Harish Khare on the conceits of mofussil minds. The demagogue’s spell is over
A reader is unhappy
with the Prime Minister's remarks at the dedication of the Sardar Sarovar Dam
on Sunday. The dismayed reader writes a letter to the editor (The Tribune,
September 20): "The remark was vitriolic and not in harmony with the
celebratory occasion….Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as the head of the largest
democracy, should forsake the detestable job of a low-level party hatchet
man." For the record, the Prime Minister had menacingly remarked that he
had access to the "kacha-chitta" of all those who were opposed to the
dam. News reports also noted that the Prime Minister pointedly did not mention
Nehru, even though it was Nehru who had laid the dam's foundation stone.
Not long ago, there
was a time when such cultivated pettiness would have been music to many ears.
No longer. Now, it is beginning to jar. There was a time when the country was
in need of a catharsis. May 2014 happened. For a while, very many people found
themselves dazzled — especially those who pride themselves on their
technocratic detachment — by the sheer political energy, fast-talking,
tongue-lashing leadership; the new anti-intellectual strain and invocation of
popular nationalism seemed so natural and so very much in order.
A tricked up nation is
recovering its breath and its moral certainties. And, the nation no longer
feels elevated with such small-mindedness as was witnessed last Sunday. After
all, no nation can remain locked in for five years in an abusive moment. For
how long can we feel excited about yet another CBI raid on a Karti Chidambaram
or an Enforcement Directorate case against a Robert Vadra, or ignore all the
evidence of grave damage inflicted by mofussil minds on national economy and
national institutions? Evidence has mounted.
The nationwide dislocation of demonetisation; the GST-centric disruption; the
marked slowdown in economic growth; the alarming drop in GDP numbers; and,
staggering unemployment, all mock at the outsized claims made by limited minds
exercising unlimited authority. The unprecedented rise in petrol and diesel
prices is justified in a most cavalier manner. All this adds up.
Charisma has not produced either competence or capacity. While it is possible
for a leader to infuse a sense of energy and purpose in a confused society, a
personality cult has its definite downside. And, that downside is now taking
its toll on the nation's vitality and creativity. We are being asked to close
our minds. Worse, we now seem to
be in thrall of some kind of crony mofussilism. We are weeding out first-rate
minds and talent. An internationally respected Raghuram Rajan is replaced by a
pliable regulator at the Reserve Bank of India; as an Arvind Panagariya is made
to feel that he was no longer welcome, he is replaced by a very ordinary
economist, whose first public statement proclaimed that the days of
"foreign-trained" economists were over.
This
officially-sanctioned spurning of foreign talent and wisdom is part of a
larger, cruder crusade against the so-called Lutyens' elite. This assault on
the Lutyens' elite is seen as integral to the dismantling of the Nehruvian
consensus that has kept this nation united and moving and progressing.
Instead, a
tautological argument has been advanced; we are telling ourselves that national
greatness has eluded us because we have allowed ourselves to be sucked into
"foreign" ideas and arguments; hence, time has come to rediscover and
re-install the civilisational essence of 'bharatiyata'.
The argument is that we
are still prisoners of the colonial mind and colonial outlook. The need of the
hour is to de-colonalise our minds for a "new resurgent Bharat." A
NITI Aayog member is reported to have formulated, in the presence of the RSS
boss, Mohan Bhagwat, this mumbo-jumbo: "India is rising; the country is
pulsating; it is overcoming tamas (darkness) and is imbibing rajas (qualitative
change)." We are told that we had all the wisdom and knowledge that was to
be had; and, all that is needed to become a vishwa guru (world teacher) is to
go back to that ancient wisdom. We do not need the Ivy League and its products;
our own mofussil universities and their mediocre 'scholars' would do. We can
burn down the university libraries and no one will miss them. We have our own
glorious past.
This incestuous
conceit should surprise no one. Because the media and the intelligentsia have
lost their professional courage to tell off the second-rate performers, there
is a new arrogance. We will insist that Deen Dayal Upadhyay has all the answers
to all our collective failings. Just because they find themselves moved from
the cramped quarters in VP House on Rafi Marg to spacious bungalows with
manicured lawns on Safdarjung Road, these mofussil minds feel themselves
cockily validated. The new sultanate has devised its own darbari culture. NITI
Aayog members write opinion pieces in newspapers exalting the BJP President as
the new ' Chanakya’
What we are witnessing
is a closing of our minds. The personality cult has become institutionalised,
and the Great Leader's limits and weaknesses are now drowning out the strengths
and assets. The cabinet system of government has suffered in efficacy as it has
lost its capacity for collective imagination. The paucity of talent is no
longer made up by the Prime Minister's rhetorical prowess, his brilliance in
abusing political rivals, his humble origin or his unquestionable dedication to
Bharat Mata. He dazzled the nation once; no more. A fatigue has set in as
undersized performance has not matched the over-exaggerated promises and
claims.
Meanwhile, the notion
of good governance is being redefined by children's deaths in Gorakhpur,
Farrukhabad, Nasik Civil Hospital; and, the breakdown in Panchkula. What is
more, each spectacular failure is sought to be explained away arrogantly: we
are a huge country and there will be breakdowns and collapses. The farm sector
remains under distress. After grandly promising to double the farmers' income
in five years, the hapless Agriculture Minister has been asked to disown any
central responsibility; instead, the states have been asked to do the needful.
Such abuse of public confidence and poll promises! Opposition parties and
leaders may or may not be able to cobble together a coherent counter-narrative,
the citizens are beginning to take note of the insensitive note, so central to
crony mofussilism.
