Papers by Samir Sharma
India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs
At a time when the push towards a ‘decoupling’ from China has gained significant traction, debate... more At a time when the push towards a ‘decoupling’ from China has gained significant traction, debates with regard to the favourability of the conditions of China–Nepal engagement within the BRI framework acquire significance. Despite being signed in 2017, it remains to be seen whether the ‘terms’ of the BRI framework has positive consequences for Nepal or not. Against this backdrop, and through a discussion of the larger contours of (under)development in Nepal, Nepal–China relations and perceptions of India, we argue that BRI in Nepal indicates an attempt to reframe Nepal’s geo-strategic position. This assertion undergirds the pivotal role of polyamorous cooperation envisioned by Nepal—both in the context of Sino-India relations and in staking its agency towards an ‘independent’ foreign policy. However, this attempt, we argue, will be constrained by the concrete, unresolved issues of BRI investments in Nepal as well as by the larger power (im)balances.
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India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 2023
Regional demands for statehood in India have had an aspiration towards a "nationalization" of the... more Regional demands for statehood in India have had an aspiration towards a "nationalization" of their issues in the hopes of accommodation. In the case of the Gorkhaland movement for separate statehood in northern West Bengal, the competition among regional forces to occupy and share a "national political space" from the "margins" has fuelled the increasing employment of debates regarding international treaty obligations. While there are numerous factors that are the causes of regional political mobilization, the demand for the abrogation of Article VII of the India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1950) reciprocity clause) has nevertheless remained as one of its central themes. This symbolizes an accentuation in the "anxieties" of citizenship and "belonging" to the nation. Examining these amidst the important issues relating to unsuccessful invocations from Nepal for a "Brihat Nepal" (Greater Nepal), and the constitution of the Eminent Persons Group for India-Nepal relations, the paper concludes that there will not be any radical change in the status quo of India"s international treaty obligations with Nepal despite repeated demands by regional actors in India. This is indicated in an elusive "permanent political solution" declared by the ruling party in India as a response to the regional political mobilization that will possibly depart from the debates that invoke and demand transformations to India"s treaty obligations with Nepal.
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Studies in Nepali History and Society, 2022
In the contemporary period the employment of digital technologies has transformed the manners of ... more In the contemporary period the employment of digital technologies has transformed the manners of communications, interactions and participations seen in the formation of "virtual publics". Further, in the context of the production of knowledge, these transformations posit the possibility of new "archives" as "sites" which can be recovered through "virtual ethnography". Through a contextualization of the Darjeeling Hills in general and the Gorkhaland movement in particular, the paper attempts to illustrate interventions in the socio-political imageries of the region through digital technologies such as reality television, internet and other social media platforms. The virtual public space enabled by these technologies has emerged, this paper argues, as a new and a significant alternative archive not only for the recovery of the metaphors of memory, pain, shared identity and political belonging in the Darjeeling Hills, but also to recognize the "everyday" virtual interactions as contested sites of knowledge production. The paper ends with a discussion on the formation of a long-distance ethnicity along with identification of the limits of the virtual public space in the realization of a common political identity and the constitution of a "public sphere".
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India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 2022
At a time when the push towards a ‘decoupling’ from China has gained significant traction, debate... more At a time when the push towards a ‘decoupling’ from China has gained significant traction, debates with regard to the favourability of the conditions of China–Nepal engagement within the BRI framework acquire significance. Despite being signed in 2017, it remains to be seen whether the ‘terms’ of the BRI framework result in egalitarian consequences for Nepal or not. Against this backdrop, and through a discussion of the larger contours of (under)development in Nepal, Nepal–China relations and perceptions of India, we argue that BRI in Nepal indicates an attempt to reframe Nepal’s geo-strategic position. This assertion undergirds the pivotal role of polyamorous cooperation envisioned by Nepal—both in the context of Sino-India relations and in staking its agency towards an ‘independent’ foreign policy. However, this attempt, we argue, will be constrained by the concrete, unresolved issues of BRI investments in Nepal as well as by the larger power (im)balances.
