Inaugural Network for Advanced Study of Pakistan (NASP) Fellowship Winners Announced
Takshashila’s Network for Advanced Study of Pakistan (NASP) Fellowship creates high-quality scholarship and knowledge of Pakistan in India by nurturing new generations of analysts in academia, the armed forces, think tanks, media, and industry.
Today, we announce the successful completion of the pioneer cohort of the NASP Fellowship. The cohort commenced in May 2023, with 14 papers by 21 Fellows. Seven mentors, including Prof. Sumit Ganguly, Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, Dr TCA Raghavan, Dr Aparna Pande, Lt Gen. Prakash Menon, Anand Arni and Pranay Kotasthane, helped the NASP Fellows over ten months to refine their papers through online interactions. The Fellowship also comprised an in-person conference that was organised in November 2023, where the working papers were presented for feedback.
With the Fellowship concluded, the Fellows are now working to get their respective papers published in academic journals.
Below are the commendations for the three papers selected as the Best Papers and two others that won the Jury’s Special Mention.
Best Paper Award:
1. “The Rise and Resurgence of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan: An Afghan Taliban Connection” by Aishwarya Verma.
Justification: This is a promising area of research, focusing on a less-understood aspect of Pakistan’s contemporary foreign policy.
2. “Resilient Optical Fibre Cable Networks: Pakistan’s Quest for Data Sovereignty and its Geopolitical Salience” by Shourya Gori and Sneha Sengupta
Justification: This is a novel research work in an underexplored area. Submarine cables have geopolitical implications, and this paper explores Pakistani perceptions and policies on undersea cables.
3. “The Woman Question in the Stupid Box: An Analysis into the Politics of Women’s Representation in the Pakistani Popular Media” by Palak Singh and Manas Priya
Justification: This engaging paper analyses the contemporary portrayal of women in Pakistani popular media using critical discourse analysis.
Jury Special Mention:
1. Representation of transgenders or hijras in popular culture in Pakistan: A critical study by Kaustav Padmapati and Roshni Sengupta
Justification: This paper looks at the portrayal of queer characters in Pakistani cinema over the last five decades. This is a rigorous historical study which contributes to media discourse literature.
2. Pakistan’s fitful quest for sea power amidst great power competition in the Indian Ocean by Rushali Saha
Justification: This review article focuses on the historical strengths, weaknesses, and limitations of Pakistan’s maritime strategy, as well as its contemporary opportunities. This is an important contribution in an under-researched area.
The Best Paper Award carries a cash prize of INR 1 lakh each and the Jury Special Mention carries a cash prize of INR 25000 each.