Partha S. Ghosh, President
Partha S. Ghosh is Professor of South Asian Studies at the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His areas of interest are South Asian politics, ethnicity and foreign policy.
Ghosh was earlier a Visiting Professor at the OKD Institute of Social Change and Development, Guwahati, a Humboldt Fellow at the Heidelberg University, a Ford Visiting Scholar at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. For many years he served as a Research Director at the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi.
His books include Unwanted and Uprooted: A Political Study of Refugees, Migrants, Stateless and Displaced in South Asia (2004), Ethnicity vs. Nationalism: The Devolution Discourse in Sri Lanka (2003), BJP and the Evolution of Hindu Nationalism (1999, 2000), Pluralism and Equality: Values in Indian Society and Politics (2000, co-edited), Rivalry and Revolution in South and East Asia (1997, edited), Cooperation and Conflict in South Asia (1989, 1995) and Sino-Soviet Relations: US Perceptions and Policy Responses 1849-1959 (1981). Besides, he has written many research articles for prominent journals.
Ghosh is currently finalizing a book tentatively titled as Politics of Law in South Asia to be published by Routeledge of the Taylor and Francis Group of London.
Chittabrata Palit, Jt. Vice President
Chittabrata Palit an M.A and Ph.D in history and is at present a Professor of History in Jadavpur University, Calcutta, India. He was a Commonwealth Scholar, Cambridge, U.K., (1971- 1974 ), Fulbright Visiting Fellow in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA (1981) and in the Towson State University, Towson, Maryland, USA, (1994), a Wellcome Trust Visiting Scholar in Cambridge (1993), and Visiting Faculty, Dept. of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Calcutta (1999). He has also received the honour as the Fellow of Royal Asiatic Society, UK.
Professor Palit’s major work is Tensions in Bengal Rural Society (1974). His other works in the same field are – New View Points on Nineteenth Century Bengal, (1980). Perspectives on Agrarian Bengal (1982), Agrarian Bengal under the Raj, Revolt Studies, Vols. 1-3 (1986). Political Economy and Protest in Colonial India (1996), Growth of Trade and Commerce in Bengal (in BNCCI Centenary Commemoration Volume), 2001, History of medicine In India (ed), 2006, Scientific Bengal, 2006, Science & Nationalism in Bengal, 2004.
Jaharlal Sen, Jt. Vice President
Jahar Sen ( 1932) is currently the Honorary Professor, Department of History, University of Calcutta and a guest lecturer in the Indology Course under the Research Department of the Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture, Golpark, Kolkata. He was a student of Rajshahi Loknath H.E. School (Bangladesh) during 1937-47 and was a student of I.A. class during 1948-50 in Berhampore Krishnanath College. Since August 1957 he served in the Department of History, Krishnanath College, West Bengal. He joined the Department of History, Calcutta University on 4th February 1976, retired as a re- employed teacher till 30th June 1997.
Notable among his publications are Indo-Nepal Trade in the Nineteenth Century (1977), Asiar Jatiya Mukti Andolan (National Liberation Movement in Asia,(1980), Daxin Purba Asiar Itihas:Malaysia Indonesia (History of South East Asia: Malay-Indonesia (1985, rpt. 1996), Darjeeling: A Favoured Retreat (1989), Essays in Indo- Nepal Trade(1991), India and Nepal: Some Aspects of Culture Contact( 1992), Rezaul Karim (in Bengali, B.S., 1407, Purna Manab Rezaul Karim (Rezaul Karim: The Integral Man,2003 and Life and Light (2004).
Suchandra Chakraborty, Jt.Vice President
M.A. in English from Jadavpur University,Calcutta, India, Suchandra Chakraborty joined the Statesman Ltd., as Editorial Assistant, in 1976. Currently she is the head of the Department of NSHM, Knowledge Campus, Kolkata.
Ms. Chakraborty takes interest in different aspects of Asian studies pertaining to women’s questions, religion and social life and she has a prolific skill of translation into English from Bengali and Hindi or vice versa. It goes to her credit to translate the Sahitya Academy award winning novel Sada Kham (White Envelope) by Moti Nandi (1998). Ms.Chakraborty, also writes regularly articles and interviews for many newspapers and journals both in English and Bengali and she is also a regular speaker in English in All India Radio.At present she is translating books for Penguin India.
Lipi Ghosh, Secretary
Lipi Ghosh is a M.A. and Ph.D in history from the University of Calcutta, India. She is a Reader in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of Calcutta, India and she also teaches in the Department of History, University of Calcutta.
Specialized in colonial history of late nineteenth century, her other major areas of interest are ethnicity, minority & cultural studies and women’s questions in South & Southeast Asia. Her first book is–Burma : Myth of French Intrigue (Naya Udyog, Kolkata, 1994). Her other works are–Prostitution in Thailand : Myth and Reality, (Munshiram Manoharlal Pvt. Limited, New Delhi, 2002) and Religious Minorities in South Asia : Selected Essays on Post-Colonial Situation (co-edited), Manak Publications Pvt. Limited, New Delhi, (2002); and Ethnicity, Nation, Minority : The South Asian Scenario, Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi, (2003) (co-edited); Indian Diaspora in the Asian & Pacific Regions, Rawat Publications, New Delhi., (2004) (co-edited); and Women Across Asia : Issues & Identity, New Delhi, (2005) (co-edited).
She has also published many academic articles in several reputed national & international journals. Currently she is working on two projects named Tai Cultural Heritage in Northeast India : A Study of Tai- Ahoms and India’s Past Cultural Fabrics in Southeast Asia: A Study of Dvaravati Civilization of Ancient Siam. She also takes interest in the subject of India- SE Asia Relations in post colonial era & their resultant impacts on First & Third World Powers.
