Desert Blossom

Near the start of his new book, India After Gandhi: The History of the World’s Largest Democracy, the historian Ramachandra Guha writes that one of his goals is to solve “the puzzle that has for so long confronted scholar and citizen, foreigner as well as native—namely, why is there an India at all?” India’s colorful history spans millenniums, but arguably its most vivid era began in 1947, when the newly independent nation embarked on the unprecedented experiment of democracy. Its survival as a unified country, and as a democracy, against immense odds—crushing poverty, hostile neighbors, secessionist movements—is one of the great stories of our time. It is also one of the least understood. Why has democracy taken root in India, when it has failed to survive in so many other countries in the Middle East and Africa—not to mention in Pakistan, which was part of India until 1947? The exact answer may defy analysis, but Guha’s new book provides important clues on how a democracy is built and sustained—making it mandatory reading for public-policy planners throughout the world.

Smart money was against India in 1947. Independence celebrations were quickly marred by communal violence, fierce territorial disputes with new neighbor Pakistan over the control of Kashmir, and the death of the country’s founding father, Mahatma Gandhi, in January 1948. But, as Guha points out, the fledgling state was blessed with a generation of gifted leaders who had fought with Gandhi against the British, believed in his liberal values, and were determined to keep his nation in one piece. Some of these early leaders, like Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister, became world celebrities, but readers will discover other colossi who made the miracle of Indian democracy possible—men like Deputy Prime Minister Vallabhbhai Patel, who coaxed the rulers of over 500 technically independent Indian kingdoms to give up their crowns and join the new nation, and Jayaprakash Narayan, the socialist who opposed moves to curtail civil liberties in the 1960s and ’70s.

From the first generation of statesmen, Guha moves on to the next, more ambiguous lot, led by Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi. Militarily astute, she led India to a thumping victory over archrival Pakistan in a 1971 war. But she also weakened the state by appointing sycophants to high positions, and by displaying an authoritarian streak that culminated in 1975, when democracy was suspended and a state of emergency declared. The ensuing period of authoritarian rule, and resistance to it, led by figures like Narayan, is the crux of Guha’s book. In 1977 new elections were called, Gandhi’s party was thrashed, and Indian democracy, written off as dead, was reborn.

Guha intertwines biographies of political leaders with anecdotes that show how ordinary Indians have helped to sustain their extraordinary body politic. During the Emergency, he notes, when public dissent was curbed and newspapers were censored, an article published in an economic magazine under the innocuous title “Livestock Problems in India” began with the line: “There are at present 580 million sheep in the country.” It was a premature judgment, for those same sheep, ultimately, did not relinquish their freedoms, nor have they limited their democratic aspirations to simply voting at the polls. They have been behind a whole host of social movements, from the rise of the lower castes and environmental activism to demands for regional autonomy and the growth of feminism. Large sections on modern Indian culture tackle topics as diverse as Hindi films, regional-language poets and national radio—and illustrate how they have all played their role in deepening the conception of nationhood.

Guha does not gloss over India’s numerous failures. He describes how New Delhi’s bungling has combined with Islamic fundamentalism to nullify most attempts to weave the valley of Kashmir into the fabric of India. He doesn’t shy away from the still-lopsided economy (at least one-quarter of the population is extremely poor, and many social services are in an appalling state). Most disturbingly, he warns that there has been a rotting away of the institutions that allowed democracy to thrive in the decades after 1947—political dynasties now dominate most Indian states, corruption has grown and criminals regularly contest (and win) polls.

Guha’s conclusions are sobering. Today’s weakened institutions, he says, mean that Indian democracy is best described as a partial success. India is mostly democratic “when it comes to holding elections and permitting freedom of movement and expression.” But it mostly isn’t “when it comes to the functioning of politicians and political institutions.” The survival of Indian democracy is magnificent, but as its preeminent chronicler points out, more must be done before the all of India’s citizens can fully enjoy its fruits.