The Research Frontline – Journal (TRF-J) is a peer-reviewed, quarterly, online, and open-access academic journal, published by the Allahabad Academic Press, Prayagraj. The journal provides an inclusive and credible platform for academics, independent researchers, policy practitioners, early-career scholars, and public intellectuals to engage with contemporary issues of governance, economy, culture, society, and global affairs through high-quality research and analytical writing. At its core, TRF-J is committed to addressing persistent structural gaps within India’s research and policy ecosystem. Many existing academic journals remain constrained by high article processing charges (APCs), limited thematic scope, or prolonged publication timelines that often diminish the contemporary relevance of scholarly work. TRF-J aspires to counter these challenges by maintaining rigorous peer-review standards, ensuring transparent and efficient editorial processes, and promoting free and unrestricted access to knowledge that carries both scholarly merit and public value.
Turkey’s Syria Policy Since 2011: Intervention, Diplomacy and Strategic Transformation
Since 2011, Turkey has emerged as one of the important external actors in the Syrian conflict, influencing its military, political, and geopolitical trajectory. But at the same time Syrian conflict had a significant impact on Turkey. This paper analysis Turkey's multidimensional involvement in Syria through five interrelated dimensions. It first examines the Turkey's early diplomatic and political engagements in the early phases of Syrian uprising from 2011-2014. After that, the study analyses at how Turkey's military policy has changed especially with regard to its cross-border operations in northern Syria. It further examines that how Turkey managed the Syrian refugee crisis and the domestic socio-economic and political repercussions arising from it. The paper also assesses Turkey's diplomatic balancing within the Astana Peace Process. Finally, it examines Turkey's growing influence in Post-Assad Syria after the collapse of Assad regime in December 2024. Turkey’s Syria policy reflects a process of strategic adaptation influenced by changing regional dynamics, security concerns and geopolitical rivalry. Although Due to Turkey's involvement in Syrian crisis it suffered some substantial military, political and economic costs. But due to Ankara's intervention ultimately allowed Turkey to solidify its strategic dominance in northern Syria and establish itself a main actor in the formation of post Assad Syria. The paper concludes by examining the prospects and challenges Turkey faces in Post Assad Syria, along with assessing the broader impact of the Syrian crisis for Turkey's role in the region.
Turkey, Kurdish issue, Syrian Crisis, Syrian refugees, post-Assad Syria, Astana Process, military intervention
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Echoes of Empire: Analyzing British Colonial Legal Remnants in the Indian Subcontinent and Pathways to Progressive Reform
This paper critically assesses the survival of British colonial laws in the Indian subcontinent, focusing on Bangladesh, and their ongoing impact on criminal justice, civil procedure, gender justice, victim protection, and administrative law. Through doctrinal and comparative legal analysis, the paper examines the role of core statutes like the Penal Code 1860, the Police Act 1861, the Criminal Procedure Code 1898, the Civil Procedure Code 1908, and the Evidence Act 1872 in shaping postcolonial legal systems in a manner that often runs counter to constitutional and contemporary human rights standards. The paper contends that these legacies were crafted to perpetuate colonial governance rather than ensure justice, and that their unquestioned persistence has resulted in structural inefficiencies, police and executive oversight, slow procedural processes, and inequitable justice outcomes, especially in relation to gender justice and victim-sensitive justice. Through comparative insights from India, South Africa, Malaysia, Nepal, and the Philippines, the article demonstrates that decolonization demands not only refocusing legislation but also reforming institutions, repealing or revising laws, digitizing procedures, and establishing a legal reform commission. This study concludes by suggesting a reform agenda for Bangladesh, to include a Legal Reform Commission, subject-matter expert committees, enhanced victim compensation and witness protection mechanisms, and a more "locally sensitive" legal order rooted in the local constitutional and social context.
Colonial Jurisprudence, Bangladesh Legal Reform, Decolonization of Law, Comparative Constitutionalism, Human Rights and Legal Culture
Strategic Autonomy, Energy Security, and India’s West Asia Policy: Diplomatic Balancing amid the Iran–Israel–US Conflict
The intensifying geopolitical tensions involving Iran, Israel, and the United States have significantly reshaped the strategic landscape of West Asia, creating complex political, economic, and security challenges for emerging powers such as India. “India depends on West Asia for over 50 percent of its crude oil imports and maintains deep trade and diaspora linkages with the region, making regional stability central to its strategic interests” (Anas 2021, 63; Ahmad 2014, 28). The ongoing crisis has heightened concerns relating to energy security, maritime trade disruptions, and economic vulnerability, compelling India to recalibrate its diplomatic engagement in an increasingly volatile geopolitical environment. This paper examines India’s evolving West Asia policy through the frameworks of strategic autonomy, energy security, connectivity politics, and multipolar diplomacy in the context of the Iran-Israel-US conflict. Particular attention is given to the IMEC–INSTC connectivity competition, Red Sea maritime disruptions, and the growing significance of BRICS+ in regional diplomacy. The study adopts a qualitative policy-analysis approach based on official statements, policy documents, geopolitical assessments, and contemporary secondary literature. The paper argues that India is gradually moving beyond conventional non-alignment towards a pragmatic model of multi-aligned diplomacy characterised by strategic flexibility and calibrated engagement with competing powers. The findings suggest that India’s contemporary West Asia policy increasingly reflects broader ambitions relating to maritime security, geo-economic connectivity, and strategic influence within an evolving multipolar order.
