Browsing by Author "Ramachandran, Veena"

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Bilingual Education in Xinjiang in the Post-2009 Period
(Sage, 2016-11-16) Ramachandran, Veena
This article analyses strategies of minority education currently in place in Xinjiang in the context of the second generation ethnic policy debate in China. The article argues that the 2009 ethnic riots in Xinjiang coupled with the change of leadership in China has significantly hardened the state’s approach to aggressively promoting Putonghua (standard Chinese). This policy is facing significant structural and political challenges in its implementation and acceptance in Xinjiang. The policy to universalise Putonghua in all Xinjiang schools is likely to produce more resistance to the statist agenda rather than resulting in the intended outcome of integration.
BRI: Neutralizing Xinjiang and Legitimizing Stability-Security Paradigm
(BRI research, 2019) Ramachandran, Veena
BRI intends to utilize Xinjiang’s crucial geographical position facilitating the institutionalization of the region as a connectivity corridor. The Xinjiang government has issued a new transportation development plan (2016-2030) to become vital transportation, trade, logistics, culture, science, and education center and a core area on the Silk Road Economic Belt. This complex trade interconnectivity eventually underplays the significance of Xinjiang, while overtly projecting it as the gateway or connectivity corridor. Xinjiang in the ancient civilization, as well as in the contemporary context, represents the pivotal theatre of a non-inclusive Uyghur ethnicity with its Islamic orientations that constitute an existential challenge to the Han civilizational empire. The Uyghurs at the borderland in the past, if not also in the contemporary era, has raised the issue of loyalty and control for the Central State. In contemporary times, China being a Postcolonial Imperial Empire has a problematic relationship between the majoritarian nationalism and ethnic nationalist collective at the borderlands. However, as Anand (2012) argues, most of the discussions in academia on Empire and imperialism ignore the non-Western states except as collaborators/victims. Hence the victimhood status often camouflages strong integrationist measures leading to human rights abuses, religious repression, civilian surveillance, police/military brutality, and economic inequality. There is limited tolerance of dissent from this picture of centuries of glory upset by decades of humiliation that are over now and will soon be followed by a regaining of rightful place as a great power in the scheme of things.
China as a World Leader: Assessing Implications of COVID-19, BRI and a “Global Common Destiny
(NIICE Commentary, 2020-05-08) Ramachandran, Veena
Amidst the COVID-19 induced global lockdown, it is significant to re-listen to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s 2017 Davos speech in which he articulated his vision to build a community of “common destiny”. It was in Davos, that Xi’s regional vision of common destiny transcended towards becoming the common destiny of humankind, exemplifying China’s urge to elevate the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) from a mere development model to a strategic landscape. Xi has been consistent in claiming high moral ground of inclusivity for BRI, opposing Manifest Destiny, the founding principle of United States’ foreign policy. This articulation of global destiny overtly stated China’s quest to redesign or rather offer a Chinese version of the world order. Despite the strategic and economic concerns across the globe, BRI did offer its partner countries a better-connected world by focusing on massive infrastructure and digital projects. However, the fundamental challenge for China remained its failure to be a responsible global power, as has been exposed once again in the COVID-19 outbreak narrative. The Chinese model of development, which is classified as authoritarian capitalism, strives for political stability and regime legitimacy through assured economic development. China has often been driven by its domestic concerns, and so it has always been an inward looking reluctant global player. BRI was a paradigm shift in this policy as China expressed its desire to lead a world greatly interconnected under the BRI network, making it the first step towards the “opening of China to the world”. Until the COVID-19 outbreak, the world was more concerned about the lack of transparency among other flaws in this development model, which normalised securitisation and idealised a surveillance state. Even when, the partner countries are predominantly quasi-democracies, failed democracies or autocracies and their preferred choice was the Chinese model over what Washington provided. The early spread of novel Coronavirus and its declaration as a global pandemic exposed the vulnerabilities of the Chinese regime and has jolted the Chinese model. Moreover, it is ironic to find that the global pandemic that originated in Wuhan, essentially followed the Chinese path of global common destiny in terms of the damage it caused to entire humankind. The significant concerns that arise here, are the frailties of the BRI amidst COVID-19, and China’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Even though BRI is a loosely-governed infrastructure initiative, it has been designed not only to benefit the Chinese state but also to significantly increasing foreign dependencies on China. Subsequently, the BRI projects depend extensively on Chinese companies for labour, materials supply and credit. As global travel restrictions on Chinese people continue, it is a significant factor for the disruption of these projects. Even after China shows signs of recovery internally and has recouped after a countrywide lockdown, the longer the Chinese labour and supplies are denied entry to the partner countries, the more it will droop these projects. This raises questions about the Chinese model, as it demonstrates the inherent vulnerability of partner nations in being excessively dependent on Beijing, and there is no scope for devolution. The immediate future of globalisation seems to be bleak as the virus has accelerated the need for localisation. Subsequently, this has compromised initiatives like the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and various BRI projects in South-east Asian countries. Though reports indicate China’s fast recovery, it would not reflect in its projects outside China any sooner.
