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Item Open Access Swatantrottar darjeelingka nepali natakma samaj-rajnaitik chetnako adhyayan(University of North Bengal, 2022) Khati, Yogesh; Ghatani, KrishnarajItem Open Access Study on the nutritional assessment of rajbanshi adult women of North Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2022) Sinha, Ishita; Khatun, ArginaIntroduction: Nutrition is the process of taking in food and using it for growth, metabolism and repair. Through the process of nutrition a living organism are enable them to maintain, grow and to reproduce. To meet physiological requirements and functions, the human body needs appropriate nourishment from a well-balanced diet. Unhealthy eating habits can result in a lack of micronutrients (undernutrition) or excessive calorie consumption (causes overnutrition). Undernutrition and overnutrition are becoming major public health concerns in developing nations such as India. As a result, nutritional status is now widely acknowledged as a key indication of an individual's health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) considers that the ultimate goal of nutritional evaluations is to improve human health. Nutritional status is beneficial to overall health. The prevalence of under-nutrition along with regional adiposity is known to cause ailments such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer in both developed and developing countries. India is no different; due to the country's vast population and extensive poverty, the most of its citizens are malnourished and underprivileged. One of the major groups of the country that remain nutritionally vulnerable is women, both among tribal and non-tribal populations. The double burden of malnutrition leads to nutritionrelated difficulties and a variety of diseases, as well as a reduction in immunity. Undernutrition and overnutrition affect body function, resulting in low weight, growth retardation, a weakened immune system, which leads to an increase in infections, the emergence of chronic diseases (such as diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart disease), and mental health problems. Females are more likely to be underweight than their male partners due to biological and behavioral factors. Infertility, abortion, premature birth, and neonatal mortality are all problems that women with insufficient nutrition face. The nutritional status of a woman has a significant impact on her health, as well as the health of her children and family. To improve maternal and child heath as well as the nutritional status of overall population, it is important to evaluate the nutritional status of adult women. Keeping the above-issues in mind, the present study aims to assess the nutritional status of adult women of an ethnic population of North Bengal using anthropometric method. The current study is likely to be the first of its sort in North Bengal, and it will provide basic information on nutritional status and associated issues. Anthropometry method was utilized in this study to measure the nutritional status of Rajbanshi populations because it is the most widely used methodology for assessing nutritional status. The objectives of present study are as follows: To assess the nutritional status and body composition measurement by using internationally accepted cut-off values. To assess the prevalence of undernutrition among Rajbanshi female population. To find out the association of different socioeconomic, demographic and lifestyle related variables with nutritional status and body fat distribution. To assess the age related changes in anthropometric characteristics and body fat distribution among this targeted population. To assess the mean age at menarche and menopause among this population. To compare the results of the current study with other (national and international) studies. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study has been conducted among 800 adult female Rajbanshi individuals aged between 18-64 years of age. Present study was carried out in rural area of Darjjeling District of North Bengal. The population was exclusively selected from Rajbanshi dominated villages under Block: Kharibari (Latitude 26. 34’ 19” N, Longitude 88. 08’ 51” E), Sub-Division: Siliguri, Police Station: Kharibari, District: Darjeeling, West Bengal, India. This study area is situated adjacent to the Mechi River which is forms the Indo-Nepal International border and an approximate distance of 32km to 39km from the sub-divisional town of Siliguri. The population of the present study was selected by using multistage stratified sampling procedures. The data have been collected during the period from April 2018 to December 2019. In this process 12 villages were listed but further it is reduced to 10 villages which were convenient for data collection, easy road accessibility and subjects availability. Demographic, socio-economic, reproductive and life style data of these target population are being collected by door to door surveys using a structured schedule. The data recorded about the different socio-economic and demographic variables were age, marital status and educational status, birth order, no of children, family size, family type, water supply, electricity facility, toilet facility, monthly income and occupations. Reproductive data like age at menarche and age at menopause was also recorded. The anthropometric measurements are recorded from the individuals using standard protocols and instruments as outlined by Weiner and Lourie (1981). The measurements are: Height, Weight, Mid upper arm circumference (MUAC), Biceps skin fold (BSF), Triceps skin fold (TSF), Sub-scapular skin fold (SSF), Supra iliac skin fold (SISF), Waist circumference (WC) and Hip circumference (HC). Various nutritional and body composition indices were derived from these measurements to assess nutritional status of this population. The all statistical analyses such as mean ± SD, ANOVA, χ2, correlation, regression, logistic regression were performed by using SPSS 20. Results: The mean value of anthropometric measurements like height, weight and MUAC were considerably lower but the mean value of HC, WC, BSF, TSF, SSF and SISF were slightly higher. Age specific variations in different anthropometric variables were also observed in present study. Some derived indices like WHR, WHtR, TUA and UFA were slightly higher among Rajbanshi female individuals. In present study body composition indices like PBF%, FM, FFM and FFMI had lower value. The central adiposity measured by WC, WHR and WHtR were above the cutoff values. It is indicated that some people had higher risk of adiposity related health issues. The result of Pearson correlation analysis between different anthropometric variables showed that all variables were significantly correlated with each other (p<0.05).The result of linear correlation of age on different anthropometric variables reported that age is significantly co-related with height, weight, WHR, TUA, UMA, BFMA and FMM (P<0.05). The result of linear regression of BMI on different anthropometric variables indicated that all variables were significantly co-related with BMI. The prevalence of undernutrition based on BMI classification (WHO, 1995) among Rajbanshi women was high (39.88%) and most of the individuals were suffered from CED grade I level of undernutrition. And the prevalence was high among early (18-29 years) and later (50-94 years) aged women. When nutritional status assessed by MUAC (James et al., 1995), the observed prevalence was 37.00%. In present study the prevalence of undernutrion was 23.75%, based on BMI measure in combination with MUAC. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity was 15.62% and 9.78% respectively based on BMI classification (WHO, 1995). The prevalence of regional adiposity was 52.37%, 96.63% and 68.37% respectively when adiposity measured by WC, WHR and WHtR. The prevalence of regional adiposity was high among middle aged women (30-49 years). Fat individuals were less in present study. Only 16.23% (based on Neiman classification, 1995) and 12.88% individuals (based on Muth classification, 2009) have identified with over fat status. Thus amount of risk factors associated with PBF% was less in number in present study. A logistic regression analysis was performed to find the effect of different socioeconomic, demographic and lifestyle variables on underweight among Rajbanshi women population. The association of BMI, WHR and WHtR with different variables showed a significant influence on being underweight and overweight. The result of this analysis indicated that family type, source of water supply, toilet type, house type, family occupation, living conditions and low socioeconomic status of family were significantly associated with underweight (p<0.05). The association of high WC, HC, WHR, WHtR with different socioeconomic, demographic and life style variables showed a significant effect on high adiposity among Rajbanshi female population. Present study also reported the mean ages at menarche and menopause among Rajbanshi individuals were 12.42 years and 48 years respectively. Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, a large number of adult Rajbanshi women in North Bengal have received schooling and have become educated, but they still suffer from undernutrition. The prevalence of undernutrition in this population was higher than the WHO cutoff values (1995). This research also found a strong relation between a low BMI and poor socioeconomic status. In present study there is a high frequency of normal weight but centrally obese individuals who are normal by BMI but defined as obese by WC, WHR and WHtR. Thus present study population show a high risk of regional adiposity related co-morbidity and mortalities along with diseases related with low BMI. This nutritional disease is now more common through worldwide which are commonly known as double burden of malnutrition (DBM).Item Open Access Daughters in patriarchal social order: A study on girl child in middle class families in Siliguri(University of North Bengal, 2022) Karmakar, Priyanka; Roy, Sanjoy KumarThe title of my PhD thesis is "Daughters in a Patriarchal Social Order: A Study on Girl Child in Middle-class Families in Siliguri". Girl child in India has always been subjected to discrimination and negligence due to the overarching patriarchal ideals that value boychild over girl child. The social mechanisms for gender discrimination are reproduced in the family, in the peer groups, in the community, in language, consumption, at work place and in all other social institutions. The larger forces like globalisation, the market economy and consumerism have compelled urban middle-class parents to rationalise their family size and imbibe hedonism. Demographers have asserted that rationalisation of family size culminates to masculinisation of family, thereby reinforcing unwantedness of daughters. A counter-reality to this phe:1omenon of unwantedness of daughters is that alongside rationalization of family size by restricting reproduction to one child or two children, the educated urban middleclass, who are regarded as the intellectual class and harbinger of social change, seem to be freeing themselves, at least partially, of male-child bias and appear to be content with one daughter or even two daughters. They are repudiating the practice of daughter aversion and are welcoming them in the family. The focal point of this study is to reconstruct the understanding of the changing position of daughter/ daughters in the family, be it a single-daughter family or a family with two daughters or family with a son and a daughter and its implications on the girl child/children and for the gender relation at the larger societal level. The study focuses on reconstructing the praxis of 'acceptance' of and 'preference' for the daughters and the socially shHred perceptions behind such practices. The study is empirical in nature. Data pertaining to the research has been collected singlehandedly. The sample for the study, which comprises of urban middle-class families of Siliguri is categorised as (l) families with single daughter, (2) families having two daughters (3) families having one daughter and a son, and ( 4) families having more than one sons and (or) daughters. The rational of this sampling is that I wanted to compare the attitudes of the parents towards single daughters or two daughters and towards the son and daughters and examine how the elements of patriarchy and gender preference work in the micro locale of the interpersonal relations in family. The study exclusively covered the Bengali middle-class families who form the dominant ethnic community of Siliguri. I studied 120 Bengali households, selecting 30 respondents from each of the four categories mentioned above. A total number of 60 households from the Marwari community have also been incorporated in the study with a purpose to grasp the comparative perspectives in attitude towards daughters at the cross-cultural level. The thesis has been arrnngcItem Open Access Human rights violation : A study of two states of North-East India, Assam and Manipur(University of North Bengal, 2021) Guha Roy, Ananya; Ghosh, MayaIntroduction: Human rights are rights originating from human dignity. According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or status”. These are rights to live, liberty and security of person, right to freedom of speech, judicial remedy, freedom of movement, right to take part in the governance of one’s country, etc. The second types of rights are economic and social rights. These are the right to work, right to live with dignity, right to rest and leisure, right to education, equal pay for equal work, right to equality, etc. Here human rights were proclaimed as ‘the highest aspiration of common people’. Hence, protection and maintenance of human rights is a fundamental duty of every government. The concept of human development although can be traced back in early history of humanity in different cultures and religions, has of course, now acquired new interpretations of increasing the capability of human being to take charge of their destiny. Human rights approaches try to address the main causes of development problems. As former Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said, “Human rights can be found at the heart of every major challenge facing humanity”. On the other hand, human development approach is concerned with all the capabilities that people have reason to value. Both the ideas have much in common with the concerns expressed by Declarations of Human Rights. The promotion of human development and the achievement of human rights share, in many ways, a similar motivation and represent a fundamental commitment to securing the freedom, well-being and dignity of individuals in all societies. While human rights embrace the range of social, economic, cultural and political rights, as defined by the international community, human development is about expanding the choices people have to lead lives which they value, the resources to make those choices available and the security to ensure those choices meaningful. According to Amartya Sen, human right and development are indeed mutually compatible. He shows that both share a common goal: enriching the lives and freedoms of ordinary people. The combination of the two perspectives gives us something that neither can provide alone. North-east India, once considered as a ‘paradise’, has now become ‘crisis-ridden’. The root cause of this mess lies in the history, geography and demography of this region. In May,1958 Dr. Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India, in response to the continued unrest in the north-eastern territories of the Union, including self determination activities by Naga tribes that spilled over into the state of Manipur, promulgated the Armed Forces (Assam and Manipur) Special Powers Ordinance. The ordinance entitled the Governor of Assam and the Chief Commissioner of Manipur to declare the whole or any part of Assam or Manipur, respectively, as a “disturbed area”. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act replaced the ordinance later that year. The Act was passed by both houses of Parliament on 18th August, 1958 and received presidential assent on 11th September, 1958.Subsequent amendments to the Act, which mainly dealt with the territorial scope of its application, were enacted in 1960, 1970, 1972 and 1986.Even though there was some resistance within the parliament against the passing of the Act, the majority prevailed and the law was passed. Today the Act is applicable to the north-eastern territory of India, comprising of seven states, namely Assam, Manipur, Tripura, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland. The two constituent states of North-east have been selected for study keeping in view the incidents of human rights violation by both state and non-state actors. While the state of Manipur witnesses a kind of state sponsored violation of human rights, in Assam the ethnic insurgency groups are constantly violating the rights of common men with the state in most cases has failed to stand to the occasions. Statement of the Research Problem: We have said earlier that human rights are the basic rights for an individual. These rights are regarded very important for the better living of a person. Today, violation of human rights is seriously taken note of by international bodies. It is in this backdrop that most countries have set up their own independent National