Thoughts on Religious Politics in India, 1857-2008, Vol. I to III

Contents: Vol. I: [(1857 -- August 14, 1947) From First Freedom Movement to Freedom of India]. Copyright statement. Acknowledgements. Foreword. Preface. A. A critical introduction of the subject: 1. The Hindustani Culture (At the time of 1857)/S. Abid Husain. 2. The growth of communal feeling/P. Hardy. 3. Origins of Muslim separatism/B.R. Nanda. 4. Three Hindu nationalist strategies/Christophe Jaffrelot. 5. Genesis of partition/J.B. Kripalani. 6. The mistake of Pakistan/'Firaq' Gorakhpuri. 7. Nationalism, separatism and separatist ideas/M.K.A. Siddique. B. Selected speeches, writings, letters, interviews, editorials etc. I. (1857-1905) First Freedom Movement to Partition of Bengal: 1. A silly notion has taken hold of their minds. 2. Kill those who destroy our religions/Bahadur Shah Zafar. 3. Place every reliance upon your rulers/Syed Ahmad Khan. 4. The beliefs of Arya Samaj/Swami Dayanand. 5. The Indian National Congress is born/Woomesh Chandra Bonnerjee. 6. The Congress and the Muslims/Badruddin Tyabji. 7. One country, two nations/Syed Ahmad Khan. 8. Swami Vivekanand speaks. 9. Nationality/Nivedita. 10. Partition of Bengal (1905). II. (1906-1919) Formation of Muslim League to emergence of Gandhiji in Indian Politics: 1: i. Charter of Islamic Rights. ii. Lord Minto's reply. 2. The birth of The Muslim League/Viqar-Ul-Mulk (Mushtaq Husain). 3. Parties responsible for East Bengal disturbances. 4. Religion and politics/Sri Aurobindo. 5. Hindu-Muslim Tie. 6. Nationalism in India/Rabindranath Tagore. 7. Hindus and Mohammedans as one nation/Mohammed Ali Jinnah. 8. The Indian nation/Annie Besant. 9. The ideals of Islam/Sarojini Naidu. 10. Blue print for national integration/Subramania Bharathi. III. (1920-1935) Khilafat Movement to Government of India Act, 1935: 1. Religion mixed with politics. 2. Malabar's Agony - Fighting for what they consider as religion/Annie Besant. 3. Hindu Muslim tension -- its causes and cure/Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 4. Every religious community is trying to unify itself. 5. Gandhiji clarifies to Shaukat Ali. 6. The role of Jinnah. 7. Hindu-Muslim Unity/Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 8. The proposal for the creation of Pakistan/Muhammed Iqbal. 9. The Round Table Conference and Govt. Of India Act, 1935. IV. (1936--October 19, 1943) After Government of India Act, 1935 till arrival of Lord Wavell: 1. The seeds of Pakistan. 2. Attitude to Christian Missions to Hinduism/Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 3. Hindu Rashtra Darshan/Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. 4. The condition of India -- The Hindus and The Mahomedans/Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 5. Two letters. 6. "Only Muslim League can speak on behalf of Muslims". 7. Two letters. 8. C. Rahmat Ali's scheme of partition/Rajendra Prasad. 9. Demand for Pakistan/M.A. Jinnah. 10. A baffling situation/Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. 11. Be very careful of Mr. Jinnah. 12. Muslim League is a Pro-British body/Subhas Chandra Bose. V. (October 20, 1943 -- March 22, 1947) Lord Wavell's Viceroyalty: 1. Gandhi -- Jinnah talk on demand of Pakistan. 2. From 'Quit India' to 'Split India'/Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. 3. An open letter to Rajaji-- opposing advocating office acceptance programme/Krishnabai Nimbkar. 4. i. Lord Wavell's broadcast. ii. Gandhiji's statement on Viceroy's broadcast. 5. Scheme of partition -- against the interest of Muslims/Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. 6: i. There has been a betrayal. ii. Stafford Cripps to Sardar Patel. 7. Epilogue to "Pakistan or the Partition of India"/B.R. Ambedkar. VI. (March 23, 1947 -- August 14, 1947) Arrival of Lord Mountbatten to Freedom of India: 1. Broadcast by Lord Mountbatten. 2. Do not put a premium upon the mistake. 2. India divided/Clement Richard Attlee. 3. Britain Salutes Free India/Lord Mountbatten. Appendices. [15 Articles are in Hindi].

