The Concerned Indian's Guide to Communalism

The Concerned Indian's Guide to Communalism PDF Author: K. N. Panikkar
Publisher: Viking
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
What do we mean when we say India is a secular country? How is secularism defined and to what extent are secular tenets reflected in our public and private life? Are there hidden communal agendas that are innate to the socio-cultural ethos of India, and can these ýcommunal elementsý as they are so often referred to indeed undermine the integrity of the country? These are questions that must concern every educated and intelligent citizen as India makes its way into the new millennium. In a year that has seen the gruesome murder of the missionary Graham Staines, the resignation of the foreign-born president of the Congress from her post following protests about her un-Indianness, and the fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre by a single vote, it has become more necessary than ever to take a hard look at the ýunity in diversityý that India as a nation-state is supposed to represent, and to identify the strands of communalism that run through our socio-political fabric. In this remarkable and timely book edited by K.N. Panikkar who provides an illuminating introduction on the subject, six commentators on contemporary India reveal the stark truth about the communal, sectarian and segregationist tendencies that have always lurked behind our secular facade. While Romila Thaparýs essay provides a historical overview of communalism in India, Rajeev Dhavan pinpoints the legal underpinnings of the secular identity that is propounded in Indiaýs Constitution. Sumit Sarkar looks closely at the vexed issue of conversions which is at the centre of current debates on communalism. Jayati Ghosh, on the other hand, studies the destructive effects of communal agendas on the liberalized economy. Tanika Sarkarýs essay straddles the twin issues of gender and communalism to show how all marginalized sections are rendered equally vulnerable by the spread of communalism. Finally, Siddharth Vardarajan looks at the interesting relationship between communal thought and its representations in the media and popular culture. Thought provoking and incisive, The Concerned Indianýs Guide to Communalism urges us to question where we stand with regard to communalism at the close of the millennium, and challenges us to fashion a truly secular identity for ourselves in the twenty-first century.

The Concerned Indian's Guide to Communalism

The Concerned Indian's Guide to Communalism PDF Author: K. N. Panikkar
Publisher: Viking
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book

Book Description
What do we mean when we say India is a secular country? How is secularism defined and to what extent are secular tenets reflected in our public and private life? Are there hidden communal agendas that are innate to the socio-cultural ethos of India, and can these ýcommunal elementsý as they are so often referred to indeed undermine the integrity of the country? These are questions that must concern every educated and intelligent citizen as India makes its way into the new millennium. In a year that has seen the gruesome murder of the missionary Graham Staines, the resignation of the foreign-born president of the Congress from her post following protests about her un-Indianness, and the fall of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre by a single vote, it has become more necessary than ever to take a hard look at the ýunity in diversityý that India as a nation-state is supposed to represent, and to identify the strands of communalism that run through our socio-political fabric. In this remarkable and timely book edited by K.N. Panikkar who provides an illuminating introduction on the subject, six commentators on contemporary India reveal the stark truth about the communal, sectarian and segregationist tendencies that have always lurked behind our secular facade. While Romila Thaparýs essay provides a historical overview of communalism in India, Rajeev Dhavan pinpoints the legal underpinnings of the secular identity that is propounded in Indiaýs Constitution. Sumit Sarkar looks closely at the vexed issue of conversions which is at the centre of current debates on communalism. Jayati Ghosh, on the other hand, studies the destructive effects of communal agendas on the liberalized economy. Tanika Sarkarýs essay straddles the twin issues of gender and communalism to show how all marginalized sections are rendered equally vulnerable by the spread of communalism. Finally, Siddharth Vardarajan looks at the interesting relationship between communal thought and its representations in the media and popular culture. Thought provoking and incisive, The Concerned Indianýs Guide to Communalism urges us to question where we stand with regard to communalism at the close of the millennium, and challenges us to fashion a truly secular identity for ourselves in the twenty-first century.

Towards A New Humanity

Towards A New Humanity PDF Author: Kurian Kunnumpuram
Publisher: St Pauls BYB
ISBN: 9788171097302
Category : India
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description


Personal and National Destinies in Independent India

Personal and National Destinies in Independent India PDF Author: Rositta Joseph Valiyamattam
Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing
ISBN: 144381430X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 325

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Book Description
Personal and National Destinies in Independent India is an innovative analysis of the interface between individual lives and national history, between citizen and state in modern India, as reflected in contemporary fiction. It critiques the selected works of a host of distinguished Indian English novelists such as Gurcharan Das, Arun Joshi, Rohinton Mistry, Arundhati Roy, Meher Pestonji, Kiran Desai, Vikas Swarup, David Davidar, Aravind Adiga, Manjula Padmanabhan and Tarun Tejpal. The author offers a new interpretation of twelve major novels with reference to the enormous framework of nearly seventy years of the history and politics, culture and economy of independent India. This is a study of fiction that re-writes the grand Indian narrative from a genuine, subaltern point of view and pays tribute to the heroism of ordinary Indians in times of extraordinary transformation. In these times of conflict and disparity which threaten democratic values, these novelists advocate an inclusive and humane India with a strong moral core instead of aggressive or elitist nationalism. They represent an era of painful introspection, an attempt to keep the soul of the nation alive. This unique project would be of interest to students and scholars of Literature, Political Science and History, especially Post-colonial studies. The vast scope of the time period, geographical expanse, social groups, writers and works covered here makes the work comprehensive and contemporary; very few such works on recent Indian history and fiction exist as of now.

