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India Since Independence
The book is conceived as a sequel to Struggle for India’s Independence 1857-1947 and analyses the challenges India has faced and the successes it has achieved, in the light of its colonial legacy and century—long struggle for freedom. The authors have compiled a vast amount of information on almost all areas of political and economic development in the country and have given the narration a perspective of social progress evolving out of the conflicts and interactions between social groups, classes and interests. The book is the story of a people on the move, of a gradual revolution, of the efforts of the Indian people to realise the vision of the freedom struggle. The authors have adopted a critical approach to our recent past and contemporary events but within a broadly optimistic framework. They convey the buoyant mood reflected in Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous ‘Tryst with Destiny’ speech on the eve of Independence. It represented for its people the start of an epoch that was imbued with a new vision. In 1947, the country commenced its long march to overcome economic underdevelopment, gross poverty, near-total illiteracy, wide prevalence of disease and stark social inequality and injustice within a democratic political structure. This journey, the authors maintain, despite all the ups and downs created by forces of history, has stayed on track. Indian democracy has remained vibrant throughout the period and Indian development has progressed steadily, even if not very rapidly, within the framework of democracy. The book describes how the Constitution was framed, as also how the Nehruvian political and economic agenda and basics of foreign policy were evolved and developed. It dwells on the consolidation of the nation, examining contentious issues like party politics in the Centre and the states, the Punjab problem, and anti-caste politics and untouchability. The book offers a scathing analysis of the growth of communalism in India and the use of state power in furthering its cause. It also documents the fall of the National Democratic Alliance in the 2004 general elections, the United Progressive Alliance’s subsequent rise to power and the Indo-US nuclear deal that served to unravel the political consensus at the Centre. It includes an assessment of the Indian economy in the new millennium and the objective profiles of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Rajiv Gandhi, V. P. Singh, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh constitute a remarkable overview of a progressive nation. The best period in India’s recent history would appear to be the initial years—1951-64, and that was almost entirely due to Nehru, to whom the authors are highly indebted . His daughter, they claim, though she possessed great political skills and courage, lacked Nehru’s ideological moorings. The chapter on the Rajiv years and the discussions on the governments of V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar and Vajpayee are packed with information and opinion. Land Reforms I, II and III are extremely valuable as they bring within a short span, a whole set of complex issues. The three chapters on the Indian economy are also informative and demonstrate the authors skill of marshalling the facts. The academicians argue that it would not be wrong to acknowledge that India has made substantial all-round progress. Considerable changes have been brought about in the field of politics, economy and society. In the process, a lot of scum, gathered over the centuries, has also come to the top. But the legacy of the freedom struggle has held—and not got diluted significantly. The advancements already made in various spheres, when taken in entirety, give the Indian people faith in their capacity to find solutions to the remaining problems and the ills of their society. The book fills a major gap in the literature on contemporary history and is a must read for the general public, especially students of history, sociology, economics and politics.
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THERE
is more to India than its ancient civilisation, spiritual traditions and
various systems of belief. Professors Bipan Chandra, Mridula Mukherjee
and Aditya Mukherjee have brought out a comprehensive volume on the
history of contemporary India, called India Since Independence.
This book takes a holistic view of the political economy of Indian
development since Independence right up to 2007. It highlights how our
country has been successfully transformed into a modern, secular
republic with an impressive record of economic growth.