Dynasties of India and Beyond

Dynasties of India and Beyond

Product ID: 11725

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Author: Inder Malhotra
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2003
Language: English
Pages: 363
ISBN/UPC (if available): 8172234481

Description

This book is not only a perceptive study of the remarkable and complex phenomenon of dynastic rule but also a fascinating account of the Indian subcontinent’s social and political history during the second half of the twentieth century.

Although the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty alone has hogged the world’s attention so far – because of its uniquely dazzling dominance and durability – it is not only one within India, leave alone the neighboring countries of South Asia and beyond. Indeed, the number of clans striding the political stage in the region is rather large.

The Senanayakes and the Bandarnaikes were entrenched in Sri Lanka well before Indira Gandhi first became India’s prime Minister in 1966. The Bhuttos of Pakistan – father Zulfqar more than daughter Benazir – have left their imprint on their country, now once again under military rule with a civilian façade. In Bangladesh politics revolves around the two competing dynasties, one led by Sheikh Hasina, the orphaned daughter of the new nation’s founder-president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the other by Khaleda Zia, the widow of General Ziaur Rahman, its first military ruler.

The plethora of books on the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty have concentrated almost exclusively on the life stories of Jawaharlal Nehru, his daughter Indira Gandhi and her son Rajiv Gandhi, who, among them, ruled the country for thirty-seven of the first forty two years since independence. But none of the chronicles has tried to explain why the dynastic dispensation has taken such firm roots in this part of the world or why people vote for dynastic leaders time and again. The question whether the dynastic phenomenon is a passing phase or is here to stay also remains unanswered.

Inder Malhotra’s book fills this glaring gap and does so objectively and sensitively. He puts the rise of dynasties in the newly independent countries of South Asia in historical perspective, drawing attention to the dynasties that had flourished in the old, established democracies in earlier centuries. And he analyses why, in the Asian milieu, democratically-elected dynasties are likely to last much longer than they did in the West.

Contents

Acknowledgements

PROLOGUE
‘Asia’s Roaring Tigresses’

PART ONE - INDIA

WHO FOUNDED THE DYNASTY?

PERSONAL POWER AS PRELUDE
Sanjay and Shadows of Coming Events
From Wave to Trough
Sanjay’s Symbiosis with Emergency

IN THE WILDERNESS FOR A THOUSAND DAYS
The Janata Interlude
Janata’s Own Dynastic Drama

INDIRA RETURNS, SO DOES SANJAY

SANJAY’S DEATH, DIVIDED DYNASTY
Dynasty’s Bitter Division
Hinge of Fate

RAJIV RISE, RISE – AND FALL
Rajiv in Power
Decline and Fall
Bofors: The Mother of All Scandals

RAJIV’S DEFEAT, COALITION RETURN
Rajiv in Opposition

DYNASTY’S DECEPTIVE DEMISE
The Sonia Factor
Rao’s Poor Record
One More Election

SONIA RESURRECTS DYNASTY
Sonia’s Nightmare Begins
Insufficient Grasp of Complex Issues

DYNASTIES GALORE, BUT ONLY MINIS AND MIDIS
The Abdullahs of Kashmir
North to South
From Jet Set to Jat Set
Fathers and Sons; Husbands and Wives

PART TWO NEIGHBORS

DEEP ARE THE ROOTS IN SRI LANKA
Enter the Bandarnaikes
Family Planning, Sirimavo-Style
Fourteen-Year Exile
Chandrika, the Real Heir

BHUTTOS FLOURISH AND FOUNDER IN PAKISTAN

Start of Bhutto’s Spectacular Career
Ayub’s Fall, Bhutto’s Opportunity
Lone Civilian to Rule Under Martial Law
Bhutto’s Plus Points
Agreement at Simla
Father of Pakistan’s Nuclear Bomb
The Hangman Cometh
More Powerful Dead than Alive
From Father to Daughter
Zia’s Coup and After
Years of Tribulation and Turmoil
The Benazir Juggernaut
Fruits of a Faustian Bargain
Curious Reversal of Roles
Second Terms and Bitter Family Feud
Enter Murtaza, the ‘Terrorist Prince’
Her Second Going
Dynasty that Didn’t Take Off


TWO BEGUMS OF BANGLADESH
Enter the Two Begums
The Ershad Era
Zia Dynasty First to Pass the Post
Hasina Has Her Day

PART THREE CONCLUSION

DYNASTIES ARE HERE TO STAY
Comparison and Contrasts

BANGLADESH: Outlook is Clear Enough
PAKISTAN: Complete Uncertainty Looms Large
SRI LANKA: Old Game Will Go On
INDIA: Dynastic Phenomenon Turning Regional
Sonia to Priyanka?

Notes
Index