T h e r epor t is div ided in t o s ev en m aj or s ect ion s :
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T hr ee maj or changes in the year under r eview
Pr ogr ammes
Publications
Networ k , par tner s , and collabor ation
Member s hip
T as k s for 2004- 2005
1 . At t h e ou t s et t h r ee m aj or ch an ges h av e t o be t ak en n ot e of :
a. Due to a r eques t by the landowner of the pr evious pr emis es of the office of
the CRG, the pr emis e (5B , Mahanir ban Road, 2 nd Floor , Mahanir ban Road,
K olkata 70029) was vacated, and fr om Febr uar y 1, 2004, CRG has been
functioning fr om F E 390, S ector 3, S alt Lake City, K olkata 700106, on the
bas is of an emer gency decis ion of the Gover ning B ody. CRG has applied for
r egis tr ation of the new addr es s .
b. B y the pr evious year ’s AGM decis ion, Ranabir S amaddar was appointed as the
fir s t Dir ector of CRG; he is now the Dir ector of the CRG.
c. T he office of the CRG has been r eor ganis ed; par t time s ys tem in the wor k of
adminis tr ation and accounts has in the main ended.
2 . CR G in t h e year 2 0 0 3 -2 0 0 4 w as en gaged i n t h e f ol low in g pr ogr am m es :
a. Winter Cour s e on F or ced Migr ation;
b. Res ear ch on Autonomy;
c. Dialogue Pr ogr amme,
d. Media and human r ights , par ticular ly of the for cibly dis placed, and a cr eative
media wor ks hop;
e. Pr ogr amme on the I DPs and the UN Guiding Pr inciples
f. Publication of REFUGE E WAT CH;
g. Other Publications : Refugees and the S tate and S outh As ian Peace S tudies I
h. Dialogue Pr ogr amme
2.1 Winter Cour s e on For ced Migr ation: T he pr ogr amme of CR G annual winter cour s e
on for ced migr ation developed out of CRG’s pas t wor k in the field of for ced
dis placement. T he fir s t cour s e was held on 1- 15 December 2003 in K olkata. T he
cour s e was pr eceded by a two- month long dis tance education pr ogr amme. 20
par ticipants fr om all over S outh As ia and beyond attended the cour s e. T he faculty
member s wer e als o fr om var ious countr ies . T he cour s e was publicis ed as much as
pos s ible, and being the fir s t of its kind gener ated enthus ias m. T he UNHCR, the
Gover nment of Finland, and the B r ookings I ns titution s uppor ted it. A br oad bas ed
advis or y committee was for med, which helped in fr aming the per s pective of the
pr ogr amme, the s tr uctur e of the cour s e, pr opos ed modules , plan of field vis it,
pr epar ation of the s yllabus and cour s e mater ial, the evaluation pr ocedur e and follow
up meas ur es . On the inaugur al occas ion wer e pr es ent the Chief of the UNHCR
Mis s ion in I ndia, Lennar t K ots alainen, His Ex cellency the Ambas s ador of Finland to
I ndia, Glen Lindholm, and the B r ookings I ns titution Joint Dir ector of the Pr ogr amme
on I DPs , Rober ta Cohen. T he well- known peace r es ear cher and campaigner of I s r ael,
Lev Gr inber g gave the inaugur al addr es s . T he valedictor y addr es s was deliver ed by
the famous s ocial theor is t of nationalis m, B enedict Ander s on, and cer tificates of
appr eciation wer e awar ded by UNHCR Deputy Chief of Mis s ion, Wei Meng Lim K aaba.
T he cour s e r es ulted in a s tr ong networ k of the par ticipants of the cour s e. T he cour s e
was r emar kable for thr ee featur es , which CRG thinks s hould r emain as
char acter is tics of the winter pr ogr amme – ( a) emphas is on gender , (b) s tr es s on
ex per iences and s tudying law in the mir r or of ex per iences , and (c) wide per s pective
of j us tice, r ights , and citiz ens hip in which the is s ue of for ced migr ation is placed.
