This book studies the engagement of various Muslim communities with Bihar politics from colonial times to present-day India. It debunks several myths in highlighting Muslim resistance to the Two-Nation theory, and counters the ‘Isolation Syndrome’ faced by Muslim communities after Independence. Using rare archival sources and hitherto unexamined Urdu texts, this book offers a nuanced exploration of complex themes such as the struggle against Bengali hegemony, communalism, regionalism and alienation before Independence, recent language politics, the political assertion of low-caste Muslims in current Bihar, as well as their quest for social and gender justice. An important contribution to the study of South Asian Islam, this book will interest students and scholars of modern Indian history, politics, sociology, religion, gender, and minority studies.
Last Among Equals eschews the usual sweeping narratives of national and state politics, reaching instead for the 'swirling, vivid sub-narratives that escape easy categorisations', the darkness of the material leavened with deep empathy. The result is a captivating, often searing narrative of how lives are lived in the villages of Bihar--and indeed in much of India.
“I have become a fan of this man. One should just meet him to know...” This is what Nitish Kumar had sai about his now bitter foe Narendra Modi after NDA's 2004 defeat. “I feel like tying my PWD minister on an empty tractor trolley and run the vehicle at a speed of 60km per hourto make him realise how people suffer when they travel on these roads”, says Lalu, conceding the terrible conditionof Bihar roads. Ruled or Misruled, Story and Destiny of Bihar by The Indian Express' Assistant Editor SANTOSH SINGH offers a 360 degree journey of Bihar politics since Independence, especially since the Congress' downfall in 1990. An out and out reporter's book, it tells an interesting and tumultuous journey of the post-1990 legends of Bihar politics - Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad, Ram Vilas Paswan and Jitan Ram Manjhi with the legendary clash between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi - with the untold version on the 2010 dinner cancellation and Nitish's ambition, providing the third angle. Right from revealing JP's dilemma between Lalu and Nitish to socialist leader Karpoori Thakur out-thinking the Congress with his simplicity. From Jagannath Mishra making a confession on his controversial 1982 Anti-Press Bill to the numerous tales of vernaculariszation of politics and giving a voice to the poor by Lalu, the writer also traces the story of the making of the Ranbir Sena at the height of caste wars. The stories of repair, hope and construction under Nitish Kumar, disillusionment and new political realignment after the 2013 NDA split, Nitish and Lalu coming together again after two decades and Nitish almost walking out of the Lalu alliance again are just as captivating. Jitan Ram Manjhi, who makes startling revelations on how he played a dummy for Nitish and Ram Vilas Paswan, also concedes the real truth of his Godhra stand.
Hidden behind the much-touted success story of India’s emergence as an economic superpower is another, far more complex narrative of the nation’s recent history, one in which economic development is frequently countered by profoundly unsettling, and often violent, political movements. In Democracy against Development, Jeffrey Witsoe investigates this counter-narrative, uncovering an antagonistic relationship between recent democratic mobilization and development-oriented governance in India. Witsoe looks at the history of colonialism in India and its role in both shaping modern caste identities and linking locally powerful caste groups to state institutions, which has effectively created a postcolonial patronage state. He then looks at the rise of lower-caste politics in one of India’s poorest and most populous states, Bihar, showing how this increase in democratic participation has radically threatened the patronage state by systematically weakening its institutions and disrupting its development projects. By depicting democracy and development as they truly are in India—in tension—Witsoe reveals crucial new empirical and theoretical insights about the long-term trajectory of democratization in the larger postcolonial world.
The conventional wisdom in Bihar's political circles was that development did not win votes. Nitish Kumar challenged that assumption and changed the face of the state. Born into a humble family in Bakhtiyarpur, Nitish joined the Lohiaite Socialist Party and built his constituency, literally day by day, forgoing a stable job to travel to distant villages, suffering both financial hardship and ridicule for the eight years it took him to win people's confidence. Veteran journalist Arun Sinha tells the story of Nitish Kumar's rise against the larger canvas of social and political upheaval in Bihar, exploring the emergent desire for equality that drove progressive movements from late 1960s onwards and brought about a regime change by the 1990s. After an initial association with Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar rejected identity politics, recognizing that Bihar had to transcend caste if it was to grow. Nitish Kumar and the Rise of Bihar is a clear-sighted study of Indian electoral politics that unfolds with the pace of a political drama, offering hard facts and an incisive analysis of the state's turbulent trajectory. Sinha steers the narrative deftly through the complex groupings of Bihar's political arena to reveal Nitish Kumar's acumen in bringing law and order, roads, education and health to the fore of governance. From feudal politics to caste identities, and finally to development Bihar could prove to be the model for India's post-Independence journey.
