On the occasion of the 134th anniversary of the founding of this
newspaper, Kasturi & Sons Ltd., publishers of The Hindu group of
newspapers, have pleasure in announcing the launch of The Hindu Centre
for Politics and Public Policy – to encourage research and discussion on
critical political and public policy issues.
The Hindu played a historic role as an influential voice in the
freedom movement and in the formation of independent India. The founding
spirit of The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy is the firm
belief that as independent India enters its 65th year, the publishers of
The Hindu can help revitalise the faith of the Indian public in democratic politics. We do believe that The Hindu group,
with its strong public presence over more than a century and its
important contribution to nation-building, is especially well placed to
start an institution of this kind.
A major goal for The Hindu Centre is to look at the governing vision
over the last several decades since Independence and to revisit the
fundamental formulations of the Indian Constitution, be it on pluralism,
federalism, linguistic states, or regional autonomy and to see whether
parts of this governing vision need to be updated to address the intense
challenges facing the country today. The idea is that over a time frame
of five to ten years at the least, on a number of issues that are part
of the public discourse in India today, whether on secularism,
linguistic states, federalism, regional movements, caste consolidation,
insurgencies like the Maoist movement, the failure to subdue
secessionist impulses such as in Kashmir, the Centre can contribute
valuably to an understanding of the complex problems.
The Hindu Centre will be guided by an Advisory Board comprising eminent
scholars and public intellectuals: Zoya Hasan, Dean of the School of
Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University; Pratap Bhanu Mehta,
President and CEO, Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi; Yogendra
Yadav, Senior Fellow, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies,
Delhi; Gurcharan Das, management expert, author, and commentator on
public affairs; and Martha Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service
Professor of Law and Ethics, University of Chicago.
The Board of Management will comprise N. Ram, N. Ravi, and Malini
Parthasarathy. Malini Parthasarathy will be the Director of the Centre.
Among the activities of The Hindu Centre will be:
* Sponsoring and guiding research on significant issues of
politics and public policy by awarding year-long Fellowships to scholars
to conduct research and provide reports on long-term political and
constitutional issues requiring further exploration.
* Engaging public policy scholars to study specific current
policy issues over a shorter time frame and come up with reports that
will be fed into the public domain periodically.
* Providing a platform for dialogue and discussion through
hosting seminars and workshops involving leading political scientists,
leaders, and activists working towards a resolution of intractable
issues. Where appropriate, The Hindu Centre will host ‘Track-Two’ type
dialogues and seminars on internal conflicts that will seek to increase
public understanding of the disputes that remain thorny points in our
political discourse — such as understanding the alienation of the
Kashmir Valley, the intensifying ethnic-cultural conflicts in the
Northeast, and the continuing Maoist insurgency.
* From time to time, hosting lectures by leading public figures
and political philosophers to raise the awareness of the general public
as to their rights as citizens and stakeholders in the democratic
process.
The outcome of the Centre’s research and programmes will be made
available at its website, which will be updated frequently and provide
in itself a lively platform for exchanges with the wider public.
The Centre will start its activities at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860 Anna Salai, Chennai 600002, the home of The Hindu since 1939, on a date to be announced in due course.
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