Indian National Congress Research Articles

Russian Revolution in perspective. Reflections on its impact on the Indian freedom struggle

The October Revolution of 1917 profoundly influenced the course of the Indian freedom movement in multiple ways. It gave impetus to Indian political aspirations, widened the base of the freedom struggle by making industrial workers and peasants active participants, and endowed the movement with a progressive outlook. The revolution’s principles resonated deeply among the people and leaders of the Indian freedom movement. In fact, many of the values enshrined in our Constitution, adopted post-independence, were inspired by the lofty ideals of the Russian Revolution. The most important event in Russia, influencing the course of the freedom movement in India, was the October Revolution in 1917. The revolution, its ideology, V. I. Lenin and his deep involvement with the issues confronting the people of the East, the transformation of Russia post 1917, and the overall attitude of the Soviet government and the Comintern towards India’s freedom struggle deeply influenced both the people and the leaders of the Indian freedom movement. Though the multiclass national movement did not get converted completely to the cause of socialism, the fact remains that the legacies of the October Revolution influenced the course of the freedom struggle in multiple ways. Some of its legacies got imprinted in the Constitution that India adopted post-independence. The socialist component of the Constitution of India did not happen by accident. It was the outcome of the massive ideological churning that took place within and outside the Indian National Congress and that which by no small measure was triggered by the emancipatory ideals of the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Constitution of the Republic of India, adopted on 26 January 1950, was based on a set of principles and ideas that would achieve socialist reconstruction of society through democratic means. The right balance of the proper socio-economic rights with guaranteed democratic and civil liberties, based on the majority principle along with the right of minority opinions to exist and flourish in a secular state became the cornerstones of the Constitution that independent India adopted. Many of these values were clearly inspired by the lofty ideals of the Russian Revolution.

WHITE ANTS, EMPIRE, AND ENTOMO-POLITICS IN SOUTH ASIA

AbstractBy focusing on the history of white ants in colonial South Asia, this article shows how insects were ubiquitous and fundamental to the shaping of British colonial power. British rule in India was vulnerable to white ants because these insects consumed paper and wood, the key material foundations of the colonial state. The white ant problem also made the colonial state more resilient and intrusive. The sphere of strict governmental intervention was extended to include both animate and inanimate non-humans, while these insects were invoked as symbols to characterize colonized landscapes, peoples, and cultures. Nonetheless, encounters with white ants were not entirely within the control of the colonial state. Despite effective state intervention, white ants did not vanish altogether, and remained objects of everyday control until the final decade of colonial rule and after. Meanwhile, colonized and post-colonial South Asians used white ants to articulate their own distinct political agendas. Over time, white ants featured variously as metaphors for Islamic decadence, British colonial exploitation, communism, democratic socialism, and, more recently, the Indian National Congress. This article argues that co-constitutive encounters between the worlds of insects and politics have been an intrinsic feature of British colonialism and its legacies in South Asia.

Socjalizm, świeckość, wolny rynek i hindutwa. Indyjska narracja o państwie i jego ideologii w perspektywie historycznej

The Republic of India, as probably the most culturally and religiously diverse country in the world, has built a very unique socio-political system which is based on cross-cultural compromises between various communities. The ideological foundations of secularism and socialist development were implemented by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. For almost half a century, they symbolised the identity of the state and constituted the essential elements of every official narrative by the Indian National Congress. Nehru was also the maker of India’s main foreign policy vectors, which were generally approved by subsequent governments. Although the ideology of socialist development was eventually replaced with a free market economy, the concept of secularism remained relevant in the public sphere. The author presents the gradual process of socio-economic transformation and describes the international context of building the image of the country in the 20th century. With the Bharatiya Janata Party coming to power in 2014, the old philosophy of Nehruvian secularism is gradually being undermined by the followers of Hindutva, Hindu fundamentalists. The author analyses the three-layered narratives constructed by the ruling coalition and widely promoted both at home and abroad. The third layer, being most radical, is directed against the Muslim community which is the biggest religious minority in India. The Hindutva ideology, although not always clearly postulated by the current government, may contribute to communal polarisations and the eruption of interfaith violence in the years to come.

