Books of the Week - Saturday, 19th March, 2022

JNU: Nationalism and India’s Uncivil War
by - Makarand R. Paranjape

About the Book

9 February 2016: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) erupted with ‘anti-national’ slogans. Arrests of student leaders, the shutdown of the university, a lecture series on ‘What the Nation Needs to Know’, a student’s disappearance, another’s suicide and a number of even more disruptive protests ensued. JNU: Nationalism and India’s Uncivil War, by a long-standing JNU professor, is a ringside account of what happened. Delicately and incisively crafted, it is an empathetic insider’s account of JNU’s problems from an expert in the field of higher education. Through this book, the author makes an impassioned plea to transform rather than destroy JNU, as also reform higher education. But more than that, this book is also a history of our times, of India’s ongoing transformation, the story of the changing selfapprehension of a nation. Examining the multiple meanings of nationalism in our time, Paranjape delves deeply into what it means to be an Indian today. He gives his perception and understanding of the new India that is fast emerging as India enters its 75th year of Independence.

About the Author

During JNU’s ‘tukde tukde’ phase, Makarand R. Paranjape, professor of English, was one of the few who stood up to the ‘anti-national’ lobby. Formerly director, Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, Makarand was educated at St Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he got his master’s and PhD in English. Author/editor of over 50 books, in addition to hundreds of academic papers and articles, he is also a well-known poet and public intellectual. His latest books include Swami Vivekananda: Hinduism and India’s Road to Modernity (2020), New Perspectives in Indian Science and Civilization (2020), and The Death & Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi (2015). Makarand has been professor of English in JNU since 1999.

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BOOKS OF THE WEEK - SATURDAY, 15TH AUGUST, 2020

Who Killed Shastri?: The Tashkent Files

By - Vivek Agnihotri 

About the Book :

ISBN : 9789388630597
Rs. 699.00

It was the time of the Cold War. After defeating Pakistan in the second biggest armed conflict since the Second World War, Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri arrived in Tashkent, former USSR, to sign a peace accord. After days of extended negotiations, the peace agreement was signed between India and Pakistan in the presence of Alexei Kosygin, the USSR Premier.

Hours later, at 1.32 AM, Shastri died in his dacha. Abruptly. Mysteriously.

Soon after, his official Russian butler and the Indian cook attached to the Indian ambassador were arrested by the Ninth Directorate of the KGB under the suspicion of poisoning Shastri.

No post-mortem was done. No confession was achieved. There was no judicial enquiry ever. It's been 50 years since his death, and we still don't know the truth.

Was it really a heart attack?

Was he poisoned?

Did the CIA kill him?

Was it the KGB?

Was it a state-sponsored murder?

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri along with his motley team of inexperienced assistants turned whistle-blowers investigate the mystery behind Shastri's death and find themselves in a mirror-world where all and everybody is suspect. But they cannot remain distant, for the painful story of India touches their own lives as they discover how the country was put up for sale.

About the Author :

Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri is an award-winning filmmaker, bestselling author and a free thinker. A former advertising man, he is a popular public speaker on sociopolitical issues, creative thinking and innovation at top global institutes. Vivek is an 'Indic Civilisation' crusader.

His prophetic cult film, Buddha in a Traffic Jam, dealt with the theme of Urban Naxalism and exposed the sinister nexus between the Naxals, media, NGOs and academia. Vivek's latest film, The Tashkent Files, based on the mysterious death of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri has been critically acclaimed.

Vivek's debut book Urban Naxals became the fastest-selling #1 bestseller. The term 'Urban Naxals' is now used as a legit term and is accepted as a political reality by political analysts, media and the Government of India.

He is married to National Award-winning actor Pallavi Joshi and has two children. Along with Pallavi, he runs an NGO-I Am Buddha Foundation-which mentors and trains disadvantaged youth in creative thinking. Vivek has been the recipient of several national and international awards.

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