Report on the Departmental Annual Students’ Seminar: ‘Secessionism in the Modern World’ by the History Department

Name of the Activity: The Department of History conducted its Annual Student Seminar entitled Secessionism in the Modern World on Saturday, 11^th May, 2024.

Type of Activity: The Activity was Annual Student Seminar which is conducted annually by the Department to encourage students to think independently, to inculcate skills necessary for a researcher.

Date/ Duration of Activity: It was held on Saturday, 11^th of May, 2024 from 10:30 am- 1:30 pm.

Time: 10:30 am- 1:30 pm

Details of Resource Person: The Department had invited Professor Siddhartha Guha Roy, of the University of Calcutta to act as the chief guest.

No of Participants: 43 students including students from Semester 4 and Semester 6, Department of History, departments of Political Science and Journalism and Mass Communication and faculties from the Department of History, Political Science and Bengali.

Objective of the Event: The Annual Student Seminar was organized with an intent to develop critical thinking faculties of the students aligning with early forays into research. They are encouraged to frame independent research questions, traversing social, cultural, political and economic dimensions of a historical process.

Brief Description of the Event: The event started off with a welcome address chaired by Professor Anindya Sen and Head of the Department Professor Piu Chatterjee and Debjani Ganguly welcoming Professor Guha Roy. Formally, the event began with a keynote address delving into the interconnections between Secessionism, Terrorism and Nationalism. The topics covered an entire range of important historical events, like the Bangladesh Liberation War, India’s Role in Bangladesh’s Liberation and the snowballing of the Bhasha Andolan. The next paper presented was on the socio-religious, political, cultural demands of the Khalistani movement. The subsequent paper was on the political evolution of Kashmir from its integration into the Indian Nation state through the Instrument of Accession till the current political scenario and its cascading effects with the abrogation of Article 370.

From Kashmir to Bengal, how can one study Brahmoism in the nineteenth century as a secessionist movement in the cultural domain? To what extent does media and journalistic ethics influence the perception of war with special reference to Gaza and the larger Israel- Palestinian movement? The following papers offered a macro perspective of the religious tensions creating rifts between the Sinhalese Buddhists and Tamils till the assassination attempts carried out on Rajiv Gandhi, illustrating the varied perspectives of the Sri Lankan crisis, with the larger context of its recent economic meltdown. The next set of papers focused on the situation of Communal Tensions in the twentieth century with the specific role played by the RSS. The use of literature as an effective primary source, utilizing both the fiction and the non-fiction, what have been the various ways in which historians have studied the Partition of India. The final paper through the effective use of film as a primary source spoke about the genesis of the Naxalite movement and traced the heady days of Bengal, soaked in the prevailing Naxalite movement.

Outcome of the Event: The outcome of the seminar was to equip students’ educational and research skills. By focusing on topics of their choice they have been encouraged to develop research questions. Papers were assessed by Professor Guha Roy and he gave valuable feedback to the students about the varied forms in which Secessionism takes place in the Modern World- from socio-religious concerns, political ambitions, economic demands, to ethnic and communal consciousness.

Conclusion: The Annual Student was a success, with the Department choosing the best papers and encouraging students to seek prospects of publishing in the near future.