New Delhi: India’s history is one of boundaries. Lines that have been drawn onto our lands and then onto our psyches. Former IAS officer Sanjeev Chopra takes on the extraordinary task of articulating India’s internal geometry in his new book, “We, the People of the States of Bharat: The Making and Remaking of India’s Internal Boundaries.”
The book is published by Harper Collins and is due to be released on 20 December on SoftCover, ThePrint’s new e-venue to launch select non-fiction books.
The author raises questions that hint at why this is a book that was waiting to be written: “Why was the convenience of citizens not the overriding factor in the determination of boundaries? This is closely linked to how borders and boundaries are drawn, and though one was aware of what the Survey of India did, the circumstances that led to those challenges were only known in a general sense.”
Instead of launching into a 360-degree perspective on India as a nation, taking a headfirst dive into the previous system – that of princely states and provisional assemblies – Chopra chooses to coax the reader in. His research is detailed, with meticulously crafted accounts on states like Punjab and Orissa, that have complex debates surrounding their formation.
He breaks down his research, a vital addition in a book of this magnitude.
Talking about his book, the former IAS officer noted how the political map of a nation is the “most potent symbol of its sovereignty”.
“In this book, I have examined how the internal boundaries of India have been altered on account of various linguistic, ethnic and regional assertions. I argue that India has emerged stronger from the reorganization of states, and this has strengthened the voice of regional leaders and ensured the articulation of grassroot aspirations,” he stated.
Author and JNU professor Makarand R. Paranjape described Chopra’s book as “original, unique and unprecedented”.
“Maps both reflect and influence how a nation regards itself. Original, unique, even unprecedented, in its method of understanding the evolution of the republic, Sanjeev Chopra recounts the political reimagining of post-independence India through its changing maps,” Paranjape noted.
While Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Stockholm University, praised Chopra for addressing the challenge “admirably and painstakingly”.
“Sanjeev Chopra addresses that challenge admirably and painstakingly analyses the changing maps, nomenclature and the concomitant politics of give and take. The result is a masterpiece of a compendium which will prove to be seminal and a standard reference on this subject,” Ahmed added.
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