Key Terms

Congress Party

A major political party in India known for playing a significant role in the Indian independence movement and for leading the country after independence. It has historically been associated with democratic socialism and secularism.

Muslim League

A political party in India that played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement and advocated for the creation of Pakistan. It sought to represent the interests of Muslims in India.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)

A Hindu nationalist volunteer organization in India that promoted cultural and religious values of Hinduism, and often associated with the ideology of Hindutva.

Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS)

A political party in India that aimed to promote Hindu nationalism and conservative policies. It was the precursor to the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and emphasized the integration of Hindutva in politics.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

A major political party in India advocating for Hindu nationalist policies and economic liberalization. It emerged in the 1980s from the BJS and has since become one of the dominant parties in Indian politics.

Swatantra Party

A political party in India founded in the 1950s, promoting liberal economic policies and individual freedoms, which sought to provide an alternative to the dominant Indian National Congress.

Communist Party of India (CPI)

A major political party in India advocating for Marxist-Leninist principles and the establishment of a socialist state.

Socialist Party

A political party in India that advocates for socialist principles, including social ownership and democratic control of the means of production, and promotes policies aimed at addressing social inequalities.

Akali Dal Party

A political party in India primarily representing the Sikh community, focused on Punjab's regional interests and advocating for social justice and economic development.

Jammu and Kashmir

One of the three holdouts during the consolidation of the Princly States. Major territorial, political, economic, and human rights challenges centered around its disputed status and long-standing internal conflicts

Zamindari abolition

Created land ceilings to prevent zamindari (rich peasants who controlled land) and protections for tenant farmers against eviction whith limited success; there were many loopholes for the rich, bc INC still wanted these people to vote for them

Community Development

1952 the country was divided into development blocks with allocated money & govt helpers; limited success, overreliance on state and state often used money for themselves

Panchayati Raj (1950s and 1990s)

• under Nehru - enacted village councils in local govts

  • didn’t really help the poor bc it just elected wealthy peasants who would use money for themselves

• under Rajiv - established quotas for the village councils, making 1/3 be women, and also reserved seats for other marginalized groups, allowing for minority representation.

  • pretty successful this time, women were able to actually make a dent in people’s lives, but still only in local govt and not in state (yet) or parliamet

Communists in Kerala

A significant political force in Kerala, where the Communist Party has been in power multiple times.

5 Year Plans

• plans to promote agriculture, industrialization, economic growth, relatively successful

• plan 1 - agriculture focus and community development blocs

• plan 2 - industrial focus on heavy industries

• plan 3 - self sufficiency, decrease dependence on imports, govt institutionalization of economic sectors

Hindu Code Bill

• set of legislative initiatives created by Ambedkar and championed by Nehru to modernize Hindu Law and establish gender equality in marriage, divorce, inheritance, property

• due to intense opposition, was broken down and passed as four separate acts: Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance Act

Communalism

• political ideology that prioritizes the interests/identity of a specific religious group over national unity

• religious communities are distinct with incompatible interests

Scheduled Castes (Dalits, Hariyan, Untouchables)

• historically marginalized groups

• Ambedkar and Gandhi fought against caste system and untouchability

• untouchability eventually abolished under article 17, state also established reserved seats in jobs, education, legislative bodies to help integrate the SCs into mainstream civic life

Green Revolution

• used high yielding seeds and agricultural modernization (irrigation, machines, etc) to increase production/self sufficiency.

  • but benefits unevenly distributed

  • goal of food self sufficiency messed up the balance of economy growth, undermining its efficiency

JP Movement

• led by Jayaprakash Nayaran (JP)

• mobilized student protesters to call for free and fair elections, anti-corruption, transparency, accountability, human rights

Emergency Rule

• article 352 - national emergency, article 356 - state emergency

  • president can declare emergency when the security of india is threatened by war, aggression, armed rebellion

• national emergency declared 3 times in India’s history: 1962 (sino indian war), 1971 (indo pakistani war) and 1975 (internal emergency)

• state emergency declared over 100 times (kerala is one such example)

Janata Coalition (1970s)

• 1st non congress coalition party to win

• coalition of leftist and rightists, came together cause they all hate Indira

• focused on agricultural development and OBCs

• major bickering between different groups in coalition due to conflicting interests

Mandal Commission

• Survey finds out how many OBCs there were in india and needed to increase reserved seats by 27%

• opposed by BJP and upper middle classes

• input at state level with a max of 50 percent reserved seats, and only some at fed level

Mandir Issue/Babri Mosque (Ram Temple)

• hindus thought that rama was born where the mosque was and wanted to destroy it so that they could build the ram temple and make it a holy site for hindus

• obviously the muslims didn’t want this and were very mad

• large political rally of hindus results in the destruction of the mosque

Shah Bano Case & Response

• shah bano was a muslim woman getting divorced, under marriage law for muslims she was not supposed to be offered alimony, under secular law she was allowed to

• the supreme court ruled that she shouldn’t be discriminated against because she was muslim.

• Muslim Indians saw this as encroaching on their customs, and hindus were mad because they felt muslims were getting "special priveleges”

  • Gained support from middle classes and above who were opposed to things like the mandal commission

Lok Sabha

the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of India

Hindutva

Right-wing political and nationalist ideology that defines Indian cultural and national identity through the lens of Hinduism

Liberalization

• minimal govt internvention in the economy, free markets, private property

• india greatly liberalized near the latter half of the 20th century under the BJP