He argues that “ the very fact that nations look to history to present some characteristic as unique and therefore defining themselves as a distinct people, in itself reflects a modernist outlook and sensibility.” Any attempt to root this idea in the pre-capitalist past is an inherently faulty exercise. Vanaik shows that the idea of nationalism is a particularly modern phenomenon. The first chapter, ‘Marxism and Nationalism’, is a tour de force of the most complex idea of modern times- nationalism. The book consists of five powerful essays written in a crisp style, with loads of conviction and deep ideological anchorage. The book is a must-read for those who feel that what is happening in India today is a complete undoing of the vision and goals it was envisaged to achieve.ĪFTER his 2017 magnum opus Hindutva Rising: Secular Claims and Communal Realities, writer and social activist Achin Vanaik, former dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Delhi University and one of India’s foremost Marxist political scientists and commentators, has come out with another book titled Nationalist Dangers, Secular Failings: A Compass for an Indian Left. The book has come at an opportune time when the Hindutva forces led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)–Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine are attempting to overturn Indian politics for the worse.
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