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CSSS organises a seminar by Tanweer Fazal

CSSS organises a seminar by Tanweer Fazal

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CSSS organises a seminar by Tanweer Fazal
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Centre for the Study of Social Systems

School of Social Sciences

 

CSSS Colloquium

 

               TANWEER FAZAL

(Associate Professor, CSSS, JNU)

 

Will be presenting a paper on

 

The Production of ‘Truth’ and the culture of Impunity: State Practices in Times of Collective Violence

 

Date & Time: October 30, 2018 (Tuesday), 3.30 pm

Venue: CSSS Committee Room (No: 13), SSS-II

Abstract: What follows most cases of mass violence is the institution of a riot inquiry commission to ascertain the cause or the trigger, to identify key perpetrators, assess the scale and magnitude, spot administrative lapses and to explore the possibilities of justice. For Blom Hansen, the appointment of a commission serves the state’s sublime functions as opposed to its more profane ones and helps in the restoration of its lost credibility amongst the victims of violence. In this paper, I intend to study the two reports of the Bhagalpur Riots Inquiry Commission, one by the chairperson and the other by the members of the Commission. In October-November, 1989, Bhagalpur, a district town in South-east Bihar, was in the grip of mass violence directed largely against its Muslim populace. The three member Commission of Inquiry was instituted in 1990 to investigate the origins, perpetrators, complicity of the state functionaries and the role of political parties in the carnage. The Commission examined 126 witnesses, found that the riots had engulfed more than 250 villages, and left more than 900 dead. It is interesting to note that despite the commonality of procedure, evidence and witnesses, the Commission ended up submitting two different reports— utterly opposed to each other. With this as the backdrop, the paper quizzes the practices of the state in the process of the making of truth, particularly in conflict situation, the costs at stake and the dynamics of power at play. Ultimately, the truth so produced serves to extend impunity to the perpetrators and the complicit officials.

Bio: Dr. Tanweer Fazal is Associate Professor at Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a political sociologist, he specializes in sociology of nationalism(s), community formation and identifications with specific focus on their implications on discourse of rights and entitlements.  He is the author of Nation-state’ and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities, published by Routledge (London), 2015 and Minority Nationalisms in South Asia (ed.), Routledge(London), 2012. In addition, he has edited special issues of journals, South Asia History and Culture (2012), Seminar (2016) and Indian Anthropologist (2017).       Email: fazaltanweer@yahoo.co.in

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.