Past Programs
Activism and Lobbying - 2008
India's Middle Class
27/12/2008
The sensitive issue of India's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty has caused plenty of consternation within the international community, and raised some tricky questions about Australia's willingness or unwillingness to sell uranium to the sub-continental giant.
But the nuclear issue has also highlighted some issues within India itself, specifically about the degrees of politically engagement within India's different social strata.
In July a new opposition alliance launched a campaign against, among other things, the Government's nuclear dealings.
This opposition is being led by an influential set of communists and regional politicians, including the woman who hopes to one day be India's Prime minister, Mayawati Kumari
Mayawati is a Dalit or Untouchable and represents an interesting dynamic in Indian politics - where the large bulk of India's poor are often highly politicised.
But, according to my next guest, whilst India's poor may be active in the political process, her middle class is now often disengaged.
