The New India: The Unmaking of the World's Largest Democracy

by Rahul Bhatia

The New India is the unforgettable account of the struggle between modern forces and ancient ideas to shape the young country's destiny. It reveals a picture of a nation on the precipice of dramatic change.

Based on six years of detailed research and on-the-ground reporting, the book builds - authoritatively, vividly, indelibly - to become the story of post-colonial India. Using hundreds of interviews, and letters, diary entries, Partition-era police reports, and an astonishing range of sources, Bhatia shows how history plays a recurring role in the in politics, in the minds of citizens, in notions of justice and corruption.

Bhatia examines the connections between the Delhi riots of 2020 and the emergence of nineteenth-century revolutionary secret societies, the rise of Hindu nationalism, whose early advocates drew lessons from Hitler and Mussolini, the political use of misinformation and religious targeting, and the Hindu fundamentalist ideology that sparked the creation of the world's largest biometric project. As Bhatia shows, the evolution of this citizen database, in the hands of the BJP, now threatens to deny vast numbers of India's 200 million Muslims their Indian citizenship. Electorates in democracies used to choose their government. Now, in India, the government is choosing its electorate.

India has rarely been seen as in The New India, a monumental work of narrative reportage that illuminates the ways in which a supremacist ideology remade the country over decades, resulting in the prodigious rise of Narendra Modi, and forcing many to ask what they truly understood about their neighbours and themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Politics, India, Journalism, Asia, World History

448 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 8, 2024

Reviews

[Anshuman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rahul Bhatia takes the reader on a sweeping and authoritative dive into the dark recesses of recent Indian history. His book, *The New India*, is a damning indictment of the real and harmful effects religious propaganda can have on people who were simply born into the "wrong" religion. The writing is stark, matter-of-fact, and highly evocative. It is an essential, albeit somewhat depressing, read.

[David Twine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a mixed response to this. I bought it following a strong review in the Guardian. It explores the origins of Hindu extremism and how its fear-mongering resulted in the election of a BJP government, now in its 3rd term. Recent developments in digital ID cards and national citizenship registration are shown to reinforce discriminatory surveillance of the poorest sections of society and to particularly monitor the settlement and movement of India's Muslim population. There are important lessons here about how digital data collection is used to undermine democratic institutions. It is a disturbing read. Unfortunately, it is written in a clunky and repetitive style with some sections needlessly lengthy and others frustratingly short. For example, how did Prime Minister Modi get away with removing large denomination notes from the money supply before people had the chance to exchange them? This is mentioned but barely discussed. I'm glad to have read this book, but the text was often awkwardly written. Maybe a translation issue?

[Grace Bartholomew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really interesting and insightful read about a country I really did not know much about (totally hadn’t realised Pakistan was created so recently oops).
The first third of the book was especially engaging, and I felt like I was learning a lot about the rise of Hindu nationalism and how it’s shaped modern India.

As I got further in, though, it started to feel a bit repetitive. The main ideas seemed to circle back again and again, and I didn’t feel like much new was being added after the first 100 pages. That said, part of Bhatia’s point is that Hindu nationalism hasn’t really evolved. It relies on the same ideas and narratives, over and over, without much critical thinking or change. So in a way, the repetition in the book mirrors the repetition within the movement itself.

It was fascinating to see how far-right Hindu nationalism has been able to grow and radicalize over time. Bhatia traces it back to the 1800s, when Hindus weren’t allowed to play loud music during religious festivals near mosques. Moments like this were used to fuel the idea that Muslims were the aggressors, so Hindus need to preemptively attack first to protect themselves…
The book really highlights how this kind of thinking has become deeply embedded, and how dangerous it can be when these narratives go unchallenged for decades.

[Anushka · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

This is one of the best books I have read this year along with H-Pop : The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars. The prose is sparse and has a documentary like quality, which is very effective in laying bare the horrors. Bhatia's skill and immaculate research is evident -- his narrative weaves time and events seamlessly -- from the Delhi riots to the rise and rise of the RSS and finally to Nilekani's identity project. Amidst all of this, laid bare is the moral decay of our society.

Days after finishing the read, I kept thinking about Nisar, the protagonist in some sense, and his immense courage to do the right thing, in search of some hope for redemption. I could find none. I recommend this as an essential read but with the warning that it left me angry and hopeless despite being familiar with the events as well as the state of our country for a while.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for anyone who has asked the question, "How did we get here??!"

[Arathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an incredibly evocative book that traces the history, origins, and the "aftermath" of Hindutva. I say "aftermath" because the anchoring point for the book is the 2019 Delhi riots. The experiences of people associated with the riots serve as focal points to illustrate how bureaucracy, combined with ideology, can devastate lives- yet another chilling display of horror. The narrative also explores the concept and implementation of Aadhar, highlighting the criticisms and the horrifying ways it was weaponized by mandating it- essentially, the worst-case scenario according to critics play out. Watching these events unfold on the news and social media was disturbing enough, but seeing how these actions were part of a strategic, deliberate attempt left me both angry and terrified. One of the things I appreciated most was the blend of sources used—ranging from expected critics to unexpected primary sources (what a get!), which really elevated the depth of the analysis. Overall, I thought the book was exceptionally well-presented, even if the author occasionally leans a bit too much into editorializing for my taste. Still, a deeply impactful and thought-provoking read.

[Socraticgadfly · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.25 stars rounded up, because this is a social media site and I am counterbalancing others, and in this case, as I sometimes do, will get to that at the end, by and large.

What background did I bring, per an essay about maximizing non-fiction reading? I knew a fair amount about Modi, a moderate amount about the BJP, a modest amount about the formation of the RSS, and very little about late 19th-century Hindu "reformation" pushes, and I did find this book tough sledding at times. So, per one of the two-star reviewers, and a couple of three- and four-stars, I get it. But, the book still deserves higher ratings.

Let's dig in.

The Shaheen Bagh protest is the impetus for this book, and the author drops us in it in medias res before getting to the background.

Contra the other (at the time of my review) two-star reviewer here, Blair, the protest was about more than the Citizenship Amendment Act and its 12-digit ID. It was about trying to prevent the implementation of the National Register of Citizens and the National Population Register. It was also about police brutality in their intervention at an earlier protest at Jamia Millia Islamia. And, after the RSS fueled attacks on the Delhi protestors, the author then moves on to what appears to be officially ordered police slow-walking of investigations. (I deal more with Blair and the many things wrong with the rant he calls a review — I see what I did — below.)

Indeed, Wikipedia says of the National Register of citizens pretty much exactly what the author said:

In 2019, the Government passed Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (also referred to as "CAA 2019" or "CAA"), which promised an accelerated naturalisation process for immigrants of persecuted Hindu, Christian, Buddhist, Parsi and Jain religious minority communities of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan, which was widely seen as a way to exempt non-Muslims that might fail the criteria for inclusion in NRC, though Jews and Baha'is also falls into this category.

And do NOT "but Wikipedia" me. That's footnoted at the link above.

The big picture basics were already halfway familiar to me, but the on the ground, not at all.

Much of the localized story of the protests in New Delhi is told through the eyes of Md Meharban, a Dr. Anwar and Nisar; at the university, it’s from a Minhajuddin and a couple of others. Another is of a Muslim passing as Hindu. Nisar becomes a sort of guide throughout later chapters of the story. The government promised compensation to Muslims who suffered loss in the riots, but his case gets slow-walked, then very slow-walked, as he refuses to not identify Hindu assailants in his neighborhood.

From there, Bhatia cuts back to the second half of the 1800s and href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayanan... Saraswatia, a person totally unfamiliar to me, though I recognized “swaraj” in his Wiki page. He had a “back to the Vedas” movement. Also, he and many of his followers attacked and even flatly rejected the caste system. (Quite interesting for the 20th and 21st centuries, as neither Gandhi nor Modi has said “boo” about it.) That said? He pretty much hated all the other world religions.

Next, a chapter on K.B. Hedgewar founding the RSS.

Then one on M.S. Golwalkar and his role in the development of the RSS, including its movement in more theocratic direction. Bhatia notes there’s good evidence that Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse, was in the RSS at the time.

Then, he discovers a tell-all book by Partha Banerjee, son of Jitendra Banerjee, an upper-mid lieutenant in the RSS’s earlier days.

Later on, he notes that, in the fallout of Bangladesh’s war for independence, the RSS encouraged Hindus living in Assam to hate Bengali Hindu migrants. In turn, this led to the BJP in its late 1990s/early 2000s hold on office, pre-Modi, to push for the universal ID card and system, the Aadhaar, later developed further by Congress when it took control again.

Next? The push for its development by Bangalore techdudebro Nandan Nilekari.

After that, come chapters on a mix of incompetence, corruption and malfunctioning of the Aadhaar locally.