Indian Politics and Society Since Independence

Indian Politics and Society Since Independence PDF Author: Bidyut Chakrabarty
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134132697
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Focusing on politics and society in India, this book explores new areas enmeshed in the complex social, economic and political processes in the country. Linking the structural characteristics with the broader sociological context, the book emphasizes the strong influence of sociological issues on politics, such as social milieu shaping and the articulation of the political in day-to-day events. Political events are connected with the ever-changing social, economic and political processes in order to provide an analytical framework to explain ‘peculiarities’ of Indian politics. Bidyut Chakrabarty argues that three major ideological influences of colonialism, nationalism and democracy have provided the foundational values of Indian politics. Structured thematically and chronologically, this work is a useful resource for students of political science, sociology and South Asian studies.

Colonialism and Communalism

Colonialism and Communalism PDF Author: M. Christhu Doss
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040019994
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 293

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Book Description
Christhu Doss examines how the colonial construct of communalism through the fault lines of the supposed religious neutrality, the hunger for the bread of life, the establishment of exclusive village settlements for the proselytes, the rhetoric of Victorian morality, the booby-traps of modernity, and the subversion of Indian cultural heritage resulted in a radical reorientation of religious allegiance that eventually created a perpetual detachment between proselytes and the “others.” Exploring the trajectories of communalism, Doss demonstrates how the multicultural Indian society, known widely for its composite culture, and secular convictions were categorized, compartmentalized, and communalized by the racialized religious pretensions. A vital read for historians, political scientists, sociologists, anthropologists, and all those who are interested in religions, cultures, identity politics, and decolonization in modern India.

Scarred

Scarred PDF Author: Dionne Bunsha
Publisher: Penguin Books India
ISBN: 9780144000760
Category : Communalism
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Scarred: Experiments with Violence in Gujarat asserts the existence of a much larger politics of violence, and tells the story of a disaster in Hindutva's laboratory which etched deep faults in Gujarat's social landscape. While capturing the predicament of the Sabarmati Express survivors, Scarred is an intense, moving portrait of refugees whose lives have been changed forever by the violence that followed. It tells the story of people fighting for justice amidst fear and turmoil, unable to return home. It is also an insightful look into the minds of the perpetrators of this violence, and the world they seek to construct--a world where the ghettoization and socio-economic boycott of Muslims have become the norm. What exactly happened in Gujarat in February 2002? Why did the country's political leaders fiddle while Gandhi's Gujarat burned? In this honest and thought-provoking book, Dionne Bunsha tries to answer these and many of the questions that we are still left with.

The Violence of Development

The Violence of Development PDF Author: (ed.), Karin Kapadia
Publisher: Zubaan
ISBN: 938475756X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 559

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Book Description
“ … the strength of the volume lies in its ability to mesh its diverse theoretical concerns with rich empirical data from all across India …” — Seminar This timely volume brings together the work of some of India’s leading feminist economists, historians, political scientists, journalists and anthropologists to investigate the contemporary situation of women in India. It focuses on four broad domains: the cultural, the social, the political and the economic. The writers argue that despite apparently positive indicators of progress in education and paid employment, women’s status has not improved.

The Violence of Development

The Violence of Development PDF Author: Karin Kapadia
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9781842772072
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 538

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Book Description
Comprises 12 papers which assess the contemporary situation of women in India in four broad domains: the cultural, the social, the political and the economic. Argues that despite apparently positive indicators of progress, particularly education and paid employment, little has changed.

Writing the Women's Movement

Writing the Women's Movement PDF Author: Mala Khullar
Publisher: Zubaan
ISBN: 9788186706992
Category : Feminism
Languages : en
Pages : 572

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Book Description
Contributed articles presented earlier at several seminars on women's studies and feminism in India.

Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies

Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies PDF Author: Rachel Dwyer
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1479848697
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
Modern Indian studies have recently become a site for new, creative, and thought-provoking debates extending over a broad canvas of crucial issues. As a result of socio-political transformations, certain concepts—such as ahimsa, caste, darshan, and race—have taken on different meanings. Bringing together ideas, issues, and debates salient to modern Indian studies, this volume charts the social, cultural, political, and economic processes at work in the Indian subcontinent. Authored by internationally recognized experts, this volume comprises over one hundred individual entries on concepts central to their respective fields of specialization, highlighting crucial issues and debates in a lucid and concise manner. Each concept is accompanied by a critical analysis of its trajectory and a succinct discussion of its significance in the academic arena as well as in the public sphere. Enhancing the shared framework of understanding about the Indian subcontinent, Key Concepts in Modern Indian Studies will provide the reader with insights into vital debates about the region, underscoring the compelling issues emanating from colonialism and postcolonialism.