Historian seeks reconciliation between identities

Bangalore, Jan 4 (UNI) Professor Sugata Bose, Harvard University historian and grandnephew of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, today said that there is a need for a reconciliation between regional identity and national for making India a strong federal nation.

Prof Bose in his lecture at an international seminar on 'Identity, Emotion and Culture' here said that the regional identity if faced with threat it would go on defensive and inward particularly in the globalised scenario.

Stating that there is a threat to religions and regional languages due to the 'onslaught' of globalisation, he said that their survival would depend on what they convey through their faith and works in promoting universalism.

In the seminar researchers will present papers on the rise and growth of vernacular languages and their contribution to the regional identities over several centuries to anti-colonial period in India.

It will also explore the shaping of identities, emotion and culture, through languages and literature of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhatan, Nepal and Pakistan.

The over-arching identities expressed through Sanskrit, Persian and English will be taken up for discussion in the seminar.

UNI SIV RS TS1443