India
World’s largest
democracy
Oldest
democracy in
the developing
world
New Development Plans in Bangalore
Skyscrapers in New Delhi
Wealth and Poverty in India
Mumbai
India’s Caste System
India’s Green Revolution
Provide incentives
for agricultural
production by large
land owners, but
most of India’s
poor are landless.
There enough food for the poor, but government prefers to
export food surpluses
Population Growth
No social
security or
Medicaid, no
mandatory
primary
education,
some
government
food for work
programs
Maurya Empire 322-185BC
Ashoka the Great
Ancient India
Death of Alexander the Great – Maurya Empire – Ashoka the
Great
India’s Golden Age
Historians refer to the
unification of north India
under the Guptas (320-550
AD) as a golden era.
Besides the advances in
mathematics, it saw the
emergence of Sanskrit
literature, new and enduring
forms of Hinduism, and a
brilliant temple architecture.
Mughal Empire 1526-1858
Between 712AD and 1526, India was subject to repeated
invasions, culminating in the establishment of the Mughal
empire in 1526. Turkic origins. Taj Mahal built by the
Mughals.
British India
British East India Company –
1600-1857
Bought loyalty of various
princes (maharajas) and
Mughal emperors.
Sepoy Rebellion 1857
Social Uprising,
beginning of national
awakening
Resulted in end of
Mughal rule and
beginning of direct
British rule.
British bought loyalty of
traditional princes
(Maharajas) and land
owners (Zamindars) to
support direct rule
Direct British Rule 1857-1947
Indian National Congress
1885 – Indian nationalists form the
Indian National Congress
advocating for independence.
1920s – Mohandas (Mahatma)
Gandhi becomes leader of the INC
Advocates nonviolent confrontation
against British rule (satyagraha –
moral persuasion).
Mahatma Ghandi
Indian National Congress
Leader- pre 1948
Although a devout Hindu,
Gandhi was a strong advocate of
religious tolerance and resisted
calls to partition India into Hindu
and Muslim states.
Ignored, the partition resulted in
violence and ethnic cleansing of
Hindu and Muslim communities
into West and East Pakistan
(Punjab, Bengal) and Gandhi’s
assassination by Hindu
extremists.
Leading the Salt March
India Before and After Partition
1947 – End of British Rule in India, Partition, Creation of East
and West Pakistan. Mass migration of Muslims and Hindus
across borders begin. Riots and clashes over disputed territory
(Kashmir)
Independence
1947 – India proclaimed an
independent state under the
leadership of the Indian
National Congress and
Jawaharlal Nehru.
India established a
parliamentary democracy with
elections based on singlemember pluralities.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Congress Party Prime Minister
1947-1964
Indian Parliament - Lok Sabha - House of the People
Nehru’s Congress Party would
dominate the Lok Sabha (House of
the People) and he as Prime
Minister from 1947-1964.
Federal System
The Panchayat System
Village Councils
India’s Congress Party Leadership
Nehru would be
succeeded by his
daughter Indira
Gandhi (no
relation) who ruled
until her
assassination in
1984
Followed by her
son Rajiv Gandhi
who was Prime
Minister until his
assassination in
1989.
Indira Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
Prime Minister, CP
Prime Minister, CP
1966-1977, 1980-1984
1984-1989
Politics and the Economy
The administration of India under the
Congress party was characterized by
economic hardship.
India adopted socialistic state
controlled economic practices, importsubstitution policies, and generally
regarded market economics with
suspicion.
This changed with the election of
Congress party Prime Minister VPN
Rao in 1991 who began the reversal of
decades of CP policy, switching to
export-led growth and improving
relations with the west.
P. V. N. Rao
Prime Minister, CP
1991-1996
Politics and Society
There are important
linguistic and cultural
divisions between the
Northern Hindus and
southern Dravidians.
There are also ethnic/religious divisions with large muslim
populations in Kashmir, Northern India, Bengali territory around
Bangladesh, and in the southern Indian province of Kerala.
Religious Tension in India
There is also a large Sikh
population in the Punjab
region bordering Pakistan.
Ethnic and religious tensions
between Hindu nationals,
Sikhs, and Muslims have
persisted with occasional
mass violence, such as the
destruction of the 16th
century Babri Mosque in
1992 in Ayodhya.
Babri Mosque
Ethnic tensions in the 1990s
ultimately led to the fall of
the Congress party from
Power in 1996 to a Hindu
nationalist party, the Indian
People’s Party or BJP led by
Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
During BJP rule, both India
and Pakistan went officially
nuclear and tensions between
the two countries mounted.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Prime Minister, BJP
1996, 1998-2004
India Goes Nuclear - 1998
Current Indian Leadership – Return of Congress Party
Opposition to the BJP was
led by Sonia Gandhi, Italian
born wife of former Congress
Party leader Rajiv Gandhi.
The Congress Party scored a
major victory against the BJP
in 2004 parliamentary
elections.
Sonia Gandhi
Congress Party Leader
Opposition to foreign born Sonia
Gandhi led to the appointment of
Manmohan Singh as Prime
Minister.
