INDIAN POLITICS

Let me admit at the outset that I am not an historian and hence am not qualified for
writing a history of development of Indian political thought. That is the reason I did not
call this mini-book history and instead have called it “story”.
A storywriter has much more freedom than a historian can ever have. A story, unlike
history, is never a complete account of events. A storywriter picks on some aspects of a
story that interest him and leaves the rest untouched. I am told that most historians also do
the same. All the same I prefer to be called a storywriter rather than a historian.
As a storywriter I have made full use of the freedom that I am supposed to be entitled to.
The mini-book, that I most humbly present to you, is not even a research paper loaded
with facts, figures, statistics and references. I have tried to tell a story that should grip
your attention; that is readable and gives my impressions about the way political thought
has evolved in India and its present state of affairs.
You may agree or disagree with some of my impressions. My views on some of the
leading personalities of the past century may either please you or disturb you. I may even
be wrong at some places. As I said I belong to the vast majority of people who are not
historians. The impressions that I have articulated here are not just my personal views.
These views are often expressed by common people like me who view events and history
from a limited perspective and not from an expert’s point of view.
Though I am always willing to apologize if my impressions and views hurt anyone’s
sentiments and to correct any factual errors, the fact would remain that there may be
others, who think like me rightly or wrongly. In the process of evolution of thought of a
society, false impressions play as important role as true ones do. So my humble
suggestion to all those, who do not like what I have written, would be to step up their
efforts towards informing people about their point of view instead of coming after me
with a baton in hand.
Some others may feel that I am a cynic who has few kind words for anyone. I must clarify
that I am an incorrigible optimist. Yes, I am harsh towards the dead wood. I reserve my
soft touch and kid gloves for the sprouts that are just springing forth from the ground.
Unfortunately, Indian political thought, as it exists today, has more dead wood than it can
carry. It needs to break out of the moulds of the past and seek new paradigms. But before
it does this, there is a need to understand the past and the present. Hope that the mini-book
will help you do this.
If after reading the preface you read the full mini-book and, more important, after reading
the mini-book still have not put me on your most-hated list, I am sure that we shall be able
to walk together.
An American athlete once said, “If you walk long enough and if you talk long enough,
you can always get people to see things your way.” Let us continue to talk and walk.
Anil Chawla
14 January 2004


http://www.samarthbharat.com/files/indianpolitics.pdf