SahilSir’s

QEI POLITICAL SCIENCE

CLASS 12

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CHAPTER 1
The Cold War Era
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.Cuban Missile Crisis made whole world nervous by
creating clashes between the two superpowers, the US
and Soviet Union namely Cold War.
2.Cold War referred to competitions, tensions and
series of confrontations between the US and USSR.
3.In 1945, with the end of Second World War, Cold War
began when the US dropped bombs on Hiroshima and
Nagasaki in diplomatic manner to warn Soviet Union.
4.Both the powers became reluctant to initiate war to
protect world from large scale destruction as they were
a.vare that it will not lead only political aim to them.
5.The greed of expansion of their spheres of influence
divided the world into alliances. The
US built NATO, South East Asian Treaty Organisation
(SEATO) and Central Treaty Organisation (CENTO).
6.The Soviet UnrIri created Eastern alliance known as
WARSAW PACT.
7.Smaller states „Maine either the alliance to get the
promise of protection, weapons and economic aid against
their local rivals.
8.Superpower required them to gain on access to vital
resources, territory to launch weapons and troops, to spy
on each other and economic support.
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9.Despite of occurring crisis in Korea, Vietnam and
Afghanistan, both the superpowers behaved rationallyPage and| 2
responsibly.
10.Both the superpowers maintained ‘arms control’ by
signing various treaties as Limited Test Ban Treaty,
Nuclear Non- proliferation Treaty and Anti-Ballistic
Missile Treaty.
11. Countries outside the two blocs known as NAM (Non-
Aligned Movement), joined by decolonised countries of
Asia, Africa, and Latin America, played a crucial role in
reducing cold war conflicts
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to maintain peace and stability all over the world.
12. Five founder members of NAM were Yugoslavia’sPage | 3
Josip Broz Tito, India’s JL Nehru, Egypt’s leader Gamal
Abdel Nasser, Indonesia’s Sukarno and Ghana’s Kwame
Nkrumah.
13. The majority of NAM members was categorised as
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) which initiated
economic development under the head of New
International Economic Order (NIEO).
14. The United Nations Conference of Trade and
Development (UNCTAD) brought out a report in 1972 to
propose to give the LDCs control over their natural
resources, to make western market available to them to
reduce cost of technology and to provide greater role in
international economic institutions.
15. India responded to growth of Cold War into two
fold. First, it stayed away from alliances and secondary,
it raised voice against newly decolonised countries
becoming part of either the alliance.
16. NAM served India’s interests also to participate in
international decisions and maintained balance between
two superpowers.
17. India’s policy was criticised on grounds of
possessing contradictory postures i.e. signed treaty of
friendship with the USSR in August 1971 for 20 years
and developed good relations with the US during
Bangladesh crisis.
18. It is said that NAM has lost its relevance after
disintegration of USSR and end of cold war in 1991.
19. NAM is based on a resolve to democratise
international system to redress existing inequities that
poor and very small countries need not to follow any
of the big powers instead they can pursue an
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independent foreign policy also.
20.These core values make NAM relevant even in today’s
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scenario as it has stood of adverse circumstances and
served an important purpose of protecting the interests
of third world countries. WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Cold War: Cold war referred to competitions,
tensions and a series of confrontations between the
US and USSR.
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2.Cuban Missile Crisis: It created tensions between
the US and USSR when Soviet Union (USSR) installed Page | 5
missiles in Cuba to make it a Russian base.
3.Allied Forces: Allied forces were one of the two
camps during second world war including the US,
Soviet Union, Britain and France.
4.Axis Power: It was another camp against allied
forces led by German” Italy and Japan.
5.Alliance System: Alliance system was created by the
two superpowers to expand their sphere of influence all
over the world.
6.Deterrence: It was a logic followed by both the
superpowers to avoid large scale destruction
i. e. not to take place hot war between them because
both of them had the capacity to retaliate.
7.Neutrality: Neutrality is a condition not to
participate in world affairs or make oneself aloof from
world.
8.Decolonisation: To make colonised states free from
the rule of mother country.
TIMELINE
• 1947 American President Harry Truman’s
Doctrine about containment of communism.
• 1947-52 Marshall Plan: US aid for
reconstruction of Western Europe.
• 1948-49 Berlin blockade by the Soviet Union.
• 1950-53 Korean War
• 1954 Defeat of the French by Vietnamese at
Dien Bien Phu; Signing of Geneva Accord; Division of
Vietnam along the 17th parallel formation of SEATO.
• 1954-75 American intervention in Vietnam.
• 1955 Signing of Baghdad Pact, later CENTO.
• 1956 Soviet intervention in Hungary.
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• 1961 US-sponsored Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba
construction of Berlin Wall. Page | 6
• 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis
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• 1965 American Intervention in the Dominican Republic
• 1968 Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia. Page | 7
• 1972 US President Richard Nixon’s visit to China
• 1978-89 Vietnamese intervention in Cambodia
• 1979-89 Soviet intervention in Afghanistan
• 1985 Gorbachev becomes the president of the USSR and begins reform
process.
• 1989 Fall of Berlin Wall
• 1990 Unification of Germany
• 1991 Disintegration of Soviet Union, End of the Cold War era.

CHAPTER 2

The End of Bipolarity

In One Sight

This lesson tells about the Soviet Union, how the Soviet Union came into
existence, developed itself and how it had to face the disintegration due
to cold war in the end.

The Soviet Union was formed in 1917 … inspired by communist ideology … joined
the victorious bloc in world war II … became a superpower after world war II …
started
competing with America … deterioration of the soviet system … dissolution of the
Soviet
Union … Shock Therapy.

Formation of The Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was formed in 1917 after the Bolshevik Revolution
The Soviet Union is called the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics).
There were a total of 15 republics in the Soviet Union, that’s how the Soviet
Union was formed by joining 15 different countries.
The Soviet Union was created to secure the interests of the poor.
It was established according to socialism and communist ideology

What Was The Soviet System?

The soviet socialist republic (USSR) was formed after the socialist revolution
of 1917 in Russia.
Its aim was to establish an equalitarian society,
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In which a society based on equality was to be created by ending capitalism
and private property. Page | 8
This system was called the soviet system.
In other words, the soviet system is the system by which the Soviet Union
developed itself.

Economic Features of The Soviet System

The soviet system was based on socialism where all economic decisions
were taken by the government keeping the society in mind.
The soviet system had a planned economy (planning refers to planning for the
future
taking into account the resources currently available).
Minimum standard of living (minimum standard of living means a situation in
which a person has all those facilities without which it is difficult for him to
develop normally.)
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Unemployment is negligible (unemployment was almost non-existent in the

soviet system)
Advanced communication system Page | 9
State ownership was the dominant form of
ownership State control over land and other
productive assets
The consumer industry was very advanced (manufacturing from a small pin
to a large
item like a car)
Huge reserves of energy resources (the Soviet Union had all the major
energy resources such as minerals, oil, iron, steel etc. In abundance.)

Political Features of The Soviet System

Only one party rule ( the Soviet Union was ruled by only one party called
communist party ) .
Opposing capitalism , private ownership and free
trade No freedom to form any other political party

History of The Soviet Union

Joseph Stalin’s Regime ( 1924-53 )

He led the Soviet Union from 1924 to 1953 and he played an important
role in the development of the Soviet Union.

Work
Promoted industries
Won the second world war
Forced agglomeration of farming

Soviet Union and The Cold War

After the end of world war II in 1945, two super powers emerged in the
world. Of which the first was America and the second was the Soviet
Union.
Due to having two super powers, The Era of Cold War started in the world.
Both the super powers started trying to prove themselves better than the
other superpower.

Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev took command of the Soviet Union after Joseph Stalin
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Main Events
Cuban Missile
Page | 10
Crisis Space race
(launch of sputnik, sending Yuri Gagarin into
space) Building the Berlin Wall

Effects of The Cold War on The Soviet Union

High expenditure in the manufacturing of
weapons Lag behind western countries
Fall of the
economy Slow
growth
Diverted attention from the problems of the country

Mikhail Gorbachev
In 1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the USSR.
Two policies, Glasnost (Openness) and Perestroika (Restructuring), were
formulated by Gorbachev to reform the Soviet Union.
Which had the main objective to bring peace in the Soviet Union.

Political Reforms
Promoted democracy.
Withdrawal of forces from Afghanistan and Eastern
Europe Helped in the unification of Germany

Financial Improvement
Stopped the arms race.
Attempts were made to promote economic
development. Promoted privatization.

The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

Gorbachev tried to reform the Soviet
Union. But his efforts were completely
unsuccessful.
Those who wanted these reforms said that the reforms are taking place very
slowly and those who were opposing these reforms continued to oppose
them.
Because of this Gorbachev did not get support from anywhere.
In 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the beginning of the disintegration
of the Soviet Union.
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By 1991, the Soviet Union had completely disintegrated.

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Reasons of The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

Failure to fulfil the aspirations of the
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people. Dominant bureaucracy.
Dominance of communist party.
Heavy expenditure in the manufacturing of
weapons Lag behind western countries
Russian Dominance
Fall of the economy.
Feeling of freedom in the
people Immediate causes
Emergence of a sense of freedom in the minds of
the people Gorbachev’s reforms (Perestroika and
Glasnost)

Consequences of The Dissolution of The Soviet Union

End of Cold War
Beginning of American
supremacy End of Arms Race
End of Soviet Union
Rise of 15 new Countries
Russia became the successor of the Soviet
Union. Blow to socialist ideology
Emergence capitalist ideology
Ban on the communist party in USSR.
Countries who got independence from the Soviet Union adopted democracy
and capitalism
Russia got all the rights which Soviet Union had, such as permanent
membership in the security council of the United Nations and the status of
the Nuclear State.
All the treaties made by the Soviet Union were now to be performed by Russia.

Shock Therapy

When the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991, shock therapy was created by
the world bank and the international monetary fund to establish the
capitalist system in the newly formed countries.
Soviet Union was built on the socialist ideology and all the industries there
used to work under the government. Now after the dissolution of the Soviet
Union, capitalist system was to be established in all these countries.
Shock therapy was a provision to hand over all government industries to
private hands by auction.
In other words, turning the government sector into a private sector was shock
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therapy.

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Purpose of Shock Therapy

Privatization of State
Page | 14
Estates Free Trade
Connecting Soviet Countries to Western Economies

Results of Shock Therapy

Completely unsuccessful.
Russia’s industrial structure
collapsed Fall in Russian currency
ruble.
Destruction of social welfare system
Big companies were sold at very low
price. Increase in economics inequality
Food crisis
Encouraged black
marketing History’s largest
garage sale
Shock therapy was called the biggest garage sale in history because big
companies
were sold at the price of junk.

Why Did This Happen?

This happened because all the citizens were given vouchers to participate in
the auction. These vouchers were sold by those citizens to the black
marketers because they
needed money and at the same time they were not in a position to participate in
this sale.

Communist Countries And India

Relations between India and communist countries have been good since the
beginning. Russia has been helping India from the very beginning.
Both dreams a multipolar world.
Both countries believe in democracy.
80 bilateral agreements were signed between India and Russia in
2001. India is one of the largest Russian arms buyers.
India imports huge amount of oil from
Russia. Russia helps India in many
scientific projects.
Russia always supported India on Kashmir issue.
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Arab Revolution (Arab Spring)

Tunisia
Page | 15
Tunisia is a country in North Africa
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Zine el Abidine ben ali was the president here since

1987 It was a dictatorial Government
The media there was controlled and it could not show anything against Page | 16
the Government.
Due to these things, people were subjected to atrocities and they did not get
justice.

The Beginning of The Arab Revolution

The Arab revolution started because of the self-immolation of a poor
man named Mohammad Bouazizi.

Who Was Mohammad Bouazizi ?

Mohammad Bouazizi was a poor man
He was born on 29 March 1984 in
Tunisia. His father died when he was 3
years old.
He started working from the age of 10 and used to sell fruits.

The Main Problem

Mohammad Bouazizi had applied for license of a shop near the town hall
but he was not able to get it.
On December 17, when he reached the same place where he used to sell
fruits every day, he saw that someone else was selling his goods there.
He talked to the person and tried to remove him from there and when he did
not agree, he talked to the police.
But the police took away his fruits and his belongings and insulted him as well
as bear
beat.
Due to all these things, he became very sad and in anger, he sprinkled
kerosene on himself and set himself on fire and committed suicide.
People tried to save him but he could not survive.
While committing self-immolation, his cousin ali made a video of the incident
and this video became viral on social media because of Facebook.
He died on 4 January 2011 and thousands of people attended his funeral.

