Book review: Gautam Bhan, In the Public’s Interest. Evictions, Citizenship and Inequality in Contemporary Delhi
| Author | Lisa Björkman |
| Published date | 01 June 2018 |
| Date | 01 June 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2321023018762832 |
152 Book Reviews
allowed—was so much ‘smoke and mirrors’ because of various loopholes and non-implementabililty).
Indeed, its main effect was to lead to a further resumption of land from erstwhile (disguised) tenants and
to the subdivision of holdings among family members (on paper, so as to evade the lowered ceiling).
Inequality in the distribution of holdings only increased. This conveys a sense of what might have
been possible given a different political economy, given the limited achievements on land ceilings and
redistribution of ceiling-surplus land in West Bengal.
The last few chapters of Volume 3 are rather sketchy and confusing. The constant moving back and
forward in time, inconsistencies between the text and the chronology at the beginning of the volume, and
several typos leave the reader confused. Thus on page 251 of Volume 3, Independence Day is referred to
as Republic Day, which confuses the reader about dates. President Reddy becomes ‘governor’ Reddy, a
demotion that is accorded earlier to President Giri. The statement on the same page that CS’s government
‘lasted less than a month’ is confusing until it becomes clear that the reference is how early in his term
CS had to submit his resignation to the president because of lack of support and call for new elections,
although he continued as prime minister for six months. The chronology says he was finance minister
between January and July 1979 but there is not a word about this in the text or indeed anything substan-
tive about his six months as prime minister after that. Nor is there any further discussion after several
references earlier in the volumes to how Indira Gandhi had the last word in their long and difficult rela-
tionship by withdrawing her support to his government after giving him her support conveyed through
emissaries less than a month earlier when he resigned from Morarji’s government. A little more detail
here is important because her ‘trickery’ and his ‘opportunism’ have passed into the folklore relating to
the episode. Instead, the relevant chapter is taken up disproportionately with the content of documents
and long statements by CS on his differences with Moraji over holding Mrs Gandhi to account for the
emergency.
To conclude, this is a fascinating account of the dynamics and nitty gritty of state-level politics and
administration in India, centred on the long career of an unusual politician who because of his self-belief,
understanding and dogged persistence laid the foundation for future agricultural growth in India.
He has been maligned and misunderstood by both the left and urban elite opinion makers. This book will
do much to restore his reputation, although that is not its purpose. To reach a broader audience, a more
concise version would be necessary.
Prabhu Ghate
Independent Researcher and Former Government Servant in UP
Gautam Bhan, In the Public’s Interest. Evictions, Citizenship and Inequality in Contemporary Delhi. New Delhi:
Orient Blackswan, 2016. 304 pages. `825.
DOI: 10.1177/2321023018762832
Gautam Bhan’s meticulous, gloves-off account of evictions and impoverishment in India’s National
Capital Region (NCR) begins in the resettlement colony of Bawana, situated at northwest edge of Delhi
where activist-resident Rafiya Khanum describes the 2004 removal of her home and neighbourhood
from the banks of the river Yamuna. The demolition of Rafiya’s neighbourhood was of a piece with a
spate of basti evictions that took place in Delhi during the first decade of the millennium, when an
estimated 800,000 Delhi residents were forcibly evicted from their homes. Of the 150,000 or so former
residents of Rafiya’s now-demolished neighbourhood, Rafiya counts herself among the lucky few; a
mere 30 per cent of the dis-housed were allotted compensatory plots in far-flung resettlement colonies
like Bawana.
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