Nandini Sundar (born 1967) is an Indian professor of sociology at the
Delhi School of Economics
Delhi School of Economics (DSE), popularly referred to as "D School", is a Higher Educational Institution within the University of Delhi. The Delhi School of Economics is situated in University of Delhi's North Campus in Maurice Nagar. Establ ...
whose research interests include political sociology, law, and inequality. She is a recipient of the
Infosys Prize
The Infosys Prize is an annual award given to scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists of Indian origin (not necessarily born in India) by the Infosys Science Foundation and ranks among the highest monetary awards in India to re ...
for
Social Sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
in 2010.
She was also awarded the Ester Boserup Prize for Development Research in 2016 and the Malcolm Adiseshiah Award for Distinguished Contributions to Development Studies in 2017.
Education
Sundar obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from
Somerville College, Oxford
Somerville College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England, was founded in 1879 as Somerville Hall, one of its first two women's colleges. Among its alumnae have been Margaret Thatcher, Indira Gandhi, Dorothy Hodgkin, Ir ...
in 1989 and Master of Arts, Master of Philosophy and Ph.D. in Anthropology from
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
in 1989, 1991 and 1995, respectively.
She has previously worked at Jawaharlal Nehru University, The Institute of Economic Growth and Edinburgh University. Sundar was editor of ''
Contributions to Indian Sociology
''Contributions to Indian Sociology'' is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal covering sociology with an emphasis on South Asian societies and cultures. It was established in 1957 by Louis Dumont and David Francis Pocock. It is published by S ...
'' from 2007 to 2011 and serves on the boards of several journals.
Human rights work
In 2007, Sundar along with others filed public interest litigation against human rights violations in Chhattisgarh, arising out of the
Salwa Judum
Salwa Judum (meaning "peace march" or "purification hunt" in the Gondi language) was a militia that was mobilised and deployed as part of counterinsurgency operations in Chhattisgarh, India, aimed at countering Naxalite violence in the region. ...
vigilante movement. In 2011, the Supreme Court of India banned Salwa Judum, ordered compensation for all those affected, and investigation and prosecution of those responsible. It also ordered the disbanding and disarming of Special Police Officers, many of whom were underage youth who had been armed by the state to fight Naxalites.
In October 2016, the Central Bureau of Investigation on the Supreme Court's orders in the ongoing case filed by Sundar and others, filed chargesheets against seven Special Police Officers and 26 Salwa Judum leaders for their role in the burning of three villages in the Sukma district in March 2011 and the attack on Swami Agnivesh. The arson had allegedly been accompanied by rapes and murders of villagers.
Almost immediately afterwards, the police burnt effigies of Sundar and other activists, and the
Bastar police filed a
first information report
__NOTOC__
A first information report (FIR) is a document prepared by police organisations in Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asian countries including Myanmar, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan when they receive information about the commissio ...
against her on 4 November 2016, as an alleged co-conspirator in the murder of Shamnath Baghel, a tribal in the
Sukma
Sukma is a town in Sukma district in Chhattisgarh, India.
Geography
It is located at at an elevation of 210 m above MSL.http://www.fallingrain.com/world/IN/37/Sukma.html Map and weather of Sukma
Location
Sukma is connected to Jagdalpur by ...
district of
Chattisgargh
Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prades ...
. The wife of the victim told a national television channel,
NDTV
New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...
, that she had not named anyone, after police cited her complaint to allege Sundar and another professor were suspects.
The National Human Rights Commission summoned the IGP of Bastar Range SRP Kalluri and Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary for retaliation, and has said there was no apparent connection between the visit of Sundar and other human rights activists and the murder of Shamnath Baghel. The Indian Supreme Court recorded the Chhattisgarh government's statement that they would not arrest or investigate Sundar, and ruled that if the Chhattisgarh state government wanted to undertake any investigation, they should give four weeks' notice during which time Sundar and others could approach the Court. Eventually, her name was dropped by the Chhattisgarh police from the murder case in February 2019, after the change of government in Chhattisgarh, citing 'lack of direct evidence'.
Advocacy
Sundar has long been outspoken about the issue of academic freedom. In 2019, she told
Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
that the blackout in
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
had been a "devastating blow," that the situation has worsened nationwide since Modi's election in 2014, and that the lack of liberties could harm
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
's attempts at climbing university rankings.
In summer 2020, she submitted a paper on academic freedom to the
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
.
Publications
Selected publications of Sundar include:
*''The Burning Forest: India's War in Bastar'' (Juggernaut Press, 2016),
*''The Scheduled Tribes and their India'' (edited volume, OUP, 2016),
*''Civil Wars in South Asia: State, Sovereignty, Development'' (Sage 2014, co-edited),
*''Subalterns and Sovereigns: An Anthropological History of Basta''r (2nd ed 2007, 1997),
*''Branching Out: Joint Forest Management in India'' (co-authored, OUP, 2001),
*''Legal Grounds: Natural Resources, Identity and the Law in Jharkhand'' (edited OUP, 2009),
*''Anthropology in the East: The founders of Indian sociology and anthropology'' (co-edited, Permanent Black, 2007)
*''A New Moral Economy for India's Forests'' (co-edited, Sage, 1999)
Personal life
Sundar is married to
Siddharth Varadarajan
Siddharth Varadarajan (born 1965) is a journalist and editor in India. He was a former editor of the English language national daily ''The Hindu'', and is one of the founding editors of the Indian digital news portal ''The Wire'', along with ...
, former chief editor of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
''—an Indian English-language national newspaper—and a founding editor of
''The Wire''.
Her parents, S Sundar and Pushpa Sundar were both
Indian Administrative Service
The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India. Considered the premier civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian ...
officers of the Gujarat cadre belonging to the 1963 batch. She has an elder sister, Aparna, who is also a social activist.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sundar, Nandini
Living people
1967 births
Columbia University alumni
Delhi University faculty
Indian sociologists
Indian non-fiction environmental writers
Indian social sciences writers
Alumni of Somerville College, Oxford