South Asian Nationalisms: Concluding Reflections

In this concluding commentary, the overall theme of the special issue as well as the collective contribution of the individual articles are addressed and elaborated upon. In particular, it focuses on the manifold commonalities that exist between South Asian states—both in terms of shared traits or dynamics and the recurrent attribution of negative connotations to neighboring states—and how these impact on nation-building and the possibility of actuating more peaceable state relations in the region. By extension, this concluding article argues that while enquiring into contemporary South Asian nationalisms there is a need to not only map the particularities of individual attempts at making the nation complete and integral. It is equally crucial to pose and try to answer questions about the limits of political community as grounded in shared nationhood—especially in a region concurrently marked by majoritarianism, cross-border affinities, and transnational patterns of community-making.