The South Asianist Journal
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Unveiling the Lost Voices
Full text linkInterrogating Identities: Tribals in Bengali Short Stories published by the Centre of Excellence, Department of Odia, Visva-Bharati, Santinketan and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, New Delhi and translated by Dr Saptarshi Mallick aims at unveiling the lost and suppressed voices of the subaltern. The book has simultaneously worked as a guide that has stimulated scholars in to venturing deeper into the world of ‘the other’ and as a delightful read for book lovers covering all genres. The book admits that it is only a medium through which the subaltern is speaking and does not claim to be their messiah or savior. It moves methodically, showing us census and data and by looking at them we realize the immense poverty and poor standards of living in which the indigenous people reside. In spite of being a research project, it also appeals to our emotion. The narrative moves effortlessly and as a reader it can be affirmed that the translator has done a phenomenal job in translating and to certain extent trans-creating the subject matter.
In my review I have tried to emphasize how the book, with the help of textual examples, has facilitated to voice the unheard stories from the margin and acknowledge it as an insider
Narratives of change: first-, second-, and third-order adaptive processes in Nepal and the Maldives
Full text linkAdaptation is becoming increasingly significant for public policy and practice in dealing with climate change-related risks and achieving sustainable development. Consequently, the exploration of different ways of assisting successful adaptation has brought under scrutiny the different lifestyles of communities all around the world. Most frameworks adopted to understand adaptation among societies keep climate change at the centre of inquiry and often, if not always, give little consideration to other changes of socio-economic and cultural nature that communities have adapted to over centuries. We argue that adaptation is not something new to communities and neither is dealing with risk and uncertainty. The adaptive processes of households and communities entails dealing with risks to what they consider valuable and important to protect in relation to a hazard or sudden, seasonal, or steady change. This paper builds on earlier works that place emphasis on adaptation of livelihoods to changes beyond but inclusive of climate. We suggest an empirically informed analytical framework to study such adaptation, keeping society instead of climate change at the centre. It is based on comparative case study research with life narratives collected through qualitative interviews in Nepal and in the Maldives. The findings also suggest a re-conceptualisation of adaptive processes used in influential frameworks, and suggest a qualitative distinction to identify explicitly how different adaptive processes deal with risks; by adapting livelihoods directly, adapting the means of adaptation, or adapting the ends of adaptation. It is contended that applying this theoretical framework when studying adaptation facilitates comprehensive analyses and a nuanced understanding of how households and communities adapt to deal with risk. Hence, proposing a way to open up a broader repertoire of policy and practical support for adaptation to match local contexts and strategies
Apocalyptic desires and possessing the world through the gaze: Satyajit Ray’s Charulata
Full text linkWhilst cinema certainly propagates social change as a signpost of dominant ideologies and prevalent values in society, it may also be a means to establish resisting positions, and here I examine the dynamics of ‘looking’ versus ‘to be looked-at-ness’, as it were. I attempt this through a reading of Satyajit Ray’s Charulata and problematise Laura Mulvey’s notion of the \u27male gaze\u27. Ray’s film, in fact, seem to pre-empt this with the ‘female gaze’. This, I argue, differs because it is discerning and critical, and it is through this that the woman at last comes into her own
Rabindranath and Sharatchandra as novelists: a comparative study
Full text linkRabindranath Tagore and Sharatchandra Chattopadhyay were contemporaries, the former being senior to the latter by fifteen years. They were arguably the most popular poet and novelist in India, especially Bengal. However, there are marked contrasts between these two literary luminaries of late colonial India, in respect of their family, society, upbringing, status, personality, gender and caste consciousness, religious-spiritual sensibilities, and worldviews. Despite such discrepancies, and some personality conflicts, both Rabindranath and Sharatchandra did share some core values in respect of sexuality and sensuality, albeit with different perspectives
The proposed Nepal-China trans-border railway in Nepal’s collective imagination
Full text linkNepal-China relations have been amicable since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1955. Consequently, the image of China in Nepal’s collective imagination has remained positive. This imagination reached new heights when China welcomed the promulgation of Nepal\u27s new constitution in September 2015, while India, opposed to the promulgation, imposed an embargo. The Indian embargo not only undermined Nepali sovereignty by disapproving of the contents of the new constitution, but also compelled Nepal to think about lessening its dependency on India. The most obvious route was to expand trans-border connectivity with China. In March 2016, Nepal and China inked a ‘historic’ trade deal aiming to expand trans-border connectivity including a much-hyped trans-border railway link. Drawing broad public support, the deal had the effect of revitalising Nepali aspirations of coming out of an ‘India-locked’ trade and transit. This article examines opposing voices regarding the significance of this shift. On the one hand, there are those that embrace expansion of Nepal-China cross-border railway connectivity. Here, hopes are that railway connectivity will shift Nepal’s destiny away from dependence on India. On the other hand, many are wary that such a project is unaffordable, technically difficult, and most importantly, it plays into China’s interests in South Asian sub-regional geopolitics
The historiography of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre: ‘an essential but unacknowledged strategy of empire’
Full text linkThis essay challenges the historiography of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar, India. Drawing on colonial and postcolonial source materials, in addition to contemporary discussions and scholarship that places the 1919 events in the context of the longue durée of British colonial violence and historiography, this essay assesses the appropriateness of a potential centenary apology by the British
Inducing return to Pakistan: ‘voluntary’ return programmes in Germany
Full text linkGermany welcomed over a million refugees following the so-called “long summer of migration” in 2015. Today, however, seeking asylum in Germany has become ever more difficult. Amongst other “undeserving” economic refugees, the Afghans and Pakistanis are suffering from a shift in the German asylum regime that aims to restrict migration from “safe countries.” As elsewhere in Europe, asylum in Germany is increasingly being defined by narrow ideas of deservingness and humanitarianism to seek out “deserving” political refugees. Simultaneously, two methods for the removal of rejected asylum seekers are being practised to deter “undeserving” refugees: namely, deportations and “voluntary” returns. Focusing on the latter form of removal, I scrutinize the voluntariness and sustainability of “voluntary” returns to Pakistan in this essay. I start by questioning contemporary ideas of deservingness when it comes to the right to be mobile, and provocatively try to blur the alleged humanitarian division between two categories of mobile bodies: the “deserving” political refugee vis-à-vis the “underserving” economic refugee. Then, with the help of ethnographic material from my ongoing research and three measures or scales of assessment (choice, information and assistance), I take a critical look at “voluntary” returns from Germany. In doing so, I discuss the sustainability and ethics of inducing return through such modes of repatriation to Pakistan