Strategic Autonomy, Energy Security, West Asia, India’s Foreign Policy, Multipolar Diplomacy, Geopolitical Realignment
The Discursive Construction of AI Fears and Governmentality
This paper looks at AI tools and technologies as sociotechnical imaginaries. The term SI signals that technological developments are co-constructed by technical, design and political actors. This paper argues that this hegemonic truth in contemporary AI discourses is that development happens by default, and national capitalists should define the trajectory of this development. To do so, this paper analyses the AI solutionist tendencies of national governments and corporate actors and how they cause AI fears and anxiety in the Indian citizenry. This paper suggested moving from AI solutionism to AI democratization by adopting Small AI models over general-purpose AI. Overall, this paper analyses the role of ideas, discourse, and institutions in the AI governance policy landscape and contextualises AI technology development, regulation, and governance to reveal the impact of AI discourse on governmentality and individual liberties. Recognising the discursive nature of AI governance opens new possibilities for critique and transformation. The theoretical approach of this paper involves contextualising the Western frameworks adopted to frame the arguments on AI imaginaries and AI democratisation. While the methodological approach involves a qualitative analysis of governmental and non-governmental policy documents concerning AI, popular English language newspapers and magazines, and digital social-political commentaries on AI futures.
Beyond Proxy War: Local Actors and The Transformation of Sovereignty in Yemen
The conflict in Yemen has fundamentally reshaped the meaning and practice of sovereignty through the increased role of non-state actors. A plethora of existing scholarship frames the Yemen conflict as a proxy war dominated by the Houthis and the Saudi-supported coalition. But this perspective underscores the critical role played by other non-state actors, particularly the Southern Transition Council (STC), tribal networks and localised militias. This paper argues that sovereignty in Yemen has become fragmented and spatially differentiated, and the state no longer enjoys a monopoly over legitimate authority. The paper draws its theoretical framework from Max Weber and Charles Tilly and conceptualises sovereignty not as a rigid attribute of the state but as an evolving and contesting process influenced by conflict dynamics. Methodologically, the paper employs a qualitative approach and relies on secondary data sources. It analyses how the non-state actors in Yemen perform core state functions, including security, territorial control, and dispute settlement. For instance, the STC functions as a proto-state authority in Yemen, while the militias exercise localised authority that challenges the centralised state apparatus. The paper also demonstrates that this fragmented authority creates a hybrid system of governance with overlapping jurisdiction and competing claims to legitimacy. This power configuration intensifies peace-making efforts, as multiple actors reduce the possibility of a consolidated political settlement. Therefore, the Yemen conflict highlights the lack of a state-centric framework in understanding intra-state conflicts and calls for a reconceptualisation of sovereignty that explains the growing importance of non-state actors in conflict-affected states
Sovereignty, Fragmentation, Houthis, Legitimacy, Civil War
Income Inequality and Life Satisfaction: A Comparative Study of India and Sweden
The pursuit of economic growth has traditionally been viewed as the main tool for the promotion of well-being of humans. Nonetheless, numerous decades of data have shown that when there is growth but no equal distribution, well-being does not improve for most individuals. This paper seeks to analyse the link between income inequality and well-being by conducting a comparative analysis of India and Sweden. There are various reasons why these two countries would be a good subject for analysis. India is a developing country that is experiencing rapid economic growth but with a significant level of structural inequality and an informal labour market. Based on information obtained from the World Happiness Report, the World Inequality Database, the World Values Survey, and World Bank Development Indicators, the article claims that the negative impacts of income inequality on life satisfaction occur through three different but connected mechanisms: relative deprivation because of social comparison, the deprivation of basic capabilities by virtue of lack of equal access to state organisations, and the deterioration of trust in the government and the state system. Notably, however, such outcomes are not predetermined. As illustrated by the example of Sweden, effective redistribution mechanisms, comprehensive social security, and good-quality public services can mitigate the impacts of income inequality. This paper is based on Amartya Sen's Capabilities Approach, the Easterlin paradox, and Richard Layard's political economy of happiness theory. These results can be applied to current issues regarding economics and development, governance and politics, and post-colonial views on inequality in the Global South.
Educational and Medical Institutes in Colonial Agra as Sites of Global Knowledge Production
The colonial period marked a decisive phase in the historical evolution of Agra. Once the imperial capital of the Mughal Empire, Agra underwent profound political, social, educational and architectural transformations under British rule between 1803 and 1947. The establishment of colonial administration, military cantonments, educational institutions, missionary centres, hospitals, municipal bodies and civic infrastructure reshaped the city into an important administrative and intellectual centre of northern India. At the same time, Agra also emerged as a significant site of anti-colonial resistance, revolutionary activity and nationalist mobilisation. This study examines the transformation of colonial Agra with special emphasis on its educational institutions, medical infrastructure, municipal administration and urban development under British rule. The paper analyses the transition from Mughal and Maratha authority to colonial governance and explores the role of missionary organisations, educational institutions and public health systems in restructuring urban society. It further highlights the expansion of professional education, women’s medical training and municipal governance within the wider framework of colonial modernity. The study is based upon both primary and secondary sources, including administrative reports, municipal proceedings, gazetteers, missionary records and institutional histories. Through an examination of institutions such as Agra College, St. John’s College, Raja Balwant Singh College, Agra Medical School and Agra University, the paper demonstrates how colonial educational and medical institutions functioned as important sites of global knowledge production and dissemination. The research argues that colonial Agra represented a complex interaction between imperial authority, indigenous society, missionary enterprise and emerging nationalist consciousness.