Human Rights Commissions. Hence human rights are undeniable and inherent rights of every individual. The North-eastern part of our country is declared as ‘disturbed’ for long. Its human rights situation is rooted in its ethnic and linguistic make-up and in the history of its administrative relationship to the central government of India. The Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 was implemented to control the insurgents as well as to maintain peace and security in the region. But surprisingly, after its deployment the situation became even worse. The army violates the human rights of the inhabitants by means of torturing, arresting, searching their houses in excuse of suspicion. They harass the female in connection to help the militants by providing shelter. Thousands of cases of rapes and sexual molestations have been reported against the army. But due to lack of proper investigation the victims do not get justice. Several times the civil society raises its voice to repeal the draconian Act. The central government sometimes too feels to withdraw it, but in practice they do nothing. International organizations like United Nations, Amnesty International make some recommendations, still the people of North-east have been deprived of enjoying the basic human rights of them. This encouraged the researcher to study the actual human rights situation in the two North-eastern states i.e. Assam and Manipur. Objectives of the proposed study: The proposed study would explore the situation of human rights in the north-eastern part of India and the situation of Assam and Manipur, in particular. The focus has been restricted only to the political character of the issue. A huge number of publications have made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the human rights climate of these areas. Many of these recommendations focus on the need for investigation of all reported abuses and the amendment or repeal of abusive security regulations. The prime objectives of the proposed study would be to study: a) The extent and nature of violation by armed forces. b) To find out the role of the central government as well as the state government for the development of these regions, the reasons for not getting the benefits provided by the government in the several five years plans. c) To show the regional imbalances that exists in the levels of economic development in India, a country with continental dimensions, not only between different states but also within the states between different districts and regions. Therefore, the planned economic development of the state has brought wide disparities in the socio-economic situation. d) To identify the demands of the insurgency groups. e) To examine the root causes of the inter-ethnic clashes whether it plays the role of a catalyst in increasing poverty. Research Questions: Following are the questions which will be probed for understanding the problem: a) To what extent, human rights and development are linked in the context of North- East India, especially in Assam and Manipur.Manipur b) What has been the exact nature of poverty in the region? Are poverty and ethnic conflicts the roots of human rights violation? c) What has been the role of the state in protecting the human rights of the people of the region and specifically prevent human rights violation during the last three decades? d) Is it possible to identify human rights violation as indexes of a fragile social and economic structure? e) How far the crisis of human development has been accentuated because of colonial legacy of the British rule and the existence of varied religious belief in a multi-cultural context. Research gap: Although lot of studies on human rights as well as human rights violation in different parts of north-eastern India have been carried out by renowned scholars, no systematic and comprehensive study that has touched the actual state of condition regarding human rights violation in north-east, particularly in Assam and Manipur has ever been undertaken. On the basis of the existing review of literatures, we identified the research gap in our study. Studies on human rights violation in North-east India are large in number. But most of them view the situation from one dimension – either from the governmental point of view or from the insurgents. The issue of development is almost ignored in the existing literatures. Considering the massive poverty situation, in comparison to the rest of the country, this study seeks to identify the mutual relationship between development and human rights violation. The proposed study would not only explore the intensities and degree of violence of that region, but also highlights its impact on its people. Moreover, the study looks at the entire situation through an impartial point of view that would help in the formation of public opinion. The proposed study has explored the situation of human rights in the north-eastern part of India, in general and the situation of Assam and Manipur, in particular. The focus has been restricted only to the political character of the issue. A comparative analysis of the human rights situation of the different states of north east India is conspicuously missing in the earlier literature. In our present study, we have compared the human rights situation of Assam and that of Manipur with the help of various parameters. In this connection, the activities of Assam Human Rights Commission and Manipur Human Rights Commission have also been compared. A huge number of publications have made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the human rights climate of these areas. Many of these recommendations focus on the need for investigation of all reported abuses and the (4) amendment or repeal of abusive security regulations. But in true sense, there is a huge gap between theory and practice. All these attempts have not done much to restore the security of the people of those regions. I have given emphasis on the issue of migration which has not been discussed in the previous literature. Although rigorous quantitative analysis is desirable, the absence of a sufficient amount of reliable data does not allow to pursue such an endeavor. Therefore, my analysis is qualitative in nature - often based on anecdotes and careful observations. There are both beneficial and harmful effects on the economy. The immigrants have contributed to the rise of agricultural productivity and by supplying cheap labor in the informal labor market have benefitted the consumers and producers alike. The immigrants do not seem to compete with the native workers who are generally educated and seek employment in the formal labor market. The immigrants have put tremendous pressure on land and environmental problems which have indirect adverse effects on the economy. So we can realize that the issue of migration has played a pivotal role in the socio-economic-political aspect of the north eastern region. Research Methodology: Method of data collection: For this present study data is collected and examined from both primary and secondary sources. Primary sources include historical archival, various governmental reports, documents of five-year plan and other authentic printed and visual documents. Secondary sources will include the findings of other scholarly studies on the same problem in other parts of the country for the purpose of comparative analysis. Different articles, journals, periodicals and websites are also considered to highlight the human rights situation. The researcher has visited Assam and Manipur several times to acquire a thorough knowledge regarding the actual scenario of human rights there. To collect the accurate data, the researcher has spent long hours in the offices of The Assam Human Rights Commission and Manipur Human Rights Commission. Data Analysing: First, the researcher has shown the descriptive statistics about four important parameters of human rights violation in Assam as well as Manipur. These four important indicators present total complaints, custodial deaths, number of rapes, and number of (5) encounters. In our study, custodial deaths include police custody, judicial custody, and defence or paramilitary custody. The researcher has computed mean of all the above stated parameters to know the average of total complaints, custodial deaths, number of rapes, and number of encounters in Assam as well as Manipur. The researcher has also shown the maximum and minimum values of all the stated parameters to showcase the range or span of all the four indicators under study. The researcher has shown the standard deviation to show the dispersion of each parameter from their respective mean values. Higher value of standard deviation indicates the higher deviation of the cases from their average cases. Apart from