dasarathi bhuyan

The question of Rabindranath Tagore on nationalism has been a much debated among the scholars. The various opinions about Tagore's 'anti-nationalism', 'internationalism', 'ambivalent nationalism' could be understood through a closer observation of Tagore's understanding of the history of Indian society and civilization at large, as also his holistic approach to humanity. Though Tagore condemned nationalism, he wanted for the Indian independence through some of his politically motivated songs. Although he supported Indian nationalists but he publicly criticized European nationalism and imperialism. Tagore firmly emphasized on racial and religious unity of India. He urged that all Indians have to unite above their race, class and religion. They should give up their differences, and stand above the dusty politics, of caste and ethnicity in order to bring the development of India. Tagore argued that India's immediate problems were social and cultural and not political. India must continuously struggle to resolve her burden of heterogeneity, by evolving out of these contradictions, which would be a great synthesis of all.

The scholars of subaltern studies in India tried to develop an alternative analysis of Indian nationalism by applying the "history from below" approach. This approach emphasizes the "autonomous domain" of subaltern groups and emphasizes the contribution made by the common people, downtrodden, peasants, labourers, workers, dalits etc. The elitist historiography neglected the contributions made by marginalized groups towards the various movements in India. Therefore, they wanted to draw the attention of elite class on the contribution made by the subaltern class and argued that the "politics of the people" is independent from the 'politics of the elite'. They took "conscious decision" and actively participated in any movement only when their grievances of various types had failed. But scholars of subalterns' studies in India are slightly different from the Marxist, on the question of exploitation. They argue that Indian society could not be defined in terms of class only because capitalism in India at that point of time was its very preliminary stage. The Indian nationalism was exploitative in nature based on caste, gender, religious and creed. Like Marxists the subaltern school in India believes that Indian nationalism was also dominant, and exploitative in nature. The main arguments of subaltern school of thought is that "subaltern historiography" in India is different from "elitist historiography." Mobilization in the sphere of elite politics was attained vertically whereas in sphere of subaltern politics this attained horizontally.

The present study makes an attempt to analyse the public private dichotomy and focuses on the idea of public domain of man and private domain of women. The family is private because access to it is restricted and society is public because it is accessible to all. But everything that is private is not necessarily left to the domain of individual families. Very often private options and choices become the basis for creating a public opinion and decision. Thus the question of privacy is a relative issue within the broader framework of society. The state cannot interfere with the privacy of an individual. The state can interfere on stipulated grounds. Therefore, the society including the household is private as political and personal issues affect each other. All personal problems of individuals are also decided by society. The public sphere is represented as superior to the private. Therefore the feminists have challenged this distinction between public and private sphere.

The Citizen’s Charter is an instrument which seeks to make an organization transparent, accountable and citizen friendly. A Citizen’s Charter is basically a set of commitments made by an organization
regarding the standards of service which it delivers.  The need for Citizens' Charter in a democratic country is important. Democracy is defined as the Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Is it 'of' the people? The answer is yes. Because, the people of India gave themselves
the ' constitution of India, people of India democratically elect the government. The preamble begins with the words “We the people of India…” thus clearly indicating the source of all authority of the constitution. The Constitution has been adopted, enacted and given to themselves by the people of India. It emphasizes the sovereignty of the people and the fact that all powers of government flow from the people.
Is it 'by' the people? The answer to the second question is also yes. The representatives of the people
i.e. members of parliament/ state legislature also elected by people. Even the representatives to local self government such as the Panchayats or the Municipal or other Local Bodies are elected by people. The president and council of ministers headed by Prime Minister is formed by the people.
Is it 'For' the people? The Government at various levels and the governmental machinery as a whole are no doubt 'for' the people.

This paper argues weather human rights are universal in the context of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the idea that each culture or ethnic group is to be evaluated on the basis of its own values and norms of behavior and not on the basis of those of another culture or ethnic group. Relativism is a doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute. Whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. Multiculturalism is the tolerance of different cultures and identities but, cultural relativism, on the other hand, is the acceptance of different ethical and legal standards for different groups within a population on the grounds of culture. It is argued that Human Rights cannot be universal in the context of cultural relativism, then, it is just as destructive to human rights. On the other hand balancing multiculturalism with human rights means allowing for different cultural and religious identities, while applying the same laws to everyone and keeping respect for all human rights as a universal minimum standard.

