The Colonial Debris of Bandung :Facilitating the Rise of the Hindu Right in India

Abstract

I unpack how Bandung’s embrace of a postcolonial nationalist project that prioritized the form of the modern nation-state unleashed a deeply conservative force in India, laying bear the dark side of the ostensibly progressive liberal commitments of Bandung. This dark side has been nurtured by the Indian judiciary in a number of landmark decisions that have enabled the advancement of the agenda of the Hindu Right parties. In particular, their vision of a Hindu nation-state is advanced in and through the pursuit of the discourse of the right to equality and secularism.