Gujarat Files: Anatomy of a Cover Up


Rana Ayyub - 2016
    Posing as Maithili Tyagi, a filmmaker from the American Film Institute Conservatory, Rana met bureaucrats and top cops in Gujarat who held pivotal positions in the state between 2001 and 2010. The transcripts of the sting operation reveal the complicity of the state and its officials in crimes against humanity. With sensational disclosures about cases that run parallel to Narendra Modi and Amit Shah’s ascent to power and their journey from Gujarat to New Delhi, the book tells you the hushed truth of the state in the words of those who developed amnesia while speaking before commissions of enquiry, but held nothing back in the secretly taped videos which form the basis of this remarkable read.

Fool Me Twice: Obama's Shocking Plans for the Next Four Years Exposed


Aaron Klein - 2012
     Months of painstaking research into thousands of documents have enabled investigative journalists and New York Times bestselling authors Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott to expose the secret template for Obama's next four years -- the one actually created by Obama's own top advisers and strategists. Just as Obama concealed the true plans for his initial term behind rhetoric of ending partisan differences and cutting the Federal deficit, Obama's re-election theme of creating jobs conceals more than it reveals about his real agenda for a second term. All the main areas of domestic policy are covered -- jobs, wages, health care, immigration overhaul, electoral "reform," national energy policy. Each of the plans exposed seek to permanently remake America into a government-dominated socialist state. Here are just a few samples from dozens upon dozens of specific schemes unveiled herein: Detailed plans to enact single-payer health care legislation controlled by the Federal government regardless of any Supreme Court decision to overturn Obamacare; The recreation of a 21st century version of FDR's Works Progress Administration (WPA) program within the Department of Labor that would oversee a massive new bureaucracy and millions of new Federal jobs; Further gutting of the U.S. military in shocking ways, while using the "savings" for a new "green" stimulus program and the founding of a Federal "green" bank to fund so-called environmentally friendly projects; The vastly reduced resources of the U.S. Armed Forces will be spread even thinner by using them to combat "global warming," fight global poverty, remedy "injustice," bolster the United Nations and step up use of "peacekeeping" deployments; An expansive new amnesty program for illegal aliens linked with a reduction in the capabilities of the U.S. Border Patrol and plans to bring in untold numbers of new immigrants with the removal of caps on H-1B visas and green cards. Fool Me Twice is based on exhaustive research into the coming plans and presidential policies as well as the specific second term recommendations of the major "progressive" groups behind Barack Obama and the Democratic leadership - the organizations that help to craft the legislation and set the political and rhetorical agenda for the president and his allies. While many have general concerns about Obama's second-term ambitions, Fool Me Twice lays bare the devastating details of a second Obama presidency. If he wins re-election in 2012, the America of equal opportunity for all, Constitutionally-limited government, economic freedom and personal liberty will be but a distant memory.

Hello, Bastar - The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement


Rahul Pandita - 2011
    It traces the circumstances due to which the Maoist movement entrenched itself in about 10 states of India, carrying out deadly attacks against the Indian establishment in the name of the poor and the marginalised. It offers rare insight into the lives of Maoist guerillas and of the Adivasi tribals living in the Red zone.Based on extensive on-ground reportage and exhaustive interviews with Maoist leaders, including their supreme commander, Ganapathi; Kobad Ghandy; and others who are jailed or have been killed in police encounters, this book is a combination of firsthand storytelling and intrepid analysis.Hello, Bastar is the story of:How the idea of creating a guerilla base in Bastar came upWhat the rebels who entered Dandakaranya had to deal withThe Jagtial movement that created the ground for the Maoist movementThe first squad member who died for revolutionHow Maoists and their guerilla squads functionTheir goals, recruitment, party structure and fundingTheir 'urban agenda' for cities like Delhi, Mumbai and ChennaiTheir relationships with people and peoples' movementsMaoist supremo Ganapathi and other top leadersAnuradha Ghandy's journey from Bombay to Bastar

A Time of Madness: A Memoir of Partition


Salman Rashid
    As a result of this, Salman Rashid’s family fled Jalandhar for Pakistan, the newly created country across the border.They were among the nearly two million people uprooted from their homes in the greatest transmigration in history. Besides those who fled, other members of the family became part of a grimmer statistic: they featured among the more than one million unfortunate souls who paid with their lives for the division of India and creation of Pakistan.After living in the shadow of his family’s tragedy for decades, in 2008, Rashid made the journey back to his ancestral village to uncover the truth. A Time of Madness tells the story of what he discovered with great poignancy and grace. It is a tale of unspeakable brutality but it is also a testament to the uniquely human traits of forgiveness, redemption and the resilience of the human spirit.

