Amartya Sen | Maeeshat

Minorities must not be in awe of majority in terms of number: Amartya Sen

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, News, Politics

Amartya Sen

Kolkata : Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen on Saturday said the minorities and the liberal forces in India, who oppose the divisive politics of the present day, need to be more vocal and assertive.

Discussing the present scenario in India, Sen said those ruling the country do not constitute a majority, but they are in power by virtue of their ability to skilfully use the tools of the political system.

“I think in modern days, the majority and minority cannot be decided based on who is a Hindu or who is a Muslim, as it is not really clear who is a Hindu.

“Definitely, the number of Dalits and other minorities is very less. But the fact is that those who are ruling the nation they are not the majority in terms of number, but the reason of their power is that they are aptly using the tools of our political system,” Sen said at a discussion on where the Indian democracy is heading.

According to Sen, if the census is considered then the number of Hindu population is quite high.

“The result of 2014 only reflects that the victorious party was successful in that particular system,” said Sen.

Answering a question regarding the fear factor among Muslims residing in India, he said: “This very state of mind that if we are minority we will be deprived and will have to suffer, is very weakening in itself.”

“The result will not depend on numbers, but on the reach of electoral procedure and the political system. The important fact for victory would be the ability to strongly raise the issues that need immediate attention and deserve thorough discussion,” Sen said.

A social activist, Urba Choudhury raised the question of the relevance of leftist ideologies in the current scenario.

Talking about the presence of the Leftist forces in India, Sen said: “I consider myself a Leftist but one must remember all political questions don’t centre around Left and Right-wing ideologies. We have issues like Minority treatment and Secularism, fulfilling the needs of all different religions, but it is not just an issue addressed by leftists.”

“We have many reasons to join hands with other people who are not really leftists. This is a striking question even before the 2019 election. But one thing must be made clear that joining hands doesn’t mean that two parties forming an alliance must give consent to all views of each other. One needs to fight against the divisive politics and the minority treatment,” he added.

He insisted that all people who have liberal thinking must raise their voice together so that it can be loud enough to stand against the ruling majority.

Sen also expressed his concern about the prevalent gender discrimination after a panellist pointed out that as per the report of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India is the world’s most dangerous country for women.

“It is very sad and shameful that little girls are kidnapped and treated as trade materials for which India holds a very bad record internationally. On one hand, we have to do away with the discrimination between girls and boys, on the other the rich-poor divide,” said the octogenarian.

—IANS

Lack of attention on education, health magnified in Modi rule: Amartya Sen

by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews, News, Politics

Amartya Sen

New Delhi : Nobel-winning economist Amartya Sen said the lack of attention on social sectors had taken a “quantum jump in the wrong direction” since the BJP came to power and that despite the visible prominence of backwardness in India, the political dispensation was diverting attention from the core issues.

“Things have gone pretty badly wrong. Even previously before this government, we did not do enough on education and health. But it has taken a quantum jump in the wrong direction since 2014,” Amartya Sen said on Saturday during a discussion on his new book “Bharat Aur Uske Virodhabhas” (India and its Contradictions), co-authored with economist Jean Dreze.

Pointing out the contradiction in India getting backward while also being the fastest growing economy in the world, the Nobel Laureate said: “Twenty years ago, of the six countries in this region, India was the second best after Sri Lanka. Now it is the second worst.”

“And because of Pakistan’s problems, Pakistan has managed to shield us from being the worst,” he said.

He added that while people should take pride in the things that India has, they must be critical of those things of which they have reason to be ashamed.

“Despite the easy prominence of backwardness in India… now if you try to draw attention to that, the way to deflect it is to say: now think about the great pride of India,” Sen said.

He said despite the enormous inequalities, it was possible to distract attention.

“A great writer who I admire, V.S. Naipaul, who wrote such a novel like ‘A House for Mr Biswas’, could also write that what happened after the 13th century was destruction of Hindu temples and Hindu civilisation, overlooking that this is also when new ideas were coming in.

“If you can distract V.S. Naipaul’s attention then you can distract the attention of most intelligent people,” the Nobel Laureate said.

“The result is that there has been deflection. When there has been this deflection, we have to do something anti-deflection,” he added.

Dreze, who co-authored the book, said while India, in the last few years, had got some success in its quest to become the fastest growing economy — “helped partly by slowdown in China’s growth and partly by some jugglery of numbers” — there is a significant difference between growth and development.

“While development is the goal, economic growth is the medium to achieve that goal. And it’s something to think about that despite 7 per cent GDP growth, the income of the rural labourer has remained the same and yet no one speaks about it,” he said.

He added that while economic growth can help in achieving development, it needs to be accompanied by public action.

“If we talk about health, India is way behind even Bangladesh despite being economically ahead of it. And that is because of lack of public action in India compared to Bangladesh.

“Similarly public action is crucial for education, nutrition, social security, ensuring equality, and environmental protection,” he said.

—IANS