A copy of the r epor t is enclos ed (enclos ur e 1)
2.2 Res ear ch and dialogue on autonomy: T he fir s t dialogue on autonomy was held in
S hillong on 10- 11 Apr il. For the fir s t time, a gr oup of academics , human r ights and
peace thinker s and activis ts , par ticular ly fr om the Eas t and the Nor theas t, as s embled
to dis cus s fr ankly and clos ely the is s ue of autonomy in the contex t of conflicts ,
minor ity r ights , r ight of s elf- deter mination, politics of homeland, and the
gover nmental policy of ethnic accor ds to gr ant limited autonomy to r es olve conflicts
– in s hor t in the wider contex t of j us tice, peace, and democr acy. T he r epor t on the
dialogue came out s ubs equently (enclos ur e 2), and was widely dis tr ibuted and
appr eciated fr om var ious quar ter s . T he I nter national Centr e for Ethnic S tudies ,
Colombo s uppor ted the initiative.
T he S hillong dialogue led to the initiation of a two year long detailed r es ear ch and
dialogue pr ogr amme on autonomy, the pr ogr amme being s uppor ted by the F or d
Foundation. T he pr ogr amme as has been mentioned has two components – (a) a
ten- s ection s tr ong r es ear ch wor k to be completed within one year and to be followed
by the publication of a volume and a compendium of r elevant documents and
keywor ds , (b) thr ee r ounds of dialogues in the entir e pr ogr amme per iod. T he
pr ogr amme was dr awn on the bas is of the dis cus s ions in S hillong. T he r es ear ch
s egment has commenced duly, and the fir s t of the thr ee dialogues was held in
Var anas i on 29- 30 Mar ch 2004. I t was obs er ved in cour s e of the dialogue that
r es ear ches on democr atic ex per iments in this countr y had been lar gely ins ens itive to
the theor y of (national) s over eignty and the actual r eality of a democr acy that in
pr actice was pus hing for war d the notion of s har ed s over eignty and autonomy.
B r iefly the ques tions r ais ed wer e: (a) Given that ther e have been ir r ever s ible s har ed
ex per iences , can the I ndian and Wes ter n s ocieties be s o neatly divided s o as to
obtain two qualitatively dis tinct notions of autonomy? (b) Can the ethnic accor ds on
gr ant of autonomy be r egar ded as ‘moment of r ecognition’ of diver s e ethnic
identities , or ar e they not r ather the moments of denial, hiding the as ymmetr ies of
power between the s ignator ies ? (c) I s local gover nance neces s ar ily to be under s tood
fr om within the pur view of s tate ins titutions ? (d) Even though it might be us eful to
make a cr os s - s tate (within I ndia) compar is on of ex per iences of fis cal autonomy, yet
even after s uch compar is on has been done, and found out as to who gains fis cal
autonomy by what r oute and to what end, the s ignificant ques tion will be –
autonomy for local s elf gover nment or for gover ning the local? (e) I f, as is pos s ibly
tr ue that, any demand for autonomy s hows s ome degr ee of negotiability, is it
pos s ible to ex haus t the meaning and definition of autonomy within the for mal- legal
s ens es ? (f) What ar e the ways in which the idea of citiz ens hip in I ndia can be r eimagined in the contex t of the politics of autonomy? (g) How do we j udge the
autonomy- enhancing capacity of an ins titution in r elation to its capacity to advance
democr acy within the gr oup? (h) Autonomy in the bor der lands is a cr itical theme in
national gover nmental politics ; thus , ques tion is impor tant: a centr aliz ed dis pos ition
of autonomy or autonomy of autonomies ? I nter acting autonomies ? T her e ar e of
cour s e var ious kinds of autonomies – hor iz ontal, ver tical, inter acting. (i) How can
one map the var ious pr ovis ions of inter national law on autonomy, given its highly
fr agmented natur e, and the deep impact of globalis ation on autonomy s eeking
politics thr oughout the wor ld? (j ) Above all, what is the final tes t of autonomy in a
gender unj us t polity and s ociety? How s hould one j udge in this r es pect the is s ue of
women’s autonomy? What is at the hear t of the ques tion of women’s autonomy:
r epr es entation / j us tice / r ights – all thes e in r elation to the ex is ting patr iar chal
politics and the S tate, in r elation to the movement?