Born A Muslim: Some Truths About Islam in India


Ghazala Wahab - 2021
    It arrived in India by multiple routes—in the south, in the eighth and ninth centuries CE, with traders from Arabia, and in the north, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, with invaders, rulers, and mystics, largely from Central Asia. Once it was established in India, it morphed and evolved through the centuries until it took on the distinctive contours of the religion that is practised here at present. The author takes a clear-eyed look at every aspect of Islam in India today. She examines the factors that have stalled the socio-economic and intellectual growth of Indian Muslims and attributes both internal factors—such as a disproportionate reliance on the ulema—as well as external ones that have contributed to the backwardness of the community. She shows at length, and with great empathy and understanding, what it is like to live as a Muslim in India and offers suggestions on how their lot might be improved. Weaving together personal memoir, history, reportage, scholarship, and interviews with a wide variety of people, the author highlights how an apathetic and sometimes hostile government attitude and prejudice at all levels of society have contributed to Muslim vulnerability and insecurity.Born a Muslim goes beyond stereotypes and news headlines to present an extraordinarily compelling and illuminating portrait of one of the largest and most diverse communities in India.

Journeys Through Babudom and Netaland: Governance in India


T.S.R. Subramanian - 2004
    just after Babri Masjid. An excellent narrative, clear and thoughtful. a very unique volume that should be read by scholar and layperson alike

Unbreaking India: Decision on Article 370 and the CAA


Sanjay Dixit - 2020
    Author Sanjay Dixit delves deep into the past and traces the events, actions and their repercussions that finally led to the Union of India introducing these two measures. He looks at these events from all perspectives-historical, social and political.For Article 370, he traces the entire history of Kashmir from its pre-Islamic past and to the events that unfolded at the time of the Partition of India, leading to the initial inclusion of Article 370 in the Constitution of India. Dixit also studies in detail the legal and constitutional labyrinths, discussing the various Presidential Orders and case laws from the Constitutional Bench jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.For CAA, Dixit traces the constitutional history of India from the time of the partition of Bengal in 1905 to the unfortunate events of the Partition in 1947. His study relies heavily on Dr B.R. Ambedkar's analysis of the reasons for the Partition and the theology of a 'separate nation' that prevailed during the period. The author contends that this same theology has been staging a comeback now in the form of mazhabi pehchan which forms the crux of the anti-CAA protests.The informed position of the author, his lucidity of language and directness of approach lend clarity to his arguments and makes this an accessible and important read.

Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance


Mark Howard - 2012
    Its Internet community web site, Fox Nation, serves as the online gathering place for Fox viewers to absorb and spread the aggregated disinformation and conspiracy theories hatched by Fox News.Two years ago the first volume of Fox Nation vs. Reality was published revealing an Internet operation that was dedicated to fiercely partisan, right-wing distortions of the truth. Its mission was, and remains, to construct a safe haven for the broader Fox News community to reinforce their preferred fantasies and unfounded preconceptions. Since then Fox Nation has evolved into an even more sheltered environment that has taken on many characteristics of culthood. It is a pattern they adopted from their parent, Fox News, where the slogan “fair and balanced” was an implicit condemnation of all other news sources as being neither. Recognizing that the prime directive of a cult is to convince your followers that your version of reality is the only true version and that all others are agents of deception, Fox segregated their disciples to prevent them from being contaminated by impure thoughts, otherwise known as facts.In Fox Nation vs. Reality you will find a compilation of articles originally published on the media analysis web site News Corpse. They provide an eye-opening look into the lengths that committed propagandists will go in order to fabricate an alternative political reality. And remember that Fox Nation is not some remote outpost on the Internet Superhighway. It is an integral part of Fox News whose executives are wholly responsible for the stain it produces on journalism.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Man for All Seasons


Kingshuk Nag - 2015
    That it was a coalition government made the feat all the more remarkable, and testifies to the fact that though wedded to a right-wing political ideology, Vajpayee did not believe in the politics of exclusion.A protégé of Jana Sangh stalwarts like Syama Prasad Mukherjee and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Vajpayee won the admiration of Jawaharlal Nehru, was consulted by his daughter Indira Gandhi—whom he never lacked the courage to criticize—and befriended by fiery trade unionist George Fernandes even before they became political allies. He thus displayed an unusual ability to carry along all shades of political opinion—an ability that came to the fore when he headed the National Democratic Alliance government between 1999 and 2004. And behind this public persona was an unusual personal life, conducted with such dignity as to remain free of innuendo.In this book, journalist Kingshuk Nag traces the political journey of this tall parliamentarian of over four decades, who was conferred the Bharat Ratna in December 2014. Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Man for All Seasons is a definitive account of the life and times of one of India’s most illustrious non-Congress leaders.

JFK’s War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated


Douglas Horne - 2014
    Kennedy, the response has been: Why would the U.S. national-security establishment — that is, the military and the CIA — kill Kennedy? As Douglas P. Horne details in this ebook, JFK’s War with the National Security Establishment: Why Kennedy Was Assassinated, the answer is because Kennedy’s ideas about foreign-policy collided with those of the U.S. national-security establishment during the height of the Cold War. In the eyes of the military and the CIA, Kennedy’s policies posed a grave threat to national security.Horne served as Chief Analyst for Military Records for the Assassination Records Review Board (ARRB). This was the federal agency that Congress established to secure the disclosure and release of JFK-related records and documents after the public outcry generated by Oliver Stone’s movie JFK. Horne is the author of Inside the Assassination Records Review Board: The U.S. Government’s Final Attempt to Reconcile the Conflicting Medical Evidence in the Assassination of JFK, a five-volume work that focuses primarily on the autopsy of Kennedy’s body that was conducted by the U.S. military.

