Ambiguities of Sovereignty: Politics of Peace in Northeast India

CASI Seminar
Sanjib Baruah
Professor of Political Studies, Bard College
Center for the Advanced Study of India
3600 Market Street, Suite 560 (5th floor)
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104

About the Speaker:
Sanjib Baruah is a Professor of Political Studies, Bard College, and Honorary Research Professor, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. His publications include: India Against Itself: Assam and the Politics of Nationality (University of Pennsylvania Press), Durable Disorder: Understanding the Politics of Northeast India (Oxford University Press), and the edited volume Beyond Counterinsurgency: Breaking the Impasse in Northeast India (Oxford University Press). His op-ed columns appear in various Indian newspapers and magazines.

About the Lecture:
In August 2015, leaders of the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagalim (I-M) and representatives of the Government of India signed a preliminary peace agreement. Very few details of this "framework agreement" are known. But there are indications that some version of the phrase "shared sovereignty" would appear in the final agreement. Professor Baruah will draw out the possible meaning of the phrase and its implications, based on public statements by key players. "Shared sovereignty," he argues, could have a more-than-symbolic meaning in this context. Without an international personhood element, it is expected that the Indian public would find the phrase acceptable, or wouldn't pay it much attention. However, the development has substantial implications for domestic sovereignty, i.e., the organization of political authority in the region.

[Event Flyer]

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.