The Battle of Belonging: On Nationalism, Patriotism, And What it Means to Be Indian

by Shashi Tharoor

Even as they have driven the economy into the doldrums, long before COVID-19 made its appearance (and provided them with an excuse and a smokescreen to cover up their failures on the economic front), the present ruling dispensation has become, in their own phrase, a tukde-tukde gang (a force that seeks to cut India into pieces). They are dividing this country into tukdes: Hindus versus Muslims; Deshdrohis versus Deshbhakts; Raamzaade versus something unprintable; Hindi speakers versus non-Hindi speakers; Us versus Them. It is bad enough that Prime Minister Modi forgets our history. It would be far worse if he leads the country down a path that repeats it.