the descriptive statistics, the researcher has also used inferential statistics in order to check the hypotheses in the study. As the researcher has made a deliberate attempt to make a comparison between two states which are different from one other; she has taken the help of Independent t test. As the two states are two distinct sample groups, therefore, Independent t test is the most appropriate test in this study. In my study, comparisons between two states have been made on the basis of stated four parameters. First, I have considered the ‘total complaints’ parameter and I have checked the statistical significant difference of ‘total complaints’ between Assam and Manipur and applied the same test in the case of other parameters in my study. Research Findings: Chapter one deals with identifying the research problems and the methodology applied by the researcher for empirical study of the problem identified by the researcher. The researcher has stated the objectives of this research, research questions, hypothesis, detailed the overview of literature available in this field of research and pointed out the research gap in the area. Chapter two deals with the approaches and perspectives of human rights and human development. The first part of the chapter begins with the theory of natural law, followed by a detail understanding of natural rights theory and ends with a brief discussion of the three generations of human rights that is civil-political rights, socio-economic rights and lastly collective-developmental rights introduced by Jurist Karel Vasak. The approaches of human development have been elaborately discussed in the second part of the chapter. The chapter (6) ends with the illustration of the interrelationship between human rights and human development. Chapter three deals with the issues of poverty and development in this region. It analyses the level of achievements in different dimensions of human development across north eastern states. Moreover, this chapter tries to examine the extent of inter-state disparities in economic growth and human development related indictors in north eastern states. Though the region has made improvement with regard to the level of human development in recent time compared to the previous decades, yet its level of achievement in terms of human development is consistently low than that of nation average. Chapter four includes year wise as well as area wise several cases of different forms of human rights violations in Assam. Here we can notice that mainly human rights violations are done by the state police. The numerous numbers of incidents of custodial deaths, torturing, encounters have proved their level of cruelty. Violations against women, like rape, harassment vary from year to year. Chapter five deals with the situation of human rights violation in Manipur in detail. Most of the armed groups fighting for secession have accused the Central Government of exploiting the region’s rich mineral resources, neglecting its economy and flooding the state with migrant settlers. The human rights situation in this region has been aggravated rapidly after the deployment of Indian army to fight against secessionist insurgents. To control the insurgents and to diminish the support they enjoyed, the security forces have indulged in extra-judicial executions, custodial deaths, torture and rape. Moreover, the prolonged application of the security operations, conducted under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), 1958 has not only institutionalized a climate of impunity but has also alienated the public and fuelled a cycle of violence in the region. Chapter six has presented a comparative analysis between the above mentioned two states regarding their respective human rights situations. We have also considered the total number of cases of human rights violations happened in these two states from 2005 to 2018. This chapter has highlighted the responses from national as well as international bodies to control the situation and establish peaceful environment. Conclusion: In conclusion we can say that the profile of Assam shows that mainly the cases of human rights violations have been done by the police and not by the army. It is observed that (7) whereas the police violated human rights 1,112 times during 2005-2018, the army is accused for the same only 13 times. Places like Kamrup, Kacchar, Nagaon have the maximum cases of violations done by the police. In contrast to Assam, Manipur has the highest number of cases of violation of human rights done by the army. Due to unavailability of data regarding human rights violations here, the researcher has to solely depend on the narratives given by the MHRC’s officials and their newsletters. Mr. Khaidem Mani, the present chairperson of the MHRC has presented a detailed narration of the current scenario of human rights situation there. The researcher has observed that there lies statistically significant difference regarding the total number of complaints between Assam and Manipur. Perhaps the main reason behind this is the disfunctionality of the MHRC for a long span of time. I personally have realized that the newly formed commission under the chairmanship of Mr. Khaidem Mani sincerely wants to resolve the cases of human rights violations in this region. Manipur is one of the worst affected states in North-east India where to counter insurgency operations the state acts more cruelly towards the innocent inhabitants. The Indian Army, the Assam Rifles and the Manipur Police have been accused of violating human rights of the local people only because of suspecting them as militant. Common people even do not sleep properly at night. Anytime they can come, search their houses, destroy their belongings and pick up their family member for enquiry. Sometimes after interrogating they release that person, in some cases the victim simply ‘disappears’. Thousands of cases of rape, molestation, sexual assault have been done by the army. In terms of HDI ranking Manipur always performs better than Assam. According to the HDI ranking in 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 Manipur performs quite well in health and education, but its poor performance in economic attainment has placed its position below in the overall HDI value. Assam has been found consistently to be the poorest performer in the race of human development in recent decades. Uneven human development in this region in terms of health, education and economic outcome is very prominent and high degree of disparity across states is very much visible when examine the human development indicators. The Central Government must take all these issues into account during policy formulation.Item Open Access Conflict management in a multicultural society : A study of Terai and Dooars region in West Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2022) Roy, Saikat; Ghosh, Maya“Multiculturalism is used to refer to a desired end–state, as a way of referring to a society in which different cultures are respected and the reproduction of culturally defined group is protected and social diversity celebrated” (Joseph: 2002, 159). In present democratic societies, numerous identities are trying to acquire their social position following the path of multicultural values. Hence, in the postmodern world where each and every community is vocal to preserve their self-identity, the issue of managing diversity is catching everyone’s consciousness. In the post-colonial situation, the newly formed states have tried to consolidate and unite by following some homogenised rights and policies. This homogenization further led to uneven development and cultural unrest among the communities in the South Asian countries. That further resulted in social conflicts, ethnic violence, secessionist movements and civil war. The recent history of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh reveals the real picture. Continuous inter-country mobility and migration flow further turned the ethnic equation more complex. Internal migration on the other hand in the south Asian countries and particularly in Indian societies has challenged the social balance. This diverse social composition has a dark side as well. The multiple identities in the existing society also led to multiple linguistic, religious and ethnic conflicts within the society. In such diverse societies, it is important to manage conflicts among these communities and groups and make a sense of unity among the individuals, groups and communities for peaceful coexistence. The key purpose of this dissertation is to highlight the perspective of conflict management in Indian society. The first chapter of my dissertation is the compilation of a background study of my research work along with a detailed discussion of applied