A masterpiece of an essay by Ramachandra Guha (A Nation Consumed by the State, Jan 31). Reading it, I felt sad, angry and bitter. But then I reached his conclusion, drawn in R.K. Narayanesque imagery of three boys in fancy dress, expressing joy and hope. To me, they seemed like my grandson, Dhruva, 10 years old, standing in font of me, who even with all the mess around, is supremely confident of everything, even the future of a 10 per cent gdp!
R.S. Krishnaswamy, Bangalore
Stimulating article by Guha, and in the best journalistic tradition too.
D.P. Agrawal, Almora
I’d add one more enemy to the idea of India—a selfish affluent class. All of us have, by and large, a ‘mera to ho gaya’ attitude which allows the worst travesties to happen. There are many of us who no longer have to worry about basic survival. When will the voice against corruption become strong enough to challenge it?
SG, London
India’s worst enemy is its silent majority—the mute spectators of the Republic of India.
George Olivera, Mysore
If the Centre ever wants to see any positive outcome in Kashmir, Nagaland and Manipur, then it must do away with the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. No nation has the right to call itself civilised if it uses such a draconian piece of legislation to maintain law and order. The removal of this act, not mere economic packages, can be the only way to bring the people of these regions into confidence.
Ayoung Konyak, Kohima
Guha’s essay is well-intentioned but is the same old wine in a new bottle. Why does every writer/intellectual ignore the root cause of this social evil within the voters of this nation? Is it not us, with our inherent xenophobia, who find solace in these butchers, promising us the blood of the other community?
Ramon Terence, on e-mail
Guha’s expounded a nice thesis wherein he mentions the multiple divides (in terms of socio-economic achievements) in India along caste, religious and regional lines. But perhaps the three are interlinked? Brahmins and Hindu banias may be better off than Muslims and adivasis, but then Parsis and Jains, both small religious minorities, are on average, better off than Brahmins and Hindu Banias. It is simply a question of being in the right place. India’s economic growth in the last 60 years has concentrated in a few states, districts and regions. So, communities in those places have benefited a lot; those outside it have lagged. If Muslims and adivasis are worse off than the rest, it is because the states where they are present in large numbers—UP, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, MP, Jharkhand, a lot of the Northeast, Orissa, east Maharashtra et al—have done dismally in terms of social and economic progress for decades. Parsis and Jains, on the other hand, happen to mostly live in the best Indian metro (Mumbai) or in India’s most thriving business/commerce/ trading centres of the west (Gujarat etc). For the same reasons, a Muslim in Kerala is far likely to earn more than a Hindu in Jharkhand. The solution? Nine per cent growth or 1%, we need growth in all regions of India. And how do we get this growth without compromising on forestry, farmland and fisheries? Perhaps, we need a 50:50 approach, not a blanket one.
Ramki, Delhi
How else can India eliminate poverty on a macro scale except by a relentless pursuit of 9 per cent growth? A reading of the economic history of other countries, most recently China, would perhaps reveal that such an evolution does lead to an elimination of poverty. But the results are not always clean on a micro-level. The issue is not that mining is being done or that farmland is being acquired for urbanisation. The issue is that inadequate compensation is being paid to owners, that royalties are not charged and that there is crony capitalism.
Puneet, San Francisco
Yet another mind-numbing essay from this shallow writer, with no new thought or insight. There is no re-examination of his Eurocentric thought process, no seeking the causes of inequity in the Mahalanobis model, the track record of the Planning Commission in the last 50 years. Never question Nehruism. Hype the role of Ambedkar. Looks good to fellow liberals, that’s all.
Birju Mahavir, Lucknow
Guha names three polar ideologies—“Hindu nationalism, left radicalism and regional separatism”—as threats to the country. But he lets off the Congress-liberal version of secularism too lightly. This hypocrisy of liberal intellectuals like Guha allows the Congress to get away with murder, the fallout of which the entire country has to live with.
Mihir Samel, Mumbai
Guha says Rajiv opened the locks of Ayodhya and then, to satisfy the bigots on the other side, reversed the Shahbano order. He is reversing the order to suit his theory. For, Rajiv first reversed the Shahbano order and then, to pacify Hindu fundamentalists, opened the gates of Ayodhya.
Sanjiv, Mumbai
Nationalist historians try to portray the nation to reflect the ideology of the party in power. And Guha’s is nothing but its postmodern version, which in general tries to justify the capitalist economic model with proper liberal democratic governance.
Arup Keshri, Calcutta
Guha in his piece mentions 17 languages or scripts on the Indian currency note. However, only 15 scripts are actually depicted on our notes.
Sanjiv Kacker, on e-mail
Yes, the idea of India has enemies, but we as a nation are still evolving. The advent of modern communications systems has not only helped in the flow of information to the masses but has also made us more transparent as a nation. The need of the hour is to strengthen the democratic system by empowering common people with rights such as RTI or the Lokpal Bill so that the idea of India gets stronger every day.
Anvi Ananya, Ahmedabad
Surprising that Guha forgets one of the most corrosive elements to the idea of nationhood—casteism. There has been an increase in the number of parties catering only to the needs of specific castes, even in states like Tamil Nadu, held up as an example of a developed and progressive state. All political parties keep an eye on the caste arithmetic when selecting candidates for elections and make adjustments with these caste-based parties fearing they may otherwise lose some seats. There is a race amongst castes to be treated as most backward so as to reap the benefits of reservation.
G. Vijayaraghavan, Chennai
Guha should not, in the process of defining his pantheon of demons, insult the idea of Hinduism—it is Hinduism that has helped all other religions and ideas thrive and survive in India. What India needs is some corruption-free, long-term-thinking leaders who actually care about the poor man. If that day comes, there will be peace for everyone....
Sanjeev Vasishtha, Utica, US
Guha uses many words to state the obvious. A few points need to be made. 1) Every species has a majority and a minority; the majority will dominate. And not only in Israel and Pakistan, but even in China. One can romance with the idea of equality, but a country like America will always be Caucasian-oriented. So will any number of European countries, be they Sweden or Denmark. Developed western nations with full-fledged democratic institutions have started thinking of protecting their dominant religions. 2) The so-called notion of democracy is very recent, experienced over the last 200-odd years. Lest we forget, the Indian subcontinent had always been “ruled”, not governed. That is why we refer to “ruling party”, not “governing party”.
Mystic Frog, Bangalore
