The South Asianist Journal
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Viewpoint: the future of human rights in India
Full text link(excerpt from the text)In May 2014, to the surprise of many commentators, India’s Bharatiya Janata Party – the BJP – not only won the General Election (as widely expected), but did so with an overall majority by itself, without needing the coalition partners it had attracted before the poll. In the lower House of Parliament – the Lok Sabha – it now has 52% of the seats on 31% of the vote. It is the first time that an avowedly ‘Hindu’ party has held such a dominant position, and even before the election, voices within and outwith India were raised, expressing alarm at the likely impact on inter-religious relations in India.[this essay was first published on September 2nd, 2014 by Discover Society http://www.discoversociety.org, and is here reproduced with permission
Something little to ease my pain: an interpretation of an incident of self-harm
Full text linkOver the years, the high prevalence of suicide in the Sri Lankan society has attracted the attention of scholars from different disciplines who have offered diverse explanations and interpretations of the phenomenon, focusing on the immediate causes preceding acts of suicide and self-harm. Could it be that one view of death one hold impacts upon one’s willingness to consider suicide as a potential course of action?In this exploratory essay, I reflect on one story I encountered during my fieldwork among university students and offer a situated alternate explanation to self-harm, where I suggest that, when faced with seemingly unendurable trials, suicide and self-harm may be propelled by a hopeful view of death where death appears as hope not only in the sense that it brings an end to life’s unfair tribulations but also that the end it marks is not an end in itself but a new beginning
Protest, dissent, and political change in post war Sri Lanka
No full textA short introduction to this special issue. Coming soon..
Of roots and rootlessness: music, partition and Ghatak
Full text linkAt a time when the ‘commercial’ Bengali film directors were busy caricaturing the language and the mannerisms of the East-Bengal refugees, specifically in Calcutta, using them as nothing but mere butts of ridicule, Ritwik Ghatak’s films portrayed these ‘refugees’, who formed the lower middle class of the society, as essentially torn between a nostalgia for an utopian motherland and the traumatic present of the post-partition world of an apocalyptic stupor. Ghatak himself was a victim of the Partition of India in 1947. He had to leave his homeland for a life in Calcutta where for the rest of his life he could not rip off the label of being a ‘refugee’, which the natives of the ‘West’ Bengal had labeled upon the homeless East Bengal masses. The melancholic longing for the estranged homeland forms the basis of most of Ghatak’s films, especially the trilogy: Meghe Dhaka Tara (1960), Komol Gondhar (1960) and Subarnarekha (1961). Ghatak’s running obsession with the post-partition trauma acts as one of the predominant themes in the plots of his films. To bring out the tragedy of the situation more vividly, he deploys music and melodrama as essential tropes. Ghatak brilliantly juxtaposes different genres of music , from Indian Classical Music and Rabindra Sangeet to Folk songs, to carve out the trauma of a soul striving for recognition in a new land while, at the same time, trying hard to cope with the loss of its ‘motherland’. This article will show how Ghatak, in Komol Gandhar, uses music and songs to portray the dilemma that goes on in the mind of his protagonists and other important characters estranged from their motherland, which could have otherwise become very difficult to portray using the traditional methods of art-film making. I would also attempt to show how the different genres of music not only contribute to the portrayal of the cultural differences of ‘East’ and ‘West’ Bengal but also enforce and validate the diasporic identities of the refugees while in the process paradoxically point out the unity and oneness of both the ‘countries’ as well. It would also elaborate on Ghatak’s own complex notion regarding the Nation-State which reiterates itself in all his films. In discussing about Komol Gondhar, the paper would also contain an elaboration on the IPTA (Indian People’s Theatre Association) around which the plot of the film revolves
Shifts in consumption patterns and materialism among the rural poor in Bangladesh
No full textDhaka experiences a massive influx of migrants from rural populations entering its vicinity in search of a better life. Driven by hope, the migrant population does not deter from taking up the challenge of an uncertain and insecure life and eventually cultural assimilation takes place. In the process, the population starts to imbibe values of the urban setting whilst holding on to some values of the rural setting. This paper aims to analyse the changes in the consumption pattern of this segment in their new setting. The study will focus particularly on domestic helpers (housemaids), who come from poor rural backgrounds and end up working for households of the more affluent families living in Dhaka. A single cross-sectional survey design was used to gain insight into the consumption pattern of domestic helpers. The survey provides quantitative information to describe and provide tentative explanations into the variables of interest. Due to the scale of the study, it can be considered exploratory and ad-hoc in nature. The paper will investigate the state of their material ownership at the time of arrival from the rural setting, and how their values, perceptions and significance of the material forms shift with the passage of time in the new setting. It will also highlight the change in perception which transcends to their family members still living in the rural settings who now have greater disposable income due to the increase in the aggregate income in the families
In light of the experience of the Bhils, what does it mean to be \u27tribal\u27?