T he deliber ations als o dis cus s ed the modalities of pr epar ing the Compendium of
documents and k eywor ds r elevant to the theme of autonomy. T he dialogue r epor t
has been s ent to all par ticipants and will be hopefully of help to the r es ear ch
collective.
S amir K . Das and S abyas achi B as u Ray Chaudhur y have been helping the Dir ector in
this pr ogr amme in their capacity as j oint coor dinator s . T he full r epor t of the dialogue
is enclos ed ( enclos ur e 2).
2.3 Dialogue Pr ogr amme: As par t of CR G’s dialogue pr ogr amme (two dialogues had
alr eady been held pr evious ly in K olkata and S hantiniketan, B olpur ) two mor e
dialogues wer e held in the year under r eview – in S hillong and Var anas i, the details
of which have been given in the pr eceding s ection dealing with r es ear ch pr ogr amme
on autonomy.
2.4 Media and human r ights and Cr eative Media Wor ks hop: CR G’s media pr ogr amme
began with the kind s uppor t and encour agement of WACC, L ondon under the banner
of the r ights to communication – in this cas e the r ights of the victims of for ced
dis placement to communicate. S uch a pr ogr amme goes beyond the r ight to
infor mation. I n the year under r eview the CRG pr ogr amme on media had two
components – (a) a media audit on the is s ue of for ced dis placement, (b) and, a
cr eative media wor k s hop on the is s ue. T hes e two par ts for med an integr al whole.
While the fir s t par t of the pr oj ect made an attempt at auditing mainly the
mains tr eam media and its cover age on for ced dis placement of population fr om the
per s pective of human r ights , j us tice and democr acy, the s econd par t aimed to br ing
out a s our ce book on the cr eative wr itings of any par ticular community of victims . As
the es s ential fir s t s tep, thr ee cas es of Jammu and K as hmir , I ndia’s nor theas t and
Wes t B engal wer e s elected and audit r epor ts bas ed on thes e thr ee cas e s tudies wer e
pr epar ed. A car eful compar is on of thes e thr ee cas e s tudies enr iched the activis ts ’
knowledge of the victims and helped them evolve diver s e media s tr ategies in or der
to cope with the pr oblem of for ced migr ation. T hes e r epor ts have now been
publis hed – the fir s t is a r epor t of the wor ks hop, the s econd is a collection of the
thr ee media audits , and the thir d a collection of cr eative wr itings – pr imar ily nonfictional - by the B hutanes e r efugees now ex iled in Nepal for mor e than ten year s .
T he Cr eative Wr iter s ’ Wor k s hop on For ced Dis placement of Population - was held in
Dar j eeling fr om 6 to 10 November 2003.
T he Wor k s hop was or ganiz ed with a few key obj ectives in mind: I ts fir s t and per haps
the mos t fundamental obj ective was to br ing the victims of for ced dis placement into
the centr e- s tage of public dis cour s e and mak e them an integr al par t of the civil
s ociety. T he Wor k s hop als o deliber ated on how the entr y of the victim uns ettled the
given flow of communication, given the fact that the is s ue of r efugee r ights always
cr os s es adminis tr ative and mains tr eam media boundar ies . T he wor ks hop als o aimed
to s ee how the ver y act of r epor ting and wr iting pus hed the victims as ide and how
appr opr iate wr iting and r epor ting s tr ategies could be evolved with a view to enhance
their dialogic and communicative s kill. As the wor ks hop noted, cr eativity in wr iting
ther efor e mar k s a depar tur e and cr eates a tr ans cendence of their victim- hood. T he
wor ks hop did not look upon the victims mer ely as victims , but as potentially
cons cious , r ights - bear ing agents who continuous ly communicate in diver s e and
hither to imponder able ways and ther eby r emade many of the es tablis hed for ms of
communication, notwiths tanding their handicaps , s ubj ection and victim- hood.
