Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
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Item China-Taliban security ties: a reimagining of South Asia's security discourse(Global and National Security Institute, 2025-06) Ramachandran, VeenaThis 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.Item Situating Afghanistan in China's GDI-BRI matrix: Taliban rule, Chinese ambitions, and the regeography of development(Taylor & Francis, 2025-06) Ramachandran, VeenaThis 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.Item Taliban: The Story of the Afghan Warlords(SSOAR, 2023) Ramachandran, VeenaTaliban: 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.Item From crisis to cure: the afghan refugee dilemma, security, and technological interventions(Brill, 2024-12) Ramachandran, VeenaThis 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.Item China’s afghan odyssey: from war to prosperity in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan(World Scientific, 2024) Ramachandran, VeenaFollowing 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.Item Occupy Temple Trees’: Sri Lanka’s Disgruntlement Towards Neo-Elites Is On Cards Next – Analysis(Eurasia Review, 2022-04) Ramachandran, VeenaAmidst 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.Item Islam in China(Taylor & Francis, 2022-04) Ramachandran, VeenaThe 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.Item Harmonizing Ethnicity at the Contested Borderlands(Routledge India, 2024) Ramachandran, VeenaChina’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.Item Secularism with Chinese Characteristics: Xi Jinping's Sinicization of Islam in Xinjiang(AIRTI, 2023) Ramachandran, VeenaChina 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.Item Uighur Separatism and the Stability Discourse in China(IPCS, 2013) Ramachandran, Veena