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Aaron Ventresca
Mr. Sebesyten
Honors World Regional Geography
12/5/16
Right vs. Left: What Indians Think
Part One:
In Western culture, a new era of the leftist progressivist movement has proven to
dominate political ideology. The establishment, after being mostly Republican, soon began to
diminish its stature as leftist candidates were elected to office. Academia, the media, and
educators contributed to the pervasive spread of this movement in the West. In India, currently,
this progressivist transition is occurring. Right-wing conservatives recently took control of
government. However, like that same occurrence in the West, the right-wing Indian conservative
party has run thin on ideas supporting the Hindus of India. Prime Minister of India Ramachandra
Ghandi best illustrated the ideological conflict occurring in Indias population: While the
country has a right-wing party in power, right-wing intellectuals run thin on the ground
(Ghandi). Even though the right-wing conservatives are preferred by Indias population, the
uprising leftist movement pokes holes in the weak ideas and societal advancements made by the
Indian conservatives. Simply, put, journalist Shok Malik stated, Rather than confidently
advance tomorrows agenda, the intellectual warriors of the right are still comfortable fighting
the battles of yesterday (Malik). Thus, even though the Indian right has gained momentum in
recent years, there lack of ideas and advancement has allowed the leftist movement to ensue
similar to that in the West.
As the left begins to poke holes in what the right believes, a counterinsurgent movement
of sepoys is occurring. Regardless of religious background, Indians all share a past dominated

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by globalism, imperialism, and lack of freedom. In the West, the globalist movements occurring
parallel those that have occurred in India in the past. The immigration issues faced by the West
were those similar to the Partition of India in 1947. The tainted past of India has thus created a
movement against the rising leftist movement to ensure that the democratic, capitalist mentality
of India is maintained. Author Aatish Taseer stated, [] it would not be long before a new
generation of sepoys was born (Taseer). The term sepoys is used to metaphorically describe
right-wind Indians who support nationalistic views and seek to better India. Thus, India hopes
that its uprising movement of sepoys will restore Indias political stability.
Part Two:
The news article described above relates to the material covered in my Honors World
Regional Geography course. The article describes how the past of India has influenced its current
political values. In class, we covered main parts of Indias history: the partition of India, the
freedom of India, and the demographic dividend currently occurring. The article notes, But their
success had also awakened them to the pain of their history: 800 years of Muslim rule, then two
centuries of British rule and, even when independence came, Indias uncolonized Hindu majority
felt oppressed by a Westernized elite whose power was inseparable from Europe and America
(Taseer). The article enriches my studies as it shows how Indias imperialistic and globalist past
have ultimately fueled the political beliefs of modern day Indians.
Further, the article mentions the current Prime Minister of India, Ramachandra Ghandi.
In class, we specifically covered Gandhis major influence upon Indias history. Ghandi
ultimately led the independence movement for India in the early 20th century. Gandhis
successors took over his role of prime minister after his death, as demonstrated in the article.
The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which had, until recently, dominated politics since independence,

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was the supreme political achievement of an older English-speaking elite. Mr. Modis election
was the crowning achievement of this new Indian elite (Taseer). It can be clearly seen that the
Indian elite has been dominated by Ghandi and his successors, as I learned about in my
geographical studies.
Additionally, the article concludes on a note predicting Indias future. The final line of the
article reads, One elite had been supplanted, but the marks of prestige were the same it
would not be long before a new generation of sepoys was born (Taseer). In class, we have been
learning about the future of India. In 2045, India will surpass China and be the most populous
country in the world. In this article, the future generation of India is described as sepoys. A
sepoy was the name given to extremely conservative right wing soldiers in the Indian army.
Thus, as we learned similarly in class, the large future generations of India will have a major
effect on Indias survival as a nation.
Part Three:
After reflecting on the article, a few notions rose to my attention. I find it refreshingly
surprising that a large country chooses to pursue a right-wing government approach. Further, I
enjoy how Indians are considering their history when determining political beliefs for the future.
Throughout history, some of the largest, most powerful regimes have been based in large,
populous countries (i.e. Soviet Union, Communist China). India seeks to disprove this notion by
defying societal expectations and allowing the people to freely vote upon leaders who represent
their right-wing ideas. This type of democracy should be practiced in all parts of the world, as it
allows citizens to select how they wish to be governed.

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According to Gorakpur, a renown Indian, the Indian governments main problem is that
they do not plan for the future. However, the people of India obviously do the opposite, as they
reflect on their past to better shape their future. Indians acknowledge their history filled with
imperialistic and globalist rule, and thus tend to gravitate to predominately right-wind political
beliefs. Thus, it proves refreshing that Indians acknowledge their history to help govern their
future.
In sum, Author Aatish Taseer illustrates the political conflict occurring in India. As the
leftist movement seeks to dethrone the right-wing conservatives, a new generation of
nationalistic youth are relied upon to restore Indias political stability. In other nations, this type
of youth rebellion should be allowed to purify societal ideologies.

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Works Cited
Taseer, Aatish. "Does India's Right Wing Have Any Ideas?" NY Times, New York Times, 29 Nov.
2016, www.nytimes.com/2016/11/29/opinion/does-indias-right-wing-have-anyideas.html. Accessed 30 Nov. 2016.