Independent India Research Articles

The Criminalisation of the Indian-Irani Community by British Colonial Administration in India During Years 1842 to 1940 and Onwards

Indian Iranis are denotified/nomadic tribes living in India since the sixteenth century. A large migrating group of them was declared criminals under British law. Post-independence too this label continued. Even today, police, media and society treat them as criminals. This article argues that though the British-targeted group of the Indian-Irani community was not involved in crime considerably (28 convictions of petty thefts in 98 years), it was noted as criminal tribes in police reports in and around the Bombay presidency from the year 1842 to 1940. A Police Report on Vagrant Bands of Foreigners of 1879 and notes and books by the then British police officers reflect the same. A then foreign-originated, nontribal, isolated community of Indian Iranis was labelled as criminals by the British colonial administration step-wise. The article briefs that the undue criminalisation of one group from this community further led to the criminalisation of the larger group from this community in independent India. Primary data witnessing the impact of such constant criminalisation on the current generation of the community in Ambivli, Thane district, Maharashtra is also briefly discussed in this article. The theories of labelling in criminology most fit to describe this criminalisation.

The Story of the Dilli Durbar of 1911

The Delhi Durbar of 1911 represents a pivotal moment in the annals of British India, epitomizing the zenith of imperial authority and showcasing the opulence and splendor of the British Raj. Hosted in Delhi, the capital of British India, this grand event served as a platform for King George V, the British monarch, to assert his dominion and consolidate control over the subcontinent. This paper extensively examines the significance of the Delhi Durbar of 1911 in the context of both Indian history and the evolution of Delhi, delving into its historical backdrop, the motives driving its organization, its ceremonial intricacies, and its enduring impact on the Indian nationalist movement. The Delhi Durbar of 1911 emerges as a potent emblem of fortitude, defiance, and the unyielding determination of a populace striving for emancipation. It can be asserted that this event remains a watershed moment not only in the narrative of British India, signifying the pinnacle of imperial dominance and providing insight into the intricate interplay between the colonizers and the colonized, but also in the history of Delhi itself, influencing its urban, demographic, and architectural evolution in significant ways. This paper endeavours to establish the Delhi Durbar of 1911 as a crucial focal point for the examination of Delhi's role first as the capital of the British Empire and subsequently as the capital of independent India. The carefully curated Bibliography presented in this paper serves as a valuable resource for scholars and enthusiasts of Delhi, offering a means to consolidate dispersed knowledge about this momentous event and accord it its rightful place in the layered history of Delhi as both an imperial and national capital.

Dr. Ambedkar’s Thoughts on Nationalism

The psychological concept of nationalism establishes a sense of fraternity in the society on cultural, ethnic, racial, religious and linguistic basis. One of the nation builders of modern India, Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar coined a narrative of Nationalism about freedom of India from social inequality and untouchability. He talked about freedom of India from social inequality and untouchability. This could be understood as a subaltern narrative about the upliftment of downtrodden, deprived and marginalised sections of the society; the section that did not have any participation in public life of colonial India. In this research paper, we will study the various aspects of Dr. Ambedkar's nationalism, in which he firmly stated that without emancipation of deprived people (Dalits), Indian freedom struggle was not deemed to be complete. He has presented the concept of practical nationalism in contrast to western and Indian extremist concepts, some aspects of which we will discuss in this article.

Kisan Andolan in India (2020–21): Punjabi singers’ perspective

ABSTRACT The Kisan Andolan (2020–21) was a unique protest in independent India that kept the struggle at high pitch for 13 months girding Delhi at all its borders. Besides the protesting farmers, the general populace too frequented the protest sites in huge numbers. It was much akin to doing pilgrimage and of participation in the peoples’ struggle. The top pop stars of the Punjabi music industry were active participants in entertaining the protesting masses and also writing and singing the protest songs. An attempt is made here to present their perspective on the kisan andolan revolving around four themes: the Indian state, peasants’ self-perception, issues involved and the protest site.

