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Singh dwells on economics of intolerance

Published On : 07 Nov 2015


New Delhi, Nov. 6 (The Telegraph): Manmohan Singh today injected economic logic into the protests against intolerance, saying that curtailment of freedom and peace can hobble economic development too.

At a time thinkers and artists have stressed the human crisis posed by the recent attacks on minorities and dissenters, the former Prime Minister's comments appeared aimed at those citing the Narendra Modi regime's "focus on development" to argue that "stray incidents" should not be highlighted.

"Freedom is a foundational value that lies at the heart of the Nehruvian idea of India. It is widely known that freedom feeds the soul and the heart," Singh said as he opened a two-day conference on Nehru's vision and India's future.


"What is less appreciated," he added, "is that freedom is also essential for economic development. The unimpeded flow and exchange of ideas is essential to build economic prosperity. There is no progress without opposition."

Singh's speech stood out amid the warnings by other speakers against the threat to India's core values and social fabric from the Sangh and the Modi government.

"The prerequisite for innovation, entrepreneurship and competition is an open society and a liberal polity where individuals are free to pursue their ideas," the man credited with India's economic liberalisation said.

"Suppression of dissent or free speech poses a grave danger for economic development. There can be no free market without freedom.... Peace is essential not only for human existence and survival, but also for economic and intellectual growth and development. Capital is likely to be frightened away by conflict."

Singh, a normally reticent politician who has rarely spoken on public issues since stepping down 18 months ago, drew loud applause.

"The nation is deeply concerned at the recent tragic instances of blatant violations of the right to freedom of thought, belief, speech and expression in our country by some violent extremist groups," he said.

"The assault or murder of thinkers for no more than disagreement with their views, or because of the food they eat, or their caste, cannot be justified on any grounds. Nor can the suppression of the right to dissent be allowed."

Three rationalists have been murdered in just over two years and two Muslim men lynched on suspicion of eating and storing beef or smuggling cows for slaughter. A third man died of a firebomb attack linked to a beef protest.

Singh added: "All right-thinking people in the country have condemned such incidents in the strongest terms as an assault on the nation."

Delivering the keynote address, historian Irfan Habib accused outfits that had no role in the freedom movement of misrepresenting and even negating the values Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru stood for.

He said that Gandhi was deeply religious while Nehru was an atheist, and their partnership showed how people with different ideals could work together.

Journalist Kumar Ketkar said the BJP would lose the election in Bihar, which will become "the Stalingrad of the neo-Nazis" - a reference to the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II that began Adolf Hitler's downfall.

Ketkar repeatedly described the Sangh as fascist and likened Modi to Hitler. But he blamed the Congress for ignoring Nehru's warnings about a possible takeover of India by anti-secular forces.

He accused all political parties of having been indifferent to the process of secularisation of society over these decades.

Ketkar expressed shock at the legitimacy some thinkers, journalists and corporate leaders had provided to communal ideologies, alleging that drawing room conversations sometimes ran on the lines of "these Dalits have gone too far, Muslims will have to be taught a lesson".

Jamia Millia teacher and historian Mukul Kesavan questioned the Congress's right to sermonise on freedom and tolerance. "We know the BJP with all its wickedness stands for one side but the Congress is found standing on both sides," he said.

Kesavan recalled the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi, the 1984 anti-Sikh riots after her assassination, and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act - passed and applied by Congress governments - which has been blamed for atrocities in insurgency-hit states.

"The cow protection acts and many other regressive legislations were passed by different Congress regimes," he added.

Activist-lawyer Teesta Setalvad conceded the Congress's faults but asserted that this was not the time to point those out.

Rajya Sabha member Ashok Ganguly said: "Foundations of our nation were shaken several times in the past but our faith was never shaken about our fundamental commitments."

He hoped that the values of the freedom movement would never be erased. "This, even this shall be overcome."

Photo credit: The Telegraph

 







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