Ever Peace Initiative involving State Government SoO with Chikim Outfits in Manipur

The paper traces how Ceasefire with Chin-Kuki-Mizo (CHIKIM) ethnic armed outfits commenced as a military initiative sidelining the State government following the signing of Suspension of operation (SoO) between the Indian armed forces (consisting of the paramilitary and the army) and the eight CHIKIM outfits on 01 August 2005.

It later became official with the signing of tripartite agreement on 22 August 2008 between the conglomerates groups of CHIKIM outfit namely, the United Front (UPF), and the Kuki National Organisation (KNO), the State Government and the Centre with definite ground rules that ensure territorial integrity of Manipur, among various others. The KNO represents 11 groups, and the UPF represents eight outfits. CHIKIM armed outfits under SoO had objectives ranging over ‘Kuki State’ ‘Kukiland’ ‘Zomi autonomous council’ and ‘Zalengam’ but with the signing of SoO under the constitution of India, it was agreed not to break the territorial integrity of Manipur.

The CHIKIM ethnic armed outfits despite being in SoO with the State and the Union government, continued to engage in extortion, fratricidal turf wars and internecine factional clashes, kidnapping for ransom, intimidating the civilians, interference in developmental programmes, and influencing the outcome of the Autonomous District Council (ADC) election 2010 results through sheer coercion. Though different warring groups and factions have come under SoO, there is little evidence that their hostilities have ceased.

The paper reiterates that those CHIKIM outfits under SoO should not be engaged in counter-insurgency operations, since it would escalate hostilities among armed outfits as rivalries between the armed outfits often have a ‘trickle-down’ effect among the people whom they claim to represent. A Joint Monitoring Group (JMG) headed by Principal Home Secretary comprising of a representative each from the UPF and the KNO dealt with the issues related to the field or the ground rules.

JMG should motivate the armed groups under SoO to initiate confidence building measures among the warring factions and groups to sort out their differences without resorting to violence. The State and the central government shall ensure that those CHIKIM outfits under SoO do not inconvenience the civilians. The KNO as well as the UPF took SoO as a significant step in the right direction and a prerequisite to the commencement of political dialogue. It is hoped that holistic solutions, which will not be in collision with the interest of the other communities that could potentially trigger another form of conflict, would come into sight in the very near future. To add a cautious note , if any form of autonomy is to be granted, it should not be community-exclusive as the guiding spirit should be that of peaceful co-existence and not of extending sovereignty to one particular ethnic group.

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The paper ends on an optimistic note stating that SoO being the first ever peace initiative involving the State government, should pave way for substantive dialogue towards a durable solution of the hydra-headed CHIKIM insurgencies. Successful resolution of the CHIKIM insurgency through SoO would invite the willingness of other outfits which still eludes the peace-talks offer.

About the Author:

Aheibam Koireng Singh (MA, PhD) is Assistant Professor in the CMS, Manipur University. Some of the major publications to his credit are Ethnicity and Inter-Community Conflicts: A Case of Kuki-Naga in Manipur, 2008; Problems of Ethnicity and Identity in Contemporary Manipur and Other Essays,2009; Understanding Kuki Since Primordial Times, 2010; Miniature India in Motion: Movements in Recent Past and Present Manipur, 2011; and Removing the Veil: Issues in Northeast Conflict, 2012. Ethnicity, conflict, governance, and security related issues are his area of interest.

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ASHU PASRICHA

Challenges and Prospects of Peace Building in South Asia: A Way from Conflict to Cooperation

Globalization has brought people across the world nearer to each other. It has also brought civilizations and cultures closer together, providing novel arenas for more intense dialogue and better communication platforms for mutual and sustained understanding. The notion that ours is a global neighbourhood has become reality. Along with the awareness that the global neighbourhood is now upon us, there is the realization that any war, conflict, serious disturbance, or oppression in any one part of the world affects every other part of the world. Globalization means the interconnectedness and feeling of fellow-hood amongst people in situations of need and suffering.

Misery in any corner of the global neighbourhood affects the peace and well-being of everyone else. As Martin Luther King said “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere”. However, there are still forces that focus on a fragmented world and emphasize old positions, historical events, divisive concepts and views that fuel conflicts around the globe. Is it possible to counteract these forces and build a new, cohesive civilization in which deadly conflicts will not survive and more harmony in diversity shall prevail, leading to a greater understanding and acceptance between cultures?

In this context, South Asia stands at a crossroads. It is a compact geo-political and civilizational region inhabited by more than 1.5 billion or 1/5th of human kind. In spite of many historical, civilizational, social, linguistic and cultural linkages, this area has been conspicuous for its high levels of tension, confrontation and conflict and very low levels of regional co-operation for development.

South Asia is home to a third of world’s poor, with a large number of problems. The people of this region have experienced stark poverty, increasing inequality, caste and communal violence, social and political conflicts, a sense of hostility towards neighbours, fragmentations, mistrust and political tendency to blame, demonize and undermine each other rather than supporting each other and promoting a cohesive vision of a South Asia free from poverty, violence and hostilities.

In such a scenario Peace building in South Asia is a stupendous task. Such deep crises and problems in these countries necessitate efforts for short and long term solutions. Although the underlying issues involved are many (conflict along ethnic and religious lines, extremism, violence and oppression), Asia certainly has the cultural and civilizational resources at its disposal to help resolve these problems and build sustainable peace in the region.

All these conflicts and violent incidents are occurring in South Asia despite the fact that the Gandhian principles of non-violence originate from this region, and the world’s largest democracy, India, has a central place in South Asia. What then is the missing link to achieve peace in this most volatile of regions, despite interest from all sides and their long-term engagement of the international community?

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The salient points covered in this paper are:

Main challenges facing peace building in South Asia•

Gandhian ideology and its perspectives in developing a ‘Culture of Peace’;•

The role of civil society in being instrument to bring harmony amongst the interests • of all section of society and being a partner in peace building process in South Asia;

Participation of International organizations like the United Nations etc. in developing • structures, institutions and hence processes, whereby a just and peaceful South Asia would emerge.

The efficacy of co-operation as a way of peace building.•

About the Author:

Dr. Ashu Pasricha’s special interests are: Gandhian Thought, Peace Studies, Conflict Resolution, Research Methodology, Rural Development. She is associated with a number of national and international academic, cultural, educational, and social and peace organizations/institutions/bodies such as the “European Research Group on Military and Society (ERGOMAS), Zurich, Switzerland” and many others. She has visited many countries of the world like Slovenia and Amsterdam as a Scholar and delivered many lectures/talks.

She has written 18 books and has published number of research papers/articles. She is also a regular contributor to various prestigious newspapers in the country and abroad. She has been invited by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to formulate Course Material on ‘Gandhi, Peace Studies and Management Public System (MPS).’ She has guided and continues to guide many PhD and MPhil students of the Department of Gandhian Studies, Panjab University Chandigarh.

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ELLORA PURI

Structuring Peace: Lessons from Jammu and Kashmir

No discussion on political violence in South Asia is complete without discussing Jammu and Kashmir, an erstwhile princely state whose historical trajectory after 1947 has, in multiple ways, affected the politics within India, relations between India and Pakistan, and political happenings in places like the United Kingdom, where a large section of citizens from the Pakistani part of the State reside.

In this presentation, I seek to wear multiple hats—of an academic, of an activist, and of a policy advocate. As I emphasise every time I have to talk of J&K, and by extension most ‘conflict’ spots in the world, it is impossible not to wear all these hats, if you really want to intervene and make a ‘difference.’

The presentation will focus on three dimensions of conflict spots like J&K. These three, having had a chance to study conflicts elsewhere in the world, in my opinion, are generalizable.

One: Distinguish between political causes of conflict and governance problems. Do not neglect one at the cost of the other. Governance issues are easier to discern, and address, so tackle them.

Two: Justice is important. No, time does not heal. If the States want to really make any changes for the better, they need to address the mistakes they have made in the past, particularly those related to Human Rights violations.

Three: It takes time to ‘solve’ a conflict. Without knowledge and vision it is impossible to. Know the ground realities, know the history, know the ‘geography.’ And while keeping open possibilities of multiple solutions to the conflict, keep in mind a vision of the kind of society one envisages would emerge from whatever be that solution.

About the Author:

Ellora Puri is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science, the University of Jammu. Before joining the teaching faculty at the Univ. of Jammu, she worked as the Senior Research Associate at the Delhi Policy Group and as a Graduate Student Instructor in the Department of Political Science, University of Michigan. Ms. Puri’s research interests include political institutions, political violence, identity politics, gender, and participatory development (with special focus on South Asia).

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GOLDY M. GEORGE

Planned Development, Mining & Conflicts: Issues and Challenges

Planned Industrial Development in post-independence India started in 1950. This phase of planned economic growth of industries with active support from the State was directly proportional to the unchecked exploitation of the masses. Displacement, migration and its repercussions on workers, loss of land and livelihood, pilferage of State revenue and depletion of forest resources had grown to a monstrous scale.

