HAVE there been times when civil-military relations in India were so strained that a military coup was -justified? asks Aditya Sondhi, a senior advocate practising at the Supreme Court and the Karnataka High Court, in his new book Poles Apart: The Military and Democracy in India and Pakistan. Sondhi's book is a timely addition to the existing literature on civil-military relations in South Asia. It compares the roles the military has played in India and Pakistan and their impact on the arc of democracy in both countries. It also devotes a chapter to Bangladesh currently in the grip of a historic political churning-and the country's tryst with both democracy and military rule. Poles Apart evolved from Sondhi's research for his PhD thesis, which focused on the interface between the military and democracy in India and Pakistan during 1947-2008. The road from thesis to book was paved with revisions, updates, and a chapter on post-2008 developments.
Some of the pertinent questions Poles Apart raises and investigates are: Is there a connection between the "non-event" of a coup and the growth of democracy? Why has Pakistan been under military rule for long periods and how has this affected the survival of democracy? How did the Pakistani military get actively involved in politics and why does it wield so much influence in the country’s political space?
In the book’s well-crafted Introduction, Sondhi reminds readers that democracy is a complex business and nation states, unique. In this context, comparative politics may be a “theory in transition”, but it definitely has its uses. An analysis of similar institutions in India and Pakistan such as the judiciary, the bureaucracy, political parties, the electoral process, the culture and belief systems, and the role of the military and the extent of its intervention helps to gauge the “health of democracy” in the two countries.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 21, 2024 من Outlook.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September 21, 2024 من Outlook.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Dramatis Personae
Comparing an actor's struggles in Delhi and Mumbai maps out the differing cultures of two disparate cities
My Name is Delhi
VISITORS have been coming to meet me from eternity, even when I didn’t have a name. There are so many secrets that hide in my bosom, though some have been uncovered.
Clothing Codes
The language of clothing is the shorthand of a city. In Mumbai, practicality has always been the dress code
Circular/Narrow
Delhi is class. Mumbai is cool. But which one is better? The debate continues
Vertical Limit
You lose your city if you refuse to venture into the unfamiliar to find the familiar
Lutyens' Complex
CLIMATE change will likely make the Delhi-Mumbai comparison moot because one will burn and the other will drown. For millions of working people in these two cities, the treadmill of making ends meet, making rent and making it to work on time, makes competing claims to cosmopolitanism feel like nakhra, the narcissism of an English-speaking middle class with time to spare and points to score.
Swagger Vs Sass
A glamorous show reignites the Delhi-Mumbai debate. Who wins?
The Lush Socialite
After her debut in Fabulous Lives Vs Bollywood Wives, Delhi's Shalini Passi-philanthropist, influencer, Bollywood celebrity and self-care divawho gives little boxes of herbal dust to her friends, is now in the mass eye. Fair or unfair, deal with her
Trump, Up And Charging
'Many countries are nervous about Donald Trump returning to power, but India is not one of them'
Post and Past the Oil in Azerbaijan
As the UN climate conference takes place in Baku, Azerbaijan traces the history of the hydrocarbon industry through the lens of postage stamps