China’s afghan odyssey: from war to prosperity in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan
(World Scientific, 2024) Ramachandran, Veena
Following the Taliban’s ascension to power, the Afghan government expresses a keen interest in affiliating with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The prospective inclusion of Afghanistan in the BRI holds the promise of a profound impact on the Afghan economy, security dynamics, and overall stability. Concurrently, such an association can advance Beijing’s strategic interests within its domestic sphere and the broader regional context. Within the intricate geopolitical milieu of Afghanistan, characterized by ongoing legitimacy concerns, China’s escalating engagement assumes paramount importance, bearing substantial consequences for both Afghanistan and Beijing. This paper examines China’s investment and aid strategies in Afghanistan pre- and post-Taliban ascension to power in 2021. Additionally, it delves into the identification and analysis of the pivotal land transport network in Afghanistan, particularly in the context of its potential integration with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and participation in the BRI, assessing the consequential advantages thereof. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the dynamic diplomatic and security relations between China and Afghanistan, with a focus on safeguarding China’s strategic assets in the region. The authors utilize qualitative research, incorporating primary and secondary data from government documents, official speeches, interviews with experts, and various research works. The study concludes that China has increased investments in Taliban-led Afghanistan, confident that Afghanistan’s participation in BRI could reshape its economy, strengthen Beijing’s strategic position in minerals and energy, and considerably improve Afghanistan’s security environment. The research provides valuable insights for policy debates and international efforts to promote stability and long-term growth in a war-torn nation.
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor: The Uyghur Challenge and the Chinese Security Model
(Diplomat Media, 2018) Ramachandran, Veena
Recent news reports on the alleged arrest and detention of 50 Uyghur women married to Pakistani men from Gilgit Baltistan and a resolution passed by the Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA) demanding the federal government in Pakistan take steps to release these women exemplify the escalating on-ground mistrust between the so-called “iron-brothers.” Gilgit Baltistan is significant for both China and Pakistan since the region serves as the gateway to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) which has seen a $62 billion investment by the Chinese. The Uyghur presence in Baltistan is nothing new; marriage between the people from Gilgit Baltistan and Xinjiang has been a frequent affair. Recently, China’s increasing crackdown on Uyghurs in the name of the “war on terror” appears to be extending toward Uyghurs outside Chinese borders. As part of the larger standardization, surveillance, and securitization measures adopted in Xinjiang, the Chinese authorities had started arresting people married to foreigners and among those were the wives of the Gilgit Baltistan men who were mostly traders.
