What is true nationalism? What is pseudo-nationalism? What is anti-national? What is patriotism? Is the shouting of nationalist slogans important to prove one’s patriotism? Why is Bharat Mata ki Jai so important to the right wing? Why does the law of sedition continue to exist on the statute book of an independent country? Who should the sedition law be used against? Why is cultural freedom important to a nation? What sort of India do we want? What sort of Indians do we want to be? What sort of country do we want to leave behind for future generations? These questions all involve one of the most fundamental ideas of India—the nationalism we inherited at birth. It is also one of the most hotly contested ideas of the twenty-first century. In this book, some of our finest thinkers and writers provide calm, measured insights into the origins, nature, practice and future of Indian nationalism.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR A G Noorani
A.G. Noorani is Advocate, Supreme Court of India. He is a regular columnist in Hindustan Times, Frontline and Economic and Political Weekly. He is the author of The Muslims of India: A Documentary Record, 1947-2000 (2003), Islam and Jebad (2002), Savarkar and Hindutva: The Godse Connection (2002), The Tribal of Bhagat Singh: Politics of Justice (2001), The RSS and the BJP: A Division of Labour (2000), Constitutional Questions: The President, Parliament and the States (2000), and The Kashmir Question.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Romila Thapar
Romila Thapar was born in India in 1931 and comes from a Punjabi family, spending her early years in various parts of India. She took her first degree from Punjab University and her doctorate from London University. She was appointed to a Readership at Delhi University and subsequently to the Chair in Ancient Indian History at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she is now Emeritus Professor in History. Romila Thapar is also an Honorary Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford and has been Visiting Professor at Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania as well as the College de France in Paris. In 1983 she was elected General President of the Indian History Congress and in 1999 a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy. Among her publications are Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, Ancient Indian Social History: Some Interpretations, From Lineage to State, History and Beyond, Sakuntala: Texts, Readings, Histories and Cultural Pasts: Essays on Indian History as well the children's book Indian Tales.
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