Outlook Magazine - Whose Idea of India? - 31 August 2026 Issue

Is India an ancient civilisation or a modern nation-state? Does it share a collective history, or has a collective identity been imposed upon a country of many histories, faiths and cultures? Does India need a Uniform Civil Code, or is its pursuit an ideological project? These are not merely arguments about India’s past. They are choices about its future. India has been shaped by competing ideas—civilisation and constitutionalism, faith and secularism, individual liberty and collective identity, revolution and reform. At every turn, different choices have offered different destinations. In this Independence Day Special, Outlook brings together India’s leading thinkers, politicians, economists and bureaucrats to confront the fundamental questions before the republic: What is India? Who defines it? And what should it become? Many ideas made India. Many paths lie ahead. The choice belongs to its people.