PARTITION STUDIES CONFERENCE

14 OCTOBER 2023

JAMAICA, NY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT PARTITION DOCUMENTATION (ISPAD) PROJECT, INC.

POST CONFERENCE REPORT

Event Summary

Conference Organizers

• The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project team – co-Founders Professor Sachi Dastidar and Dr. Shefali Dastidar

• another organization

Funding Support

The event was supported by funding from:

• SUNY Old Westbury

• The Probini Foundation (the merger of ISPaD & Probini is almost complete but ensuring PF support is to be given in the name of ISPaD has been brought up but, addressing other characteristics that are similar to this financial facet as it has been targeted as fundamental to completion of the merger but remains unaddressed, the multitude of financial combination aspects has yet to be completed)

• Family of Dastidar Donors (FODD)

Venue(s)

• The ISPaD Project central office facilities, Jamaica, New York, United States of America

• Online meeting ability would be held at The ISPaD Project’s office and simultaneously would be broadcast via the ZOOM web-based application. The two venues of the meeting (in-person & online) coalesced on the internet as people had the capacity to listen to be seen by & look at & speak with whoever was at The Partition Studies Conference via participation at the ISPaD office or via participation at any location using ZOOM online.

*Any possible information about what people could hope to have so they could be registered for (the PayPal URL or secure credit card acceptance URL for the small registration fee and any tax-exempt donation we always are eager for was given to be used to give money to The ISPaD Project), ready for, and be an attendee and perhaps a participant at The Partition Studies Conference was widely broadcast by ISPaD as well as shared with personal networks of interested parties through any/all social media apps being utilized on a regular basis. From the list of the most popular social media apps ISPaD has accounts on many, which are used regularly, to appeal to people who are addicted to and/or prioritize whichever popular social media app has become preferred. The most popular social networks worldwide as of July 2023, ranked by number of active users (in millions) are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, followed in popularity by WeChat and Tik Tok.

Attendees 

Although Conference attendees were provided with the means to register online, a method registered for the Conference was used for both in-person Conference attendance and web-based Conference Attendance, neither pre-registration or event registration nor in-person or web-based registration, beyond Conference Moderators or Guest Speakers, was indicative of Conference attendance or participation. This did serve to, ideally, have put it on their calendar so no other events could be conflicting with the Conference’s scheduling and preclude “double-booking” for the date and time that would be time afforded The Partition Studies Conference. #X#X#X#X#X# was there in-person and online, the guest speakers were

Overview

Over the day of October 14, 2023, The ISPaD Project’s “Impromptu Think Tank” brought together practitioners and specialists for a critical examination of the significant events and the collection of what was accepted, forced upon, fought against, maintained by society as well as pre-colonization policy, colonization policy, and post-colonization choices of the colonizing entity (the British Empire) and the responses to and the progress of and choices made by (The Indian Subcontinent) the countries & the population. It was seen as being necessary to comprehend the impact of colonization and geographical Partition being the basis of the nations that were independent of colonizers as well as each other, when put into perspective of other post-colonial nations and compared to the Indian Subcontinent. The Partition Studies Conference was meant to combine expert short presentations by specialists followed by structured discussion sessions on the foreign policy challenges and opportunities of Partition area/nations are currently grappling with.

The objective of this Conference was fourfold:

1. To foster discussion and strengthen connections between experts and policymakers of post-Partition nations’ foreign affairs, defense, and trade policy, and create a virtual think tank for further deep policy analysis, scenario planning, and forecasting on the Indian Subcontinent's future foreign policy choices.

2. To allow foreign academics from the ISPaD Project, and participants worldwide, to discuss some of the ISPaD Project themes through an examination of the foreign policy choices of three small states with massive populations, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan, as it faces the changing global balance of power.

3. To provide organizational information for those directly and indirectly involved with The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project – as well as information to be shared with recognized media organizations and throughout the world using social media apps. The information to be shared is of SIGNIFICANT ADMINISTRATIVE items: A) The combination/merger of the 2 NGOs (The Probini Foundation and The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation Project) and the dynamics of such a combination and both Mission Statements remaining even as Probini would hereafter be a “Project” of ISPaD, just as the annual Conference, library/museum, conducting & preservation of Partition “survivor” interviews, etc. B) The ISPaD Project’s Board of Directors honoring Mr. Priyatosh Dey by selecting him with the role of ISPaD’s Director.

4. To sponsor the creation of a series of targeted policy briefs on foreign policy of the three states mentioned, to provide contestable policy advice and deep policy analysis to the United Nations and the governments of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.

Conference Format

Before the Conference proceeded was to be held, punctually and with concomitant & simultaneous in-person and internet. The 1-hour Conference comprised of the one-hour Conference time, in its entirety, as the one plenary session, with multiple speakers as well as those in attendance. Each speaker was to be given 15 minutes to present, followed by 5-10 minutes for questions. The Conference was structured to foster discussion between participants around the core themes of The ISPaD Project. This was to be achieved by hosting small group debates, minute papers, and full group discussions on pre-prepared questions with different foci. The day of the Conference was set up at 11AM for an hour so there could be allotted one hour for lunch, and 30 minutes for morning and afternoon tea to allow participants to continue their discussions in an unofficial, comfortable setting. Time had also been allocated at the end of the day for a group reflection on the day’s discussions.

