Synopses & Reviews
The Politics of India since Independence provides a concise but comprehensive analytical study of the major political, cultural, and economic changes and crises in India during the past forty-five years. The organizing focus is on the consequences of the centralizing drives and tendencies of the national leadership of the country to create a strong state, a unified nation, and a dynamic economy, all of which have been placed in serious doubt in recent years.
Synopsis
The crisis in India has intensified, revealing itself in secessionist movements and in increased inter-castle conflicts. The country has witnessed the rise of Hindu nationaflilsm and the worst communal massacres since Independence following the destruction of the mosque in Ayodhya. The issue before the country now is whether or not it can find within its own traditions and moral and material resources the leadership to restore a political and communal balance in state and society.
Table of Contents
List of figures and tables; Preface; List of abbreviations; 1. Introduction: continuities and discontinuities between pre- and post-Independence India; Part I. Political Change: Introduction; 2. Political change, political structure and the functioning of government; 3. Parties and politics; 4. State and local politics; Part II. Pluralism and National Integration: Introduction; 5. Language problems; 6. Crises of national unity: Punjab, the northeast and Kashmir; 7. Communal and caste conflict: secularism, Hindu nationalism and the Indian state; Part III. Political Economy: Introduction; 8. Politics, economic development and social change; 9. Political aspects of agricultural change; 10. Conclusion: problems and prospects; Bibliography; Index.