The development process, which stood on the edifice of colonialism, began to evolve into a full blown Neo-Colony while having to contend with political threats that were fundamental in nature. At times, the State provided a semblance of hope by making efforts to mitigate the problems but did not work towards fundamentally resolving them. By keeping these pretensions alive and flourishing through various means, the political upheavals and movements were constantly being undermined. These pretensions were constantly kept alive by concessions, which were often only marginal or nominal and constituted populist measures entrenched in the political system.

Globalization brought in a new argument that economic mobility in the hierarchy of world economy requires higher level of production and technology. Thus the State pushes forward greater vertical linkages to the capitalist market and deepens their internal accumulation through exploitation of labour and the nature. It is hoped that the external linkages between local economy and world economy could reinforce the status of the ruling elite and promote internal expansion. This openness towards world economy is not simply confined to trade flows, investment flows and financial flows; it also extends to flows of services, technology, information, ideas and persons across national boundaries. Political stability or instability has a direct bearing on the process, pace and intensity of globalization and reforms, which admittedly have been slow and inadequate.

India’s Five Year Plans have focused on mining to achieve ‘development’, demanding the forfeiture of people’s lands for ‘national prosperity’. Most mineral and mining operations are found in forest regions, which are also the habitat for Adivasi (indigenous) communities. Mining projects vary from rat hole mining, small-scale legal and illegal mining, to large-scale mining. The gateway for private sector participation in mining during the 1990s aggravated mining related community conflicts, with, far reaching consequences.

Conflicts over mining have existed for more than four decades in different forms. These conflicts were not addressed adequately since the trade union movements in such areas could never understand the issues related to mining in their entirety. Moreover, mining has always been assumed to be a major means of industrial development contributing to the State economy. Over the course of time, the very definition of State and its economy has changed.

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The proposed paper would make an attempt to examine the planned mining process, its current developments and how new forms of conflict such as Planning and Mining, Mining vis-à-vis People, Mining in pre and post Globalization era have impacted recent developments in mining. The paper will address the issue of Mining and Maoism from the Central Indian perspective.

About the Author:

The author has primarily been a Dalit activist for nearly two decades in Chhattisgarh and founded the Dalit Mukti Morcha and Dalit Study Circle. He has done several researches on Dalits, Adivasis and Developmental issues. He has authored one book, co-edited another. He also has to his credit, 6 booklets and over 100 articles in newspapers, magazines, research journal both in English and Hindi. He is one of the founders of Centre for Just Peace in Asia (CJPA) and has travelled extensively across Asia. He has presented numerous papers in several international as well as national conferences, conventions, and seminars. He was one of the key persons in working out the draft “Dalit Policy Document”. He is a recipient of NFI fellowship for journalistic research as well as the Dalit Foundation fellowship. Currently he is a PhD scholar with the CSSEIP, SSS at TISS, Mumbai.

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M. AMARJEET SINGH

Politics of Belonging: Migrations, Citizenships, and Conflicts in India

Migration has increasingly become a livelihood strategy for hundreds of thousands of people across the globe, and yet it could also be a source of conflict. This is evident in India, particularly in its Northeast borderland, where cross-border migration from Bangladesh is largely perceived to be a threat to the local cultures. Failure to check this type of migration was also responsible for the alienation of the local people from the national mainstream which gradually transformed into armed and violent conflict between Indian state and armed groups. Following pressure from local people, the country’s national government has devised a number of measures for checking cross-border migration. Those measures were however not so effective mainly because they were implemented without taking into account the shared history, geography and economy of the sending and the destination areas. Down the line, the issue has also further politicised with every political parties indulging in vote-bank politics. It also considerably divided the local people along communal and religious lines because the distinction between migrants and non-migrants is actually blurred in this part of the world. Thus, down the line the inability to check cross-border migration has caused further alienation among the local people which further contributed to the armed conflict. It is thus suffice to say the armed conflict in the Northeast, at least in the states of Assam and Tripura, has been influenced by the politics of migration. Ironically, the human migration is only likely to intensify further. In this context, it is urgently necessary to see migration as an opportunity for development rather than simply as a threat as it used to be. Such rethinking entails exploring innovative measures in upholding the interests of migrants and non-migrants, and/or of citizens and non-citizens.

About the Author:

M. Amarjeet Singh is an assistant professor in the Conflict Resolution Programme at National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science campus, Bangalore. He is member of the Advisory Group for the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies’s study on ‘Response to Insurgency’. His research and teaching interests include: sociological theory, conflict studies, development and displacement, globalisation and migration studies, and Northeast India. He can be contacted at [email protected].

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MADHURI

Naxalite Movement in Bihar: Current Trend and Remedies

Bihar, besides Nepal and the states of Maharashtra, Karnatakaand Tamil Nadu, falls in the ‘Red Corridor’ of the ‘Compact Revolutionary Zone’ of the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist movement in India, popularly known as Naxalite movement. Naxalism emerged in Bihar in 1967, the year that it originated as an ideology and an organized movement against the oppression of lower caste communities. Bihar with its 85% rural populace, most of whom have been socially, economically and politically disadvantaged/exploited for centuries at the hands of the upper castes and have experienced severe damage to life and people in the last four decades, presents ideal conditions for such a movement.

The movement has engulfed 19 out of the total 38 districts of the state. The notable reasons for its spread in the state have been unlawful occupation and possession of land above the legal ceiling, failure to protect sharecroppers’ interests, control over common property resources and above all, atrocities committed against the lower caste communities and the indifferent attitude of the State. However, of late, this appears to be on a declining path, although it would be too hasty to arrive at any decisive conclusion.

This paper looks into the contributing factors leading to the spread of the Naxalite movement and its current trends. It also attempts to arrive at certain remedial measures. The study is based on census data and content analysis. The findings reveal that there exists a wide gap between people, especially the lower caste communities and the State, to the extent that both run parallel to each other without a meeting point. It further explores the perennial problem of socio-economic and political exploitation, denial of basic human honour to oppressed people (lower castes), deep rooted mistrust between the upper and lower caste communities and the indifferent attitude of the State and its superficial policy measures.

The paper suggests devolution of power to the people with matching support from the State and people-centric development packages as solutions. It emphasizes on the need for an institutional arrangement with constitutional status for the preparation and implementation of development activities with active involvement of the oppressed communities.

Keywords: oppression, possession, sharecroppers, ceiling, devolution

About the Author:

The author is a research scholar in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Kharagpur. The topic of her PhD is “Rural livelihood and Resilience after Flood”. She has qualified NET-JRF (UGC) in December, 2007 and has been awarded the Institute Scholarship in IIT Kharagpur, 2009. She has worked as a Lecturer in a college affiliated to the Tikla Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur (January 2007 to June 2009).

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MANOJ JHA

The Saga of Elusive Peace in a Chaotic World of Demonised Others

One cannot help being highly conscious of the fact that the prospect of possible peace is being located in the wake of a decade of Gujarat riots 2002; and little more than a decade of 9/11 in the centre of world’s greatest and most vocal democracy i.e. USA and hundreds of other violent episodes which has numbed the popular psyche everywhere. The years since then have seen continued mourning not only by victims and survivors but by a large section of civil society across the globe. Ten years since then have also resulted in more of despair and hopelessness for the victims, survivors as well as for all those who are concerned about the shrinking width of secular democratic space across the globe. Peace, for the purpose of this piece is a state of mutual harmony between people or groups emanating out of a perceived sense of justice, manifesting as the normal freedom from civil commotion and violence of a society; state of public order and security. The possibility of such peace remains elusive also on account of the unremitting progression of gloominess, which has its roots in largely unattended and unhealed wounds compounded by the ever increasing distance between the victims and their hopes for justice.

Before we choose to proceed further, it is pertinent to ask a simple question – can India survive amongst the civilised nations of the world live with this kind of stigmatisation of a particular section of her populace? Can India translate its lofty constitutional ideals of secular living into reality with peace as the perceived mascot? The tenor of the exhortation coming out from certain political parties and a vocal section of the media does not allow us to have much faith in defending diversity in our context. Besides the persistence of hate rhetoric witnesses further rise of authoritarian and blatant misuse of political power at the one end and the rise of exclusivist philosophy on the other and both culminate in the demonization of a people pushing them far away from the states’ structures. So far episodes of violence between religious communities have generally been explained as symptomatic of a society which has ‘forgotten’ the skills of plural living and togetherness. The overwhelming presence, persona and stature of contemporary narratives of violence seem to corroborate this view even though violent outbursts are not new to the Indian landscape. Herein, attempt shall be made to place the possibility of peace in the larger context of rapidly changing nature of the spaces in which human beings chose to interact or remain oblivious of each other. It also aims at placing the larger frames of violence and the violent structures besides the smaller frame of gradual but systematic reduction in the size of the moral community.

About the Author

Dr Manoj Kumar Jha, Associate Professor at the Department of Social Work, University of Delhi is a practitioner of emancipatory approach in Social Work. An academician-activist, he has extensively researched communal relations, violence and majority-minority relations and has been part of many independent fact-finding teams to respond to instances of violence and

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atrocities. He has helped civil society groups devise and create rehabilitative and reconciliatory action projects across India. He writes regular columns for newspapers and magazines on issues of contemporary relevance. His books and articles are the outcomes of his close analysis of the processes as well as language and idioms of othering.

