“Essays on the Changing Nature of Indian State”

The book ‘Essays on the Changing Nature of the Indian State’ is a commentary on contemporary India. The book tries to capture such nuances of the changing nature of the Indian state from the Nehruvian era to the Modi era.

The book Essays Changing Nature of Indian State’ is edited by Dr. Syed Ali Mujtaba who is a professor, author, journalist, environmentalist, social activist, filmmaker, blogger, U-tuber, and more. This is his fifth book. His previous four books are self-authored.

The changes are reflected in the TEN segments of the book under each there are five to seven essays. These are; i) ‘Changing Nature of the Indian State’ ii) ‘Indian Republic on an Uncharted Path’ iii) ‘Changing Profile of Indian Political Parties’ iv) ‘Changing Nature of Centre-State Relationship’ v) ‘The Voices of the Other Half of India’ vi) ‘Marginalization of Indian Muslims’ vii) ‘Jammu and Kashmir in a New Avatar’ viii) ‘Spotlight on Northeast India’ ix) ‘Indian Media in Changing Times’ x) ‘Changing Nature of India’s Foreign Policy.’

Public intellectual and Civil Rights Activist, Anand Teltumbde, has written the Foreword of the book, and M.G. Devasahayam (IAS) former Chief Secretary of Haryana who previously served the Indian Army as an Officer has penned the Epilogue.

The book Essays on ‘Changing Nature of Indian State’ tries to chronicle the theme that the Nehruvian vision of India is getting blurred under the shadow of the Modi rule. This is being done through a blatant and explicit anti-Muslim agenda. This directional change given to the Indian Republic has put the country on an uncharted path.

The book builds the argument that India under the BJP rule is witnessing the mixing of the identity of the Indian state with the Hindu religious identity. This new template that we are witnessing is the politics of 80 % Hindus against 20% minorities in an attempt to make India a majoritarian state.

This new cocktail of mixing nationalism with Hindu religious identity is an explosive mix that may serve the interest of the BJP but it would pose a dangerous threat to the unity and integrity of the Indian state. In such an attempt India is heading toward becoming an autocratic republic where constitutional ideals like; socialist, secular, and democratic values are sure to lose their sheen.

The book concludes that India is on the cusp of choosing two diametrically opposite paths; one is currently underway making India a majoritarian state, and the other is to change the course of Indian politics and bring it back to the centrist position where it was during the Nehruvian era.

Optimism is reflected in the book as it says, that there is an opposite political force also at play to challenge the dominant narrative. And that is in the form of ‘Bharat Jodo’ or Unite India campaign. The summary of the book is, that the dialectics of materialism will guide India to a decisive path.

The richness of this book is, there are more than 53 authors who have contributed their thoughts to this book. Even though they belong to different parts of the country but have joined their minds to unravel the mysteries of the changing nature of the Indian state.

The book – Essays on Changing Nature of Indian State is published by INDU BOOK SERVICES, website https://indubookservices.com/.

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