Mr Binota Dhamai, Mr ASAF Lone
Biography:
Binota Moy Dhamai is an ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Indigenous Governance at the School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet), Australian National University. His research focuses on Indigenous Peoples rights and politics. Binota is one of the seven expert members of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) appointed by the Human Rights Council and has held leadership roles in global Indigenous Peoples movements and networks. A passionate speaker and strategist, he has been instrumental in advancing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and promoting justice, equality, and peacebuilding.
Abstract:
Militarisation in South Asia, with its pervasive and enduring effects, can be traced through the twin processes of colonisation and decolonisation in the region. These processes perpetuated through politics of domination and exclusion directed at Indigenous and Minority communities. This led to the marginalisation of these groups from the socio-political ‘mainstream’, resulting in protracted conflicts as the state forcibly asserts its sovereignty over lands inhabited by these communities. In response, states have increasingly relied on legal apparatuses and militarised interventions to suppress dissent, framing such actions as essential for maintaining national security and territorial integrity.
While militarisation has often been the state’s preferred response to conflict, the rise of ethnonationalist movements in South Asia presents a counter-dynamic: one where marginalised communities adopt ethnonationalist frameworks to resist militarised oppression and assert their right to self-determination. These diverse movements reflect broader contestations over land, identity, recognition, and autonomy. However, the state’s militarised responses often escalate the cycle of violence, framing such resistance as a threat to territorial sovereignty.
This paper examines how militarisation as a state strategy interacts with ethnonationalist movements, reshaping political institutions and eroding democratic principles across South Asia. It argues that while ethnonationalist frameworks have emerged as a form of resistance to militarisation, they also risk reinforcing exclusionary narratives. By situating these state and non-state responses within a broader historical framework, the study underscores the urgent need to rethink militarisation and ethnonationalism as intertwined, transnational phenomena with significant implications for democracy, human rights, and regional stability in South Asia.