Published by Penguin India, ‘1947-1957, India: the Birth of a Republic’, will be released on 28 August on SoftCover, ThePrint’s online venue to launch non-fiction books.
We have reduced Ambedkar into an angry old man who indicted the Hindu social order. We do not expect or allow an oppressed voice to occupy the sacred space of reason.
The BJP may enjoy ideological dominance today, but counter-hegemonic politics has deeper cultural resources. If we are determined and intelligent, we shall win.
Statues of Ambedkar often show him holding the Constitution in one hand, and his other arm outstretched, finger pointing forward. It’s more urgent than ever to follow that direction.
Forget comparing it with classics like Hrithik’s Ek Pal Ka Jeena or the slick title track of Dhoom 2, Janaab-e-Aali does not even come close to Ghungroo.
India’s industrial output growth saw a 10-month low in June, with Index of Industrial Production (IIP) growing by mere 1.5% as against 1.9% in May 2025.
Standing up to America is usually not a personal risk for a leader in India. Any suggestions of foreign pressure unites India behind who they see as leading them in that fight.
So you think this the end. Well since you have written in English you will know that each time something ends – in this case your republic – something new starts – the disaster as a new republic as you say. The voters want it – right. You say the mandir and Jan 22 were not constitutional ?? You do remember the SC judgement on this – right? So, let me try and understand this. Your republic – whatever that meant – do not hold the SC verdicts as constitutional, have over turned judgement given by the courts for political gains – Google it if you don’t remember – Gave free hand to your politicans to mint money and generally screwed the people of India in the name of secularism. It’s over now for past 10 years and I sincerely hope it will stay like this for some time to come. Like some other reader said, apart from cribbing, do you have any – ANY – concrete idea which will benefit people of India and not your ego and pockets ???
It’s just denial, delusion, ignorance and a little bit of acceptance. You don’t want reconciliation and peace.
Because of Babri demolition, innocent Hindus have paid the price in Mumbai blasts and other terrorists attacks. SC gave a separate land to build a mosque. Still you have to invoke Babri demolition in every opportunity.
I believe except a minuscule number, Hindus don’t hate Muslims but a large number of Hindus (with or without any political affiliation) don’t like political Islam. Do you understand the difference? Why don’t ask yourself that why it’s always hindu muslim, not any other religion? Why don’t you talk about political Islam? Why your secularism has to be at the expense of Hindus?
People like you will not create the conflict directly but you want the conflict to remain forever. Because you feed on poor people’s poverty, you feed on people’s vulnerability. Mr Modi is closing India’s age old wounds. That’s a problem for you. Now deal with it.
If you believe the Republic is dead, WHY CAN’T your team can’t find revival narrative?? Who’s stopping you? We still have functional democracy isn’t it?? BJP is winning elections through people’s mandate right?? Is your Pseudo secularism -Dictated by so-called religious minorities stands fully exposed??
This year my view of the Republic Day parade changed. After the destruction of the constitution the parade did not celebrate the formation of the Republic but the display of the power of the administration of the Bharatiya Junta (sic) Party.
For those who wish republic to be dead, it is dead. The republic that they imagine, existed in their collective mind only not in reality. A republic where few self-anointed oracles like the author himself, never deserved to exist.
Everything pointed out in this article would have been avoided by more English-medium schools in North India right from. 1947. What was Congress doing. Their apathy created 70 years of inferiority complex-ridden Indian men struggling to get by, their pinnacle of achievement an H1 Visa or whatever, and became raging communal pro-templeists. A chip on the shoulder carved over 70 years will reshape a country’s character as effectively as ideology.
stop following Pappu Gandhi first.Your jealousy for AAP’s rise is no secret. After Modi, it’s Yogi Adityanath : ) No street protest or movement will have any effect now. Because Pappu has no respect of any Indian. The few votes Congress still gets is of Modi dislikers because congress being still the main opposition. It’s not that that much people have any faith in that dumb, morally corrupted Pappu.
If you take a step back and remove the hysteria in this piece, you actually have the kernels of truth about where the demarcation lines are in Indian politics today.
