Liberalism in India

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This article gives an overview of liberalism in India.

Contents

[edit] Liberalism in Indian Politics

The Indian National Congress, the flag-ship of Indian Independence Movement, was founded by liberal nationalist, like Gopal Krishna Gokhale. Almost the entire leadership of the Congress till mid-1920s was liberal in its stance. Sometime in the 1920s, the Congress leadership was taken over by socialists like Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhash Chandra Bose, forcing liberals to move into a separate platform. Gandhi however retained liberal leanings and never supported socialism. He was opposed to government taking over ownership of property. He wanted to bring responsible business (trusteeship) and local self-government.

After Independence, Swatantra Party was founded as India's Libral Party in 1959. It was founded by Rajaji, but merged with B.K.D. led by Charan Singh. It has been India's only genuinely liberal political group so far, with a large number of seats in Parliament. This effort ended in 1973.

In January 2004 Indian liberals attempted to revive the spirit of the Swatantra Party by forming the Swantantra Bharat Party (SBP). SBP now has one seat in Parliament, namely of its President, Sharad Joshi.

A minor but distinctly liberal effort, the Liberal Party of India (LPI), based on economic and political liberalism, was floated in 12 April 2005 independent to the Swatantra Bharat Party. The need for a separate party arose over a significant difference of opinion regarding the level of transparency needed in a liberal party. However, LPI wound up within a few months given only a few active members.

Efforts to generate genuine political liberalism in India are keenly awaited... The [Loksatta Party] launched in 2006 claims to be rooted in liberalism, but its strategy and policies are awaited.

In the meanwhile, Indians are able to take advantage of economic liberalism now on offer from a number of 'mainstream' parties, which, however, are not grounded in philosophical liberalism.

[edit] Liberalism in Indian Economy

After Independence, India adopted the Socialist model of development. This led to creation of Licence Raj,the elaborate licences, regulations and the accompanying red tape that were required to set up business, in India.

The economic liberalisation of 1991, initiated by then Indian prime minister P. V. Narasimha Rao and his finance minister Manmohan Singh in response to a balance-of-payments crisis, did away with the Licence Raj and ended many public monopolies, allowing automatic approval of foreign direct investment in many sectors.

Since 1990, India has emerged as one of the wealthiest economies in the developing world; during this period, the economy has grown constantly with only a few major setbacks. This has been accompanied by increases in life expectancy, literacy rates and food security.

[edit] List of liberal organisations in India

[edit] Political Parties

This is a list of both past and present political parties with liberal views.

[edit] Other liberal organisations

[edit] Prominent Indian Liberals

Pre-Independence

Swatantra Party

Swatantra Bharat Party

  • Sharad Joshi

Liberal Party of India

Contemporary Indian Liberals

[edit] Documents and Articles

  • 21 Principles of the Swatantra Party. The 21 Principles Word document. From The Swatantra Party – Victory in Defeat. Rajaji Foundation, 2002.
  • Ray T. Smith, The Role of India's "Liberals" In The Nationalist Movement, 1915-1947 Word document 103 KB (from Asian Survey, Vol 8 (7) June 1968, pp.607-24)
  • H.R. Pasricha, The Swatantra Party – Victory in Defeat. Rajaji Foundation, 2002.
  • Minoo Masani, On the Swatantra Party Word document (from ‘Freedom and Dissent’ published by Democratic Research Service– permission obtained)
  • Rajmohan Gandhi, War Against the status quo (Essay on C. Rajagopalachari and the Swatantra Party).
  • C.R. Narasimhan, Chapter 14: The last years Word document – from "Rajagopalachari. A Biography" by (son of Rajaji). Radiant Publishers, 1993.
  • S.V. Raju (1974) (on the death of the Swatantra Party), The Notional Alternative, Freedom First, Sept. 1974
  • Howard L. Erdman, India’s Swatantra Party (from Public Affairs Vol 36, Issue 4, Winter 1963-1964, pp. 394-410)
  • Gurcharan Das
  • Parth Shah
  • Sanjeev Sabhlok, Victory of India Party and the IndiaPolicy effort since April 1998
  • Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan (Lok Satta), Political Parties and Indian Democracy. Delivered as the Narla Memorial Endowment Lecture on December 1, 1998

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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