Concept of Privacy in India: A Socio-Legal Critique

This article provides an incisive view on how the concept of privacy has evolved in India despite being a collectivist society. It has been observed that the notion of privacy co-existed with collectivist tradition even in ancient India. However, the collectivist approach was too dominant to allow an open discussion on the concept of privacy in the country. However, constitutional activists started vouching for privacy towards the fag end of 19th century which continued till the making of the constitution in independent India. However, the right to privacy remained outside the purview of fundamental rights till Supreme Court of India declared it as intrinsic to the fundamental right of life and liberty inherently protected under Article 21 of the constitution. Earlier judgements of the Supreme Court of India on various cases revolving around protection of privacy of individuals make strong case laws for privacy in the country culminating in the landmark judgement of privacy in 2017. This article adds value to the existing discourse on privacy by critiquing the issue from a socio-legal perspective.

The Question of Script for Sindhi in India: Reflections on Postcolonial Grammatology

When Sindhi Hindus came to India after the 1947 Partition, they had little to help them survive as a community. Given the linguistic organization of states in independent India, the community has been striving to forge an identity comparable to other communities that have a state/territory they can flourish in. First, Sindhis struggled to gain recognition for their language as an official language listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India. Second, they demanded that entertainment content be broadcast in Sindhi in official national media spaces. The case of Sindhi stands as a fascinating case study at the intersection of ideas such as nationalism, citizenship, and minority identity. The case of Sindhi is also a narrative of self-transformation, one of which is its struggle for survival that has also led to the revival of the question of its script. In the 1960s, a faction among the Sindhi intelligentsia proposed that in order to stay relevant and alive in India, it must adopt the Devanagari script and give up its Perso-Arabic script associated with the language since the nineteenth century. In this essay, I revisit this debate to uncover postcolonial grammatology as an approach to deal with South Asian sites of language and writing.

ЭТНОКОНФЕССИОНАЛЬНЫЙ АСПЕКТ РЕФОРМЫ МОНТЭГЮ-ЧЕЛМСФОРДА В БРИТАНСКОЙ ИНДИИ.

The article examines the main aspects of administrative and political transformations in British India at the turn of the 1910s - 1920s in the context of the processes of development of the national liberation movement, as well as ethno-political consolidation in certain Indian regions. The interwar period was marked by a significant transformation of the British colonial system, which affected, among other things, the management mechanisms of Indian possessions. Implemented on the basis of the law adopted in December 1919 . By a special legislative act of the British Parliament, the administrative and political reform, which went down in history as the Montague-Chelmsford reforms, was an attempt to modernize the management system in a key colony. At the same time, this reform, as well as the subsequent transformations carried out by the colonial administration, contributed to the formation of elements of the political culture of Indian society, and also, to a certain extent, laid the foundations of the future federal system of independent India.

Ethnic Newspaper Industry in Pakistan and Impacts of Corporate Ownership

During the Indian independence movement, the Urdu-language ethnic newspapers played a significant role in instigating resistance against colonial authorities within local communities. However, later on, Urdu journalism underwent a transformation, shifting from the ‘advocate-journalist’ model to one dominated by corporate ownership in Pakistan. These commercial agents have faced criticism for using journalism as a shield for their other businesses, yet their presence has profoundly impacted current newspaper practices in various ways. Our case study of the Daily Express reveals that this newspaper, by implementing innovative journalism, technological advancements and efficient management practices, has influenced both preceding and subsequent Urdu dailies, transforming Pakistani newspapers into a modern print media industry. Despite these advancements, the impacts of corporate concerns also include a lack of adequate coverage on various human development issues and science-related topics, posing risks to the attractiveness of such papers for the reading public.

Somnath Mandir in a play of mirrors: heritage, history, and the search for identity of the new nation (1842–1951)

AbstractThe story of the Somnath temple, in the northwestern Saurashtra peninsula, has often been taken as an example of the contentious legacies of the penetration, settlement, and political establishment of Muslims in India. Its history testifies to the complex relationship between history, heritage, and the consolidation of collective memories of past events and processes.This article focuses on two key moments in the temple's recent history: the retrieval of the Somnath gates by Lord Ellenborough in 1842 and the reconstruction of the temple between 1947 and 1951. At these two moments—one during colonial times and the other at the creation of the independent state—Somnath became the battlefield for questioning how the state should be positioned with regard to religious places, histories, symbols, and practices.While the temple was apparently dealt with as a tangible place of heritage, both episodes show how the value endowed upon the temple had far more complex meanings. The analysis proposed in this article ends with the reconstruction of the temple. This shows the way in which architects of independent India addressed the country's history, directly or indirectly engaging with the construction of a heritage for the new state. Their efforts aimed to strengthen a shared memory of the past, which could in turn consolidate membership and a sense of belonging to the new nation. Advocates and promoters of the temple's reconstruction, among whom were Vallabhbhai Patel and K. M. Munshi, envisioned that the reconstruction would embody the long-awaited liberation of India from centuries of continuous domination by ‘foreign’ powers. In contrast, secular politicians, with Nehru at the helm, opposed the reconstruction, fearing that Somnath might become the symbol of a sectarian vision of the nation and, in the wake of partition, derail efforts to characterise independent India as an inclusive country. While the reconstruction did eventually take place, the entire episode invites us to question the relationship between the framing of Indian nationalism and the heritagisation of Indian history. Following a critical theoretical approach to Heritage studies, where heritage has less to do with the item that is preserved than with the value with which it is endowed, this article proposes to investigate the meanings that heritage preservation, conservation, and reconstruction acquired as part of the project of nation- and state-building.

‘Meeting differently’: Indian Independence Day celebrations in the digital diaspora

‘Meeting differently’: Indian Independence Day celebrations in the digital diaspora

The Birth of Indian National Congress: A Safety Valve for Colonial India

Abstract: The Indian National Congress (INC) has been around longer than any other Indian political party, having been founded in 1885. In the fight for Indian independence from British colonial control, the establishment of the Indian National Congress was a critical factor. The Congress's formation was not, however, without debate. The "safety valve theory" was at the centre of one such debate; this theory proposed that the British established the Congress in order to alleviate the strain of rising Indian nationalism. The purpose of this research is to examine the relationship between the emergence of the Indian National Congress and the concept of a safety valve. The Indian National Congress (INC) is one of India's oldest and most influential political parties, having been instrumental in the country's fight for freedom from British colonial authority. This organisation, known as the Congress, had its origins in the late 19th century, when a group of Indian intellectuals and professionals sought to organise in order to better express their discontent with the British colonial government. In 1885, Indian nationalists banded together to form the Congress in the hopes of bringing about sweeping political and social change in the country. The 'Safety Valve' theory, however, argued that the Congress was formed to unleash the mounting anger among the Indian masses and forestall revolutionary outbreaks. This paper will examine the formation of Indian national congress and the role of safety valve theory.

Women and Nationalism: A Study of Manju Kapur’s Novels

The paper will examine the nationalist perspectives of women in the novels Difficult Daughters and A Married Woman by Manju Kapur. It will also present the issues in the Pre- independence India and post- independence India. The focus is to understand and analyse the representation of women in Indian Nationalism by focusing on the active participation, ideology and resolution of social conflicts in presenting the idea of love for the nation. The embattled narrative of secular nationalism in A Married Woman encourages communal harmony and condemns the ideological entrenchment based on religion. On the other hand Difficult Daughters highlights the elevated and involved role of women as a leader of the freedom movement. It challenges the traditional roles of women and projects women as equal to men . It also magnify the role of single woman Sakuntala ,who seeks to contribute for the nation by refraining from the constructed role of women.

Statistical analysis of push and pull factors of migration: A case study of India

The migration from India with special reference to Bihar has a long history. Slaves from this area were sent to British colonies like Fiji, Mauritius, Guyana, and Suriname as Girmitiya during the British colonial period. During the early years of independent India, many people from this area moved to Calcutta and Assam, Later, in the aftermath of the green revolution, people relocated to the Punjab, Haryana, and the northern states in search of financial prosperity. In the new globalized world, people are either moving to cities like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Kolkata, and Chennai, or to countries in the Gulf. Therefore, it becomes necessary to examine the major cause of migration from the research area towards the Gulf countries. The examination was quantitative and based on samples survey approach. To examine the objective and test the hypothesis, descriptive statistics, Principal component analysis, reliability analysis, and regression analysis were utilized. The study confirms that the push factor plays a significant role in people migrating. The major cause of migration was ‘lack of jobs’, ‘low wages’, ‘poor financial condition’, ‘debt. on the family’, ‘social insecurity’, & ‘social discrimination. Apart from the push factor, a few pull factors such as ‘better employment opportunities’, ‘improved living standard’, ‘personal development’, ‘presence of relatives’ & ‘attractive environment’ also plays a significant role in Gulf migration. The further result reveals that 41% of the migrants moved mainly by push factors, 6% by only push factors, 23% mainly by pull factors, 3% by only pull factors and 27% have chosen both factors as the cause of migration. The study also found that the marital status, age, family type, and religion of migrant workers are significant positive determinants of the length of their stay. On the other hand, the level of education and pre-migration income of migrant workers are significant negative determinants of the length of their stay.

