Comparative Study: Founding Ideals and Modern Indian State

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Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, B.R. Ambedkar shared a common desire for a strong Indian modern state however despite their ambitions for Indian state development, the modern Indian state demonstrates its modernity through its relationship between state corruption and urban development. This short paper will demonstrate how the political ideas of Gandhi, Nehur, and Ambedkar compare to and differ from the modern Indian state’s development.
Gandhi, Nehru, and Ambedkar each shared a common desire for Indian development however, the manner in which this development was achieved differed greatly between these leaders. Gandhi sought to have the village as the center of Indian civilisation. Furthermore, he was critical of western culture and influence …show more content…

Largescale corruption within Indian politics developed from the government of Indira Gandhi. During the ‘State of Emergency’ from 1975 to 1977, there was a widespread use of coercion and use of government force for illicit activities such as land seizure and bribery (Sanchez, 2012: 51). Corruption in the Indian state over the last twenty years has allowed many politicians and government ministers to involve themselves in embezzling funds, extortion, seizing of lands, and kidnapping and murder. This corruption allows for citizens who are in positions of power, high castes, or wealthy to gain preferential state favor. This facilitates an economic pressure on middle to lower caste Indians as they are at the behest of state official’s bribery requests. This modern Indian political system was not envisioned by Nehru, Gandhi, and Ambedkar as they desired an Indian state with more equality among …show more content…

Millions of people have been displaced because of large dam projects throughout the country, most of populations being dalit or tribal. The disputes over the Sardar Sarovar Dam represents a larger issue in Indian society, distrust and doubt in the political system of the country. Questions from the displaced population and academics such as Arundhati Roy are being answered by the government in a dismissive manner, thus neglecting concerns from Indian citizens (Roy, 1999). Dam projects were viewed positively by Nehru, however, the reality of these projects is that the state benefits at the expense of lower castes and tribal

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