The journal contains a compilation of talks delivered at the History for Peace annual conference held in Calcutta, August 2024.

Belonging is a multifaceted concept. It goes beyond mere physical presence or legal status—it involves emotional attachment and a sense of acceptance and validation within a particular community or nation. In the context of India’s diverse landscape, belonging takes on added complexity. What exactly does it mean to feel like one belongs? Is the sense of belonging tied to language, ethnicity, religion, caste, socioeconomic class, or perhaps food habits? And why are we increasingly questioning who truly belongs in India? Has the rise of majoritarianism made it more challenging to define who belongs and who doesn’t?

Furthermore, as societies evolve and undergo demographic shifts—through globalization, urbanization, internal displacements and forced migrations—how does the notion of belonging evolve? What roles do historical narratives, familial ties and personal experiences play? Besides, while we look at history to understand this complex idea, what about those whose overlooked stories do not even belong to our ‘official’ class histories—people who are Adivasi, Dalit, queer and/or differently abled, among others?

As educators shaping young minds, these are some of the urgent and diverse questions that

we explored at the 8th Annual History for Peace Conference in Calcutta in August 2024.

Contents

Opening address

Naveen Kishore

Belonging and the ‘Other’ in Early India

Aloka Parasher Sen

In Conversation

Romila Thapar, Aloka Parasher Sen

Indian Culture in the Age of Empire and its Remnants:

A German Take and Contested Belongings

Amir Theilhaber

To Be or Belong?

Apoorvanand

Constitution and the Politics of Belonging in India

Zoya Hasan

Memory-Mourning: Belonging at the Margins of Contemporary India

Angana P. Chatterji

State, Citizenship and the Idea of Belonging

Kannan Gopinathan, Kham Khan Suan Hausing

Who Belongs and Who Decides?: Countering Majoritarian Narratives in Sri Lanka

Shamara Wettimuny

The Illusion of Belonging

Karen Donoghue, Kanato Chophy and

Monideepa Banerjie

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IOB-2024 (online).pdf

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