Setting the Tone: History, Identity and Global Engagement

The conference opened with a Special Inaugural Panel of Representatives from Indian Diaspora Countries, setting the intellectual and emotional tone for three days of deliberation. Welcoming the delegates, Dr. Ghan Shyam, Head of the Department of History, BHU, and Convenor of the Conference, emphasised the need to approach the Indian diaspora not merely as a contemporary geopolitical or economic resource, but as a historically grounded, culturally layered, and internally diverse global community.

The keynote address by Dr. Sarita Boodhoo of Mauritius, Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awardee (2025), foregrounded the enduring emotional, cultural, and civilisational bonds linking overseas Indian communities with the homeland. Prof. Rama Shankar Dubey, former Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Gujarat, and Dr. Surujdeo Mangaroo, President of the National Council of Indian Culture (NCIC), reflected on the long arc of indenture, migration, and cultural resilience that continues to shape diaspora identities. Presidential remarks by Prof. Binda Paranjape, former Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, highlighted the responsibility of academic institutions in nurturing informed, inclusive, and historically sensitive diaspora discourse.

A major highlight of the opening day was the Professor M.K. Gautam Memorial Lecture, delivered by Prof. Chandra Shekhar Bhatt, University of Hyderabad. His lecture, Life and Works of Prof. Mohan Kant Gautam: A Tribute, chaired by Prof. Brij Maharaj, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, paid homage to a scholar whose work laid foundational pathways in diaspora and migration studies in India.