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| 1 |
ID:
178427
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the emergence of the neo-Taliban and its encroachment in non-Pashtun regions after the debacle of the old Taliban following the post 9/11 US-led NATO intervention in Afghanistan. It seeks to understand what aspirations drive the neo-Taliban and how they have reframed their ideology after 2001, leading to growing acceptance of a future role for the neo-Taliban in Afghanistan, while foreign-led counterinsurgency seems to fail. The article argues that due to the extremely fractious nature and continuing precariousness of the Afghan political climate, the neo-Taliban could emerge as a formidable power, with an agenda of bringing peace and stability to the entire ‘Af-Pak’ region. However, to what extent the neo-Taliban may be successful in countering widely held perceptions that it is a Pashtun nationalist movement, antagonistic to women, dissent and minorities, remains part of the challenging puzzle, as much for analysts as for the movement itself, which is not trusted in terms of delivering good governance in Afghanistan.
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| 2 |
ID:
178425
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This article seeks to decolonise knowledge of the conventional history of Dalits’ Christian conversion and its implications in colonial Kerala. As the missionary archive is the only source of Dalit Christian history writing in Kerala, in this historiography social historians have been unable to include the memories of Protestant missionary work at the local level by the local people themselves. Their experiences and rich accounts are marked by dramatic actions to gain socio-economic freedom and to establish a safe environment with the scope for future development. This article identifies how Dalit Christians themselves, in a specific locality, remember their conversion history, suggesting thereby the scope for a valuable addition to the archive.
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| 3 |
ID:
178426
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Drawing on the latest round of elections to Panchayati Raj Institutions in the state of Haryana in 2016, this article interrogates the substantial increase in the number of Dalit women representatives, based on fieldwork in a specific village. Since both Dalit and non-Dalit women present narratives of non-participation in the functioning of the village panchayat, it is argued that the increase in Dalit women representatives was not by design, but by default, due to an amendment of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act 2015. Overall, in the studied village, women continue to remain marginalised in the local representative bodies, and gender-based quotas have only ensured numerical visibility of women.
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| 4 |
ID:
178424
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines changes in the death rituals performed among Hindu Nadars in a South Indian village. It emphasises the importance of understanding ritual changes within their specific micro-level local contextual framework, including changing social structures at household and village level. This empirical evidence showcases how changing rituals connected to death reflect various adaptations through imitation, substitution and alteration of specific ritual elements and performants. It also identifies emerging class distinctions among Nadars and their connection with changes in rituals associated with death. This analysis of the changes depicts how Nadars use ritual actions in pragmatic ways, symbolically expressing and realising their aspirations for status enhancement through such ritual performances.
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| 5 |
ID:
178428
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| Summary/Abstract |
This article examines the nexus between financial inclusion index and economic growth in all eight South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries, using annual data from 2004 to 2017. In order to determine the possible long-run relationship between these variables, the study adopted the Pedroni panel co-integration test and two types of co-integration regression methods, the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and the Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) methods. The Pedroni panel co-integration test confirms the existence of a long-run relationship between financial inclusion and economic growth in the SAARC countries. The coefficients of FMOLS and DOLS indicate that the index of financial inclusion and selected control variables together support economic growth. In addition, the Granger causality test confirmed bi-directional causality between FI and economic growth.
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| 6 |
ID:
178429
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This article challenges the false dichotomy, created in much of the existing historical and political analysis concerning the welfare programmes for ‘Harijans’ as put forward by Gandhi and Ambedkar, claiming that Ambedkar’s proposals were more progressive than Gandhi’s approach. The article draws on a detailed letter written by Ambedkar in 1932, proposing a programme of action that the Harijan Sevak Sangh should undertake for the welfare of ‘Harijans’. It compares this with the Constitution of the Harijan Sevak Sangh, drafted by Gandhi himself, to argue that the programmes of these two leaders actually show significant similarities in their intent and content concerning welfare measures for uplifting ‘Harijans’ in India, but seem to differ regarding strategies.
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| 7 |
ID:
178430
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Despite poverty being a multi-dimensional concept, binary poor/non-poor classifications and money-metric poverty measures remain prominent in calculating official poverty figures. This article highlights that conventional two-way poverty classifications ignore the huge disparities within ‘poor’ and ‘non-poor’ groups. The study thus argues for a new approach in the context of Sri Lanka to recognise four poverty types, namely ‘extremely poor’, ‘poor’, ‘vulnerable non-poor’ and ‘non-poor’, along with calculations of poverty incidence based on these new criteria. This allows for the development of policies to alleviate poverty in general, while paying special attention to the ‘vulnerable non-poor’ category, which has not been addressed in most development policies.
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| 8 |
ID:
178423
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| Summary/Abstract |
Following Roger Ballard’s sudden and untimely death, at a time when only a few of us could assemble to remember him, it was decided to put together a compilation of brief tributes from colleagues who worked with or were once taught by him. This also provides insights into his significant role in South Asian Studies in Britain and elsewhere. We begin with a picture (which truly is worth a thousand words) of Roger as a young man in 1964, annotated by his sister, Sylvia:
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