The Nation as Mother : and Other Visions of Nationhood

"'History matters in contemporary debates on nationalism,' Sugata Bose contends in The Nation as Mother. In this interconnected set of deeply researched and powerfully argued essays and speeches Bose explores the relationship between nation, reason and religion in Indian political thought and practice. Offering a subtle interpretation of the ways of imagining the nation as mother, the book illuminates different visions of India as a free and flexible federal union that have acquired renewed salience today. Breaking out of the false dichotomy between secular nationalism and religious communalism, the author provides incisive analyses of the political legacies of Tagore and Gandhi, Nehru and Bose, Aurobindo and Jinnah, and a range of other thinkers and leaders of the anti-colonial movement. The essays question assumptions about any necessary contradiction between cosmopolitanism and patriotism and the tendency among religious majoritarians and secularists alike to confuse uniformity with unity. The speeches in Parliament draw on a rich historical repertoire to offer valuable lessons in political ethics. In arguing against the dangers of an intolerant religious majoritarianism, this book makes a case for concepts of layered and shared sovereignty that might enable an overarching sense of Indian nationhood to coexist with multiple identities of the country's diverse populace. The Nation as Mother delves into history on the occasion of the seventieth anniversary of freedom to evoke an alternative future of a new India based on cultural intimacy among its different communities."--Publisher description Title page 3 Contents 4 Also by the Author 5 Dedication 7 Introduction: Nationalism in India, 1917–2017 8 The Nation as Mother 13 Nation, Reason and Religion: India’s Independence in International Perspective 37 Instruments and Idioms of Colonial and National Development: India’s Historical Experience in Comparative Perspective 58 The Spirit and Form of an Ethical Polity: A Meditation on Aurobindo’s Thought 77 Different Universalisms, Colourful Cosmopolitanisms: The Global Imagination of the Colonized 95 Unity or Partition: Mahatma Gandhi’s Last Stand, 1945–48 111 Why Jinnah Matters 129 Track Record of India’s Democracy 132 Limits of Liberalism 136 Our National Anthem 142 SPEECHES IN THE LOK SABHA 146 The True Meaning of Bharatavarsha 147 Fiscal Federalism 152 The India–Bangladesh Border 157 Against Intolerance, towards Cultural Intimacy 163 Free Our Universities, Free Our Students 168 Kashmir: Crucible of Conflict, Cradle of Peace 175 Footnotes 180 Nation, Reason and Religion: India’s Independence in International Perspective 180 Unity or Partition: Mahatma Gandhi’s Last Stand, 1945–48 181 Track Record of India’s Democracy 182 Limits of Liberalism 183 Illustrations 184 Notes 185 Acknowledgements 209 Follow Penguin 212 Copyright 213 Sugata Bose. Includes Bibliographical References (page 219-240) And Index.