Political Life of Lala Lajpat Rai

The fact is that Lala Lajpat Rai joined the Indian National Congress (INC) and participated in many political agitations in Punjab. For his political agitation, he was deported to Burma without trial in 1907 but returned after a few months because of lack of evidence. Moreover, He was opposed to the partition of Bengal and founded the Home Rule League of America in 1917 in New York. He was also elected President of the All India Trade Union Congress and he supported the non-cooperation movement of Gandhi at the Nagpur session of the Congress in 1920. He also protested against the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre that followed. He founded the Servants of People Society in 1921 and he was elected deputy leader of the Central Legislative Assembly in 1926. In 1928, he moved a resolution in the assembly refusing cooperation with the Simon Commission since the Commission had no Indian members. He was leading a silent protest against the Simon Commission in Lahore when he was brutally lathi-charged by Superintendent of Police, James Scott. Rai died of injuries sustained a few weeks later. In this regard most of the scholars agreed that Lala Lajpat Rai’s contribution to Indian National Movement fall in the unique category. The present research paper highlights Lala Lajpat Rai’s political life.

Who Wants Liberalism?

In the age of institutionalized authoritarianism, from USA to Russia and from India and Pakistan to Turkey, what is strangely evoked to fight this imperialist menace is not Marxism, but liberalism. Liberalism is seen not merely as the ‘other’ of authoritarianism and fascism, but seen as the solution to these twin menaces. What is not realized is that liberalism really is the ‘repressed other’ and the ‘true self’ of authoritarianism. This essay is a critique of liberalism as this ‘repressed other’ and ‘true self’ of authoritarianism. It is also about liberalism in the age of late imperialism in permanent crisis as being nothing but fascism without a gun, and fascism as liberalism with a gun. 2019 India witnessed the National Elections where the Indian National Congress in the name of liberalism and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the name of creating a Hindu nation battled for getting political power. The BJP won and the Indian National Congress, despite its high decibel propaganda in the name of liberalism lost miserably. The Established Left (which by and large is a blind follower of parliamentary politics) has no clue to the understanding of the rise of the right-wing in India. Instead of having a revolutionary line, the Established Left follows the liberal line, which in actuality is aiding the Indian rightist movement.

Educational Ideas of Annie Besant

Annie Besant was an Irish political activist, free-thinker and Fabian socialist. After embracing Theosophy under the tutelage of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, a Russian mystic, Besant embarked on her mission of propagating theosophical ideals, and reached the shores of India in 1893. However, in India Hinduism fascinated her to such an extent that she devoted herself to promoting Hinduism. She toured the length and breadth of India, and lectured intensely on the lofty ideals of Hinduism. However, Besant was of the opinion that absence of religious education in government schools and colleges and teaching of Christianity in missionary educational institutions was responsible for religious neutrality and scepticism among Hindu youth, and hence the fallen state of Hinduism. To remedy this state, she emphasised the need for its revival, and propagated the idea that religious education of Hindu youths should become an integral part of their education. In order to concretise these ideas, Besant established a college and school for the religious education of Hindu youth in the holy city of Benares, in the then North Western Provinces of British India, in 1898. Besant is widely known in India for her political activities as founder of Home Rule Movement and as the first women President of Indian National Congress, the chief political party involved in the struggle for national freedom. Although Besant’s political career in India has been extensively researched, little is known about her educational ideas and activities. This paper analyses Besant’s ideas on education, and show how, rather than being a promoter of modernity, she supported, upheld and institutionalised caste hierarchy.

Terror by Candlelight: The Affective Politics of Fear in Tanika Gupta’sLions and Tigers

AbstractIn 2017, Tanika Gupta’sLions and Tigerspremiered at London’s candle-lit, neo-Jacobean Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, which, at first glance, seems ill suited to house a play which is set in pre-Partition Bengal and which depicts both rioting mobs and machine gun shootings. This essay looks at the ways in which, contrary to such initial associations, text and performance space supplement each other. In this case, supposedly cosy candlelight and close proximity to the audience engender feelings of fear and anxiety that can be framed with Sara Ahmed’s notion of the ‘affective politics of fear.’ Continuously interwoven with negotiations between the leading figures of the Indian National Congress, Gupta’s play is firmly set in its own historical context. On the other hand, its climate of boiling nationalism and close parallels tojihadmake it equally relevant to the present day. It is because of this contemporaneous historicity that Gupta’s play proves so gripping: through their ostensibly homely seventeenth-century staging, terror and political unrest become all too close to home, and soLions and Tigersis as much a play that uncovers the hidden stories of Indian Partition as it speaks to the here and now.