On the one side is the newly dominant point of view of the BJP – we are a civilization first, and our diversity is the tapestry underneath. Our civilization might have been divided by caste and language in the past, but as it is reimagined today, it is a new way of presenting ourselves to us and the world. The religious underpinning of this identity is overwhelmingly Hindu, but we are a civilization that accepts all that recognize ourselves as a civilization first. That is me speaking as an atheist Hindu, which is a complete non-contradiction.
On the other side, is the old view which insists that our identity be more atomized. Caste, religion, or language first, and then the nation. So the heavy emphasis on ‘Union of states’. In this view, the Indian peoples only ever united in the fight for independence, and when we got it, we went back to being a loose coalition held together by Nehruvian principles.
It is ok for the opposition to come out clearly and present itself as such. Then we have a clear distinction between the two sides. The INDI Alliance is led by a weak Congress and regional and caste parties. The BJP presents the case for a new vision of culture first. Go present these competing visions and let the people decide. Maybe this tussle will be cyclical. If the BJP starts to demand a Hindi first identity, the regional identities might again take precedence. But don’t talk about non-electoral paths. Have the guts and the honesty to present your views.
Perfect comment in today’s scenario. If Indians are not carried away with religion intoxicated(sorry) with politics I am sure we can see something different. The disparity has gone to its maximum.
Your version of republic is probably dead as you say. Time for you to retire and shut up. Don’t you realize that masses want to get away from people like you?
Curse the republic, citizen and everyone else for rejection of pseudo secularism you people have been using as tool to marginalize and castigate the majority who was a meek spectator of his own subjugation.
YOGENDRA ji still can’t come up with an Indian version of Charles de Gaulle-ian construct of “Republic is Dead”. Still stuck in pre-war iconography. And he wants to reclaim Indianess. I wonder how silly & contradictory his thoughts are.
Okay cool. Street politics, resistance and whatnot. Fascinating stuff. Although I was meaning to ask what are some reforms the Congress has in mind to accelerate the Ease of Doing Business in this country if it comes to power. Oh while we’re there, can we talk about the Party’s vision on developing a manufacturing ecosystem in this country that will be able to support the growing workforce while ensuring that India improves her presence in high-value sectors like Semiconductors, Telecom equipment and Aerospace? And finally, it would be a cherry on the cake if someone could bring to light Rahul’s opinion on AI and how the country can catch-up with the cutting-edge research seen in the US and China while ensuring the threats to employment are minimised?
Sincerely,
A random young, educated and urban elector
So you think this the end. Well since you have written in English you will know that each time something ends – in this case your republic – something new starts – the disaster as a new republic as you say. The voters want it – right. You say the mandir and Jan 22 were not constitutional ?? You do remember the SC judgement on this – right? So, let me try and understand this. Your republic – whatever that meant – do not hold the SC verdicts as constitutional, have over turned judgement given by the courts for political gains – Google it if you don’t remember – Gave free hand to your politicans to mint money and generally screwed the people of India in the name of secularism. It’s over now for past 10 years and I sincerely hope it will stay like this for some time to come. Like some other reader said, apart from cribbing, do you have any – ANY – concrete idea which will benefit people of India and not your ego and pockets ???
It’s just denial, delusion, ignorance and a little bit of acceptance. You don’t want reconciliation and peace.
Because of Babri demolition, innocent Hindus have paid the price in Mumbai blasts and other terrorists attacks. SC gave a separate land to build a mosque. Still you have to invoke Babri demolition in every opportunity.
I believe except a minuscule number, Hindus don’t hate Muslims but a large number of Hindus (with or without any political affiliation) don’t like political Islam. Do you understand the difference? Why don’t ask yourself that why it’s always hindu muslim, not any other religion? Why don’t you talk about political Islam? Why your secularism has to be at the expense of Hindus?
People like you will not create the conflict directly but you want the conflict to remain forever. Because you feed on poor people’s poverty, you feed on people’s vulnerability. Mr Modi is closing India’s age old wounds. That’s a problem for you. Now deal with it.