Colonial Agra, educational institutions, medical education, missionary activity, municipal governance, urban history, Agra University, colonial medicine, public health, global knowledge production
: Colonial Agra, educational institutions, medical education, missionary activity, municipal governance, urban history, Agra University, colonial medicine, public health, global knowledge production.
Recalibrating Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific: Security Statecraft in a Changing Geopolitical Environment.
In an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific environment, Japan’s Free and Open Indo-Pacific Strategy (FOIP) holds major relevance with its framework linking a normative regional vision to concrete security practices. Existing scholarship has largely interpreted FOIP as a diplomatic and inclusive vision for regional order or as a strategic response to China’s rise and intensifying power competition. Yet, altogether, it seems not to fully explain how FOIP has evolved into a more operational framework of Japanese security statecraft. Drawing on neoclassical realism, the study argues that worsening geopolitical pressures have been filtered through domestic legal constraints, institutional, and alliance commitments, resulting in a gradual but significant recalibration of policy. Employing the concept of tactical hedging, it further explains how Japan has maintained FOIP’s inclusive and rules-based rhetoric while deepening practical security cooperation. It highlights the 2022 Three Security Documents, the introduction of Official Security Assistance (OSA), and the relaxation of defence export rules as key instruments through which FOIP has been operationalized. The study contributes to the literature by bridging the gap between FOIP as a normative character versus strategic intent and the concrete mechanisms through which Japan operationalizes its evolving regional posture. In doing so, it shows that contemporary FOIP is best understood as being operationalized through security instruments while retaining its normative and inclusive rhetoric.
State Vs Platforms: Rethinking Who Governs the Digital Public Sphere
In India, a WhatsApp rumour has ended lives. A tweet has triggered a sedition case. And a government order has made Twitter briefly vanish from millions of screens. These are not anomalies — they are symptoms of a deeper, unresolved question: in the world's largest democracy, who truly governs what people can say, see, and share online? This paper examines the tense and often contradictory relationship between the Indian state and digital platforms in shaping the country's public sphere. From the IT Rules of 2021 to repeated internet shutdowns in Kashmir, and from Meta's content moderation failures during communal violence to the rise of WhatsApp as a primary news source for hundreds of millions — India offers a uniquely complex laboratory for understanding how platform power and state authority collide, overlap, and occasionally collude. The paper argues that neither unchecked state regulation nor unaccountable platform self-governance is adequate for a society as linguistically diverse, politically charged, and digitally unequal as India. What is needed is a governance model rooted in constitutional values — one that protects free expression, holds platforms to public interest standards, and ensures that ordinary citizens, not just governments or corporations, have a meaningful voice in the rules that shape their digital lives.
Platform Governance, Digital Public Sphere, Content Moderation
Islamic Feminism in India: Reinterpreting Muslim Personal Law through Faith-Based Gender Justice
This paper examines Islamic feminism as a faith-based paradigm for pursuing gender justice within the framework of Muslim Personal Law (MPL) in India. Situated at the intersection of religious hermeneutics, legal pluralism, and postcolonial feminist theory, the study interrogates how Muslim women scholars and activists deploy concepts such as ijtihad (independent juristic reasoning), tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), and adl (justice) to challenge patriarchal interpretations embedded in MPL while simultaneously resisting majoritarian demands for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC). Drawing on semi-structured interviews with Muslim women from diverse socio-economic backgrounds across urban India, alongside a systematic analysis of secondary literature spanning Islamic jurisprudence, feminist legal theory, and South Asian studies, the paper argues that Islamic feminism in India constitutes a transformative intellectual and social movement that reclaims interpretive agency, reconstructs religious authority, and reimagines the relationship between faith, law, and gender equality. The findings reveal that Muslim women do not experience religion as a monolithic structure of oppression; rather, they navigate and contest overlapping hierarchies of patriarchal authority, communal identity politics, and state power through a hermeneutics of justice rooted in Islamic ethics. The paper contributes to debates on religious feminism, minority rights, and legal reform in pluralist democracies.