Ghosh was formerly a Visiting Associate to the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1997) Visiting Scholar and Visiting Professor to Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris (1997, 1998) Academic Affiliate to the School of Oriental and African Studies, London (1999) and Ford Asia Fellow and Visiting Scholar in the Institute of Thai Studies, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (2000). She has been awarded the prestigious Visiting Scholarship to SEAP. Cornell University, USA under Follow- up Grant of Asia Fellowship under aegis of Ford Foundation. She was also a Charles Wallace Visiting Scholar to SOAS in 2004, Visiting Scholar to the Centre for Women Studies & Gender Relations, University of British Columbia, Canada., 2005 & Visiting Professor to Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, 2006.
She has participated in several national & international seminars/ workshops in different countries of Asia like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Japan, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. She knows French & Thai languages.
Achintya Kumar Dutta, Joint Secretary
Achintya Kumar Dutta is a Reader in History in the University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India. He did his Ph.D. from Jadavpur University under the supervision of Professor Chittabrata Palit on “Economic History of Burdwan District 1880-1947” . His thesis has been published in 2002 from Firma K L M Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata. Dr. Dutta teaches history of Southeast Asia, History of Science, Technology, Medicine and Environment, and Social History of Modern India in the University of Burdwan.
He is currently working on social history of medicine and public health in northeast India in the 19th and 20th centuries with special reference to kala-azar epidemic. A recipient of the Post-doctoral Commonwealth Fellowship, Dr. Dutta carried out his research on this subject in the Department of History, School of Oriental and African Studies, London in 2002-03 under the supervision of Prof. David Arnold. He again visited London as a Visiting Fellow of The Wellcome Trust for a month in 2004. He was also invited as a Visiting Fellow for a week in Paris in 2004 by the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme for pursuing research and interacting with French scholars working on medical history. He also received the Visiting Fellowship for one month in 2003 from the Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. He was awarded J C Jha Memorial Prize for the best paper in Modern India Section of the 64th Session of the Indian History Congress held at the University of Mysore in December 2003.
He has participated and presented papers in a number of seminar, conference, and workshop at national and international levels. He has a wide range of research experience in economic history and history of medicine, and has publications in many reputed journals of history and books. He has also edited a volume entitled Intellectual History : A New Understanding (The University of Burdwan, Burdwan, 1999) and is the co-editor of the volumes titled Ethnicity, Nation and Minorities : South Asian Scenario (Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, (2003), and History of Medicine in India: The Medical Encounter ( Kalpaz Publications, Delhi, (2005).
Suchandra Ghosh, Joint Secretary
She is presently a Reader in the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture, University of Calcutta.She did her Ph.D from Calcutta University under the supervision of Professor B.N. Mukherjee. Her special paper in post graduation was epigraphy and numismatics. She did a three years diploma in French from Alliance Francaise of Calcutta. Her thesis was on the socio-economic and cultural history of the Indo-Greeks in the Indo-Iranian borderlands.
Her present areas of interest are cultural history of the north western part of the sub-continent, economic history of early India, India’s trade linkage with Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean trade network. She is also one of the course writers on economic history and regional politics for post graduate studies of Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. Also contributed to Banglapedia, brought out by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
She was invited as the Visiting Professor for a month stint in Paris by the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, Paris, May 2003 & June 2006. Awarded the best paper prize in Ancient India Section of the Indian History Congress, held in Mysore, 2003. Participated and presented paper in International conferences at Leiden (1999) Paris (2001,also chaired a session), in Dhaka (2003). Was a commentator in a seminar on Afghanistan at Montpelliere in France (2003). She has also presented paper in numerous seminars at the national level. Has published a number of articles in journals and proceedings of conferences. Presently she is also a member, Board of Studies, History, Council for Undergraduate Studies, University of Calcutta, as well as member, Academic Committee, Centre for Archaeological Studies and Training, Eastern India and member, Executive Committee, Paschim Banga Itihas Sansad.
Nirban Basu, Treasurer
Nirban Basu, born in 1956 is a distinguished student and reputed researcher of history. He has passed the B.A with honours from the Presidency College, Calcutta and M.A. from the Calcutta University topping the list in First class. He obtained the Ph.D degree from the Calcutta Universirty in 1988 for his research work on Working Class Movement in Bengal during the decade 1937-47. Since then, he has specialised in the field of labour studies.
He has taught in the Department of History at the University of Kalyani from 1979-89 and after that he has been teaching in the Department of History, Calcutta University. For a long time, he has been connected with the teaching of South Asian and South East Asian history.
Besides contributing more than sixty articles on labour movement in both English and Bengali in different journals and books he has published three monographs: The Political Parties and the Labour Politics 1937-47 with special reference to Bengal (1992), The Working Class Movement; A Study of Jute Mills of Bengal, 1937-47(1994), Politics and Protest, 1937-47: A Comparative Study of Four Major Industries in Bengal(2002). He has edited Bibliography on Labour Studies, Bengal (1994) on behalf of Salt Lake Society for Labour Studies and Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad and co-edited Sangatitha Sramik Andoloner Sat Dasak (2002) and Adhyapak Samitir Itihaser Upadan (Sources of the History of the West Bengal College and University Teachers’ Association) in two volumes (2002).
Presently he is connected with a number of academic organizations like the Indian History Congress, Paschimbanga Itihas Samsad, Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture and founder member and office-bearer of Salt Lake Society of Labour Studies (now known as Sudhi Pradhan Memorial Study Center). He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the Institute of Historical Studies, Kolkata and Indian Association for Asian and Pacific Studies.
