Page 74 - EW April 2021

Books

Engaging & starting to write a new his-

timely tome THE BATTLE OF BELONGING tory as an egalitarian, one-
man-one-vote democracy.
Shashi Tharoor
RUPA PUBLICATIONS It compares and contrasts
the RSS/BJP’s intoler-
Rs.494
F SHASHI THAROOR, ant hindutva philosophy
Member of Parlia- Pages 462 with Mahatma Gandhi’s
Iment and author of 16 inclusive and humane
masterly English language Hinduism, and investi-
non-fiction books of deep gates the Bharat vs. India
erudition and three fiction fault-line, the widening
titles, had been born a all-conquering political Empowerment North-South divide while
white Christian American, party, is trying its best to and protection advising the public of the
he would surely have com- transform contemporary of independent importance of reaffirm-
pleted at least one term in India into an intolerant, institutions against ing our commitment to
the White House by now. majoritarian Hindu nation. the whims and fancies Tagore’s ‘idea of India’ and
A successful politcian, This conscientiously re- of strongmen is the civic nationalism (commit-
accomplished literateur, searched, brilliantly writ- theme song of this ment to common binding
exceptional wordsmith ten book is divided into six timely book values) as opposed to the
skilled in the cut and sections. It opens with the exclusionary ethno-reli-
thrust of parliamentary Idea of Nationalism, traces gious nationalism of the
and intellectual debate its rise around the world the founding fathers of ruling dispensation that’s
and gifted with personable and highlights the histori- the nation who painstak- hell-bent on alienating
charm, a white Tharoor cal truth that nationalism ingly crafted our uniquely the country’s 150-million
would have been the is a relatively recent 18th egalitarian and inclusive strong Muslim community
natural successor of John century phenomenon that Constitution, and trans- for wrongs rooted in previ-
F. Kennedy, arguably the arose out of the American form it into a Hindu ous centuries.
most charismatic presi- (1776) and French (1789) majoritarian rashtra or Compelling the reader
dent in the history of the revolutions. “Hindu Pakistan”. forward, in the last section
United States. The second section, The Section four highlights titled Reclaiming India’s
Unfortunately for Idea of India which has six the on-going “battle of Soul, the author offers a
him — but fortunately for chapters, traces the his- belonging” and ‘Modi-fi- prescription on ways and
latter-day India, Tharoor tory of the Indian subcon- cation’ agenda of the RSS/ means to extricate the
is a brown Indian. And un- tinent, an agglomeration BJP and their hand-picked nation which by following
like many of our country- of over 500 kingdoms and prime minister Narendra false heroes with bankrupt
men would rather serve in princedoms owing fealty Modi to erode the coun- ideologies has entered a
heaven than rule in hell, he to Imperial Great Britain try’s democratic institu- cul-de-sac of its own mak-
chose to become an Indian which ruled for almost tions, impose Hindi as ing. For a start, Tharoor
citizen and proud Hindu two centuries before a the lingua franca, demote reminds us that for all its
of the liberal school of this united India emerged the Muslim community, swagger and proclaimed
ancient creed, which has after the freedom struggle. encourage (“soft signal”) mandate to overturn the
made a big comeback in Since then (1947), it has religious and communal legacy of Mahatma Gandhi
its most illiberal avatar, in evolved into the world’s bigotry and enshrine the and leaders of the freedom
21st century India. most populous democracy, Hindu rashtra, by invok- movement — in which the
Unsurprisingly, Tharoor governed according to the ing ancient glories. RSS/BJP was conspicu-
has emerged as the most mandate of an extraordi- The fifth section of this ously missing in action
articulate public intel- narily liberal Constitution absorbing history-cum- – and alter the basic struc-
lectual and critic of the — a “living document”. sociology polemic titled ture of the Constitution of
BJP which swept the In the third section of The Anxiety of Nationhood the world’s most populous
General Elections of 2014 this 462-page book, the discusses the fractures democracy, the BJP re-
and 2019, and inspired by learned author focuses manifesting in India’s ceived a mere 31 percent of
the regressive Rashtriya light on The Hindutva unique national develop- the national vote in 2014,
Swayamsevak Sangh, the Idea of India espoused ment project which began and 37 percent in 2019.
shadowy ideological men- by RSS/BJP. In sum, it 70 years ago with an “If India is to reclaim its
tor organisation of this is to reverse the legacy of underdeveloped country soul, the urgent national

76 EDUCATIONWORLD APRIL 2021