Studies in Indian Politics

There is a common perception—made the more acute by the growing focus on rapes since the horrific gang rape incident in Delhi in 2012—that India is an increasingly violent society. One can even see aspects of this perspective in official documents. Crime in India, 2009 for example observed that ‘The quantum of total violent crimes [increased] continuously … from 2005 to 2009’.

This article focuses on serious, violent crimes against India’s Dalits (Scheduled Castes), especially homicides, as they appear in official statistics. It suggests that contrary to popular understanding, murder, rape and arson directed against Dalits have declined significantly since a peak in the early 1990s. The article argues that, in part, the declines are due to the social mobilization of Dalits, the emergence of lower caste and Dalit political parties in north India and specific aspects of political competition.

But another, broader and important influence, perhaps related to what Steven Pinker has called ‘the better angels of our nature’, is an unnoticed but significant decline in overall rates of interpersonal violence in India.

This article presents an understanding of the nature of Vanniyar politics by delineating the workings of Vanniyar organizations such as the caste associations and the political party in the post-1980s period in Tamil Nadu. Even though scholarship on caste and politics is concerned with the relationship between caste associations and political parties, the interface and networking between and among these organizations, particularly of a political party that has emerged out of the caste movement, need much more attention. This article, therefore, maps the interrelations between the caste associations and the political party within the Vanniyars’ politics by outlining the specific issues on which these Vanniyar organizations work.

Kerala has one of the most stable party systems in India, and represents a clear exception to the Indian norm of volatility, instability and electoral change. In this article, we explore the geographical structure of this stability, and examine the extent to which current political divisions are a reflection of the divisions that existed at the inception of mass democracy in Kerala more than 50 years ago. First, we examine the extent to which historical legacies of party formation shape contemporary patterns of voting behaviour. Second, we examine the extent to which these historical legacies were established along social lines to do with caste, religion and class. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results.

A country that has not gone through a revolution, India has been the crucible of several reform movements as early as the nineteenth century. But none of them intended to break with the past. They even sometimes prepared the ground for revivalism. In parallel, Hindu traditionalism developed in reaction to social and cultural change. In the twentieth century, these schools of thought found political expressions in the Congress party where they inhibited the fights against the caste system and land reform. These trends continued after 1947, in reaction to Nehruvian views, till conservative Congressmen created the Swatantra party and then the Congress (O).

This article outlines the conceptual foundation of India’s free speech regime by focusing on the debates of the Constituent Assembly (1946–1949), and traces the development of the Article 19 of the constitution, which guarantees all citizens the right to free speech and expression, albeit certain ‘reasonable restrictions’. While offering a synoptic account of the conservative side of its development—as framers negotiated the discrepancies between their imagined ideal and the existing, often-conflicting reality—the idea here is not to uncover some grand master plan of Indian democracy from which it has faltered, but to explore ways in which it might lend a fissure to violent outbursts of ‘hurt sentiments’ in contemporary India, which impinges upon the idea and enjoyment of free speech in general, and freedom of artists in particular.

Economic conservatism in India today is associated with the BJP’s embrace of markets and competition. This article argues that conservatism within the nationalist movement was founded on rejecting both the market and the planned economy, embracing instead ‘moral economy’ principles of economic life guided by social norms, and development founded on small-scale craft production. After independence, conservative nationalists, while acknowledging the need to enhance state power through industrial growth, protected the moral economies of craft-based and agrarian production. But as the Congress party fractured, farmers’ movements asserted interests in market-based agricultural transformation and liberalization shifted the issue space of economic debate, new pro-business conservatives presented a new vision based on enhancing national wealth and strength through capitalist enterprise.

The political culture of the Gujarat Congress has been traditionally characterized by a conservative overtone that contrasted with the progressive ethos of party units of other provinces. This specificity comes not only from the Gujarati asmita, but also from the attitude of Mahatma Gandhi who did not fully support progressive elements, such as Indulal Yagnik, against more conservative leaders, including Vallabhbhai Patel, K.M. Munshi, G. Nanda and M. Desai. These leaders, who—all of them—eventually exerted power in New Delhi, had affinities with the Sangh parivar, a phenomenon suggesting a unique, regional porosity between the Congress and the Hindutva forces.

The article probes the independence of vote choice among Indian voters during national elections. Analyzing Lokniti’s election survey data it highlights that even as a majority of voters take an independent call on who they are going to vote for, there is still a significant proportion that votes according to someone else’s advice. While this counsel has always come from a family member mostly, voters are increasingly paying attention to a community leaders’ opinion as well, particularly those voters who belong to marginalized and minority social groups. Dependent voting is also more prevalent among women and voters in socio-economically backward states.

James Manor, The Writings of James Manor: Politics and State–Society Relations in India. With a Foreword by Niraja Gopal Jayal. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2016. 366 pages. ₹795.

Tarini Bedi, The Dashing Ladies of Shiv Sena: Political Matronage in Urbanizing India. New Delhi: Aleph Book Company. 2016. 291 pages. ₹699.

Kanchan Chandra. (Ed.), Democratic Dynasties: State, Party and Family in Contemporary Indian Politics. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press. 2016. 279 pages. ₹495.

Pranab Kumar Das (ed.), Decentralisation, Governance and Development: An Indian Perspective. Hyderabad: Orient BlackSwan. 2017. 282 pages. ₹995.

Satyajit Singh, The Local in Governance: Politics, Decentralization and Environment. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. 2016. 261 pages. ₹895.

Anuj Bhuwania, Courting the People: Public litigation in Post Emergency India. Delhi: Cambridge University Press. 2017. 166 pages. ₹495.

Prerna Singh, How Solidarity Works for Welfare: Subnationalism and Social Development in India. New Delhi: Cambridge University Press. 2016. 332 pages. ₹495.

Achin Vanik, After the Bomb. New Delhi: Orient BlackSwan. 2015. 213 pages. ₹575.

Ali Ahmed, India’s Doctrine Puzzle—Limiting War in South Asia. New Delhi: Routledge. 2014. 240 pages. ₹695.