BGSBU Scholar Hilal Ashraf Bulakie Successfully Defends PhD Thesis on Politics and Aesthetics
RAJOURI: Hilal Ashraf Bulakie, a research scholar in the Department of English at Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University (BGSBU), Rajouri, has successfully defended his PhD thesis during his PhD Viva-Voce. Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
His doctoral research was conducted under the supervision of Dr Romina Rashid, Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of English at BGSBU.
The thesis is titled “Mapping Interface between Politics and Aesthetics in the Selected Novels of Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi Tharoor and Rohinton Mistry.”
Research examines politics and aesthetics
Bulakie’s research examines the relationship between politics and aesthetics in Indian English literature, focusing on selected works by three prominent writers — Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi Tharoor and Rohinton Mistry.
The research explores how literary aesthetics can intersect with political, social and cultural concerns in postcolonial India.
His academic work is particularly connected with the field of Postcolonial Aesthetics, an area that examines how literature, artistic expression and aesthetic ideas interact with questions of history, identity, politics, society and colonial and postcolonial experience.
His research has also contributed to wider academic discussions about the relationship between political engagement and aesthetic expression in Indian literature. A research paper co-authored by Bulakie and Dr Romina Rashid argues for understanding Indian English literature through a framework that recognises political and aesthetic dimensions as interconnected rather than completely separate.
Focus on prominent Indian writers
The thesis brings together the literary works of Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi Tharoor and Rohinton Mistry, three writers whose fiction engages with important political and social questions surrounding modern India.
By studying their novels through the combined perspectives of politics and aesthetics, the research seeks to understand how literary form, narrative techniques and aesthetic choices can shape the representation of political realities.
The study also contributes to the broader field of Indian English literature, where questions of postcolonial identity, history, democracy, social change and cultural transformation have become important areas of academic inquiry.
Strong performance during Viva-Voce
During the PhD defence, Bulakie demonstrated scholarly rigour, composure and research aptitude while responding to questions related to his doctoral work.
His successful Viva-Voce marks an important academic milestone and reflects his sustained engagement with literary research and Postcolonial Aesthetics.
Bulakie’s previous academic work has also explored aesthetic theory in Indian English literature. In a 2024 research paper co-authored with Dr Romina Rashid, he examined major Western and postcolonial theories of aesthetics while also discussing Indian concepts such as Rasa and Dhvani.
Another study published by the researchers in 2025 examined aesthetic tensions in selected Indian English poetry and considered the influence of social, political and cultural factors on Indian literary aesthetics.
Academic achievement for BGSBU
The successful defence adds to the research achievements of the Department of English at BGSBU and highlights the university’s growing engagement with interdisciplinary research in literature and the humanities.
Baba Ghulam Shah Badshah University, established in Rajouri in 2002, is recognised by the University Grants Commission under Sections 2(f) and 12(B) and offers doctoral and postgraduate programmes across several disciplines.
Bulakie’s successful PhD defence represents a significant achievement in his academic career and contributes to scholarship on Indian English literature, politics, aesthetics and postcolonial thought.
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