Menaka Guruswamy: Leans left and has repeatedly criticised Modi in articles.
Aditya Sondhi: Served as AG in a Congress government and criticised Modi govt for CAA
Dayan Krishnan: Represents Congress and AAP scam accused, has criticised Modi.
In politics:
Brijesh Kalappa: Congress, now AAP
Nayanna Motamma: Recently elected as an MLA in Karnataka on a Congress ticket
In academia:
Tarunabh Khaitan: Leans left
Prabha Kotiswaran: Very left
Aparna Chandra: Very left
Lawrence Liang and others at ALF: Very left
Gautam Bhatia: Very left
Certainly, there is the case of Vikramjit Banerjee, but that's a rare exception.
So the obvious question is this: Harvard and Ivies may be majority liberal, but have a decent share of conservatives as well. NLSIU has modelled itself as a Harvard of the East, but why has the political diversity of Harvard not been replicated? I think it's legitimate to ask this. Recently Ashoka came under criticism from its own founders for being a left-wing echo chamber. NLSIU too must answer to this criticism. It's worrying if the #1 law school is churning out only left-liberals. It may point to structural problems with the curriculum and faculty. Are professors teaching the writings of Friedman, Bhagwati, RC Majumdar, Palkhivala, Kirk, Buckley, Clarence Thomas and Scalia? Or only Marx, Sen, Krishna Iyer, Althusser, Foucault, Romila Thapar and Bipan Chandra? It's notable that one former NLSIU VC, Mohan Gopal, is an actual member of the Congress inner circle and has been an advisor to Rahul Gandhi.
Legal community in the entire country is a lefty echo chamber (thanks in big part to nepo kids like DYC). Even BJP affiliated lawyers are well towards the left of their party (Jaitly, Rohatgi)
In US there is the federalist society for conservative lawyers that provides excellent career opportunity in politics, judiciary even SC appointment based on being part of the conservative intellectual ecosystem.
Well said 👏. But there I feel Modi has failed to create a robust conservative intellectual ecosystem, like the Federalist Society. Hopefully in the next term. 🤞 I would also hope that Vikramjit or Arghya Sengupta can be appointed as NLSIU VC, to correct or at least balance the left wing bias. Similarly, Raghav Awasthi as NALSAR VC or Jaiveer Shergill as NUJS VC. Basically practitioners and not academics. No reason why only academics should be VCs.
Student here. We have got plenty of libertarians and economic right-wingers (capitalists) but "right-wing culture warriors" are almost non-existent. In my view, the left-right dichotomy itself is quite flawed.
I feel that professors should be teaching the writings of Friedman, Nozick, Rand and originalists, and encourage respectful debates, as long it doesn't get outright phony by bringing in modern-day grifters like Shapiro, Peterson etc.
Most Indian politicians are socialistic when it comes to the economy, including BJP and its parent organization RSS. Similarly, none of them are really progressive on social issues. Apart from a select few disputes like cow slaughter, UCC, CAA etc, they are virtually the clones of one another.
Could it be down to the intake? Yes, a few prominent conservative voices come to mind who are Ivy grads, but imo they are still largely liberal spaces. NLS takes only 70 students a year. Harvard alone takes over 500, there are seven other Ivies. So it could be possible that the proportion of politically conservative grads is the same, there are just more of them in the US because of the larger class size.
But this is just a hypothesis, would be interesting to see if anyone has actual numners.
"Conservative" in the Indian context mostly means being an ▮▮▮.
There is a nuanced position that one can take around the principles of conservatism, and then delve into Economic Conservatism and Social Conservatism (to be very simplistic). Let's set aside Economic Conservatism, since I doubt that you are really referring to deregulation and lower taxes and less welfare spending, when you refer to Indian Conservatism.
Let's look at all the "conservative Americans" that you mentioned. The main flashpoints of the American right are gay marriage, abortion, and "traditional family values". The first two are not really meaningful political issues in India, and the third is something that the Right keeps parroting, but only in opposition to what they see as urban decadence.
