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Mapping Violence against Women in Pakistan: A Galtungian Reading of Fatima Bhutto’s The Shadow of the Crescent Moon
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Moving with rags: India’s second-hand clothes recycling trade
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City from the Margins: A Reading of Kari
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Promoting Human Rights as a Way of Improving Soft Power: The Case of India’s Caste-Based Discrimination at the United Nations
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 101-116, March 2024.
The ascendance of India as an economic power is well documented. This rising India has also focused on increasing its soft power and influence in international politics, especially through the dissemination of its values of ancient cultural heritage such as Buddhism, yoga and engagement with the diaspora. In the field of human rights as well, as a founding member of the United Nations (UN), India has participated in the framing of the Universal Declaration on the Human Rights and has signed various UN Human Rights Treaties and Conventions over the years. However, in the particular case of addressing caste discrimination, India has shied away from the international recognition of Dalit rights as human rights. Indian diplomats have continually opposed any internationalisation of caste-based discrimination and its linkage to racial discrimination at the global level, especially in the UN. In this scenario, how does the international community view India’s ascendance with respect to this issue? This article argues that India must play a leadership role in defending the rights of discriminated caste groups if it seeks to enhance its soft power credentials of being the largest democracy and demonstrate itself as a responsible power at the global level with respect to human rights issues. Furthermore, the norm that UN has tried to create of categorising caste discrimination as a form of racial discrimination cannot be strengthened without India’s support as India happens to be the most relevant state actor in this case.
The ascendance of India as an economic power is well documented. This rising India has also focused on increasing its soft power and influence in international politics, especially through the dissemination of its values of ancient cultural heritage such as Buddhism, yoga and engagement with the diaspora. In the field of human rights as well, as a founding member of the United Nations (UN), India has participated in the framing of the Universal Declaration on the Human Rights and has signed various UN Human Rights Treaties and Conventions over the years. However, in the particular case of addressing caste discrimination, India has shied away from the international recognition of Dalit rights as human rights. Indian diplomats have continually opposed any internationalisation of caste-based discrimination and its linkage to racial discrimination at the global level, especially in the UN. In this scenario, how does the international community view India’s ascendance with respect to this issue? This article argues that India must play a leadership role in defending the rights of discriminated caste groups if it seeks to enhance its soft power credentials of being the largest democracy and demonstrate itself as a responsible power at the global level with respect to human rights issues. Furthermore, the norm that UN has tried to create of categorising caste discrimination as a form of racial discrimination cannot be strengthened without India’s support as India happens to be the most relevant state actor in this case.
Making Sense of Nepal’s Nationalism: Implications for the India–Nepal Relationship
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 55-71, March 2024.
The assertion of (territorial) nationalism by Nepal has serious implications for its bilateral relationship with India. Once dominant, the singular narrative of the upper-caste Hindu Parbatiya nationalism is increasingly encountering competing narratives emerging from the marginalised Janajatis and the Madhesis of Nepal. Accordingly, several nationality sentiments that were sidelined earlier have now become salient. While the India factor in these competing perspectives of nationalist discourses in Nepal appears to be subtle (but important), the growing territorial dimensions to it invariably locates India in a prominent position. This article investigates the implications of the changing dynamics of Nepal’s nationalism on its bilateral relationship with India. Looking at the internal dynamics of nationalism discourses in Nepal, the article offers a critical analysis of the territorial disputes between India and Nepal, and its implications on nationalism in Nepal and on the bilateral relationships between India and Nepal.
The assertion of (territorial) nationalism by Nepal has serious implications for its bilateral relationship with India. Once dominant, the singular narrative of the upper-caste Hindu Parbatiya nationalism is increasingly encountering competing narratives emerging from the marginalised Janajatis and the Madhesis of Nepal. Accordingly, several nationality sentiments that were sidelined earlier have now become salient. While the India factor in these competing perspectives of nationalist discourses in Nepal appears to be subtle (but important), the growing territorial dimensions to it invariably locates India in a prominent position. This article investigates the implications of the changing dynamics of Nepal’s nationalism on its bilateral relationship with India. Looking at the internal dynamics of nationalism discourses in Nepal, the article offers a critical analysis of the territorial disputes between India and Nepal, and its implications on nationalism in Nepal and on the bilateral relationships between India and Nepal.
Promoting Human Rights as a Way of Improving Soft Power: The Case of India’s Caste-Based Discrimination at the United Nations
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 101-116, March 2024.
