About Sandhya Jain (1959 – )

Sandhya Jain is an author, independent researcher, and writer on political and contemporary affairs. She contributes to Chintan India Foundation Blogs (https://chintan.indiafoundation.in/), India Foundation Journal, and edits an online opinions forum, www.vijayvaani.com. Jain contributed a fortnightly column to The Pioneer, New Delhi, for over two decades, and contributed to web portals such as www.Niticentral.com (retired), www.pgurus.com, and www.abplive.in.

She was Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, (December 2017 – December 2019); her research work has been published under the title, Balochistan: In the Crosshairs of History.

Jain is a post graduate in Political Science from Delhi University, Delhi, and has had nearly four decades of experience as a professional journalist in The Hindustan Times, The Telegraph, and Sunday Mail (weekly). She briefly worked with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi.

Jain is a student of the myriad facets of Indian civilisation. Her published works include

  • Ayyappa. Unique Sampradaya, Knowledge World, 2024.
  • Balochistan: In the Crosshairs of History, Knowledge World, 2021.
  • Foreword for From the East to The West. A Message of Peace. Select Essays. Vladislav Krasnov, Sanbun, 2020.
  • J&K: Invisible Faultlines [edited], Pentagon Press, 2019.
  • Hindi edition of Adi Deo Arya Devata, Prabhat Prakashan, 2018.
  • Edited a compilation of outsider accounts on India titled, The India They Saw. Foreign Accounts: 5th century BC – 7th century AD, Ocean Books Pvt. Ltd, 2011.
  • Evangelical Intrusions. Tripura: A Case Study, Rupa, 2009.
  • Contributed chapter on Jain Dharma in “Why Am I A Believer. Personal Reflections On Nine World Religions,” ed. Arvind Sharma, Penguin India, 2009.
  • Adi Deo Arya Devata. A Panoramic View of Tribal-Hindu Cultural Interface, Rupa, 2004.
  • Contributed a chapter on Hindu view on population control in Sacred Rights, ed. Dan Maguire, Oxford University Press, New York, 2003.

She has contributed articles on contemporary affairs in several prestigious journals, including

  • Turkey: Quest for Caliphate and Empire, India Foundation Journal, November-December 2020 issue.
  • Balochistan: On The International Drugs Superhighway, Strategic Analysis, Vol. 42, No. 5, November 2018.
  • BrexitHarbinger of an Unexpected New World Order; Strategic Analysis, Volume 41, Number 1, January-February 2017, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, IDSA.
  • Kurdistan: Ataturk to Öcalan; Strategic Analysis, Volume 40, Number 1, January-February 2016, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, IDSA.
  • Saudi Arabia: King Salman Faces the 21st Century; Strategic Analysis, Volume 39, Number 3, May-June 2015, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group and Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, IDSA.
  • Afghanistan: New Great Game Unfolds, Dialogue Quarterly, A Journal of Astha Bharati, Volume 16, No. 4; April-June 2015.
  • Narendra Modi: Striving to be a Pillar in a Multi-Polar World, World Affairs, The Journal of International Affairs, Volume Eighteen, Number Four, Winter (October-December 2014)

She presented papers at national and international conferences, including

  • Indian Media, Netaji Subhas Bose & the INA: A Case Study, at the National Seminar on ‘Indian National Army (INA) & Its Contribution to India’s Independence’, February 2017, New Delhi.
  • Water: The Plastic Menace to Life on Earth and in the Oceans, workshop on Climate Change and Spiritualism, at International Conference on Universal Message of Simhasth Kumbh, Ujjain, May 2016
  • Indian tribals: Battling a colonial legacy, at workshop in Surat, Gujarat, Vanvasi Kalyan Ashram, May 2016
  • Assimilation of Indian Culture in East Asia, at International Seminar on East Asian Civilisations Exchange, co-held by Forum on World Civilisations Organising Committee and Institute for A Study of Humanities and Religions of Beijing Normal University, November 2016, at Beijing Normal University
  • Strategic Implications of Syrian War, at seminar on “West Asia in Turmoil: The Paradox of Power”, Indian Social Institute, New Delhi, December 2015
  • Rethinking India’s Foreign Policy: New Challenges & Opportunities, at seminar on Interface of Economic, Energy and Defence Sectors, by Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, December 2014
  • Cooperation and Challenges on the Silk Route: Common ethics in the era of globalisation, at the Third Nishan Forum on World Civilisations, Jinan, May 2014
  • Is Liye Modi (Why Modi?), a talk with Jawaharlal Nehru University students at JNU Campus, April 2014
  • Similarities and Differences of Different Civilisations, at Beijing Nishan Forum on World Civilisations, October 2013
  • Overcoming Male Dominance” at International Conference on Population and Development (Cairo + 5) at The Hague, February 1999.

Given her varied interests in issues pertaining to women, population, and development, Jain has been associated with multi-religious advocacy bodies such as ECOSOC consultant, The Religious Consultation on Population, Reproductive Health and Ethics, and Religion Counts. She has attended workshops of Religion Counts on issues pertaining to women’s rights and human rights.

She was a Member of the Indo-UK Round Table, chaired jointly by Mr. K.C. Pant, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, and Lord Swraj Paul, industrialist and philanthropist.

She was a member of the Media Editorial Board, Stree Shakti Purushkar, a newsletter brought out by the Department of Women & Child Development, Ministry of Human Resources Development; and of the Committee on Media and Gender, National Women’s Commission, New Delhi. She was also a member of the Central Press Accreditation Committee.

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