Contemporary National Security Issues In India

National security is indispensable for a country’s survival and growth. Although security has been a complex issue in human history, its complexity has increased in the contemporary period because of technological developments, climate change and various other factors. The complexity of security has led to constant thinking and rethinking about the idea of security, its processes, and dynamics. The security environment in India is highly complex and challenging. It is impacted by the external as well as domestic environment. Since its independence India has faced numerous security threats like cross-border infiltration, terrorism, insurgencies, organized crimes, human trafficking, drug trafficking, the inflow of refugees, interstate disputes, rising intolerance between the castes and religious communities, dwindling economic development, right and left-wing militancy, rising scarcity of water resources, increasing unemployment, corruption, riots between religious communities etc. Other emerging threats include cyber-crimes such as hacking and online attacks, financial fraud, data theft, espionage etc. Given the multiplicity of security challenges that India faces, it is important to investigate the nature and scope of these challenges. This paper focuses on the contemporary challenges to national security and their possible remedy.

India's Withdrawal from RCEP: Understanding India's Independence Amid Trends in Global Economic Dependence

The Indian government withdrew from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), citing the need to protect domestic small businesses. However, critics from liberalist intellectuals argued that India's justification of economic nationalism seemed weak and should not be adopted. This study then adopts a structuralist perspective to understand India's withdrawal and challenges the liberal view that sees it as a missed opportunity. The research question is formulated: amid current criticism of liberal groups against the government's protectionist justification, how does structuralism explain India's withdrawal from RCEP to justify the withdrawal? This essay employs the Dependency Theory, which highlights how RCEP's structure places India in a peripheral position and creates a dependency that threatens India. This article aims to defend the withdrawal of the Indian government and demonstrate the relevance of structuralism which is believed to be increasingly outdated in the theoretical debate between structuralism and liberalism in the Global Political Economy. Keywords: Dependency Theory; Free Trade; India; RCEP; Structuralism Pemerintah India menarik diri dari Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) dengan alasan perlunya melindungi usaha kecil dalam negeri. Namun, justifikasi tersebut menuai kritik dari akademisi liberal yang berpendapat bahwa nasionalisme ekonomi India tampak lemah dan tidak layak diadopsi berdasarkan teori liberal. Kajian ini kemudian mengadopsi perspektif strukturalis untuk memahami penarikan diri India dan menantang pandangan liberal yang melihatnya sebagai peluang yang terlewatkan. Pertanyaan penelitian dirumuskan sebagai berikut: di tengah kritik kelompok liberal saat ini terhadap justifikasi proteksionis pemerintah, bagaimana strukturalisme menjelaskan penarikan India dari RCEP Untuk membenarkan penarikan? Artikel ini menggunakan Teori Ketergantungan, yang menyoroti bagaimana struktur RCEP menempatkan India pada posisi periferi dan menciptakan ketergantungan yang mengancam India. Artikel ini bertujuan untuk membela penarikan pemerintah India dan menunjukkan relevansi strukturalisme yang diyakini semakin usang dalam perdebatan teoretis antara strukturalisme dan liberalisme dalam Ekonomi Politik Global. Kata kunci: India; Pasar Bebas; RCEP; Strukturalisme; Teori Dependensi

Tracing the legacy of peace leadership from an Asian perspective: Mahatma Gandhi, Dalai Lama, and Thich Nhat Hanh

ABSTRACT This paper narrates the concept of Sustainable Peace Leadership and examines how three prominent Peace Activists from South and Southeast Asia measure up to the concept. The article will consider the works and ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi), Lhamo Thondup (The 14th Dalai Lama), and Nguyen Xuan Bao (Thich Nhat Hanh). Mahatma Gandhi was instrumental in achieving Indian independence from the British Empire. The Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of the Tibetan people and has managed a difficult relationship with the Chinese government following the occupation of Tibet. Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, peace activist and is known as the ‘father of mindfulness’. The paper identified several characteristics of Peace Leaders. These include being a charismatic leader who motivates their followers to achieve their goals in a non-violent and inclusive manner. Peace leaders meditate and spend time developing inner peace which then leads to outer peace. The paper also asserts that peace leaders are capable of recognizing the humanity in their opponents and seek a mutually beneficial solution. The three chosen individuals are all recognised as being charismatic leaders who were prominent peace leaders. All were deeply spiritual and practiced meditation and other inner work on a regular basis. They stressed the humanity in their opponents, based on their religious beliefs and the concepts of non-duality and interdependence.