China-Taliban security ties: a reimagining of South Asia's security discourse
(Global and National Security Institute, 2025-06) Ramachandran, Veena
This article examines how China constructs a distinct security discourse on terrorism through its engagement with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Moving beyond traditional materialist interpretations of security, the study draws on critical security studies to explore how China uses language, representation, and institutional practices to frame terrorism and project itself as a regional stabilizer. The Taliban’s return to power in 2021 has prompted China to expand its strategic presence in South Asia, particularly through economic diplomacy, intelligence cooperation, and regional multilateral and minilateral forums. Through qualitative discourse analysis of Chinese official statements, white papers, SCO documents, and state media narratives, this research identifies how China positions the Taliban as a manageable actor and redefines terrorism in ways that serve its domestic and regional interests. The article argues that this discursive framing directly contests India’s traditional dominance over regional counterterrorism narratives and contributes to an emerging shift in South Asia’s security architecture. By focusing on China’s security discourse, the article offers a fresh lens for understanding the politics of counterterrorism in South Asia and the broader implications of discursive power in shaping regional order.
From crisis to cure: the afghan refugee dilemma, security, and technological interventions
(Brill, 2024-12) Ramachandran, Veena
This article examines the fourth wave of Afghan refugees, focusing on two emerging migrant groups: women and girls facing restrictions in education and employment, and military personnel linked to the previous Afghan government. Using classical and modern immigration theories, it assesses the challenges that Afghan refugees face in Pakistan, emphasizing the persistence of nontraditional security threats, such as terrorism and violence by the Taliban. To improve refugee monitoring and management, the article proposes technological solutions, specifically using artificial intelligence (AI) and the blockchain. It explores how these technologies can enhance management of a refugee database, streamline legal processes, and provide services such as telemedicine and tele-education. Employing a qualitative contextual approach supported by primary and secondary data and insights from field and subject experts, the article concludes that, although technology can significantly enhance the welfare of Afghan refugees, its successful use depends on political commitment and a measured approach.
Harmonization to Exceptionalism: The Trajectory of Post-Civil War Sino-Sri Lankan Relations
(Sage, 2023-04) Ramachandran, Veena
The article engages in a critical reading of the political pattern of Sino-Sri Lankan bilateral engagement. China offers an alternate global order for Sri Lanka by underscoring political discourses like “harmonious world” and “building a community with a shared destiny or future for mankind.” Through these discourses, China attempts to present a “fair and equitable” international system to small states such as Sri Lanka to mobilize them against the universalization of the liberal order. This is part of China's goal to challenge the universalization of liberal values to indicate the Chinese economic and political model as aspirational for developing countries. However, it culminates as the “hegemony of harmony,” as China dictates the terms to protect its national interests, dissimulating cultural relativism and exceptionalism as the foundation of the Chinese-led global order. This article employs historical and descriptive analysis to explain the political nature of Sino-Sri Lankan engagement, elucidating China's specific strategies to harmonize Sri Lanka.
Harmonizing Ethnicity at the Contested Borderlands
(Routledge India, 2024) Ramachandran, Veena
China’s civilizational legacy of fluidity on its borderlands often generates contestation over cultural homogeneity, political congruence and political loyalty, leading to disciplining of the periphery. One such narrative is of Uyghurs of China’s north-western borderland. The uncritical appropriation of Western notions (nation-state, sovereignty and territoriality) accelerates incompatibility between the core and the periphery. Correspondingly, the State employs nationalistic politics and harmonization strategies to construct a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural narrative with a culturally indigenous but politically subservient and loyal population. This chapter explores how China, through its harmonizing strategies, defines Uyghur-ness minus Arab-influenced Islamic symbolism as aspirational. The Chinese intention to define what Uyghur-ness should be arguably grappling with ethnic versus extremist binary of Islam in China. Moreover, it leads to de-ethnicizing Uyghurs eschewing Islam’s polylithic nature within China.