Conference Themes

Each issue discussed in the Conference session related to core themes of The ISPaD Project, with a particular focus on the foreign policy of the post-Partition Indian Subcontinent – such a narrow field of time, geography, and economics was not given the time required for discussion to follow. Central themes and questions of the Conference included:

1. How can the countries of the Indian Subcontinent best balance economic, political, and military relations with each other as well as nations like the UK and US and China? What current and future challenges and opportunities exist in the relationships among/between/with these powers?

2. What opportunities exist within The Indian Subcontinent to expand its bilateral and multilateral relationships? How can The Indian Subcontinent nations engage more with the UN and other multilateral organizations?

3. Examining the role of The Indian Subcontinent as a constructive regional actor. How can we better prepare the people of The Indian Subcontinent to participate in a global market and as global citizens, at the same time as protecting and maintaining their society's political, economic and social rights?

4. Examining The Indian Subcontinent’s trade: what more does The Indian Subcontinent need to do to improve its exports and market access?

5. To what extent can the region, nations, and people of The Indian Subcontinent afford to promote a moral foreign policy? In what ways might The Indian Subcontinent improve in its efforts to be a positive global actor?

6. How can The Indian Subcontinent improve its security with nations throughout the world as well as its internal security? Looking to the future, what will be core areas, priorities, and vehicles of The Indian Subcontinent’s defense policy?

7. Small state theory: explaining small state behavior. How can Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan partner better with other small (geographically, not population-wise) states?

8. What is the conversation should they be having as post-Partition nations about their security now, to position themselves to the best advantage for the future? How can they enhance connections and communication between policymakers, specialists, and the public to improve The Indian Subcontinent’s foreign policy expertise? What are the next steps to achieve this?

Registrations

Registration for the conference was open to students, academics, and Indian Subcontinent government officials working on and researching Indian Subcontinent foreign policy and small state theory. However, the nature of the Conference meant that it was unsuitable for the event to be advertised or open to registration by the public. Instead, invitations were sent directly to contacts in relevant fields, who were also asked to promote the event to other potentially interested parties within their organization. In total, ##### people registered for the conference. This included ##### paying attendees and ##### Complimentary Conference attendees. ##### other registrants cancelled prior to the conference and had their fees refunded. Paying attendees included academics and students from a range of academic institutions. Attendees also included American and Indian Subcontinent politicians. Complimentary attendees included the ISPaD Project members of the Board of Directors, Conference organizers, Keynote Speaker, and a few students and emerging scholars who had been awarded complementary entry to the event.

Policy Briefs 

Each speaker was required to submit a policy brief based upon their conference presentation topic, prior to the event. Where possible, policy briefs were made available online for conference participants prior to the event. Hard copies of the policy briefs were also made available to participants during the conference. Following the conference, all policy briefs were made available to the public through the University of Canterbury SSANSE project website.

Social Program

Conference Recordings, Media & Public Diplomacy

Due to the conference being held on a weekend when IT staff were not at work, and also due to the technical limitations of the venue, the ZOOM application gave issues and problems, so it was not possible to properly live stream or record the event accurately. As the program of speakers and participants grew, it also became clear that the event had evolved from a traditional academic Conference, into a ‘strategic retreat’ to workshop the foreign policy of one region not in the news headlines as often as Israel in the Middle East or Ukraine in the former Soviet Union: Bangladesh, India, & Pakistan in The Indian Subcontinent. Given that trust and privacy are essential for the success of such an event, electronically recording the conference for an individual or organization, without ISPaD granting permission to do so would have been inappropriate. The Conference therefore officially was closed to the media and foreign diplomats.

To best achieve the Project’s public diplomacy objectives, all policy briefs when fully & properly collected will be presented from the Conference, and will be posted online for public viewing. In addition, a summary of the Conference findings will be presented using social media and at the 2024 Partition Studies Conference next year, thereby presenting the findings to the public in the spirit of public diplomacy.

Social media apps nowadays are necessary to share info for Significant NGO Growth/Transformation as well an Unfortunate Update. The discussion or explanation about a nonprofit organization's growth and/or transformation is quite elaborate and extensive, the concurrent is simpler (without going into details). This information requires an explanation of The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation Project's Mission Statement, complemented by a brief list of what activities, events, and occasions ISPaD hosts/supports. What is an obvious course of action to increase and spread the knowledge of how diversity, in every possible endeavor, abounds in ISPaD - on all social media (as was and still is being done to spread the word about The Probini Foundation NGO being "adapted & adopted" to become one of ISPaD's significant Projects). While this organization is an NGO entitled The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project, the basic ISPaD Project has other activities and Projects that it hosts in partnership with another organization, and/or falls under the auspices of ISPaD gives insight into The Indian Subcontinent Partition Documentation (ISPaD) Project. ISPaD is not "narrow-minded" and the wide spectrum of genres ISPaD is engaged in from being exclusively academic, emotional, and historical, is phenomenally varied. * We must, unfortunately, share that The ISPaD Project homepage on the internet has been closed for some time already and we were able to reactivate it as our Board of Directors & consultant volunteers determined a replacement site we put up to be adequate. Regardless, that new site was quickly attacked/hacked and closed once again so the homepage is nonexistent. The ISPaD Project has been successfully targeted by individual(s) or organization(s) with significant funding & IT professionals that have overtaken the elements our hosting service and web development team had put in for security. We look forward to communicating on Saturday!