01884nam a22001577a 4500020001800000082001900018100004900037245005900086260004700145300001500192504003600207520122000243546013401463650006901597650006001666  a9780198060451  a320.954bPAR-D  aParekh, Bhikhu                                aDebating Indiab: essays on Indian political discourse  aNew DelhibOxford University Press, c2015  axix, 374p.  aIncludes Index,About the author  aIndia has had a long tradition of public debate going back to around 1000 BCE. But surprisingly, the knowledge of its existence has largely remained confined to a small field of critics or specialists.
Debating India traces the origins and development of the Indian tradition of public debate and the various forms it took at different times in Indian history. It examines some of the major debates that occurred during the independence struggle and the ways in which they structured the conceptual and moral parameters of the Indian political imagination. The debates involved Gandhi, Tagore, Nehru, Ambedkar, and Hindu militants, and centred on the kind of country India was and should aspire to be.
Gandhi's non-violent struggle claims to provide an answer to deep differences of views and conflicts of interest. Presenting riveting accounts, such as of Einstein's views on Gandhi's philosophy of Ahims? or of Gandhi-Tagore debates, and through an imaginary dialogue between Gandhi and Osama bin Laden, Parekh critically examines the strengths and weaknesses of Gandhian philosophy. In the process, the book points to a richer and politically more realistic approach to public debate than are currently on offer.  aGandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948.
Debates and debating--India--History.
Statesmen--India.
India--Politics and government--20th century.  aHistoryvDebates and debatingvGandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948zIndia  aPolitics and Governmentv20th centuryvStatesmenzIndia