In its brief existence of about four years, between 1971 and 1975, ?The Motherland?, edited by K.R. Malkani (1921-2003) achieved rare distinction and recognition in the world of journalism. It established itself as a fearless and uninhibited voice of the nation, relentlessly exposing the decay seeping into India’s body-politic by the early 1970s. In that respect ?The Motherland’s? advocacy of ?India First? and its unalloyed articulation of India’s national interest remain unsurpassed. It was also its strident and uncompromising criticism of the Indira Congress and the Prime Minister’s ways, which eventually led Indira Gandhi to shut it down at the first given opportunity after she imposed the Emergency. ?The Motherland? was, “The only paper in India to announce on 26th June the imposition of the Emergency, arrest of leaders and the wave of national shock.” This collection of K.R.Malkani’s columns in ?The Motherland? offers an insight into Indian politics and society in the years just before Emergency was imposed by Indira Gandhi. It is a record of India’s political history a quarter century after independence and is a very useful reckoner for the general reader for understanding the years that led to the imposition of the Emergency.

The story of Amit Shah's political life, struggles, rise and triumph is little known. For a leader who is often referred to as the Chanakya of Indian politics, who has dominated India's fast-paced and complex political stage since 2014, has altered its electoral map by leading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to successive historic victories post the May 2014 general elections, there is very little that is recorded or narrated. So, it's no surprise that the curiosity he evokes is ever on the rise. Most of what is written about Amit Shah is based on conjectures, hearsay, assumptions and biases. The real Amit Shah-the once booth-worker and now national president of the largest political party in the world, the master strategist who has pushed the BJP to an organisational pinnacle and yet talks of scaling peaks, a man who is unhesitant in his stand on nationalism and on anything which concerns India's national interest-has remained in the shadows, self-effaced, away from the limelight. The story of how he expanded the BJP into a pan-India party and the convergence of organisational science and ideology that has made the BJP a unique and formidable political entity is a story that needs to be told. The book narrates the personal and political journey of Amit Shah, captures the ideological world that shaped him and gives an account of the party that he is leading and shaping today. It is for the first time that his story is being told-an authentic, no-holds-barred portrayal of one of the most influential leaders of our times. To the political worker, the observer and to anyone even remotely interested in Indian politics, irrespective of their profession or political leaning, especially since the unfolding of Indian politics in the summer of 2014, this is a captivating exploration of the political life and journey of one of its central characters.

"A history-making manual,interreligious study and names list, with stories by Westerners who entered Hinduism and Hindus who deepened their faith"--Cove

The representation of the Muslims as threatening to India's body politic is central to the Hindu nationalist project of organizing a political movement and normalizing anti-minority violence. Adopting a critical ethnographic approach, this book identifies the poetics and politics of fear and violence engendered within Hindu nationalism.

States today are far more engaged in diplomacy than ever before, actively building relations with other states to harness their mutual commercial and cultural strengths. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outlook to global affairs is no different, yet there is a nuanced approach in linking India’s foreign policy to domestic transformation. While on the one hand, his policies seek to attract foreign capital, technology and open foreign markets for Indian products, on the other, they are geared towards regional stability, peace and prosperity. All events are texts to be analysed and the authors in this volume do so but emphatically underline that India’s diplomacy under Modi has got a go-getting edge, that it is no longer foreign anymore but a matter of public affairs and that with Modi at the helm, India is set to leverage its role and make itself a ‘diplomatic superpower’. The nuanced and thought-provoking essays, by some of the most well-respected analysts and practitioners of diplomacy, make this book a must-read for not just professionals and serious readers but for the uninitiated as well.