> > As for democracy, wasn't there a thread on gii or silklist about how he was > responsible for quite a lot of laws abrogating the freedom of the press? > Laws that continue to be abused to this day? > > He wasn't a democrat as much as a wooly headed and utopian socialist - > admittedly one with a huge amount of brainpower. >
I'd argue his daughter was worse. And I give Nehru a lot of credit for keeping India both secular and democratic, none of which seemed as inevitable then as they do today. In his economic thinking, he was a man of his times, which I offer as explanation, not justification; and yes, his intellectual arrogance cost us, not just in terms of his mistakes over China, but also the marginalizing of figures like C Rajagopalachari, who wanted to open up India's markets decades before we actually did. For what it's worth, I'd once written about the family here: http://www.indiauncut.com/iublog/article/the-nehru-gandhi-legacy-of-shame/ I wouldn't blame Nehru for abrogating the freedom of the press. That stems from three things: 1, the constitution not offering enough protection of free speech, as opposed to, say, America's wonderful first amendment; 2, the laws in the Indian Penal Code, such as 295(a), which make giving offence on all kinds of grounds, such as religious ones, a crime in India; 3, court judgments over the years such as the 1968 KA Abbas case. Here's a piece I'd written on the history of censorship in India: http://www.indiauncut.com/iublog/article/fighting-against-censorship-in-india/ And on 295(a) and its impact on free speech: http://indiauncut.com/iublog/article/dont-insult-pasta/ -- Amit Varma http://www.indiauncut.com