After that? Modi’s initial run for PM even as Nilekari runs for parliament — as a Congress candidate — and loses. Modi, who had officially opposed the Aadhaar, recognizes its power after taking office, along with the power of things like weaponized politically-driven prosecutions. (Sounds familiar?)

There's a final wrap-up with Nisar going back to his childhood home, and hearing something about. his childhood best friend's current politics.

Next, to the callouts.

First, I have almost zero doubt that all six (as of this time) 1-star ratings without reviews are from RSS flunkies or fellow travelers.

Next, on the author?

I don’t know Bhatia’s religious background other than to know he is NOT Muslim. This is simple deduction — his dad emigrated FROM Pakistan (West Punjab) to India during Partition. More on him at his website. Blair doesn't expressly say he thinks Bhatia's a Muslim, but by using the word "rant," he leaves open the possibility he things that.

There’s several other problems with two-starrer Blair’s review.

First, what’s India’s population got to do with it? (He also ignores, or is ignorant of, the fact that Modi has deliberately pushed passing China, even if not definitely stressing a “Great Hindu Replacement Theory.”)

If size meant anything, then China and India get bigger passes on human rights violations than the US? The US than Canada? Canada than Denmark in Greenland? Israel than Palestine? What the hell?

Second, Barry calls this a “rant” without once mentioning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the RSS paramilitary. If you want an analogy, if not like the Black Hand of Serbia 1914, they’re at least like Narodna Odbrana. In India, it’s the “backstop” for Prime Minister Narenda Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. And, the RSS isn’t new, formed in 1925, and formed expressly to permeate Hindutva.

Barry at best is ignorant, at worst a flunky.

I’m neither, and I’ve had online run-ins with RSS fellow travelers going back to early 2016, nearly a decade ago, when I first called out Tulsi Gabbard even while typical Bernie Sanders cultists were swooning over her. That's how I know to suspect RSS flunkies among the one-star raters.

[Rebecca Handa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because it was highly reviewed and the topic interested me, but I found the way it jumped around to be both confusing and hard to get into. The timeline confused me and I found it hard to remember the personal story details by the time they came up again. I also would have appreciated a bit more background on the politics, since I’m not the most up to date in this region, but that’s also why I wanted to read this book.

[Mamunuru Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book of reportage, Bhatia gives an account of modern India's gradual descent into an authoritarian state with the majority community dictating the national agenda. He describes how the world’s most populous country, plagued with poverty and inequality, is pushed into religious sectarianism and identity politics by a majoritarian community bent on settling scores for the exaggerated historical grievances suffered during Muslim rule.

He describes how the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) created a sense of insecurity in the Muslim community, leading to a massive non-violent protest in the national capital, New Delhi, by women and children of that community. Bhatia gives a graphic description of the East Delhi riots, organised by the right-wing organisations affiliated to RSS, where Muslims were systematically targeted and killed, their properties destroyed by way of punishment for their opposition to the CAA. He explores the origins and history of these right-wing organisations in nineteenth-century precolonial India, giving rise to a militant strand of Hindu nationalism that borrowed heavily from the nationalist ideologies prevalent in the then-Italy. He builds up the political trajectory of RSS/BJP in post-colonial India, culminating in their forming of government at the centre, leaving markers of a demolished Babri Masjid on their way to power. Some of the disenchanted insiders of the RSS, while appreciating the honesty and simple lives of their members, give Bhatia a glimpse of their single-minded hatred for Muslims, Communists, Christians, and also their sense of racial superiority with an aversion for any form of intellectual enquiry. Along with the mandatory physical exercises, the members are indoctrinated about the glories of our past and convinced that nothing that is claimed as a modern scientific invention that has benefited mankind is not already there in our Vedas and shastras.

Finally, Bhatia elaborates how Aadhar, the great identification Project, was conceptualised by Advani, initiated by the UPA under the leadership of Nilekani, and co-opted by the Modi government. Though it started with a stated benign goal of efficiently implementing welfare delivery to the poor and downtrodden, the scope of collecting personal data expanded to include many types a personal information which is beyond the remit of the state.

Though the book is well researched, it appears to be one-sided and not well balanced. The whole purpose of the book, it appears, is to prove that under the BJP, the country is descending into authoritarian rule. While it may be true, it is not uniquely specific to the BJP. All the dispensations, including Congress, in the past were blamed for these tendencies and for undermining the institutions.