research methodologies. This chapter deals with various works of literature based on Multicultural discourse, Conflict Management and Tribal Politics to identify the research gap, the objective of this study, also research questions and the organisation of the chapters. Multiculturalism as a value and ideology has been praised throughout the world. Multiculturalism basically reflects a positive embodiment of individual and group identity, as well as communal diversity, usually arising from racial, ethnic, and linguistic identity differences. Hence, in many cases existence of a multicultural social system has promoted an atmosphere where multiculturalism can raise conflicts within a society as well as can play a big role in conflict situations. My second chapter entails a thorough discussion on the perspective of multiculturalism as a theory and the vision of multiculturalism in the Indian context. In the present post-modern world order when micro identities are assuring and stabling their identities, the value of multiculturalism comes alongside. Various scholars have highlighted the importance of multiculturalism and tried to conceptualise the same. Will Kymlicka, Charles Taylor, Bhikhu Parekh, Chandran Kukathas, and Iris Marion Young, have tried to establish a multicultural standpoint on the international ground. An in-depth analysis of all the thoughts and perspectives reveals that multiculturalism is closely associated with some other vital values of present-day societies like diversity, Pluralism, nationalism, and minority rights in a democratic structure in the globalised order. India is also not an exception to that situation. India’s linguistic, religious, ethnic, and cultural diversities are proverbial. So, political mobilizations and violent conflicts and antagonisms have arisen from time to time among persons and groups. However, it is important to note that neither political mobilization nor ethnic and cultural antagonisms flow naturally out of India’s diversities. Being aware of the diverse social structure of India, the constitution since the beginning has tried to ensure individual and group identities to accommodate distinct communities in a federal structure. Any theory resulting in practice is always under question, and so is the concept of unity. In a diverse multi-ethnic, multi-culture, multi-religious and multi-lingual social system where everything is plural and heterogeneous, the interests of the existing communities are going to be diverse. This difference in identities and interests further results in a clash of identity and interest resulting in serious conflicts within the society sometimes appears violent in nature. Such conflicts are equipped with potentialities to destabilise the social system from a broader perspective. Hence, managing conflicts become crucial over here. My third chapter deals with the various theoretical perspectives of social conflict and conflict management in general as well as in the Indian scenario. In the course of social science, numerous eminent scholars have tried to understand the conflict from different approaches, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Ralf Dahrendorf, Georg Simmel, and Lewis A. Coser, are prominent among them. A detailed discussion of these approaches reveals that conflict contains actions, processes, goals, power relations and conflict interactions, moulded by cultural standards and scared resources. Conflicts are common in contemporary societies and India is no exception. India since independence has witnessed a number of religious, linguistic as well as ethnic conflicts. Management of these conflicts has raised the tension among social scientists, academicians, as well as political and governmental actors. To deal with the conflicts different mechanisms have been developed which consist of conflict management, conflict resolution and conflict transformation. Governmental institutions also play a key role in this process of conflict management. In the case of India as well the institutional arrangements have played a crucial role in managing the conflicts raised on religious, linguistic and ethnic lines. Since independence, the process of nation-building encourages the different communities to live with dignity and distinct identity to grow up an idea of unity and integrity among the citizens. However, agitations, movements and conflicts resulting in social unrest have emerged from time to time in different parts of the country. The fourth chapter of my thesis has initiated to analyse of the adivasi movement in the Terai and Dooars region of West Bengal, which further resulted in an intergroup conflict in the region. The Terai and Dooars region of North Bengal has witnessed several social conflicts arising out of religious, linguistic and ethnic tensions. In recent times there is an upsurge in adivasi community in the region. With a backdrop of the history of migration and a sense of statelessness, mobilised under the leadership of Akhil Bharatiya Adivasi Vikash Parishad (ABAVP), they are demanding an autonomous body in the region to secure their identity as well as to intensify the development process in general and socio-economic and cultural development in particular. In this process, they have indulged in a conflict with Gorkha/Nepali community from the hills, who have demanded a separate state named ‘Gorkhaland’. The conflict has further taken a crucial turn with the demand for the inclusion of areas from Terai and Dooars within the domain of the proposed territorial map of Gorkhaland and later within the administrative jurisdiction of ‘Gorkhaland Territorial Administration’. The conflict between Gorkhas and Adivasis in the region created a social crisis in the region. In such a situation managing the existing conflict becomes important to the government. The fifth chapter of my thesis has tried to look at the aspect of state response towards the management of adivasi conflict in the region. The relevant question here is how far the existing governmental institutions and structures are equipped to deal with such conflicts. On the one hand, prevailing constitutional arrangements are there which consist of various provisions to safeguard the interests of the adivasi community; hence constitutional arrangements have a big role to play. On the other hand, in the process of conflict management central, state and local government institutions can play a vital part. Thus, the role of governmental intuitions to deal with adivasi conflict has been analysed in this context. Thus, the aim of the thesis revolves around the role of governmental institutions in managing adivasi conflict in the Terai and Dooars region in West Bengal.Item Open Access Stephen Spender: The language of imagination and inquiry submitted to the University of North Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2022) Oraon, Karishma; Mitra, ZiniaHailed more as a poet of the thirties than as a poet of the century, sometimes dismissed as a ‘Pylons poet’ who thrived in the penumbra of Auden, Stephen (Harold) Spender (1909-1995) has long been remembered chiefly for his autobiography World Within World (1951) or as a critic and an academic in his own right. In the last quarter of the last century a rehabilitation of Spender as a poet started taking place. In spite of this forty-odd years old critical acclaim, the traditional view of Spender as a social poet, a poet of crisis, persisted. The reason is not far to seek. His brief romance with Marxism / Communism, his retrospective self-analysis that “We [the Auden Group] were the Hamlets of the Thirties” and the huge popularity of his poem “The Express” on both sides of the Atlantic contributed to this indelible image of Spender as poet of social / political enquiry. In fact, people who had interest in the poetry of the 1930s almost habitually neglected the language of emotion in Spender’s poetry and were happy with the rhetoric of inquiry evident there. A proper rehabilitation, however belated, of Spender should be inclusive, and not exclusive in nature so that the two voices – one of emotion, and the other of inquiry – can be explored and juxtaposed with a view to understanding the interplay of aesthetics and politics in his poetry. This, it may be argued, is necessary for a comprehensive evaluation of Spender, for viewing him not simply as a poet of crisis, but also a poet in crisis. Hence, a work along the line of what is indicated in the title of this research is neither trite nor superfluous. A traditional and quite popular approach to literature is : behind a book there is a man, and around that man there is the society he belongs to. This ‘model’ may in geometrical terms be called the concentric circle model where more than one circle has a common, single center. While viewing