The Impact of Large Language Models on K-12 Education in Rural India: A Thematic Analysis of Student Volunteer's Perspectives
(2025-05) Kumar, Dhruv; Challa, Jagat Sesh; Ramachandran, Veena
AI-driven education, particularly Large Language Models (LLMs), has the potential to address learning disparities in rural K-12 schools. However, research on AI adoption in rural India remains limited, with existing studies focusing primarily on urban settings. This study examines the perceptions of volunteer teachers on AI integration in rural education, identifying key challenges and opportunities. Through semi-structured interviews with 23 volunteer educators in Rajasthan and Delhi, we conducted a thematic analysis to explore infrastructure constraints, teacher preparedness, and digital literacy gaps. Findings indicate that while LLMs could enhance personalized learning and reduce teacher workload, barriers such as poor connectivity, lack of AI training, and parental skepticism hinder adoption. Despite concerns over over-reliance and ethical risks, volunteers emphasize that AI should be seen as a complementary tool rather than a replacement for traditional teaching. Given the potential benefits, LLM-based tutors merit further exploration in rural classrooms, with structured implementation and localized adaptations to ensure accessibility and equity.
Islam in China
(Taylor & Francis, 2022-04) Ramachandran, Veena
The recent events in the Xinjiang region of China – the construction of camps, terrible human rights violations, torture and sterilizations – at the domestic level and the re-establishment of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan at the global level have focused attention on Islamic studies in China. Scholars in both Chinese and Western academics are becoming increasingly interested in China’s treatment of Islam. James D. Frankel’s Islam in China provides both an historical and a present viewpoint on the subject. This book is an empathic and very informative study for people seeking to grasp the Islam–China link and the Xinjiang humanitarian situation. Also discussed is how Islam entered the Chinese psyche and area of influence nearly as soon as it erupted from the sands of the Middle East in the seventh century CE.
Islam With Chinese Characteristics: China’s Ethno-Religious Challenge In Xinjiang – Analysis
(Eurasia Review, 2022-07-21) Ramachandran, Veena
Xi Jinping’s recent national unity tour to Xinjiang has reminisced about China’s clandestine and blatant Sinicization of Islam campaign. More significantly, this is his first visit since the evidence of mass detention internment camps began to emerge in 2018. These internment camps were just a fragment of China’s long campaign of forceful assimilation and overwhelming surveillance of Uyghurs, the indigenous Turkic-speaking Muslim ethnicity. The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China is home to 12 million Muslims, primarily Uyghurs but also smaller numbers of Kazakhs and other minority ethnicities.
Occupy Temple Trees’: Sri Lanka’s Disgruntlement Towards Neo-Elites Is On Cards Next – Analysis
(Eurasia Review, 2022-04) Ramachandran, Veena
Amidst an economic crisis, Sri Lankan people stormed into and occupied the President’s House and the Temple Trees, the palatial palaces of the President and the Prime Minister, respectively, forcing both to resign, resulting in a political crisis. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and is still on the run hoping for political asylum, whereas Ranil Wickremasinghe, the former prime minister, has been appointed as an interim president as the opposition parties are figuring the way out. The experiences from the previous decade’s Sri Lankan politics suggest the reasons as more political than economic. The economic crisis results from a deep political decay that has engrossed its polity. The impression we obtain from the protest sites is an amalgamation of the Sri Lankan population transcending class, caste, or ethnic diversity to rightfully reclaim a democratic Sri Lanka of the people, for the people, and by the people. Though the people’s fury right now is an expression of their discontentment towards the Rajapaksa dynasty for ruining Sri Lanka’s stability through corruption and reckless decision-making, it offers a vivid signal to the neo-elites for their comradery that facilitated such a crisis. The Lankan political system was engulfed in a severe systemic and legitimacy crisis due to the Tamil insurgency, which was followed by thirty years long civil war which ended in 2009. The Rajapaksa brothers were celebrated as war heroes in the post-civil war Sri Lanka as they led the war from the frontline, ensuring the complete elimination of the LTTE. The heroic image enabled the Rajapaksas to establish unequivocal authority over Sri Lanka by encashing Sinhala majoritarianism wrapped in populism. However, the Rajapaksa regime facilitated the rise of neo-elites who were quite distinct from their predecessors and engaged in conditioning the society with a new elite culture that was more damaging to the island’s structural integrity and institutional stability.