This paper analyzes various internal determining factors of India's foreign policy. Some of these factors are relatively stable and regarded as more basic or unchangeable determinants of policy than others. But the more variable institutional factors, and even the personal role of the decision-makers, are no less important in the process of decision-making than the basic determinants. But according to circumstances the determinants vary in terms of its importance. These factors cannot be generalized on the basis of their importance. But it is certain that these factors influence the process either collectively or individually. Elements of continuity and change in a country's foreign policy can be explained with reference to the important influence of these factors and forces. As elaborated, among several determinants of foreign policy, the relevance of factors like India's geographical size, location, its historical experiences and traditions, the state of economy, the nature of political institutions and structure, and the personality of the country's leadership have played significant role in shaping the country's policy with countries in its neighbourhood and outside.

This paper argues weather human rights are universal in the context of cultural relativism. Cultural relativism is the idea that each culture or ethnic group is to be evaluated on the basis of its own values and norms of behavior and not on the basis of those of another culture or ethnic group. Relativism is a doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute. Whether an action is right or wrong depends on the moral norms of the society in which it is practiced. The same action may be morally right in one society but be morally wrong in another. Multiculturalism is the tolerance of different cultures and identities but, cultural relativism, on the other hand, is the acceptance of different ethical and legal standards for different groups within a population on the grounds of culture. It is argued that Human Rights cannot be universal in the context of cultural relativism, then, it is just as destructive to human rights. On the other hand balancing multiculturalism with human rights means allowing for different cultural and religious identities, while applying the same laws to everyone and keeping respect for all human rights as a universal minimum standard.

This paper proposes to explore “the issues of exclusion and inclusion in decentralized local governance institutions in India”. It also tries to explore how the marginalized groups are excluded in the decentralized democratic process. It further tries to examine an important area relating to exclusion of Panchayat institutions in situations of political conflict or economic contestation. It also examines in detail the provisions for reservations for SCs, STs, OBCs and women; it analyzes the various dimensions of the interrelated concept of inclusion and exclusion. It also examines the problem of why the local governance institutions get excluded from the process of development and governance. Further it assesses the marginalized groups’ awareness of Panchayati Raj, their perception of Panchayati Raj, their participation in Panchayati Raj programmes as functionaries and as beneficiaries and the extent to which they are benefited in different areas of operation of Panchayati Raj insti...

Global warming, as a suspected aspect of ongoing climate change, is now a matter of paramount concern but governments have found it very difficult so far to agree on the ways and means to limit it and even on the diagnosis of the situation because of the fears that measures to reduce “greenhouse” gas emission will have negative effects on the economy. Major developing nations reject mandatory limits on their emissions which they regard as attempts by the richer states to hobble their progress. This paper argues that the very philosophy of limitless economic growth is deeply flawed as it does not take into account the finite amount of natural resources and the relative fragility of our planetary ecosystem which most religions warn us about.

1 India is a country of villages. Panchayati Raj system has influenced the village life extensively as one of the most important units of democratic decentralisation. Decentralisation of power is nothing but transfer of power from one tier of governance to another and, in same way, from one segment of population to another. Power moves from the dominant to the oppressed, men to women, caste Hindus to Dalits, upper castes to lower castes and bureaucrats to people s representatives. Power will not move on its own. It has to be made move. So a driving force is needed. The task is not so easy as may be envisaged, particularly in an extremely unequal society.(1) The 73rd and 74th Amendments to the Constitution of India have generated a discussion on the subject of Decentralization of Powers . Seventy-third Constitutional Amendment Act, Empowering People for Prosperity , brings out a significant change in the attitude, behaviour and performance of the rustic folk in India. (2)

This paper proposes to explore “the issues and challenges of political participation of women in decentralized local governance institutions in the state of Odisha in India.” They have been given the opportunity to share power with man by the 73rd Constitutional amendment.But in spite of their representation the elected women representatives are treated ‘as puppet’ in the Panchayati Raj Institutions.Most of them remain silent spectators to the proceedings of the Panchayat meetings and rarely women in the Panchayati Raj Institutions.The internal factors which affecting the process of women empowerment and participation are identified as: lack of awareness, experience, knowledge, skill, leadership quality, low level of education, lack of exposure etc. The external factors which affect the process of participation and empowerment of women are: influence of family, caste, social outlook, patriarch etc. More specifically, most of SC/ST and women representatives were facing the problem of...

Dasarathi Bhuiyan in his article, “Ecological Citizenship: Solution to Environment Problems”, focuses on a total re-orientation of science and technology which is very much an essential solution to environmental problems. The paper also calls for the expansion of classical (Aristotelian) conception of citizenship as the “required commitment to the common good and active participation in public affairs” and the need to inculcate a sense of responsibilities toward the environment. One’s duties to nature, as an ecological citizen, cannot be abstracted away from one’s larger duties to a human community. The paper finally suggests that  ecological 
Citizenship and Sustainable Infrastructure is the only way out.