WACC appr eciated the thr ee r epor ts . T he media audits wer e par ticular ly s ignificant
for br inging out tr ends in the per s pective of thr ee differ ent cas e s tudies , the
pr onounced gender factor , the media behaviour , the natur e of victims ’ pr ofiles in the
media, and the ways in which we can deepen our under s tanding of the wor ld of
communication on the is s ue of for ced dis placement. Ms . Paula B aner j ee vis ited the
WACC office in London, ex plained our wor k , and dis cus s ed with WACC colleagues
fur ther ideas about our plans for the media pr ogr amme that include the bas is of
thr ee s egments – r es ear ch, r epor ting, and media wor ks hop. I n the lis t of r es ear cher s
and r es our ce per s ons among other s wer e Anur adha B has in Jams awal, K r is hna
B aner j ee, B hupen S ar mah, A.G. K annabir an, Pamela Philipos e, and Ur bas i B utalia.
T he thr ee r epor ts ar e now available (enclos ur e 3). S ubhas Chak r abor ty and S amir K .
Das pr imar ily, wer e in char ge of the pr ogr amme.
2.5 Res ear ch and T r aining Pr ogr amme on UN Guiding Pr inciples : On the completion
of the collective r es ear ch on the s tate of the UN Guiding Pr inciples in S outh As ia in
the per s pective of mas s ive inter nal dis placement in the r egion, CRG dis cus s ed with
the B r ookings I ns titution the pos s ibility of a follow up pr ogr amme in the for m of a
S outh As ian tr aining pr ogr amme on the Guiding Pr inciples . A plan was concr etis ed,
and will be implemented in the following year , 2004- 2005. Meanwhile the r es ear ch
paper s wer e r evis ed, an editor ial boar d cons is ting of Paula B aner j ee, S abyas achi
B as u Ray Chaudhur y was for med, and an under s tanding was ar r ived with S age
Publications for the publication of the volume in the nex t year . T he B r ookings
I ns titution has again helped CRG in publication of the volume in ter ms of editor ial
advice and publication s ubs idy. CRG is in par ticular thankful to Rober ta Cohen and
Mar ianne Makar of the B r ookings I ns titution their encour agement and as s is tance.
2.6 Refugee Watch: With is s ue 18, REFUGE E WAT CH enter ed the s ix th year of its
publication. I n the year under r eview thr ee is s ues wer e publis hed, nos . 18, 19, and
20. An index of all ar ticles till date publis hed in REFUGE E WAT CH was als o publis hed
(enclos ur e 4). T he plan for publis hing S elections fr om R efugee Watch could not be
mater ialis ed. I t is hoped that the wor k would be completed within 2004.
I s s ue no 18 (Apr il 2003)
fr om the Eas t”. I s s ue 19
Per s ons of S outh As ia”.
Dis placed Per s ons Right
enclos ed (enclos ur e 5).
had as focal theme, “Delimited by B ar bed Wir es : Refugees
(Augus t 2003) had as focal theme the “I nter nally Dis placed
T he focal theme of is s ue 20 (December 2003) was “T he
to Communicate”. Details of thes e thr ee publications ar e
While the publication ventur ed into s ome new themes and publis hed wr itings of
s ever al new contr ibutor s , and ear ned pr ais e fr om many quar ter s for cons is tency and
high quality, ther e ar e s ome pr oblems with the publication. I t needs mor e r epor tage;
cir culation needs to be widened; the mailing lis t needs to vas tly updated and
impr oved, and mor e contr ibution is needed to cover s pir alling mailing ex pens es .
S outh As ian boar d meetings have been s till not r ealis ed, though electr onic
communication among editor ial boar d member s has helped the cons ultation. Over all
planning will als o need impr ovement.
Paula B aner j ee continues to be the editor ; the editor ial boar d was r eor ganis ed, and
an editor ial advis or y boar d was for med. T he S outh As ia For um for Human Rights ,
EZ E , and ECCO continue to s uppor t the publication.
