The Politics of Autonomy: Indian Experiences Book

A good introduction to a leftist perspective on Indian politics and International Relations. Takes up topics that are extremely important but not taken up by major political parties and not part of the national narrative.
Doesn't bother to explain the criticisms of the core ideas of BJP and the reasons why people resonate with them so much. The right thrives where the left pretends is empty space.
Mostly a compilation of the failings of the Indian state, a knee-jerk reaction to which is to indulge in whataboutery or cynicism.
Key takeaways: 1) And we as a nation have no sense of scale. Displacement of tribal populations and changes in their entire way of life through coercion by the state trumps every case of communal violence any day. And yet.
There are way too many things to care about in India. And we almost always care about the wrong ones. I write this as the SSR (Rest In Power ❤️) case hogs every minute of every day on every news channel. Rhea Chakraborty hogs the greatest space on the screen, serving as soft p*orn for uncles and hate p*orn for aunties, as 116 farmers commit suicide on an average every day. But it's all good.
2) Most geopolitics is countries using Good as a bargaining chip rather than a guiding ideal but that's just how the world order is. Uh. Change the world or something lmao.