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Journalism of Courage
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan said Monday he took part in Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra not as a former public servant or an economist but as a “concerned citizen”. Rajan said it was to support those who were “walking the length of India to strengthen national unity and communal harmony”. Rajan joined Gandhi’s Yatra in Rajasthan on December 14, 2022.
In a post on LinkedIn, Rajan wrote on January 2, “Love, not hate, equality and justice, not cronyism and oppression, unity in diversity, not divisiveness, a vibrant argumentative democracy, not an intolerant police state, a cooperative world, not a world at war: these are all worth struggling for. Unless everyone does their little bit, however, each one of these will be at risk in the coming years.”
“That is why I took part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, not as a former public servant or as an economist but as a concerned citizen. I walked a few miles to add my support to those committed citizens, who, in time-honoured Indian fashion, are walking the length of India to strengthen national unity and communal harmony,” Rajan added.
In a video clip shared on Twitter by Gandhi in December, Rajan can be heard saying, “You have to have internal harmony to have external security. Many people say we can fight internally… We will suppress this minority, suppress that, and we will be strong outside. It is not possible.”
Rajan echoed this in his New Years’ post, in which he highlighted the rise of “strong, vibrant, inclusive, liberal democracies embedded in an open global economic system” as a “key factor” in “global prosperity and well-being.”
“Those who believe that we will all be a united whole when we have suppressed this or that minority are living a pipe dream. The forces of hate always look for new victims when the old ones have been finished off, for it is hate that holds the movement together,” he said. “And soldering anger among those who are crushed under the state’s jackboot has a way of erupting in unpredictable and dangerous ways.”
“We have enough diversity in India to keep hatemongers busy for a long time — pick any feature that has torn other countries apart and we have it. At a time our country faces enormous threats on its borders, the hate mongers’ divisive agenda is truly anti-national. We can, nay be must, do better,” Rajan said.
He also shared his hopes for a “diverse and young” country like India, and emphasised the country’s potential of emerging as “an enormous contributor to global growth” amidst a fraught global environment.
Rajan also urged Indian citizens to resolve to “do more to preserve the India we love, and the world we cherish.”
The Bharat Jodo Yatra, which started in September last year, resumed from Delhi Tuesday after a nine-day break. Rahul Gandhi, leading the march, is expected to reach Uttar Pradesh in the evening, before heading to Jammu and Kashmir via Himachal Pradesh.
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