Talk at the Library: Hindu Nationalism in Power
VIEW EVENT DETAILSHow Religion Shapes Citizenship and Belonging in India

This year, India – the world’s largest democracy– celebrates the 75th anniversary of its independence. 1.4 billion people live in the country. But how many of them feel like they belong?
India’s constitution aspired to establish a liberal democracy with equal rights and protection for all citizens. Given the country’s history of rigid social inequalities, linguistic diversity (there are 22 official languages in India and many more are spoken), religious pluralism, and high rate of illiteracy and poverty, this was never an easy goal. But since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came into in power in 2014, fueled by a strong adherence to Hindu nationalism, religious minorities face fresh questions about their place in India’s democracy.
What inequalities do minorities in India experience? How is the nature of citizenship determined in India? Why has religion become such a salient social cleavage? What goals are Hindu nationalists pursuing? And what role does the BJP play?
Join this Talk at the Library for a conversation with Milan Vaishnav, director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
This event is for Asia Society Members only. How to become a member?

Milan Vaishnav is Senior Fellow and Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) in Washington, D.C. His primary research focus is the political economy of India. He is the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics and host of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy. Before joining Carnegie, he worked at the Center for Global Development, where he served as a postdoctoral research fellow, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is an adjunct professor in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and has previously taught at Columbia and George Washington Universities. He holds a Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University.
Event Details
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