Abstract
Nepal used to be a safe zone for India. China was least interested in Nepal till 1950s. But strategic design changed once China forcefully occupied Tibet. China has tried through its long strategy to erase Nepalese dependency on India. Nepal suffered from a decade-long war that ended in 2006. Since the end of the war China has significantly increased its engagement in the country through a variety of means. The Maoist forces in Nepal have played the China card to balance India. Rails and roads infrastructures have created a route through which China can move to Indian heartland. The economic and other Chinese packages are designed to weaken India’s strategic gain in Nepal. If Chinese wave continues unabated in Nepal, India might face multiple security threats in future.

Key words: India,  Nepal, neighbor

When we talk about the pattern of state politics, we are talking about prototype, models, samples, examples of state politics in the provinces of Indian federation. It is a comparative study of democracy across the states in India. In the post-independence period State politics developed as a specialised field of politics in India. But it was only in the 1960s that the political scientists felt the need to study state politics as a specialised subject.  (Kothari 1970) An endeavour to place the state politics in India in a perspective, two seminars were held in the USA in 1961 (University of Chicago) and in 1964 (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) with the initiative of Myron Weiner. The scholars from seventeen states in India presented their papers in that seminar. The report on the first seminar was published in Asian Survey of June 1961. The papers presented in the seminar of 1964 were published in a book form entitled, “State Politics in India” (1968) edited by Myron Weiner. After 8 years of its publication Iqbal Narain edited a book in the similar line entitled as, “State Politics in India” (Iqbal Narain 1976) which was the first attempt to cover politics of all states in India including Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. It is very important to remind here that his predecessor Weiner’s book did not cover all the states of Indian federation. He made a powerful plea for using the state level studies to develop a comparative perspective on state politics in India. Nonetheless, his early work does underscore the need to adopt a comparative framework. After him Atul Kohli, (Atul Kohli 1991) has contributed a lot in this field. Subsequently, many more comparative studies of state politics have emerged. These studies include two or more states in a comparative design. Different states of the Indian federation have a different pattern on these aspects of democracy. The various patterns of state politics could be transformed in the Indian context into a comparative study of the quality of democracy across Indian states.

India is the only country in the world where the issue of secularism has occupied a centre stage in intellectual discussions. The bulk of writing on the question of secularism in contemporary India has focused on an issue that has its origin in Western civilization, history and religion, namely, the relationship between the state and religion, and specifically concerning the establishment or not of a state religion or the official recognition of a multiplicity of religions.[1]  A multi-religious society cannot function democratically without secularism. Secularism is quite important for democratic functioning and particularly India which has a multi-religious. Though we have concepts like sarbdharm samman, Basudaiva Kutumbakam, religious tolerance etc. but the concept of secularism did not exist in India even its equivalent was also not found in Indian languages. It had to be translated. In Hindi it was translated as dharm nirpekshta. Both these translations were not correct as they implied neutrality towards religion and being non-religious respectively. The western concept of neutrality implies a state being non-religious or neutrality of state towards religion.  In Indian context the concept of secularism has many implications and manifestations.  Secularism is, as for its genesis, an alien concept for India envisaging separation of the church and the state – an apparently impossible proposition in the Indian situation. In practice, however, that entire ‘secular’ means is that the Parliament shall not be competent to impose any particular religion upon any section of population.

