By The Way

The end of the Second World War is imagined as this clear moment which marked the end of all hostilities and the arrival of peace. The language that surrounds 1945 is saturated with a sense of finality, surrender, liberation, and, at last, peace. In retrospect, this makes for a coherent story, one that allows the war to be neatly contained within a set of dates and the decisive events that led to the Allied victory. Yet for those living through the period immediately after the fighting ceased, the experience was far less conclusive than it appears to us today, who encounter it largely through historical narratives. In large parts of Asia and Europe, the defeat of the Axis powers removed an existing structure of authority without providing a stable replacement by the Allied powers. The military victory was decisive and absolute, but the instability of the postwar political order proved far greater than wartime planning had anticipated. Delhi Victory Week Parade -  Indian Army mounta...

India’s story over the decades since independence can be described as one of contrast. A contrast between the two republics that were and are India. One republic existed in the years after independence, shaped by the memory of empire and colonisation, and with a determination to walk on a new path. The other is the India of the present, shaped by new political ideas, rapid economic growth, and a different moral vocabulary of power. The two republics carry the same name, and the same constitution, but they rarely feel like the same political world. One placed its sense of purpose in secularism, welfare, and a principled and cautious foreign policy. The other projects confidence and ambition, but leans towards majoritarian impulse, corporatisation of the economy, and an admiration for strongmen abroad. The early republic was never perfect, but it tried to move within a framework of ideals, which it took seriously. Secularism was meant to stabilise a deeply diverse country that was emergi...