Similarly, in any communal riot, the most difficult task is to pinpoint the group that started the riot. While in the case of the East Delhi riots, there may be circumstantial evidence to conclude that the majority of the victims were Muslims, portraying only one community as barbaric and absolving the other as peace-loving doves seemed unreasonable. In the past, there were many riots where Hindus were the victims. Communal riots, by nature, bring out the beast in the man, irrespective of the community. Unless we reconcile to the fact that history has ordained India to be pluralistic and peaceful coexistence is the only way forward for this country, we have no redemption. BJP’s idea of a monochromatic Hindu Rashtra will not help matters.

The legitimacy of the BJP’s power cannot be questioned. A constitutionally agreed-upon electoral process elected them. Bhatia may have genuine reservations about their rule. He has not explored the reasons behind the BJP’s ascent to power. What was lacking in the earlier secular dispensation that forced the voter to opt for a change? While the majoritarian rule creating a sense of insecurity in the minorities is abominable, the BJP rule will run its course. Only democracy can force a change. We can take comfort in the hope that earlier attempts to impose authoritarian rule in this country have failed. In the meantime, fair criticism of the BJP rule is welcome.

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

“The New India” is not really a book about India; rather, it’s the author’s rant on Hindu-Muslim relations and his objections to Aadhar, the 12-digital unique identity card issued to all residents of India.

The book very much frustrated me because I believe the title is misleading and the rave reviews biased.

India is the most populated country on Planet Earth, and it is a fast-growing power. It’s in conflict with China and becoming more active on the global stage – both in positive and negative ways.

Indian entrepreneurs power much of the world’s technology revolution while the country stands accused of actual and attempted extrajudicial murders of Indian dissidents residing in Canada and the United States.

There is much to be written about The New India and it this one-sided book does the subject an injustice. The world needs to better understand India - not just recognise that populism there is a threat to its large minority populations and how a universal registry system can lead to the exploitation of these minorities. This is a much bigger story.

It’s rare that I get angry while reading a book, but this one made me angry. I felt it was a “Bait and Switch” and I’ve certainly learned to rely less on reviews.

My advice to the author is retitle the book. It’s not about The New India. It’s about you. State this up front in your title such as “How Hindu Nationalism will injure its huge Muslim Population and use Aadhar to do it” and better manage your readers’ expectations - before they get your book.

[Scott Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars) This is not a work that will gain a lot of popularity in the ruling circles of India right now. Likely the BJP has this on their ban list and might have some monitors on sites like this to read up on any reviewers who might promote this book. I am not from India, nor to I live there, so that is not a concern. It is intriguing as it offers insight into a country that many Americans do not know or even fully understand. Even with the journalistic writing style and various personal accounts to make the narrative interesting, India and its vast population complexities are difficult for many outsiders to fully grasp and understand. Still, any insight is helpful, especially to a country as influential at India.

That it is the largest democracy by population is not in dispute. However, the foundations of that democracy are not near as solid as other parts of the world. India only implemented a democratic style of governance since the 1940s, but old ethnic rivalries and older social traditions never gave it that strong a base. That a strongman like Modi managed to manipulate the electorate to his whims is not a huge shock. The way that India is going about it can be instructive (see what is happening with the current American presidency), but it is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Worth a library checkout, but probably not much more than that. Most helpful to someone who has little to no understanding of the current situation in India.

[Neil Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a while to get into the book. Strangely, because the first part of the book dumps the reader medias res into confusing and frightening violent riots. It was pretty effectively done, but I really wanted to understand the context in which this was happening. Silly me, I should have waited 100 or so pages for him to start the chronicle about Hindu Nationalism in the 1800s growing into what we are seeing today with Modi and India. It's a fascinating history with obvious parallels with Western fascism; the two similar ideologies seem to have a symbiotic relationship with both borrowing from the other.

I was captivated by the last part of the book where Bhatia goes into great detail about India's "Unique Identifier" project whereby they try to enter every person in India into a database. The similarities this project has with what "Doge" is doing currently are troubling, to say the least. Trying to cut through the messiness of humans and democracy through an Authoritarian technocracy drenched in racist or bigoted ideology is happening in both countries. And seeing how their experiment with modernizing legacy payment systems, but fucking up the implementation and having people starve due to being dropped off the dole doesn't leave one optimistic on Doge's plan with Social Security.

Fun times.

