A two-day International Conference of the Indian Association for South Asian Studies (IASAS) on Subalterns in South Asia, organized jointly by the Centre for Alternative Studies in Social Sciences (CASSS), New Delhi, and KIIT-DU, was held on June 21–22, 2024. Prof. Alain Désoulières from Sorbonne Université, Paris, delivered the keynote address, in which he spoke about two subaltern classes, lascars and sipāhis, during the 18th Century Anglo-French war. Prof. Namhyun Kim, Associate Professor at Dongguk University WISE from South Korea, spoke about the importance of sustainable tourism and its relevance in modern times.
The first plenary session featured talks on the “Tour-Dour Model of South Korea and its Role in Developing the Subaltern Population Depending on Tourism as a Source of Income” by Prof. Namhyun Kim, and “Footprints Left by Subaltern Groups of the Maharashtra Salt Producing Community in the History of India” by Prof. Binda D. Paranjape, Dean and Faculty of Social Sciences, Banaras Hindu University. Dr. Deepanjali Mishra, Associate Professor at KIIT-DU and convener of the conference, chaired the session.
Prof. Puneet Yadav from University of Delhi delivered a talk on how the subalterns are reflected in Hindi movies and Prof. Indira Prasad, from Miranda House, University of Delhi spoke about Bhikari Thakur, popularly known as Shakespeare of Bhojpuri literature, at the Plenary Session-II on the second day of the conference. The session was chaired by Dr. Ashutosh Kumar.
During the valedictory session, Dr. Sudarshan Nanda, Prof. of Eminence & Research Chair at KIIT-DU, praised the paper presenters and organizers for the successful conduct of the conference. Dr. Shyam Sundar Behura, Additional Registrar at KIIT-DU, also spoke on the occasion. Dr. Ananya Mitra and Dr. Smrutirekha Mohanty, members of the organizing committee, conducted the feedback session at the end. The vote of thanks for the conference was proposed by Dr. Deepanjali Mishra and Dr. Ashutosh Kumar.