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The Crisis of Unity: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and National Identity Construction in Post-Independence India, 1947-1965

Lakshminarasimhan, Suraj
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron171277956943913

Abstract Details

2024, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Akron, History.
This dissertation centers Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Publications in post-independence India from 1947 to 1965, analyzing this corpus of texts as national identity construction as well as the epistemological origin of contemporary Hindu nationalism. While much of the scholarship on India after independence views the nation-state as adhering to the Nehruvian consensus of secularism, socialism, democracy, I argue that Hinduism informed the national identity construction promoted by the MIB based on Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Congress’ goal of uniting the population. I challenge the notion that India was a secular nation-state following independence and maintain that the presence of Hindu themes and terminology within the Ministry’s publications provided the scaffolding for Hindu nationalists to capture the political and cultural discourse in the subcontinent. Hindus represented the largest subsection of the Indian population amid religious, linguistic, caste, and class diversity, and Nehru, Congress, and the MIB invoked and appealed to Hindu religion to promote national unity despite the official commitment to secularism. The Ministry frequently referenced the concept of dharma, the dispassionate performance of duty couched in religious morality, and promoted an upper class, upper caste, Hindu interpretation of Indian history throughout its publications that marginalized non-Hindus, particularly the Muslim minority. The MIB issued publications throughout the tenures of Nehru and Lal Bahadur Shastri responding to external conflicts, promoting development efforts, selling the subcontinent as a tourist destination, and producing new works on Indian history, defining Indian national identity to the foreign and domestic audience. Critical analysis of Ministry publications reveals a continuity of discourse and national identity construction between Congress following independence and Hindu nationalists of today, with the national identity construction from 1947 to 1965 producing a history of unintended consequences. The need to foster national unity following independence led the MIB to reference and draw from Hinduism to appeal to the largest number of people, legitimizing religion in political and cultural discourse now dominated by contemporary Hindu nationalists.
Martin Wainwright (Advisor)
Stephen Harp (Committee Member)
Shane Strate (Committee Member)
Karl Kaltenthaler (Committee Member)
Janet Klein (Committee Member)
307 p.
History; Political Science; South Asian Studies
Hindu nationalism; secularism; nationalism; India; Nehru; national identity construction; ministry of information and broadcasting; Hinduism; dharma

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Lakshminarasimhan, S. (2024). The Crisis of Unity: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and National Identity Construction in Post-Independence India, 1947-1965 [Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron171277956943913

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Lakshminarasimhan, Suraj. The Crisis of Unity: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and National Identity Construction in Post-Independence India, 1947-1965. 2024. University of Akron, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron171277956943913.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Lakshminarasimhan, Suraj. "The Crisis of Unity: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and National Identity Construction in Post-Independence India, 1947-1965." Doctoral dissertation, University of Akron, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron171277956943913

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.