Islamic feminism, Muslim Personal Law, ijtihad, gender justice, Qur'anic interpretation, legal pluralism, India, women's rights, religious hermeneutics, Uniform Civil Code
Gender, Identity, Diversity, and Inclusion
ociology; Gender Studies; Development Studies; Law and Legal Studies; Religious Studies; Feminist Studies; South Asian Studies
Embodied Pilgrimage and the Social Life of Ritual: A Study of the Balaji Dhwaj Yatra
This study reconceptualises Hindu pilgrimage through an ethnographic study of the Balaji Dhwaj Yatra. A village-based journey from Mandothi (Haryana) to Mehndipur Balaji (Rajasthan), this work challenges dominant discourses around pilgrimage as primarily concerned with the experience of liminality, communitas and symbolic transformation. It proposes an analytic framework centred upon lived religion, the body and affect. Based on qualitative fieldwork the study examines how ritual practice is constituted through the interplay of discipline, performativity, and social negotiation. The yatra operates by a twofold logic. On the one hand, there are strict regulatory norms governing the continuous movement of the sacred flag. simultaneously, there are carnivalesque forms of excess that suspend everyday constraints (Bakhtin 1984). This sets up a conditional social space in which normative expectations, especially those around masculinity are reworked (Chowdhry 2005). The pilgrimage is an opportunity for intergenerational convergence for men who live socio-economically marginal lives and allows them to express vulnerability and reconstitute their sense of self. Further, “shram” (toil) serves as a ritualized act of purification and a mode of affective release, linking bodily exertion with processes of psychological and social reconstitution. Overall, by placing the emphasis upon the bodily/affective aspects of ritual, this work will contribute to the development of pilgrimage studies and broader sociological debates surrounding gender, rural transition and religiosity. It argues that localized pilgrimages represent critical spaces where social anxieties, identities, and forms of agency are actively negotiated.
The Tazkira as Palimpsest: Reading Myth, Morality, and Memory in Nur Jahan’s Portrait: Methodological paper on extracting history from layered anecdotes and biases.
This paper looking at tazkiras as palimpsest asserts that the text are multi-dimensional, with myth, morality, and memory collaboratively constructing progressing portrayals of historical figures. The study asserts that the biases and discrepancies perceived in Indo-Persian tazkiras such as Zakhirat-ul Khawanin, Maʾāsir-ul Umara, and Mirʾāt-ul ʿĀlam are not mere flaws but tools for interpretation. By incorporating moral criticism and erasure into each narrative, biography transforms into an archive of conduct that reveals Mughal perspectives on gender and sovereignty. The research illustrates that successive layers of writing do not supplant cultural meaning; rather, they accumulate it by employing Derrida's archive logic and Foucault's archaeology of discourse as theoretical frameworks. A close reading of the texts reveals that myth and moral allegory were employed to both validate and regulate female authority. In patriarchal historiography, the feminine presence persists, as memory serves both as a means and an end in itself. Viewing the tazkira through the lens of palimpsest facilitates us to reconceptualise Mughal history as a moral imagination, wherein the act of remembrance undertakes the function of authorship and narrative bias is sustained as a testament to the emotional and ethical consciousness of the empire.
Trauma, Memory, Gender and Genre-Bending in Kate Atkinson's 'Transcription'
Long after the battle is over, the memories of war continue, silencing voices, and disrupting daily life. Its effects do not arrive as clear recollections of those experiences, but rather as disjointed and intrusive memories which resurface unexpectedly. War literature often contends with this fragmentation. Kate Atkinson's Transcription is a good example to explore how the afterlife of war affects both narrative and memory. The novel's plot does not aim to glorify heroism but instead represent secrecy, betrayal, and dislocation by placing a female protagonist. Memory becomes unreliable, time is unsettled, and trauma persists time and again. The gendered vulnerabilities compound this trauma; especially as a young woman involved in the world of espionage, her labor is essential, but also invisibly enacted, and the suffering is almost marginal. The structure of the novel, which is non-linear, reflects fragmented recollection, but prioritizes the ongoing effects of war on the self and on perception. Atkinson bends genre to offer trauma as an enduring presence, a cultural phenomenon instead of an event of the past detached from history. This paper is an attempt to explore how Transcription brings memory, trauma, and gender together; how Atkinson uses a non-linear narrative structure to mirror the fragmented memory; and how experimentation with historical, spy thriller, and psychological realism amplify the portrayal of trauma as an enduring psychological and cultural effect of war.
Trauma, Memory, Gendered Vulnerability, Non-linear Narrative, Spy Fiction, Genre-Bending
Gender, Identity, and Dalit Subjectivities in the Select Films of Pa. Ranjith: Towards Inclusive Representation
The aim of the paper is to understand the importance of Gender roles in the movies directed by Pa. Ranjith. The paper examines the intersection of gender with caste, class, power & identity. While his work is widely recognized for its engagement with Dalit identity and resistance, this study highlights the nuanced portrayals of gender dynamics across films such as Kabali, Kaala, and Sarpatta Parambarai. The paper contends that male protagonists are portrayed not as hyper-dominant figures typical of mainstream Tamil cinema (Kollywood), but as characters defined by vulnerability, emotional complexity, and a sense of collective responsibility. The film presents female characters as morally grounded and politically conscious figures shaping the narrative through their agency that remains unevenly developed. The study adopts Sharmila Rege's Dalit feminist framework to unveil the nexus of caste, power, and social hierarchy in the film. Methodologically, the study undertakes a close textual analysis of select films, focusing on narrative structure, character development, dialogue, and visual representation to assess how gender identities are articulated. Situating gender within the specificity of caste-based oppression, the framework enables a culturally grounded analysis that transcends universalized feminist perspectives and provides a critical lens to interrogate the representation and narrative positioning of female characters. Through this approach, the study explores how Pa. Ranjith’s film reconfigures dominant gender norms, contributing to alternative, socially rooted portrayals of gender and enriching discourses on caste, identity, and representation in contemporary Tamil cinema.
