Majoritarianism in India: Roots and Consequences [Paperback]

Traces the roots of the strident nationalism we see in modern India to the founding of the nation and decisions taken in the 1940s.Majoritarianism in Indiaexamines the strident nationalism seizing India today, tracing its roots back to decisions made in the 1940s, particularly Partition and the drafting of the Constitution. Pre-Partition India had debated whether liberty --understood as one man, one vote --or equality --the equal political representation of minorities within a federal structure--should be the basis of a state. Congress chose liberty , but contemporary India is reaching the point where it has neither: its democracy is compromised and majoritarianism prevails. By dividing the subcontinent and elevating the cow belt , Partition seriously impeded social and economic progress in the newly created states, and brought communalism and casteism to the fore.Javed Gaya investigates the origins and consequences of India's increasingly majoritarian system, assessing the frailty of constitutional safeguards, the role of the judiciary and the subversion of federalism. He analyses the futility of today's quest for cultural purity, and shows how history is being rewritten with an exclusionary intent. He both interrogates the myths created to sustain this nativist ideology--including around the causes of Partition and the alleged privileging of minorities--and discusses the role of citizenship and the externalization of the Hindu-Muslim conflict.IntroductionPART ITHE ROAD TO PARTITION1. The Myth of Eternal India2. The Colonial State and the Sacred Space3. The Colonial State and Minority Rights4. The PartitionPART IITHE POLITICAL AND CULTURAL CONSEQUENCES OF PARTITION5. The Rise of the Cow Belt6. Language and Culture: Towards Purity7. The Weaponization of History to Underpin NationalismPART IIISECULARISM8. The Indian Version of Secularism9. Secularism and Caste10. Secularism, Personal Laws and the Uniform Civil CodePART IVASYMMETRICAL FEDERALISM, CITIZENl£