In the inaugural episode of Beyond the Headlines, I spoke to Ramachandra Guha, eminent historian and bestselling author of India After Gandhi, Gandhi Before India and much more. Guha spoke about the state of Indian democracy, compared India to other democracies in the developing world, and dwelt on the roles and responsibilities of historians in public discourse.
On the state of Indian democracy, Guha said that India was always a “50-50 democracy” but cautioned against majoritarianism. He worried about the communalisation of the electorate by India’s political discourse, spoke about the dangers posed to the Indian economy by majoritarianism, and commented on the role played by some historians during the early stages of the Ayodhya dispute.
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Mohamed Zeeshan is a Founding Partner and the Editor-in-Chief of Freedom Gazette. He is the author of Flying Blind: India's Quest for Global Leadership (Penguin 2021). He is currently a foreign affairs columnist for The Diplomat, South China Morning Post and Haaretz, and writes 'The Z Factor' - a monthly Sunday column in the Deccan Herald. He has previously worked at the United Nations in New York and with the global consulting firm Kearney in Dubai. He is a graduate of International Affairs from Columbia University.