Democracy in India: A Hollow Shell

by Arthur Bonner, Kancha Ilaiah, Suranjit Kumar Saha, Asghar Ali Engineer, Gerard Hueze

Overview

This book looks at the wasting away of the economic and political democracy that was the hope and promise of the independence movement. The authors examine the hierarchical rule that had undermined the Indian democratic system and at the culture that has engendered this hierarchy of caste. Topics include ethical conflicts and human rights violations as well as the growth of the radical right; also social issues such as the soaring population, illiteracy, poverty, and the role of women in India. The authors note that attacks on Muslims are exacerbating tensions with Pakistan, thereby increasing the possibility of nuclear conflict on the subcontinent.

Author Biography: Arthur Bonner was a special correspondent for "The New York Times" in Afghanistan and is the author of "Averting the Apocalypse: Social Movements in India Today" (Duke University Press, 1990). Kancha Ilaiah is a reader in the Department of Political Science at Osmania University in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Suranjit Kumar Saha served as District Development Commissioner for the tribal district of Ranchi in Bihar, as Tribal Welfare Commissioner for Bihar (1983). Asghar Ali Engineer is Director for the Institute of Islamic Studies in Bombay. Gerard Hueze is a member of the Center for Studies in India and South Asia (EIAS) in Paris.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781879383265
Publisher:	University Publishing Association
Publication date:	10/04/1994
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	5.84(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.58(d)

About the Author

Arthur Bonner was a special correspondent for The New York Times in Afghanistan and is the author of Averting the Apocalypse: Social Movements in India Today (Duke University Press, 1990). Kancha Ilaiah is a reader in the Department of Political Science at 'smania University in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. Suranjit Kumar Saha served as District Development Commissioner for the tribal district of Ranchi in Bihar, as Tribal Welfare Commissioner for Bihar (1983). Asghar Ali Engineer is Director for the Institute of Islamic Studies in Bombay. Gerard Hueze is a member of the Center for Studies in India and South Asia (EIAS) in Paris.

Editorial Reviews

This is the first book in which an articulate group of scholars and activists voice their feeling that the ethnic conflicts that India has experienced, particularly over the past several years, has vitiated its democratic political system.

Thomas Tinberg