Modern Indian Political Thought

Modern Indian Political thought emerged during a pivotal and a transformational period during India’s history, primarily from the late 18th century through the 20th century, it has been shaped by a unique set of circumstances, which before were never encountered, the intermingling of indigenous Indian traditions, with the abstract ideas and concepts of western political thought, whilst the nation was waging a multiple front battle against English imperialism, unlike western political thought which primarily focused on abstract ideas, the nature of Indian political thought was grounded and more “practical” keeping in mind the Indian context, the primary focus was on practical struggles and social reform, which at that time was a substantive force for both the betterment of socio-political arena and uniting the large and extremely diverse populace against western coloniality, thinkers such as MN Roy, Ambedkar did not merely mimic the western ideas of class conflict and labor struggle, instead appropriately applied these ideas in an Indian context such as finding the relevant correlation between caste hierarchy and socio-economic backwardness. 

Development of diverse and often conflicting vision of India’s political future and society was common practice, while thinkers Tilak and Bipan Chandra Pal advocated for a more assertive style of nationalism, thinkers like Gandhi advocated for diplomatically straining the colonial administration without having to resort to violence. 

However the most important pillar of Indian Political thought was the depollution of society, from the evils that it had been grasped by the forces of overt-religiosity, cultural and societal norms, reformist like Raja Ram Mohan Roy played a critical role in getting rid of societal evils, such as sati and women oppression, often using the colonial introduced institutions to push for these reforms, Dr Ambedkar advocated for the upliftment of the marginalized and prevent ostracization of the marginalized classes from society and polity of what he envisioned to be an independent modern India. 

In a highly religious society, which more often than not works in a way, which works counter productively to the foundations of a civil society, religion played a pivotal role in shaping Indian political thought, thinkers like Swami Vivekananda and Aurobindo advocated for spiritual tolerance and a society built on religious morality and ethics and also amalgamated religion with the independence movement, even the framing of the Indian constitution was done keeping in mind the virtues and the values which were propagated by some of these thinkers, with the state keeping a principled distance from religious activities of individuals and communities, however the largely accepted vision of the Indian state professed it to be a secular and democratically inclusive nation.