[Vidya.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book discusses a range of topics of Indian history; it starts with the 2020 riots following the Citizenship Amendment Act (please look it up), several people died in those riots, a look into how religious organizations such as the RSS came into being, significant events in India’s past such as the Babri Masjid demolition, the rise of certain politicians including Prime Minister Modi, the story of the universal identity card called Aadhar card (Aadhar means Welfare) and it ends with how one person navigates the judicial system for justice from the 2020 riots

Huge topics!While Bhatia got very detailed on some topics, my minor criticism is that some of the other topics felt less detailed. This minor criticism aside, as a person, not living in India, but of India origin many of the historic events felt like seeing with new eyes. This is true for other events I knew were happening but since I wasn’t living in India then, it was great to know the stories

Overall, I couldn’t put the book down, I just wanted to know more. I am very glad I read this book. I found it via the 100 notable books of 2024 list published by The New York Times and the 2024 Books we love list by NPR. I agree, this book should be read

[Adrian]

Journalist shows how since the election of Modi in 2014 India has emerged as a Hindu state. Bhatia has not written a political history but rather a history of personal contact with people effected by this change. Nisar, is one of these, a man seeking justice interminably for damage done to him during an anti-Muslim riot. He is trapped within the Indian court system constantly having court dates changed or shifted to a new authority with never any resolution. It's been going on for years. Bhatia tracks the long history of anti-Muslim feeling from India's partition to the riots of the 1990s. The last quarter of the book veers off on to India's identification system seen by its proponents as a cureall. Bhatia doesn't trust it and sides with people who worry about how privacy will be sacrificed to governmental overreach. All good interesting stuff. It brings forward a host of interesting people and a cautionary attitude to Modi government.

[Lyuba]

The topic of limiting civil liberties in India is an important one that interests me a lot. As the author points out, it is remarkable to see how the negative sentiments against the Muslim minority have increased since Modi took office. But based on the title I expected the book to capture a broad range of impacts.
The book goes into detailed personal accounts of atrocities done against Muslim people before and under the current government and while I believe a lot of it (and probably all of it) is true, it was hard for me to fully trust the narrative the way it is laid out - one-sided, a lot of second-hand hear-say and unnamed sources.

[Ameel Faraz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very important read, one that anyone even marginally interested in the current political situation of the subcontinent should look into. It gives fantastic history about some of the groups in power, how they got there, why they were able to propagate. It gives a largely unbiased look into what causes many of the problems heard about in the subcontinent (on a grassroots personal level). Fairly disheartening and alarming but necessary.

[Nat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well researched book but I found it very dense and I struggled to follow the through-line of the book. It seemed like we jumped around a lot between different topics that were related but didn't exactly build into a central thesis. Maybe I would have done better with this book if I went in with some more background knowledge than I had; as it was I felt a bit overwhelmed. Also very depressing, but I did learn a lot.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good, especially that final chapter on technology. Had to take a break in the middle due to get laid off by a different religious nationalist semi-fascist government.

Tech chapter was interesting and ground I haven’t seen well-covered before. Again interesting trying Trump 2 when a lot of the issues resolve around theft of SSNs and other supposedly confidential gov info!

[Zainub · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting book but very awkwardly written. Specially for a book written by a journalist!
Looks like the editor dropped the ball on this one, there are multiple instances of repetitions and lots of unnecessary details that could have easily be omitted to form a tighter and impactful narrative.
It takes some effort to read through this book.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot from this book, but the structure is perplexing. Much of the book is about the authors journalistic and personal journey, which is not that interesting. Some aspects of the narrative are preposterously over-long, while other key passages are too brief. In short, the book would have benefited from a better editor.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book on the rise of Hindu nationalism, intercommunal hate, technological monitoring, and fraying democracy. The book had helpful historical context and flashes of beautiful language. But it lacked a coherent arc, jumped abruptly from one topic to another, and ultimately felt incomplete.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was a true education about Indian politics but it also made me think deeply about nationalism in the US and racial/religious hostilities in the Middle East. Worth your time. (As an aside, this could have used another proofread. A few glaring typos.)

[Fran Henderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I reallt tried with this book but it was like pulling teeth

[Prez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really commendable how bhatia takes you through the last couple of years of transformation in India. Almost reduced to tears

[Noah]

fascism's new groove

[Marie Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scary book -- too many parallels with what is going on in the U.S. right now.

[Meghana]

Interesting and informative - struggles a little bit with repetition and advancing the point at times.

[Rohan Monteiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but traumatic to read. A depressing but stark reminder of what India has turned into.

[Garry Hoffmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disturbing. Identity politics destroying what's left of free thinking in India. Same symptoms here, and worsening, in the U.S.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7