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MRIGENDRA KUMAR SINGH and SUJAY KUMAR

Conflict Resolution in Afghanisthan

In Afghanistan, clan and ethnicity play pivotal roles in Political, Social, Economic & Cultural power dynamics not only within the country, but these ethnic groups are historically attached with same ethnic groups of respective neighbouring States Such as Pashtuns (Pakistan), Tajik (Tajikistan), Hazara (Iran), & Turkmen (Turkmenistan). Since 1979 all the cited neighbouring States tried their best to influence the Afghan State directly/indirectly to provide all types of help to Afghan nationals on ethnic grounds. Apart from the world powers, the cited interference complicated the internal stability of the Federal Government at Kabul. That led to all types of demands for power sharing by various tribal 53 clans in Afghanistan.

Keeping the present geopolitical scenario in view, Obama’s 2012 US troops pull out plan will have direct impact not only on Afghanistan but indirect impact on the whole of South Asia. Afghan economy is presently an aid driven economy with almost everything being imported from across the borders. Afghanistan is geo-strategically located in the centre of the Asian continent. It straddles the economically prosperous and gas/oil/mineral rich Middle East and the Central Asian republics towards the West and the emerging economies of India and China towards the East which are growing at rates much faster than most of the developed economies in other continents.

Conflict resolution in a fragile State like Afghanistan is a mammoth task. And more than 3 decades of civil war has created a Jihadi culture in Afghanistan and Pakistan that has developed across the Durand line. Strategies must start off by cutting off the staging posts and sanctuaries provided to the insurgent leadership in Pakistan. Pakistan’s tribal belt provides a safe haven for Taliban militants and a near endless source of Jihadi recruits from fundamentalist madrassas.

If Afghanistan becomes a failed State, extremists will once again use its territory for training camps and as a launching pad for terrorist attacks across the world. With Afghanistan’s future in balance, the world community especially Role of Shanghai Cooperation Organization i.e Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan & Uzbekistan and the European Union, Iran & India can help tip it towards success by making the long-term and effective commitments required for the Afghans to overcome the spoilers, rebuild their shattered State and deny a safe haven to future terrorists.

That is probably one of the enduring lessons of politics and of political philosophy. You know that this is ultimately a skill that is not about technology. It‘s a skill that is political in nature and perhaps the way you do it is to know something about the country and its culture, and to understand the history and not to combat it. Therefore it’s high time for the US lead NATO forces to realize that they cannot replicate western form of democratic governance here.

Ultimately this conflict will only be overcome by addressing the legitimate grievances of the Afghan people, not by negotiating with violent extremists. There has to be a

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long-term effort to build effective and fair local institutions that provide real security to the population. The international community must be prepared to provide the political cover and courage to the country’s leadership to tackle corrupt and discredited power-brokers rather than the present short-term strategy of simply drawing everyone, no matter how tainted, into the fold, creating a culture of impunity and corruption.

About the Authors:

Mrigendra Kr. Singh has been working as Security Associate in Lok Sabha Secretariat, Parliament of India, New Delhi since 2003. He has been overseeing access control systems and physical security system of the Parliament Estate. He began his career in 1999 as Program Manager with Sputnik Territorial Academy (NGO), Indore. He has attended various specialized trainings/courses in the security domain organized by National Industrial Security Academy, Hyderabad; Intelligence Bureau, New Delhi; Defence Research Development Establishment, Gwalior and the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies & Training, New Delhi. He also attended the 2nd India Disaster Management Congress, in New Delhi in 2009. Mr Singh is an Economics graduate from the Allahabad Central University. He is currently pursuing M.A. in Disaster Management from TISS, Mumbai.

Sujay Kumar is currently working as Legislative Officer in Lok Sabha Secretariat, Parliament of India dealing with matters relating to Private Members’ businesses in Lok Sabha. He has about 8 years of experience in the field of Private Members’ legislation. He attended the Commonwealth Association of Legislative Counsels (CALC) Conference in Hyderabad in 2011 and participated in a number of training programmes organized by the Bureau of Parliamentary Studies and Training, Lok Sabha Secretariat. He also participated in a 7-day training programme organized by the International Centre for Information System and Audit (ICISA). Mr Kumar did his M.A. in Geography from the Delhi School of Economics.

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MONISH GULATI

Terrorist Life Cycle and Criminalisation: Implications for Curbing Insurgency

Review of the literature on insurgencies in India provides three main perspectives on the Naxalite issue .The first is the security or ‘law and order’ perspective, which equates Naxalites with terrorists; a view dominant within the police and the government institutions. The second is the ‘root causes’ perspective, which views poverty and the lack of primary services as main cause of the movement’s existence and its mass appeal. The third perspective sees the movement as a result of structural violence; a view held by the Naxalites and their sympathizers.

The root causes underlying an insurgency are the initial drivers of the terrorist life cycle.1 Root causes consist of various combinations of factors and situations, ranging from incidental to dominant, global, regional or local, governmental-regime, societal or individual levels, or any other possible variations which maybe unique to a movement. Understanding the root causes underlying such conflicts is advocated to be the first line of analysis in a government’s efforts to combat terrorism and consequently, its strategies and programmes. Therefore, the first step is to research and systematically map the spectrum of root causes influencing a movement’s origins, grievances and demands. ‘In ideal cases, it is hoped that such mapping of root causes will then assist the governments to formulate an appropriate mix of coercive and conciliatory measures that would be most effective in terminating a terrorist insurgency, whether peacefully, militarily, by law enforcement, or through a combination of these measures.’ This is the best case scenario; which could extend over a decade or more in its resolution but has a happy ending. However a combination of root cause (s) and criminal activities seem to threaten this paradigm of conflict resolution.

A social movement is defined by two characteristic practices. ‘It essentially involves sustained collective mobilization and secondly, it is generally oriented towards bringing about change.2 In other words, a social movement is defined by involvement in collective mobilization and change orientation. Linked to mobilization processes is framing, which is ‘the way in which the goals and objects of mobilization, whether violent or otherwise, are presented to potential adherents, to the designated opponents, and to third parties’.3 Sustaining a movement or mobilization, requires funding and recruitment which are influenced by cause and ideology. But when movements begins to flag, funding and recruitment requirements may influence the cause and ideology to

1 Joshua Sinai. A New Conceptual Framework to Resolve Terrorism’s Root Causes. ANSER (Analytic Services) [email protected]

2 Rao, M.S.A. (ed). (1979) ‘Social movements in India’, New Delhi, Manohar Publishers & Distributors, last edition: 2008.

3 King, C. (2007) ‘Power, Social Violence and Civil Wars’, in Crocker, C., Hampson, F.O., and All, P., (eds)

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an extent, albeit temporarily. At this point in time (if it has not been done earlier) the framing justifies criminal acts for the cause.

Resorting to criminal activities at the end of the terrorist or insurgency life cycle provides sustenance to a movement even after its mass base has been degraded (and ideally root causes addressed). It is a reality that the country faces in the case of insurgencies in Punjab and Nagaland. The recent acts of BKI in Ambala are a reminder. This paper draws lessons from the ‘Shining Path’ insurgency in Peru to provide policy pointers in evolving a strategy to deal with insurgencies that resort to criminal activities for sustenance beyond the classical insurgency life cycle.

About the Author:

The author is an Independent Analyst and an Army veteran (ex-army officer) with 24 years of service with the military. The author has first-hand experience in counter-insurgency operations and specializes in infrastructure resilience.

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MUSHTAQ UL HAQ AHMAD SIKANDER

Religion and Politics in Kashmir – A Study of the Conflict, Dialogue and its Peaceful Resolution

The Kashmir issue has been the bone of contention between India and newly created Pakistan since the partition of subcontinent in 1947. On the issue of Kashmir, the two countries have, till now fought three full scale wars, entered into nuclear arms race, supported proxy wars against each other, capitalized on the native resentment of certain ethnicities against the State and Kashmir still continues to threaten the Peace of whole South Asia. The people of Kashmir by large consider themselves as the victims held in jeopardy not only by India but before them by Mughals, Afghans, Sikhs and Dogras.

Islam came as a revolutionary message to the Valley of Kashmir and liberated its inhabitants from the rigid, exploitative and superstitious rituals of Brahmanic Hinduism and dehumanizing politics, hence they accepted Islam en-mass not due to the fanatic zeal of some sword wielding Ghazi but through the Peaceful Spiritual Message of Sufis and later gave rise to the indigenous Rishism which assimilated teachings from Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.

Year 1931 marks the watershed in the present political awakening in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and since then, the politics of Kashmir has been mired with religion and every religious or economic issue epitomizes into a political one, as every social space continues to be over politicized due to the disputed nature of J&K as well as the contested claims of the contending parties. The paper traces the use of religion and religious places in politics of J&K, the initiation of armed struggle, and the religious fanaticism threatening the syncretic culture of the valley. The relationship of Muslims and Non-Muslims too have been echoed in different phases of Kashmir’s history, the exploitative system that used to operate between them and how religious fanaticism was used to fuel resentment and anger against each other.

The paper also deliberates about the failure of syncretic culture to survive the onslaught of economic and political clout, the apathy of the Ummah towards the plight of Kashmiri Muslims as well as the use of Kashmiri youth as cannon fodder in the prolonged armed conflict, which is still characterized as Low Intensity Conflict and the State repression towards the same.