No political party in Odisha is free from factionalism. All most all the parties’ weather it is the regional or national political party in Odisha has been plagued by factionalism. The splits in the Odisha Congress have been influenced by the dissensions and divisions within the Indian National Congress. After the resignation of Gajapati Ministry on 19th July, 1937 Sri Biswanath Das of Congress formed his ministry with Nityaananda Kanungo and Bodharam Dubey as ministers. But the performance of the Congress Ministry suffered due to factionalism. The controversy began from the dates of selection of the leader of the Congress Legislature Party. Paandit Nilakantha Das, who was the Chairman of the P.C.C. Chairman, had a mind to head the Ministry. Due to his antiparty activities he was removed from the Presdientship of the P.C.C. The anti-ministerial group tried to harm the reputation of the ministry and brought allegation against the ministry before the Congress High Command. Nilakamtha Das, Godavarish Mishra and Dibakar Patnaik were the main cream of the crop of the group and they brought allegations against Biswanath Das Ministry and his colleagues. Subsequent enquiry made by the High Command in March 1938 declared that the allegations were baseless. In another attempt the Nilakamtha Das- Godavarish Mishra group made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the Pradesh Congress Committee. Mr Biswasray from Koraput district was elected as the P.C.C. Chief defeating Godavarish Mishra. He was sponsored by the Mahatab group. The Das-Mishra group steadily lost ground and fell from the grace of the party High Command due to Mahatab’s efforts. Mahatab became very powerful because of his proximity with the Central leadership and was elected to the Congress Working Committee. Later on Harekrushna Mahatab became the President of P.C.C. But the parliamentary board, in order to bring reconciliation between the two groups asked Mahatab to resign from the Presidentship of the P.C.C. and Gopabandhu Choudhury was selected as the next President. However, the dispute was not solved and allegations against the ministry again began and twenty one charges were brought against the Ministry before Sardar Ballavbhai Patel, President of the Congress Parliamentary Board. The complaints were referred to Rajendra Prasad, a member of the Board for investigation. He visited Odisha twice in this regard and scrutinized all the related documents. He lastly submitted his statement of final report to Sardar Patel. Sardar Patel placed the report before the Congress Working Committee for final decision. The working Committee asked the Secretary of the Odisha P.C.C. seek apology to the Chief Minister and to resign immediately from Secretariship. Dr. Rajendra Prasad in his report also remarked that the charges were made hastily. This event discloses the examples of group rivalry in Congress party during the pre-independence period.

In India, social exclusion has been predominantly used in understanding
caste/Religion based is crimination. Caste /religion are a unique determinant of social
exclusion in the Indian Sub-continent. Social and religious groups appear to accentuate
social exclusion by denying certain opportunities pertaining to social and religious
practices and access to services and resources. Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and
Minorities particularly Muslims are in continuous struggle to secure a livelihood in the
face of adverse social, economic and political circumstances. Poverty is never static, it is
dynamic. People and communities move in and out of poverty and the specific form that
poverty takes changes over time. Poverty is thus a dynamic and relational condition that
affects different people in different ways and at different times. The poor are neither a
homogeneous group nor passive victims, and poverty is not a static condition that is
described by material conditions alone. If the government can ensure the promised
entitlements to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minority community, their
status can be gradually improved and the process of mainstreaming them would be
expedited.

Women’s participation in formal politics can be gauged by examining them in relation to the following indicators: women’s participation in the Parliament, Legislative Assemblies, institutions of local governance and political parties and their participation in the electoral process as constituencies as well as candidates. The analysis of these indicators reveal both that historically women have been kept away from politics and political parties as well as other formal institutions have not validated their participation. Women are poorly represented at higher leadership levels. Even historically, it is observed that women’s participation in positions of power in both houses of the Indian Parliament  has never exceeded 15 per cent of all seats. This paper attempts to investigate the conceptual and material bases of women’s historic exclusion from the formal arena of politics in an Indian state –Odisha and tries to; identify internal and external conditions and factors that facilitate or hinder the creation of an enabling environment for women’s political empowerment; and finally draw policy recommendations for the national and international actors

This paper attempts to highlight the political culture of Odisha that witnessed the reflections of greater Indian political culture but also the emergence of a sub culture for the demand of a separate province of Odisha on the basis of language. When we look at the complexity and diversity of modern Odisha we realize that any single list of qualities that we might label “Odishan” will be partial, overly static, not applicable to everyone in the state, and may be even internally contradictory. Odisha is home to a large, diverse population - with a broad variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds, economic interests and activities, and significant regional variation. Odisha has marked various shape and size with the advent of competitive political process. Orissa has not become a well-integrated and homogeneous social or political unit. In the modern era, the various strand (thread) of Odisha’s political culture could be boiled down to three main ideological tendencies: economic liberalism (faith in the “free market” economy in an era of globalisation) combined with social conservatism (favoring traditional values and moralism), overlaid with populism (promoting the rights and worthiness of ordinary people). We should regard these three tendencies as the foundation of our political culture, on top of which are built other somewhat less permanent values, attitudes, and viewpoints all interacting in complex ways with other societal forces. In order to know the political culture it is pertinent here to know the prominent elements of Odisha’s political culture, its development, and the nature of its complex interactions with the institutions, processes, socio-economic development and historical events in the state. It is also very important to know the main currents of political thinking and attitudes that shape the state’s political culture and to have a closer look at political socialization, the process by which political culture is transmitted over time from one year to the next, and from one generation to the next.