Caste, Ambedkar, Patriarchy, Reform, Democracy, Psychological Reform, Gramsci · Fanon
Decoding the Superstitious: Spirit Possession and Ritual Healing As an Indigenous Knowledge Framework for Mental Health
Mental health has become an increasingly global public policy concern, particularly through the rise of the Global Mental Health Movement and its emphasis on the biomedical and evidence-based psychiatric treatment. However, the universalisation of the Western psychiatric frameworks often overlooks culturally embedded ways of understanding and responding to mental afflictions. This paper examines spirit possession and ritual healing in India as an indigenous framework for addressing mental illness that challenges the dominant biomedical paradigm. Drawing on anthropological, psychological, and historical scholarship, the study dissects how practices such as exorcism, trance, and ritual healing, particularly in sites like the Mehendipur Balaji temple, operate as socially embedded therapeutic systems. These practices externalise psychological distress through culturally meaningful narratives of possession, mobilise performative emotions through rituals, and integrate family and community participation in the healing process. The paper further situates these practices within broader debates about the politics of knowledge, showing how colonial and postcolonial psychiatric institutions have historically marginalised indigenous healing systems by labelling them as superstition. Through an examination of the state responses, the Ervadi tragedy, and collaborative initiatives such as Dava and Dua programme, the study argues that dismissing ritual healing as irrational overlooks its social and psychological functions. Instead, the paper advocates for a pluralistic approach to mental health care that recognises the coexistence of biomedical psychiatry and culturally grounded healing practices. Such an approach is essential for addressing the treatment gap in countries like India while also contributing to broader efforts to decolonise psychological knowledge.
spirit possession, ritual healing, global mental health, Indian psychology, medical pluralism, faith healing, mental health policy
Negotiating Masculinity and Emotional Silence in Postcolonial Contests: A Study of Gender Identity in Gravel Heart and Memory of Departure
The study of the paper examines the complex negotiations of masculinity and emotional silence in Gravel Heart and Memory of departure by Abdulrazak Gurnah – the Nobel Prize winner of English literature – 2021, situating both texts with in a broader postcolonial framework . It argues that gender identity in these novels is not fixed per stable, but shaped through experiences of displacement, familial tension and cultural expectation. Male characters in particular are portrayed as inhabiting a space of emotional restraint, where silence becomes both a survival strategy and a marker of internal conflict. The study explores how paternal authority fractured domestic relationships and the pressures of social conformity contribute to the formation of a constrained masculine identity. In both narratives, silence functions as a language of its own, reflecting unspoken trauma and unresolved tensions. Rather than presenting masculinity as a position of power , Gurnah reveals its vulnerability, exposing the psychological burden carried by men who struggle to articulate their emotions. Through a comparative reading, the paper highlights how memory and displacement interest with Gender, shaping the protagonists sense of self. The analysis demonstrates that masculinity in these works is continually negotiated in response to shifting personal and cultural landscapes. Ultimately, the Paper contends that Gurnah’s fiction challenges conventional notions of male identity by foregrounding fragility, ambiguity and emotional depth within postcolonial contexts.
Masculinity, Emotional Silence, Gender Identity, Post Colonialism, Displacememnt and Memory.
MIGRATION STUDIES, CULTURAL STUDIES AND DIASPORIC STUDIES
"TRADWIFE" vs. "GIRLBOSS”: How Body Politics Has Manufactured New Definitions of Womanhood
In this weakening era of neoliberal political structures, commodification of bodies, especially those of women, run rampant in post modernized societies and happens in a way that is subtle and veiled through complex digital jargon. This paper aims to find that how terms like ‘Tradwife’ and ‘Girlboss’ and phrases such as ‘lipstick on a pig’ function as regimes of body politics in digital culture. Current research on this topic shows that bodies are not natural and are socially constructed and ‘colonized’ by the state, cultural and social regulations so to ensure the conforming to set social standards. However, existing literature gap on this topic is due to the lack of explicit body politics analysis. Most studies focus on labour, ideology and feminism, but not on the body as an instrument of politics itself. The methodology used for this paper is Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis (FCDA), which is an interdisciplinary approach that focuses on how trends, languages and discourses perpetuate gender dynamics, inequalities and so on. Findings of this paper support the idea that these kinds of terms are not opposing models of femininity, but rather interconnected regimes of neoliberal body politics. While it may seem like ‘Girlbosses’ refer to disciplined, hardworking women fixated on the idea of productivity and self-optimization and the ‘Tradwife’ aesthetics focus more on the ‘divine-feminine’ side of women, reorienting the body towards domesticity and softness, both these terms reflect the way digital control and surveillance take place on physical entities like human bodies, essentially leading to a state of perpetual commodification. These trends help to echo the idea that women should act only in a certain way, and therefore fit into the existing labels of femininity.
