‘Acche din’ not here, neither ‘bure din’

Arun Shourie is  right & wrong   –  By  Arihant Panagariya, in First Post.com

(Repeated silence on the part of the ruling party, especially Modi,  encouraged both frequency and visibility of BJP’s  vicious communal attacks, verbal and physical. This  dimmed the good perception people had about NDA Screen Shot 2015-05-25 at 8.37.28 pmgovernment and Modi. What counts most in democracy is, public opinion based on public perception. Had Modi been more vocal in condemning vocal and physical outbursts against minorities, people could have been prevented from thinking of Manmohan Singh days and brought about  a balance in  public perception, james kottoor, editor)  

Public memory is short or its grasp of history is weak or may be both. Yes, “acche din” may not be here yet as promised by the Prime Minister but it’s also true that “bure din” as being projected are not here as well. If you spend hours on social media and waste a bit of time watching English news channels, you would certainly believe the hype that India as a country would soon turn into what its neighbour is.

There is growing intolerance in India, people say. Writers, scientists, actors have given up their awards given by the State of India to protest this intolerance as is their right under the Constitution of India. Many diligent Indians have spoken up on the issue and feel incidents in which “rationalists, people from minorities” have been targeted have legitimacy from the top leadership of the Government. The most significant attack on the government has come from its friend-turned-foe, Arun Shourie. The so called Indian Right Wing’s most influential writer has termed this government as “Congress + Cow”, the PMO as the “weakest” one we have had and even went on to say that “people have started missing Dr Manmohan Singh”.

For many vocal supporters of the government on social media, Shourie is now speaking up because he wasn’t given a Cabinet position and therefore he is disgruntled. While this may be unfair to Shourie, who before this attack on the Government was idolised and revered by the same set of people, it is also true that Shourie’s statements deserve greater scrutiny and not just outright rejection. Amidst all the noise, it is important to look at what he said and not why he said what he did.

So, has India really become intolerant as Shourie is making it out to be? No, the data produced and published by the Home Ministry suggests otherwise. From 2011-2013, the number of communal incidents in India rose from 580 to 823 and fell to 644 in 2014. The incidents of crime from 2009-2013 against Scheduled Castes rose from 33,412 to 39,408 and from 5,250 to 6,793 against Scheduled Tribes. But why did none of these writers and activists feel the need to return their awards then?

If you feel all writers/activists are saints and apolitical, you are being delusional. India has had a serious law and order problem and it hasn’t got worse under this Government. Also, as Swami Aiyer has recently described in his column, the communal tension and violence today is much less than what it used to be over the past 25 years. Statistically, Shourie’s point on intolerance doesn’t stand and it does no good to his own credibility. Where he does get it right is that some members in the BJP may have been encouraged to do what they did and that doesn’t help the perception and the image of the NDA government or the PM himself.

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