Gratitude again: Feedback by Dr Touseef Osman Khan, UMIKS, Alumnus, batch of 2013

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Testimony Stellenbosch University, south Africa - 8th February 2018

Dr Touseef Osman Khan, UMIKS, Alumnus
Dr Touseef Osman Khan, UMIKS, Alumnus (2013)


Dear Mme France Marquet,

I hope this email finds you well. It has been so long since I wrote to you last that I do not know if you will be able to remember me now; I did my PhD at the UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute of Kashmir Studies, University of Kashmir with a South Asia Foundation scholarship. My degree was awarded on 31 August 2016.

 I got myself registered here on 02 February 2018. Here I will be looking into the representational modalities and crises in the novels written by post-witness generations of the Partition of Indian subcontinent. So far, the experience here has been excellent. The university has extraordinary resources in my area of research, and our research division has some outstanding minds. I hope to intellectually grow here further in the wonderful academic ambience they have created. However, nothing would have been possible if SAF had not funded my PhD research.

Not only that, I needed a Police Clearance Certificate from India in order to apply for the visa for South Africa. It is actually extremely difficult to get one and takes a lot of time. So, I wrote to Professor Veena Sikri, who had helped me with Indian visa twice during my PhD, and Mr. P. K. Prabhakaran sought help on my behalf from Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar. Due to all their efforts, my police clearance was granted within a month, and I was ablle to come here just at the time I was supposed to. I really do not know how to be thankful enough to them.

I wish all the best for all of SAF's endeavors. I am sure your organization will keep working hard on regional cooperation through promoting educational opportunities for students of SAARC countirs because that is exactly what brought me where I am today.

Sincerely,


Khan Touseef Osman, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Studies in Historical Trauma and Transformation
Stellenbosch University
and
Former Research Scholar
UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Institute of Kashmir Studies
University of Kashmir