India, Pakistan and the West

Contents: Foreword. 1. Problem. 2. The country. 3. The peoples of India. 4. Hinduism. 5. Islam. 6. Historical perspective. 7. The British. 8. The organization of power. 9. The organization of economic life. 10. The organization of welfare. 11. The Indian response. 12. The New India. Conclusion. Bibliography.

"India has traditionally been regarded as a land of wonder and mystery as the first observer who came to India recorded their accounts. The European visitor to India in sixteenth and seventeenth century added the elements of splendour and wealth to the existing tradition. Visitors to India during world wars were often astonished to find large number of Indians who spoke English, wear, European clothes and followed European habits and the author found that they were even better that the English and these were the people who acted as the bridge across which to reach the heart of India. As independence approached, the discussion on the appropriate lines of political progress and the short comings of the previous British rule and the constitutional advance become absorbing topic. Independence was the central theme and under tone was the thought of power. The political problem was the real one but it did not concern the British India alone, it concerned the princely ruled states under the British and the question of their place in independent India and the bigger one was how can India and Pakistan with their limited resources build up and maintain a full scaled administration." (jacket)