Women, Labor, and Caste in the Poetry of Jyotirao Phule in Nineteenth-Century India
This paper examines Jyotirao Phule's poetry as a significant site for understanding the intertwined structures of caste, gender, and labor in nineteenth-century India. Focusing primarily on Kulambin (A Peasant Woman) and the Akhands contained in Sarvajanik Satya Dharma (The Universal Religion of Truth), the study argues that Phule's poetic writings constitute a radical critique of Brahmanical social order and an early articulation of themes that later emerged in anti-caste theory, Dalit feminism, and intersectional scholarship. Drawing upon the works of Rosalind O'Hanlon, Gail Omvedt, Uma Chakravarti, Sharmila Rege, Anupama Rao, Gopal Guru, and B. R. Ambedkar, the paper argues that Phule transformed poetry into a medium of social mobilization and democratized knowledge by creating a counter-public for Shudras, Atishudras, women, and laboring communities.
Jyotirao Phule, Kulambin, Dalit Feminism, Brahmanical Patriarchy, Women's Labor, Anti-Caste Thought.
Jyotirao Phule, Kulambin, Caste, Gender, Women's Labor, Dalit Feminism, Brahmanical Patriarchy, Anti-Caste Thought, Nineteenth-Century India, Social History
Modern Indian History, Gender Studies, Dalit Studies, South Asian Studies, Literary Studies.
The Rise of the Dogra Brothers: Pioneers of Duggar’s Political Unity (AD 1810-1846)
The rise of the Dogra brothers Gulab Singh, Dhian Singh, and Suchet Singh within the Sikh Empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh marked a transformative era in the history of Jammu and Kashmir. This study examines their ascent from modest beginnings in the Duggar region(Jammu) to becoming pivotal political and administrative figures at the Lahore Durbar. By leveraging diplomacy, strategic alliances, and military astuteness, the Dogra brothers secured influential positions within the Sikh court and subsequently laid the foundation for the independent Dogra state. The research highlights Dhian Singh’s role as wazir, exploring his administrative and political impact, while examining Gulab Singh’s leadership in territorial expansion through campaigns in Ladakh, Baltistan, and Tibet and Suchet Singh’s contributions to diplomacy and regional stability are also emphasized, providing a balanced representation of their unified efforts. Key administrative reforms, including revenue collection and infrastructure development, are analyzed to illustrate their governance strategies. The establishment of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1846, formalized through the Treaty of Amritsar, is presented as the culmination of their collective efforts. Employing a multidisciplinary methodology, the study integrates primary archival sources, traveler accounts, and historical analyses to provide a comprehensive understanding of their legacy. This research contributes to the historiography of South Asia by exploring how the Dogra brothers’ vision and leadership reshaped the political geography of the region.
Dogra Brothers, Sikh Empire, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh Campaign, 19th-Century Statecraft, Treaty of Amritsar.
Tribal Empowerment or Dispossession? A Comparative Analysis of Tribal Governance from Niyamgiri to Polavaram under PESA and FRA.
This paper employs discursive analysis to investigate whether the legislative framework for tribal governance under Panchayat (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA) followed by Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA), provides substantive justice or merely a procedural justice within the ambit of decentralised governance of neoliberal accumulation by dispossession. Relying on the Bhuria Committee Report, Gadgil Report, and the Xaxa Committee Report, this paper reconfigures the need for refinement in the political economy framework to counter the hegemony of private enterprises and crony-capitalism. Through a comparative analysis of Niyamgiri hills mining and the Polavaram dam project, this paper demonstrates how tribal empowerment remains unforeseen and irregular as most of the development projects idealise resource extraction instead of sustainable development. Furthermore, it investigates how the caste-tribe continuum and displacement in case of Niyamagiri and Polavaram have not only penetrated into the identity of tribal population in their geographical habitats but have also impeded into their socio-cultural paradigm. The paper concludes with pragmatic solutions to deal with the inefficiency in tribal governance by analysing policies adopted by various countries around the world for the structural transformation of tribal governance.
Gen Z Mobilisation and Political Uprisings in South Asia: A Comparative Study of Bangladesh and Nepal
This study addresses the question of how, when, and why young people in South Asia have become an important political force by examining the experiences of youth-led mobilisation and uprisings in Bangladesh versus Nepal. The paper, which is at the intersection of comparative politics and International Relations, examines the impact of digital nativity, socio-economic grievances and transformations in political identities on the nature of youth participation in the present. It examines some of the reasons why Gen Z mobilisation may be occurring in these contexts. How and why do digital platforms affect the nature of contentious politics in different ways? This study's theoretical frameworks include contentious politics and the political opportunity structure, indicating that Gen Z uprisings are not arbitrary but rather coordinated responses to poor governance, unemployment, corruption, and disillusionment with democracy. This study uses secondary literature, media reports, and digital discourse analysis of social media to trace patterns of mobilisation and state reactions, using the qualitative comparative case study method. The initial investigation suggests that digital mobilisation and youth-led opposition culture are strong in both Bangladesh and Nepal. The uprisings take different paths and have different effects, depending on regime type, state capacity, and political openness. The political system and mobilisation in Bangladesh are more episodic and constrained than in Nepal. Nepal has a more democratic political system that enables sustained youth mobilisation. The study contributes to a better understanding of Gen Z as an important stakeholder in the restructuring of state–society relations in the digital era. It is also important in the ongoing conversation about youth politics, democratic change, and the stability of the South Asian region.
Gen Z, Mobilisations, Nepal, Bangladesh, Political Uprising
India’s Strategic Interest with Central Asia in the Post-Soviet Era: Prospects for the Future
In June 2012, during the inaugural meeting of India and Central Asia, Dialogue in Bishkek, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahmed delivered a keynote by addressing the Connect Central Asia Policy (CCAP). This initiative was designed to serve as a key mechanism for strengthening India’s relations with Central Asia. The Indian government and businesses have already started strengthening ties with their Central Asian counterparts to enhance cooperation within this framework. This paper analyzes the significance of Central Asia in today’s global context. It begins by reviewing India’s relations with the region prior to the 2000s. Followed by an examination of India’s primary interests in Central Asia energy and security since the year 2000 particularly in relation with other regional powers. The final section focuses on India’s “Connect Central Asia Policy of 2012,” exploring the key issues that necessitated its formulation and assessing the policy’s potential outcomes.
geopolitics, energy, security, central Asia, post-cold-war, infrastructure.
The Function, Role, and Challenge of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) in Maintaining Research Ethics in Indian Universities
Institutional Review Boards (IRBs), also called Ethics Committees in India, are institutional regulatory bodies formally established in academic and research institutions to ensure compliance with accepted ethical standards for all research involving human participants. These committees are responsible for scrutinizing research proposals to evaluate the harm and benefits of studies, validate the sufficiency of informed consent, and safeguard the rights and welfare of research subjects. This paper gives a comprehensive analysis of the role, framework, efficacy, and problems encountered by IRBs at Indian universities. Further, the paper seeks to explore imperative role of ethical stewardship in university research through analysing regulatory models, university practice, and actual case studies. The paper points towards the immediate necessity of capacity development, standardization, and policy overhaul to enhance ethical oversight in Indian academia.
Institutional Review Boards, Ethical Committees, Ethical Standards, Human Participant, Informed Consent.
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From Civilizational Essentialism to Ethno-nationalist Struggle: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Beyond Huntington
Samuel P. Huntington's 'Clash of Civilizations' hypothesis did not merely predict the post-Cold War world order; it sought to define it, asserting that global politics would revert to inter-civilizational strife. In both political discourse and elements of international relations literature, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its broader regional spillovers are frequently erroneously subsumed within this paradigm, characterized as a quintessential fault-line war between Western and Islamic civilizations. This paper problematizes that ontological assumption. Drawing upon the theoretical frameworks of comparative religion, political sociology, and conflict studies, the paper contends that the conflict is sustained not by a monolithic clash of macro-civilizations but by historically embedded political antagonisms that resist any singular civilizational explanation. The paper further demonstrates that the events of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent escalation towards direct Iran-Israel-United States military confrontation between 2024 and 2026 do not merely fail to confirm the civilizational thesis but actively dismantle it. The conflict is not an intractable civilizational determinism but a hyper-localized collision of competing ethno-nationalisms, sustained by structural asymmetries and the primacy of state-centric realpolitik over civilizational solidarity.
Clash of Civilizations, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Ethno-nationalism, Realpolitik, Structural Asymmetry, Abraham Accords, October 7
Beyond the Binary: Gender Diversity and the Transformation of Environmental Responsibility
The twenty-first century presents pressing challenges in environmental sustainability, with climate change and ecological degradation interacting with social inequalities. This paper explores the role of gender-inclusive perspectives in shaping environmental attitudes and behaviours, extending ecofeminist insights beyond traditional women-centred frameworks (Warren, 1990; Merchant,1980). Drawing on empirical evidencefrom Hampel, Boldero, and Holdsworth (1996), which demonstrates that adolescent girls exhibit higher environmental responsibility than boys even when controlling for socio-economic factors, and the United Nations Environment Programme (2025), which highlights gender-differentiated climate impacts, the study examines how socialisation, gender identity, and normative structures influence ecological engagement. Contemporary research on gender egalitarianism (Echavarren, 2023)further indicates that societies with stronger genderequality norms display higher environmental concern, supporting the integration of intersectional and nonbinary perspectives into sustainability discourse. The paper identifies significant gaps in understanding the ecological behaviours of non-binary and transgender populations and proposes avenues for future research, including policy development, environmental education, and participatory governance. By situating environmental responsibility within an inclusive genderframework, this study contributes to theoretical and practical discussions on equitable and effective ecological stewardship, highlighting the potential of new-age feminism to informsustainable practices and environmental policy.
Gender identity, ecofeminism, environmental consciousness, climateaction, intersectionality, gender-inclusive policy
The Complex Interplay between India's Ethnic Conflicts, National Security, and Grand Strategy
The handling of India's internal diversity, especially its ethnic conflicts, is essential to the country's rise to regional prominence. These disputes, which range from caste and language-based tensions in the heartland to Kashmir and the Northeast, threaten not only national unity but also the development and implementation of India's grand strategy. This essay examines the complex relationships that exist between India's changing strategic perspective, national security apparatus, and ethnic conflicts. It explores how the state tries to strike a balance between democratic governance and securitized responses, as well as how domestic unrest influences military deployment, diplomatic stances, and regional aspirations. The paper makes the case that a sustainable grand strategy must balance external assertiveness with internal pluralism through the use of interdisciplinary lenses from political science, security studies, and ethnic conflict theory. The results highlight the importance of narrative control, targeted development, and inclusive federalism as components of national security and strategic vision.