Spender as a social poet, a poet of crisis, this model does work to a considerable extent – at least as far as his language of inquiry is concerned. Across his works he has revealed a preoccupation with what he metaphorically calls ‘the center and the circumference’.But the point is that when he concedes that ‘Both center and circumference are my weakness’ (“Darkness and Light”), we are led to suspect that he is rather engulfed in more than one overlapping circle. And this calls for a second model for a proper evaluation of his poetry. Borrowing from the domain of Mathematics and Logic, we can name this second model as Venn diagram in which a set of circles exist intersectionally. At least two intersecting circles can then be observed in Spender’s oeuvre: one registering the language of imagination and the other, that of inquiry. Spender’s concerns, often disharmonious in nature, of individual and the social color, divided the world of Spender into that of imagination and inquiry. In his early writings Spender shared with others of the Auden group two common features : 1) a move away from early individualism towards Marxism, and , 2) conflicting emotions and intellectual contradictions that stemmed from the move taken. In most of the pieces in Poems, Spender voices forth the inhibitions and inadequacies of himself and humanity as denizens of a world listless to the needs of man. He, therefore, seems to grapple with ambivalent motives : a search for absolute certainties, and acceptance of the ruptures in human experience. As Justin Replogle puts it: “The conflict is between the body and the mind, the world and the absolute” (“The Auden Group” in Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature, Vol. 5, No.1, (1964). This dichotomy well surfaces in such lines as ‘An “I” can never be a great man’, and ‘Never being, but always at the edge of Being’. It is not surprising that in The Still Centre (1939) his great interest in the individual, nebulously present during his rendezvous with Marxism, resurfaces to claim that personal and social health, heavily relies on private love, on the tangent of individual still centres. As a matter of fact, Spender was less tempermentally fitted for Marxism than the other members of the Auden group, and he could never discard the romantic disposition which actually permeated his whole being. He could not get away from demonstrating a veritable record of concern for his own experience as well as for the innate nature of man; and the result was that for him the individual was at the center of the social. Even in Vienna (the most ‘Marxist’ of his works), he tried to integrate the public events in the city into his private experience. The predicament of being caught between two circles is well revealed in his play Trial of a Judge where the Judge is portrayed as the only noble human figure with liberal, anti-Marxist precepts. No wonder, then, that right from Nine Experiments (1928) to Dolphins (1994), Spender leaves traces of the Venn diagrammatic worlds where the language of imagination and that of inquiry converge. The proposed study will try and answer some such questions as the following: 1. How was the poetics of Spender’s early works shaped by his politics? 2. What, in fact, Spender meant by the ‘Destructive’ and ‘Creative’ elements that constitute a poet’s engagement with the self (the ‘still centre’) and the society (the ‘other’ / the ‘circumference’)? 3. How did Spender’s poet-critic and critic-poet roles reflect the interface between the language of imagination and that of inquiry? 4. What was the impact of Spender’s disillusionment with Communism on his later works? 5. Was it a ‘world-within-a world’ or a Venn diagrammatic world that Spender as a poet was a denizen of? 6 .How far does Spender’s last work, Dolphins (published in 1994, just a year before his death) differ, if at all, from his earlier works in terms of the language of imagination and that of inquiry? The Introductory chapter of the thesis will first outline the project undertaken, and then take a generalized look at the Auden group and Spender’s position in it-the second section of the first chapter is an overview of the Auden group. The Second chapter focuses on the subtext of Spender ‘s Socio-political poems. In so doing , it primarily falls back on his autobiography, World Within World ,which still remains an authoritative expose of the times between the wars . The prevalent incertitude has nicely been summed up in this little master piece: “[…] We were divided between our literary vocation and an urge to save the World from Fascism. We were the Divided Generation of Hamlets who found the world out of joint and failed to set it right” (174). The language of imagination and that of inquiry in his poetry of the period were tinged with a deep sense of crises. Before we enter the world(s) of Spender’s poetry, the Third chapter tries to understand what he actually meant by the ‘Destructive’ and ‘Creative’ elements, and also how these two elements were in operations in his use of language of imagination and also in that of inquiry. Hence, the third chapter tries to adumbrate the ideas contained in his The Destructive Element (1935) and The Creative Element (1953). In 1935, Spender privileged inquiry over imagination; eighteen years later he was happy to invert his quondam critical stance. What could be the poet’s steady ethics amidst so many diversions? This question probably plagued him always in his treatment of political events, of man as a social being, of progress as a necessary evil, and of different kinds of love that binds man to man sexually and asexually. If he failed to find a satisfactory answer, his failure generated a constant dialogue, an interconnection, between the overlapping worlds. Chapter Four tries and traces the tangents that connect the Spenderian worlds in which imagination and inquiry co-inhabit. Published just a year before the poet’s death, Dolphins (1994) is yet to receive an adequate critical attention. The last years of Spender’s life were not very congenial to the octogenarian poet, although he was anxious to bring out a final volume of poems, however tiny, to call it quits. What kind of inquiry and imagination, and what corresponding language, does this valedictory volume offer? The Concluding chapter centers around this important question. Spender’s inclination for delicate romanticism returns, it appears, not with inquiry but with recollection. Now beyond the center and circumference, beyond the tiring navigation between the circles of a Venn diagram, beyond any struggle of the modern, the aged poet can bring imagination and inquiry together as the pranksters of the sea and humans play out their mutual friendliness.Item Open Access Digital Literacy as Social Capital for Identification and Evaluation of Digital Competencies of the Under-graduate students of the University of North Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2024) Esh, Manash; Ghosh, SaptarshiThe thesis titled "Digital Literacy as Social Capital for Identification and Evaluation of Digital Competencies of the Undergraduate Students of the University of North Bengal" aims to investigate the role of digital literacy as social capital in the identification and evaluation of digital competencies among undergraduate students at the University of North Bengal. The study begins with an introduction to the research problem and a literature review that discusses the concepts of digital literacy, social capital, and digital competencies. The literature review provides a theoretical framework for the study and highlights the importance of digital literacy and digital competencies in the digital age. The research problem identifies and evaluates the digital competencies of undergraduate students in the University of North Bengal affiliated colleges, focusing on digital literacy as a form of social capital. The study aims to investigate the level of digital literacy among undergraduate students at the University of North Bengal and to identify the social capital that digital literacy provides in terms of their digital competency. The research also seeks to evaluate the students' digital competencies in various areas, such as digital communication, creativity, security, and problem-solving. The study is significant because it will provide insights into the current state of digital literacy among undergraduate students and help identify areas where improvements can be made. The findings of the study can be used to develop strategies to enhance digital literacy among students, which can, in turn, improve their overall academic performance and future career prospects. The study will explore the concept of digital literacy as a form of social capital, which refers to the social connections, networks, and