Singh would be the first Sikh prime
minister in India’s history.
Manmoham Singh
Prime Minister, CP
2004-present
President of India
Head of State, Largely
symbolic
Prime Minister is head of
government
Pranab Mukerjee
President of India
Political Parties
Indian National Congress
2004
General
Election
Indian People’s Party-BJP
Government Institutions
Indian Administrative
Service (IAS)
Conditions for Democracy in India
Some support democracy (state institutions, elite
commitment, middle class, etc.)
Figurehead Presidency, Two chamber parliament, well
developed bureaucracy (Indian Administrative Service,
military and police forces), Supreme Court, Federal System,
panchayat (village council) system, major political parties
While others create severe problems for democracy, especially
massive poverty (300 million) and religious and ethnolinguistic heterogeneity
Will India’s democracy survive? (elites committed to
democracy? National unity? National wealth? Private
enterprise? Middle class? Support for disadvantaged? Civic
participation, civil society, democratic political culture?
Education and freedom of information? Favorable
international environment?
PAKISTAN
India Before and After Partition
1947 – End of British Rule in India, Partition, Creation of East
and West Pakistan. Mass migration of Muslims and Hindus
across borders begin. Riots and clashes over disputed territory
(Kashmir)
Disputed Kashmir
Mohammad Ali Jinnah
Father of Pakistan
1948 – Jinnah dies, Pakistan suffers from decade of instability,
ethnic divisions, Sunni/Shia divisions, poverty, lack of national
identity
Military Rule
1958 – General Ayub Khan
seizes power in a military coup.
Attempted to build a secular
state. Undermined by Bengali
separatists in East Pakistan
General Ayub Khan
Military Rule
1969 –General Yahya Kahn
assumes power.
Sends troops to put down
Bengali insurrection in East
Pakistan.
A brokered peace led to the
transformation of East Pakistan
into the independent state
Bangladesh.
Yahya Khan steps down under
pressure.
General Yahya Khan
Attempt at Democracy
1971 – Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
head of the Pakistan People’s
Party, elected President.
Attempts to democratize
Pakistan, however, failed, and
his rule became more
autocratic and corrupt.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
Islamization and Military Rule
General Zia ul-Haq
1977 – military coup led by
General Zia ul-Haq forces
Bhutto to step down.
1979-Bhutto is tried and hanged
Zia allowed Islamic radicalism
to spread within the army.
Provided US funding to
Afghanistan mujahedeen
against the Soviet invasion and
occupation.
1988- General Zia killed in a plane crash along with the
American ambassador to Pakistan and a US general.
Attempt at Democratization
1988 – elections following Zia’s
death lead to Benazir Bhutto
becoming prime minister.
Her government was shortlived. Attempts to curb military
power and democratize Pakistan
failed.
Benazir Bhutto
1990 – Bhutto was succeeded
by Nawaz Sharif, head of the
Pakistan Muslim League, who
becomes Bhutto’s chief
political rival for the next
decade.
Sharif holds power until 1993,
when Bhutto is reelected, only
to be defeated again in 1997 by
Sharif.
Charges of corruption were
common during periods of
civilian rule. Democratic
institutions in Pakistan
remained weak.
Nawaz Sharif
Pakistan Goes Nuclear - 1998
Nuclear program began in 1970s
under leadership of A Q Khan
“father of the bomb” in Pakistan.
In 2004, Khan admits to
supplying North Korea with key
technologies and materials for
weapons production.
He has never stood trial.
Abdul Qadeer Khan
Back to Military Rule
1999 – Sharif ousted by military
coup led by Pervez Musharraf.
Both Bhutto and Sharif
fled/expelled from Pakistan.
Musharraf attempted to return
secularization to the Pakistani
army.
Pervez Musharraf
Islamic Extremism
Following September 11, 2001,
Musharraf becomes key ally of
the United States in the war on
terrorism despite fierce
opposition from radical Islamic
groups within Pakistan.
His attempts to crack down on
Islamic extremists in Pakistan
lead to violence and unrest.
Pakistani society becomes more
radicalized rather than more
secular.
Attempt at Democratization
Benazir Bhutto
2008 – Under pressure,
Musharraf allows Benazir
Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif
return to Pakistan to take part
in parliamentary elections.
Bhutto is assassinated shortly
after returning.
Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s
Party and Sharif’s Pakistan
Muslim League won the
majority of votes and share
power in a unity government.
moments before assassination
Toward Democracy?
2008- Musharraf forced to
resign Presidency
Benazir Bhutto’s husband,
Asif Ali Zardari appointed
President by Pakistani
Parliament
Asif Ali Zardari
Major Issues Facing Pakistan
Political Instability at Home
Position on the War on Terrorism
Relations with India
Islam and Democratization
Power of the military vs. civilian rulers
Pakistani Parliament House
Pakistani Military
Pakistan People’s Party
Benazir Bhutto
Supreme Court
Pakistan Muslim
League-Sharif
Pakistan Muslim
League-Musharaf
2008 Parliamentary Elections
Federal System
Al Qaeda/Taliban in Pakistan
Religious Extremism