Annual R epor t 2 0 0 0 -2 0 0 1
1. T he Refugee Watch continues to be a maj or publication of the Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup (MCRG). MCRG has publis hed five is s ues (10 & 11 as one combined Number , 12, 13, 14, 15) s o far . Ever s ince we r enewed our annual contr act with S AFHR, we als o took s ome s teps in making it attr active to our tar get audience. All this was in tune with the r es olution of the las t AGM. B es ides s ome ex per iments with the cover , getup and s tyle, cer tain changes wer e effected in r es pect of the or ganization of the featur es and focal themes . While the combined Number gues t- edited by Dr . Paula B aner j ee was a s pecial is s ue on r efugee women, Volume 13 r evolved ar ound the theme of dis placement in nor theas ter n I ndia. Differ ent volumes car r ied ar ticles on s uch diver s e s ubj ects as the impact of violence on women in S r i Lanka, B hutan, B ur ma, Afghanis tan, Centr al and S outh As ia in gener al, on Pales tinian r efugees , T amil as ylum s eeker s , Leo the Afr ican, the Mohaj ir s of Pakis tan, Pakis tanis and I ndians outs ide S outh As ia and the plight of r efugees on the US - Mex ico bor der etc. We tr ied to blend them with s ome theor etical paper s as ‘B etween Myth and Reality’, ‘Power , Fear and Ethics in Refugee Pr otection’ etc. We have intr oduced - - albeit on an ex per imental bas is , a column named, ‘Mediawatch’ to put the media cover age on is s ues of our dir ect inter es t under clos er s cr utiny. I n s pite of the r is ing mailing cos t, We took par ticular car e in s ending RW to our tar get audience. One of the Number s contained excer pts fr om James D Cockr oft’s Mexico’s Hope (1998). You will be happy to know that the wor k of Number 16, which is ex pected to come out by the end of this calendar year , is alr eady in pr ogr es s .
2. Meanwhile in pur s uance of its mandate, CRG has involved its elf in networ king with other like- minded or ganizations of S outh As ia in gener al and I ndia in par ticular . I am glad to infor m you that we have been r ecognized as the Z onal Focal Point (Z FP) by the S outh As ia Human Development For um of S outh As ia Par tner s hip, Canada in its cons ultative meeting held in New Delhi on 21- 22 May. As a Z FP, we ar e now able to s har e and ex change infor mation on conflicts and pos s ible peace s tr ategies in S outh As ia amongs t our s elves on Human Development For um Net (HDFNET ). T wo of our colleagues as member s of CRG have been nominated as advis or s to the Pr oj ect on ‘Minor ities of S outh As ia’ by the I nter national Centr e for Ethnic S tudies (I CES ), Colombo.
3. Let me als o take the oppor tunity of infor ming you that we have enter ed into a contr act with the B r ookings I ns titution, Was hington D.C. for car r ying out a s tudy on ‘I nter nal Dis placement in S outh As ia in the fr amewor k of the Guiding Pr inciples on I nter nal Dis placement on 12 S eptember 2001. T he wor k is alr eady in pr ogr es s and in pur s uance of an ear lier EC decis ion, Dr . S abyas achi B as u Ray Chaudhur y is coor dinating the s tudy. T he s tudy is ex pected to culminate in the publication of a volume s ometime in the next year .
4. A pr es tigious s tudy on ‘I ndian B es t Pr actices on As ylum and Refugee T r eatment’ is now under way under the aus pices of CRG. We s igned the contr act with UNHCR – our collabor ator on 7/8 October 2001. T he EC in one of its ear lier meetings decided that Dr . Paula B aner j ee and Dr . S amir Kr . Das would coor dinate this . Dr . Ranabir S amaddar has ver y kindly agr eed to act as a cons ultant. As per the contr act, we ar e under the obligation of publis hing the findings of the s tudy in the for m of a book.
5. T he Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup (CRG) or ganized a Civil S ociety Dialogue (CS D) on Peace in the nor theas t on October 12 and 13, 2001 at the auditor ium of the Centr e for S tudies in S ocial S ciences , Kolkata in collabor ation with the Foundation for Univer s al r es pons ibility and Konr ad Adenauer S tiftung of New Delhi. Academics and activis ts , j our nalis ts , lawyer s , film per s onalities and r etir ed gover nment officer s both fr om ins ide the r egion as well as outs ide took par t in the dialogue. Mahas hweta Devi – the eminent litter ateur fr om Wes t B engal inaugur ated the dialogue.
Pr ofes s or As his Nandy of the Centr e for S tudies in Developing S ocieties , New Delhi deliver ed the keynote addr es s . Dr . S amir Das pr epar ed the Concept Paper on behalf of CRG. T he dialogue was or ganized into four differ ent s es s ions focus ing on four differ ent yet inter - connected themes of
‘S tr uggles for I dentity’, ‘Naga Peace Pr oces s ’, ‘Dis placement and Humanitar ian T as ks ’ and ‘Women in Peace Campaigns ’. While each s es s ion began with the pr es entation of a s es s ion note that was meant to s et the tone of deliber ations , CRG took par ticular car e in inviting people r epr es enting diver s e viewpoints . T he whole atmos pher e was fr ee and infor mal s o much s o that much of the dis cus s ions als o took place outs ide the s cheduled hour s and over cups of coffee and s nacks . T he bus ines s s es s ions wer e followed by a r oundtable dis cus s ion of building networ ks of peace between the Eas t and the Nor theas t in which the s peaker s r eminded us of the r es pons ibility of the civil s ociety of the Eas t towar ds the people of the Nor theas t. Near ly all member s of CRG took par t in var ious capacities and it acted as a wonder ful team. Many of our invited gues ts commended our effor t and cons ider ed it as a gr and s ucces s . We r eceived r ave r eviews in s uch leading dailies as T he T imes of I ndia and T he T elegr aph. T he r epor t of the dialogue is alr eady in pr es s .
6. Member s of CRG pr es ented paper s and par ticipated in s eminar s , s ympos ia and wor ks hops on the pr oblems of r efugees or ganized in I ndia and abr oad.
Our P r ogr am mes f or 2 0 0 1 -2 0 0 2
• T o continue the pr oj ects alr eady under way and to complete them within the time s chedule
• T his involves or ganization of s ever al appr ais al wor ks hops , cons ultative meetings etc. both in Kolkata and outs ide
• T o evolve an appr opr iate adminis tr ative infr as tr uctur e and cultur e conducive to the r es ear ch and other activities of CRG
• T o continue the s ame dialogue pr oces s that we have initiated
• T o continue to publis h RW, our flags hip publication and continuous ly impr ove it
• T o put emphas is on CRG paper s er ies publications T hank you.
Dr . S amir Kr . Das S ecr etar y,
Mahanir ban Calcutta Res ear ch Gr oup