Vol. II: [(August 15, 1947 -- December 1, 1989) Single Party Government's Rule in India]. Copyright statement. Acknowledgement. I. (August 15, 1947 -- May 27, 1964) Jawaharlal Nehru Era: 1. The message of fifteenth August, 1947/Sri Aurobindo. 2. The dawn of freedom/Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. 3. Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru on Independence Day. 4. Our Independence/Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. 5. Situation of Kashmir deteriorates (some important correspondence). 6. Differences between Pt. Nehru and Sardar Patel. 7. India cannot be a nation/Maulana Maudoodi. 8. Aligarh and Indian nationalism/Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. 9. The Kashmir issue -- a historic speech/Syama Prasad Mookerjee. 10. Differences between Pt. Nehru and Rajarshi Tandon. 11. Democracy and freedom of thought/Amlan Datta. 12. On Nationalism/J. Krishnamurti. 13. Nationalism to grow into internationalism/Swami Ranganathananda. 14. The fundamental unity of India/Radhakumud Mookerji. 15. The Hindu code bill (A speech in the Lok Sabha)/J.B. Kripalani. 16. Hyderabad memoirs/Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi. 17. Age-old ideals and reality/Rajendra Prasad. 18. Disease of communalism/Chakravarti Rajagopalachari. 19. The least of the minorities/Nirad C. Chaudhuri. 20. Hindu-Muslim problem in Nehru Era/N.V. Gadgil. II. (May 27, 1964 -- June 25, 1975) Govt. Led by Gulzarilal Nanda (Acting), Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Indira Gandhi till 'emergency': 1. On communal problem/Shibdas Ghosh. 2. A tale of two communalisms/Baburao Patel. 3. Mosque or motherland?/Baburao Patel. 4. The art of living together?/M.C. Chagla. 5. Morarji Desai on communal rights. 6. Beginnings of a conspiracy -- Kashmir issue/B.N. Mullick. 7. Inter-religious understanding/Rafiq Zakaria. 8. Enlightened patriotism/Karan Singh. III. (June 26, 1975 -- October 31, 1984) 'Emergency' Period, Govts. of Janata Party led by Morarji Desai, Charan Singh and Congress (I) led by Indira Gandhi: 1. Reshaping the constitution/Nani A. Palkhiwala. 2. Christians against anti-conversion bill/Baburao Patel. 3. Group loyalty versus national loyalty/Swami Ranganathananda. 4. Islam in India/K.R. Narayanan. 5. On religion, revivalism, revolution/Hiren Mukerjee. IV. (October 31, 1984--December 1, 1989) Rajiv Gandhi Era: 1. I am ashamed today/Kuldip Nayar. 2. Religion, life and death/M.J. Akbar. 3. Understanding the Muslim mind/Rajmohan Gandhi. 4. The National historical tradition/Sita Ram Goel. 5. Islam rejects nationalism/Ali Md. Naqvi. 6. Case for Hindu state/Balraj Madhok. Appendices. [25 Articles are in Hindi].

Vol. III: [(December 2, 1989 -- August 15, 2008) Era of Coalition Government Rule]. Copyright statement. Acknowledgements. I. (December 2, 1989 -- December 5, 1992) Govts. Led by V.P. Singh, Chandrashekhar and P.V. Narasimha Rao: 1. Communalism and the state: some issues in India/Bipan Chandra. 2. Negationism in India/Koenraad Elst. 3. Polished negationism (a question replied by the author)/Koenraad Elst. 4. Swords to sell a God/Ram Swarup. 5. Distortions of Ram Swarup/Parwez Hafeez. 6. Ram and Rahim under a single roof/Sk. Sadar Nayeem. 7. The Construction of a new Hindu identity/Sudhir Kakar. 8. Party to the crime/Gumman Mal Lodha. 9. Etymology of the Indian nation (Bharatvarsha)/B.N. Mukherjee. II. (December 6, 1992 -- March 18, 1998) Govts. Headed by P.V. Narasimha Rao, A.B. Vajpayee, H.D. Deve Gowda and I.K. Gujral: 1. Countering communal forces/P.V. Narasimha Rao. 2. Hindu and still proud to be/Swapan Dasgupta. 3. Secular forces must come together. 4. Agony and opportunity/Lal Krishna Advani. 5. Kashmiri Pandits -- an endangered community/Anil Maheshwari. 6. Beware the dominating Hindu/K.F. Rustamji. 7. Whose leaders are they?/Prabha Jagannathan. 8. Second coming for Indian Islam/M.J. Akbar. 9. Indian secularism: myth and reality/N.S. Gehlot. 10. Minorityism -- Myth and reality/Bipan Chandra. 11. Common Civil Code/Arun Shourie. 12. Article 370: behind the curtain/Arun Shourie. 13. Cure for communalism/Maulana Wahiduddin Khan. 14. Extra territorial loyalties/Joginder Singh. 15. Politics of vote/Joginder Singh. 16. Promoting communal harmony: a mission of the church/P.C. Alexandar. 17. The widening divide: the role of media/Rafiq Zakaria. 18. Imaginary homelands/Mushirul Hasan. III. (March 19, 1998 -- May 22, 2004) Govt. of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee: 1. Religion: The art of banishing scriptures/M. Francis Abraham. 2. Liberalisation and Hinduta: new threats to national unity/Prakash Karat. 3. World view -- from the standpoints of the Hindu nation and civilization/P. Parameswaran. 4. India at a crossroads/David Frawley (Vamdev Shastri). 5. The two faces of Islam/Guy Sorman. 6. Ijtihad and the challenge of modernity/A.G. Noorani. 7. In the name of nationalism/K.N. Panikkar. 8. Non-resident nationalism/Arvind Rajagopal. IV. (May 22, 2004 -- August 15, 2008) Present Govt. of United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Led by Dr. Manmohan Singh. V. Sanatan Satya (The Eternal Truth): 1. National integration/Swami Ranganathananda. 2. Patriotism -- beyond politics and religion/A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Appendices. [26 Articles are in Hindi].

"It is a signal service that the compiler has done to bring out some of the things that one might have read once upon a time but one is apt to forget. Besides he has dug out some nuggets which are either not known or not easily available to a common reader. The compilation besides informing and enlightening the reader provides a wealth of material for researchers to explore. Though the contents of the three volumes are forbidding are first sight, the compilation will make for pleasurable and informative reading as one has not to go at one stretch but go through some pieces and reflect over the argument and logic advanced...

... It may be added that Shri Shah has made a comprehensive and representative selection reflecting differing views and opinions. He has been quite fair in his approach...

The three volumes speak amply about the compiler's wide reading but also of his patriotic spirit, enthusiasm for nation building and concern for the unity, integrity and progress of our country. It is certainly valuable addition to the growing literature on the subject." (jacket)