discuss Indian Modern History (20th Century)

its all in title

Anorion said:
its all in title

So. Where do we begin?

independence struggle. Who won it, bose or gandhi. Which long term tactic would have been more viable for us. The objective is not always the same, for example, one may be achieving independence the soonest, and one in achieving it with fewest lives lost. Should we have followed some authoritarian marxist regime for some time and would that be in our best interests. Are we more or less in a hindu state run on the lines of nazi germany anyway. Don't panic that I just said that, ok, the good news is that, in theory, and in subbu swamy's brilliant head, it is going to be a utopia that vivekananda would be proud of. What would have happened if.

I would have personally would have loved had Bhagat Singh and Bose survived the independence struggle and actively been part of the formulation of Constitution and polity of the country.. It would have seriously been better than the 'one-man' Gandhi show that he had till the late '70s (Nehru + Indira Gandhi)..

Ok. posting this because it covers most of the ground very quickly and is a good primer.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero - YouTub

now question is, what exactly was Bose's theory for governance of the nation? How would the end result be different from today?

hmmmm i would also like to know his version of communism. where he got inspiration from to set up the forward block, what was his ideology.

different people in different times read up those books written 150 years ago and came up with different version of communism (kim jong un isn't exactly a communist, so he is not considered).

at that time, which countries were following communism..... russia and may be a few around i think. did he watch the communist russia closely.

gandhi ji was having straight forward policies rather, but the congress leaders debated it to come up with party decisions i think.

marx. little bit of vivekanand. Im also investigating the same thing. Original thread itself made me hit those books

ugh I even had an idea of answer, it is slipping my mind right now, of Bose's theory of state if he would come in to power. It was authoritarian to begin with.

If India had Bose leading and winning the War of Independence, then today India would have been a Communist country with good Internet ! (maybe, dont hurt me)

I dont think it would have been authoritarian at all.. Had Bose been one of the framers of the constitution along with Ambedkar and Nehru, there would have been strong central tendency (unitary bias) but still federalism would have been there no matter what.. Chances are more that Nehru still would have been the P.M while Bose might have got something like home or defense ministry.. What i want to emphasize is that though Bose would have wanted a strong center, the presence of Gandhi, Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, Rajagopalachari and many more would have definitely forced it towards more of a balanced approach.. We would not have been like what China is right now but somewhere between present India and present Russia (economically + politically)

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icebags said:
hmmmm i would also like to know his version of communism. where he got inspiration from to set up the forward block, what was his ideology.

different people in different times read up those books written 150 years ago and came up with different version of communism (kim jong un isn't exactly a communist, so he is not considered).

at that time, which countries were following communism..... russia and may be a few around i think. did he watch the communist russia closely.

gandhi ji was having straight forward policies rather, but the congress leaders debated it to come up with party decisions i think.

M. K. Gandhi had more of a pro-capitalist approach (that is a mootable topic but there is enough evidence) rather than a straight forward socialist approach, that was the bone of contention between Bose and Gandhi..

interesting thoughts, this thing itself is a subject, which should be researched upon, may be people who came close to him could tell, may be not.

Nerevarine said:
If India had Bose leading and winning the War of Independence, then today India would have been a Communist country with good Internet ! (maybe, dont hurt me)

indian profile doesn't actually suit for communist countries like china, russia, cuba etc. normally communist ideology is like, leave what u have and go together to become equal with everybody. here that "leaving" part is important.

but dat internet doe

oh come on what would bose have done to improve the internet?
I am very glad you asked such a specific question. How would broadband from what we have now be different if bose would have come into power?

Anorion said:
oh come on what would bose have done to improve the internet?
I am very glad you asked such a specific question. How would broadband from what we have now be different if bose would have come into power?

Bose would have not mattered at all.. India was suffering from poverty from the mid-18th century.. Getting the poverty stricken people to a normal livable state and then arming them with mobiles/p.c that too with good broadband is still a herculean task today (we have meager 15-20% broadband to population coverage in India) when India is one of the most stable growing economy, let alone in those years when we had just got independence..

yeah exactly, these are all general, inevitable trends. those guys predicted these phases of society that we are living in now. General idea is does not matter what specific path you choose to upgrade, end result is the same, even a healthy capitalist economy is a stepping stone to a socialist utopia.

yes, days were hard days post independence, not that it still isnt today.

but i guess they did not think of how would they reform india post independence, it was still a distant dream. apart from education, rights, foods and cloth, they did not have much to promise to the mass.

icebags said:
yes, days were hard days post independence, not that it still isnt today.

but i guess they did not think of how would they reform india post independence, it was still a distant dream. apart from education, rights, foods and cloth, they did not have much to promise to the mass.

We have it easy now (besides the anti-nationalist debates and the sporadic terrorist attacks which i believe can be handled with a strict national defense policy). Back then we fought 4 wars ('48 -Tribal invasion, '62, '65, '71) plus the acute food shortage (PL - 480) and the Indira Gandhi regime.. We were screwed economically, socially, politically as well as the security of the nation was at risk.. Now we just have kids not acting like kids and prosperous communities going on a rampage to be declared "backward class"..

TIL that some incidents are classified as "wars"
1991 Lokhandwala Complex shootout - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedi
Rajnandgaon ambush - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedi