On 20 April 2026 Haris Zargar will defend his thesis examining the role of historical, socio-political and economic factors in advancing support for Jamaat-e-Islami in Kashmir.
- PhD student
- Date
- Monday 20 Apr 2026, 16:00 - 18:00
- Type
- PhD defence
- Spoken Language
- English
- Room
- Aula B and livestream
- Location
- International Institute of Social Studies
Zargar's study examines the dynamics of state-led reforms and agrarian restructuring in the disputed state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) by investigating changes in land tenure systems resulting in the emergence of new rural classes, the rise of Political Islam in the form of Jamaat-e-Islami (Party of Islam) and the eruption of armed insurgency in the late 1980s.
In so doing, he challenges some of the conventional assumptions about the stabilising effects of redistributive policies, specifically examining the connection between agrarian transformation and the emergence of Sunni Islamism in Kashmir's countryside, and how this Muslim revivalist movement subsequently triggered a counter-revolution against the (Indian) state and its clientelist regime in the territory.
Additionally, the study examines how the Indian state operationalized land legislation and pre-existing colonial revenue structures as mechanisms of territorial governance and control, facilitating what scholars have conceptualized as a settler colonial project in Kashmir.
Download the abstracts
Doctoral Board
Chair
Doctoral dissertation supervisor
Professor Murat Arsel
Dr Julien-François Gerber
Full Doctoral Committee
- Professor Samina Raja, University at Buffalo
- Professor Mona Bhan, Syracuse University
- Dr Hafsa Kanjwal, Lafayette College
- Professor Mansoob Murshed, ISS
- Professor Jun Borras, ISS
- More information
The ceremony will begin promptly at 16:00 hrs in the ISS auditorium (Aula B) of the ISS, Kortenaerkade 12, The Hague. The doors will be closed after the start of the Public Defence, but will be briefly opened after the candidate’s introduction to allow latecomers to enter.
Children under 7 years old are not allowed in the Aula during the first part of the ceremony.
The ceremony will be followed by a reception in the Atrium of the ISS.
Professors are invited to join the academic procession.
- Related links
- ISS PhD programme