Occupy Temple Trees’: Sri Lanka’s Disgruntlement Towards Neo-Elites Is On Cards Next – Analysis
(Eurasia Review, 2022-07-22) Ramachandran, Veena
Amidst an economic crisis, Sri Lankan people stormed into and occupied the President’s House and the Temple Trees, the palatial palaces of the President and the Prime Minister, respectively, forcing both to resign, resulting in a political crisis. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and is still on the run hoping for political asylum, whereas Ranil Wickremasinghe, the former prime minister, has been appointed as an interim president as the opposition parties are figuring the way out. The experiences from the previous decade’s Sri Lankan politics suggest the reasons as more political than economic. The economic crisis results from a deep political decay that has engrossed its polity. The impression we obtain from the protest sites is an amalgamation of the Sri Lankan population transcending class, caste, or ethnic diversity to rightfully reclaim a democratic Sri Lanka of the people, for the people, and by the people. Though the people’s fury right now is an expression of their discontentment towards the Rajapaksa dynasty for ruining Sri Lanka’s stability through corruption and reckless decision-making, it offers a vivid signal to the neo-elites for their comradery that facilitated such a crisis.
OPINION: China expanding clout in Sri Lanka’s politics, after dominating economy
(The Week, 2020-07-29) Ramachandran, Veena
The impending general elections in Sri Lanka, which are scheduled to be held on August 5, present a significant trajectory of power politics in the Indian Ocean region that features China’s expanding dominance. As the election campaign heats up in the island nation, the political parties have no dearth of domestic issues to discuss and debate. But what observers are interested most in are the strategic investments and foreign policy decisions that dominate the election campaign and shape the domestic political discourse. This very pattern exemplifies the role of Sri Lanka in catalysing strategic power projection by the major regional players in the Indian Ocean in the coming years. ‘Mask’ diplomacy “China and Sri Lanka are true friends sharing weal and woe.” This is an excerpt from an official statement by the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka while declaring its donation of 3,00,000 face masks to the island nation as part of China’s mask diplomacy amid COVID-19. The pandemic has rejuvenated the Sino-Sri Lankan engagement through consistent aid diplomacy from the Chinese side. China has granted $500 million as a concessionary loan upon request from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa apart from sharing the COVID-19 combat experience with the Sri Lankan authorities. China is the only country that has created a COVID-19 emergency fund as part of its COVID-19 aid initiative. Sri Lanka was also included in Jack Ma’s COVID-19 aid package along with a few south and Southeast Asian countries. Interestingly, the US and EU pledges of assistance came much later, and the Chinese aid had already started flowing by then.
Redefining China’s Xinjiang policy: Rhetoric or reality?
(Sage, 2017-04) Ramachandran, Veena
The Ürümqi riot (2009) in Xinjiang and frequent ethnic conflicts in other ethnic minority regions like Tibet has initiated a debate on reforming China’s ethnic management, calling for the adoption of a ‘second generation’ ethnic policy. The Chinese scholars and the minzu establishment (“ethnic” lobby) failed to reach a consensus on this much discussed and debated alternative. However, the Beijing and the Xinjiang authorities framed a new slogan of achieving ‘everlasting stability’ in Xinjiang proposing inclusive development and inter-ethnic unity as the ultimate objectives of the Chinese state in Xinjiang region. In this context, the paper explores the trajectory of China’s Xinjiang policy in the post-Ürümqi riot (2009) scenario. This paper discusses the scholarly debates on the direction of ethnic policy and examines the nature of its impact on China’s Xinjiang policy in the post-2009 period. It also explores the strategies of the Chinese state in the post-2009 Xinjiang to examine whether the regime subscribes to any radical shift in its approach towards Xinjiang, complying with the ethnic unity and stability slogans raised by the regime. The paper suggests that there is a comprehensive harmonization of Uyghurs in the post- Ürümqi Xinjiang that not only refutes any radical shift in Xinjiang policy but ensures continuity and change in China’s treatment of the region.
