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The following is the ‘Acknowledgements’ section of Umar Khalid’s thesis published in book form, Fractured Communities: Adivasi Histories and the Politics of Power, published by Juggernaut.

Almost a decade spent at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) draws to a close. Time, as usual, has flown like a whirlwind. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to spend a third of my life here. I feel so even more today considering that public education itself is fast being turned into a relic of the past. The present dispensation in the country and its foot soldiers in the administration are unabashedly attempting to accomplish their mission of shutting down JNU. But if anything these years spent at JNU have taught me, it is to seek possibilities in the most difficult of situations; it is to be audacious in our hopes. I leave this space with immense hopes from the student movement of JNU, of which I am extremely proud to have been a part. Notwithstanding all the lies and attacks, JNU will not only survive but will play its part in bringing down the fascist forces currently at the helm.

It is therefore pertinent that I first of all acknowledge this entity called JNU that has shaped me for life. This university, for me, as for anyone else who has studied or taught here, is not just an abstract entity. Its life and soul stand for certain values and convictions. It teaches you to interrogate not just the world but also yourself constantly. As we fought over the years to democratize this university, we also strived to move an inch towards the much more difficult process of democratizing ourselves. And of course, JNU also teaches you to speak truth to power, which the ruling dispensation would do well to realize only gets strengthened in the face of their attacks. I wish to thank each and every constituent of this university – be it the students, teachers, workers, guards, shopkeepers, staff, karamcharis – who have helped me in this direction.

Never have I invested so much thought, energy and time in something as in the present work, while there has been so much uncertainty surrounding it. Even as I write this acknowledgement, I am not sure whether I will be allowed by the JNU administration to submit this thesis. But another thing that JNU has taught me is that education and research cannot be reduced to a mere paper degree. The goal in undertaking this research........

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