Whither India? 1919 and the Aftermath of the First World War

As diplomats across the world gathered in Paris in spring 1919 to discuss the peace process, observers asked “Whither India?” Critics wondered how the British government could enact emergency laws such as the Rowlatt Acts at the same time as it introduced the Government of India Act of 1919, which was intended to expand Indian involvement in governing the British dominions on the Indian subcontinent. Because Britain presented itself as a liberal form of empire on the international stage, its willingness to suspend rule of law over its subjects appeared contradictory. India's support of the Allied powers allowed Indian moderates to represent India in Paris; during the war, Indian subjects had contributed over one million soldiers and suffered influenza, plague, and famine. The possibility of a new relationship between those governing and those being governed led many Indians to demand an adherence to the rule of law, a guarantee of civil liberties, and the foundations of a government that was for and by the Indian people. In a time of revolution in Russia, and assassinations by anarchists in Italy and France, it seemed foolhardy to repress radicals by censoring the press, preventing the right of individuals to assemble, or detaining suspects before they had committed any crimes. Lala Lajpat Rai, an Indian political activist who had been part of the progressive wing of the Indian National Congress, wrote from the United States, “India is a part of the world and revolution is in the air all the world over. The effort to kill it by repression and suppression is futile, unwise, and stupid.”

Rahul Gandhi on Twitter: An Analysis of Brand Building Through Twitter by the Leader of the Main Opposition Party in India

The article analyses the tweets of Rahul Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress (INC), the largest opposition party in India. The analysis covers his tweets over a period of around 6 months from the date he took over as the President of the INC. The study determines the main themes underlying his tweets, the frequency of words and phrases appearing in the text of the tweets and the sentiments conveyed through his Twitter communication. Also, as a special subset, a comparison of Gandhi’s tweets campaigning for elections to the legislative assembly of Karnataka, which were held during the sample period, has been made with those of his political rival, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is the most followed Indian on Twitter, and the relative strengths and weaknesses of Gandhi’s Twitter campaign in comparison with those of Modi have been brought out. Overall, the study highlights the effective use of Twitter as a political communication tool and how its data can be harnessed using different ways.

Secularism as an Ideology: A Global and Indian Perspective

Secularism way that everybody enjoys the entire religious freedom due to this that Government will now not compel all people to adopt any unique faith. Religious freedom is our critical right and is written in our constitution. Everybody has the freedom to publicize any religion, to espouse any religion or acquire any non-secular building. No particular religion is probably a concept in college textbooks. India is a country of diverse religions and to offer freedom to religion to everyone, and for equality of faith, India changed into declared a Secular country. The word secular modified into brought into the preamble with the aid of way of the 42nd Amendment (1976). As in step with the written Constitution of India, India is an earthly state (India), and we as residents of India have to stand for it. Secularism turned out to be progressively conspicuous under the British guideline in India as Religion turned into an indivisible piece of governmental issues and public activity. At the season of Independence, secularism was the central point of the political pioneers. Every single unmistakable pioneer of the Indian National Congress like Jawaharlal Nehru were focused on secularism. In any case, shockingly, the correct inverse occurred, collective brutality prompted the unit of India and Pakistan in 1947 as independent countries. Be that as it may, after Independence, India turned into a common nation in which the Indian state did not have any state religion, but rather her kin were allowed to pursue or receive any conviction in the Country. This task additionally looks forward towards the significance of secularism in different protected systems for instance in America, France, Russia. the first and the last question in which my paper is focusing on whether Secularism is truly followed in the country like India.

A Spatial Analysis of Political Participation in Telangana State, India

Telangana state is a newly formed state in India. It is the 29th state and was formed on 2nd June, 2014. It was part of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state. The lack of political participation from the Telangana regions in state of Andhra Pradesh was the major cause for demanding separate state hood for Telangana. The Geopolitical analysis expresses that the heads of the political parties and governing portfolios was only from Rayalaseema and Andhra region. The regional disparities were one of the major causes of discrimination among the regions. It is worthwhile to mention the political dynamics within Telangana and give the scenario of political participation among different regions of Telangana. The study of Zilla Parishad elections (ZP) is a micro-level political participation of people in Telangana as with Panchayat Raj elections in different states of India.
 Geographical Information System (GIS) was employed to analyse the spatial patterns of Geopolitical participation of people in ZP elections. 
 Panchayat Raj elections were held 4 times in Telangana, when it was part of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. The research paper analyse the political dynamics of Panchayat Raj as democracy of ZPTC’s. There are 443 ZPTC’s in Telangana and the three major political parties like Indian National Congress (INC), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Telangana Rastra Samiti (TRS) plays the significant role in the Geo-politics of Telangana.

