by Barkha Dutt
None of what I do would be possible without the fantastic, super-talented team of producers, editors, camera crew, engineers and designers I work with on ‘The Buck Stops Here’ and ‘We The People’. They have patiently absorbed my eccentricities and my over-demanding personality, and are really extended family more than colleagues. This book would not have been possible but for the fact that they always keep me standing, through good and bad. So to all of them—Juhi Tyagi, Ruby Dhingra, Noman Siddiqui, Shailander Chauhan, Mohammed Asim, Shorbani Bhattacharya, Yamini Joshi, Rohit Wellington Rajan, Manoj Thakur, Manu Nair, P. Varadarajan, G. Manjunath, Ajmal Jami, Kaushik Mani, Prafulla Mishra, Neha Kukreja, Apta Ramesh, Almas Malik, Ashish Kumar, Sudarshan, Angela Albert, Debojyoti Paul, Uma Shankar Mishra, Sonal Joshi, Aneesha Baig and Tarun Shingari—you are, quite literally, the wind beneath my wings.
My interest in politics began with the stories told to me by my ‘Tayaji’—my second father really—who even at ninety-one still wears only khadi in tribute to the freedom movement he witnessed as a young man. He has been my best teacher.
Finally, I owe my biggest thank you to all the people who have trusted me enough to share their stories with me—opening up to me even in moments of war, death, calamity and violence. For your willingness to let me into your lives in some of the toughest moments you have faced, I am eternally grateful. I was humbled by each one of you, I learnt from every one of you. Thank you.
INDEX
Abdullah, Farooq, 147-148, 153–158, 197, 198, 200, 236, 255
Abdullah, Ghulam Mohammed, 191
Abdullah, Omar, 157–158, 160, 170, 173, 178-179, 204
Abhinav Bharat, 98-100
abortion and women’s reproductive rights, 5
Abraham, Vinoj, 34
Adityanath, Yogi, 239, 298
Advani, L. K., 55, 125, 128, 131, 133, 147, 197, 215, 226, 232, 237, 253
Ahangar, Parveena, 167
Aiyar, Mani Shankar, 228
Akhlaq, Mohammad, 140, 239, 294-297, 300-301
Akhtar, Javed, 137-138
Ambedkar, B. R., 139, 264–267, 269-271, 270-271
Ananthamurthy, U. R., 139
Annan, Kofi, 57
anti-Mandal agitation of 1992, 281–282
anti-Sikh riots of 1984, 113–116
Antony, A. K., 105
Armitage, Richard, 75
Arunthathiyar community, 261
Aseemanand, Swami, 98
Association for Democratic Reforms, 18
Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons, 167
Ayodhya campaign, 133
Azad, Maulana Abdul Kalam, 50
Azhar, Maulana Masood, 147–148
Aziz, Mohammad, 57
Aziz, Sartaj, 242
Azmi, Shabana, 38
Baalu, T. R., xv
Babri Masjid incident, 82, 130–132
Bandukwala, J. S., 144-145
Banerjee, Mamata, 15–17
Banerji, Rita, 32
Baru, Sanjaya, xvi
Batra, Vikram, 52, 70
Bedi, Kiran, 235
Beg, Mirza Aslam, 50
Berger, Sandy, 60
Bhagalpur riots of 1989, 134
Bhagat, H. K. L., 115
Bhalla, Surjit, 34
Bhangis, 275–276
Bhanwari Devi, 6–9, 12–13, 19, 21
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 23, 98–100, 107, 117, 123, 125, 128, 131–135, 137, 140, 152–153, 155, 160–161, 181, 183–184, 192, 209, 212–215, 217, 224–226, 231–237, 239–240, 244, 246–247, 249–250, 253–254, 256–258, 268–269, 281, 283, 287, 297–298, 300–302 vs Gandhi family, 214–215
Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, 31
Bharti, Uma, 16
Bhatkal, Yasin, 82
Bhatt, Mahesh, 89
Bhatt, Rahul, 89
Bhindranwale, Jarnail Singh, 77
Bhutto, Benazir, 1, 213, 241
Bhutto, Zulfikar Ali, 48–49
Blair, Dennis, 81
Bush, George W., 73, 92