The amalgamation of religion in politics and the use of religion to achieve political goals have also been deliberated thoroughly. The paper ends on a positive note highlighting the role of religion in conflict resolution, which till now has only been abused but it is now the time for looking the other way round. It is now a dire need of the hour.

About the Author:

Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander is a Writer-Activist based in Srinagar, Kashmir and has completed his Masters in Political Science from Kashmir University. His interests span over a wide range of issues from writing to activism. His write ups and book reviews appear regularly

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in various newspapers, magazines, journals and websites. He is frequently invited to present academic papers on issues related to Religion, Terrorism, Politics, Conflict Resolution, and Feminism. He actively participates in Inter and Intra Faith, Ethnic and Regional dialogues. He has also penned down many poems and short stories. Mr Sikandar is also an activist and volunteer with various humanitarian organizations working in the valley as he believes that writing alone doesn’t work unless corroborated by activism.

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PANKAJ CHOUDHURY

Telengana and Gorkhaland: Contesting the Ideal of Nation State

India is a multi-cultural, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual country. In reality, Indian society is unequal; hierarchical which is interdependent on each other and with privileges and disadvantages to many. India gave itself a Constitution that laid down framework of institutions that govern the country. Without state playing its role and the capacity to do so, the network of institutions cannot perform functions they have been set up for. Political will is required to understand the dynamics of ethnicity in relation to social forces, to build national identity out of various ethnic traditions to make up a state in totality.

The recent proposal of Ms. Mayawati to divide Uttar Pradesh in four smaller states can be understood both as a political gimmick or step for the better development of the area by better governance and allocation of resources. However, except for a much immobilized demand for Harit Pradesh, U.P. never witnessed any movement for the demand of separate states. India has been experiencing various separatist movements with demand for separate statehood (Telangana) and even separate nationhood (Gorkhaland). The demands are largely based on the issue of ethnicity which can be linguistic, religious, sub regional, cultural or tribal in nature. These movements in the wake of real politicking are turned into actual events of ethnic conflict and violence when political parties exploit them as opportunities to create ethnic groups at any unstable historical moments to win political ascendancy.

Today, the sub national interests are overpowering the national interests because of the huge disparities among various states. Where the diversity of the population could be effectively reduced through ‘melting pot’ measures like development of transport, communication, markets, geographical division of labour, industry, urban habitats, cross migration, cultural and educational ex-changes, etc, these tensions can be reduced.

Will separate states per se solve the problem of backwardness and underdevelopment in the regions inhabited by minorities of different types, whether ethnic or other? Even if granted full control of a separate state, where is the guarantee that the leaders of these groups will behave in any way different from the dominant political parties of the majority groups? However, the existence of sub nationalist ethnic identities may be a necessary condition for the rise of conflict; it is not by any means a sufficient condition. Moreover, what shall ensure their economic sustenance? The occurrence of ethnic conflicts results in the derailment of the nation from the path of development.

India is fast emerging as a major Asian power and socio-political stability of the nation is crucial to it. In the proposed paper I will study the Telangana and the Gorkhaland Movement in detail. I invigorate the argument that separate state or nation is not a tenable solution to the problem of development and ethnicity. The solution needs to be political and constitutional. The most efficacious way to establish ethnic peace would

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involve structural changes in the federalist set up of the large and diverse India. Taking cue from India considering it as a whole Indian subcontinent, I will also explore the rise of sub nationalism in whole South Asia from historical and sociological perspective.

About the Author:

Pankaj Choudhury has done his B.A. English from Delhi University, and L.L. B. from M. D. University, Rothak, and L. L. M from Bangalore University, Bangalore. He is currently in second year of M. Phil, from Centre for Study of Law and Governance (CSLG), JNU, Delhi.

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PAUL GEORGE

Post Conflict Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Karbi Anglong, Assam: A Study of Model Villages

North East India has been a hotbed of insurgencies, State action and ethnic violence over the decades. All these have resulted in the displacement of communities affected by violence and chronic insecurity. In most cases, the assistance extended to these displaced communities consists of poorly maintained relief camps and at best some monetary help. Left to their own devices by an unconcerned State, these displaced families diffuse into the landscape joining the troop of impoverished migrants.

The multi ethnic Karbi Anglong District of Assam has been no exception to this violence after witnessing insecurity as a result of communal and insurgent violence. After the particularly violent period between 2003 and 2005 (where killings took place during clashes between Karbis, Dimasas and Kukis), there were a large number of families housed in relief camps; up to 40,000 people at one point. In this scenario the District administration came up with a scheme to rehabilitate families who could not return to their original villages. It involved relocating the affected villages (Model Villages) around the District Headquarters of Diphu with an aim of providing a secure living environment. These mainly entailed reorganizing smaller villages scattered over a large area into a single large village unit which was located close to roads but far away from their old village sites and consequently their agricultural land. This rehabilitation effort is probably the only post conflict rehabilitation program that has been implemented in the whole of the North East with the exception of the repatriation of Brus in Mizoram.

This paper attempts to look at the impact of the resettlement on various aspects including livelihoods, traditional governance structures, relations with existing villages, natural resource use and health and education in the resettled villages. The paper also takes a critical look at the rehabilitation process itself and the concept of a ‘Model Village’ which would be useful for administrators when attempting rehabilitation and resettlement in other parts of the region and also contribute to the body of literature that exists on the topic. The study is based on fieldwork in the Model Villages with interviews with key stakeholders from the villages as well as perspectives from the administration on the relocation process.

The study contains implications for the entire North East where communities are housed in relief camps for indefinite periods – the study would provide key learning points for administrators when attempting post conflict resettlement in other areas as well as examining relations between populations who have been housed in relief camps for extended periods and the communities in their immediate vicinity. The brunt of any violent conflict is borne by the survivors, who live through the violence only to live in a situation of unjust peace. Apart from compulsions of social justice,

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resolving this injustice is critical to ensuring the continued existence of peace, as situations of injustice only feed future tensions and violence.

About the Author

Paul George grauduated in Disaster Management from TISS, Mumbai and is currently working as a researcher at TISS, Guwahati.

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PRABHAT KUMAR

Structuring Peace: The State and Conflict Transformation: Prospects and Challenges in South Asia

The violent intra-state armed conflicts, ethnic clashes, separatist movements and communal riots in South Asia do not necessarily indicate a rework in the state structure. Instead, it signals the requirement of reforms in governance methods to effectively address internal security without compromising the state’s sovereign right to govern in the state territory. The communication gap between the state and the society needs to be bridged through bureaucracy, media and the police administration. Besides, internal security of a state should be integrated with external security. Police intelligence and surveillance should be tightened to prevent any low intensity attacks. Flexibility is required at the state level to the extent of discussions, talks and negotiations with groups’involved in separatist movements. An autonomous status can be considered in exceptional cases to some regions based on reasonable demands and on ‘one nation two policy’ model. Only democratic processes should be considered fair for any kind of demand. No separatist movement should be suppressed through army and police; rather,democratic processes of negotiations should be adopted. Communal harmony should be maintained and any kind of communal disturbing elements should be retaliated firmly.

Besides, police, bureaucracy and judicial reforms are needed to form a strong picture of democracy in people’s mind. These institutions need to be people friendly. There should not be delay in judicial process and justice should be visible in courts during case proceedings. A country should be divided into different ‘special economic and educational zones’ for better development plans and avoid any rage among public against the government. The government’s economic policy should benefit the common man and not only the corporate sector. Education should be job oriented and knowledge-innovation based.

Government should take such steps that people should have faith in democratic process and they don’t go for any illegal and violent method. It should be a people’s democracy and not a pseudo democracy. The government should present a strong picture of democracy in front of people. The problems such as poverty, unemployment, economic drift and differences between the social classes should be lessened through people friendly economic policies. The government policies should address the daily life problems of people. People should have their ‘say’ in government policy making process.

About the Author:

Mr Prabhat Kumar has done his Ph.D. in China and USA Bilateral Relations from Jadavpur University, Kolkata and was a doctoral fellow at Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. He has presented papers in national publications.

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PRANAV KUMAR

Majority Assertion and Challenges to Peace and Security in Bhutan

Bhutan is a small country (38,394 km2) in the Himalayas with a population of around seven million people. This micro state is sandwiched between two Asian giants: India and China. Bhutan was unified as a country in the 17th century by a Tibetan monk Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal. However in 1907, an absolute monarchy was established in Bhutan. After 100 years of absolute monarchy the country started a transition towards democracy in 2007. Bhutan is a Buddhist Drukpa sate with Nepalese descent Hindus in minority. The country is known for its idyllic bliss and happiness among people. The state projects itself as peaceful, internally united and with no social tensions.

However, the dragon kingdom with national happiness as its goal was rocked by ethnic troubles starting in late 1980s – early 1990s. First, the Bhutanese state, tried to impose majority Buddhist Drukpa culture over all Bhutanese in late 1980s. This resulted resentment among the minority Nepalese Bhutanese, mainly living in southern and eastern Bhutan. With state repression they had become refugees in Nepal. However, due to many internal and external reasons the issue could not get world attention. Still, there are a sizeable number of Nepalese minorities live in Bhutan. Many times they feel ill-treated due to governmental regulations towards them. It can be argued that the social fissures that exist in Bhutan have a potential to create a security situation in this small country. And this argument has been substantiated by sporadic ‘law and order’ problem in southern Bhutan. Second, in 2003 Bhutan undertook a military initiative to flush out Indian insurgent groups from Bhutan. However there are reports that these groups are regrouping in Bhutanese territory. This poses a security challenge for a small state with limited military resources.