Only Fatherland


Arun Shourie - 1991
    In the process he uncovers the secret negotiations they conducted and the secret understanding they struck with the British; the reports they submitted to the imperial rulers about the work they were doing to subvert the movement Mahatma Gandhi had launched. He concludes with a review of the reactions of Indian communists to the break-up of the Soviet empire; showing how their mental make-up and habits have not changed in the six decades since independence.

The Doctor and the Saint: The Ambedkar - Gandhi Debate


Arundhati Roy - 2017
    At the same time, Roy makes clear that what millions of Indians need is not merely formal democracy, but liberation from the oppression, shame, and poverty imposed on them by India’s archaic caste system.

Panic 2012: The Sublime and Terrifying Inside Story of Obama's Final Campaign


Michael Hastings - 2013
    With access to the Obama re-election machine, Michael Hastings reports the behind-the-scenes story of the campaign trail: from Obama's self-destructive performance at the first debate to the harrowing days of Hurricane Sandy, all culminating in his triumphant victory late in the evening on November 6th. Along the way, Hastings gives a first hand account of the excitement and madness traveling with the White House press corps, bringing to life a series of unforgettably strange moments from the trail. From one of the sharpest, funniest, and most controversial young American journalists writing today comes "Panic: 2012" - the definitive account of how President Obama almost blew it.

The Thumpin': How Rahm Emanuel and the Democrats Learned to Be Ruthless and Ended the Republican Revolution


Naftali Bendavid - 2007
    The Thumpin’ is the story of that historic victory and the man at the center on whom Democratic hopes hinged: Congressman Rahm Emanuel, head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC). Chicago Tribune reporter Naftali Bendavid had exclusive access to Emanuel and the DCCC in the year and a half leading up to the elections and ended up with the story of a lifetime, the thrilling blow-by-blow account of how Emanuel remade the campaign in his own ferocious image. Responsible for everything from handpicking Congressional candidates to raising money for attack ads, Emanuel, a talented ballet dancer better known in Washington for his extraordinary intensity and his inexhaustible torrents of profanity, threw out the playbook on the way Democrats run elections.Instead of rallying the base, Rahm sought moderate-to-conservative candidates who could attract more traditional voters. Instead of getting caught in the Democrats’ endless arguments about their positions, he went on the attack, personally vilifying Republicans from Tom DeLay to Christopher Shays. And instead of abiding by the gentlemen’s agreements of good-old-boy Washington, he broke them, attacking his counterpart in the Republican party and challenging Howard Dean, the chairman of his own party. In 2005, no one believed victory was within the Democrats’ grasp. But as the months passed, Republicans were caught in wave after wave of scandal, support for the war in Iraq steadily declined, and the president’s poll numbers plummeted. And in Emanuel, the Democrats finally had a killer, a ruthless closer like Karl Rove or Lee Atwater, poised to seize the advantage and deliver what President Bush would call “a thumpin.’”Taking its cues from classic political page-turners like Showdown at Gucci Gulch and documentaries like The War Room, The Thumpin’ takes us inside the key races and the national strategy-making that moved the Democrats from forecasted gains of three seats in 2005 to a sweeping gain of thirty seats when the votes were finally counted. Through this masterful account of Rahm’s rout, Bendavid shows how the lessons the Democrats learned in 2006—to fight for every vote, to abandon litmus tests, and to take no prisoners—will be crucial to the party’s future electoral success, and shape the political course the nation will take in the twenty-first century.From the Hardcover edition.

Landmark Judgments That Changed India


Asok Kumar Ganguly - 2015
    Of these, it is the judiciary’s task to uphold constitutional values and ensure justice for all. The interpretation and application of constitutional values by the judicial system has had far-reaching impact, often even altering provisions of the Constitution itself. Although our legal system was originally based on the broad principles of the English common law, over the years it has been adapted to Indian traditions and been changed, for the better, by certain landmark verdicts.In Landmark Judgments that Changed India, former Supreme Court judge and eminent jurist Asok Kumar Ganguly analyses certain cases that led to the formation of new laws and changes to the legal system. Discussed in this book are judgments in cases such as Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala that curtailed the power of Parliament to amend the Constitution; Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India and Others that defined personal liberty; and Golaknath v. State of Punjab, where it was ruled that amendments which infringe upon fundamental rights cannot be passed.Of special significance for law students and practitioners, this book is also an ideal guide for anyone interested in the changes made to Indian laws down the years, and the evolution of the judicial system to what it is today.