Mohd Osama is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Studies of Plural Societies (CSPS). He works on South Asian politics with a special focus on India. He has a PhD in Political Science from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. His work engages with methodologies ranging from large-scale administrative data analysis to ethnography. Before joining CSPS, he worked as a guest faculty and teaching fellow at Jamia Millia Islamia University and Ashoka University.
Osama’s research journey extends beyond academia, as evidenced by his roles as a researcher and consultant for prominent organisations such as NDTV, The Hindu Centre of Politics and Public Policy, and the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study on India (UPIASI). He has worked on research topics ranging from political representation to voting behaviour and minority studies. From observing Muslim voters in Madhya Pradesh to interviewing political leaders in Uttar Pradesh and Hyderabad, his fieldwork experiences inform his publications. His research is published in peer-reviewed international and national journals, newspapers, and online platforms. Fieldwork is integral to Osama’s research methodology, as demonstrated by his ethnographic inquiries into various aspects of Indian politics.
Publications
- Book Chapter (forthcoming): All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), with Prof. Adnan Farooqui, in the Routledge Companion of Indian Political Parties.
- Mohd Osama (2023) How a populist remains in politics: an Indian Muslim politician’s winning style, India Review, 22:5, 509-530, https://doi.org/10.1080/14736489.2023.2261321
- Osama, M., (2023). An ethnographic exploration of the Muslim vote in India, SAGE Research Methods Cases Part 1. SAGE Publications, Ltd., https://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781529624779.
- Book Review: Keeping the Peace: Spatial Differences in Hindu-Muslim Violence in Gujarat in 2002 by Raheel Dhattiwala, Volume XLIV, Number 2-3, February-March 2020. URL: https://thebookreviewindia.org/viewing-violence/
- Book Review: Mohd Osama (2019) Why representation matters? The meaning of ethnic quotas in rural India, Commonwealth & Comparative Politics, 57:1, 130-132, DOI: 10.1080/14662043.2019.1556836
- Online article: “This is the one thing working for the few Muslims contesting Lok Sabha elections from UP”, The Print, 13th May 2019. URL: https://theprint.in/opinion/this-is-the-one-thing- working-for-the-few-Muslims-contesting-lok-sabha-elections-from- up/234725/
- Online article: “Madhya Pradesh and its ‘Missing’ Muslim Legislators”, The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, 14th January 2019. URL: https://www.thehinducentre.com/the-arena/current-issues/article25991277.ece
- Newspaper article: “Voting for change”, The Hindu, 4th January 2019. URL: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/voting-for-change/article25902517.ece
- The Policy Report for The Hindu Centre for Politics and Public Policy, “The phenomenon of political dynasties among the Muslim legislators of Uttar Pradesh”, 26th October 2018. URL: https://www.thehinducentre.com/publications/policy-report/article24976781.ece
- Online article: “To Argue Is to Be Indian”, Counter Currents, 24th February 2016, URL: http://www.countercurrents.org/mo240216.htm
Workshops, Papers Presentations, Discussant
- Presented a paper titled, “National Aspirations of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party and its everyday mediation” at the conference “The Emergence of Regional Political Parties in India: A Move Towards Healthy Democracy” organized by the Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur on the 27h March 2024.
- Presented two papers at the 80th Annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) conference held in Chicago, Illinois, USA: “How a populist remains in politics: a case study of an Indian Muslim politician” on the 13th of April 2023, and “An Ethnographic Exploration of the Muslim Vote in India” on the 15th of April 2023.
- Presented a paper titled, “How a populist remains in politics: a case study of an Indian Muslim politician” at the conference “Nation at 75: Society and Citizens in Contemporary India” organized by the Centre for the Dalit and Minority Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia on 14th March 2023.
- Presented a paper titled, “Changing contours of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen” with Dr. Adnan Farooqui at the conference on India’s Political Parties organized by the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) on 22nd December 2022.
- Presented a working paper, “How a populist remains in politics: a case study of an Indian Muslim politician” on 20th April at the 2021 BASAS conference, organized by the University of Edinburgh.
- Participated in the workshop on “Democracy and Minority Rights” organized by the Council for Social Development, New Delhi from 29 August to 02 September 2016.
- Participated in MHRD-GIAN Course on “Quantitative Approaches in the Social Sciences: Survey, Experiment and Content Analysis” from 27th March to 31st March 2017.
- Participated in the Summer Workshop on “Analyzing Quantitative Data on Indian Politics” organized by Lokniti-CSDS, held in Bengaluru from 10th July 2017 to 22nd July 2017.
- Participated in a Program, as a Discussant, organized by Studio Adda on the theme- “Elections 2017- Is the Voter angry or happy?”