After The Death of Mohammad Bouazizi

After the death of Mohammad Bouazizi, no strong steps were taken, due to
which the anger of the people increased further.
People in Tunisia started protesting in large numbers.
To suppress the protest, bullets were fired on them by the government, so
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that people could sit peacefully in fear but this did not happen.
Due to the hike in protest, curfew was imposed and later emergency was also
imposed. Page | 17
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But in the end ben ali resigned from his post and ben ali’s rule came to an end.

Page | 18
Why Did The People of Tunisia Revolt?
Anger
Dictatorship
Corruption
Poverty
Unemployment
Suicide of Mohammed Bouazizi

After The Success of The Movement In Tunisia, The Movement Gradually Spread Throughout
North Africa and Arab Countries.

Consequences of The Arab Spring

Arab revolution did not
succeed It benefited only in
Tunisia
Libya and Syria were completely destroyed by the Arab
Revolution Military rule became stronger in some countries
Saudi Arabia and other countries handled the situation wisely

Middle East Crisis

There are mainly two topics we have to talk about in the middle east crisis.
Afghanistan Crisis (1979–
89) First Gulf War

Afghanistan Crisis (1979–89)

Afghanistan’s Political System
Afghanistan remained separate from both the world war and the cold
war
Some political changes were made in 1960 by king Zahir Shah of
Afghanistan. Elections held in Afghanistan
Given political rights to the people
Emphasis on women education
He was deposed in 1973 by the king’s cousin Dawood khan and he
himself became the president and prime minister of Afghanistan.
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Socialist Intervention
After 5 years, in 1978, the people’s democratic party of Afghanistan
(pdpa) overthrew the government of Dawood Khan. Page | 19
Pdpa was a socialist party
Under the land reform process, they started taking land from people
who had a lot of land and started distributing this land among those
who did not have land.
Because of this, the people of the village of Afghanistan got angry with
the
government because they had lands in high amount.
Due to the land reforms villagers started revolting
The government tried to suppress this rebellion but did not succeed.
USSR And Afghanistan
The socialist government formed in Afghanistan sought help from the
Soviet Union and the Soviet Union helped by providing weapons and
other materials.
Yet the villagers could not be controlled
Seeing the system deteriorating, in 1979, the Soviet Union sent its army
to Afghanistan.
The sending of soviet troops to Afghanistan was opposed by the general
assembly of 34 Muslim countries and the United Nations
But the Soviet Union did not listen to anyone and took full control of the
cities of Afghanistan and the communication system there.
Afghanistan War (1979–89)
During this, a war started between the people of Afghanistan and the
army of the Soviet Union and the people of Afghanistan named it the
war of religion.
The people of Afghanistan were supported by the us and thus
the two superpowers came face to face in the Afghanistan
War.
Osama Bin Laden was also involved in this war and due to this war,
many
terrorist organizations like Taliban and Al Qaeda Emerged.
End of Afghanistan War
In 1985, Gorbachev became the president of the Soviet Union and
began to change the system of the Soviet Union.
During this time, he withdrew his army from Afghanistan and by 1989
the Soviet
army was completely out of Afghanistan.
This is how the Afghanistan war ended
After The End of The Afghanistan War
Even after the withdrawal of the USSR army, the problem in Afghanistan
did not end
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Civil war started between all the terrorist groups that had developed
such as Al
Qaeda, Taliban and other Groups.
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Gulf War
Page | 21
Iraq occupied Kuwait in 1990
World countries tried to
convince Iraq but Iraq did not
agree At the end, UNO
allowed the use of force on
Iraq.
This military operation was named operation desert
storm.
UNO forces were sent to attack Iraq. Although this
army was a mixed army of 34 countries, but 75% of
the soldiers were from America and the general of
this army was also American.
Saddam Hussein, who was the president of Iraq at
that time, said that this war would be a war of a
hundred wars, meaning that it would be very
difficult to defeat Iraq, but nothing like this
happened and Iraq was easily defeated in a few
days and had to
withdraw from Kuwait. .
During this war America made an open display of its
powers.
America used smart bombs in this war and therefore
it was called computer war.
Simultaneously, this war was broadcasted live on TV,
due to which it was called video game war.
This decision to attack Iraq, taken by UNO was
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called dramatic because no such decision had ever
been taken by UNO before. Page | 22

CHAPTER 3
US Hegemony in World
Politics
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.America refers to the United States of America. It
covers two continents—the North and the South
America, the US is only one of the countries of the
continent which is a symbol of US hegemony.
2.After the disintegration of USSR in 1991, the first
instance of US hegemony came into observation through
Operation Desert Storm by the UN during first Gulf War
to retreat Iraqi forces from Kuwait. This operation was
dominated and won by the US due to vast technological
gap between the US military capability and other states.
3.William Jefferson (Bill) Clinton, the newly elected
President of the US in 1992 and again
in 1996, focused on soft issues like democracy
promotions, climate change and world trade rather than
of military power and security. .
4.The above mentioned policies of the US were
contradicted in response to Yugoslavian action against
predominant Albanian population in Kosovo by targeting
bombards through Operation Infinite against Al-Qaeda in
response to the bombings of US embassies in Nairobi,
Kenya, Dar-es-Salaam and Tanzania in 1998.
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5.On 11 September 2001, nineteen hijackers hailing from
a number of Arab countries took control of four Page | 23
commercial aircrafts shortly after take off and crushed
into World Trade Centre in New York, Pentagon building in
Arlington. Virginia (US Defence Department) and the
capital building of the US Congress in Pennysylvania,
came to be known as event of 9/11 in the US.
6.In response to 9/11, George W. Bush won the elections
in the US succeeding Bill Clinton. The US launched
Operation Enduring Freedom against all those suspected
behind attack in 9/11 mainly Al-Qaeda and Taliban
regime.
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7.The US forces made arrests all over the world,
transported and detained the persons in secret prisons Page | 24
like Guantanamo Bay, a US navy base in Cuba where the
prisoners did not enjoy the protection of international law
or the law of their own country or that of the US. Even the
UN representatives were not allowed to meet these
persons.
8.On 19 March 2003, the US launched Operation Iraqi
Freedom to prevent Iraq from developing Weapons of
Mass Destruction (WMD) in the ostensible purpose to
control oil fields and installing a regime in Iraq friendly to
US.
9.Hegemony is an international system with only one
centre of power to be gained and retained in the form of
military domination, economic political chart and central
superiority which was enjoyed only by the US after
disintegration of Soviet Union.
10.Hegemony as hard power is based on military
capabilities of a country and the US has proved it. The
US today spends more on its military than the next 12
powers and even technologically no other power can
match with the US.
11. Hegemony as structural power must sustain global
structure in economic sense. The US has provided global
public goods as sea lanes of communications (SLOCs) as
well as accounts for 15 percent of world trade if EU is
included and 20 per cent in world economy. The US has
contributed basic economic structure in the form of
Bretton Woods System and Degree in MBA.
12. Hegemony as soft power implies class ascendency
in social, political and ideological spheres which is more
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effective than coercion to more hand in hand and the
US was proved ultimately triumphant in this. Page | 25
13. Though the US has been a hegemonic power, still it
experiences some constraints in itself as institutional
architecture (division of power). Open nature of
American Society and the presence of only one
organisation in international system to moderate the
exercise of American Power i.e. NATO.
14. After the collapse of Soviet Union, India decided to
liberalise its
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economy and integrate it with global economy. Hence the
US also found India an attractive economic partner due Page
to| 26
technological dimension and the role of Indian-American
diaspora.
15. India needs an appropriate mix of foreign policy
strategies to deal with the US. Either India should
maintain aloofness from Washington and comprehend
its military power or to establish mutual convergences
or to lead a coalition in weaning the hegemony assay
from its dominance.
16. To deal with the hegemony, all the states bear the
different strategies either to extract benefits by operating
within hegemonic system or to stay away as far as
possible from dominant power
i.e. Russia, China and European Union have opted this
policy. Both the policies are known as Bandwagon Strategy
and to hide respectively.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.America: It covers two continents of North and South
America and the US is only one of the countries of
American continent that symbolises US hegemony.
2.9/11: To denote a series of attacks on the US by
hijackers from Arab countries on 11 Sep, 2001. It was the
most disastrous attack on the US.
3.Guantanamo Bay: A naval base in Cuba set up by the
US where prisoners are forbidden of the protection of
international law or law of their own country or that of the
US.
4.Hegemony: An international system to dominate
world by only one superpower.
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5.Qualitative Gap: It signifies US superiority in
technology and no other power could dare to challengePage | 27
the US.
6.Bandwagon Strategy: To extract benefits by
operating within hegemonic system in place of
opposing it.
7.Global Village: It refers to the US as the village
headman and all the nations as its members are
neighbours.
8.Manufacturing Consent: It refers to win the
consent of countries to the dominating power in a
manner favourable to
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ascendancy of the dominant class.
9.Bretton Woods System: A basic economic Page | 28
structure of world set up by the US after Second World
War.
10. Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOCs): It is the
naval power of hegemony that underwrites the law of the
sea and ensures freedom of navigation in international
waters. These sea routes commonly waded by merchant
ships.

CHAPTER 4
Alternative Centres of
Power
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.After the Second World War, Europe shattered the
assumptions and structures on which the European
states had based their relations.
2.To revive European economy, the US introduced
‘Marshall Plan’ to establish organisation for European
Economic Cooperation in 1948. Through OEEL, Western
European States began to cooperate on trade and
economic issues.
3.European Union established in 1992, was a group of
European Capitalist countries with a common foreign
and security policy, cooperation on justice and home
affairs and creation of single currency and also has its
own flag, anthem and founding date.
4.The European Union has economic, political,
diplomatic and military influence as the EU is the world’s
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biggest economy which gives it influence over its closest
neighbours and in Asia and Africa. And it functions asPage
an | 29
important bloc in international world economic
organisation as the World Trade Organisation.
5.In political and diplomatic influence, two members of
EU, Britain and France hold permanent seat in the UN
Security Council as well as non-permanent members in
UNSC which enabled to influence the US policies i.e.
current position on Iran’s nuclear programme, use of
diplomacy, economic investment and in case of a
dialogue with China on human rights and environmental
degradation.
6.Militarily, the EU’s combined armed forces are the
second largest in the world by spending second after the
US and Britain and France also have nuclear arsenal. And
it is the most important source of space and
communications technology also.
7.Though EU bears common interests. Still, its member
states have their own foreign relations and defence
policies that are often at odds with each other i.e. Britain
favoured the US’s Iraq invasion which other members of
EU Germany and France opposed
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America’s this policy. All these limit the ability of the EU to
act in matters of foreign relations and defence. Page | 30
8.Before and during the Second World War South East
regions of Asia suffered economic political
consequences of repeated colonialism as well as at the
end of war it confronted with the problems of nation
building which gave birth to Association of South East
Asian Nations popularly known as ASEAN for uniform
cooperation and interaction.
9.ASEAN was established in 1967 by five countries of this
region- Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and
Thailand by signing the Bangkok Declaration. Over the
years Brunei, Darussalam, Vietnam, Lao PDR, Myanmar,
and Cambodia made its strength to ten.
10.ASEAN countries celebrated the ASEAN WAY’, a form
of informal interaction, non-confrontation and
cooperation standing on three pillars in 2003 i.e. ASEAN
Security Committee, ASEAN Economic Committee and
ASEAN Socio-Cultural Committee.
11. ASEAN VISION 2020 encourages negotiations over
the conflicts in the region by mediating the end of
Cambodian conflict, East Umar Crisis and meets annually
to discuss East Asian Cooperation.
12. In recent years, India has also tried to make
agreements with ASEAN by signing Free Trade Areas
with two ASEAN members— Singapore and Thailand as
well as signed on FTA with ASEAN itself.
13. China emerged as the fastest growing economy
since economic reforms of 1978 to be projected to
overtake the US as the world’s largest economy by 2040
with the economic strength of population, land mass,
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resources, regional location and political influence.
14. After independence of People’s Republic of China in | 31
Page
1949, Soviet model of economy was adopted under the
leadership of Mao by assuring employment, social
welfare, education to all and better health as China
began to use its own resources and grow
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Chinese economy at the rate of 5-6 percent.
15. China ended its political and economic isolation Page
with| 32
major policy decisions taken in 1970s. These included
China-US relations establishment in 1972, four areas of
modernisation (Agriculture, Industry, Science and
Technology) in 1973, open door policy in 1978,
privatisation of agriculture and industries in 1982 and
1990 and setting up of special Economic Zones.
16. Regionally and globally China is going to be
recognised as an economic power due to contributory
factors i.e. integration and interdependency have
tempered its issues with Japan, the US, ASEAN, Russia,
Taiwan. Even China’s outward-looking investment and
aid policies in Latin America and Africa are projecting it
as a global player.
17. Indo-China relations experienced friendly gestures
at the moments, but 1950 onwards both the nations
were involved in the differences on the issues of Tibet
problem, border issues in Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai
Chin area of Ladakh, Chinese attack in 1962 and Chinese
contribution to Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
18. Relations between India and China began to
improve slowly from the mid-1970, by a series of talks
to resolve border issues in 1981 and now these relations
have strategic and economic dimensions.
19. Rajiv Gandhi’s visit to China in 1980, Atal Bihari
Vajpayee’s visit in 2003 have accommodated both the
countries to maintain peace and tranquillity on the
border.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.European Union: A group of European Capitalist
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countries established in 1992 founded for common
goals of foreign and security policy, cooperation and Page | 33
home affairs.
2.OEEC: Organisation for European Economic
Cooperation established in 1948 to channel aid to
West European states to cooperate on trade and
economic issues.
3.Marshall Plan: It was introduced by America to provide
financial
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help for revival of European economy.
4.ASEAN: Association of South East Asian Nations toPage | 34
accelerate economic growth through social progress and
cultural development.
5.ASEAN WAY: An interaction that is informal,
non- confrontationists and cooperative to promote
supernational structures.
6.ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF): An organisation
established in 1994 to promote coordination of security
and foreign policy.
7.Special Economic Zones (SEZs): Foreign investors
could set up their own enterprises in these zones.
8.Open Door Policy: To invite investment of
capital and technology from abroad.
9.Three Pillars of ASEAN Community: ASEAN
Security Community, ASEAN Economic Community,
ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community.
TIMELINE
1.April 1951: Six West European Countries, France,
West Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands and
Luxembourg sign the Treaty of Paris establishing the
European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC).
2.March 25, 1957: These six countries sign the
treaties of Rome establishing the European Economic
Community (EEC) and the European Atomic Energy
Community (EURATOM).
3.January 1973: Denmark, Ireland and United
Kingdom join the European Community.
4.June 1979: First direct elections to the European
Parliament.
5.January 1981: Greece joins the EC.
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6.June 1985: The Schengen Agreement abolishes border
controls among the EC numbers. Page | 35
7.January 1986: Spain and Portugal join the EC.
8.October 1990: Unification of Germany.
9.February 7, 1992: Treaty of Maastricht was signed
establishing the European Union.
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10. January 1993: The single market was created.
11. January 1995: Austria, Finland and Sweden joinPage
the| 36
EU.
12. January 2002: Euro, the new currency, was
introduced in the 12 EU members.
13. May 2004: Ten new members Cyprus, the
Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia join the EU.
14. January 2007: Bulgaria and Romania join the
EU. Slovenia adopts the EURO.