If you believe the Republic is dead, WHY CAN’T your team can’t find revival narrative?? Who’s stopping you? We still have functional democracy isn’t it?? BJP is winning elections through people’s mandate right?? Is your Pseudo secularism -Dictated by so-called religious minorities stands fully exposed??
This year my view of the Republic Day parade changed. After the destruction of the constitution the parade did not celebrate the formation of the Republic but the display of the power of the administration of the Bharatiya Junta (sic) Party.
For those who wish republic to be dead, it is dead. The republic that they imagine, existed in their collective mind only not in reality. A republic where few self-anointed oracles like the author himself, never deserved to exist.
Everything pointed out in this article would have been avoided by more English-medium schools in North India right from. 1947. What was Congress doing. Their apathy created 70 years of inferiority complex-ridden Indian men struggling to get by, their pinnacle of achievement an H1 Visa or whatever, and became raging communal pro-templeists. A chip on the shoulder carved over 70 years will reshape a country’s character as effectively as ideology.
stop following Pappu Gandhi first.Your jealousy for AAP’s rise is no secret. After Modi, it’s Yogi Adityanath : ) No street protest or movement will have any effect now. Because Pappu has no respect of any Indian. The few votes Congress still gets is of Modi dislikers because congress being still the main opposition. It’s not that that much people have any faith in that dumb, morally corrupted Pappu.
If you take a step back and remove the hysteria in this piece, you actually have the kernels of truth about where the demarcation lines are in Indian politics today.
On the one side is the newly dominant point of view of the BJP – we are a civilization first, and our diversity is the tapestry underneath. Our civilization might have been divided by caste and language in the past, but as it is reimagined today, it is a new way of presenting ourselves to us and the world. The religious underpinning of this identity is overwhelmingly Hindu, but we are a civilization that accepts all that recognize ourselves as a civilization first. That is me speaking as an atheist Hindu, which is a complete non-contradiction.
On the other side, is the old view which insists that our identity be more atomized. Caste, religion, or language first, and then the nation. So the heavy emphasis on ‘Union of states’. In this view, the Indian peoples only ever united in the fight for independence, and when we got it, we went back to being a loose coalition held together by Nehruvian principles.
It is ok for the opposition to come out clearly and present itself as such. Then we have a clear distinction between the two sides. The INDI Alliance is led by a weak Congress and regional and caste parties. The BJP presents the case for a new vision of culture first. Go present these competing visions and let the people decide. Maybe this tussle will be cyclical. If the BJP starts to demand a Hindi first identity, the regional identities might again take precedence. But don’t talk about non-electoral paths. Have the guts and the honesty to present your views.
Perfect comment in today’s scenario. If Indians are not carried away with religion intoxicated(sorry) with politics I am sure we can see something different. The disparity has gone to its maximum.
Your version of republic is probably dead as you say. Time for you to retire and shut up. Don’t you realize that masses want to get away from people like you?
Curse the republic, citizen and everyone else for rejection of pseudo secularism you people have been using as tool to marginalize and castigate the majority who was a meek spectator of his own subjugation.
Stop your nonsense Salim Yadav.
YOGENDRA ji still can’t come up with an Indian version of Charles de Gaulle-ian construct of “Republic is Dead”. Still stuck in pre-war iconography. And he wants to reclaim Indianess. I wonder how silly & contradictory his thoughts are.
Okay cool. Street politics, resistance and whatnot. Fascinating stuff. Although I was meaning to ask what are some reforms the Congress has in mind to accelerate the Ease of Doing Business in this country if it comes to power. Oh while we’re there, can we talk about the Party’s vision on developing a manufacturing ecosystem in this country that will be able to support the growing workforce while ensuring that India improves her presence in high-value sectors like Semiconductors, Telecom equipment and Aerospace? And finally, it would be a cherry on the cake if someone could bring to light Rahul’s opinion on AI and how the country can catch-up with the cutting-edge research seen in the US and China while ensuring the threats to employment are minimised?
Sincerely,
A random young, educated and urban elector