The Bhutanese state is not only dominated by the majority rather it is not ready to tolerate any other culture than the Drukpa Buddhist culture. The reasons behind this lie in the historical origins of the state structure in Bhutan. However, the question arises, whether Bhutan can become a modern democratic state, when it continues with archaic nationalistic ideas. These ideas are based on ethnic nationalism. The challenge for a democratic Bhutan is to accommodate and celebrate diversity rather than banish the minority or subsume the minority. The study seeks to understand the nature of the ethnic problem and its potential to pose as a security challenge to Bhutanese state. Second, how Bhutanese majoritarian state has reacted to ethnic problem and what are the consequences of this reaction? Any study of Bhutan will not be possible without understanding India’s involvement in Bhutanese affairs. Hence, when dealing with ethnic issues or internal security matter, we need to bring the ‘Indian dimension’ in to account.

About the Author:

Dr. Pranav Kumar is working as an Assistant Professor at Motilal Nehru College, University of Delhi. He has also taught for two years at Sherubtse College, Kanglung, Bhutan. He was

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awarded PhD from School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He was awarded Junior Research Fellowship by University Grants Commission. He has done his Masters in Politics from JNU. The areas of research interest include South and Southeast Asian affairs, international security, international migration, Gender and Human rights. He has participated in a number of national and international seminars.

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RAMESHCHANDRA NINGTHOUJAM

Migration and Conflict in Manipur, India

Manipur, located in India’s North Eastern region, is one of the last land frontiers towards Southeast Asia. This once sparsely populated region has been an attraction of large-scale migration from the South Asia as well as South East Asia. It was once a melting pot but now, new forms of migration have emerged as a consequence of the search for livelihood or very recently, because of the impact of climate change. In the past, the migration policy of the sovereign kingdom of Manipur mitigates the ethnic tensions. But after the contentious merger with India in 1949 particularly, after abolishing the policy of the erstwhile kingdom for managing migrants, there was an enormous increase in migrant’s population. The sudden increase was reflected in the subsequent decades after the merger. The local population was alarmed when the census 2001 indicates that the number of migrants exceeded that of tribal’s in Manipur. The people’s tension is reflected in the form of protest through the democratic process particularly by demanding the re-introduction of ‘inner lines permit system’. It is to monitor the unregulated influx of migrants. The influx of migrants, alarmed the armed opposition groups as well, but the number of migrants kept on increasing. The migrant population can disturb the ethno political situation that is already stained because of the ethnic conflict in the early 90s. The strain in relation can be read from the perspectives of land and resources. The migrant population if not properly dealt, may increase the tensions. Considering these factors, the paper will analyze the process of migration in a conflict situation.

Key words: Migration, Natural Resource, Conflict, Manipur.

About the Author:

Rameshchandra Ningthoujam is currently enrolled for PhD degree program in International and Intercultural Studies, at University of Deusto, Bilbao, Spain. European Commission funds his PhD program. His works mainly focuses on migration and conflict, Indigenous Rights etc. He has presented a paper titled - “Colonial Instrument in Democratic India: A Case of Armed Forces Special Power Acts 1958”, at Sustainable Peace Building (SPBUILD) conference held at Universidad de Duesto. He did his MA Social Work from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, India. He was also the Games and Sport Secretary of the TISS Students Union for 2008-9. He has been part of Gyuja- TATA Project as program officer in Leh Ladakh (2009-10).

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RITUPARNA PATGIRI

Illegal Migration from Bangladesh: Transforming the Dynamics of Identity Politics in Assam

If any state could represent India’s diversity with a touch of perfection, it would be the north eastern state of Assam which is a mini-India in itself with different ethnic, religious, linguistic and tribal groups living together in the region for centuries. It was never a monolingual or single nationality region at any point of time. The population of Assam is a broad intermixture of Mongolian, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranian, and Aryan races.

Assam, an enchanting region, is practically a synonym for the whole of North Eastern India. Most intellectual discussions on Assam revolve around familiar and problematic topics such as regionalism, immigration, nationality questions, identity politics, insurgency and human rights. However, it is not possible to cover so many broad areas in one paper. Keeping this fact in mind, I have chosen to focus on one of the most complex and troubling issues – the illegal immigration of Muslims from Bangladesh to the state creating an identity crisis for the local ‘Khilinjiya’ (an Assamese term which means original) Assamese people.

The immigration issue, however, had only occasionally burst into the open in the politics of the state since independence. In 1965 when relations with Pakistan were deteriorating, the state government under instructions from the Central government began expelling Pakistani “infiltrators.” With the Assam movement that started in 1979 the issue of Assam’s demographic transformation as a result of immigration returned to the state’s political agenda with vengeance. It ruptured carefully nurtured ethnic coalitions that were at the foundation of political stability in the state, setting the stage for a prolonged period of political turmoil.

The events in Assam once again underscore the volatility of ethnic conflicts in the politics of South Asia. The scope of the ethnic category “Assamese” can be exclusive or inclusive. It is therefore significant that Assamese political or cultural organisations do not define the word “Assamese” in terms of ethnicity. Instead the Assamese are defined as the people living in the territory of Assam.

Conflict transformation practitioners of Assam and worldwide have suggested a number of recommendations. In a society where identity politics becomes the norm, there will always be people tempted to take recourse to militancy, when their demands against the ‘others’ could not be met within the legal and constitutional framework. Seen from this angle, militancy in Assam is only a by-product of the politics based on identities. It is, therefore, of little use condemning militants alone for the violence and disharmony. As long as identity politics dominates, with the material base reproducing the ideology of the ‘other’, society continues to breed insurgents of one or the other kind. Even if one group of militants gives up arms and surrenders to the government, there will always be others taking to arms in the name of protecting their community

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interests. It is only when the toiling masses of Assam identify the material roots of their insecurity and alienation and involve in common struggles for the elimination of poverty, unemployment, and underdevelopment, can it be possible to ensure economic development and promote peace and harmony in the multi-ethnic and multi-national state of Assam.

About the Author:

Rituparna Patgiri is a third year Sociology student of Lady Shri Ram College for Women, interested in doing research and engaging with empirical realities. She is also pursuing a course on Conflict Transformation and Peace building from Delhi University. She had interned with North East Network, (NEN) an NGO based in Guwahati in December, 2011. During that period, she received training in “What is Domestic Violence and the PWDV Act” in Tezpur, Assam in December, 2011. She has also presented a paper on “Globalisation and the growth of Inequality” in the Neo-thesis seminar held in St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai on 10th December, 2010.

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ROHIT JAIN

State and the Doctrine of Public Trust – Need for Restructuring the Relationship between the State and the People for Conflict Transformation

In the last two decades eastern regions of India especially the states of Jharkhand (earlier South Bihar), Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh have witnessed violent conflicts over use of resources and theircontrol. These conflicts have manifested themselves in the form of ethnic sub nationalism, inter-ethnic group conflicts, left wing armed struggles on the one hand and the non-violent struggles of various civil society institutions to advocate a new legislative regime for a participative democracy in the form of PESA (Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas Act) or undo historical injustice through the Forest Rights Act, 2006. The response of the post-colonial state has only been partial and there has been no sincere effort to renegotiate its relationship with the people. What has emerged in the neo liberal era is a post-colonial state for whom, the main concern is ‘security’ of the state and not the ‘development failure’ of the last five decades and the indiscriminate use of ‘eminent domain’ in promoting and strengthening financial capitalism. This shift has only accentuated the conflict over resources in the country.

Efforts to restructure the relationship between the State and the People are being made by different civil society institutions. In fact the whole objective of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 has been towards decolonizing the forest department and ushering in a new conservation regime where people especially the forest dwellers are the owners of the forest ecosystem and the role of the forest bureaucracy is to help people to manage the ecosystem. If the conflict has to end the State has to restructure its legal regime to bring it in consonance with the basic principles of the Indian Constitution. The Indian legal regime which is inherently colonial in nature is completely

out of sync with the Indian Constitution. The Doctrine of Public Trust is one such principle which needs to be rearticulated to restructure the relationship between the State and the People. The Supreme Court of India has referred to this principle in some of its landmark judgments concerning control and use of resources. But it needs to be spelled out again in the context of the growing conflict over resources in many parts of the country. The post-colonial state in its capacity to manage the resources on behalf of the people have completely alienated the original trustees i.e. the people and using its power of eminent domain is displacing people from their own resources like land, forests and water. The major struggles in the states of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh are on resources. Until and unless the State does not follow the Doctrine of Public Trust in its true spirit and radically alter its regime on resource control and use, the conflict will continue.

