For years, we have looked up to self-proclaimed intellectuals of India as the conscience keepers of India. Their interviews, columns, open letters have spurred a generation of Indians to condemn the apathy of government, to support the ethos of tolerance, to stand alongside the poor and the dispossessed and to laud these Indian intellectuals’ ability to take the political machinery head on. From Ramchandra Guha to Amartya Sen, from Arundhati Roy to Medha Patkar, from Javed Akhtar to Shabana Azmi, a whole group of Indian intellectuals has been placed by us at the helm of India’s moral compass. We ordinary Indians have looked up to them as role models
copying their styles, be they sartorial or oratorical and have regarded them as the ubermenschen that served only the nation, much unlike our political class, who were crass, uneducated, unrefined and selfish.
It is therefore a matter of concern that in the last few years or so, these Indian intellectuals have come out in the open and loudly protested and condemned ModiRaj. From Amartya Sen, who declared his unwillingness to have Modi as ‘his’ PM, to Irfan Habib who described Modi’s victory as a traumatic event, intellectuals of all shades and colours have banded together in criticizing the Modi government as being the antithesis of their idea of India. Imagine the levels of distress in this community that literary intellectuals such as Nayantara Sehgal and Ashok Vajpeyi have been compelled to return their Sahitya Akademi awards. This surely is as damning an indictment as possible of Modi government. So, the question is, pardon my French, why are the intellectuals so pissed?
The response to the above question is not what media has been telling you. It is not that instances of communal violence have suddenly increased, or that members of minority communities are being harassed, or minority places of worship are being vandalized. In fact, there has been a drop of 22% in incidents of communal violence between 2013 to 2014. The government, including the Prime Minister has repeatedly professed their faith in “Sabka Saath Sabka Vikaas”. Why then are the Indian intellectuals so upset? The intellectuals are a distressed lot, because they have lost their political patronage. Over a period of decades, the Congress had put in place a system to reward these intellectuals by conferring upon them awards, or chairmanship of important institutes, or plum postings to ensure that independent intellectuals were converted into pets. Time and again, these Indian intellectuals would go out, cry rivers on the state of affairs and then happily accept reward from a government minister. Mr. Habib, for example was the Chairperson of ICHR from 1986-90. Amartya Sen was awarded with the Chancellorship of Nalanda University in 2012. Ashok Vajpeyi was the Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi. John Dayal was a member of Sonia Gandhi’s National Advisory Council. Teesta Setalvad was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007. The list is endless. Leftist and Marxist intellectuals were the prized possessions of previous governments. It was their world view and their thoughts that mattered. Sadly, that is no longer the case.
Modi’s absolute victory in 2014 has meant that the government has been more open to revising India’s myopic Marxist world view in favour of a more fresh and Indian perspective. Stars of intellectuals, not necessarily painted by Marxism have been on the ascendant. It is this that is rankling the old Indian intellectuals. With political patronage drying up and a new India that is more accommodating of an alternative narrative of past and present events means that these old Indian intellectuals fear being rendered meaningless in Modi’s India. It is this sidelining that is pricking them. It is this that forces them to protest against innocuous events such as Beti bachao, Beti padhao, Digital India, Make in India et al.
Ms. Nayantara Sehgal chose to accept the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1986, from a government that only 2 years earlier had perpetrated the worst massacre in India since Independence. A Kashmiri Pandit by birth, her blood didn’t boil at the exodus of those poor people from the valley. There was no conscionable return of the award then. Mr. Irfan Habib chose to stay on as the Chairperson of ICHR even with the Bhagalpur killings, Meerut riots and what not. There was no dissent from Mr. Ashok Vajpeyi on continuing on as the Chairperson of Lalit Kala Akademi during the Kandhamal riots. Surely, each riot and incident of communal violence is an attack on the liberal, tolerant ethos of the nation. And the fact that it happened, reflects poorly on the government of the day. Why then were there no protests against previous governments? Why were there speeches decrying loss of values during the 2010 Deganga riots, during the 2013 Canning riots, during the Assam riots in 2012? Why has there been no protest by Indian intellectuals on temples being vandalized in Kishanganj, following Akbaruddin Owaisi’s speech? Are our ‘intellectuals’ even aware of these incidents? Why this selective intellectualism?
We have moved beyond an era of pet intellectuals. The old generation of ‘Indian intellectuals’ have made their hypocrisy evident at every step and deserve to be swept into the dustbin of history. As a nation, we need to move beyond them. There is no doubt that we need strong individuals who can take on the might of the state and oppose policies that deserve censuring. But this opposition must stem from national interest and not from some narrow, parochial self-interest of rewards and government sponsored accolades.
Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s words apply today to all these pet Indian intellectuals “Sinhasan khali karo ki janata aati hai”
Who the F** told you the names you mentioned are intellectuals?? In my opinion they are all good for nothing individuals.
Even Pakistan intellectuals understand why Modi will take India to new heights https://dizivizi.com/video/107200/pakistan-intellectuals-understand-why-modi-will-take-india-new-heights-329-cortleigh-blvd-north-york-m5n-1r2-canada-tarek-farah.html
I don’t think it is fair to say that the outrage over the Modi government from all intellectual quarters is due to their backs not being scratched anymore. By that logic, bureaucrats are all really happy because all corruption continues unabated despite the change in government? The state’s interference in how various institutions are run should not be confused with the main point you want to make. I do agree with you that India’s academic spaces have been dominated by entirely leftist voices.
