An introduction to Indian politics that traces the history of India’s soul, a perfect treat for a political science student. The index of Abhijit Sengupta’s The Queen of All Nations: A Brief View of Modern India for Young Indians sums up and scrutinises India’s various political stages and power holders. The book paints an unbiased perspective and shows us the colours of the people whose blood runs through this nation.
Part 1 and 2: ‘Awake, arise or be forever fall’n’
Abhijit Sengupta’s book The Queen of all Nations: A Brief View of Modern India for Young Indians 1857-2020. Publisher: AuthorsUpFront. Photo: Amazon.in.
The book starts off with the journey to Independence. It talks about the 1857 revolt, its causes and effects and its influence on the future. The writer then goes into the making of modern India and its founding principles. Partition, movements, religious leaders and important figures. Gandhi and disobedience, leaders of Hindutva and Jinnah, Ambedkar and Subhas Chandra Bose. The chapter on caste and Ambedkar highlighted itself for me. An immersive read, it emphasises the dominance of caste and how caste-based discrimination and violence manifest in real-world politics.
“In our present times, caste has become a matter of serious politics, but we do not have the political will to remove it.” I felt a sense of déjà vu. I was remembering what I’d been taught in school, I was drawing parallels.
The book does a great job of presenting facts and complicated ideas lucidly, but does not dumb anything down.
Part 3 and 4: ‘Freedom and power bring responsibility’
Wars, controversies and party politics make up the major part of these chapters.
Parts 3 and 4 go into great detail about India as a freshly independent country and its growth.
Secularism, socialism, communism – different ideologies are mentioned, critiqued and presented. It was interesting to see where they stand now, draw parallels between their origins and now their practice.
To talk about India’s childhood without mentioning Gandhi would be to not talk about the true essence of India. The book speaks in detail about his assassination and the circumstances leading to it. Mazumdar tells us how, ironically, a Pakistani newspaper gave the Father of our Nation the best tribute at his passing: “The best-loved and most venerated political leader…. There have been great heroes in history who lived and fought and died to preserve their own people from dangers that threaten and from enemies in wait. It would be hard to name any who has fallen fighting his own people to preserve the honour of a people not his own.”
I was disturbed and scared, realising the depth of Bapu’s assassination. How it wasn’t an old man that was killed, but an attempt to erase everything his India stood for and aspired to be. It was a statement, in bold letters, challenging secularism and humanity. Now his killer, Nathuram Godse, is being romanticised and glorified, a political conspiracy is afoot to make the culprit’s ideology capture the imagination of 1.4 billion people.
“The poison remains, seven decades after the assassination. The Father of our Nation remains in our hearts but there is still darkness everywhere”. I reread this phrase till I found it rushing through the windows of my mind and reaching bruises in my heart. It struck me because of how real it was, the darkness was hard to swallow and hatred was a daily pathogen.
There were case studies of the prime ministers India has had since Nehru. I found it baffling almost to see how one nation could be governed in so many different ways, how each of the prime ministers was unique, did different things, some good, some hurtful and some not worth mentioning.
Jawaharlal Nehru: “It was left to him to lead the nation out of abject poverty, total destitution really, and yet find a place for the tricolour under the international sun.” I feel this line from the book perfectly sums up Nehru’s period as prime minister. He had to choose a path for a nation, a freshly independent, divided, underconfident and scattered nation. The book captures the ideas and policies put forward by him. Educational and scientific institutions established by him. His idea of economic prosperity, I found interesting. Him being the foundation builder of today’s India. A poor nation, fated to fall at the feet of religion, guided by Nehru to become secular, progressive and liberal.
Indira Gandhi: She was Prime Minister for two terms and faced serious issues of divisiveness. The book talks about the Emergency. It mentions the politicians jailed, organisations banned and the writ of habeas corpus. It talks about constitutional, unconstitutional and controversial means of control and power.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee: “If India is not secular, then India is not India at all” — Atal Bihari Vajpayee. A popular person in India’s political circles, with easy-going manners and a certain personal charm who was Prime Minister three times. This chapter describes the Kargil war, Godhra and communal tension, the story of Bilkis Bano and other events. The communal tension, for which the indirect cause was the demolition of the Babri Masjid, is painted very clearly. We now see how history repeats itself with different shades and hues as we watch horror and violence all around us.
Manmohan Singh: “Life is never free of contradictions” — Manmohan Singh. “The elevation from a one-time finance minister to one of our long term Prime Ministers came most unexpectedly for Dr. Manmohan Singh.” This chapter talks about his background, the challenges he faced during his terms and the pro-people policies he formed (NREGA, NRHM, RTI Act, to name a few). It also speaks about the corruption controversy in his second term.
Part 5, 6, 7: ‘Man is born free but everywhere he is in chains’
The closing pages of the book talk about the Eight Sisters, Narendra Modi, UAPA and fascism. Everyday news cycles were put into perspective and recent events started to make a whole lot more sense. These particular chapters gave me a sense of direction for the future of India while giving me an understanding of the past. These chapters did a great job of bringing the book to a close and tying the loose ends.
To look at the book as a whole, there were details about almost every event or person. I personally thought some of the details diluted the major events. I felt myself being so overwhelmed with all the data and facts that when history was unfolding itself, I was numb. I had to take many breaks, during reading and writing, to get the gist of things. There were waves of information and I didn’t know how to surf. The chapters presented some of the most impactful events with small words. There was no room for confusion, only learning.
I think this book, alongside school curriculums for high schoolers, will be like biscuits and chai. All age groups can find pieces for themselves and put the puzzle of India together.
Irene Khanum Sherwani is a Class XII student who finds life in books, cats and music. She has adapted multiple personalities from characters, some thorns and some roses.