The Indian left and the Indian National Congress Party: what is to be done?

With the routing of both the Left and the Congress in election after election, there are murmurs that there is pressure for the two to unite to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which came to power in the 2014 National Elections. These views echo the line of the General Secretary Sitaram Yechury of the Stalinist Communist Party of India (Marxist), a view that seems to echo the old revisionist S.A. Dange line of the former united Communist Party of India, which talked of a collaboration with the Indian National Congress and total abandonment of the idea of the Indian Revolution. This essay claims that the Left needs to go back to its philosophical roots and rediscover themselves rather than getting involved in the tactical maneuvers of parliamentary politics, tactics that are increasing becoming devoid of ethics. It also claims that the Left in this philosophic discovery totally transcends Stalinism of all sorts, which is stated not merely as a deviation or an accident, but a counterrevolution against the Bolshevik Revolution specifically and Marxism in general. In this philosophical rediscovery, the essay also asserts that liberalism and Gandhism are alien trends to Marxism and cannot be considered otherwise. Instead, one needs to go to Jyotiba Phule and B.R. Ambedkar for a radical critique of the Indian rightwing project.

The National-Patriotic Organizations of the People of Hindustan – Predecessors of the Indian National Congress

In article programs are analyzed and activity of the national-patriotic organizations of the British India which was predecessors of the Indian National Congress which has been formed in 1885. Among them are especially allocated the British Indian Association, the Indian Association, the Association of the Bombay Presidency and the Poona Sarvajanik Sabha as they have laid the foundation for creation of the Congress organization. The national-patriotic organizations, bringing up at the population patriotic feelings, supported granting of India of self-management, for the elective majority in legislatures and municipal councils, expansion of participation of Indians in the central and local state structures and in local governments, introduction of a policy of the state protectionism for protection of national business and creation of conditions for development of the Indian industry, crafts and trade, carrying out of reforms in the country, introductions of the civil rights and freedom, racial discrimination prohibition, and also for development of national education, languages and culture. Despite their moderation, limitation of programs and activity, for the time it there was a considerable step forward in comparison with programs of their predecessors. The national-patriotic organizations of 60–80th years ХІХ century have laid the foundation for association of patriotic movement across all India and formations all Indian national organization – the Indian National Congress.

A Study of Contrasts in the Nehru and Modi Doctrine in Indian Foreign Policy

In this article, an attempt has been made to assess the changing paradigm of India's foreign policy between the Nehru and Modi era. Foreign Policy is a tool by which a country protects and promotes its national interest. It comprises the obligation to defend the country's national security, attempts to maximise economic benefits and the effectiveness of power in the international arena. India's foreign policy has also been growing with the aforementioned reasons and designed by the government through the high level decision making processes. We can see the changing dynamics in Indian foreign policy from Nehru to Modi. Indian independence was achieved from a protracted anti-colonial struggle led by Indian National Congress (INC). Therefore, the Indian National Congress leader Pt. Nehru adopted non-alignment policy during Cold War era to protect the sovereignty and interest of India. Besides, Nehru believes in peaceful co-existence, friendship and cooperation. After Nehru, the other landmark foreign policy maker of India was Indira Gandhi. But unlike her father Pt. Nehru, her approach was more realistic then idealistic. Modi's ‘act east policy’ and the ‘neighbourhood first’ policy are some important contributions in the foreign policy of India. The present article makes a fresh analysis which would help to understand the challenges that a rapidly evolving and changing global setting poses.

Indiai Kasmír speciális státuszának visszavonása – belső és külső tényezők

After its victory in the 2019 general elections, the Hindu nationalist government of India started to accomplish one of the oldest dreams of the Indian right-wing organisations: the elimination of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir State. Practically, this meant the coup-styled annulment of the constitutional amendments, which guaranteed the wide ranged autonomy of the Kashmiri society. Before this, the central government has declared a state of emergency in the area. The leaders of the main Kashmiri Muslim parties and organizations were taken into custody. The hardliner organizations of the Hindu majority and some of the political parties welcomed the government’s action, as an example of the brave and forward looking policy-making. Others, like the Indian National Congress saw it as a violation of the basic principles of the Indian constitution. This paper aims to analyze the internal and external factors of the revocation the autonomy of Indian Kashmir.

