Bhaduri unravels these complex themes with an equal measure of acuity and elegance in The Face You Were Afraid to See. . . .
Civil society groups have certainly done magnificently in rousing social conscience on many vital problems afflicting the nation. But economic phenomena are the offshoots of political phenomena. If the constellation of any such phenomena has to be changed, should not the combat take place on the political plane and be aimed at preventing the arbitrary exercise of State power? Heterogeneous civil society groups will, alas, hardly fill the bill.