Sunday, January 30, 2022

Evolution of India’s World View - MPSE- 001 Notes : Unit -1 ; India and the World - Ignou notes | M.A in Political Science

 


UNIT – 1

Evolution of India’s World View

  1. What are the sources of India’s traditional values? How have these values guided India’s

World-view after its independence? Explain.

 Ans: Five aspects of India’s traditional values have a bearing on the evolution of its world-view, namely,preference for a middle way, tolerance, idealist and realist traditions, absence of imperialist tradition, and a habit of expressing positive ideas through negative terms.

i.                     Preference for the Middle Way

A preference for the middle way has been one of the cardinal features of Indian tradition and culture. Nehru echoes the   sentiment, when he says: “India has absorbed and harmonised different religions; and even the conflict between science and religion in the past; and maybe it is our destiny to help reconcile the conflicting ideologies of today.”

In view of such a cultural-philosophical tradition, it was not surprising that India should prefer the golden mean of the middle way between the two competing international ideologies during the Cold War years—Western liberal democracy and Soviet egalitarianism. With the West, India shared such values as dignity of individual and sanctity of civil liberties, democratic political institutions, the rule of law, and modern technology. At the same time, it appreciated the Soviet emphasis on distributive justice and its stand against colonialism and racialism, as also its Asia mindedness.

India, therefore, refused to align with any power bloc and resolved to cooperate with both of them in furtherance of its own ideals and interests. Thus, by becoming a bridge between the two power blocs and by blunting the edges of the ideological conflict between them, India acquired a prominence in the comity of nations far in excess of military strength and economic capabilities.

 ii.                   Tolerance

 In the sphere of foreign relations, tradition of tolerance made it impossible for India to join any particular bloc and conduct its international relations from the black-and-white perspective of that bloc. The tolerant and pluralistic outlook of the Indian mind made it to react instinctively against the politics of the Cold War characterised by intolerance and against the claims of the two blocs that they alone had the monopoly of truth and virtue. Instead, India chose to purse a policy of peaceful co-existence and friendship towards all countries.

The tradition of tolerance in fact has been the basis of India’s emphasis on the peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiations. The essence of India’s approach has been that, to achieve a lasting result, an attempt should be made to see that neither of the parties engaged in a conflict suffers significant loss. This is how Gandhi tried to resolve India’s domestic tension as well as to secure freedom for India. Nehru clarified the essence of this approach and he said; “If we desire peace we must develop the temper of peace, and try to win over those who may be suspicious of us or who think that they are against us.”

This approach to conciliation is also reflected in India’s offer of a no-war pact to Pakistan in 1949 and its repeated renewal of the offer in the subsequent years, its willingness to accept a division of Kashmir on the basis of the ceasefire line in the interest of Indo-Pakistani peace. New Delhi’s current peace initiative with Pakistan is the latest manifestation of this negotiating method.

iii.                 Realist and Idealist Traditions

 Two important approaches to inter-state relations have existed in India since the beginning. The positivist approach is advocated. While these realist thinkers differ over the means to be employed, they generally believe that both defence of a kingdom and aggressive war. They hold that war should be undertaken only as the last resort, not because war is immoral, but because it is expensive and troublesome and victory is not certain. On the other hand, from the times immemorial, a school of philosophy has existed in India, which maintains that penance, self-abnegation and non-injury are the means to get rid of sin and secure salvation.

India attempted the peaceful method of negotiation in each case. In summing up the application of the ideal of non-violence to India’s world-view, Nehru therefore publicly stated: “He drew his inspiration from Gandhi.” He, however, followed the Master only as far as was practicable.

The realist component in India’s world-view got strengthened after the Chinese aggression of 1962. As Nehru himself admitted: “In the past our preoccupation with the human problems of poverty and  illiteracy was such that we were content to assign a relatively low priority to defence requirements in the conventional sense.”

iv.                Absence of Imperialist Tradition


Another distinguishing feature of Indian tradition is the absence of imperialist tradition, including what is called cultural imperialism. No prominent Indian thinker, not even a realist like Kautilya or Manu or Bodhayana, advocated the extension of Indian empire beyond the geographical boundaries of Bharat (India). The  Mahabharata too lays down that an Indian empire should not extend beyond the geographical limits of the country.

 There has  been no deliberate attempt at imperialism at any time in the history of India. The leaders of India’s freedom struggle therefore viewed their movement as a part of the overall fight against imperialism and colonialism in the world.

With this anti-imperialist tradition and culture, it was not surprising that when India achieved its independence it vigorously pursued the cause of emancipation of colonial and dependent territories and of promotion of racial equality through the policies of non-alignment and panchasheela. Nehru, therefore, declared: “India’s world-view is grounded in ancient tradition and culture of this country.”

 v.                  Expressing Positive Ideas through Negative Terms

     Indian history, tradition and culture have not only influenced the substance of independent India’s world-view, but also to name the main instrument of Indian world-view, non-alignment.

