FYI -

Did you know that the first manifesto for India's freedom was published 77 years before Mahatma Gandhi was even born?...And by a Britisher?...Charles Grant, of the British East India Company? He led the assault on the Company's misrule of India for four decades, articulated a grand vision for India, and built up the team to implement it.

Vishal Mangalwadi, winner of the "Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Distinguished National Service Award," writes about his new book INDIA: The Grand Experiment:

"Our understanding of our own history has been distorted by our pride and prejudice; therefore, most Indians do not understand what is pushing our nation towards disaster. Some advocate dictatorship as the path to a better future. Others, with a poor understanding of the 200-year-long experiment with freedom, are using indigenous religious slogans to promote cultural fascism.

"I have set out, first, to provide a corrective to the common misinterpretations of our history. Second, to expound the vision of the full-orbed freedom that molded our history. Third, to analyze the ideas which impel militant Hinduism towards cultural fascism. And finally, to present a foundation for hope that is valid not just for India, but for many nations in today's confused world."

INDIA: The Grand Experiment is a rediscovery of the true history of India's freedom that will disturb the global academic community and India's political establishment.

INDIA: The Grand Experiment is a book that should become the focal point of a fresh debate on India, and on freedom - its meaning, means and method.

OPINIONS _______ (back)

"Of all the books published in the last hundred years, Vishal Mangalwadi's INDIA: The Grand Experiment is possibly the most important for the future of India, and certainly the most important for understanding the central difficulties and opportunities facing India today".
Professor Prabhu Guptara, Switzerland.

"Original ... disturbing and controversial ... there is much in this book which is unusual and surprising, much that will upset cherished ideas and popular illusions ... has done us all a service in bringing long-suppressed information to light and long-tabooed issues to the forefront".
Ram Gidoomal, author of Sari 'n' Chips, in his Foreword to the book.

CONTENTS _______ (back)

Acknowledgments / Foreword / Preface

I. INTRODUCTION

Freedom at Fifty

II. THE THESIS

The Prejudice

The Thesis and its Urgency

The Definitions - Their Context and Collision

The Evangelical Manifesto of India's Freedom

III. THE EVIDENCE

Liberating the Enslaved Individual

The Colonization and Liberation of the Indian Mind

The Press: Its Inception, Freedom and Pre-supposition

Economic Emancipation

Democratization of the Nation

IV. THE IMPLICATIONS

From Freedom Towards Cultural Fascism

Epilogue

V. APPENDICES

Chronologies

A. Some Key Ideas & Events

B. People, Books and Ideas

C. India's History

D. Colonialism and India's Freedom

E. Hindu Nationalism

Bibliography / Endnotes / Index

The information on this page is given in good faith but without any warranty.
Last updated: 04 January 2005