Citizen Under Siege: Essays (20142025)

About the BookCOMPELLING READING FOR ANYONE WHO IS INVESTED IN UNDERSTANDING THEIR OWN IDENTITY AS A CITIZEN OF INDIA AND THE WORLD.As countries across the world increasingly tilt towards authoritarian regimes, and as state overreach becomes normalised, this book asks: How do we safeguard the spirit of democracy? Why has silencing citizens come to be a central preoccupation of governments across continents? Why must we root for constitutional values and conduct in our pursuit of secularism, equality and justice? And why, in India, has respect for diversity and tolerance become more important than ever before?Thoughtful and provocative, Citizen Under Siege is a deeply anguished response by literary scholar and cultural activist G.N. Devy to the present state of affairs in India. It is a timely reminder that fearless citizenry is the soul of democracy.About the AuthorG.N. Devy writes in three languages-Marathi, Gujarati and English-and has authored or edited over a hundred works in areas such as Literary Criticism, Education, Linguistics, Anthropology and History. Several of his books have been translated into Marathi, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Bangla, Konkani, Hindi and Assamiya. He was formerly Professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Professor of Humanities at the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology, Gandhinagar, Professor of Social Sciences at the Centre for Multi- disciplinary Development Research, Dharwad, Obaid Siddiqi Chair Professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore, and is currently Senior Professor of Eminence & Director, Somaiya School of Civilization Studies, Somaiya Vidyavihar University, Mumbai. He founded the Bhasha Research and Publication Centre at Baroda (1996) and Adivasi Academy at Tejgadh (1999). The Peoples Linguistic Survey of India, covering 780 living languages of India and published in 50 multilingual volumes, was a unique project initiated and led by him. Devy is a thinker, cultural activist and a distinguished academic. He has held several distinguished fellowships and received numerous Lifetime Achievement honours, including the Padma Shri, and awards such as the Sahitya Akademi Award, SAARC Foundation Award, Prince Claus Award and Linguapax Award. He is Senior Honorary Fellow of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.