 The formulation of the concept in a negative way reminds us of the fact that one of India’s most far-reaching contributions to world civilisation is the concept of zero and its mathematical use in positive value. Seen from a wider angle, the expression as well as content of non-alignment may similarly suggest a deeper connection with the Indian cultural tradition. For, the word, nonalignment is though negative in expression, it has very positive connotations that include pursuit of an independent world-view, and efforts towards development, disarmament, decolonialisation and democratisation of international relations.

According to India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who tailored its world-view during the initial phase, two aspects of India’s world-view, namely, the ‘positive aspect of peace’ and the desire to promote ‘a larger degree of co-operation among nations,’ were based on India’s past thinking on the formulation of foreign policy. It is therefore necessary to discuss those socially accepted traditional values, which are expressed either in writings of thinkers or embodied in ancient institutions and customs that inculcate peaceful attitudes and practices notwithstanding imperfections or shortcomings in these ideals and objectives native to India.

 

  1. Evaluate the idealist and realist thinking in ancient India. How, and to what extent could Nehru combine both the approaches in his world-view? Discuss.

Ans: Two important approaches to inter-state relations have existed in India since the beginning. While these realist thinkers differ over the means to be employed, they generally believe that both defence of a kingdom and aggressive war, if used to conquer the whole country, are just. They hold that war should be undertaken only as the last resort, not because war is immoral, but because it is expensive and troublesome and victory is not certain. Panchatantra, for instance, says that royal policy has peace for its beginning and war for its end.

On the other hand, from the times immemorial, a school of philosophy has existed in India, which maintains that penance, self-abnegation and non-injury are the means to get rid of sin and secure salvation. The Upanishads give us the basis of the theory of non-violence. There is one undivided and indivisible spirit, which may be called God or truth. The universe is expression of it, and all beings form part of it. Since perfection consists in realising this truth, any kind of violence would be a repudiation of the truth.

 The application of non-violence to India’s world-view meant a deliberate acceptance of a method or approach to foreign policy problems, which emphasised the temper of peace. This was clearly reflected in India’s decision to remain a member of the Commonwealth of Nations after independence although Britain had subjected India to injustice and cruelty. Echoing this spirit of reconciliation, Nehru stated in the Rajya Sabha: “Our approach is not to stress the differences but to stress the similarities.”

 

  1. “India’s policy of secularism and non-alignment are two aspects of the same coin, namely, tradition of tolerance.” Comment.

 Ans:- When the first Christians came to Kerala in 47 AD, they were not repulsed or hounded but welcomed; and Similarly, when the Parsis fled their own country in the face of the advent of Islam and came to India in the 7th Century AD, they were also to practise and propagate their faith. The Ashokan edicts speak highly of tolerance of all the views then obtaining.

Though there were religious persecutions during the time of some Muslim rulers, tolerance was conspicuous during the reign of the Emperor Akbar, who adopted a policy of universal harmony  (sulh-i-kul). We cannot deny that the tradition of tolerance is fundamental to the life of the masses in India. This explains why secularism has been adopted and has survived in India inspite of its aberrations.

 

In the sphere of foreign relations, tradition of tolerance made it impossible for India to join any particular bloc and conduct its international relations from the black-and-white perspective of that bloc. The tolerant and pluralistic outlook of the Indian mind made it to react instinctively against the politics of the Cold War characterised by intolerance and against the claims of the two blocs that they alone had the monopoly of truth and virtue. Instead, India chose to purse a policy of peaceful co-existence and friendship towards all countries.

 

The tradition of tolerance in fact has been the basis of India’s emphasis on the peaceful settlement of disputes through negotiations. The essence of India’s approach has been that, to achieve a lasting result, an attempt should be made to see that neither of the parties engaged in a conflict suffers significant loss. This is how Gandhi tried to resolve India’s domestic tension as well as to secure freedom for India—a modern application of the principle of negotiation so forcefully adumbrated in the Mahabharata. Nehru clarified the essence of this approach on several occasions. For instance, he said: “If we desire peace we must develop the temper of peace, and try to win over those who may be suspicious of us or who think that they are against us.”

 

  1. Discuss the traditional sources of India’s world-view.

Ans: - The chief sources of India’s ancient values are the scriptural texts like the

i.                    The Vedas; the law books by sages such as Manu, Yajnyavalkya, and Parashar;

ii.                  The Dharmasastras; text of Buddhists and Jains;

iii.                The great epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata;

iv.                 The puranas, legends, and chronicles of great national events; and theological treatises and manuals of worship.

 

As a means of popular education in social values, these epics are even more important than the scriptural texts and law books, knowledge of which is generally confined to a very few.

 It is relevant to remember in this context that the above-mentioned traditional sources of values

covered various aspects of human life such as spiritual, social, economic, and political, as ancient

Indians did not divide human activities in watertight compartments. Secondly, though these

traditional values underwent certain changes due to the impact of the Islamic and Western culture,

the works of modern Indian thinkers like Vivekananda, Tagore, Tilak, Aurobindo, Gandhi, and

Nehru show that they were very much influenced by ancient Indian thought, which in turn influenced

their ideas about shaping the destiny of independent India.



 

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