2.7 Other Publications (Refugees and the S tate and S outh As ian Peace S tudies I ):
T he collective r es ear ch on the fifty year his tor y of s tate pr actices of as ylum, r elief,
pr otection, s ettlement and r es ettlement in I ndia with r egar d to r efugees was
publis hed by S age on behalf of the CRG in June 2003 under the title, “Refugees and
the S tate”. Ranabir S amaddar edited the volume. T he volume was r eleas ed at a well attended and well- deliber ated book r eleas e cer emony at the I ndia I nter national
Centr e, New Delhi, on the occas ion of the Wor ld Refugee Day. S ever al eminent
per s onalities , NHRC member , j ur is ts , academics , j our nalis ts , and human r ights
activis ts attended the function. On behalf of CRG pr es ent wer e Paula B aner j ee, S amir
K r . Das , and Ranabir S amaddar . Ranabir S amaddar and Paula B aner j ee addr es s ed
the gather ing.. T he book has come in for appr eciation fr om s ever al quar ter s for its
r igor ous r es ear ch, wide s cope, and the light that it thr ows on the “politics of car e”.
T he volume includes s ever al cas e s tudies , has s tr ong gender implications in ter ms of
analys is that it pr es ents , and ties a vas t his tor y of tr ans - bor der population flow and
pr actices of car e into a coher ent nar r ative and an analytical fr ame of car e and power .
With this publication CRG has made a dis tinct mar k on the I ndian wor ld of policy
s tudies on r efugee flows . UNHCR s uppor ted the publication as it had ear lier
s uppor ted the r es ear ch.
CRG als o finalis ed in this per iod another volume for publication - the fir s t in the four volume s er ies titled, S outh As ian Peace S tudies , which S age will be publis hing. CRG
has an editor ial boar d for this . Ranabir S amaddar is the s er ies editor , als o the editor
of the fir s t volume. S amir K r . Das is des ignated as the editor of the s econd volume,
Paula B aner j ee is the editor of the thir d volume, and Uj j wal K r . S ingh will edit the
four th volume. T he volumes will be on four themes - per s pectives , peace pr oces s ,
gender , and human r ights . T he volumes will follow a unifor m for mat to the ex tent
pos s ible, and an editor ial team par ticular ly meant for a volume will guide each
volume.
With this s er ies , CRG hopes to mak e its mar k on the field of peace s tudies with its
own dis tinct appr oach. T o s ay the leas t, the s er ies has potential.
3 . I n s h or t , CR G cam e ou t w it h t h e f ol low in g pu bl icat ion s in t h e year u n der
r evi ew :
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Refugees and the S tate
Refugee Watch
T hir d Civil S ociety Dialogue on Human Rights and Peace
Media and Dis placement I
Media and Dis placement I I
Media and Dis placement I I I
Repor t of the Fir s t CRG Winter Cour s e on For ced Migr ation
B es ides thes e lis ted above, wor k continued on the pr epar ation of the publication of
S outh As ian Peace S tudies I and I I , the volume on the I DPs in S outh As ia and the UN
Guiding Pr inciples on I nter nal Dis placement, and S elections fr om R efugee Watch.
4 . N et w or k of par t n er s h i p an d coll abor at ion :
I n the year under r eview CRG’s networ k of collabor ation and par tner s hip ex panded.
T he mos t notable was the achievement of a cons or tium of thr ee s uppor ter s and
s pons or s for the Fir s t CRG Winter Cour s e on F or ced Migr ation – the UNHCR, the
B r ookings I ns titution, and the Gover nment of F inland. T he Cour s e was als o a pr oduct
of the networ k that CRG meanwhile had developed thr ough the dialogues and
pr evious r es ear ch and publication activities of the continuing publication of R efugee
Watch with the help of a S outh As ian advis or y boar d and a S outh As ian editor ial
boar d. CRG als o es tablis hed a dis tinct s tyle of r unning its pr ogr ammes by for ming
advis or y gr oups cons is ting of non- CR G member s als o who ar e ex per ts in the r elevant
field.
Equally impor tant is the par tner s hip with WACC (London), which has opened up the
pos s ibility of wor king on media and building up a networ k of media activis ts and
cr eative wr iter s in r elated fields .