India, Ethnic Conflict, National Security, Grand Strategy, Kashmir, Northeast India, Counterinsurgency, Strategic Stability
The Mind as Revolution: Psychological Reform Towards a Democratic Society
This paper examines the complex relationship between caste, gender, and democracy in India through the writings of B. R. Ambedkar and feminist scholars such as Uma Chakravarti. It argues that Brahminical patriarchy, deeply embedded in religious practices and legitimised through scriptures, continues to structure social relations and political life in contemporary India. Despite constitutional guarantees of equality and repeated political reforms, caste-based hierarchies and gendered domination remain firmly entrenched, limiting the democratic ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity. Drawing on Ambedkar's critique of social reform and Chakravarti's analysis of caste gender relations, the paper highlights how caste operates not only as a political or economic system but also as a deeply internalised social consciousness. Engaging with Frantz Fanon's theorisation of colonial consciousness and Antonio Gramsci's concept of hegemony, and with Gopal Guru's analysis of Dalit humiliation, it introduces the concept of psychological reform to emphasise the need for an inner transformation that involves unlearning inherited hierarchies, moral prejudices, and social instincts. The paper argues that without such psychological reform, democratic transformation in India remains incomplete and largely symbolic.
Interweaving Language and Culture: An Indo-Iranian Perspective
Language and culture are inextricably linked, shaping identities, communication patterns, and social practices. The historical and contemporary interactions between India and Iran provide a rich context to examine the mutual influences and shared linguistic-cultural heritage. This study aims to explore how language acts as a conduit for cultural exchange and identity formation between these two regions. A qualitative research methodology was employed, involving comparative linguistic analysis, textual studies of Indo-Persian literature, and interviews with bilingual speakers from both India and Iran. The study focuses on lexical borrowings, syntactic influences, and culturally embedded expressions in daily communication. Findings reveal a dynamic interplay of language and culture, where Persian has historically influenced regional Indian languages, particularly Urdu and Hindi, and contemporary cultural exchanges continue to shape multilingual practices. Patterns of linguistic adaptation reflect both historical ties and modern diasporic identities, highlighting the resilience and evolution of cultural narratives through language. The study underscores the importance of viewing language not merely as a communication tool but as a cultural repository that preserves and transmits collective identity. The Indo-Iranian case demonstrates how cross-cultural interactions enrich linguistic landscapes and foster intercultural understanding. These insights have implications for language teaching, cultural preservation, and comparative literary studies.
Language and Culture, Indo-Iranian Studies, Cross-Cultural Communication, Linguistic Heritage, Bilingualism, Cultural Identity
BEATS, BODIES, AND BROKEN CITIES: Desi Hip-Hop as Sustainable Urban Infrastructure in Postcolonial South Asian Metropolises
Looking closely at Desi hip-hop reveals it as more than music because its role in city life shapes economic patterns, strengthens community bonds while responding to physical surroundings across South Asia's former colonial landscapes. Through ideas borrowed from urban culture analysis, marginalized voices theory, performance inquiry, and studies on musical endurance, this work suggests hip-hop functions like everyday civic structure by offering informal jobs, shifting influence among groups, supporting small-scale art ventures often left out of mainstream progress talks. Public roads, poor neighborhoods, and online zones become shared arenas through these acts—spaces where overlooked insights, personal stories, and diverse selves emerge, clash, and endure. Far from mere entertainment, such expression supports people both practically and emotionally; just as crucially, it keeps alive ways of knowing grounded in lives lived on society’s edges, challenging official views about growth and what counts as modern. Looking closer, the research explores how hip-hop expression reflects city struggles like dirty air, packed neighborhoods, and uneven infrastructure—yet also questions what impact such artistic activity has on the environment. Instead of treating Desi hip-hop as just a result of growing cities, this work sees it as a lasting force that changes how people live in, describe, and remake urban spaces, suggesting a different path forward built through imagination, pushback, and shared strength amid postcolonial city life.
Meta-Analysis of Value Development Through Holistic Education in Early Childhood Education
Holistic education in early childhood has gained increasing attention for its potential to foster value development, yet a comprehensive synthesis of empirical evidence remains scarce. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the relationship between holistic education and value development in early childhood education, addressing gaps in the current literature. We identify and analyze relevant studies to quantify the effect size and assess the consistency of findings across different contexts. The meta-analysis reveals a significant positive effect (d=0.13, 95% CI [0.06, 0.21], z=3.68, p<1e(-3)), suggesting that holistic education approaches contribute meaningfully to value development in young children. The heterogeneity among studies is explored, and methodological rigor is evaluated to contextualize the findings. These results underscore the importance of integrating holistic practices into early childhood curricula to nurture moral, social, and emotional growth. The study not only consolidates existing evidence but also highlights directions for future research, particularly in longitudinal designs and cross-cultural validations. By synthesizing empirical data, this work provides a foundation for policymakers and educators to prioritize holistic frameworks in early childhood education systems.
arly Childhood, Holistic Education, Cognitivity, Storytelling, Value Development
Early Childhood, Holistic Education, Cognitivity, Storytelling, Value Development