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Aravind Yelery & M. Nile (Eds.) Tailspin: The Politics of India China Economic Relations, 2021
Multinational Prospects and Bilateral Challenges in the case of BCIM Economic Corridor
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Dialogue Quarterly, 2020
Traces the Contemporary Changing Contours of Regionalism in North Bengal
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Café Dissensus, 2015
Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri regions have witnessed agitations and movements for a variety of claims... more Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri regions have witnessed agitations and movements for a variety of claims that range from separate statehood, non-territorial autonomy, and sub-federal territorial institutional arrangements to Sixth Schedule. Such developments have given rise to claims and counter-claims by various political groups where massive political mobilizations of various groups are observed, which in some cases have also turned violent. Real or imagined notions of community, identity, inclusion-exclusion and development have played an important part through which these movements/mobilizations are sustained, revived or even created. These developments have raised new questions on issues of territoriality, citizenship, autonomy, the need for a second internal reorganization of India, the manner of accommodation and the management of various diversities. It is with such a background in mind that the present essay seeks to examine these areas and the issues within them.
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The proposed BCIM EC can be seen as an opportunity for India to develop the regions of Northeast
... more The proposed BCIM EC can be seen as an opportunity for India to develop the regions of Northeast
as well as those areas located in North Bengal (NB). Existing literature on the subject shows that
the proposed EC, the Indian component of which runs through select areas in the Northeast as well
as southern parts of West Bengal, has a great potential to transform the ‘sub-region’ whose
development has been hampered due to various reasons. Taking cue from this, the present study
examines the border regions of West Bengal and the North Bengal region. The objective of such a
study is to find out the nature of disadvantages and see if some of it could possibly be addressed
by the proposed EC. For that the paper argues that the prospect of including the North Bengal
region into the EC (preferably as an arterial corridor) is welcome as it can serve the twin
objectives of firmly linking NB to Northeast as well as to address (and provide)the much needed
impetus for the development of border districts.
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Working Paper Series, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi, 2014
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Deconstructing the Stereotype: Reconsidering Indian Culture, Literature and Cinema, Kaustav Chakraborty (ed.), nchor Academic Publishing, Hamburg (Germany) , 2014
This paper identifies a central problem which unfolds, it will be argued, when a ‘differentiated’... more This paper identifies a central problem which unfolds, it will be argued, when a ‘differentiated’ notion of citizenship is sought to be practiced through the means of 'asymmetric' federalism'. This is observed when on the one hand contemporary literature on citizenship emphasizes the need to transcend statist and formal-legal notions, while on the other hand, the writings on the application of (asymmetric) federalism, though devoting itself towards a continuing attempt to recognize and manage 'contextualized' differences (that arise out of various diversities), also simultaneously retains the overarching framework which is conceived mostly in terms of a 'national polity', which for all practical purposes is sought to be represented by the 'state'. It is this problem, the paper will seek to show, that gives rise to the various issues and debates related to the rights of women in minority groups and migrants in Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya (India).
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Book Reviews by Samir Sharma
Book Review
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Books by Samir Sharma
Alka Acharya (Eds.) Boundaries and Borderlands: A Century after the 1914 Simla Convention, 2022
This chapter examines the moments in the polities of India and China, wherein sources of the idea... more This chapter examines the moments in the polities of India and China, wherein sources of the ideas of ‘territoriality’ are seen in the multiple and contesting imaginations of sovereignties, homelands and regions by what we now understand as ‘minorities’. One such moment is represented by the historic Simla Agreement of 1914 and the Inner Line Regulations – both mediated through the mechanisms of a colonial power in the two polities. Colonial modernity engaged in cartographic exercises that sought to order, map, and regulate ‘civilizational spaces’, taking the form of fixed borders. Taking this as backdrop, the chapter moves to examine a selection of ‘contemporary’ issues with regard to minorities, to argue that the ‘historical’ and the ‘contemporary’ are of an intersecting nature, rather than dichotomous and linear. This is also sought to be reflected in the conceptualization of minorities.
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Conference Presentations by Samir Sharma
National Seminar: Minorities in North East India: Process of Inclusion and Development of Minorities in North East India, 2014
This study is an attempt to conceptually examine the various issues concerning the region of
Nor... more This study is an attempt to conceptually examine the various issues concerning the region of
Northeast India via the idea of social justice. In doing so the paper has been divided into six
thematic sections. Section I will lay down the organising principles of the paper along with the
appropriate conceptual framework which I think will help us capture the complexities of the region.
