The Dilemma of an Indian Liberal

<p>'I became a liberal because I believed in the virtues of openness, mutual respect, and a</p><p>concern for others. Liberalism offered me an ethically responsible order of human progress</p><p>without necessarily involving the state.'</p><p>Gurcharan Das has been a lifelong and passionate champion of both economic</p><p>and political freedom. 'For over two centuries,' he writes, 'liberal democracies</p><p>and free markets spread around the world to become the only sensible way</p><p>to organize public life.' After years of the stifling 'license raj', he watched and</p><p>celebrated India's long-delayed move towards a liberal order in the 1990s, as</p><p>market reform and a maturing democratic process began to yield remarkable</p><p>results, bringing prosperity and dignity to the many millions who had been</p><p>denied both for decades. He recorded this progress in his classic study, India</p><p>Unbound. But after three decades, that light seems to be fading. As in the rest of</p><p>the world, liberalism is in retreat in India as well. Society is hopelessly polarized</p><p>and populists are on the march. The debate appears to be about economic</p><p>freedom versus political freedom-as if it is a given that the two cannot coexist.</p><p>The liberal today is on a lonely road.</p><p>In order to elucidate the dilemma of the Indian liberal, Gurcharan Das recounts</p><p>his own professional and intellectual journey: how and why he became a liberal.</p><p>While telling his story, he also narrates the story of a nation struggling-still-</p><p>to become a successful liberal democracy-the late promise and its seeming</p><p>betrayal, but also the possibility of course correction.</p><p>Written with conviction, insight and scholarship-and with immense clarity-</p><p>this is an urgent and illuminating book. It is a book that every Indian invested in</p><p>the future of the country should read.</p>