Ashok Swain

Ashok Swain is an Indian-origin academic and writer. He's currently a professor of peace and conflict research at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University.[1] In 2017, he was appointed as the UNESCO Chair on International Water Cooperation and became the first UNESCO Chair of Uppsala University.[2][3]

Ashok Swain
Ashok Swain
Born (1965-02-19) 19 February 1965
Odisha, India
NationalitySwedish
Alma materDelhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University
Known forWriting about contemporary India

He's also the Head of the Department of Conflict Research at Uppsala University. He's the Director of the Research School for International Water Cooperation of Uppsala University & SIWI.

Swain has written opinion articles in publications including Outlook, DailyO, and Gulf News.

Early life and education

Swain was born in the eastern Indian State of Odisha. After studying in his village school, he completed his Bachelor of Arts from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack under Utkal University, Bhubaneswar.

He received his Master of Arts from the University of Delhi.

Swain received his Ph.D. in 1991 from the School of International Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India with the thesis titled Security of Small States in the International System.

Political views

Swain has expressed his views through his articles and tweets. He has often been critical of right-wing Hindtuva ideologies in India.

Anti-CAA protests

Writing about the widespread anti-CAA protests in 2019, Swain said the Modi government's legislation such as the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 made India's 200 million Muslims nervous about their status in an "overwhelmingly Hindu-majority country."[4]

Swain wrote that Muslims saw through the Citizenship (Amendment) Act's dangers as that law may lead to millions of Muslims being made stateless though the Act initially only sought to give citizenship to religious minorities from India's neighboring countries who are fleeing those countries and seeking refuge in India. The Act explicitly failed to mention Muslims while mentioning every other religion.[5]

Article 370

Swain was critical of the Modi government's decision to revoke the special status of Jammu & Kashmir. Swain tweeted that liberals who had turned nationalists should be careful about celebrating this decision.[6]

OCI Card cancellation

Swain has filed a suit in the Delhi High Court in India challenging the cancellation of his Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.[7][8]

In his lawsuit, Swain has said that he received a show cause notice in October 2020 in which Swain was alleged to have indulged in "inflammatory speeches and anti-India activities." The Embassy of India to Sweden and Latvia has cancelled Swain's OCI card in February 2022.[9]

Swain has stated in his legal submission that he has "never engaged in any inflammatory speeches or anti-India activities." He has further stated that as a scholar, it is his role in society to "discuss and critique the policies of the Government." Swain further states that he analyzes and criticizes certain policies of the present India government; however, such criticism of the "current ruling dispensation shall not be tantamount to anti-India activities."[10]

In February 2023, the Delhi High Court granted further time of four weeks to the Government of India to file its response on the suit filed by Swain challenging the basis for the cancellation of his OCI card.[11][12]

Selected publications

Books
  • Ashok Swain & Anders Jägerskog, Emerging Security Threats in the Middle East: The Impact of Climate Change and Globalization (Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016).[13]
  • Anton Earle, Ana Elise Cascao, Stina Hansson, Anders Jägerskog, Ashok Swain, & J¨oakim Öjendal, Transboundary Water Management and the Climate Change Debate (London: Routledge, 2015).[14]
  • Ashok Swain, Understanding Emerging Security Challenges: Threats and Opportunities (London: Routledge, 2012). [15]
  • Ashok Swain, Struggle Against the State: Social Network and Protest Mobilization in India (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2010).[16]
  • Ashok Swain, Managing Water Conflict: Asia, Africa and the Middle East (London & New York: Routledge, 2004).[17]
  • Ashok Swain, The Environmental Trap: The Ganges River Diversion, Bangladeshi Migration and Conflicts in India (Uppsala: Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 1996).[18]
  • Ashok Swain, Environment and Conflict: Analyzing the Developing World (Uppsala: Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 1993).[19]

Edited books
  • Ashok Swain, Joakim Öjendal, & Anders Jägerskog, eds., Handbook of Security and the Environment (Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, 2021).[20]
  • Anders Jägerskog, Michael Schulz & Ashok Swain, Routledge Handbook on Middle East Security (London: Routledge, 2019).[21]
  • Ashok Swain & Joakim Öjendal, eds., Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding (London: Routledge, 2018).[22]
  • Anders Jägerskog, Ashok Swain & Joakim Öjendal, eds., Water Security (4 Volume Set) (London: Sage Publications Ltd, 2014).[23]
  • Ramses Amer, Ashok Swain & Joakim Öjendal. eds., The Security-Development Nexus: Peace, Conflict and Development (London: Anthem Press, 2012).[24]
  • Ashok Swain, Ramses Amer & Joakim Öjendal. eds., The Democratization Project: Opportunities and Challenges (London: Anthem Press, 2009).[25]
  • Ashok Swain, Ramses Amer & Joakim Öjendal. Eds., Globalization and Challenges to Building Peace (London, New York & Delhi: Anthem Press, 2007).[26]
  • Ashok Swain, ed., Islam and Violent Separatism: New Democracies in Southeast Asia (London, New York & Bahrain: Kegan Paul, 2007).[27]
  • Ashok Swain, ed.,Diasporas, Armed Conflicts and Peacebuilding in their Homelands (Uppsala University, Department of Peace and Conflict Research, 2007).[28]
  • Fiona Rotberg & Ashok Swain, eds., Natural Resources Scarcity in South Asia: Nepal's Water (Stockholm: Institute for Security and Development Policy, 2007).[29]
  • Ashok Swain, ed., Education as Social Action: Knowledge, Identity and Power (Basingstoke & New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005).[30]