However, with the exception of Arun Shourie, please explain why there is not a single conservative/right-wing intellectual worth their salt in existence in India ? The way to change the dominance of the leftist flank is not by silencing them or creating a vacuum by squeezing them out with nobody qualified to fill their places. The way to change things and balance out voices and perspectives is for voices from the right to publish and produce work that counters the left in credible ways. I left Indian academia for similar reasons but in all my research and work, never have I encountered anybody on the right that has any proven capabilities or rigour. The likes of Dinanath Batra, Francois Gautier and what not are shameful and embarrassing to the right. Even if you inserted them into seriously right-wing spaces ANYWHERE in the world, they would not be able to hold their ground.
I get your condemnation of Batra but how is Gautier shameful?
The
article has been written by a cynical “Frustrated Indian”, and for that
reason, it becomes hard to take a sincere stab at it. Well, after all,
he was frustrated and did not know what he was writing. But the least I
could do is to categorically dismiss some of his factual errors.
Firstly
about “self-proclamation” – these reputed people are extremely
recognized to put it mildly. They are Nobel, Pulitzer, Padma Shri, etc.
etc. etc. laureates. Of course one frustrated Indian can always argue
that all those systems were rigged. It is however, highly improbable.
Secondly,
every one of the intellectuals mentioned in the article have never
wanted to be in power, quite unlike the politicians who are indeed in
the very executive positions determining the positions of these
intellectuals. Also, it is more than likely that a politician is more
inclined towards powers, seats, awards than anyone else.
Dr.
Sen in fact refused to take another term in Nalanda University. Every
Indian should listen to Prof. Irfan Habib – he points to something
brilliant the Ex-HRD’s speech (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw5_e6jCipQ)
– Murali Manohar Joshi once said, “Religious instructions won’t be
provided (constitution prohibits it) but instructions in religion will
be provided (9/10 regarding Hindus and 1/10 for other religions)”.
Ms
Nayantara Segal, Mr Ashok Vajpayi and more of these intellectuals have
gone to extents of giving away the prestigious awards like the Sahitya
Academy, etc.
I can provide many more points – but that is not necessary
Cynicism is important to some extent – allows us to take critical angle to
things. Prime Minister Modi has still NOT expressed his “frustration”
about a Muslim man dragged out of his own house and killed on the street
he has been living his own life. That too in a country that claims to be secular. You don’t know how that feels! This is the very thing that changes minorities to rebels and if the status quo continues, that WILL most CERTAINLY happen.
In fact, a really frustrated Indian will voice his opinion about his
fundamental rights being violated. It is not up to the Government to say
what I can and cannot eat. And this is just scratching the surface.
My frustration is about how the government has gotten rid of these well
proclaimed, internationally renowned intellectuals to the fringes that
the government has extensive control on policies. I condemn this article
and the unsophisticated, if not insincere frustration aired by the
writer.
Well said…..!
If these intellectuals don’t want government awards, why accept them? And if Sen wanted to step down from Nalanda, why did he whine about it? The simple truth is that these people like being given positions of influence and are now butthurt that the Modi government doesn’t need to legitimacy they provide.
please learn to read between the lines. It is not meant that they are not intellectuals. They are narrow minded, whatever might be their qualifications, they got habituated getting appeased. The present govt is not that way. So they are crying fowl to get their lost attention
“Modi’s absolute victory in 2014 has meant that the government has been
more open to revising India’s myopic Marxist world view in favour of a
more fresh and Indian perspective. ”
Does this “fresh” and “Indian” perspective comes from reinventing our history? By claiming ridiculous stuff like Ganesha means plastic surgery? By promoting mythological stories as reality? If that is “fresh” and “Indian”, we don’t need it.
True, biases can always be there while interpreting our society or history or politics. To confront it, you don’t call them names, or try to discredit them by rumors of government largess. Confront with peer reviewed facts. Not stuff like the ones idiots like Dinanath Batra peddle.
asshole , ……………………. re-inventing history is just showing how retarded, pseudointellectual, huypocrit , cowardice , ignorant, brainwashed, overhyped these ”hindu bashers were, ”, and that how , most of the noble laurettes ( in the most genuine sense ), of the past all westeners , be it in philosophy , literature , physics, sociology and allieds have always sported , deemed , declared, attributed, ancient HINDU wisdom as the cornerstone, hallmark, base , foundation , inspiration of their credentials…………… Be it , ( if you retards havent heard of these), werner heisenberg , nietzsche , mark twain , adolus huxley , arthur schopenhaeur, erwin schrodengier, neil’s bohr , carl jung, max planc, alberet einstein , fibronacci, richard dawkins , and hundreds of them..
Hahahaha.. What a shitty piece of article. There is a reason the writer is a frustrated Indian and not an intellectual one.
The writer is an awakened , informed person , and not colonial slave , moron like you.
Awakened and informed like you I guess.. lol
asshole , ……………………. re-inventing history is just showing how retarded, pseudointellectual, huypocrit , cowardice , ignorant, brainwashed, overhyped these ”hindu bashers were, ”, and that how , most of the noble laurettes ( in the most genuine sense ), of the past all westeners , be it in philosophy , literature , physics, sociology and allieds have always sported , deemed , declared, attributed, ancient HINDU wisdom as the cornerstone, hallmark, base , foundation , inspiration of their credentials…………… Be it , ( if you retards havent heard of these), werner heisenberg , nietzsche , mark twain , adolus huxley , arthur schopenhaeur, erwin schrodengier, neil’s bohr , carl jung, max planc, alberet einstein , fibronacci, richard dawkins , and hundreds of them..
all i can say is that just as we have quacks in medicine, we have quacks in intellectuals in our country and now that their coffers are drying up, they are screaming. go ahead, scream u quack intellectuals. people of this country had enough of your quacking.