Secularism with Chinese Characteristics: Xi Jinping's Sinicization of Islam in Xinjiang
(AIRTI, 2023) Ramachandran, Veena
China has a long history of Muslims, constituting 1.6 % of the total population. However, modern China has a complex relationship with the Uyghur Muslims, the ethnic Turks who inhabit the North-western Province of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The ethnoreligious complexity and indigeneity of Uyghur Muslims created a threat perception at the periphery. Consequently, the State employed wide-ranging strategies to assimilate or Sinicize the Uyghurs since the creation of the People's Republic of China. However, Sinicizing strategies such as the Western Development Program (WDP) alienated the Uyghurs rather than assimilated them. The Urumqi riot of 2009 exemplified the impact of such alienation. The post-Urumqi riot scenario has impacted Xi Jinping's focus on Sinicizing foreign religions where Islam is prioritized. Xi Jinping emphasized providing Chinese orientation to religions and urged them to embrace secularism with Chinese characteristics. Consequently, the Chinese regime normalized the human rights violations of detained Uyghurs in the de-extremification camps in Xinjiang, calling it re-education or skill training. It intends to redefine the space of religion in general and Islamic faith and practices in specific. Based on this context, the article examines the conceptualization of secularism with Chinese characteristics and its impact on the Sinicization of Islam in China. The paper explores the Chinese State's design of social re-engineering of Uyghurs that enables the authorities to control the religiosity of the Uyghurs. The paper employs discourse analysis followed by descriptive and analytical methods. The paper is divided into two parts. The first part deals with conceptualizing secularization and its application in the Chinese context. The second part deals with the Sinicization of Islam in Xinjiang, which results in cultural genocide focusing on the Xi Jinping regime. The paper argues that secularism with Chinese characteristics is nothing but the new version of the old project of Sinicization. However, what differentiates it from the past is its implementation which is more institutional, coercive, and unapologetic with an organized effort of cultural genocide. The State initiated a social re-engineering program to depoliticize Uyghurs, and the de-extremification camps are one of the steps adopted in that direction. It is done by distinctively attributing representations of good and bad Muslims, thereby institutionalizing coercive strategies in Islam's adaptation to modern Chinese society and polity.
Situating Afghanistan in China's GDI-BRI matrix: Taliban rule, Chinese ambitions, and the regeography of development
(Taylor & Francis, 2025-06) Ramachandran, Veena
This article critically analyses China's aid and investment strategies in Afghanistan under the Republican government (2004 to 2021) and the Taliban regime (2021 to 2024). It situates China's growing economic engagement with the Taliban within the broader context of the Global Development Initiative (GDI), launched shortly after the takeover of Kabul. Further, it explores potential pathways for Afghanistan's integration into the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the strategic benefits China may accrue. This research uses discourse analysis and draws on primary and secondary sources, including official documents, academic literature, semi-structured interviews (HUMINT), and open-source materials (OSINT). Contrary to prevailing scholarly consensus, the findings suggest that Beijing demonstrates greater confidence in investing under the Taliban than during the previous regime. This shift is driven by China's pragmatic approach, expanding sectoral presence, and a perceived improvement in security, which may enable deeper BRI integration and mutual economic gains.
Taliban: The Story of the Afghan Warlords
(SSOAR, 2023) Ramachandran, Veena
Taliban: the story of the Afghan warlords" is a comprehensive examination of the rise of the Taliban movement in Afghanistan and the impact it has had on the country and the region. The book, written by Ahmed Rashid, offers a thorough explanation of the historical, political, and cultural causes that contributed to the development of the Taliban and the events that occurred after its ascent to power. The book acquired recognition after the 9/11 attacks. The significance of this book may be appreciated from a Guardian article that claims Tony Blair's plans for Afghanistan after the Taliban were greatly inspired by it. Alastair Campbell, Downing Street Director of Communications and Strategy, and Anji Hunter, Personal Assistant to the Prime Minister, were also counselled to read before planning an expedition in Afghanistan.
Uighur Separatism and the Stability Discourse in China
(IPCS, 2013) Ramachandran, Veena