Full text linkThis exploratory essay investigates constructions, perceptions and uses of the term \u27tribal\u27 in social and political discourse, drawing on current scholarship, and looking specifically at the case of the Bhils of Western and Central India. The essay looks briefly at the history of relations between the Bhils and neighbouring communities prior British colonial intervention, the changes introduced by British administrators seeking to \u27clean\u27 India\u27s forests of their forest dwellers, and more contemporary issues associated with post-independence governmentality and minority entitlements, and the disputed rationales of privileging difference while simultaneously promoting integration.
The Victoria and Albert Museum Bombay: a study in aspiration, cooperation and enervation
Full text linkThe Victoria and Albert Museum and Victoria Gardens is a significant Colonial institution, which reflects the aspirations and failings of the Indian and British elites that controlled late nineteenth century Bombay. The Museum crystallises the responses of these individuals to changes in thinking in Britain and its Indian Empire. As time passed, and each decision was made, the Museum evolved, in reaction to changes in the current social, economic, and political events of Bombay, Britain, and the Empire. Furthermore, the effect of these decisions and the fluctuating changes in opinion were dramatically reflected in the development of the Museum due to the slow progress of the building over a decade from 1858 to 1872
A description of the diversity of kinship and marriage practices in South Asia with a focus on India.
Full text linkWhilst not an exhaustive examination, this paper will explore some of the key areas of the diversity of kinship and marriage practices within India. To do so it will look firstly at the formal kinship rules of two well documented communities which are, broadly speaking, representative of practices within their extended regions. From there it will look at the different social functions each of these systems can be argued to serve. From there it will investigate how demographic changes across India are fostering new models of marriage and challenging the formal rules of traditional kinship systems. Next it will look at how the introduction of civil marriage rights is responsible, albeit to a limited extent, for the emergence of yet another model of marriage. Finally, it will observe that, despite these key differences, there exist some characteristics which remain in place across India
Based on its constitutional and institutional set-up, could India be rightly conceived as a \u27consociational\u27 (power-sharing) democracy?
Full text linkA Consociational democracy is a model of governance that uses power sharing to cope with societal divisions. Lijphart (1996: 258) outlined four crucial, interdependent elements, which characterise consociationalism; “Grand Coalition” governments in which members of all significant linguistic and religious minorities are represented, cultural autonomy for minorities groups, proportional political representation and an effective minority veto. India’s characterisation as a consociational democracy has been both convincingly reinforced and criticised, however much of this analysis focuses too much on contingent political realities rather than entrenched and effective institutional pillars from which they in part derive. Using Lijphart’s consociational criteria, it will be shown that whilst its political system runs on the basis of an informal consociationalism relying on the inclusive Congress Party, India’s constitution fails to adhere to any of the principles of consociationalism effectively. This is because the drafters of the Indian constitution integrated the contradictions and debates in society, such as the divide between Hindu majoritarianism and the consociationalism of the minority groups and the Congress Party into the Indian institutional structure and constitutional law. This however has resulted in the majoritarian tenets in the constitution such as the first-past-the-post electoral system undermining its more consociational elements. Furthermore by favouring regionally concentrated ethno-linguistic groups the system allows consociational benefits to regional majorities whilst failing to protect regional minorities, which include thinly dispersed national minorities. This ambiguous, unbalanced constitutional combination of majoritarianism and consociationalism is ineffective, hindering the establishment of comprehensive consociationalism in the country
Gandhi and sexuality: in what ways and to what extent was Gandhi\u27s life dominated by his views on sex and sexuality?
Full text linkThough research is coming to light about Gandhi’s views on sexuality, there is still a gap in how this can be related or focused to his broader political philosophy and personal conduct. Joseph Alter states: “It is well known that Gandhi felt that sexuality and desire were intimately connected to social life and politics and that self-control translated directly into power of various kinds both public and private.” However, I would argue, that the ways in which Gandhi connected these aspects, why and how, have not been fully discussed and are, indeed, not well known. By studying his views and practices with relation to sexuality, I believe that much can be discerned as to how his political philosophy and personal conduct were both established and acted out. In this paper I will aim, therefore, to address: what his views were on sex and sexuality, contextualizing his views with those of the time, what his influences were in his ideology on sex, and how these ideologies framed and related to his political philosophy as well as conduct. Through establishing all this I hope to emphasise the significance of his views on sex in better understanding Gandhi’s political philosophy and conduct.[1] Joseph Alter, “Celibacy, Sexuality and Transformation of Gender into Nationalism” in the Journal of Asian Studies, Vol, 53, No.1 (Feb, 1994). P.4