Linguistic minorities and strategic mobilisation in eastern India: Bengali-Biharis during the era of linguistic territorialism (1935–57)

This article analyses how linguistic minorities in the province of Bihar navigated the era of linguistic territorialism, when mainstream political organisations and figures within India largely agreed that specific linguistic communities ‘belonged’ in particular regions. Indian scholarship has tended to focus on the mechanisms that brought about the linguistic reorganisation of states in India, therefore, concentrating largely on the ways in which territory and language became intrinsically connected. This article will examine the link of language and belonging with regard to a ‘community’, which demanded that states remain linguistically and culturally heterogenous. It focuses on the section of Biharis that identified Bengali as their ‘mother-tongue’ and tracks the transformation of Bengali politics within the province/state during the transition from colonial rule to independence. It explores the ways in which narratives of historical Bengali settlement were deployed for different reasons across this period, and argues that Bengalis in Bihar conceptualised the ordering of the Indian nation in a way that was inherently different from mainstream understandings of how the country should be ordered during this period. Bengali-Bihari figures and publications deployed rhetoric that attached much greater value to territorial belonging than to linguistic or cultural belonging. This article demonstrates that contrary to common assumptions, there were large groups of people who conceptualised India not just as a linguistically heterogenous nation, but one that consisted of linguistically heterogenous states that protected minority linguistic communities

Identifying ‘Immigrants’ through Violence: Memory, Press, and Archive in the making of ‘Bangladeshi Migrants’ in Assam

This research studies the violent conflict between Bengali Muslims, who mostly migrated from the former East Bengal during colonial times, and the Bodo Tribe, who mostly follow the Bathou religion in the Bodoland region of Assam. This conflict is often seen through the preexisting lens of communal violence between Hindus and Muslims in India. Here, conflict between a religious minority and an ethnic one is investigated in its locality and this investigation highlights the complex history of the region and its part in shaping this antagonism. It does so by looking into the colonial archive which introduced the category of ‘immigrant’ to the region, together with Urdu and English press coverage of four violent events that essentialize the categories ‘Muslim’ and ‘immigrant’, respectively. Defying simple categorization, the Bengali Muslims in the Kokrajhar district have devised their own strategy for narrating time. Through archival and ethnographic research this study shows the shifting meaning of the concept of an ‘immigrant’ and its implication for social and political realities. This research addresses some less studied dynamics of the clash between two minorities and its representation in both the English and Urdu Media

A critial evaluation on the concept of justice in planning process-judicial oversight: The Balçova and Narlıdere cases

Thesis (Doctoral)--Izmir Institute of Technology, City and Regional Planning, Izmir, 2005Includes bibliographical references (leaves: 199-202)Text in English; Abstract: Turkish and English.xii, 224 leavesThis thesis aims at scrutinizing what is meant by the concept of justice and the ways the concept is being referred to in urban planning practice in Turkey. Aimed as such, the due analysis involves examination of how the concept is taken into consideration and defined by different actors taking part in urban planning process of our country. The basic data underlying the considerations based on not only the conceptual discussions, but also the planning practice will comprise different demands concerning the urban space and the cases of lawsuit under control of adjudication as reflections of these demands upon the process of planning. The questions to which this study based on .justice. in the urban system and the planning discipline are to be answered can be listed as follows: Which concepts, which ideals, which discourses and methods are used during the process of distribution mechanism in the economic realm, law system and judicial process? How are the basic concepts of justice, namely equality, interest, right and liberty used in defining and encountering the urban social needs in these processes? Do the achieved results involve any targeted ends that can be called as just? In order to elucidate the understanding and demands of justice, conceptual information pertaining to the concept of justice is required. For this reason, study focuses on theories of justice and elaborates the fundamental points of concepts, theories and their reflection on the state regulations. Regarding an assessment of the Turkish practice, overall assessments are held as based on cases of lawsuit under control of adjudication. The cases of lawsuit are assumed to represent matters of conflict/dispute and spatial demands of actors regarding the urban space. Accepted as such, the spatial disputes will be elaborated on basis of the matters of case study area in emphasis

Case Notes

Constitutional Law- Freedom of Speech- Dismissal of Public School Teacher for Symbolic Expression of Political Opinion in the Classroom Held Unconstitutional. This case note discusses the first amendment issue in James v. Board of Education, 461 F.2d 566 (2d Cir. 1972), and the extent to which schools may limit a teacher\u27s freedom of expression in the classroom. The note reviews the various tests used to analyze freedom of expression in general and then analyzes case law in the school context to infer that a court may permit state or local governments to control classroom expression when a teacher uses his or her captive audience, an unbalanced presentation of information, or the threat of sanctions to teach his or her political views to the students. Environmental Law- Rivers and Harbors Appropriations Act- Private Persons May Not Sue Qui Tam Without Explicit Legislative Grant of Permission For Citizen Suits. This case note explores the attempts to use qui tam actions as a private right of action to enforce compliance with anti-pollution laws such as the Refuse Act by evaluating Action Now, Inc. v. Roberts Plating Co., 457 F.2d 81 (2d Cir. 1972), and other related cases. It then analyzes the impact of the amendments to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act on the availability of private rights of action and the Refuse Act of 1899 and suggests a need for further legislative reform to ensure adherence to environmental standards and involve citizens in the process. Landlord-Tenant Law- Summary Proceedings to Oust- Tenant Has No Seventh Amendment Right to Jury Trial When Counter-claiming for Breach of Implied Warranty of Habitability. This case note evaluates Pernell v. Southall Realty, 294 A.2d 490 (D.C. Ct. App. 1972), denying the right to a jury trial for breach of warranty of habitability actions. The Plaintiff argued, inter alia, that the action was the common law action for ejectment and should therefore afford the right to a jury. This note reviews the history of the seventh amendment right to a jury trial for common law actions and its evolution from English common law, arguing that viewing United States common law as the English common law of 1791 is contrary to the purpose of the seventh amendment despite the court\u27s justification for excluding the warranty of habitability under the theory of waiver. Welfare Law- Retroactivity of Benefits- Federal Court-Ordered State Retroactive Payments of Federally-Supported Public Assistance Funds (AABD and AFDC) Precluded by Economic Realities of Welfare Program Goals and Eleventh Amendment. This case note analyzes the Rothstein v. Wyman, 467 F.2d 226 (2d Cir. 1972), case challenging the New York Social Services Law providing for welfare payments to New York City recipients at a higher rate than set for residents of other New York counties. Recognizing the Supreme Court\u27s nonaction in the area of retroactive welfare payments, the court denyed retroactive welfare payments on the basis of public policy and eleventh amendment concerns. Zoning Law- Growth Restrictions- Town Ordinance Conditioning Approval of Residential Subdivision Plan on the Availability of Necessary Municipal Services Held Valid. This case note analyzes Golden v. Planning Board, 30 N.Y.2d 359 (1972), upholding the town of Ramapo\u27s amendment to its zoning policy. The note discusses the methods of zoning available in New York of district zoning and submission and approval of town plats to a town planning board before permits allowing subdivision development will be approved in conjunction with relevant case law regarding zoning ordinances. It also addresses the impact of zoning ordinances on communities and open questions remaining after the Golden case