Chapter 5
Contemporary South Asia
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.South Asia is referred to as a group of seven countries
namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal,
Pakistan and Sri Lanka which stand for diversity in every
sense and constitutes geopolitical space.
2.Despite the mixed record of democratic experience, the
people in these countries share an aspiration for
democracy which can be drawn from the examples of
Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Maldives.
3.Pakistan began Post Cold War period with successive
democratic governments but suffered a military coup in
1999. In Nepal successful uprising led to restoration of
democracy in 2006. India and Sri Lanka have also
operated a democratic system, despite many limitations
and even Maldives have strengthened democracy.
4.In Pakistan, military rule and democracy are two sides
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of the coin because, during implementation of first
constitution, General Ayub Khan took the command by- Page | 37
elections, but thrown away by military due to
dissatisfaction of his rule. After 1971, an elected
government was formed under the leadership of Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto, removed by General Zia-Ul-Haq in 1977.
5.Again in 1982, in Pakistan, by a pro-democracy protest,
democratic government was established in 1988 under
the leadership of Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Later
on, the history repeated and General Pervez Musharraf
took the command in 1999 and got elected in 2005 to be
continued till date.
6.Bangladesh was formed by migrants from West
Pakistan and refused to form government by East
Pakistan despite winning all the seats. India intervened
and supported the demand of creation of East Pakistan
financially and militarily. Consequently, in December
1971, Pakistan surrendered with the formation of an
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independent country named Bangladesh.
Page | 38
7.Bangladesh drafted its own constitution declaring faith
in secularism, democracy and socialism. In 1975, Sheikh
Mujibur Rehman formed presidential setup, but was
assassinated in a military uprising. The new military ruler
Ziaur Rahman formed his own Bangladesh National Party
and won elections in 1979. He was assassinated and
another military take over followed under the leadership
of Gen. H.M. Ershad. Since 1991, representative
democracy has been working in Bangladesh.
8.Nepal was a Hindu Kingdom and became
constitutional monarchy in modern period. The struggle
for restoration of democracy began in 1990 and 2007
when king restored house of representatives. Even
today Nepal is demanding the formation of constituent
assembly.
9.Ceylon, presently known as Sri Lanka experienced
an ethnic conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils for
power sharing. LTTE demanded a separate state for
Tamil 1983 onwards with the support of Indian
government who sent Indian Peace Keeping Forces
there which was not liked by Sri Lankans.
10.Sri Lanka has maintained a democratic political
system with a considerable economic growth i.e. one of
the first developing countries to control population
growth rate, liberalized economy, and bears highest per
capita gross Domestic Product despite the ongoing
conflicts.
11. India-Pakistan conflicts in South Asian region is
most important to be sorted out. The wars between
these countries took place in 1947-48,1965 and 1971
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on the issues of Pak Occupied Kashmir (POK) and Line
of Control (LOC). Except, other issues of conflicts are Page | 39
control of Siachin glacier, acquisition of arms and
sharing of river water.
12. Both the governments are suspicious to each other
on the ground of Pakistani strategy to help Kashmiri
militants and ISI to be involved in Anti-India campaign.
Pakistan blames India for making trouble in Sindh and
Baluchistan.
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India and Bangladesh experienced differences over the
issues of sharing of Ganga and Page | 40
Brahmaputra river water, illegal immigration to India,
support for anti Indian-Islamic fundamentalists, refusal to
allow Indian troops and not to export natural gas to India.
It is the main link of India’s ‘Look East’ Policy.
14. India and Nepal also bear differences on the issues
of Nepal’s relations with China and inaction against anti-
Indian elements i.e. Maoists. But still both the countries
signed the treaty of trade and commerce in 2005 and
friendship in 2006 to provide financial and technical
assistance and to allow citizens to move without visas
and passport.
15. India and Bhutan do not share any major conflict,
but attached on the issues to need out the guerrillas and
militants from North- eastern India and involvement of
India also in big hydroelectric projects in Bhutan is the
biggest source of development aid.
16. India is supportive to Maldives in their economy,
tourism and fisheries. In November 1988, India reacted
quickly against an attack from Tamil Mercenaries on
Maldives.
17. In spite of the above-mentioned conflicts and
differences, states of South Asia recognise cooperation
and friendly relations among themselves. Hence, a
major regional initiative has been taken in the form of
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation
(SAARC) in 1982. SAARC members signed South Asian
Free Trade Agreements (SAFTA) to form free trade zone
for the whole South Asia.
WORDS THAT MATTER
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1.Geo-Politics: Geo-politics refers to the Association of
countries who are bound with each Page | 41
other geographically and their interests are also
interlinked with each other politically and economically.
2.Bilateral Talks: Talks involving the two countries
without any other mediation.
3.Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF): It was sent by
India in Sri
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Lanka to support the demand of Tamils to be recognised.
4.Seven Party Alliance (SPA): An alliance of Page | 42
seven parties in Nepal which also demanded an end
to monarch.
5.SAARC: It stands for South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation having seven members and aims
at mutual trust and understanding.
6.SAFTA: It is South Asia Free Trade Area Agreement to
trade free from custom restrictions and duties by its
member states.
7.LTTE: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam in Sri
Lanka which demanded a separate state for Tamils.
TIMELINE
1.1947: India and Pakistan emerge as an independent
nation after the end of British rule.
2.1948: Sri Lanka gains independence. Indo-Pak
conflict over Kashmir.
3.1954-55: Pakistan joins the Cold War military blocs,
SEATO and CENTO.
4.September 1960: India and Pakistan sign Indus Waters
Treaty.
5.1962: Border conflicts between India and China.
6.1965: Indo-Pak War, UN India-Pakistan Observation
Mission.
7.1966: India and Pakistan sign the Tashkent
Agreement: Six- Point proposal of Sheikh Mujib- ur-
Rahman for greater autonomy to East Pakistan.
8.March 1971: Proclamation of independence by
leaders of Bangladesh.
9.August 1971: Indo-Soviet Treaty of friendship
signed for 20 years.
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10. December 1971: Indo-Pak war, Liberation of
Bangladesh. Page | 43
11. July 1972: India and Pakistan sign the Shimla
Agreement.
12. May 1974: India conducts nuclear test.
13. 1976: Pakistan and Bangladesh establish diplomatic
relations.
14. December 1985: South Asian leaders sign the
SAARC Charter at the first summit in Dhaka.
15. 1987: Indo-Sri Lanka Accord: Indian Peace Keeping
Force
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(IPKF) operation in Sri Lanka (1987-90).
Page | 44
16. 1988: India sends troops to the Maldives to foil a
coup attempt by mercenaries.
India and Pakistan sign the agreement not to attack
nuclear installations and facilities of each other.
17. 1988-91: Democracy restoration in Pakistan,
Bangladesh and Nepal.
18. December 1996: India and Bangladesh sign
the Farakka Treaty for sharing of the Ganga waters.
19. May 1998: India and Pakistan conduct nuclear tests.
20. December: India and Sri Lanka sign the Free Trade
Agreement (FTA)
21. February 1999: Indian PM Vajpayee undertakes
bus journey to Lahore to sign a Peace Declaration.
22. June-July 1999: Kargil conflict between India and
Pakistan.
23. July 2001: Vajpayee-Musharraf Agra Summit
unsuccessful.
24. January 2004: SAFTA signed at the 12th SAARC
Summit in Islamabad.