The paper will examine in detail the existing conflict in India especially in the above mentioned four states, reflect on the Supreme court judgments on the Doctrine of Public Trust and will look at how conflict can be reduced or minimized by redrafting

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legislations on resource control and use based on the Doctrine of Public Trust in which people become the real trustees of their resources and the State co–manages the resources along with the people. This restructuring of the relationship of the State with the people based on the principle of equity, vibrant grassroots’ democracy and Doctrine of Public Trust have the possibility of reducing conflict.

About the Author:

Rohit Jain currently works as associate professor in School of Rural Development, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Tuljapur Campus. He has worked as programme executive of SETU, Ahmedabad, which worked on issues of displacement and rehabilitation of displaced people of Sardar Sarovar Dam. There he has also worked with Dalit Panthers and other Dalit and Tribal organisations on issues of land, sanctuary, and basic services. Currently, he is a programme executive of SRIUTI, which works closely with different people’s organisations in the country, through the Fellowship programme on the issues of land, forests, water, governance, basic services, labour issues, urban issues, and for strengthening advocacy capacities of grass roots.

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RUBINA JASANI

Citizenship from the Margins: Gujarat Riots and the Everyday State

The literature on communal violence in post-independence India shows how the concept of ‘the state’ as a neutral empire in the management of differences (Das 1990) was brought under increasing scrutiny in the decades of the 1980’s and 1990’s, in particular in connection with the anti-Sikh riots of 1984, the post-Babri Masjid demolition riots of 1992, the subsequent Bombay riots of 1993 and more recently the riots in the state of Gujarat. Most of this scholarship concentrates on the anxiety to re-instate the ‘myth of the state’ (Hansen 2002), through policies that establish its respectability after violence. The emphasis is on understanding the mechanics of the state, its ‘order making’ function. This ethnographic paper builds on this knowledge and unpacks how the state was lived after the riots in Gujarat through the relief and reconstruction process and what impact this had on processes of establishing peace and normality in the city of Ahmedabad.

As opposed to Hansen’s analysis of the working of state after the Bombay riots, the evidence in Gujarat shows, what was at stake in Gujarat after the violence was not the ‘myth of the state’, as the state made no pretence of initiating any efforts either to encourage ‘cohabitation’ or to set up any kind of mechanism for restructuring peace. My material shows how this discourse created pressures upon the Muslims in the city to prove their nationalistic leanings, and evolve their own mechanisms of ‘trust’, control’ and ‘order’ in order to make sense of and deal with the challenges that the violence had posed on them. In showing the contrasting and shifting ways in which the state is experienced, imagined and granted legitimacy by men and women from the margins, this paper seeks to raise some important questions around governance and citizenship in contemporary India.

About the Author:

Dr. Rubina Jasani is a lecturer at the Humanitarianism Conflict Response Institute (HCRI), University of Manchester. Her areas of interest are Anthropology of violence and reconstruction, Medical Anthropology with special focus on social suffering and mental illness and the study of lived Islam in South Asia and the UK. Her doctoral work examined moral and material ‘reconstruction’ of life after an episode of ethnic violence in Gujarat, Western India in 2002. Since finishing her PhD, she has finished two pieces research on ethnicity and mental health in Britain. One looks at the role of ethnicity and culture in explanatory models of mental illness and the second, unpacks the notion of ‘institutional racism’ by unpacking the subjective experiences of compulsory detention under the mental health act.

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SAIMA FARHAD

Years 2008, 2009 and 2010 – the Three Years of Conflict in Kashmir – Common and Peculiar Characteristics

Kashmir has witnessed continuous conflict over a period of more than twenty–five years. Over this period, the conflict has been played out at various levels, intensities and various manifestations ranging from armed to civil.

The years 2008, 2009 and 2010, saw civil manifestations of the conflict in the form of mass protests. The state response to the protests was often brutal leading to many civilian deaths. All the three years saw mass mobilisations of people against the state, often sparked by the particular incidents which were a result of functioning (or malfunctioning) of some apparatus of state control or the response of the state to it.

The three years have many things in common, but each along with the reason for the protests stands out for a particular dimension of the problem. On the surface, the commonalities may extend just to the concentration of the protests in particular months, and then the fizzling out, but there is much more to it.

These commonalities are to be witnessed, in all the aspects to the protests and the response, starting from the behaviour and working of the political power centres in the centre (union), the state government, the separatists, the media (local, national as well as international). The peculiarity of each year is a peculiarity among unique dimensions to the conflict, from identity, aspiration, impact on women, to the youth and the sentiment.

Also, the three years were in fact years where mainstream and the separatism was almost flirting with each other. The fact that in all these three years, a political opposition existed in the mainstream itself unlike at the peak of militancy also stood out. Dissent to the union, often, at times, became part of the mainstream.

In separatism too, the three years saw the dominance of one of the divisions of the Hurriyat as dominant to others. The three years saw incidents when all the major factions in separatism almost came close to re-unification, brought together by the overwhelming common reaction, but this was not to be and was hindered by the apparent dominance of one of the factions, and the clear distinctions in ideologies.

The paper on the successive three years of protest in Kashmir, would aim to analyse the three years, bringing out the commonalities as well as peculiarities of the years, to add to the understanding of the conflict in Kashmir, and also analyse the transformation of this conflict form – one which was armed to a mass civil one.

About the Author:

Ms Saima Farhad is Assistant Professor at Department of Social Work, Kashmir University.Currently she is on leave and pursuing MPHIL-PhD from School of Social Work, TISS.

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SAMIR AHMAD BHAT

Kashmir Conflict: Failure of Democratic Processes

Through human history, and especially in the modern period, one finds a bloody trail of political violence which is the product of individual fanaticism, ideological conviction or cold-blooded institutional power. In this case over the last hundred years’ world has witnessed some of the deadliest wars of recorded history.For example World War I and II, cold war phase, partition of India in two sovereign nations India and Pakistan and subsequently conflicts between them over the issues of water, Jammu and Kashmir territory, and border disputes gulf war etc. All this resulted into huge loss in terms of people killed in these wars, human displacement, the issue of arbitrary borders etc.

Coming specifically to South Asia, with the withdrawal of British, the Indian subcontinent was effectively divided into two sovereign states; India and Pakistan while as a number of issues and disputes remain unsettled and undecided between and within each of these newly independent countries. One such challenging task before them was the issue of integration of the 563 princely states (semi-autonomous) states, of varying sizes and populations, constituting nearly one third size of the British India. Some of these princely state such as Hyderabad, Junagadh, Jammu and Kashmir had a unique historical, political social, regional and economic position. Therefore, in such cases it became even more difficult for both the nations to reach any agreement with these states and at times they used coercion to bring integration. However, in certain cases particularly where the societies consist of plural character, the assimilative approach adopted by post-colonial leadership failed completely and consequently people revolted and resorted to violence to challenge the state apparatus/institutions. One such example is the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, where the people have never been satisfied with the kind of political dispensation that the state secured after the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947. There are various dimensions of the Kashmir dispute. Accession by the Maharaja Hari Singh, who had no roots in the majority populace of the state, unfulfilled promises of the plebiscite as offered by the Government of India and endorsed by the various United Nations resolutions, practical division of Kashmir between its Indian and Pakistani parts, erosion of autonomy, deficiency of its democratic functioning are some of the perceptible dimensions and manifestations of the problem. The civil and political rights were completely curtailed and a de facto state was established. There was no proper political place for the people of the state. They were pushed into an authoritarian political system. Jaya Prakash Narayan, one of the prominent political figure of the an Indian politics described the situation of the Jammu and Kashmir state in a letter he wrote to Indira Gandhi, then Prime Minister of India, in the following words: “We profess democracy, but rule by force in Kashmir. We profess secularism, but let Hindu nationalism stampede us into establishing it by repression.”1

1 Sumantra Bose, Contested Lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka, New Delhi: Harper Collins, 2007, p.175

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About the Author:

Samir Ahmad Bhat is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Kashmir Studies, University of Kashmir. The research area of his thesis is Role of Track Two Diplomacy between India and Pakistan. He did hisMPhil on India Pakistan Relations with a special Focus on Musharaff’s Four Point formula that he gave to resolve the Kashmir issue. He has also been involved in various research projects at an individual level as well as an assistance for different national and international organisations on diverse themes such as Militarization and Education in Kashmir, role of Police in Extremist Areas, child rights etc.

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SANGHITA DATTA

The Role of Government in Restoring Peace: A Study of the Enclave of Bengal

Every government plays a major role in the making of its nation and securing its border regions. The government also plays a decisive role in maintaining its relationship with its immediate neighbours. An unfriendly neighbourhood means tensions and a heightened danger of conflict. India shares its disputed borders mainly with Bangladesh.

The remains of the 1971 war and consequently the liberation of Bangladesh brought miseries to many millions of people. The Radcliffe Award demarcated the boundary line between India, East Pakistan and West Pakistan separately gave rise to a number of boundary disputes. The Radcliffe Commission’s ‘Blunder Line’ holds the biggest dispute about the adversarial possession of enclaves. Bangladesh was carved out of the provinces of Bengal and Assam and inherited the same border and border problem with India. The major bone of contention are the 106 enclaves (locally known as ‘chits’) of India in having a total area of 20,957.07 acres situated within Bangladesh (erstwhile East Pakistan). Bangladesh also has ninety-fiveChitmahals, with a total area of 12,289.37 acres of lands situated within the territory of India.

