JTCDM, TISS IV Roundtable Abstracts 2012

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

Fourth International Roundtable Conference, JTCDM

Contents

INTRODUCTION TO THE ROUNDTABLE 5

INAUGURAL SESSION
NANDINI SUNDAR 6
Statehood, Justice and an Alternate Model of Development

PAPER PRESENTATIONS
AHEIBAM KOIRENG SINGH 7
First Ever Peace Initiative involving State Government SoO with Chikim
Outfits in Manipur
ASHU PASRICHA 9
Challenges and Prospects of Peace Building in South Asia:
A Way from Conflict to Cooperation
ELLORA PURI 11
Structuring Peace: Lessons from Jammu and Kashmir
GOLDY M. GEORGE 12
Planned Development, Mining & Conflicts: Issues and Challenges
M. AMARJEET SINGH 14
Politics of Belonging: Migrations, Citizenships, and Conflicts in India
MADHURI 15
Naxalite Movement in Bihar: Current Trend and Remedies
MANOJ JHA 16
The Saga of Elusive Peace in a Chaotic World of Demonised Others
MRIGENDRA KUMAR SINGH and SUJAY KUMAR 18
Conflict Resolution in Afghanisthan
MONISH GULATI 20
Terrorist Life Cycle and Criminalisation: Implications for Curbing
Insurgency
MUSHTAQ UL HAQ AHMED SIKANDAR 22
Religion and Politics in Kashmir – A Study of the Conflict, Dialogue and
its Peaceful Resolution
PANKAJ CHOUDHURY 24
Telengana and Gorkhaland: Contesting the Ideal of Nation State
PAUL GEORGE 26
Post Conflict Rehabilitation and Resettlement in Karbi Anglong, Assam:
A Study of Model Villages
PRABHAT KUMAR 28
Structuring Peace: The State and Conflict Transformation:
Prospects and Challenges in South Asia

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PRANAV KUMAR 29
Majority Assertion and Challenges to Peace and Security in Bhutan
RAMESHCHANDRA NINGTHOUJAM 31
Migration and Conflict in Manipur, India
RITUPARNA PATGIRI 32
Illegal Migration from Bangladesh: Transforming the Dynamics of
Identity Politics in Assam
ROHIT JAIN 34
State and the Doctrine of Public Trust – Need for Restructuring
the Relationship between the State and the People for Conflict
Transformation
RUBINA JASANI 36
Citizenship from the Margins: Gujarat Riots and the Everyday State
SAIMA FARHAD 37
Years 2008, 2009 and 2010 – the Three Years of Conflict in Kashmir –
Common and Peculiar Characteristics
SAMIR AHMAD BHAT 38
Kashmir Conflict: Failure of Democratic Processes
SANGHITA DATTA 40
The Role of Government in Restoring Peace: A Study of the Enclave of
Bengal
SANJEEVINI BADIGAR 42
Relief Where There Should Be Rights: State Practices Related to
Communal Violence in the Context of Gujarat
SHUKHDEBA SHARMA HAJABAM 44
The State & Political Apology: Towards Peace Building in the Northeast
India
SHWETA VERMA 45
Victims or Survivors? Collective or Diverse? Reflections on 2010 Scenario
in Kashmir and Implications for Interventions in Post Conflict Context
SRISHTEE R SETHI 47
Fragile States in South Asia: An Analysis of Pakistan
UPASANA ROY BURMAN 48
A Deeper Look into Ethnic Conflicts of South Asia

VALEDICTORY ADDRESS
MUKESH KAPILA 50
Healing 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 amarjeetdelhi@gmail.com.

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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).

15


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.

17


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

18


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.

19


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) joshua.sinai@verizon.net
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)

20


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.

21


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

22


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.

23


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

24


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.

25


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,

26


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.

27


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.

28


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

29


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.

30


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).

31


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

32


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.

33


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

34


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.

35


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.

36


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.

37


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

38


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.

39


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.

40


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.

41


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.

42


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).

43


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

44


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

45

JTCDM, TISS IV Roundtable Abstracts 2012

JTCDM, TISS IV Roundtable Abstracts 2012

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JTCDM, TISS IV Roundtable Abstracts 2012