Nobel laureate Amartya Sen asserted the current Lok Sabha ballot outcomes level to the truth that India shouldn’t be a ‘Hindu Rashtra’. File
| Photo Credit: SAMPATH KUMAR GP
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Wednesday asserted the current Lok Sabha ballot outcomes level to the truth that India shouldn’t be a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
Sen, who arrived in Kolkata from the US within the night, additionally expressed displeasure over the “continuation” of placing individuals behind bars “without trial” even below the brand new dispensation.
“That India is not a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ only has been reflected in the election results,” Sen informed a Bengali news channel on the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport right here.
“We always hope to see a change after every election. Some of what happened earlier (during the BJP-led central government) like putting people behind bars without trial, and widening the gap between the rich and poor, are still continuing. That must stop,” he said.
The eminent economist said there is a need to be politically open-minded, especially when India is a secular country with a secular Constitution.
“I do not think the idea of turning India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is appropriate,” Sen, 90, said.
He was also of the opinion that the new Union cabinet is “a copy of the earlier one”.
“The ministers continue to hold similar portfolios. Despite a slight reshuffle, the politically powerful are still powerful,” he said.
Sen recalled that during his childhood when India was under the British rule, people were jailed without any trial.
“When I was young, many of my uncles and cousins were put in jail without trial. We had hoped that India would be free from this. Congress is also to blame for the fact that this did not stop. They didn’t change it… But, this is more in practice under the present government,” the Nobel laureate said.
On the BJP losing the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat despite building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Sen said attempts were made to overshadow the country’s true identity.
“… Building the Ram Temple spending a lot cash… to painting India as a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, which shouldn’t have occurred within the nation of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It reveals an try to neglect India’s true identification, and it should change,” he stated.
Sen additionally stated that unemployment was on the rise in India, and sectors like major schooling and first healthcare have been being uncared for.
Source: www.thehindu.com
