event

Internal Security in India: Violence, Order, and the State

Mon. October 2nd, 2023
Online

With a population of over a billion people, India is the largest democracy in the world. As such, maintaining peace and security for such a large population can pose a daunting challenge for the government. Internal challenges have continually arisen since Independence, taking the form of insurgencies, caste disagreements, terrorist plots, electoral violence, sectarian conflicts and regional disputes.

A new volume entitled Internal Security in India: Violence, Order, and the State (Oxford, 2023) examines the evolving threats to Indian security and the state’s efforts to combat them. It analyzes the methods deployed by the Indian government, and the implications for the balancing act between preserving order vs. preserving true democracy.

Join Ashley J. Tellis in conversation with editors Amit Ahuja and Devesh Kapur, as well as Rachel Kleinfeld of the Carnegie Endowment, about the volume and the past, present, and future challenges of India’s internal security, and how the practices on the subcontinent compare with those around the world.

*Please note that this event was previously entitled "Indian Government Response to Internal Security Threats."

DemocracySecurityCivil SocietySouth AsiaIndia
Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.
event speakers

Amit Ahuja

Amit Ahuja is an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. His research focuses on the processes of inclusion and exclusion in multiethnic societies. He has studied this within the context of ethnic parties and movements, military organization, intercaste marriage, and skin color preferences in South Asia.

Devesh Kapur

Starr Foundation Professor, Johns Hopkins (SAIS)

Devesh Kapur is the Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He is the author of three books on migration, including The Other One Percent: Indians in America (with Sanjoy Chakravorty and Nirvikar Singh).

Rachel Kleinfeld

Senior Fellow, Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program

Rachel Kleinfeld is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Democracy, Conflict, and Governance Program, where she focuses on issues of rule of law, security, and governance in democracies experiencing polarization, violence, and other governance problems.

Ashley J. Tellis

Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs

Ashley J. Tellis is the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs and a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, specializing in international security and U.S. foreign and defense policy with a special focus on Asia and the Indian subcontinent.