caste and class, collision of, 262–263
caste oppression, 271–277
Chaurasia, Deepak, 128
Chavan, Prithviraj, 95
Chidambaram, P., 103, 105, 228, 286-287
Chopra, Priyanka, 38
Chopra, Vidhu Vinod, 191
Chowdhury, Renuka, 4
Clinton, Bill, 54, 59–62, 196, 203
Clinton, Hillary, 15
Congress party, 221–223
Dabholkar, Narendra, 138, 140
Dadri lynching, 294–301
Dalit renaissance, 270–274
Date, Sadanand, 86
Delhi state elections, 234–235
Dhar, S. N., 190
Dikshit, Sheila, 14
Dulat, A. S., 147
Dutt, J. K., 88
Election 2014, 220–225
BJP, 224–225
Congress party, 221–223
Farooq, Maulvi Mohammed, 181
Farooq, Mirwaiz Umar, 179, 181
female participation in workforce, 33–35
female politicians, 16–17
Fernandes, George, 55-56, 76, 113
Gadkari, Nitin, 224
Gafoor, Hasan, 89
Gandhi, Indira, 49, 113, 221
Gandhi, Mahatma, 130
Gandhi, Rahul, 132, 216–217, 220, 224, 246, 255
Gandhi, Rajiv, 115, 210
Gandhi, Sonia, 14, 17–18, 127, 211, 214-215, 218, 250
Gavai, P. G., 115
Geelani, Syed Shah, 163, 183, 204
Gill, K. P. S., 126
Godhra violence, 117–121, 143–144
Gohar, Altaf, 50
Gowda, Deve, 226
Greer, Germaine, 1
‘Gudiya,’ 30–31
Gujarat riots, 82, 124–125, 143, 231-232
Afsana, case of, 111–112
Bilkis Bano, case of, 112
Sultani, case of, 110–111
Gujral, I. K., 115
‘Gulabi Gang,’ 19
Hala, John, 2
Hale, Matthew, 23
Harshvardhan, Dr, 235
Hashimpura massacre of 1987, 134
Headley, David, 89–90
Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, 31
Hindutva fanatics, 129, 140, 232, 235–236, 238–239, 258, 297–298 and sectarian intolerance, growing, 100, 129, 138–143, 238–239
Hizbul Mujahideen, 77, 149, 167, 177, 184-185, 192-194, 204
IC 814, hijacking of, 146–147
Inderfurth, Karl, 60
Indian Premier League (IPL), 286
India’s anti-corruption movement, 256–258
Indo-China War, 1962, 48
Indo-Pak relations, 244, 248
Kargil War, 48, 50–52, 55–72
Kashmir issue, 48–49
Tiger Hill operation, 1999, 43–46, 53–55, 61, 67
institutionalized and caste-driven discrimination, 19–25
Islamic State (ISIS), 93
‘item girl’ in Indian films, 38
Itoo, Sakina, 180
Jaffrelot, Christophe, 98
Jafri, Ehsan, 122–123
Jafri, Zakia, 122–123
Jaitley, Arun, 126, 214, 231–232, 240, 247, 252, 287, 301
Jammu and Kashmir, 126, 146-149, 155–163
Amarnath Yatra camp firing incident, 167
Article 370, 155, 160–161
disappearances of people, 167–171
Hizbul militant attacks, 192–195
Ikhwani movement, 185–186
insurgency, 205–208
Kaluchak attacks, 171–172
Kashmiri Pandit community, 188–189
militancy in, 203–204
Muzaffarabad bus burning, 2005, 162
Pakistan’s obsessive-compulsive Kashmir disorder, 195–199
social conservatism and Islamic dress code, 200–203
split between the Muslims and the Pandits, 190–192
Valley’s ‘half-widows,’ 164–167
Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), 149–150, 176–178
Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal (Caste Destruction Society), 265
Jayalalithaa, 16–17, 257
Jindal, Sajjan, 247–249
Jinnah, Mohammed Ali, 46, 49, 130-132, 231
Jones, W. H. Morris, 222
Joshi, Murli Manohar, 131, 231
Justice Srikrishna Commission, 137
Justice Verma Committee, 18, 23
Kamte, Ashok, 85
Karachi Project, 81–82
Kargil War, 35, 48, 50–52, 55–72, xiv
television coverage of, 65–67
Karkare, Hemant, 85–87, xv
Karma, Chhavendra, 108
Karma, Mahendra, 107–108
Kasab, Ajmal, 85–87, 89–90, 95, 99
Kashmir Conspiracy Case, 154
Kasuri, Khurshid, 97
Kaur, Ravinder, 34