resources that individuals can access through their digital skills and competencies. It provides an overview of the hypotheses and research questions addressed in the study focused on digital literacy, digital competency, and their impact on social capital among undergraduate students. The study explores the relationships between these variables and aims to understand the current state of digital literacy and competency among the target group. The study examines how socio-demographic variables correlate with digital literacy and digital competencies among undergraduate students, determines the existing level of digital literacy, and establishes criteria for identifying digitally competent undergraduate students, specifically focusing on those from NBU. This research focuses on the interplay between digital literacy, digital competency, and social capital among undergraduate students. It addresses hypotheses and research questions that collectively contribute to a comprehensive understanding of the current digital landscape within the target demographic. The research addresses questions by examining the relationship between socio-demographic variables and digital literacy, assessing the current level of digital literacy among undergraduate students, and determining indicators of digital competency, especially among students from NBU. The research methodology chapter describes the research design, sampling techniques, data collection methods, and data analysis procedures used in the study. The research approach chosen for this study was quantitative, focusing on exploring relationships between variables through statistical analysis. This approach harmonised with the study's objectives, enabling objective data collection and assessing connections between variables. The survey method was applied to delve into the digital literacy levels of undergraduate students attending colleges affiliated with the University of North Bengal. It highlights critical aspects of the study's population and sample selection methodology, detailing the inclusion of all undergraduate college students affiliated with the University of North Bengal, West Bengal, India. The study encompasses six districts and 52 colleges under the University's jurisdiction. The research meticulously defines the population as the entire set of cases from which a sample is drawn, and the target population refers to all registered undergraduate students across different semesters (1, 3, and 5) from the 52 affiliated colleges. The total target population comprises 128,608 undergraduate students. The research employs a stratified random sampling method to ensure a representative study. The structured questionnaire is then distributed to selected undergraduate students using random sampling techniques, maintaining an unbiased representation. The population of undergraduate students from the University of North Bengal is showcased divided into three academic sessions (Session1*, Session2*, and Session3*) for different semesters. The total population counts 128,608 undergraduate students, with a consistent increase in enrolment observed across academic sessions. The distribution of colleges across the North Bengal region is presented, and the number of colleges included in the study is outlined for each district. The table highlights Darjeeling as the district with the most colleges (22), followed by Jalpaiguri (13), Alipurduar (10), Kalimpong (4), Uttar Dinajpur (2), and Cooch Behar (1). The questionnaire design was carefully crafted, considering the research topic, objectives, and background literature. The questionnaire encompassed three sections: capturing socio-educational backgrounds, assessing digital literacy, and evaluating digital competencies. The Likert Scale was employed to measure respondents' agreement levels with statements. The purpose of executing a pilot study involving 145 students from the Library and Information Science Department at the University of North Bengal was to improve the questionnaire quality based on feedback. The data collected during the pilot study was subjected to analysis and the rectification of errors, resulting in the creation of the final version of the questionnaire for distribution. The Likert Scale, a well-established response scale, was utilised to measure the digital literacy levels of undergraduate students. Respondents rated their agreement levels on a scale ranging from "Strongly Agree" to "Strongly Disagree." It underscores the meticulous planning and precise execution that underpin the success of a rigorous research study. This research delves into the intricate relationship between digital literacy and social capital among undergraduate students. The study demonstrates a positive correlation between digital literacy and social capital, revealing that students possessing higher levels of digital literacy also exhibit superior digital competencies. The undergraduate student demographic in the region is characterised by diversity in gender, college status, accommodation, discipline, year of study, medium of instruction, locale, and educational goals. The research underscores educational institutions' need to offer comprehensive access to diverse digital resources, effectively supporting student learning. Moreover, the research focuses on raising awareness and enhancing digital literacy among females in various districts. The study highlights areas for growth, such as bolstering device security and fostering a culture of seeking assistance when grappling with technical challenges or adapting to new software. Notably, the favoured means of instant communication and information retrieval differ across locales and genders. Significantly, social networking platforms predominantly serve personal purposes, ranking communication as the second most prevalent use. These platforms offer untapped potential for amplifying knowledge-sharing and information dissemination among undergraduate students. The research offers invaluable insights into the contemporary digital literacy and social capital landscape among undergraduate students. It advocates for targeted strategies and interventions tailored to the distinct needs of diverse college student subgroups. By cultivating digital literacy skills among undergraduates, this research indicates the potential to positively impact their forthcoming academic and professional trajectories. To bridge existing disparities, additional research is warranted to explore specific facets of digital literacy where disparities persist and devise strategies to rectify the digital literacy gap. The study suggests that crafting tailored policies and interventions will contribute to elevating education quality and the overall well-being of college students. The research reaffirms that enhancing digital literacy skills within the undergraduate cohort promises to foster enhanced academic and professional achievements. Ultimately, this study underscores the critical importance of digital literacy education. It accentuates the pressing need for educational institutions to offer a broad spectrum of digital resources. The study recognises the prominence of specific app platforms and social networking sites within the undergraduate realm, underscoring specific digital literacy disparities. Consequently, the amplification of digital literacy among undergraduate students emerges as a pivotal factor in shaping their future academic and professional success. The study contributes valuable knowledge to inform strategies for fostering digital competence among undergraduate students at the University of North Bengal, emphasising the importance of tailored interventions and considering diverse sociodemographic factors.Item Open Access Studies on microbial diversity of some fish products of North Bengal(University of North Bengal, 2022) Yonle, Rujas; Pal, JoydebFish is an important source of nutrition in many people's diets around the world. Fish and fish products are regularly consumed by people of various ethnicities in North Bengal. The current study examines the various types of fish consumed in North Bengal. During the survey, three types of locally prepared fish products were documented: Loah ko Dalla, Sidol, and Jhinghe Maacha. Among the three fish products, Loah ko Dalla was primarily consumed in parts of the Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of North Bengal, particularly in villages along the river Rangeet, Balasan and Relli. Only the Rajbanshi tribes of North Bengal plains were found to consume the product Sidol. Jhinghe Maacha, on the other hand, was a popular fish product consumed widely throughout North Bengal. The fish products Loah ko Dalla and Sidol were rarely sold in the open market and were only produced for domestic consumption, whereas Jhinghe Maacha