So, what does Conservative in India mean? Or, what does "left liberal" or "left" or "very left" mean?
The answer will shock you.
Here's a list of things that "left liberals" are fighting for.
1. Due Process.
Treat people fairly. Treat undertrials, and those accused of heinous, anti-national, and other subversive activities, fairly. Let Kasab and Afzal Guru go through a long and detailed trial, with every honest attempt made to prove their innocence. Let the world know that India is a fair country, that weighs and balances the evidence, and assures everyone of a fair trial.
Don't throw 20 year old girls into jail for organizing protests against the government.
Don't impound passports of people because they criticize the government.
2. Opposing Majoritarianism.
Every citizen of India has the right to be treated the same by the State. everyone should have the same standards applied to them to check if they are a citizen. The same hands-off approach by the state for their religion and their language.
Don't push one "national language" on people.
Don't jail people for their food habits.
Don't withhold judgeships because "people are gay and have a foreign partner" (like our foreign minister's spouse) and hence "pose a security risk" or "will be biased for gay issues".
3. The right to dissent, be different, and not be forced into majoritarian groupthink.
Privacy, freedom of expression, and all those other nice things you studied in Constitutional Law.
Sadly, the Indian Conservative Movement has done itself no favours. They mostly harp about "ancient glories" and about some artificial idea of patriotism that they think is the right way. They are not prepared to genuinely debate or understand left liberal priorities, or convincingly articulate a reasoned and logical case for their philosophies and objectives.
I'm proud of my fellow Alum for standing up for the oppressed and the downtrodden, and for fighting for due process and the things promised in our Constitution. If "Conservatives" oppose this, we'd like to hear why.
So, coming back to the basic question. What does Indian Conservatism really mean, and why should anyone with a grain of empathy subscribe to it?
Adding to my previous comment- the Conservative Movement in India is defined mostly by its opposition to left-liberal ideas and actions, along with some bluster on "national security" and "strong leaders". "Strong leaders" is shorthand for "will commit violence against minorities".
So, this is Indian Conservatism. Do you have a different view? We're not talking about economic conservatives or US-style Small Government Reaganites. There is no political support for that kind of conservatism in India, so what does "Indian Conservatism" really mean?
"Socialism" is an economic argument. Every political party supports socialism, except that they call it different names.
But, let's bite. What are your problems with socialism? And which political party has the same ideologies that you support? Would be nice if you gave some nuanced and substantive answers beyond "JNU bad lol, arts grads useless lol, taxpayers money lol".
Vivek Ramaswamy: JD, YaleTed Cruz: JD, Harvard
Mike Pompeo: JD Harvard
Many, many more.
Now, let's look at NLSIU alumni:
In legal practice:
Menaka Guruswamy: Leans left and has repeatedly criticised Modi in articles.
Aditya Sondhi: Served as AG in a Congress government and criticised Modi govt for CAA
Dayan Krishnan: Represents Congress and AAP scam accused, has criticised Modi.
In politics:
Brijesh Kalappa: Congress, now AAP
Nayanna Motamma: Recently elected as an MLA in Karnataka on a Congress ticket
In academia:
Tarunabh Khaitan: Leans left
Prabha Kotiswaran: Very left
Aparna Chandra: Very left
Lawrence Liang and others at ALF: Very left
Gautam Bhatia: Very left
Certainly, there is the case of Vikramjit Banerjee, but that's a rare exception.
So the obvious question is this: Harvard and Ivies may be majority liberal, but have a decent share of conservatives as well. NLSIU has modelled itself as a Harvard of the East, but why has the political diversity of Harvard not been replicated? I think it's legitimate to ask this. Recently Ashoka came under criticism from its own founders for being a left-wing echo chamber. NLSIU too must answer to this criticism. It's worrying if the #1 law school is churning out only left-liberals. It may point to structural problems with the curriculum and faculty. Are professors teaching the writings of Friedman, Bhagwati, RC Majumdar, Palkhivala, Kirk, Buckley, Clarence Thomas and Scalia? Or only Marx, Sen, Krishna Iyer, Althusser, Foucault, Romila Thapar and Bipan Chandra? It's notable that one former NLSIU VC, Mohan Gopal, is an actual member of the Congress inner circle and has been an advisor to Rahul Gandhi.
https://www.indiatoday.in/india/south/story/rahul-gandhi-key-advisor-a-likely-congress-candidate-from-kerala-184648-2014-03-12
In US there is the federalist society for conservative lawyers that provides excellent career opportunity in politics, judiciary even SC appointment based on being part of the conservative intellectual ecosystem.