Development of amateur astronomy in independent India with special reference to West Bengal: A historical study

Development of amateur astronomy in independent India with special reference to West Bengal: A historical study

“Once upon a time, there was a freedom fighter called Amma.” Mothers and grandmothers of Rajputana and the Indian freedom movement

The stronghold of patriarchal and feudal restrictions in Rajputana made participation in Indian freedom struggle more difficult for women than in British India. This paper draws from an intimate recollection of varied associations of the author's great-grandmother, Kalavati Devi, with the movement to scrutinize the lack of recognition to women in the history of Indian freedom movement. The paper argues for an intertwined understanding of public participation and domestic roles of women in the light of their nationalist consciousness. The narrative of Kalavati documents her contribution to the nationalist cause beyond her public role to explore whether her role as a wife and a mother can be viewed as part of the nationalist movement. The paper also makes a case for using family memories, oral narratives, and non-formal sources to document political activism of women and bring attention to the domestic sphere in the history of the freedom movement.

ASIAN NEUTRALISM AND THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: HOW TO CHANGE THE BALANCE IN UKRAINE’S FAVOR

The author analyses the evolution of the modern concept of neutralism in international law, as historically practiced by the countries of the Asian region starting from the middle of the 20th century. The Asian region is viewed as the birthplace of foreign policy ideas about neutrality and non-alignment. The bloc confrontation during the Cold War functioned both the source of and the environment for the formation and consolidation of neutrality and non-alignment. These concepts are associated with Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, who proposed the “geopolitical code” of India, which has its roots in the ancient traditions of the Indo-Buddhist civilization. This notion greatly outlived its creator; however, as after his death, the locus of further promoting neutralism shifted to the countries of Southeast Asia. The main ideological core of the consolidation of this subregion was the idea of ​​Asian neutralism and anti-communism. At the same time, neutralism was channeled against active military and political interference in the affairs of the subregion by external states, primarily the USA, the USSR, and China, as well as attempts by them to involve the SEA countries in their conflicts. Evolving from the key concept of the bloc confrontation of the Cold War to neutrality as an important factor in the confrontation between the USA and the PRC in the East Asian region after the end of the Cold War, on today's stage neutralism manifests itself as an important factor in the military confrontation of Ukraine against the Russian aggressor, and in a more global context, the confrontation between global liberal democracy and authoritarianism or totalitarianism.
 The political positions of traditionally neutral (in the sense of the mentioned evolving concept) Asian countries, as well as those that openly declare and consistently maintain a neutral status regarding the Russian-Ukrainian war, are analyzed in detail. A conclusion is made regarding the possibilities of changing the balance of power and “pulling” certain neutral countries to the side of the pro-Ukrainian coalition of states.

Postcolonial History in the Service of Anticolonial Politics: Critical Historiography and National Myth in Contemporary India

The article examines the relationship between the shaping of Indian foreign policy discourse, macro-historical processes that influence the formation of Indian political elites, and the development of historical knowledge about the Indian Ocean region. Its purpose is to ascertain the factors that influenced the specific perception of India’s place in the region by Indian elites and how this perception evolved within the framework of foreign policy discourse. Additionally, the role of historians who have studied the past of the Indian Ocean is explored. The author concludes that the changes in global political discourse following the First World War played a crucial role in shaping the ideas of India’s position in the world among the elites. These elites adopted the stance that the nation-state, with its own industrial base, was the only viable option. From the early stages of independent India, its political elites, influenced by British or Anglicized upbringing and education, rejected the notion of continuity between the new Indian state and the British Raj and the possessions of the East India Company. Instead, they attempted to establish historical continuity with pre-British Indian polities. Indian and foreign historians supported them in this endeavor. The author demonstrates how India’s political elites utilized the findings of scholars to serve their own purposes, selectively adopting suitable historical narratives while discarding others. This process gradually drew the community of historians into the production of discourse. During the leadership of Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, the Mughal Empire received the most attention as the last pre-British Indian polity. However, with the Bharatiya Janata Party coming into power, research on Hindu polities and personalities is now encouraged.