was readily available in all of North Bengal's fish markets. Four Loah ko Dalla sample batches, three Sidol sample batches, and four Jhinghe Maacha sample batches were collected from various parts of North Bengal. A total of 219 isolates of microorganisms were isolated from the eleven samples. All of the samples collected were found to have a 100% prevalence of LAB (Lactic acid Bacteria). All of the fish products had a microbial load of LAB ranging from 103 to 105 cfu/g. From the 148 LAB strains isolated from all of the fish products, 113 were cocci and were identified as Lactococcus plantarum, Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Pediococcus pentosaceus, Enterococcus faecium, and Enterococcus faecalis, while the remaining 35 were non-spore forming rods and were identified as Lactobacillus fructosus and Lactobacillus plantarum. A total of 62 spore former strains were isolated from the 11 samples of fish products collected, out of which 42 strains were endospore forming rods and 20 strains were aerobic cocci. The prevalence of endospore forming rods in all the fish samples were 91 % and aerobic cocci 64%. The microbial load of the spore formers was found to be< 103 cfu/gm with values ranging from 101 to 104 cfu/g. The isolated strains of endospore forming rods were identified as Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus. The isolated 20 strains of aerobic cocci were all identified as Micrococcus sp. The Micrococcus had a prevalence of 64% in all the samples analysed. The microbial load of yeast in all the samples were found to be <1 cfu/g and no mould could be ascertained from all the products analysed. All 9 strains of yeast were isolated from only Loah ko Dalla and were identified as Candida sp. The prevalence of the yeast in all the samples was found to be 27%. The total viable count of the 11 samples was found between 103 to 105 cfu/g. The major food pathogens Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterobacteriaceae were isolated from all the fish products. Bacillus cereus has a prevalence of 73 % in all the fish products analysed with microbial load ranging between 102 to 103 cfu/ g. Staphylococcus aureus was also isolated from all the fish samples with a prevalence of 64% and microbial load ranging between 102 to 103 cfu/g. Enterobacteriaceae was also isolated from all the fish samples with a prevalence of 82% and microbial load of 103 cfu/g in all the fish samples. The proximate analysis of all the fish samples revealed the pH of 6 to7 in all the samples with no detectable acidity. Sida! had the highest moisture content of 50%, and Jhinghe maacha had the highest ash content of 82.44 %. The protein content was highest in Jhinghe Maacha and lowest inLoah ko Dalla with 54.55% and 9.27% respectively. The fat content was highest with 50% in Loah ko Dalla and lowest in Sida! with 21. 7 5%. All fish samples were tested for mineral content, specifically calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc. The calcium content in Loah ko dalla, Sida!, and Jhinghe maacha was 38.42 mg/lO00g, 50.24 mg/lO00g, and 129.65 mg/lO00g, respectively. The iron content in Loah ko dalla, Sida!, and Jhinghe maacha was 56.51 mg/lO00g, 41.28 mg/lO00g, and 35.50 mg/1 000g, respectively. The magnesium content in Loah ko dalla, Sida!, and Jhinghe maacha was 77.25 mg/l000g, 129.63 mg/l000g, and 137.95 mg/l000g, respectively. Manganese content in Loah ko dalla was 2.41 mg/lO00g, Sidol 3.99 mg/lO00g, and Jhinghe maacha 1.2 mg/1 000g. The zinc content in Loah ko dalla was 4.13 mg/1 000g, Sidol 8.25 mg/lO00g, and Jhinghe Maacha 3.60 mg/l000g. The findings of the research indicate the presence of LAB, spore formers, and yeast in all of the fish products. Although none of the pathogens exceeded the hazard limit, the presence of pathogenic bacteria Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterobacteriaceae in the entire fish sample indicates poor handling and preservation practices. The research finding also indicates the fish products contain substantial amount of food value in terms of protein, fat and nutrient content.Item Open Access Disasters and their management in Darjeeling Himalaya(University of North Bengal, 2022) Subba, Aditya; Choudhury, MaitreyeeItem Open Access Ethics, Monstrosity, Stupidity: Animal Poetics & Contemporary ‘Literary’ Thinking(University of North Bengal, 2022) Nandi, Ratul; Ghosh, RanjanMy thesis attempts to find the ‘literary’ answer to the problem of knowing the animals from their own ontological enclosures. Mobilising the word ‘Poetics’ to resonate a paradoxical awareness of animals’ being, which we at once succeed and fail to discover, the project seeks to uncover how the works of literature as ‘poiesis’ are fundamentally consistent with such an im-possible animality. While not discrediting the empirical dimension of an animal’s being, my work attunes to what is at stake in our attempts to conceptualise animal thinking. Primarily conceptual, the project examines the stakes of literature to put in motion the ‘onto-epistemic’ paradoxes and disorientations that underlie the question of animals and their seemingly ‘straightforward’ representations. Refusing to see the animals neither solely in their physical register nor in their conceptual costume, the project homes in on a ‘in-between’ experience that does not draw any demarcation between species identity: between the animal and the human. The expression ‘Animal Poetics’ does not seek to bring home yet another ‘human standpoint’ on animal lives but proceeds to read all forms of animal thinking as primarily arising out of a deeply entangled human-animal consciousness, an experience that always comes before the event of actual animal subjectivity. Sniffing the scent of such a singular animality, the chapters here present us with three of the most commonplace approaches to animal lives: ethics, stupidity and monstrosity. My first chapter, titled “Animal Poetics & The Question of Ethics,” problematises the very idea of animal ethics through a close reading of two fictional works by the novelist J.M. Coetzee: Disgrace and Lives of the Animals. In Disgrace, the chapter reads the relationship between David Lurie and his dogs as hinting towards an alternative platform for thinking animal-centric ethics which is anchored nether upon the ‘sameness’ nor ‘difference’ between animal and the human species, but upon a feeling of mutual indistinguishability brought on by a feeling of epistemic incertitude. In Lives of the Animals, the chapter unearths the tacit anthropocentrism at play in western thinking that avows to speak for the animals. Deciding to read against the grain of an ostensibly zoo-centric aspiration of the novelist Elizabeth Costello, it unmasks the more profound ‘sacrificial logic’ at work in the discourse of vegetarianism widely accepted to function as a mode of dietetic redemption. The second chapter – “Animal Poetics and the limit of Stupidity” – ties in with the problem of stupidity, a supposedly ‘lesser’ behavioural trait so often imputed to animals for the alleged lack of language and logical thinking. However, the chapter overturns such run-of-the-mill contention by engaging with two of Frantz Kafka’s notable zoo poetical texts, The Metamorphosis and A Report to an Academy. In both texts, the chapter discovers a conscious literary design that deliberately seeks to obscure our received ideas of animal subjectivity by drawing attention to a figure of an ‘animal within’, an experience, it claims, that is irretrievably entangled with our experience of the literature and language. My final chapter titled “Animal Poetics and the Monstrosity of the Other” probes into the concept of ‘monstrous Other’ or monstrosity and re-locates it at the febrile frontier between the human and the animal species. As it recalibrates our banal reception of literary monsters, the chapter further invites us to examine the very power of literary texts to construct monstrous discourses that can eventually return its readers to a state of an (in-between) ontological disruption in themselves. However, what unites all these chapters is my underlying belief in the elusive and ambivalent ontology of animal life, a reality that is at once disclosed to and withheld from its readers and leaves them perpetually in the ontological ‘no-man’s land’ between the human and the animal. The poetics of such ‘indistinction’ is, as my project argues, inextricably bound up with the experience of literature. ‘Animal Poetics’ does not attempt to be objectively accurate about specificities of animal life as such, but lays bare the deeper considerations at work in such authoritarian undertakings: it is not concerned with animals as a theriomorphic reality, the animal as it ‘is’, but with the animal as an experience of the ‘im-possible’.