I am Konhaiya Kumar, native of Bihar. I am doing PhD on a very important subject "Mating habits of gay chimpanzees in South Africa" at PANU university, the best university in India and possibly the best university in the world. My idols are "Faizal Guru," "Janab Kasab Sahib," "Focus Carat," "Baba Badkar" and all PhD students who had committed suicide since they failed to solve their PhD problems. I personally feel that, all deprived Indians should automatically be awarded a PhD degree coupled with a free pension of 1 lakh rupees/ month to be delivered in cash via post at door step. Till then we are going to fight for azaadi from India. Imagine a day, when no PhD student would have to commit suicide, imagine a day, when no lower caste will be humiliated by upper caste, s/he can use his/her doctorate degree and force others to call him/her Dr. X, Dr. Y, etc. Imagine a day, when all deprived people can take part in active politics and "Make Communism Great Again" thanks to my "one lakh per month" pension idea. Bhagat Singh said, "It is easy to kill individuals, but you cannot kill ideas." I do not know where this book will take me, but I think it will be used as a text book in my PANU university. In this book, I describe my life from childhood to stardom, my experiences with both deprived and upper caste people, I also describe the inhuman condition of Tihar Jail in details. I lost my virginity in Tihar jail. I also provide feasible solutions to all burning problems of India. I am hoping that, government of India will buy few thousands copies of my books and distribute among all civil servants so that they can use my solutions to solve the problems that they face while working for people of India. If my solutions are found useful, I would not mind getting "Bharat Ratna" for myself. I love #AdarshLiberal people, I hate right wing #Bhakts! After I have become famous in India and whole world, so far, rightwing #Bhakts have thrown 5 right leg slippers at me. I would request them to throw both slippers so that I can make use of them.
This book studies the engagement of various Muslim communities with Bihar politics from colonial times to present-day India. It debunks several myths in highlighting Muslim resistance to the Two-Nation theory, and counters the ‘Isolation Syndrome’ faced by Muslim communities after Independence. Using rare archival sources and hitherto unexamined Urdu texts, this book offers a nuanced exploration of complex themes such as the struggle against Bengali hegemony, communalism, regionalism and alienation before Independence, recent language politics, the political assertion of low-caste Muslims in current Bihar, as well as their quest for social and gender justice. An important contribution to the study of South Asian Islam, this book will interest students and scholars of modern Indian history, politics, sociology, religion, gender, and minority studies.
For the last decade, China and India have grown at an amazing rate—particularly considering the greatest downturn in the U.S. and Europe since the Great Depression. As a result, both countries are forecast to have larger economies than the U.S. or EU in the years ahead. Still, in the last year, signs of a slowdown have hit these two giants. Which way will these giants go? And how will that affect the global economy? Any Western corporation, investor, or entrepreneur serious about competing internationally must understand what makes them tick. Unfortunately, many in the West still look at the two Asian giants as monoliths, closely controlled mainly by their national governments. Inside Out, India and China makes clear how and why this notion is outdated. William Antholis—a former White House and State Department official, and the managing director at Brookings—spent five months in India and China, travelling to over 20 states and provinces in both countries. He explored the enormously diversity in business, governance, and culture of these nations, temporarily relocating his entire family to Asia. His travels, research, and interviews with key stakeholders make the unmistakable point that these nations are not the immobile, centrally directed economies and structures of the past. More and more, key policy decisions in India and China are formulated and implemented by local governments—states, provinces, and fast-growing cities. Both economies have promoted entrepreneurship, both by private sector and also local government officials. Some strategies work. Others are fatally flawed. Antholis’s detailed narratives of local innovation in governance and business—as well as local failures—prove the point that simply maintaining a presence in Beijing and New Delhi – or even Shanghai and Mumbai —is not enough to ensure success in China or India, just as one cannot expect to succeed in America simply by setting up in Washington or New York. Each nation is as large, vibrant, innovative, diverse, and increasingly decentralized as are the United States, Europe and all of Latin America … combined. China and India each have their own agricultural heartlands, high-tech corridors, resource-rich areas, and powerhouse manufacturing regions. They also have major economic, social, environmental challenges facing them. But few people outside these countries can name those places, or have a mental map of how the local parts of these countries are shaping their global futures. Organizations, businesses, and other governments that do not recognize and plan for this evolution may miss that the most important changes in these emerging giants are coming from the inside out. “This book is for people who wonder about the inside of China and India, and how different local perspectives inside those countries shape actions outside their borders. Though my family and I spent five months traveling in both countries to do research, this book is not a travelogue. Rather, it is an attempt to sketch how a few of China’s and India’s many component parts are being shaped by global forces—and in turn are shaping those forces—and what that means for Americans and Europeans conducting diplomacy and doing business there.”—from the Introduction