CHAPTER 6
International Organisations
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.International organisations help countries to cooperate
to create better living conditions all over the world and
provide common platform to discuss contentious issues
and find peaceful solutions, by a mechanism, rules and
bureaucracy.
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2.The United Nations was founded as a successor to
‘League of Nations’ immediately after the Second World Page | 45
Charter by 51 states on 20th October 1945 with the
headquarter at New York.
3.The UN has 192 member states to prevent
international conflicts to facilitate co-operation. The UN’s
main organs are the General Assembly and Security
Council. The UNSC consists of five permanent members
i.e. the US, Russia, France, China and the UK, who enjoy
Veto Power. The UN’s representative head is Secretary
General.
4.The UN consists of many specialised agencies to deal
with social and economic issues like WHO, UNDP,
UNHRG, UNHCR, UNICEF, and UNESCO to work in an
efficient manner and to bring world together.
5.After the Cold War, some of the changes
occurred which affected the functioning of the UN
i. e. collapse of Soviet Union, emergence of China and
India as rising powers, entry of new members, and
confrontations with the challenges like genocide, civil
war, ethnic conflict, terrorism, nuclear proliferation etc.
6.They faced two kinds of reforms over the time i.e.
organisations structure and processes and a review of
the issues that fall within jurisdiction of UN as why veto
powers to permanent members only, dominance of
powerful countries and to play more effective role in
peace and security missions etc.
7.In 1992, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution
over the reform of UN complaining no longer
representation by
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contemporary powers, dominance of few countries based
on western values etc. Following these in January 1997,Page | 46
Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General initiated on “How the
UN should be reformed?”
8.Since 1997 onwards, a new member to be added to
the UN should fulfil the parameters of being a major
economic and military power, contributor to UN Budget,
a populous one, should respect democracy and human
rights and to make council more representative.
9.In September 2005, the heads of all member states of
the UN took the steps to make the UN more relevant by
creating peace building commissions, human rights
council, agreement to achieve Millennium Development
Goals, condemnation of terrorism, creation of democracy
fund and an agreement to wind up Trusteeship Council.
10.India is a big supporter of restructuring of the UN to
promote development and cooperation among states, to
composition of Security Council arid to include more
representation in council for its political support.
11. Being a citizen of India, we would firmly support
India’s candidature for the permanent membership of UN
Security Council on the grounds to be second most
populous country, largest democracy, initiations in the
UN, economic emergence and regular financial
contributor to the UN.
12. Some countries question India’s inclusion as
permanent members in the Security Council on the basis
of its troubled relationship with Pakistan, nuclear weapon
capabilities, and if India included, some emerging powers
(Brazil, Germany, Japan, South Africa) will also be
accommodated. France and the USA advocate that Africa
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and South America must be represented for they do not
have any representation in the present structure. Page | 47
13. The UN can not serve as a balance against US
dominance because the US is the only Superpower after
1991 and may ignore any international organisation
economically and’ militarily, its veto
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power also can stop any move damaging its interests as
well as enjoys a considerable say in the choice of Page | 48
Secretary General of the UN.
14. Despite the above mentioned strong activities of
the US, the UN serves a purpose in bringing the world
together in dealing with conflicts and social and
economic issues. The UN provides a space within which
arguments against specific US attitude and policies are
heard and compromised.
UN’S SIGNIFICANT AGENCIES
1. International Monetary Fund (IMF)
(a)At the international level, overseas financial
institutions and regulations.
(b)It consists of 180 members. Out of them, G-8
members enjoy more powers i.e. the US, Japan,
Germany, France, the UK, Italy, Canada and Russia
except China and Saudi Arabia.
(c)The US alone enjoys 16.75% voting rights.
2. World Bank
(a)It was created in 1944.
(b)It works for human development, agriculture
and rural development, environmental protection,
infrastructure and governance and provides loans
and grants to developing countries.
(c)It is criticised for setting the economic agenda of
poorer nations, attaching stringent conditions to its loans
and forcing free market reforms.
3. WTO-World Trade Organisation
(a)An international organisation to set the rules for global
trade which was set up in 1995 as a successor to General
Agreement on Trade and Tariffs (GATT) and has 157
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members, (as on 1 September 2012)
(b)Major economic powers such as the US, EU and Japan
Page | 49
have managed to use the WTO to frame rules of trade
to advance their own interests.
(c)The developing countries often complain of non-
transparent
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procedure and being pushed around by big powers.
4. IAEA-International Atomic Energy Agency Page | 50
(a)It was established in 1957 to implement US
president Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace”
proposal.
(b)It seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear
energy and to prevent its use for military purpose.
(c)IAEA teams regularly inspect nuclear facilities all over
the world to ensure that civilian reactors are not being
used for military purposes.
5. Amnesty International
(a)An NGO to campaign for the protection of human
rights all over the world.
(b)It prepares and publishes reports on human rights to
research and advocate human rights.
(c)Governments are not always happy with these
reports since a major focus of Amnesty is the
misconduct of government authorities.
6. Human Rights Watch
(a)Another international NGO involved in research and
advocacy of human rights.
(b)The largest international human rights organisation in
the US.
(c)It draws the global media’s attention to human rights
abuses.
(d)It helped in building international coalitions like the
campaigns to ban landmines, to stop the use of child-
soldier and to establish the international criminal court.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.UN Charter: A constitution of the UN to deal with
objectives of the UN.
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2.Veto: It is a negative vote to be enjoyed by five
permanent members of Security Council to stop a Page | 51
decision.
3.Secretary General: A representative head of the UN
to prepare an annual record of the UN activities.
4.WHO: World Health Organisation to deal with matters
related to health.
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5.UNICEF: United Nation’s Children Fund to deal
with child welfare. Page | 52
6.UNESCO: United Nation’s Educational, Scientific
and Cultural Organisation to deal with promotion of
education, science and culture.
7.Peace Keeping Operation: A mechanism for
restoring peace and security by sending UN controlled
troops in the affected area. TIMELINE
1.August 1941: Signing of the Atlantic Charter
by the US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and
British PM Winston S. Churchill.
2.January 1942: 26 Allied nations fighting against the
Axis Powers meet in Washington D.C., to support the
Atlantic Charter and sign the ‘Declaration by United
Nations’.
3.December 1943: Tehran Conference Declaration of
the three powers (US, Britain and Soviet Union)
4.February 1945: Yalta Conference of the ‘Big Three’
(Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) decides to organise a
United Nations conference on the proposed world
organisation.
5.April-May 1945: The 2-month long United Nations
Conference on International Organisation at San
Francisco.
6.June 26, 1945: Signing of the UN Charter by 50
nations (Poland signed on October 15; so the UN has 51
original founding members)
7.October 24, 1945: The UN was founded (hence
October 24 is celebrated as UN Day).
8.October 30, 1945: India joins the UN.
UN SECRETARIES-GENERAL
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1.Trygve Lie (1946-1952) Norway: Lawyer and
foreign minister, worked for ceasefire between India andPage | 53
Pakistan on Kashmir; criticised for his failure to quickly
end the Korean war, Soviet Union opposed second term
for him; resigned from the post.
2.Dag Hammarskjold (1953-1961) Sweden:
Economist and lawyer, worked for resolving the
Suez Canal dispute and the
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decolonisation of Africa; awarded Nobel Peace Prize
posthumously in 1961 for his efforts to settle the CongoPage | 54
Crisis, Soviet Union and France criticised his role in
Africa.
3.U Thant (1961-1971) Burma (Myanmar): Teacher
and diplomat worked for resolving the Cuban Missile
crisis and ending the Congo Crisis; established the UN
Peacekeeping force in Cyprus; criticised the US during
the Vietnam war.
4.Kurt Waldheim (1972-1981) Austria: Diplomat
and foreign minister; made efforts to
resolve the problems of Namibia and Lebanon; oversaw
the relief operation in Bangladesh, China blocked his bid
for a third term.
5.Javier Perez de Cuellar (1982-1991) Peru: Lawyer
and diplomat, worked for peace in Cyprus, Afghanistan
and El Salvador; mediated between Britain and Argentina
after the Falklands war; negotiated for the independence
of Namibia.
6.Boutros Boutros-Ghali (1992-1996) Egypt:
Diplomat, jurist, foreign minister; issued a report, ‘An
Agenda for Peace’; conducted a successful UN operation
in Mozambique; blamed for the UN failures in Bosnia,
Somalia and Rwanda; due to serious disagreements, the
US blocked a second term for him.
7.Kofi A. Annan (1997-2006) Ghana: UN official,
created the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria; declared the US-led invasion of Iraq as an illegal
act; established the Peacebuilding Commission and the
Human Rights Council in 2005; awarded the 2001 Nobel
Peace Prize.
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CHAPTER 7 Page | 55

Security in the
Contemporary World
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.‘Security’ is freedom from ‘threats’, security protects
core values from threatening by preventing, limiting and
ending the war.
2.The notions of security can be grouped into two i.e.
Traditional concept and Non-traditional concept.
Traditional notion includes both external and internal
threats. External threats experience military war,
balance of power and alliance building threats whereas
internal includes internal peace and order.
3.The means of traditional security limit the violence
upto maximum extent through disarmament, arms-
control and confidence building. Disarmament bounds
states to give up certain kinds of weapons. Arms
control regulates acquisition of weapons and
confidence building share ideas and information with
rival countries.
4.Non-traditional security focuses on human and global
security by covering all of human kinds. Human security
in a narrow sense protects individuals from internal
violence only whereas broadly it protects from hunger,
diseases and natural disasters. Global security responds
to threats like global warming, international terrorism,
health epidemics like AIDS, bird flue and so on.
5.New sources of threats include terrorism, human
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rights, global poverty, migration, and health epidemics.
Terrorism refers to political violence targeting civilians
Page | 56
deliberately and indiscriminately. Human rights threats
involve political rights, economic and social rights as
well as rights of colonised people and indigenous
minorities.
6.Global poverty suffers from low per capita income
and economic growth and high population migration
creates international political friction as states pursue
different rules for
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migrants and refugees. Health epidemics cover HIV-
AIDS, bird flu, and severe acute respiratory syndrome Page | 57
(SARS) through migration business, tourism and military
operations.
7.Cooperative security is required to alleviate poverty,
manage migration, refugee movements and control
epidemics. Cooperation may be bilateral, regional,
continental or global depending on the nature of
threat and willingness and ability of countries to
respond either nationally or internationally.
8.India has faced both traditional and non-traditional
threats to its security. India’s security strategy has four
broad components i.e. strengthening military
capabilities, to strength international norms and
institutions, to meet security challenges inside the border
and to develop to lift citizens out of poverty, missing and
economic inequalities.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Security: An essence for existence of human life to
protect from threats either external or internal.
2.Arms Control: It regulates acquisition of weapon.
3.Disarmament: It bounds states to give up
certain kinds of weapons to avoid mass destruction.
4.Confidence building: A process in which different
countries share ideas and information with rival countries
by intimating each other about their military plans.
5.Global Poverty: It refers to a country to be
suffered from low incomes and less economic growth
to be categorised as least developed or developing
countries.
6.Migration: It is the movement of human resources
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from one state to another due to some particular
reasons. Page | 58
IMPORTANT ABBREVIATIONS
1.BWC: Biological Weapons Convention
2.CWC: Chemical Weapons Convention
3.ABM: Anti-Ballistic Missile
4.START: Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty
5.NPT: Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
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6.SALT: Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty
7.SARS: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Page | 59
8.CBMS: Confidence Building Measures
9.NIEO: New International Economic Order
10. IMF: International Monetary Fund

CHAPTER 8
Environment and Natural
Resources
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.Environmental concerns in Global politics cover losing
fertility of agricultural land, and grazing, depletion of
water resources as well as loss of bio-diversity, real
danger to eco-system and coastal pollution, deteriorating
of marine environment,
2.Environmental consequences of economic growth
acquired a political shape from 1960s onwards, following
a book published in 1972 namely Limits To Growth and
Initiatives taken by United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP) to promote co- ordination and
effective response on environment at global level.
3.The Earth Summit held in Rio-de-Janerio, Brazil in 1992
revealed different views i.e. global north (the first world
countries) and global south (the third world countries).
Global North was concerned with the issues of ozone
depletion and global warming and global south focused
on economic development and environment
management by Agenda 21.
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4.Global commons refer to the areas or regions which
require common governance by international Page | 60
community on major problems of ecological issues
i.e. discovery of ozone hole over Antarctic, earth’s
atmosphere and ocean floor associated with
technology and industrial development.
5.The Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992
adopted the principle of common but differentiated
responsibilities ‘refering special needs of developing
countries in the fields as development, application and
interpretation of rules of international environmental law
to protect environment by both developing nations in a
responsible manner.
6.The 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate Change (UNFCCC) also emphasised to protect
the climate system
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on the basis of equity and in accordance with their
common but differentiated responsibilities and Page | 61
capabilities.
Example-Largest and current global emissions of
greenhouse gases originated in developed nations,
hence low emissioned developing countries like India
and China have been exempted from Kyoto Protocol
held in Japan in 1997.
7.Common property resources refer to a group who have
both rights and duties with respect to nature, levels of
use and the maintenance of a given resource with mutual
understanding and practices i.e. management of sacred
groves on state owned forest land.
8.India plays a dominating role on the environmental
issues as it signed and ratified 1997 Kyoto Protocol in
August 2002 to follow common but differentiated
responsibilities and India is a wary of recent discussions
with UNFCCC about introducing binding commitments.
India participated in global efforts by introducing National
Autofuel Policy, Electricity Act, 2003 and National Mission
on Biodiesel. Besides, India supports to adopt a common
position by SAARC countries on major environmental
issue to have a greater say regionwise.
9.Environmental movements are the movements of
groups which are environmentally conscious to challenge
environmental degradation at national or international
level aiming at raising new ideas and long term vision i.e.
in Mexico, Chille, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, India faced
enormous pressure.
10.Environmental movements are categorised as forest
movements, movements against mining and mineral
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industry for creating Water Pollution and Anti Dam
Movement. Page | 62
11. ‘Resources Geopolitics’ is all about who gets what,
when, where and how? The practices of neo-colonialism
spread on a large scale and throughout a cold war,
industrialised countries adopted methods to ensure a
steady flow of resources by deployment of military forces
near exploitation sites and sea-lanes of communications,
the stock pilling of strategic resources and
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efforts to prop up friendly governments.
12. The global economy relied on oil as a portable and Page | 63
essential fuel. The history of petroleum is the history of
war and struggle. Water is another important resource
relevant to global politics. Regional variations and
increasing scaring of fresh water may also lead to
conflicts in the world to play politics.
13. Indigenous people bring the issues of environment,
resources and politics together. Indigenous people live
with their social, economic, cultural customs in particular
areas who speak of their struggle, agenda, and rights to
have equal status i.e. Island states in ocean region,
Central and South America, Africa, India and South East
Asia.
14. The issues related to rights of indigenous
communities have been neglected in domestic and
international politics for long. The World Council of
Indigenous People was formed in 1975 which became
first of 11 indigenous NGOs to receive consultative status
in the UN.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Earth Summit: A conference held in Rio de Janeiro
(Brazil) in June 1992 on Environment and Development
to deal with various environmental problems.
2.Agenda 21: The Earth Summit recommended a list of
practices in reference of development to attain
sustainability, called Agenda 21.
3.Kyoto Protocol: An international agreement setting
targets for industrialised countries to cut their
greenhouse gas emissions was agreed to in 1997 in
Kyoto in Japan, based on principles set out in UNFCCC.
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4.UNFCCC: The 1992 United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change provided that parties Page | 64
should act to protect the climate system with common
but differentiated responsibilities.
5.Indigenous People: Indigenous people comprise
the descendants of peoples who inhabited the present
territory of a
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country at the time when persons of different culture
arrived there from different parts of the world. Page | 65