I feel that professors should be teaching the writings of Friedman, Nozick, Rand and originalists, and encourage respectful debates, as long it doesn't get outright phony by bringing in modern-day grifters like Shapiro, Peterson etc.
Most Indian politicians are socialistic when it comes to the economy, including BJP and its parent organization RSS. Similarly, none of them are really progressive on social issues. Apart from a select few disputes like cow slaughter, UCC, CAA etc, they are virtually the clones of one another.
So it could be possible that the proportion of politically conservative grads is the same, there are just more of them in the US because of the larger class size.
But this is just a hypothesis, would be interesting to see if anyone has actual numners.
"Conservative" in the Indian context mostly means being an ▮▮▮.
There is a nuanced position that one can take around the principles of conservatism, and then delve into Economic Conservatism and Social Conservatism (to be very simplistic). Let's set aside Economic Conservatism, since I doubt that you are really referring to deregulation and lower taxes and less welfare spending, when you refer to Indian Conservatism.
Let's look at all the "conservative Americans" that you mentioned. The main flashpoints of the American right are gay marriage, abortion, and "traditional family values". The first two are not really meaningful political issues in India, and the third is something that the Right keeps parroting, but only in opposition to what they see as urban decadence.
So, what does Conservative in India mean? Or, what does "left liberal" or "left" or "very left" mean?
The answer will shock you.
Here's a list of things that "left liberals" are fighting for.
1. Due Process.
Treat people fairly. Treat undertrials, and those accused of heinous, anti-national, and other subversive activities, fairly. Let Kasab and Afzal Guru go through a long and detailed trial, with every honest attempt made to prove their innocence. Let the world know that India is a fair country, that weighs and balances the evidence, and assures everyone of a fair trial.
Don't throw 20 year old girls into jail for organizing protests against the government.
Don't impound passports of people because they criticize the government.
2. Opposing Majoritarianism.
Every citizen of India has the right to be treated the same by the State. everyone should have the same standards applied to them to check if they are a citizen. The same hands-off approach by the state for their religion and their language.
Don't push one "national language" on people.
Don't jail people for their food habits.
Don't withhold judgeships because "people are gay and have a foreign partner" (like our foreign minister's spouse) and hence "pose a security risk" or "will be biased for gay issues".
3. The right to dissent, be different, and not be forced into majoritarian groupthink.
Privacy, freedom of expression, and all those other nice things you studied in Constitutional Law.
Sadly, the Indian Conservative Movement has done itself no favours. They mostly harp about "ancient glories" and about some artificial idea of patriotism that they think is the right way. They are not prepared to genuinely debate or understand left liberal priorities, or convincingly articulate a reasoned and logical case for their philosophies and objectives.
I'm proud of my fellow Alum for standing up for the oppressed and the downtrodden, and for fighting for due process and the things promised in our Constitution. If "Conservatives" oppose this, we'd like to hear why.
So, coming back to the basic question. What does Indian Conservatism really mean, and why should anyone with a grain of empathy subscribe to it?
So, this is Indian Conservatism. Do you have a different view? We're not talking about economic conservatives or US-style Small Government Reaganites. There is no political support for that kind of conservatism in India, so what does "Indian Conservatism" really mean?
But, let's bite. What are your problems with socialism? And which political party has the same ideologies that you support? Would be nice if you gave some nuanced and substantive answers beyond "JNU bad lol, arts grads useless lol, taxpayers money lol".
2. There are a lot of right-leaning NLS alumni, just that they might be media/publicity-shy.
When you become educated, you stop saying uneducated things.