Territory, Soil and Society in South Asia

Territory, Soil and Society in South Asia

By- Daniela Berti and Gilles Tarabout (eds.)

This volume tackles a widespread stereotype in academic studies, according to which pre-colonial India consisted of territorial units with ill defined, fuzzy boundaries, and where territory had, and still has, little value as a cognitive category. In aiming to reconsider this perspective, the book follows two converging lines of enquiry. One explores the conceptions that stress the mutual determination of places and people, and the entrenchment of their identity in the soil. The other analyses historically and anthropologically the changing nature of the notion of territory, understood in its proper sense of a jurisdiction: an area where rights and power are exercised.

The investigation starts from the devaluation of religious territory in Vedic ritual texts, checks later developments of divine territories in relation to temples, details various types of ‘traditional’ jurisdictions, and ends up with an analysis of recent ethnicization of the Nation as shown in Hindutva produced videos. The book combines a diversity of sources (ethnographical, archival, textual and inscriptions), used by an international team of authors trained in different disciplines (Indology, history of religion, social anthropology). These approaches provide contrasting pictures of the plural conceptions and symbolic manipulations of territory in the Indian world from early times to the present day. The studies invite a comparison with other societies, based on the recognition of the historicity and plurality of territorial organizations that are at the core of human relationships.

Daniela Berti, a social anthropologist at the CNRS (Paris), has carried out fieldwork in Himachal Pradesh on rituals, on religion and local politics, and on the local entrenchment of Hindutva. She is currently leading an international project on judicial interactions.

Gilles Tarabout, a social anthropologist at the CNRS (Paris), has specialized in the study of Kerala’s society. He has co-edited volumes on violence and non-violence, religious mediumship, conceptions of the body, Islam and Christianity, transformations of rituals, conflicts and constitutionalism.

ISBN  978-81-7304-782-4    2009   380p.   Rs.950/ pounds 55

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Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation

Surrender at Dacca: Birth of a Nation

By- Lt. Gen. J.F.R. Jacob

The campaign for the liberation of Bangladesh was short and swift, spread over some thirteen campaign days, conducted in riverine terrain highly suitable for defence.

The author describes events leading to the creation of Bangladesh, beginning with the Pakistan Army’s crackdown in East Pakistan on 26 March 1971, to the outbreak of full scale war following the Pakistani bombing of Indian airfields in the west on the evening of 3 December 1971 and the subsequent military operations leading to the surrender of Pakistan Eastern Command.

Outlining the evolution of the strategy for the campaign, he details the selection of thrust lines using subsidiary dirt tracks that bypassed centers of resistance and opened up axes of maintenance later. The objectives selected were communication centers in relation to the geopolitical heart—Dacca. A concise account of the execution of the campaign is given. He highlights the role of the Mukti Bahini and the great contribution they made towards the liberation of their country. He describes the pressures exerted at the Security Council and the pro-Pakistani stance of China and the United States as well as giving a first hand account of
the negotiations and the signing of the Instrument of Surrender.

The author draws lessons from the political and military aspects of the campaign and highlights the lack of clear directives both political and military and the adhoc higher command set up for war. The lessons of 1971 have yet to be learnt. This book will be of interest to general public, armed forces, staff and war colleges and all those concerned with the business of war.

Lt. Gen. Jack Jacob was born in Calcutta and commissioned into the Indian Artillery in June 1942. He saw active service with his regiment during World War II in the Middle East, Burma and later in Sumatra.

ISBN  81-7304-189-X                2011   264p.   Rs.450/ pounds 45

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Situating Federalism: Mechanisms of Intergovernmental Relations in Canada and India

Situating Federalism: Mechanisms of Intergovernmental Relations in Canada and India

By- Rekha Saxena

Canada in 1867 and India in 1950 adopted constitutions broadly similar in principle to the Westminster model prevalent in England but with the modification that they added on to a parliamentary framework of a federal component. Federalism created at least two orders of governments at the union and state levels with shared and demarcated jurisdictions. This feature of the governments in the two countries entailed the necessity of mechanisms of intergovernmental relations for negotiations, policy formulation, and political settlement of intergovernmental disputes. Initially less problematic in both countries, federal-provincial relations in Canada and union-state relations in India have become increasingly important with the growing federalization/regionalization in Canada since the post-World War II era and in India since the 1980s, especially 1990s.

This is the first book-length work on intergovernmental relations in India and Canada in a comparative perspective.

Rekha Saxena teahcers Political Science in Janaki Devi Memorial College, University of Delhi. She was awarded Shashtri-Indo Canadian Institute’s Doctoral (1999-2000) and Faculty Research Fellowship (2003) to visit Canada where she was affiliated with the Department of Political Studies and Institute of Intergovernmental Relations at the Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

ISBN  81-7304-676-X    2006   356p.   Rs.795/ pounds 55

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