CHAPTER 9
Globalisation
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.Globalisation is the integration of economy of a
country in the process of free flow of trade and capital. It
may also include ‘Brain drain’ across borders.
2.Globalisation increases the volume of trade in goods
and services, inflows private foreign capital, increases
foreign direct investment, creates new jobs,
strengthens domestic economies, improves productive
efficiency and healthy competition.
3.Globalisation may have negative impacts also as it
failed to generate sufficient employment, modern
methods of cultivation are not acquainted to less
educated persons, it creates income inequality and
exploits natural resources and labour force.
4.The globalisation is the result of historical factors,
technological innovations, liberalisation of foreign trade
and investment policies, and opening of multinational
companies.
5.Globalisation consequences may be political,
economical and cultural, politically stunts’ capacity has
received a boost with enhanced technologies to collect
information about its citizens.
6.Economic flows in various forums, like commodity,
capital, people and ideas prompts rich countries to invest
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their money in countries other than their own. It also
draws attention towards the role of JMF and WTO in Page | 66
determining economic policies across the world.
7.Cultural globalisation emerges and enlarges our
choices and modify our culture without overwhelming the
traditional norms i.e. burger can not be a substitute for
masala dosa. Hence, it broadens our cultural outlook and
promotes cultural homogenisation.
8.Globalisation has been criticised on political, economic
and cultural grounds i.e. politically it weakens the state
by reducing its sovereignty. Economically it has made
the rich richer and the poor poorer creating disparities.
Culturally there has been harmed
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traditions and lost age old values and ways. The World
Social Forum (WSF) has also opposed neo-liberal Page | 67
globalisation.
9.In India, Globalisation has led to setting up of foreign
companies as India realised the need for relating the
Indian economy with the world by responding to 1991
financial crisis.
10.Globalisation process includes the thrust to
liberalisation or privatisation. Liberalisation proclaims
freedom of trade and investment, controls allocation of
resources in domestic economy, rapid technological
progress whereas privatisation allows private sector and
other foreign companies to produce goods and services.
11. Resistance to globalisation in India has come from
different quarters i.e. left wing protests to economic
liberalisation, trade unions of industrial workforce
organised protest against multinationals, the patents,
resistance from political right i.e. objecting to various
cultural influences of foreign T.V. channels, celebration
of Valentine’s Day and Westernisation of dress of girls
students in schools and colleges.
9.Environmental movements are the movements of
groups which are environmentally conscious to challenge
environmental degradation at national or international
level aiming at raising new ideas and long term vision i.e.
in Mexico, Chille, Brazil, Malaysia, Indonesia, India faced
enormous pressure.
10.Environmental movements are categorised as forest
movements, movements against mining and mineral
industry for creating Water Pollution and Anti Dam
Movement.
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11. ‘Resources Geopolitics’ is all about who gets what,
when, where and how. The practices of neo-colonialism Page | 68
spread on a large scale and throughout a cold war,
industrialised countries adopted methods to ensure a
steady flow of resources by deployment of military forces
near
exploitation sites and sea-lanes of communications, the
stock pilling of strategic resources and efforts to prop up
friendly governments.
 SahilSir’s
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12. The global economy relied on oil as a portable and
essential fuel. The history of petroleum is the history Page
of | 69
war and struggle. Water is another important resource
relevant to global politics. Regional variations and
increasing scaring of freshwater may also lead to
conflicts in the world to play politics.
13. Indigenous people bring the issues of environment,
resources and politics together. Indigenous people live
with their social, economic, cultural customs in
particular areas who speak of their struggle, agenda,
and rights to have equal status i.e. Island states in
Oceanic region, Central and South America, Africa, India
and South East Asia.
14. The issues related to rights of indigenous
communities have been neglected in domestic and
international politics for long. The World Council of
Indigenous People was formed in 1975 which became
first of 11 indigenous NGOs to receive consultative status
in the UN.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Globalisation: It signifies integration of an
economy with the economies of other countries under
the process of free flow of trade and capital.
2.World Social Forum: A global platform to bring
together a wide coalition of human rights activists,
environmentalists and women activists.
3.Privatisation: It allows private sector companies
to produce goods and services in a country.
4.Liberalisation: It signifies relaxation of government
rules and regulations relating to activities in sendee
and industrial sector.
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5.Cultural hetrogenisation: It signifies cultural
differences and distinctive nature of cultures to be Page | 70
generated by globalisation.

TERM 2ND
CHAPTER 10
Era of One-Party
Dominance
FACTS THAT MATTER
1.After independence, our leaders became conscious of
critical role of politics in a democracy as they wanted to
run politics as a method to sort out problems as well as
to decide and pursue the public interest.
2.Consequently, the Election Commission of India came
into existence in January 1950, Sukumar Sen became
first Chief Election Commissioner of India to hold
elections in the country. This commission required the
drawing of the boundaries of electoral constituencies,
electoral roll consisting eligible voters to hold free and
fair elections.
3.The first general election of India became a landmark
due to its competitiveness, encouraging
participation, fair results and proved its critics wrong not
to hold elections in conditions of poverty. . –
4.In the 1952 election Congress party scored a big
victory but it was not in power in the states like
Travancore—Cochin i.e. Kerala, Madras and Orissa.
Congress dominated in India due to identification with
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freedom struggle, popular appeal of charismatic leaders,
a broad manifesto including every section of society and Page | 71
consensus building role of party.
5.Congress was founded by Dr. A.O. Hume in 1885 as a
view to express the feelings of discontentment changed
to a political party in the form of social and ideological
coalition by accommodating different social groups and
individuals holding different beliefs and ideologies. Even
in pre-independence days, many organisation and parties
with their own constitutions and organisational structures
were allowed to exist within the Congress.
6.Factions are the groups formed inside the party. The
coalition nature of the Congress Party encouraged
various factions which were based on either ideological
considerations or personal
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ambitions or rivalries.
Page | 72
7.Before the first General Election of 1952, some of the
vibrant and opposite parties came into existence which
gained as a token of representation only to maintain
democratic character. These parties kept ruling party
under check, prevented resentment, groomed leaders,
alongwith a mutual respect and among Congress leaders
as well as opposition parties leaders.
8.The origin of the socialist party can be traced back to
the mass movement stage of the Indian National
Congress which was formed in 1934 by Acharya
Narendra Dev and later on, it was separated to form
socialist party in 1948 with ideology of democratic
socialism and criticised capitalism.
9.In the early 1920s communist groups emerged in
different parts of India having a belief of communism.
The Communist Party of India was primarily secular,
modem and authoritarian.
10.The Bharatiya Jana Sangh wTas formed in 1951 by
Shyama Prasad Mukherjee with the ideology of one
country, one culture and one nation and called for a
reunion of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat.
11. Swatantra Party was formed in August 1959 after
the Nagpur Resolution of the Congress which called for
land ceilings. It’s important leaders were C.
Rajgopalachari, K.M. Munshi, N.G. Ranga, and Minoo
Masani. Its ideology emphasised on the free economy
and less involvement of government in controlling the
economy and advocated closer relations with the USA.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Electronic Voting Machine (EVM): It is a voting
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machine to record voters’ performances on electric
device, used through election processes. Page | 73
2.First Past the Post System: This is the simple
majority system in which the candidate gets the
maximum amount of votes is declared as elected.
3.Ideological Oriented Party: It is the party in which
policies and decisions are formulated under ideological
considerations.
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4.Interest-Oriented Party: This party protects
particular interests and promotes the same also i.e. Page | 74
caste, community, region, tribes etc.
5.Charismatic Leader Oriented Party: It is the party
in which leader holds a very strong position and is the
nucleus of the party.

CHAPTER 11
POLITICS OF PLANNED
DEVELOPMENT
FACTS THAT MATTER

1.Due to rising Global Demand for Iron, the reserved

Iron-resource of Orissa has been an important
investment destination to be signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to bring in capital investment and
employment opportunities. Some conflicts arose in
Orissa like tribal population feared to be displaced from
home and environmentalists became worried about
environmental pollution.
2.‘Development’ refers to process of living standard and
attaining an economic level of industrial production.
Immediately after independence, the Indian government
took up the tasks of poverty attenuation, social and
economic redistribution and development of agriculture.
3.Planning is a systematic regulation of purposeful
activity to achieve national goals. India was inspired by
USSR for planning to provide basic necessities of life i.e.
advanced education, medical care and technological
skills. ‘Bombay Plan’ was drafted in 1944 to make the
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states to take major initiatives in industrial and other
economic investments. Page | 75
4.The Planning Commission of India was set up in
1950 as an ‘Extra-constitutional body’ alongwith
Prime Minister as its chairman, ministers incharge
and some other members to be advisory in nature. It
helps to reduce the wastage of time and increase the
per capita income.
5.Before independence, the need for planning was felt
to set up National Planning Committee in 1930s to
collect data and setting aims as well as opted for five
year plans and annual budget.
6.The first five year plan, commenced in 1951,
drafted by economist K.N. Roy aiming at
investment in dams and irrigation, land reforms and to
raise the level of National Income. It differed from second
five year plans
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which stressed on heavy industries by bringing about
quick structural transformation. 1 Page | 76
7.India did not only follow capitalist or socialist economy
but adopted mixed economy to co¬exist private and
public sector also, to attain rapid economic development
aiming at social welfare and private owned means of
production to be regulated by the state.
8.Second five-year plan emphasised on heavy
industrialisation even in rural areas, being criticised for
the creation of prosperity in urban and industrial sections
at the cost of rural welfare. It was argued also on the
ground to be a failure not that of policy but of its
non¬implementation of politics of land owning classes.
9.During the planning period, the Agrarian sector
witnessed a serious attempt at land reforms to
abolish Zamindari system, consolidate the lands.
These were not much successful due to some
drawbacks i.e. people violated laws under
considerable political influence and some laws
remained only on papers.
10.Between 1965 and 1967, severe droughts occurred
in many parts of country and it was in Bihar to feel a
famine situation. On the other hand food prices also hit
a high in Bihar and due to government’s policy of
zoning, trade of food across states was prohibited,
which reduced the availability of food in Bihar.
11. The Green Revolution emphasised on new strategies
of agricultural practice to be offered by government i.e.
high yielding variety of seeds, fertilizers, pesticide better
irrigation at highly subsidised prices. Green Revolution
produced favourable conditions for poor peasants and
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made the ‘Middle Peasant Sections’ politically influential
Green Revolution had some negative effects also i.e. Page
it | 77
created a gap between landlords and poor and it
delivered only a moderate agricultural growth.
12. The ‘White Revolution’ in Gujarat was started by
Varghese Kurien known as the Milkman of India’. He
launched Gujarat Cooperative Milk and Marketing
Federation Ltd., which further launched ‘Amul’. The Amul
pattern became a uniquely appropriate model for rural
development and poverty alleviation which came to
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be known as white revolution.
13. The Kerala model was based on ‘Decentralised Page | 78
Planning’ to focus on education, health, land reforms,
effective food distribution and poverty alleviations
taken initiative to involve people in making plans at
panchayat, block and district level. WORDS THAT
MATTER
1.Planning: A systematic regulation to optimum use of
resources and to reduce wastage of time.
2.Capitalist Economy: The economy in which private
sectors are prioritised in place of social welfare.
3.Socialist Economy: It aims at the public sector
and planning with the aim to establish egalitarian
society.
4.Bombay Plan: It was a joint proposal of a section of
big industrialists for setting up a planned economy in
the country to be drafted in 1944.
5.Planning Commission: It is an ‘extra-constitutional
body’ to make plans for the country to set up in March
1950 with the Prime Minister as its Chairman.
6.Plan Budget: It is the amount that is spent on a five-
year basis as per the priorities fixed by the plan.
7.Mixed Economy: The economy in which the
private and the public sector both co-exist.