The people living on these margins lost their nationality over night as the divided boundary line gave rise to many, still continuing disputes in the region. These people are stateless as well as are deprived of the basic human rights. There is no legal bond of nationality and state. In a way the stateless people face numerous difficulties in their lives; they lack access to health care, education, property rights and the ability to move freely. They are also vulnerable to arbitrary treatment and crimes like trafficking. Their marginalization has created tensions in society and has led to instability at an international level, including, in extreme cases, conflict and displacement.

Border problems between India and Bangladesh lacked serious political commitments. A major role has been played by the political parties in an attempt to resolve the conflict. With the change in governments on both the sides of the border, the entire peace process has been slowed down. The left wing politics of the West Bengal government were not able to match up with the politics of the ruling government but it has gained momentum after coming up of the Trinamool Congress.

This paper is an attempt to analyse how successive governments have tried and failed in restoring peace and justice in these areas. It will try to address why the problem still persists and why these problems have not been addressed. It will also discuss the different treaties and agreements that have been signed and yet not been able to resolve this on-going issue which has been contentious since the time of Independence. In a way it will bring forward the major steps taken for restoring peace and will also try to bring forward the flaws in it and will attempt to make new suggestions into the problem.

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About the Author:

Sanghita Datta is a second semester PhD candidate at the Centre for the Study of Social Systems in Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

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SANJEEVINI BADIGAR

Relief Where There Should Be Rights: State Practices Related to Communal Violence in the Context of Gujarat

Only very recently much needed mechanisms have been established by the state for disaster management both at the central and state levels. While this is a much welcome development, what needs reexamination is whether relief and rehabilitation of victims of communal violence even belongs to the emerging domain of the study of disaster management. This paper examines the case of Gujarat that witnessed what is regarded as one of the worst instances of communal violence in India after independence when by conservative estimates 1,169 lives, most of which were Muslims, were lost in the violence in 2002. This however was not the first major instance of major communal violence in this state that is economically one of the fastest growing states in the country. Having witnessed major instances of communal violence in 1969, 1985-86, 1992-93 and in 2002, the history of the state offers an opportunity to study state practices with regard to relief and rehabilitation of victims of communal violence. At the time of the violence, given the magnitude of the humanitarian situation of more than one and a half lakh Muslims who had taken shelter in relief camps at the peak of the violence, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had then recommended that the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA) that had managed to raise and distribute considerable resources due to outpouring of public sympathy in the massive earthquake that hit Kutch just the previous year be given the charge of monitoring relief and rehabilitation for the victims. Important mechanisms had been put in place and the GSDMA was headed by the Chief Minister Narendra Modi himself however, the suggestion for incorporating the victims of communal violence under its ambit did not see the light of day. While this paper argues for more comprehensive relief and rehabilitation for the victims of communal violence, it argues against the inclusion of communal violence in the domain of disaster management as ‘man made disasters’.Through an examination of legislative assembly debates of the state of Gujarat, government resolutions, newspaper reports and court cases, this paper argues that state practices belie the understanding of communal violence as being on par with other exegiencies such as fire, arson or natural disasters. Not just among NGOs but among academics as well the discourse on relief and rehabilitation for victims of communal violence finds mention with relief and rehabilitation of victims of natural disasters that seem to reaffirm communal violence as spontaneous or sectarian. Arguing that such notions absolve the state of its responsibility to protect the lives of its citizens, this paper argues that issues of communal violence should not be clubbed with disaster management. ‘Relief’ and ‘assistance’ for victims of communal violence should instead be envisaged under more progressive notions of reparation and retribution. In the light of international normative developments, this paper argues that the issue of the relief and rehabilitation of victims of communal violence should not employ the language of relief but that of rights.

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About the Author

Sanjeevini Badigar has done PhD from Centre for Politics Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi on ‘Displacement and Citizenship Rights: A Study in Context of Post Godhra Violence in Gujarat’ under Professor Zoya Hasan, 2011. In addition to this, many of her works has been published. These are – ‘A Normal Anomaly: Displacement due to Communal Violence in Gujarat’, in Economic and Political Weekly, ‘Negotiating Human Rights: Displaced Persons after post Godhra Violence in Gujarat’, in Challenges to Human Rights in the Twenty First Century.

She has also presented papers, which include – ‘Spontaneous or Systemic: Communal Violence and the justice system’, at the 35th All India Criminology Conference on Organised and Transnational Crime: State and non State responses and victims perspectives by Indian Society of Criminology and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, ‘Vatani to Visthapit: Displacement and Citizenship Rights in the Indian State of Gujarat’, at Oxford Sociology conference on ‘South Asia in Transition’ held at the Department of Sociology, University of Oxford, ‘Negotiating Human Rights through Citizenship Rights: Displaced Muslims in the post Godhra violence’ at the National Seminar on “Challenges to Human Rights in the Twenty First Century”, by Department of Civics and Politics, University of Mumbai, and ‘Who Among the Middle Class Votes for the BJP’ in the Summer School on “Quantitative Data Analysis of Indian Politics” by Indian Institute of Advanced Studies, Shimla and Centre for Study of Developing Societies (CSDS).

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SHUKHDEBA SHARMA HAJABAM

The State & Political Apology: Towards Peace Building in the Northeast India

Taking references from historical incidences of rendering political apologies by states to victims of political actions across the world, the paper seeks to analyze the anti-democratic devices and procedures of India. Manipur is used as an indicative case. Examples of such practices include the nature of “take over” of Manipur by India, imposition of the armed forces (special) powers act, creation of a war like situation in the state through deployment of armies and Para-military forces, using the soil of northeast as a strategic one to deter Chinese threat but which nevertheless result in militarization of the region and others. The debate surrounding the idea of political apology by the Indian state vis-à-vis northeast has been fuelled by the recent remarks of former Home Secretary, G.K. Pillai, “we have to rebuild trust by dealing with the core issues. An apology, say by the Prime Minister, or the Home Minister, for the mistakes made in the past could be a start.” The paper argues that within the framework of liberal democracy practiced in India both as a set of accepted norms as well as an electoral procedure, certain historical and cultural rights of a group of people needs to be not only recognized but also respected. Therefore, historical wrongs committed during the process of nation-building and in attempting to protect national security needs to be acknowledged. Such a gesture of political apology can lay down path of peace building in the northeast region.

About the author:

Shukhdeba Sharma Hajabam [MSW, PHD] is Assistant Professor with the Department of Social Work, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Regional Campus, Manipur. He received his PHD from the School of Social Work, Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai for his doctoral thesis, “Self-Determination Movement in Manipur”. His main interest is Social Work and Political Conflict; and Human Security.

His recent co-edited volume, removing the Veil: Issues in Northeast (2011) by Essential Publications, New Delhi is well received for its rich material source and insightful analysis. “Social dynamics in contemporary North East India: a Study of Regional Exclusion, Self-Determination Movements and Ethnic Violence” (Concept Publications, New Delhi) is one of his forthcoming works.

Some of his latest peer review articles includes (1) Removing the Veil: Issues in Northeast (2011) by Essential Publications, New Delhi (2) Social Dynamics in Contemporary North East India: A Study of Regional Exclusion, Self-Determination Movements and Ethnic Violence, (Concept Publications, New Delhi) (3) Conflict and Development in the North Eastern State of Manipur, Indian Journal of Social Work, Mumbai, Vol 72, Issue 1, January, 2011; (4) Right to Self-Determination and the People of Manipur, Gandhi Marg, New Delhi, Vol 32, No. 4, January- March, 2011; (5) Peace Education in Manipur, Alternative Perspectives, Imphal, Volume V, Special Issue, March, 2011

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SHWETA VERMA

Victims or Survivors? Collective or Diverse? Reflections on 2010 Scenario in Kashmir and Implications for Interventions in Post Conflict Context

Kashmir has an important position in the south Asian context as no solutions have emerged for the political issue in the last few decades. While in India there has been a need to preserve nation and its security, this has also often intersected with the need for ‘freedom’ and ‘equal rights’ of people in Kashmir. One cannot assume the impact of this to be the same on everyone as there is diversity in- what people get exposed to, what happens to them, what they think about it, how and for what reasons they get involved, how they respond to a situation of conflict and how their experiences impact their personal and social development (Barber, 2008). However, one of the results is a combination of feelings of anger, insecurity, and of being oppressed among people. These were witnessed in the 2010 scenario in Kashmir which saw an action-reaction cycle of curfews-strikes-deaths-protests. Between June 11 and September 13 of 2010, 87 deaths were reported along with 63 days of curfew and 69 days of strikes and agitation.1

The paper is based on a qualitative research that explored perspectives of young women from Kashmir in terms of events, impacts and patterns in life of young women that helped them cope in the 2010 scenario of unrest. The participants in this qualitative study were 9 young women in age group of 16 to 26 years from two districts of Kashmir: Srinagar and Budgam. The paper presents their perspectives on - factors contributing to the 2010 scenario, what made 2010 scenario significant, what were the benefits of this scenario, and how they coped. This paper also reflects on implications of the findings on interventions in post conflict scenario.