The ascendance of India as an economic power is well documented. This rising India has also focused on increasing its soft power and influence in international politics, especially through the dissemination of its values of ancient cultural heritage such as Buddhism, yoga and engagement with the diaspora. In the field of human rights as well, as a founding member of the United Nations (UN), India has participated in the framing of the Universal Declaration on the Human Rights and has signed various UN Human Rights Treaties and Conventions over the years. However, in the particular case of addressing caste discrimination, India has shied away from the international recognition of Dalit rights as human rights. Indian diplomats have continually opposed any internationalisation of caste-based discrimination and its linkage to racial discrimination at the global level, especially in the UN. In this scenario, how does the international community view India’s ascendance with respect to this issue? This article argues that India must play a leadership role in defending the rights of discriminated caste groups if it seeks to enhance its soft power credentials of being the largest democracy and demonstrate itself as a responsible power at the global level with respect to human rights issues. Furthermore, the norm that UN has tried to create of categorising caste discrimination as a form of racial discrimination cannot be strengthened without India’s support as India happens to be the most relevant state actor in this case.
The ascendance of India as an economic power is well documented. This rising India has also focused on increasing its soft power and influence in international politics, especially through the dissemination of its values of ancient cultural heritage such as Buddhism, yoga and engagement with the diaspora. In the field of human rights as well, as a founding member of the United Nations (UN), India has participated in the framing of the Universal Declaration on the Human Rights and has signed various UN Human Rights Treaties and Conventions over the years. However, in the particular case of addressing caste discrimination, India has shied away from the international recognition of Dalit rights as human rights. Indian diplomats have continually opposed any internationalisation of caste-based discrimination and its linkage to racial discrimination at the global level, especially in the UN. In this scenario, how does the international community view India’s ascendance with respect to this issue? This article argues that India must play a leadership role in defending the rights of discriminated caste groups if it seeks to enhance its soft power credentials of being the largest democracy and demonstrate itself as a responsible power at the global level with respect to human rights issues. Furthermore, the norm that UN has tried to create of categorising caste discrimination as a form of racial discrimination cannot be strengthened without India’s support as India happens to be the most relevant state actor in this case.
Making Sense of Nepal’s Nationalism: Implications for the India–Nepal Relationship
India Quarterly, Volume 80, Issue 1, Page 55-71, March 2024.
The assertion of (territorial) nationalism by Nepal has serious implications for its bilateral relationship with India. Once dominant, the singular narrative of the upper-caste Hindu Parbatiya nationalism is increasingly encountering competing narratives emerging from the marginalised Janajatis and the Madhesis of Nepal. Accordingly, several nationality sentiments that were sidelined earlier have now become salient. While the India factor in these competing perspectives of nationalist discourses in Nepal appears to be subtle (but important), the growing territorial dimensions to it invariably locates India in a prominent position. This article investigates the implications of the changing dynamics of Nepal’s nationalism on its bilateral relationship with India. Looking at the internal dynamics of nationalism discourses in Nepal, the article offers a critical analysis of the territorial disputes between India and Nepal, and its implications on nationalism in Nepal and on the bilateral relationships between India and Nepal.
The assertion of (territorial) nationalism by Nepal has serious implications for its bilateral relationship with India. Once dominant, the singular narrative of the upper-caste Hindu Parbatiya nationalism is increasingly encountering competing narratives emerging from the marginalised Janajatis and the Madhesis of Nepal. Accordingly, several nationality sentiments that were sidelined earlier have now become salient. While the India factor in these competing perspectives of nationalist discourses in Nepal appears to be subtle (but important), the growing territorial dimensions to it invariably locates India in a prominent position. This article investigates the implications of the changing dynamics of Nepal’s nationalism on its bilateral relationship with India. Looking at the internal dynamics of nationalism discourses in Nepal, the article offers a critical analysis of the territorial disputes between India and Nepal, and its implications on nationalism in Nepal and on the bilateral relationships between India and Nepal.
Of Dreams and Denials: The Imagined History in Mahasweta Devi’s Draupadi and Mother of 1084
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The Making of Polities in the Medieval Kingdom of Valencia, 1231–1419
The Medieval History Journal, Ahead of Print.
This article studies the development of the political system in the Kingdom of Valencia between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. It analyses the evolution of, and relations between, the general legal system, the royal government and administration and the main organs of power representing the political community of the kingdom. This case, which is supported by extraordinarily rich legislative and parliamentary sources, is an excellent example of the political transformations that were taking place across Europe during this period.
This article studies the development of the political system in the Kingdom of Valencia between the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries. It analyses the evolution of, and relations between, the general legal system, the royal government and administration and the main organs of power representing the political community of the kingdom. This case, which is supported by extraordinarily rich legislative and parliamentary sources, is an excellent example of the political transformations that were taking place across Europe during this period.