CHAPTER 12
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India’s External Relations
Page | 79

FACTS THAT MATTER

1.Immediately after independence, India faced the twin
challenges of Welfare and democracy. Moreover, India
started participating in the world affairs as an
independent nation state with the overall context like the
legacy of many international disputes left by the British,
pressures created by partition and poverty alleviation.
2.India was born in the backdrop of world war, hence it
decided to conduct foreign relations with an aim to
respect the sovereignty of other nations to achieve
security through maintenance of peace. For this, India
laid down directive Principles of State Policy in the Article
51 of Indian Constitution.
3.The foreign policy of a nation is the interplay of
domestic and external factors. Pt. J.L. Nehru was the
‘Chief Architect of India’s Foreign Policy’ with the
objectives of preserving sovereignty of India, protection
of territorial integrity and promotion of rapid economic
development. Hence India adopted NAM to stay away
from any military blocs.
4.Nehru’s Era established the contacts between India
and States in Asia and Africa by convening conferences
on Asian Relations (March 1947), Indonesia’s Freedom
Struggle (1949), decolonisation process, and engaged
herself in Bandung Conference in 1955 .with the newly
independent Asian and African Nations.
5.Panchsheel, the five principles of peaceful co-existance
(29 April 1954) between India and China was a stronger
step towards friendship and relations. India advocated
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China’s new government as a communist even in the UN
after Chinese revolution in 1949 to ahead a friendly step.
Page | 80
6.India and China began to conflict on annexation of
Tibet by China and suppressed Tibetan culture also.
China claimed Aksai Chin area and NEFA within the
Indian territory, which differences
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could not be resolved despite correspondence and
discussions and led India to indulge in conflict. Page | 81
7.India and Pakistan conflicted on initiative of Pakistan’s
serious armed conflict over Kashmir issue in 1965. The
UN intervened and made the both to sign Tashkent
Agreement in 1966 to relieve the situation. But 1965 war
added to India’s already difficult economic situation.
8.India’s foreign policy reflects her desire to be an
important regional power which reflected during
Bangladesh War 1971 when there were clashes between
East and West Pakistan and India supported freedom
struggle in Bangladesh and declared unilateral ceasefire
with the surrender of Pakistan. India and Pakistan signed
Shimla Agreement on 3rd July 1972 to formalise the
return of Peace.
9.India’s Nuclear Policy advocates no first use and
reiterates India’s commitment to global verifiable on
non-discriminatory nuclear disarmament leading to
nuclear weapons free world. Pt.
J.L. Nehru was against nuclear weapons, so he placed
nuclear disarmament and considered NPT as
discriminatory and India has always been committed to
use these weapons for peaceful purposes.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Non-alignment: A policy not to join any military
alliances created due to cold war.
2.Foreign Policy: It is an interplay of domestic
and external factors of a nation.
3.Panchsheel: Five principles of peaceful co-
existence to be signed in 1954 between India and
China.
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4.Bandung Conference: An Afro-Asian conference in
Bandung in 1955 to establish NAM and India’s Page | 82
engagement with Asian and African nations.
5.NEFA: North-Eastern Frontier Agency known much of
the state of Arunachal Pradesh in 1960s.

CHAPTER 13
The Crisis of Democratic Order
FACTS THAT MATTER

1.The non-Congress parties opposed the Congress due to

personalisation of politics. The ‘Marxist-Leninist’ groups
were strong in West-Bengal, which used arms and
insurgent techniques to overthrow capitalist order to
establish political system. But the state government took
stringent measures to suppress them.
2.The first nationwide Satyagraha was organised by
Jayaprakash Narayan for Indira Gandhi’s resignation. He
made people aware not to obey illegal and ‘immoral
orders’ by a massive demonstration in Delhi’s Ramlila
ground on June 25, 1975, as well as Indira Gandhi’s
elections were also declared invalid on grounds to use
government servants inter-election campaign on an
election petition filed by Raj Narain, a socialist leader.
3.Railway strike of 1974 was called by ‘National
Coordination Committee’ led by George Fernandes for
pressing their demands related to bonus and service
conditions. The government declared the strike illegal
and deployed the territorial army to protect railway
trades. Thus, strike was called off after twenty days
without any settlement.
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4.Before, the declaration of emergency, many differences
arose between the government and the ruling party Page | 83
leading to a strain between judiciary, legislature and
executive on issues of intervention in constitutional
provisions by government or parliament. It was proved in
the case of Keshavanand Bharti, where the judiciary
declared that parliament cannot amend in constitutional
basic features in a controversial manner. It mixed up
constitutional interpretations and political ideologies
rapidly.
5.In response to Raj Narain’s petition, on 25 June 1975,
the government declared emergency on
recommendation of Prime Minister on a ground of threat
of international disturbances, which invoked Article 352
of Constitution to bring law and order, restore
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efficiency and above all, implement the pro-poor welfare
programmes. Page | 84
6.The proclamation of Emergency in 1975 had far
reaching consequences and affected every spheres
of life such as:
(а) lt affected civil liberties by making large-scale arrests
as well as citizen’s right to life and liberty were also taken
away.
(b)It affected relationship between the executive and
judiciary to bring new changes in the constitution by
42nd amendment like duration of legislatures, elections
can be postponed by one year during an emergency.
(c)It affected Mass Media also i.e. ‘Press censorship’.
7.After emergency was imposed, question and debates
arose either emergency was necessary or not. The
government argued that opposition party must allow
elected ruling party to govern according to its policies
whereas critics argued that people had the right to
publicly protest against the government.
8.The State commission headed by J.C. Shah, was
appointed in May 1977 by Janata Party government to
enquire into several aspects of allegations of abuse of
authority, excesses and malpractices committed and
action taken in the wake of emergency and Shah
Commission found out to be many excesses committed,
maximum arrests under preventive detention law, illegal
restrictions on press and verbal orders to cut electricity
at 2
a.m. of all newspaper presses.
9.Emergency taught many lessons firstly, to be difficult
to do away with democracy, secondly, necessary the
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advice to proclaim emergency in writing (by president)
by council of ministers, thirdly, it made everyone more
Page | 85
aware of the value of civil liberties.
10.As soon as the emergency was over and the Lok
Sabha elections were announced in 1977 to be turned
into a referendum. Hence politics after emergency was
characterised by two major developments:
(a)1977 elections defeated Congress on people’s verdict
against emergency and opposition fought on the slogan
‘save democracy’.
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(b) Midterm elections 1980 were held due to Janata
Party lacked direction, leadership and a common Page | 86
programme as well as could not bring any fundamental
change in policies pursued by Congress.
11. The legacy of emergency of 1975 was felt in every
spheres of life and the politics which can be described as
a period of constitutional and political crisis to have its
origin in constitutional battle over the jurisdiction of the
parliament and the judiciary. WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Emergency: In an emergency, the federal distribution
of power remain practically suspended and all powers
were concentrated in the hands of Union government.
2.Press-censorship: Newspapers were supposed to
get prior approval before publishing any material.
3.Preventive Detention: The people were
arrested on the ground/apprehension to commit
any offence in future.
4.Marxist-Leninist: This group was strong in West
Bengal which had taken to arms and insurgent
techniques for overthrow of capitalist order and
established political system.
5.Twenty Point Programme: It was announced by
Indira Gandhi to bring law and order and restore
efficiency including land reforms, land redistribution,
eradication of bonded labour etc.
6.Satyagraha: It emphasised on peaceful
demonstration as if people are fighting for
truthfulness and lawfulness, no need to adopt violent
methods against the government or entities.
CHAPTER 14
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Rise of Popular Movements
Page | 87

FACTS THAT MATTER

1.A protest against commercial logging to be permitted
by the government, began a world famous
environmental movement i.e. Chipko Movement by both
men and women on refusal of permission to villagers to
fell ash trees for agricultural tools and allotted the same
land to sports manufacturer. It included a novel aspect
in the form of active participation of women with the
agenda of social issues.
2.On dissatisfaction with the attitude of the government,
people come together and raise voice to fulfil their
demands. These movements are either party based and
non-party based movements. Party based movements
are supported by political parties (Trade Union
Movement in Kolkata, Kanpur, Bombay etc.) and non-
party based movements are based on the loss of faith in
existing democratic institutions or electoral politics
(Students and Youth from different sections merge
themselves).
3.Non-party movements emerged due to disillusions
among many sections of society, failure of Janata
experiment, a Gulf between Urban industrial sector,
political instability, existence of social inequality and
sense of injustice.
4.Dalit Panthers was a militant organisation of Dalit
Youth to be formed in 1972 in Maharashtra. Dalit
Panthers addressed the issues to fight against caste-
based inequalities, demanded effective implementation
of reservations and social justice by restoring a mass
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action in various states.
5.Bharatiya Kisan Union was one of leading farmers Page | 88
movement in the form of agrarian struggle of farmers
against process of liberalisation of Indian Economy. The
BKU demanded higher government floor prices, abolition
of restrictions, guaranteed supply of electricity and the
provision of a government pension to farmers.
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6.The Anti-Arrack Movement was started by rural women in the state of Andhra
Pradesh against alcoholism, mafias by a mobilisation of women to ban on the sale Page | 89
of alcohol. This movement openly discussed the issues of domestic violence like
dowry, sexual violence etc.
7.Narmada Bachao Andolan was a loose collective local organisation’s movement
to save river Narmada. It opposed the construction of multipurpose dam known as
Narmada Sagar project questioned ongoing developmental projects also. NBA was
shifted from its initial demand for rehabilitation to total opposition to the Dam. It
achieved comprehensive National Rehabilitation Policy 2003 by government.
8.The movements are not only about rallies or protests but these involve a gradual
process of coming together by making people aware of their rights and
expectations to contribute in the expansion of democracy rather than causing
disruptions.
9.The movement for right to information started in 1990 on demand of records of
famine relief work and accounts of labourers by Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghthan
(MKSS). Finally, it was legislated and became a law in 2005.
WORDS THAT MATTER
1.Party-based Movements: These movements are supported by political parties
but activists do not participate in elections formally.
2.Non-party Based Movements: These movements involve a mass-
mobilisation which remain outside party politics.
3.MKSS: It was Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan which demanded records
of famine, relief work and accounts of labourers.
4.Dalit Panthers: A militant organisation of Dalit Youth formed in 1972 in
Maharashtra against caste based inequalities and social injustice.
CHAPTER 15

Regional Aspirations
Regional aspirations

In 1947, India got independence from the British raj, in that period building a
nation by connecting the whole country together was no less than a challenge.
But all the leaders of our country established India as a nation by their
understanding.
But the challenges related to nation building were not completely over in that
period and their impact was visible in future also.
As we all know, India is a country full of diversities. People who speak many
languages, follow many religions and belong to many castes live here.
Because of these characteristics, the demands, desires and aspirations of every
community are different. Due to which India had to face many challenges and
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problems to be established as a nation.
Page | 90
Government’s view
India established itself as a democratic nation and assured to accept all regional
differences and demands.
India saw the demands and aspirations of the regional people not as a challenge
but as a supporter of democracy and a means of development and at the same
time tried to
ensure that regional issues were also addressed in the policy making process.
In this lesson, we will mainly deal with the same challenges that India had to face
after independence as well as know that how India faced those challenges and
found solutions.

Challenges
After independence, India had to face many challenges.
There were large-scale agitations for separation from India in Jammu and
Kashmir and parts of the northeast.
There were also large-scale agitations in Nagaland and Mizoram demanding
separation
from India.
The demand for the formation of states on linguistic basis gained
momentum. The Punjabi speaking people demanded a separate
state for themselves.
In some parts of southern India, there was opposition to making Hindi the official
language of the country.
Many demands came to the fore to re-determine the internal boundaries of the
states of the country.
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Post Independence Situation

Jammu and Kashmir Page | 91

Soon after independence, India had to face the Jammu and Kashmir dispute.
The state of Jammu and Kashmir is situated on the northernmost part of India.
Before independence, Jammu and Kashmir used to be a princely state, whose
king was Hari Singh.
Raja Hari Singh wanted to remain independent whereas Pakistan used to say that
Jammu and Kashmir has more Muslim population, therefore Jammu and Kashmir
should be included in Pakistan.
In view of this demand, Pakistan attacked Jammu and Kashmir in 1947 with the aim
of capturing Jammu and Kashmir immediately after independence.
Raja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir sought help from India and India helped
him.
In the meantime, Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signed the instrument of India’s
accession and officially Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India.
In the meantime, it was also said that when the situation becomes normal, a
plebiscite
will be held to know, which country people of Jammu and Kashmir want to join,
but this referendum has not been conducted till date and Jammu and Kashmir
was given some special rights under article 370.
During the war in 1947, Pakistan occupied some part of Jammu and Kashmir, which
Pakistan calls Azad Kashmir and by India it is called POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir)

The main problem

After the end of the war, Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India.
The following special rights were given to Jammu and Kashmir in the Indian
constitution through articles 370 and 35a:
Separate
constitution
Separate flag
Approval of prime minister as chief minister and Sadar-E-Riyasat as
governor.
Preventing non-Kashmiris from buying property in Kashmir.
The need for the approval of the legislative assembly of Jammu and
Kashmir to apply the law of India in Kashmir etc.
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External and internal disputes related to Jammu and Kashmir

External dispute
Page | 92
Since independence, ‘Pakistan’ has been claiming that the number of
Muslims in Kashmir is high, therefore the Kashmir valley should be a
part of Pakistan, but India has always opposed this because the king of
Kashmir Hari Singh himself signed the instrument of accession of India.
At the same time, India also complains about the promotion of separatism
and terrorism by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.

