The paradox of growth and political illiberalism in India

Such was the provocative view put forward by Dr Nikita Sud, Wolfson Fellow and University lecturer in Development Studies at the Department of International Development, in her lecture entitled ‘God, Gold, and Government: Economic liberalism meets political illiberalism in western India', delivered before the Wolfson College Governing Body in the Haldane room on Wednesday 7^th March.

College President Hermione Lee introduced Dr Sud and her latest research, which will be published in her first book entitled Liberalization, Hindu Nationalism and the State, due to be published by Oxford University Press in April.

Dr Sud outlined the paradox of economic liberalization and political illiberalism in India, manifested most extremely in the western Indian state of Gujarat, which has experienced an extraordinary growth rate of 11% and been hailed as a beacon of economic liberalization, yet which remains under the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's unbroken rule since 1990 and suffers from the increasing marginalization of and violence towards its Muslim and Christian minorities, evident in the notorious Gujarat massacre of 2002 in which around 2000 Muslims were killed and thousands made homeless.

Dr Sud's focus on the role of the state has been largely neglected by conventional analyses that erroneously assume that the state has receded from economic decision-making in the era of economic liberalization. Drawn from extensive fieldwork in Gujarat with a range of actors such as fishing communities, bureaucrats, government officials, businessmen and activists, her analysis reconceptualizes the state as a “bundle of ideas, a set of government policies and practices, as well as politics around these policies and practices”, rather than a fixed monolithic entity.

Drawing on examples from her fieldwork, she demonstrated that, contrary to assertions by economists, businessmen continue to view facilitation by the state as essential for their operations; whether for tax concessions, control of labour, or to clear land previously used by Muslim fishing communities for the creation of ‘Special Economic Zones' (SEZs), for instance. Dr Sud found that the state itself was involved in labeling Muslim fishing communities which stood in the way of the creation of SEZs as a ‘Pakistani terrorist' threat, thereby reproducing the stereotypes that legitimize violence against minorities. 

Thanks to Wolfson student Muhammed Ali Jan for the report of the event.

To learn more about Wolfson College's South Asia Research Cluster (SARC), please contact Professor Barbara Harriss-White.

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