The themes that emerged indicate that diverse voices and methods of coping have to be taken into account when one works towards peace-building and ensuring access to services and entitlements. The respondents focused on - need for resolution, role of politics and the Government, using social networks and support systems for coping, use of cognitive coping strategies (social comparison, normalizing, acceptance, reframing current situation as a continuation of past) which focused on their collective identity of being ‘victims’ of oppression, and diversity in voices within this ‘collectivism’. Participants also questioned the attitudes of citizens from several parts of India on the ‘Kashmir issue’.

Based on the findings, the paper reflects on some of the key challenges that would be faced while working in the post conflict scenario- how to consider the ‘collectivism’ as well as ‘diversity’ in the voices while addressing the sense of ‘victimhood’? How to continue the strengths-focused interventions without being dismissive of their coping patterns, without labeling people only as ‘victims’ and definitely not overlooking their survivor-hood? The paper emphasizes how interventions with youth need to

1 Reported in Kashmir’s local newspaper-Greater Kashmir, 25 September 2010

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acknowledge and support their meanings and methods of coping, while supporting the use of channels of expression and communication.

This study was conducted in 2011 with support from Global Consortium on Security Transformation (GCST), Chile.

About the Author:

Ms Shweta Verma works in the framework of mental health, human rights and inclusive development in India. Since completing M.A. (Social Work) in 2002, she has been working with Saarthak, an NGO based in Delhi.

Her work has focused on capacity building, program review and design, service delivery, advocacy and research. For last 9 years, she has been working on the issues of disability rights, disaster response, child rights and protection, gender based violence and human trafficking. In the last four years, she has been in a leadership role providing technical assistance to government and non-governmental organizations to re-design their programs and processes for working with people with disability and make these aligned with the UN Convention for the Rights People with Disability (UNCRPD).

In 2008, she was deployed as Psychosocial Specialist by BCPR, UNDP in response to cyclone Nargis (Myanmar). Currently, Shweta is a PhD scholar concentrating on the theme of resilience, gender and conflict in Kashmir. She has also conducted qualitative research involving young people from Kashmir. Shweta has facilitated and co-facilitated workshops for many organizations on Basic Counseling skills, working with groups and families, Working in communities, and UNCRPD. She has conducted Needs Assessment, Resource Mobilization, Case formulation and worked towards increasing access to opportunities and resources for persons with disability, homeless people, people with psychosocial difficulties, and also people living with mental illness.

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SRISHTEE R. SETHI

Fragile States in South Asia: An Analysis of Pakistan

Terms such as fragile, failing, weak, under stress, at risk, collapsed states are all used to describe a failed state, certainly the intensity and the extent of failure differs. What remains common is that a failed state does not provide legal, political and social rights which every citizen is entitled to and often is unable to maintain civil order and peace in substantial portions of its geographic territory.

Following this as the key theme, an attempt is made to analyze the ‘failed’ state status of Pakistan in order to comprehend the size and stature of the crisis. Pakistan has been at the forefront of international security concerns owing to its western borders functioning as the ‘incubator of extremism’. Its unstable governance and corrupt leaders provide no recourse to the on-going violence and deterioration of the state apparatus.

An investigation of the factors contributing to Pakistan’s ‘failed’ state status is carried out. This enables us to logically approach the problem faced by Pakistan today and provide suitable regeneration programmes to address the crisis and ensure sustainable peace. This in turn calls for us to explore fragile states in South Asia and draw upon possibilities for the role of state in conflict transformation and peace building as pre-emptive measure.

While researching on the issue, the Failed State Index was used to evaluate the concept of state failure and it was noted that 7 out of the top 10 countries for the past 5 years have been Islamic nations. Therefore, Pakistan would be an appropriate prototype to investigate into the functioning or ‘non-functioning’ of these nation-states.

About the Author:

Having graduated with a MA in International Relations and World Order from the University of Leicester, UK, Srishtee is currently pursuing an M.Phil. Programme at the Centre for Research Methodology at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Her principal research interests lie in the field of politics and international relations, primarily state fragility, borderland communities and peace and conflict. Geographically her research interests lie in the South Asian region and the Golden Crescent Area (Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) with prime focus on India and Pakistan viz-a-viz ethnicity, conflict and security concerns. She intends on exploring and researching further into the region’s specific socio-political issues and to contribute to research within this realm in active geopolitical elucidation of regional/international issues facing developing countries.

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UPASANA ROY BURMAN

A Deeper Look into Ethnic Conflicts of South Asia

The idea is an attempt to employ the idea of intra state security dilemma emulated by Brian. L. Job and the idea of public sphere to understand the ethnic conflicts of South Asia. The paper surveys the theoretical literature of intra state security dilemma to create a set of propositions regarding the ethnic conflicts and makes an attempt to test the propositions for several of South Asia’s ethnic conflicts. The paper argues that the weak identity of the states arises because the regime represents a particular ethnic or social sector. This pushes the other ethnic groups to compete to preserve their own security and survival against the perceived threat. This security activity consequently creates an environment of increased threat and reduces the security for most if not all others within the border of the state. The state acts in a self-defeating form by using its coercive machinery. The weak identity of the state creates the condition of security dilemma among competing ethnic groups. So the weak identity of the state creates intra state security dilemma resulting in ethnic conflicts in South Asia. This intra state security dilemma is described by Brian. L. Jobs as insecurity dilemma.

There are several methods of structuring peace in relation to the ethnic conflicts in South Asia. But this paper highlights the issue of the existence of public sphere within the ethnic groups which acts as a ground to challenge the hegemony of the state. This public sphere will be an alternative public sphere where the truth is not designed and dominated by the state currency but rather comes out from the dialogue and discussion within the group itself. This public sphere has to be created from within the ethnic group itself and outside the dominant discourse. This new way of understanding about them and their needs through their voice creates the wall of resistance against the power. Foucault had said that resistance acts as an adversary to the power, so it threatens power. It is only then that power acknowledges the identity of them since they act as a resistance to the power itself. Until and unless both are brought on the same platform, peace will never act as a solution but rather it will become an instrument of domination.

This paper tries to put forward two things. On one hand it shows that the state represents the interest of a particular section of the society. This identity of the state creates the condition for threat to the survival and security to the other ethnic groups. This pushes them to act for their survival and security which turn to be offensive towards the state. While on other hand it states the formation of public sphere within the ethnic groups as a mean to secure peace and end ethnic conflict in South Asia. So the article attempts to explain ethnic conflicts in South Asia by intra state security dilemma and the creation of public sphere.

About the Author

Ms Barman completed her graduate in Political Science from Jadavpur University in 2007, MA in International Relation in 2009 from Jadavpur University and M.Phil. in International

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Relations with in 2011 from Jadavpur University and NET qualified. Shes started with Lectureship in Dec 2008.

Her publications include “A new interface to the first India-Pakistan War” Volume 14, 2010, Jadavpur Journal of International Relations from the Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University. She participated and presented a paper in the Seminar on “Waves of Democracy in South Asia”, 26th September 2008 organized by Association of International Relations and in collaboration with Jadavpur University. She has worked at the Centre for Civil Society and Participated in the Liberty and Society Seminar Kolkata. October 12- 15 2006.

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VALEDICTORY ADDRESS

Mukesh Kapila

Healing Broken Societies: Can Development Aid Buy Peace?

All conflicts have a “career”. They smoulder, flare up, die down, re-ignite, extinguish. But they always remain flammable. But are all conflicts bad, and do they have to become violent?

Experience from around the world suggests that transforming conflicts requires an understanding of their specific logic in their particular contexts i.e. the underlying factors or causes as well as the more proximate triggers to violence. How important are the interests of the winners and losers? Can we construct a universal theory of “war and peace”?

Such a theory could help policy makers and practitioners influence conflict dynamics and structure peace support efforts. In particular, would there be value in recognizing when a conflict is “ripe’ for solution and when, conversely, external interventions may make it worse? How do humanitarian and development aid influence conflict dynamics? Is there a way to buy peace through aid?

In a globalized world that is ever more interconnected through social media and the convergence of global norms and standards, the traditional contract of mutual duties, rights, and obligations, between citizen and state is being challenged. Thus notions of human security and state security are evolving but are policymakers’ mind-sets adapting quickly enough to manage the inherent tensions?

What could South Asia learn from elsewhere in terms handling its myriad intra-State conflicts?

About the Author

Dr Mukesh Kapila was until recently Under Secretary General for National Society and Knowledge Development at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva, having served in other senior roles there since 2006.

Previously, he has been special adviser to the United Nations in Afghanistan and to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and has served as the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Sudan. He was also Director of Health Action in Crises at the World Health Organization. He was the Head of Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs at the UK Government Department for International Development, following a spell in the UK National Health Service.

Dr Kapila is a Senior Member of Hughes Hall College at Cambridge University, Associate Fellow of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute at Manchester University and an associate at the Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, Canada. He is a Council

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member of Minority Rights Group International, was an early member of the U.N. Disaster Assessment and Coordination system; and has served on the Boards of the U.N. Institute for Training and Research, and the International Peace Academy. He has advised several international organisations including the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and UNAIDS.

Dr Kapila has qualified in medicine and public health from the Universities of Oxford and London. He was honoured for international service with a CBE from Her Britannic Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and has also received the Dr Jean Mayer Global Citizenship Award of the Institute for Global Leadership.