Vacuous Diversity: Caste and Secularism in Indian Diplomacy

What is it about?

Through a study of the life and times of Mani Shankar Aiyar, this essay demonstrates the importance of caste and casteism in the conduct of Indian diplomacy and international affairs. Specifically, allegiance to an anemic and thin version of secularism secures the hegemony of upper caste elites in India and deflects attention from caste inequality. By examining the memoirs and speeches of Mani Shankar Aiyar, the essay demonstrates how status and distinction are produced in india. The essay further argues that Aiyar's deft deployment of secularism as diversion from caste no longer carries the same degree of persuasiveness as before. With the full-blown emergence of Hindutva as the reigning ideology of governance in contemporary India, the ability of Aiyar and others like him to secure their status in society has frayed. The many scandals involving him in recent times attest to the fact that he is no longer in sync with the zeitgeist of the BJP's India.

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