AMU Research Scholars Present Paper in International Conference

Aligarh: PhD Scholars of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Inzamul Sarkar (Department of Linguistics) and Mohammad Saif (Department of Political Science), presented a paper through online mode in a Conference organised by the King’s College, London (University of London, UK) on the theme “Change and Continuity in South Asia: Unpacking Identity, Security and Technology”.

The conference was organised in hybrid mode by the King’s College in collaboration with the Department of South Asian Studies Programme, National University of Singapore.

The paper entitled “Indexical Identity of Delhi Muslims: Social Separation, Political Narratives and Urdu” is based upon a long-term ethnography, in which the AMU researchers analysed the newly constituted territory by visiting various ghettos of the Muslim assemblage in Delhi, India’s national capital. The information was gathered through semi-structured interviews with Jamia Nagar, Nizamuddin Basti, and Old Delhi residents.

The paper dealt with the assumptions held in society about Muslims having a separate religious identity and their core speaking language Urdu, in the public sphere, which will be a leading factor in determining the state of Muslims in Delhi’s urban rhetoric. They proposed narratives that provide a complex picture of the marginalized Muslims’ numerous constructions of home, community, and belonging within and beyond the city.

Both the scholars thanked their supervisors Prof. S. Imtiaz Hasnain (Dean, Faculty of Arts; Department of Linguistics) and Prof. Iftekhar Ahemmed (Department of Political Science), for their guidance and support.