T he s tr ong networ k of collabor ation has been an as s et and one of the s tr ong r eas ons
for differ ent ins titutions , agencies , and per s ons in s uppor ting CRG. B ecaus e, this is
s uch a vital human r es our ce, two tas ks ar e in or der :
• Finding out ways in which this can be tr ans lated into other for ms of s uppor t
• Maintaining by var ious ways the links , cooper ation, s pir it of mutual
as s is tance, developing s har ed goals thr ough continuous ex change of views
that for m the cor e of a networ k
Pr es ently the ins titutions that CRG has been pr ivileged to wor k with:
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Ain o S alis h K endr a (Dhaka)
Aur at Foundation (Lahor e)
B r ookings I ns titution (Was hington D.C.)
Centr e for the S tudy of Geopolitics , Panj ab Univer s ity (Chandigar h)
Cons or tium of Humanitar ian Agencies (Colombo)
Depar tment of Communications , United T heological College (B angalor e)
Depar tment of I nter national Relations and Centr e for Refugee S tudies ,
Univer s ity of Jadavpur ( K olkata)
Depar tment of I nter national Relations , K ar achi Univer s ity (K ar achi)
Depar tment of Political S cience, Univer s ity of R abindr a B har ati (K olkata)
Depar tment of S outh and S outh Eas t As ian S tudies , Univer s ity of Calcutta
(K olkata)
For d F oundation (New Delhi)
Fr iedr ich Naumann S tiftung (New Delhi)
Gover nment of Finland
I ndian Council of S ocial S cience R es ear ch (Nor theas t Centr e, S hillong)
I nter national Centr e for Ethnic S tudies (Colombo)
K onr ad Adaneuer F oundation (New Delhi)
Malaviya Peace R es ear ch Centr e, at the B enar as Hindu Univer s ity (Var anas i)
National Peace Council of S r i Lanka (Colombo)
Nepal I ns titute of Peace (K athmandu)
Other Media (New Delhi)
Pakis tan- I ndia People’s For um for Peace and Democr acy (Wes t B engal
Chapter , Calcutta)
S outh As ia For um for Human Rights (K athmandu) and thr ough it EZ E- ECCO
T he Naga Mother s ’ As s ociation (K ohima)
UNHCR ( New Delhi)
Women in S ecur ity, Conflict Management and Peace (WI S COMP, New Delhi)
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Women’s S tudies Centr e, Utkal Univer s ity (B huvanes war )
B es ides , it is the centr e of a networ k of peace and cultur al activis ts of eas t and
nor theas t, whos e thir d meeting was held by CR G in S hillong in 2003.
5 . T as ks :
T he tas ks that CR G faces in view ar e in the following ar eas :
a. S ecur ing long- ter m gr ant and commitment,
b. Following a well- cons ider ed r es ear ch and publication policy that is not
neces s ar ily tied or initiated by fund cons ider ations
c. Engaging new and young talented r es ear cher s ;
d. S us taining the combination of intellectual and advocacy activities ;
e. Developing a compr ehens ive and infor mative webs ite,
f. S us taining the four maj or pr es ent fields of activities , namely r es ear ch wor k on
democr acy, winter cour s e on for ced migr ation, r es ear ch and advocacy wor k
on the I DPs , media, human r ights and peace, and the civil s ociety dialogue
pr ogr amme
g. B uilding up a good r es our ce centr e;
h. I nitiating a B engali publications pr ogr amme
i. Running a public lectur e pr ogr amme cons is tently to widen our networ k
j. S ecur ing gover nment funding;
k. And an appr opr iate or ganis ation policy, s uch as r eor ganis ing the var ious s ubcommittees , inducting new member s , attr acting young talents , etc..
I n br ief, in ter ms of r es ear ch pr ogr amme, the pr imar y tas k is to maintain and
s har pen the cr itical edge of our r es ear ch wor k while maintaining our thr us t ar eas
(themes and r egion). I n ter ms of or ganis ing and mobilis ing our r es our ces the tas k is
to engage, as much as pos s ible, our member s and par tner s in our wor k, and
dis tr ibute the bur dens and r es pons ibilities among the member s , and giving
ever ybody a chance to acquir e s kill and bear r es pons ibility for the collective wor k.