The beautiful island of Sri Lanka, located to the Southeast of India, is a fractured country today. The communal holocaust of July 1983 and the intensification of ethnic conflict have resulted in large-scale internal displacement of people and movement of refugees from Sri Lanka to different parts of the world. The State of Tamil Nadu in India, separated from Sri Lanka by the narrow and shallow Palk Straits, is a haven for Sri Lankan Tamils. Between Fear and Hope contains a series of inter-related chapters on the global refugee phenomenon and the Indian experience, on how Sri Lanka was transformed into an "Island of Refugees" and the causes and consequences of the Sri Lankan Tamil presence in India. These fase-changing events are analysed against the backdrop of the twists and turns in India's Sri Lanka policy. The authors highlight the necessity for the enactment of a refugee law, which reflects humanitarian concerns about the refugees as well as the security interests of the Indian State.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR V. Sudarsen
Dr. V. Sudarsen obtained his Master's and Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from andhra University. Since 1977 he is teaching Anthropology in the University of Madras. He has published 35 papers in various journals and book,s in addition to three books. His main research interests are Island and Ecological studies and Marxian anthropology.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR V. Suryanarayan
Prof. V. Suryanarayan is one of India's leading specialists in South and South East Asian Studies. He brings to bear in his teaching and research keen insights in history, political science and international relations. For more than two decades, he was associated with the Centre for South and South East Asian Studies, University and Madras, first as the founding Director and later as Senior Professor. He was Visiting Professor, Department of History, University of California, Los Angeles; Colombus College, University System of Georgia; School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and Peradeniya University, Sri Lanka. His major publications, including edited volumes, are: Singapre: Path to Independence (1978); Sri Lanka Crisis and India's Response (1991); South and Southeast Asia in the 1990's; Indian and American Perspectives (1992); Indian Ocean and Its Islands: Stratigic, Scientific and Historical Perspectives (1993); Andaman and Nicobar Islands: Challenges of Development (1994); Kachchativu and Problems of Indian Fishermen in the Palk Bay Region (1994) and Between Fear and Hope: Sri Lanka Refugees in Tamil Nadu (2000). A well-known commentator, he is a regular contributor to The HIndu and the Frontline. Dr. Suryanarayan is currently associated with the University of Calicut as Professor for Maritime Studies.
There are no reviews yet.