Politics and Religion in Contemporary India

The essays by scholars on aspects of society, polity and religion in present-day India deal with the interplay between politics and religion and the notion of secularism in India. Referring to the contributions of many personalities and with extensive notes, they examine the construction of varied identities based on religion and social factors like caste, gender and community. In particular, they are concerned with the Hindu engagement with Christianity in India, the politics of exclusion in the construction of Sikh identity and identity politics involving low caste Hindus. With specific references to places, they take up Buddhist women’s narratives in Nagpur city and their socio-economic status, and the self-view of the ritual functionaries called sevayats at the Jagannath Temple in Puri and their view about the temple and their position in the temple and society.