Kejriwal, Arvind, 216-217, 219–220, 228-230, 234, 255–257, 275, 300
Khan, Arif Mohammed, 133
Khan, Ayub, 48, 50
Kodnani, Maya, 123-124
Kothari, Rajni, 222
Kripalani, Acharya, 150
Krishnan, Sunitha, 21–22
Kumar, Nitish, 228, 253
Kumar, Sajjan, 116
Laden, Osama Bin, 81, 151, 167
Lashkar-e-Taiba, 77, 82, 97, 101, 148, 162, 175, 194, 197, 242
Liberhan Commission, 131
Lone, Abdul Gani, 180-181
Lone, Sajjad Gani, 183
Lyngdoh, James, 126-127, 185
Madhok, Balraj, 155
Malik, V. P., 54, 59, 63-64, 66, 69, xiv
Malik, Yasin, 150, 176–178
Mandal Commission, 133, 281–282
Manning, David, 73
Margoob, Mushtaq, 206–207
marital rape, 13, 23
Marwah, Ved, 115
Mayawati, 16, 228, 269-270
Memon, Yakub, 135–137
Mill, James, 129
Mills, C. Wright, 229
Mir, Hamid, 242, 244-245
Mir, Javed, 150
Mishra, Brajesh, 55, 59–60, 73–74, 146–147
Mitra, Chandan, 99
Modi, Lalit, 215, 253, 286, 289
Modi, Narendra, 122, 124–126, 128, 160–161, 214, 225–232, 234–240, 244–258, 268, 277, 283, 286–287, 295
‘Digital India’ campaign, 295
Gaurav Yatra (Procession of Pride), 126–127
‘Make in India’ campaign, 236
rift between Gandhis and, 215–216
Mody, Azhar, 123
Mufti, Mehbooba, 16, 186, 201
Mukerjea, Indrani, 94, 285, 289
Mukherjee, Pranab, 105, 163, 301
Mukherjee, Shyama Prasad,155, 237
Mukund, Indu, 163
multi-barrel rocket launcher (MBRL), 43, 46
26/11 Mumbai attacks, 83–96, 175
television coverage, 92–93
Mumbai blasts, 1993, 135–137
Munda, Birsa, 106
Munshi, K. M., 130
Musharraf, Pervez, 48, 50, 55, 57-58, 60, 62, 70, 75, 97, 127, 174–176, 182, 201, 241, 248
Muslim Personal Law Board, 31, 133
Muzaffarnagar violence, 134-135, 298, 300
Naidu, Venkaiah, 23
National Investigative Agency (NIA), 98
National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), 33
Naxal/Maoist violence, 103–108
Nayar, Kuldip, 132
Nehru, Jawaharlal, 130, 150-152, 154-155, 158, 221-223
Nehru, Motilal, 150
Nellie massacre, 134
Nooyi, Indra, 35–36
nuclear deterrence theory, 50, 65
Operation Blue Star, 206
Operation Gibraltar, 48
Operation Gulmarg, 151
Operation Parakram, 73–76
Operation Safed Sagar, 56
Operation Vijay, 65
Padmanabhan, S., 75
Pande, Kamal, 197
Pande, P. C., 118
Pansare, Govind, 100, 138
Parikh, Firuza, 36
Parrey, Kukka, 184, 187
Patel, Hardik, 283
Patel, Jaideep, 118
Patel, Sardar Vallabhbhai, 150-152, 237
Patil, Shivraj, 91, 105
peasant and tribal movements, 106–108
Phoolan Devi, 20
Poona Pact of 1932, 266
Powell, Colin, 73
Praja Parishad movement, 155
Prakash, Uday, 139
Prasad, Chandra Bhan, 270- 272
Purohit, Srikanth, 98
Pushkar, Sunanda, 285- 289
Quit Kashmir Movement, 150–151
Qureshi, Fazul Haq, 194–195
Radia, Nira, xv–xvi
Raghavan, R. K., 123
Rahman, A. R., 138
Rai, Kalpnath, x
Raj, Udit, 266–267, 269
Raja, A., xv–xvi
Raje, Vasundhara, 16, 253, 287
Ram, Kanshi, 228, 269
Rao, Milind Joshi, 100
Rao, Narasimha, 132, 158, 229, 277
Rice, Condoleezza, 73
Right to Information, 220
RSS, 98, 237–238, 268-269
Rushdie, Salman, 134
Saeed, Hafiz, 82, 242-243
Sahgal, Nayantara, 139
Salaskar, Vijay, 85, 87
Samajwadi Party, 135, 220, 298, 300
Sampat Pal Devi, 19
Sanatan Sanstha, 99, 100, 140,
sanskritization, 34
Sarkar, Sumit, 106
Saroj, Kalpana, 272-273
Savarkar, Veer, 98, 140
Savitch, H. V., 78
Saxena, Girish, 147
Sayeed, Mufti Mohammad, 158–160
sectarian intolerance, growing, 138–143
secularism, 129–130
Sen, Amartya, 4, 39, 217
sexism in India, 15
sexual trafficking, 21
sexual violence and abuse, 3