Abstract: It is arguable that dissent strengthens democratic principles and functioning, provided it remains within legal bounds and avoids causing strife. The Constitution of India ensures the right to dissent through freedom of speech and expression, peaceful assembly, and association or union formation. The Maoist insurgency represents the most prolonged violent dissent against India's parliamentary democracy. In its seven decades, the Maoist insurgency has aimed to seize political power through armed revolution to establish 'New Democracy.' The Indian state's response to Maoist violence has primarily consisted of countermeasures alongside governance policies, development initiatives, and surrender and rehabilitation programs. However, this conflict between competing democratic ideologies—Indian parliamentary democracy versus Maoist New Democracy—has often sidelined crucial issues and grievances, particularly those of marginalized communities. This discussion aims to address some of these overlooked issues and unaddressed grievances highlighted in an edited volume titled 'Maoist Insurgency, State, and People: Overlooked Issues and Unaddressed Grievances.'
About the speakers: Prof. Supriya RoyChowdhury was educated at Presidency College, Kolkata, and at Princeton University. She is currently Visiting Professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore. Earlier she taught at the ISEC, Bangalore, IIM Ahmedabad, and worked as Deputy Editor, The Hindu. Her research interests span labour, trade unions, urban poverty, and migration. She has published in the Journal of Development Studies, Third World Quarterly, Pacific Affairs, Economic and Political Weekly, Socialist Register, as well as contributed to several edited volumes. Her book, “City of Shadows: Slums and Informal Work in Bangalore”, has been published by Cambridge University Press in 2021.
Dr. Surya Sankar Sen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at St. Joseph’s University. He earned his PhD from the School of Conflict and Security Studies at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) in Bengaluru. His doctoral research examined local conflicts and themes of nationality, territoriality, and citizenship in the erstwhile border enclaves of North Bengal. Specializing in critical border studies, particularly in the South Asian context, his work seeks to challenge traditional concepts of the ‘state’ and the ‘national’ in International Relations by incorporating the lived experiences of borderland communities. His research interests focus on inequalities and insecurities in post-conflict zones, emphasizing informal negotiations and replications of formal institutions and proceduralism that steady local relations in the absence of the state.