India

the siege within is a non–fiction work by m j akbar, who is the national spokesperson for the bharatiya janata party (bjp) and an influential journalist he has authored many political non-fiction works like kashmir behind the vale, riot after riot and the making of india m j akbar was editor–in–chief for india today and the deccan chronicle and also launched a weekly newspaper called “the sunday guardian” in 2010 the siege within is a riveting attempt by this journalist and gives an account on how present india exists and what role unity plays, with its diverse population the book also addresses the issues relevant to the hindu and muslim diasporam j akbar regards his book as an account of the policies that india has adopted for democracy and how some of the policies have both worked and failed the book traces the origin of real indian polity, which starts from 1947 and how prior to that there was not much deliberation on the separation of hindu and muslim states he also points out the role of the british administration of the time and how he believes that nationality should have nothing to do with what religion you belong to he says he is an indian first, especially at a time when the freedom of his nation is concerned the siege within also highlights the origins of the cracks in the unity of india, which have traces in the history of nation’s freedom strugglethe book is a well-documented and researched work, which delves into the emotions which binds and unites a nation, which has undergone massive changes with regard to the political affiliations of the people within author m j akbar tugs at the heart of india’s development as a united country on the global map the new edition of the book was published by roli books in 2003 and is available in paperback key the siege within–challenges to a nation’s unity sheds light on the present and past political scenes that made india what it is today