Democracy in India: A Hollow Shell - Tapa blanda

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, Nathan Associates, Inc. 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, Nathan Associates, Inc.

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.