The spectre of BJP

Though Ghose pegs the book to the present government, blamed for an increase in illiberalism, let's focus on that core liberal agenda

Why I Am a Liberal

A Manifesto for Indians Who Believe in Individual Freedom

Sagarika Ghose

Penguin/Viking, 

397 pages, Rs 599

Sagarika Ghose’s book is described as “A manifesto for Indians who believe in individual freedom”. Apart from a longish introduction, there are five chapters — Liberal Patriot, Liberal Hindu, Liberal Thinker, Liberal Dissenter and Liberal Woman. Each chapter has a sub-title that reveals what this book is about. Respectively, these sub-titles are: Why the liberal Indian is a greater patriot than the ‘Hindutva nationalist’; Why the true Hindu is always a liberal and why the liberal Hindu is a better Hindu than the political