Consensus breakers

This is the voice of one of a hundred and twenty million Indians, literally from the wilderness...

This is the voice of one of a hundred and twenty million Indians, literally from the wilderness, from the Indroda Natural Wildlife Park on the banks of the Sabarmati near Gandhinagar, where it is being thought through. In an open democracy, for all you know, there is an outside chance that it may even get a hearing. All large multi-ethnic democratic countries are as contentious as we are. South Africa, Indonesia, Brazil and at least my friends in oligarchic Russia are all frantically debating, but there is on some fundamentals a minimalist national consensus.

This is more so in more unitary countries and was perhaps somewhat overdone in the early years of independence and the republic when the unitary aspects of our federal republic were more in evidence, but all that seems a part of the distant past. Even the closest held national ideals are now taken as given as the last few weeks show. In the global bazaar everything is up for grabs.nbsp;

As I travelled across the country, I could see that Kashmir is deeply disturbing many. More than two-thirds of Indians see Kashmir as something close to their heart and will probably fight for it, as many large surveys show. It is not just the sentimental value of the battles the Sheikh fought with freedom fighters before Independence.

Those, it seems, are passeacute; to the present generation. Groups, unfortunately no longer just rabble-rousers, now play games for narrow gains; the prize for a few more votes is the nation8217;s ideals. This is not the way a national elite consisting of those who govern and those who contest them should function. I remember being invited in 1989 to give the Shere-e-Kashmir lecture at the then new convention centre at the Dal Lake. It started as a low-key affair with Begum Abdullah chairing it; but since I discussed the logic of India8217;s democratic federalism in an open manner, it soon became a slanging match. Somebody must have told the chief minister that things were warming up and Farooq made an unscheduled appearance and was severe with me in spite of our old friendship from his college days at Jaipur. I got hammered, but it was a very Kashmiri and Indian fracas. Later, I was jogging alone on the banks of the Jhelum and realised India was not doing its bit for apple orchards, high-value saffron farming and hydel power. But the new government in 1990 dismissed Farooq for being a crony of Rajiv8217;s and the Valley was up in flames, taking a long time to settle down. The same faces I had seen at the debate were now on Doordarshan screaming at 8220;Indian dogs8221;. I know we feel strongly on some issues, but can any responsible elite take the burden of cutting off the Valley from the rest of India? It is almost as bad as ignoring the right to life and freedom.nbsp;

And now the Nano may go away from Singur. I grew up in Kalighat on Russa Road where my grandfather, who was the president of the Small Bus Owners Association of Calcutta and an owner of three buses, lived. My first job after returning from Wharton was at the IIM in Calcutta; I watched, at the Maidan, as the 1969 United Front government in the state was dismissed and Bengal8217;s leadership was assaulted by mounted police. That area under crops is not constant, but is probably falling is something this column has established; scarce land has to be paid for and now there is a rehabilitation policy. But large projects and growth cannot be ignored. The Narmada rehab plan was ready by 1985; some activists played a major role in being watchdogs for the implementation. Others just delayed it, with very poor people paying for that. We see the same story in Bengal now, with people breaking consensus for tiny political gains.nbsp;

And now India8217;s access to enrichment and reprocessing technologies is the focus of those who want to sabotage the nuclear deal. They, in their countries, are very clear as national elites always are. Until two weeks ago, no one in India made this an issue. Completing the fuel cycle for long-term energy needs through eventual thorium fast-breeder reactors is necessary; Rahul Gandhi was the only one to state that nuclear power could ultimately be two-thirds of the total. The line must be firmly drawn now.nbsp;

We have to punish those politically who violate the few things we will stand for and fight for, for only then will a national elite emerge.nbsp; nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;

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The writer, a former Union minister, is chairman, Institute of Rural Management, Anand

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