The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal

by Gurcharan Das

‘I became a liberal because I believed in the virtues of openness, mutual respect, and a
concern for others. Liberalism offered me an ethically responsible order of human progress
without necessarily involving the state.’
Gurcharan Das has been a lifelong and passionate champion of both economic
and political freedom. ‘For over two centuries,’ he writes, ‘liberal democracies
and free markets spread around the world to become the only sensible way
to organize public life.’ After years of the stifling ‘license raj’, he watched and
celebrated India’s long-delayed move towards a liberal order in the 1990s, as
market reform and a maturing democratic process began to yield remarkable
results, bringing prosperity and dignity to the many millions who had been
denied both for decades. He recorded this progress in his classic study, India
Unbound. But after three decades, that light seems to be fading. As in the rest of
the world, liberalism is in retreat in India as well. Society is hopelessly polarized
and populists are on the march. The debate appears to be about economic
freedom versus political freedom—as if it is a given that the two cannot coexist.
The liberal today is on a lonely road.
In order to elucidate the dilemma of the Indian liberal, Gurcharan Das recounts
his own professional and intellectual how and why he became a liberal.
While telling his story, he also narrates the story of a nation struggling—still—
to become a successful liberal democracy—the late promise and its seeming
betrayal, but also the possibility of course correction.
Written with conviction, insight and scholarship—and with immense clarity—
this is an urgent and illuminating book. It is a book that every Indian invested in
the future of the country should read.

Genres: Politics, India, Nonfiction

149 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 20, 2024

About the author

Gurcharan Das (Punjabi: ਗੁਰਚਰਨ ਦਾਸ, Hindi: गुरचरण दास), (born October 3, 1943), is an Indian author, commentator and public intellectual. He is the author of The Difficulty of Being Good: On the subtle art of dharma which interrogates the epic, Mahabharata. His international bestseller, India Unbound, is a narrative account of India from Independence to the global Information Age, and has been published in many languages and filmed by BBC.

He is a regular columnist for six Indian newspapers in English, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi, and he writes periodic pieces for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and Newsweek.

He graduated with honors from Harvard University in Philosophy. He later attended Harvard Business School (AMP), where he is featured in three case studies. He was CEO of Procter & Gamble India and later Managing Director, Procter & Gamble Worldwide (Strategic Planning). In 1995, he took early retirement to become a full time writer. He is currently on many boards and is a regular speaker to the top managements of the world’s largest corporations.

His other literary works include a novel, A Fine Family, a book of essays, The Elephant Paradigm, and anthology, Three English Plays.

Reviews

[Sunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gurucharan Das quite succinctly summarises the dilemma of not just himself, but of all Indian liberals. In the current political and economic scenario, a liberal has to deal with inherently anti-liberal ideologies, viz. nationalism & protectionism not just within India but the globe.

Francis Fukuyama in his famous ‘The End of History’ thesis could have claimed liberalism’s victory over other dominant ideologies as early as 1989, but it is possible that Fukuyama called victory too soon. In the current scenario, an Indian liberal fears professing his/her political opinion and fears living according to his/her wishes. The condition of muslim liberals in India is even dire, given that they have to fight both the Hindu nationalists & islamist extremists.

Nevertheless, there is still hope for a liberal, as Gurucharan Das puts it, ideologies tend to be cyclical. The need of the day, probably is for the liberals to form a coherent socio-political group and profess their faith in liberalism. The liberal may be a political nobody in today’s India, but for change, it is time for liberals to stand true to their ideology and speak up against what they think is extremely illiberal. After all, freedom to express is an inherently liberal trait.

[Appu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liberalism is a philosophy that seeks to protect the liberty of the individual. It sees no role for the state except that of a night watchman. Liberalism assumes that invisible hand of the market will regulate the economic sphere without the intervention of the state.
Liberalism has no commitment to any ultimate values. Priority of the right over the good, in technical language. In the absence of a shared moral consensus, society slips into moral anarchy. The extreme wokism we see in the West is a direct result of the moral vacuum created by the Liberal philosophy.
In the economic arena, liberalism has created large inequalities. The inherent cosmopolitanism of liberalism has led to the erosion of national identities. The unrestricted immigration fostered by liberalism has brought several Western countries to the brink of break down.
The maladies of liberalism has produced reaction in the form of right wing populism that threatens to turnover the entire liberal applecart. It has now become clear that liberalism works well only in societies which are fairly homogenous and which share an ethical consensus.
Gurcharan Das gives a theoretical over view of liberalism and analyses the progress and problems of liberalism in India. For those who have read his autobiography, there is nothing new.

[A. B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book, helped me solidify my understanding of my own political position. I had three main takeaways from the book. First, I am a classical liberal of some sort, uncomfortable with the libertarian night-watchman state as well as socialist excesses. I support some kind of welfare state, especially when it comes to healthcare, education, and reining in capitalist excesses; while recognising the importance of free enterprise. I am no longer the unabashed socialist of my youth.

Second, a minor point but Das points out how the anglicised middle-class secular elite of India (to which I belong), have had a distaste for the Indian texts and especially Hindu traditions. As someone whose main interest is in such texts, and who yet identifies as a deeply secular person; I recognise the conflict Das himself faced upon being challenged by his secular friends when his interests veered in that direction. One can be interested in the Hindu tradition without being a Hindutvavadi or even a practicing Hindu.

Third, the lack of a truly classical liberal party like the Swatantra party in India is indeed unfortunate. Especially given how parties tend to be based on community politics these days and not ideology. The necessity of 'selling' economic ideas to the masses is indeed important.

[Pankaj · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoy Gurcharan Das' books. However, this could have been condensed into a newspaper column of 1,500 words or, at best, a 25-pages essay instead of the 149 pages book.

There are a few clear ideas he lays out to define the parameters of shades of liberalism and his own changing beliefs and projects these very lucidly into defining the Indian landscape and beyond. But then, these narratives keep being repeated over and over again.

A 3* rating which I have reluctantly reduced to 2* for these reasons.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sort of autobiography with a political-philosophical bent, explaining the author's political beliefs based on growing up in India from around the time of its independence to today. I found the author's writing to be authentic but also a bit haphazard, with readers like me lacking a lot of important context. For instance, the 'license raj' is brought up a few times but they don't explain it in a direct way.

Overall it's a short, alright read, but could benefit from more historical explanation for a wider audience.

[Abhishek Kashyap · Rating 5 out of 5]

I completed this book in 2 days because it hooked me up from the very first page itself. I will recommend everyone to read this book as it highlights the problem faced by the liberals in the contemporary times.

[Prakash Holla · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Liberalism is against tribalism, and nationalism is a form of tribalism” the author elaborately narrates the difficulties of staying a liberal in this age of ultra nationalism..a good read to understand the concept and applicability of liberalism..

[Anurag Shrivastava · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the typical Gurucharan Das which forced the reader to ponder. This is more of a lament against the present political situation more of an essay which though made interesting read but was unable to shake belief.

[Apurv · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely book. And what a great author! Love his writing.

[Abhishek Kashyap · Rating 4 out of 5]

a must read book for people who finds oneself confused between the political extremes of left and right

[Shashank Patil · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let it stay on the shelf

[Khushboo · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a good book. Short read, summarising what liberalism means and what journey an Indian liberal has undertaken. This is Gurcharan Das’s own personal journey but there is a lot to relate to.

I agreed with most of what he said and did not agree with a few things. Striking off one because a few sentences were repeated multiple times and because I was put off by him trying to justify communalism in the name of economic growth.

[Rajat Bansal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book. For some sharp excerpts see my book reviews blog spot -
https://arbitbansal-bookreview.blogsp...