Revisiting a dominant party: Normative dynamics of the Indian National Congress

Previous scholarship has established that the Indian National Congress (INC) is widely regarded as India’s dominant party due to its consecutive victories in winning the majority of the vote share in elections, its ability to manage and embrace internal conflict through strong organizational structures and the dominant capacity to set the public agenda and political order. To deepen understanding of this party, this article adopts a norm-based framework to define norms, a social understanding of social groups, which determines and shapes actions and behaviour. Building upon this framework, despite the electoral setbacks and even decline in electoral fortunes of Congress after Indira Gandhi since 1977, the INC has been able to maintain a significant presence in Indian party politics due to certain key norms, allowing it to adapt to a changing context. This article concludes that the INC’s set of norms on self-autonomy, social and national inclusivity, nationwide organization, social justice and peaceful and democratic resolution has over time shaped the Congress’s aspirations and achievements to become a dominant party. Regardless of the relative decline of electoral performance, these norms continue to set the INC as India’s dominant party, with a strong organizational structure and the ability to frame India’s political order.

Буддизм и политизация религии в Индии: Наваяна Бхимрао Амбедкара

The paper deals with the political, social and religious activities by Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, the founder of the Navayana movement that is a modernized Buddhism in India. Being an outstanding politician and lawyer, Ambedkar devoted his life to the struggle for the rights of the untouchables to which he himself belonged. Ambedkar was convinced that the Hindu traditions namely varna-caste system were the main problems of India that prevented the formation of a united nation and civil society based on equality and freedom. To overcome traditional social organization and win over Hinduism, he turned to Buddhism which contained qualities to unite the nation and resist the Hindu rigid social stratification and hierarchy. According to Ambedkar, Navayana is most close to the traditional Teaching and, at the same time, is not monastic. In Navayana, Ambedkar sought the worldview alternative to Hinduism and ways to egalitarianism and democratization in the Indian society. In the course of struggle for independence, when Indian nationalism was built on the ideas of M.K. Gandhi who was closely associated with politicized Hinduism, Ambedkar did not put forward a national program of action and remained the leader of the untouchables that constituted a significant social group and were one of the objects of M.K. Gandhi’s and the Indian National Congress’s agitation. Gandhi. As a result, Ambedkar stood in opposition to the Hindu leaders, however gained political weight among various strata of Indian society. After achieving independence, Ambedkar actively joined the work for the creation of Indian legislative framework and became the ‘Father of the Indian Constitution.’ At the same time, he hoped to reform Hindu traditional law towards egalitarianism and democracy so as to improve the status of women and India’s underclass which reportedly included the untouchables and minor tribes. However, when the attempts failed, Ambedkar became more decisive in his anti-Hindu agitation among the outcastes. The main event in Ambedkar’s life was his own and his supporters’ conversion to Buddhism in 1956. Modernized Buddhism ― Navayana ― is based on the principles that were formulated by Ambedkar according to the original Teachings of the Buddha as had been preserved in the Pali Canon. The number of Ambedkarian Buddhists grows as a result of the refusal of untouchables from Hinduism when India’s supreme authorities stand on the positions of right Hindu nationalism and have no intention to change life of the most depressed social groups. The Navayana Buddhism and Ambedkar became the slogan and symbol of political parties and organizations, although today their weight in Indian politics is not that impressive. However, the growing number of supporters witnesses the fact that the ideas of egalitarianism and democracy once put forward by Ambedkar are getting increasingly widespread in India.

IN REFUTATION OF STEREOTYPES: ABUL KALAM AZAD (1888–1958)

A convincing refutation of stereotypes about Islam as a religion of implacably hostility to the adherents of other faiths serves as an example of life, activity, and evolution of thinking that was demonstrated by an outstanding political leader of the Indian national liberation movement Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958). Initially he was an ardent follower of Aligarh movement which stood for Muslim education and their cooperation with the colonial authorities. From 1911 to 1916 Azad is an active promoter of Muslim nationalism, Caliphate movement. From 1920 until the end of life Azad was a tough critic of the separatist Muslim nationalism, one of the most prominent leaders of the Indian National Congress Party, Minister of education of secular Republic of India. History of Azad’s personal evolution convincingly testifi es to the dynamic nature of Islamic teaching which calls for renunciation of dogmatic views and maintaining the constant desire to discover the deep world outlook meanings

Suicide in India: a complex public health tragedy in need of a plan

Suicide in India: a complex public health tragedy in need of a plan

Informing NCD control efforts in India on the eve of Ayushman Bharat

Informing NCD control efforts in India on the eve of Ayushman Bharat