Internal dispute
India has given special status to Jammu and Kashmir by article 370
and 35a in the constitution, which is widely opposed.
Many thinkers believe that Jammu and Kashmir should also be given
rights like other states of India so that it too can be fully integrated
with India.
While some others hold that the autonomy given by articles 370 and 35a is
not
sufficient for Jammu and Kashmir.

Political system of Jammu and Kashmir

In the early phase of Jammu and Kashmir, Sheikh Abdullah’s national conference
party had a deep influence on the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.
After becoming the prime minister, Sheikh Abdullah started the policies of land
reforms on a large scale in Jammu and Kashmir, which benefited the common
people.
Seeing the growing fame of sheikh Abdullah in Jammu and Kashmir, the
central government removed him from in 1953 and kept him in captivity
for many years.
The leaders who came after Sheikh Abdullah were not so effective and many
questions were raised on the electoral system of Jammu and Kashmir.
Between 1953-74, the congress had a great influence in the political system of
Jammu and Kashmir, the national conference ran the government with the
support of the
congress and after some time the national conference merged with the congress.
In 1965, some changes were made in the provision of the constitution of Jammu
and Kashmir and the name of the prime minister was changed to chief minister,
thus
Ghulam Mohammad Sadiq became the first chief minister of Jammu and
Kashmir. In 1974 an agreement was signed between Indira Gandhi and
Sheikh Abdullah and
Sheikh Abdullah was made the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
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Sheikh Abdullah won the 1977 assembly elections with a huge majority and
became the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
After the death of sheikh Abdullah in 1982, his son Farooq Abdullah became the chief
Page | 93
minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
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But after some time, he was sacked by the governor, due to which a feeling of
resentment towards the central government was created in the minds of the
people of Kashmir. Page | 94
This political turmoil continued till 1986, and after that the congress and the national
conference formed an alliance.
In the 1987 assembly elections, the national conference and the congress
alliance won a
landslide victory and Farooq Abdullah became the chief minister.
But it was believed that there was some misconduct in these elections.
By 1989, the demand for separatism in Jammu and Kashmir started increasing
and gradually Jammu and Kashmir came under the grip of militant movement.
During the 1990s, Jammu and Kashmir witnessed many incidents of violence
due to
separatists and insurgents, the insurgents were being given economic and
military support by Pakistan.
After this, assembly elections were held in 1996 in which Farooq Abdullah’s
government was formed.
Fair elections were again held in Jammu and Kashmir in 2002, in which the
national conference was replaced by the People’s Democratic Party and the
congress government came to power.

Political system of Jammu and Kashmir after 2002

After two assembly elections, Mufti Mohammad was the head of the
government for the first 3 years and after that Ghulam Nabi Azad of congress
was made the chief
minister but due to president’s rule he could not complete his term.
The next assembly elections were held in 2008 and the National Conference and
the Indian national congress formed the government.
Re-elections were held in the state in 2014 which recorded the highest turnout
in the
last 25 years and a coalition government of PDP and BJP was formed with Mufti
Mohammad Sayeed as the chief minister.
After the death of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed in April 2016, her daughter
Mehbooba mufti became the first woman chief minister of the state.

Current status of Jammu and Kashmir

Article 370 was revoked by the government on august 5, 2019 and the special status
of Jammu and Kashmir was abolished
At present, Jammu and Kashmir is divided into two union territories, “Jammu
and
Kashmir” and “Ladakh”.
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Punjab
The partition of Punjab between India and Pakistan took place at the time of
Page | 95
independence, which brought about a major change in the social structure of
Punjab.
A similar partition was done after independence in 1966 as well and two new
states Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were created separately from Punjab, due
to which the social system of Punjab changed in a big way.

Akali dal and Punjab

The Akali dal was formed in the 1920s as the political wing of the Sikhs.
In 1967 and 1977, the Akali dal formed a coalition government in Punjab.
The Akali dal government formed in 1977 was dismissed by the center before
completing its term.
Somewhere the Akali dal was aware that their position was weak
politically. They did not enjoy much support among the Hindus of
Punjab
They had the support of Sikh community, but like other communities, it was
divided
into castes and for this reason his support was weakening.

Demand for autonomy

Seeing their weak position, a section of the Sikhs raised the demand of autonomy
for Punjab.
In 1973 a conference was organized at Anandpur Sahib and a resolution was
passed which is known as Anandpur Sahib Resolution
It mainly defined the relationship between the center and the state,
emphasizing the aspirations of the Sikhs and proclaiming the dominance and
supremacy of the Sikhs.
The Anandpur sahib resolution had no significant impact on the general Sikh
community.
When the Akali dal government was dismissed in 1980, the Akali dal launched
an
agitation on the issue of water sharing between Punjab and neighbouring states.
Some religious leaders also raised the demand for an autonomous Sikh identity
and some extremists supported the demand to separate from India and create
a ‘Khalisthan’.

Agitation and violence

Soon the movement passed from the hands of moderate Akalis to the hands of
extremist elements and this movement took the form of armed rebellion.
These militants made the Golden Temple (A Sikh pilgrimage site in Amritsar), their
headquarters and converted it into an armed fort.
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The Indian government started “Operation Blue Star” to get all these militants
out of the golden temple.
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Under this operation, military action was carried out in the golden temple, due
to which this historic temple was damaged and the sentiments of the Sikhs
were deeply hurt. Page | 97
The Sikh community considered this military action against their religious
sentiments, which further strengthened the extremist group and the extremists.

Indira Gandhi’s death, anti-Sikh riots and peace

On 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was shot by her own bodyguards and Indira
Gandhi died. He did this to avenge Operation Blue Star.
After this incident, violence against the Sikh community erupted in Delhi and
many
parts of North India.
This violence lasted for almost 2 weeks and in Delhi alone more than 2000 Sikhs
were killed in this violence.
Its impact was also seen on a large scale in areas like Kanpur and Bokaro.
Rajiv Gandhi, who became the prime minister in the 1984 elections, started talks
with the moderate Akali leaders.
In July 1985, Rajiv Gandhi signed an agreement with the Akali dal president
Harchand Singh Longowal, also known as Rajiv Gandhi longowal pact or Punjab
pact.
In this agreement it was agreed that Chandigarh would be given to Punjab and a
commission would be appointed to resolve the border dispute between Haryana
and Punjab.
At the same time, it was also decided in this agreement that a tribunal would be
set up to decide the sharing of water of Raavi and Vyaas rivers between Punjab,
Haryana and Rajasthan.

After the agreement

The situation did not return to normal even after the
agreement: Violence continued in Punjab for almost a
decade.
Because of this violence, only 24 percent of the people came to vote in the
elections held in 1992.
The security forces made massive efforts and suppressed this militancy but due
to all these reasons the common people of Punjab had to face a lot of problems.
The situation normalized in around 1997 and in the elections held during this
period,
the alliance of Akali Dal and BJP won with a huge majority.
After that, with the passage of time, the situation in Punjab has become normal
and that politics is moving towards secularism.

Dravidian movement
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The Dravidian movement was initiated by the Tamil social reformer EV

Ramaswamy Naicker who was also known as Periyar.
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A new political organization was also established out of this movement.

This organization mainly opposed the supremacy of Brahmins and spoke of
emphasizing regional prestige while denying the political, economic and cultural Page | 99
dominance of Northern India.
Initially, the Dravidian movement used to make its demands on the basis of the
whole of south India, but due to not getting much support in other southern
states, this movement was confined to Tamilnadu only.
Later it was partitioned and its entire political legacy fell into the hands of the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam. Also known as DMK
In the period from 1953 to 54, the DMK started a 3-point movement with the
following three demands:
Kallakudi railway station should be renamed as Dalmiyapuram.
The history of Tamil culture should be given more importance in the
school curriculum.
Opposed the state government’s Shilp karma education program
because according to the organization it promoted Brahminical
outlook.
DMK got success in the anti-Hindi movement of 1965 and its influence among
the
people increased.
The DMK had a major success in the 1967 assembly elections and since then
Dravidian organizations have dominated the political system in Tamil Nadu.

Northeast India
There are mainly 7 states in northeast India, known as the seven sisters.
It includes Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland,
Tripura and Sikkim.
These regions are home to about 4% of India’s population, and are connected to
India
by a thin 22 km wide area.
These regions are bordered by China, Myanmar and Bangladesh and serve as a
gateway for India to southeast Asia.

Development of Northeastern states

At the time of independence, Tripura, Manipur and the kadi hill region of
Meghwal were separate princely states, after independence they were included
in India.
In 1963, a state called Nagaland was carved out of Assam.
Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya became states in 1972 while Mizoram and Arunachal
Pradesh were given statehood in 1987.
Due to the separation from the main part of India, the development of the region
was not given much attention and refugees from neighbouring countries also
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remained the main problem of this areas.

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Three major issues dominate the politics of these

regions: Demand for autonomy
Separatist movement Page | 101
Opposition of outsiders

Demand for autonomy

At the time of independence, except Manipur and Tripura, the rest of the region
was called Assam.
Initially, the non-Assamese people opposed the Assamese language being
imposed on
them by the government of Assam and the demand for political autonomy in the
region began to rise.
The leaders of the large tribal community spoke of separation from Assam and
together formed the Eastern India Tribal Union.
In 1960, this organization evolved into the All Party Hills Conference.
The main demand of these leaders was to create a tribal state separate
from Assam. In view of their demands, the central government created
Meghalaya, Mizoram and
Arunachal Pradesh by dividing Assam at different times.
By 1972 this process was completed but still the demand for autonomy did not
end.
Other communities such as the Bodo, Karbis and Dimsas of Assam
continued to demand a separate state for themselves and made efforts to
mobilize the people.
But it was not possible to keep dividing the state into separate and small parts.
For this reason, the central government tried to satisfy their demands by using
some other provisions.
The Karbi and Dimsa communities were given autonomy under the district
council, the Bodo tribe was given the status of an autonomous council.

Separatist movement

The separatist demands had a long-lasting effect in the two Northeastern

states, Mizoram and Nagaland.

Mizoram
At the time of independence, the Mizo mountainous region was made an
autonomous district within Assam, but the Mizo people believed that
they were never the part of British India, hence they have no affiliation
with the Indian union.
In 1959, the separatist movements in the region were further
strengthened due to heavy mountainous areas and the government of
Assam was unable to manage them.
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The Mizo people got angry and formed the Mizo National Front
under the leadership of Laldenga.
The Mizo National Front launched an armed campaign in 1966 to advance Page
the | 102
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demand for independence, and thus the conflict between the Indian
army and the rebels lasted for almost two decades.
The Mizo insurgents made their base in East Pakistan of that period.
In the struggle that lasted for almost two decades, the general public Page | 103
had to suffer on a large scale, due to which the feeling of separatism
and anger increased with time.
Seeing the growing problem of apartheid, the Indian government and
Laldenga started talks and a peace agreement was signed between
Laldenga and Rajiv Gandhi in 1986 under the leadership of Rajiv
Gandhi.
In this way Mizoram got full statehood and was given some special rights.
The members of the Mizo national front agreed to leave the separatist
regime and Mizoram is currently the most peaceful state in the northeast
and at the same
time has made good progress in the field of art, literature and development.
Nagaland
In 1951, a section of the Naga people under the leadership of Angami
Japu Phizo declared themselves independent from India.
The Indian government tried to negotiate with Fizo several times, but he
turned
down the offer every time.
The region faced a prolonged period of violent insurgency, after which
the Nagas signed an agreement with the Indian government, but the
rebels did not accept
this agreement.
The problem of Nagaland is yet to be resolved.

Problem of outsiders
There is a major problem of migration of outsiders to the states in the
Northeastern region of India. The local people consider them different from
themselves and oppose them.
They believe that these outsiders are coming to their area and grabbing their
land and due to their large number, their influence is increasing politically
and economically.
The issue of migrants is slowly becoming an important issue in the politics of
the Northeastern states.

Assam movement
The best example of this is the movement against outsiders in Assam since
1979.
This movement started because the people of Assam suspected that a large
number of Muslim population from Bangladesh was coming and living in
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their areas, due to which the danger of becoming a minority is increasing.
Along with the tea plantations in Assam, natural resources like oil and coal are

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available. The people of Assam believed that these resources were being sent
out, and causing harm to the people of Assam.
In view of these problems and issues, in 1989, the All Assam Students’ Union Page | 105
(AASU) started a movement against the foreigners.
AASU was an organization of the students of Assam and it had nothing to do
with any political party.
These movements were mainly against the growing numbers of outsiders and
their
names being wrongly included in the electoral rolls.
Their demand was that all the people who came to Assam after 1951 should be
expelled from Assam.
This movement was supported by almost all the people of Assam.
Many violent incidents also took place in this movement, attempts were
made to stop trains and supply of oil refineries. in which there was loss of
both property and life.
This movement went on for about 6 years and after that Rajiv Gandhi talked to
the
leaders of AASU and made an agreement. In this agreement it was stipulated
that all
the people who came to Assam during and after Bangladesh war in 1971
would be sent out of Assam, this is known as the Assam accord.
After the success of the movement, AASU and Assam Gana Sangram Parishad
together
formed a political party, named Assam Gana Parishad.
The party came to power in 1985 elections and promised to solve the
problem of outside migrants and create a golden Assam.
After the Assam accord, peace prevailed in Assam but the problem of migrants
could
not be completely resolved.

