LIBERALISM

 

 

 

                                              

What does it mean to be a Liberal in India—Edited by Ronald Meinardus ; Published by Academic Foundation ; Pages 140 ; Price Rs 795 /-

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Ronald Meinardus is the Regional Director of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom. He has written extensively on politics and edited a book on Liberalism in the Arab World.

There are 19 contributors to the volume under review—only one whom is twenty nine years old. The others are all below twenty five years. All the articles bagged  Prizes in an Essay competition. The competition was held by a Group “Students for Liberty” and “The Centre for Civil Society”.

“Liberalism is not a closed set of ideological principles and values. It means openness to debate, dissent and diversity.” Freedom is the foundation stone on which it is erected--- Liberal thinking, liberal advocacy, liberal policy design and governance. There is no liberal party or major liberal political force in India. Then where are the liberals in India ?. 

Pursuant to this Quiz is the competition which was adjudged by the Editor and a Jury. The essays in this book reflect the richness and diversity of liberal thought in our country. The essays argue that freedom, tolerance, secularism are the sine qua non of liberalism. The essays are at once fresh and invigorating and makes the reader believe in the bright future of our young generation and their aspirations.

Kalyani Swarup—all of 19—begins her essay on  “ Sexual Liberalism” with the “Kiss of Love” protest held by the IIT students in Chennai. Indian women find themselves straddled with the strict restrictions on their behaviour imposed by the caste hypogamy. The situation has progressed with women constantly negotiating and redefining their boundaries aided and abetted by the gradual westernization of the upper class youth. The indisputable rationality of liberalism is attracting and enveloping larger segments of Indian society.

Cherrvvy Chauhan—also 19 years—reconstructs liberalism for us. It is misconstrued and associated with defining terrorism on the basis of religion, avenging a social mishap by damaging public property which was itself paid by our taxes, marching with a candle in hand demanding for a caste-based reservation and then blaming the fallen countrymen for differentiating them on the basis of caste. Hypocrisy is shining in the name of liberalism. Change has to come from within. It has to begin from the ground level. Use of reservation as a tool for gaining political mileage has to be abolished. No limitations to liberties ought to be permitted.

Reijul Sachdev appropriately titles his essay “ The Great Indian Circus Frea-k Show “. According to him being a Liberal in India is a balancing art. One has to balance tradition with freedom, one group with another and wit with retort. It is being about being open-minded enough to see the other man’s perspective. India is a melting pot. We witness Mao-ist tribal insurgencies in Chattisgarh, separatist movements in Kashmir, States embroiled in fights for river waters. Divisions run deep and fragment society. The danger lies in groups of like-minded individuals trying to preserve their freedom and identities to the exclusion of all others. Sachdev points out that bridges are kept open and groups can fragment as well as unite. Free movement between groups guarantees maintaining of individual freedom.

Prabhakar Misra in his essay ,”Liberalism in India “ analyses the substance of the philosophy of liberalism. It has a lot to do with its past proponents. Ram Mohan Roy, Dadabhai Naoroji, Gopal Krishna Gokhale were not exactly    “ People’s Men”. They were elitist, looked up to but in no way would the common middle-class people fill in their steps voluntarily.The primacy for the individual in all walks of life is what a liberal would argue for but governments have become paternalistic. From food habits to voicing opinions one gets directives or directions—what food to eat—what films to view—what books to read---all these which ought to be exclusively individual decisions are becoming subjects to be decided by others. Authors like Salman Rushdue, Taslima Nasreen, Arundhati Roy are ridiculed and boycotted. Rationalists like Narendra Dabholkar, M.M.Kalburgi and Govind Pansare  are ruthlessly killed.

“Liberty, Democracy and Rights” is the subject tackled by Diwakar Sharma. According to him the ideal of liberty has influenced Indians since long and was known to them in its modern sense as soon as it became a powerful force in the West. Leaders like Ram Mohan Roy and Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar laid the foundation of the modern Indian society. It was Mahatma Gandhi who expanded the meaning of liberty and gave it a spiritual dimension. He argues that there is a lot India and Indians need to do in order to become a true ‘ Liberal’ country. He expatiates on problems like women empowerment, atrocities against women, condition of backward classes and tribals, religious fundamentalism, etc. Liberty has come a long way in India but it still has to go far.

The fight for liberalism is far from over. The book has rendered a yeoman service to the cause of Liberalism and each essay by young writers is like a whiff of fresh air that blows away the clouds that try to overpower and overthrow Liberalism.

P.P.Ramachandran.

30 / 04 / 2017