Rather than concepts of ‗ethnicity‘ or ‗identity‘ which has led to a rigid and territorial understanding
of rights in the Northeast region, this paper will begin with a conception of justice which, I argue,
will not lead us down a slippery slope of fixing fluid identities. Such an understanding will also not
be mired in the murky waters of either the ‗majority-minority‘ framework or the ‗minority-withinminorities‘ framework. In this manner an attempt can be made to successfully develop an inclusive
conception needed to examining the region
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International Conference on Archaeology, History and Cultural Studies, 2016
The enacting of the July 2008 Constitution of Bhutan is a landmark-not only in terms of the polit... more The enacting of the July 2008 Constitution of Bhutan is a landmark-not only in terms of the political history of the Bhutanese people, but also towards an illustration indicating a healthy trend for the cause of South Asian democracy. Much of literature on democracy in South Asia focuses, rather disproportionately, on the Indian experience of constitutional democracy. This paper departs from that trend and seeks to examine Bhutanese democracy through the register of culture and spirituality as expounded in the Bhutanese Constitution. Thus, the registers of culture and spirituality become important in understanding the Constitution. The paper argues that constitutions are not just texts but reflections of the "lived experience" of the people and as such, priority must be placed not only on what is obvious and tangible, but also on what is implicit and inarticulate. For this purpose, a discourse analysis of the most important document of Bhutanese democracy i.e the Constitution will be undertaken. This will be supplemented by taking recourse to the concept of intertextuality (Kristeva, 1980) which argues for cognizance of historical and social determinants that are themselves seen as crucial in the writing of the text. In other words, they must also be viewed as political texts that emerge out of the contestations in the larger Bhutanese polity.
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Papers by Samir Sharma
as well as those areas located in North Bengal (NB). Existing literature on the subject shows that
the proposed EC, the Indian component of which runs through select areas in the Northeast as well
as southern parts of West Bengal, has a great potential to transform the ‘sub-region’ whose
development has been hampered due to various reasons. Taking cue from this, the present study
examines the border regions of West Bengal and the North Bengal region. The objective of such a
study is to find out the nature of disadvantages and see if some of it could possibly be addressed
by the proposed EC. For that the paper argues that the prospect of including the North Bengal
region into the EC (preferably as an arterial corridor) is welcome as it can serve the twin
objectives of firmly linking NB to Northeast as well as to address (and provide)the much needed
impetus for the development of border districts.
Book Reviews by Samir Sharma
Books by Samir Sharma
Conference Presentations by Samir Sharma
Northeast India via the idea of social justice. In doing so the paper has been divided into six
thematic sections. Section I will lay down the organising principles of the paper along with the
appropriate conceptual framework which I think will help us capture the complexities of the region.
Rather than concepts of ‗ethnicity‘ or ‗identity‘ which has led to a rigid and territorial understanding
of rights in the Northeast region, this paper will begin with a conception of justice which, I argue,
will not lead us down a slippery slope of fixing fluid identities. Such an understanding will also not
be mired in the murky waters of either the ‗majority-minority‘ framework or the ‗minority-withinminorities‘ framework. In this manner an attempt can be made to successfully develop an inclusive
conception needed to examining the region
as well as those areas located in North Bengal (NB). Existing literature on the subject shows that
the proposed EC, the Indian component of which runs through select areas in the Northeast as well
as southern parts of West Bengal, has a great potential to transform the ‘sub-region’ whose
development has been hampered due to various reasons. Taking cue from this, the present study
examines the border regions of West Bengal and the North Bengal region. The objective of such a
study is to find out the nature of disadvantages and see if some of it could possibly be addressed
by the proposed EC. For that the paper argues that the prospect of including the North Bengal
region into the EC (preferably as an arterial corridor) is welcome as it can serve the twin
objectives of firmly linking NB to Northeast as well as to address (and provide)the much needed
impetus for the development of border districts.
Northeast India via the idea of social justice. In doing so the paper has been divided into six
thematic sections. Section I will lay down the organising principles of the paper along with the
appropriate conceptual framework which I think will help us capture the complexities of the region.
Rather than concepts of ‗ethnicity‘ or ‗identity‘ which has led to a rigid and territorial understanding
of rights in the Northeast region, this paper will begin with a conception of justice which, I argue,
will not lead us down a slippery slope of fixing fluid identities. Such an understanding will also not
be mired in the murky waters of either the ‗majority-minority‘ framework or the ‗minority-withinminorities‘ framework. In this manner an attempt can be made to successfully develop an inclusive
conception needed to examining the region