Sikkim
At the time of independence, Sikkim was not a part of India, but its foreign
and defence related matters were in the hands of India while its internal
system was handled by the Raja Chogyal.
But this arrangement did not last long as most of the people in Sikkim were of
Nepalese origin and it settled in their mind that Raja Chogyal was imposing the
rule of a small community (Lepcha Bhutia) on them.
Therefore people sought help from the Indian government and got the
support of the Indian government.
Sikkim legislative assembly elections were held in 1974 and Sikkim congress
got a
majority in it.
Initially Sikkim tried to become a co-province of India and after this a
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resolution was passed in Sikkim’s legislative assembly in 1975, under
which Sikkim was talked about fully merging into India.
Immediately after this proposal, a referendum was held in Sikkim andPage
the| 106
decision
came in favour of merger with India and in this way Sikkim became the
22nd state of India.
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Lesson
Page | 107
First lesson:-
Regional aspirations are an important part of
the democratic system.
Through these the government gets to know
about the demands and problems of the
common people.
After their solution, people’s faith in the
democratic system increases.
Second lesson:-
Instead of opposing regional aspirations, a
democratic dialogue is a better way to
address them.
Third lesson:-
Importance of common people’s aspirations
and contribution in countries power.
Fourth lesson:-
Economically equal development of all the
regions in the country is necessary.
CHAPTER 16

Rise of Popular Movements

FACTS THAT MATTER
10. A protest against commercial logging to be
permitted by the government, began a world famous
environmental movement i.e. Chipko Movement by both
men and women on refusal of permission to villagers to
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fell ash trees for agricultural tools and allotted the same
land to sports manufacturer. It included a novel aspect Page | 108
in the form of active participation of women with the
agenda of social issues.
11. On dissatisfaction with the attitude of the
government, people come together and raise voice to
fulfil their demands. These movements are either party
based and non-party based movements. Party based
movements are supported by political parties (Trade
Union Movement in Kolkata, Kanpur, Bombay etc.) and
non-party based movements are based on the loss of
faith in existing democratic institutions or electoral
politics (Students and Youth from different sections
merge themselves).
12. Non-party movements emerged due to disillusions
among many sections of society, failure of Janata
experiment, a Gulf between Urban industrial sector,
political instability, existence of social inequality and
sense of injustice.
13. Dalit Panthers was a militant organisation of Dalit
Youth to be formed in 1972 in Maharashtra. Dalit
Panthers addressed the issues to fight against caste-
based inequalities, demanded effective implementation
of reservations and social justice by restoring a mass
action in various states.
14. Bharatiya Kisan Union was one of leading farmers
movement in the form of agrarian struggle of farmers
against process of liberalisation of Indian Economy. The
BKU demanded higher government floor prices, abolition
of restrictions, guaranteed supply of electricity and the
provision of a government pension to farmers.
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15. The Anti-Arrack Movement was started by rural women in the state
of Andhra Pradesh against alcoholism, mafias by a mobilisation of women Page | 109
to ban on the sale of alcohol. This movement openly discussed the issues
of domestic violence like dowry, sexual violence etc.
16. Narmada Bachao Andolan was a loose collective local organisation’s
movement to save river Narmada. It opposed the construction of
multipurpose dam known as Narmada Sagar project questioned ongoing
developmental projects also. NBA was shifted from its initial demand for
rehabilitation to total opposition to the Dam. It achieved comprehensive
National Rehabilitation Policy 2003 by government.
17. The movements are not only about rallies or protests but these
involve a gradual process of coming together by making people aware of
their rights and expectations to contribute in the expansion of democracy
rather than causing disruptions.
18. The movement for right to information started in 1990 on demand of
records of famine relief work and accounts of labourers by Mazdoor Kisan
Shakti Sanghthan (MKSS). Finally, it was legislated and became a law in
2005.
WORDS THAT MATTER
5.Party-based Movements: These movements are supported by
political parties but activists do not participate in elections formally.
6.Non-party Based Movements: These movements involve a mass-
mobilisation which remain outside party politics.
7.MKSS: It was Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan which demanded
records of famine, relief work and accounts of labourers.
8.Dalit Panthers: A militant organisation of Dalit Youth formed in 1972
in Maharashtra against caste based inequalities and social injustice.

CHAPTER 17
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN INDIAN POLITICS

Introduction to the 1990s Political Landscape in India

 Key Questions: The chapter opens with questions on coalition

politics, Mandalisation, the Ramjanambhoomi movement, and
new policy directions. These reflect major changes in political
representation, economic policies, and secularism.
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 Background: The period marks a shift from the Congress-
dominant system, resulting in new political alignments and Page | 110
challenges to democracy.
Decline of Congress and Rise of Coalition Politics

 1989 Elections: Congress lost its dominance, receiving only

197 seats, marking an end to what was known as the ‘Congress
system.’
 Coalition Governments: Following the 1989 elections,
coalitions like the National Front emerged with support from
contrasting groups like the BJP and the Left Front. This coalition
model has remained significant in Indian politics ever since,
leading to an era of multi-party participation.
Mandal Commission and Caste-Based Politics

 Mandal Commission Report (1990): Recommended 27%

reservations in central government jobs for OBCs, sparking
intense debate and protests.
 Impact on Politics: The Mandal issue heightened awareness
among OBCs, leading to new political alignments and the rise of
caste-based political mobilizations.
 Court Decision: The Supreme Court’s decision in the Indira
Sawhney case upheld the OBC reservations, solidifying caste-
based reservation policies.
Economic Liberalisation and New Economic Policies

 Economic Reforms (1991): Marked by structural adjustments

and liberalisation initiated under Prime Minister Narsimha Rao
and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh, redirecting India
towards a market-driven economy.
 Public Response: While widely implemented, these policies
were controversial, facing opposition from movements and
unions concerned with economic inequality and job security.
Era of Multi-Party System and Electoral Alliances

 Fragmentation of Political Parties: The weakening of

Congress dominance led to increased influence for regional and
state-level parties, making coalition governments the norm.
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 United Front and NDA Governments: These coalitions
illustrated the shifting political landscape where parties formed Page | 111
alliances based on pragmatic interests rather than ideology.
Rise of the BJP and Ideological Shift in Indian Politics

 BJP’s Growth Post-Emergency: Initially adopting a platform

of ‘Gandhian Socialism,’ the BJP moved towards Hindutva,
drawing support through Hindu nationalist appeals.
 Electoral Successes: By the late 1990s, the BJP emerged as a
key player, forming the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)
under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, focusing on coalition stability.
Consensus on Economic and Social Policies

 Broad Agreement Across Parties: Most political parties

began supporting economic liberalisation, acceptance of
reservations for OBCs, and recognition of state-level parties’
roles.
 Coalition Politics and Pragmatism: Coalitions shifted
political focus from strict ideology to practical governance,
encouraging compromise and power-sharing across diverse
political groups.
Challenges to Indian Democracy and Future Directions

 Communal Tensions and Secularism: Events like the

Ayodhya demolition and Gujarat riots (2002) raised concerns
about communal harmony and the secular framework of India’s
democracy.
 Ongoing Issues: Despite coalition stability, India faces
challenges related to poverty, social justice, and balancing
economic growth with inclusivity, as highlighted by popular
movements advocating for social security and democratic
rights.
Political Transitions and Key Questions of the 1990s

 Major Concerns: The chapter emphasizes fundamental

changes like coalition politics, the influence of caste in politics
(Mandalisation), the role of religious identity (Ramjanambhoomi
movement), and new economic policy directions.
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 Implications: These shifts introduced lasting debates on
democracy, secularism, and economic strategies, raising Page | 112
questions about India’s political future and the impact on citizen
representation.
Rise of the Mandal Commission and Caste-Based Politics

 Background and Recommendations: The Mandal

Commission, originally set up in 1979 under Prime Minister
Morarji Desai, recommended 27% reservation in central
government jobs for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). These
recommendations were implemented by the National Front
government in 1990, led by Prime Minister V. P. Singh.
 Political and Social Repercussions: This decision led to
widespread protests and intensified the debate on caste-based
reservations. While it mobilized OBCs politically, it also created
a divide, with some groups fearing reverse discrimination.
 Legal Resolution: The Supreme Court upheld the reservation
policy in the Indira Sawhney case (1992), which became a
landmark judgment solidifying affirmative action in government
jobs and educational institutions.
Economic Liberalisation and Structural Reforms (1991)

 Economic Shift: Led by Finance Minister Manmohan Singh

under Prime Minister Narsimha Rao, the reforms marked a
departure from the Nehruvian socialist model to a liberalised,
market-oriented economy. This included reducing government
control, promoting private sector participation, and opening the
economy to foreign investment.
 Mixed Reactions: The reforms were credited with accelerating
growth, but they faced criticism from those who feared it would
increase inequality and reduce job security for the working
class. Despite resistance, successive governments continued
these policies, reflecting a broad, cross-party consensus on
liberalisation.
Religious Identity in Politics and the Ayodhya Dispute

 The Babri Masjid Issue: A 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya,

believed by some to be built on the birthplace of Lord Ram,
became a focal point of the BJP’s Hindutva movement. The 1986
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court decision allowing Hindus to pray at the site heightened
communal tensions. Page | 113
 Demolition of Babri Masjid (1992): Thousands of kar sevaks
(volunteers) gathered, leading to the mosque’s demolition on
December 6, 1992. This event caused nationwide communal
riots and marked a turning point in the secular-versus-
communal debate in India.
 Aftermath and Secularism Debate: The central government
dismissed BJP-led state governments and launched a judicial
inquiry. The incident intensified discussions about India’s
commitment to secularism and whether the state could
maintain religious neutrality.
Dalit Empowerment and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)

 Formation of BAMCEF and BSP: The Backward and Minority

Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF) and
subsequently the BSP, led by Kanshi Ram, emerged as
movements aiming to empower the Bahujan (SC, ST, OBC, and
minorities) against upper-caste dominance.
 Electoral Success in Uttar Pradesh: The BSP found
substantial support, especially among Dalits in Uttar Pradesh.
By focusing on the idea of political power as a means to social
equality, the BSP reshaped Indian politics, emphasizing
representation for historically marginalized communities.
Emergence of Multi-Party System and Coalitions

 Rise of Regional Parties: Following the Congress’ decline,

regional parties like DMK, AIADMK, TDP, SP, and BSP gained
significant traction, altering the political landscape. This
resulted in coalition governments at the center, where regional
demands became central to governance.
 National and United Front Governments: Between 1989
and 1999, governments were formed by alliances like the
National Front and United Front, with support from major parties
such as the Congress and BJP. This created a fluid political
landscape where alliances were formed less on ideology and
more on pragmatism to keep either the Congress or BJP from
securing power alone.
Growth of BJP and Ideological Shifts
 SahilSir’s
QEI POLITICAL SCIENCE
CLASS 12
 Post-Emergency Evolution: The BJP initially struggled
electorally but gained momentum by aligning with Hindutva Page | 114
principles, advocating Hindu nationalism, and supporting the
Ram temple movement.
 NDA Government Formation: BJP’s first successful coalition
came with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in 1998, led
by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The NDA remained in power till 2004,
representing a right-leaning coalition with pragmatic rather than
purely ideological unity.
Consensus on Key Political and Economic Issues

 Economic Liberalisation: Despite ideological differences,

most major parties embraced economic liberalisation,
acknowledging it as a pathway to global economic status.
 Support for OBC Representation: Reservations for OBCs in
jobs and education became widely accepted across the political
spectrum, with all major parties endorsing affirmative action.
 Role of Regional Parties: The importance of regional parties
in national governance became evident, as they consistently
influenced policy and coalition stability.
 Shift to Pragmatic Alliances: Political focus shifted from
ideological purity to practical alliances, enabling power-sharing
even among ideologically diverse parties within coalitions like
the NDA and UPA.
Challenges and Ongoing Issues in Democracy

 Communalism and Secularism Concerns: Events like the

anti-Sikh riots (1984), Babri Masjid demolition (1992), and
Gujarat riots (2002) raised ongoing concerns about communal
harmony, secularism, and the use of religious sentiments in
politics.
 Future Directions: Issues of social justice, economic disparity,
and democratic representation continue to shape India’s
political discourse. Grassroots movements persist in raising demands
for policies that address poverty, labor rights, and caste and gender equality,
highlighting an evolving but resilient democratic framework.