Nandini Sundar

Nandini Sundar (born 1967) is an Indian professor of sociology at the Delhi School of Economics[1] whose research interests include political sociology, law, and inequality. She is a recipient of the Infosys Prize for Social Sciences in 2010.[2] She was also awarded the Ester Boserup Prize for Development Research in 2016[3] and the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contributions to Development Studies in 2017.

Nandini Sundar
Born (1967-09-22) 22 September 1967
Alma materOxford University
Columbia University
OccupationProfessor, Delhi School of Economics
Spouse(s)Siddharth Varadarajan
AwardsInfosys Prize for Social Sciences (2010)
Websitenandinisundar.blogspot.com

Education

Sundar obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University in 1989 and Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy and Ph.D. in Anthropology from Columbia University in 1989, 1991 and 1995, respectively.[2] She has previously worked at Jawaharlal Nehru University, The Institute of Economic Growth and Edinburgh University. Sundar was editor of Contributions to Indian Sociology from 2007 to 2011 and serves on the boards of several journals. She has also been a member of the Technical Support Group to draft Rules for the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2007, as well as served on other working groups in the erstwhile Planning Commission, and NCERT.

Human rights work and controversies

In 2007, Sundar along with others filed public interest litigation against human rights violations in Chhattisgarh, arising out of the Salwa Judum vigilante movement. In 2011, the Supreme Court of India banned Salwa Judum, ordered compensation for all those affected, and investigation and prosecution of those responsible. It also ordered the disbanding and disarming of Special Police Officers, many of whom were underage youth who had been armed by the state to fight Naxalites.[4]

In October 2016, the Central Bureau of Investigation on the Supreme Court's orders in the ongoing case filed by Sundar and others, filed chargesheets against seven Special Police Officers and 26 Salwa Judum leaders for their role in the burning of three villages in the Sukma district in March 2011 and the attack on Swami Agnivesh. The arson had allegedly been accompanied by rapes and murders of villagers.[5]

Almost immediately afterwards, the police burnt effigies of Sundar and other activists, and the Bastar police filed a first information report against her on 4 November 2016, as an alleged co-conspirator in the murder of Shamnath Baghel, a tribal in the Sukma district of Chattisgargh.[6] The wife of the victim told a national television channel, NDTV, that she had not named anyone.[7]

The National Human Rights Commission summoned the IGP of Bastar Range SRP Kalluri and Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary for retaliation, and has said there was no apparent connection between the visit of Sundar and other human rights activists and the murder of Shamnath Baghel.[8] The Indian Supreme Court recorded the Chhattisgarh government's statement that they would not arrest or investigate Sundar, and ruled that if the Chattisgargh state government wanted to undertake any investigation, they should give four weeks' notice during which time Sundar and others could approach the Court. Eventually, her name was dropped by the Chhattisgarh police from the murder case in February 2019 for lack of direct evidence.[9]

In 2017, Podiyam Panda, a key Maoist operative surrendered to Chhattisgarh police and told Times Now reporters that he was the “only link” for meetings between senior Maoist terrorists and Nandini Sundar and Bela Bhatia. Panda said he used to drive activists from Delhi including Sundar and Bhatia from Delhi to deep jungles of Sukma to meet the Maoists. Sundar claimed that Panda made the statement under coercion. [10]

Academic Freedom

Sundar has long been outspoken about the issue of academic freedom. In 2019, she told Times Higher Education that the blackout in Kashmir had been a "devastating blow," that the situation has worsened nationwide since Modi's election in 2014, and that the lack of liberties could harm India's attempts at climbing university rankings. [11]

In summer 2020, she submitted a paper on academic freedom to the United Nations. [12]

Personal life

Sundar is married to Siddharth Varadarajan, former chief editor of The Hindu—an Indian English-language national newspaper—and a founding editor of The Wire.[13] Her parents, S Sundar and Pushpa Sundar were both Indian Administrative Service officers of the Gujarat cadre belonging to the 1963 batch. She has an elder sister, Aparna, who is also a social activist.

Publications

Selected publications of Sundar include:

  • The Burning Forest: India's War in Bastar (Juggernaut Press, 2016),
  • The Scheduled Tribes and their India (edited volume, OUP, 2016),
  • Civil Wars in South Asia: State, Sovereignty, Development (Sage 2014, co-edited),
  • Subalterns and Sovereigns: An Anthropological History of Bastar (2nd ed 2007, 1997),
  • Branching Out: Joint Forest Management in India (co-authored, OUP, 2001),
  • Legal Grounds: Natural Resources, Identity and the Law in Jharkhand (edited OUP, 2009),
  • Anthropology in the East: The founders of Indian sociology and anthropology (co-edited, Permanent Black, 2007)
  • A New Moral Economy for India's Forests (co-edited, Sage, 1999)

References
  2. "Infosys Prize - Laureates 2010 - Prof. Nandini Sundar". Infosys-science-foundation.com. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  3. "Award of the Ester Boserup Prize 2016: Professor Nandini Sundar". Cgsas.tors.ku.dk. 5 April 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  4. "Nandini Sundar & Ors vs State Of Chattisgarh on 5 July, 2011". Indiankanoon.org. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  5. "Security forces burnt 160 homes in Chhattisgarh village in March 2011: CBI". Indianexpress.com. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  6. "DU professor Nandini Sundar booked for tribal man's murder". Thehindu.com. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  7. "Never Named Anyone, Says Wife Of Murdered Tribal On Professor Nandini Sundar". Ndtv.com. Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 November 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "nandini-sundar-gets-clean-chit-from-police". Scroll.in. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  10. Drolia, Rashmi (18 May 2017). "Maoist confession forced, says DU professor". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  11. Lau, Joyce (9 October 2019). "Academic freedom curbs hamper India's eminence hopes". Times Higher Education.
  12. Lau, Joyce (19 August 2020). "Academic freedom in India squeezed by shift to insecure contracts". Times Higher Education.
  13. Rashid, Omar (12 April 2020). "Editors Guild criticises U.P. govt". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
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