References
  1. "Ashok Swain - Uppsala University, Sweden". katalog.uu.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  2. "First UNESCO Chair at Uppsala University - Uppsala University, Sweden". www.uu.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  3. "Unescoprofessurer i Sverige " Svenska Unescorådet". www.unesco.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  4. Ashok Swain (16 December 2019). "Raging resistance against India's anti-Muslim citizenship law". theasiadialogue.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  5. Ashok Swain (22 December 2019). "CAA-NRC protests: India must collectively rise to thwart Modi and Man Friday Shah". gulfnews.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  6. "The world reacts to India's "illegal annexation" of Kashmir". trtworld.com. 5 August 2019. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  7. Thapliyal, Nupur (8 December 2022). "Delhi High Court Seeks Centre's Response On Ashok Swain's Petition Challenging Cancellation Of OCI Card". livelaw.in. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  8. Jha, Prashant (8 December 2022). "Professor Ashok Swain moves Delhi High Court against cancellation of his Overseas Citizen of India card by Central government". barandbench.com. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  9. Prasad, Malavika (9 December 2022). "Delhi HC seeks Centre's response to Sweden-based professor Ashok Swain's plea against cancellation of OCI card". Indian Express. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  10. "Delhi HC Seeks Report From Govt Over Academic Ashok Swain's OCI Card Cancellation". outlookindia.com. PTI. 8 December 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  11. Thapliyal, Nupur (7 February 2023). "Delhi High Court Grants Further Time To Centre For Filing Response On Ashok Swain's Plea Against Cancellation Of OCI Card". livelaw.in. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  12. "HC grants 4 more weeks to Centre to file response on plea by Ashok Swain against cancellation of OCI card". deccanherald.com. Deccan Herald. PTI. 7 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  13. Swain, Ashok; Jägerskog, Anders (2016). Emerging Security Threats in the Middle East: The Impact of Climate Change and Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442247659. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  14. Earle, Anton; Cascao, Ana Elisa; Hansson, Stina; Jägerskog, Anders; Swain, Ashok; Öjendal, Joakim (2015). Transboundary Water Management and the Climate Change Debate. Routledge. ISBN 9781136228360. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  15. Swain, Ashok (2013). Understanding Emerging Security Challenges: Threats and Opportunities. Routledge. ISBN 9780415523301. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  16. Swain, Ashok (2016). Struggle Against the State: Social Network and Protest Mobilization in India. Routledge. ISBN 9781317049050.
  17. Swain, Ashok (2004). Managing Water Conflict: Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Routledge. ISBN 9781135768836. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  18. Swain, Ashok (1996). The Environmental Trap: The Ganges River Diversion, Bangladeshi Migration, and Conflicts in India. Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University. ISBN 9789150611458. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  19. Swain, Ashok (1993). Environment and Conflict: Analysing the Developing World. Uppsala University. ISBN 9789150609905. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  20. Swain, A.; Öjendal, J.; Jägerskog, A. (2021). Handbook of Security and the Environment. Elgar Handbooks in Energy, the Environment and Climate Change. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-78990-066-8. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  21. Jägerskog, Anders; Schulz, Michael; Swain, Ashok (2019). Routledge Handbook on Middle East Security. Routledge. ISBN 9781351718363. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  22. Swain, Ashok; Öjendal, Joakim (2018). Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding. Routledge. ISBN 9781315473758. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  23. Jägerskog, Anders; Swain, Ashok; Öjendal, Joakim (2014). Water Security. SAGE Publications. ISBN 9781446293928. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  24. Amer, Ramses; Swain, Ashok; Öjendal, Joakim (2013). The Security-Development Nexus: Peace, Conflict and Development. Anthem Press. ISBN 9781783080656. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  25. Swain, Ashok; Amer, Ramses; Öjendal, Joakim (2011). The Democratization Project: Opportunities and Challenges. Anthem Press. ISBN 9780857283993.
  26. Swain, Ashok; Amer, Ramses; Öjendal, Joakim (2008). Globalization and Challenges to Building Peace. Anthem Press. ISBN 9781843312871.
  27. Swain, Ashok (2014). Islam And Violent Separatism. Routledge. ISBN 9781135024420.
  28. Bush, Kenneth D. (2007). Diasporas, Armed Conflicts and Peacebuilding in Their Homelands. Uppsala Universitet. ISBN 9789150619638.
  29. Swain, Ashok (2007). Natural Resources Scarcity in South Asia: Nepal's Water (Stockholm: Institute for Security and Development Policy, 2007). Editor with Fiona Rotberg. Stockholm: Institute for Security and Development Policy. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  30. Swain, A. (2005). Education as Social Action: Knowledge, Identity and Power. Springer. ISBN 9780230505605.
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