Landing with Sonia

Sonia Gandhi is right up to a point in saying anti-terrorist police action mustn8217;t polarise minorities or that land for special economic zones mustn8217;t be acquired at the cost of farmers and agriculture. But these arguments, made at her weekend speech at the Congress chief ministers8217; conclave, miss something crucial. And it is precisely these kind of misses that have hit the Manmohan Singh government in the past. Take the terrorism/police action argument. It is as unexceptionable as it is necessary in a democracy to remind ourselves of the unacceptability and consequences of mass profiling of particular communities. This newspaper8217;s extensive coverage of post-blast Mumbai has highlighted what India can lose if Muslims feel they are suspects en masse after every terrorist strike. The police cannot be allowed to claim that interrogating several hundred young men, all picked up in one swoop, is sanctified by its version of the 8220;war on terror8221;.

But, and this is hugely important, the police must also feel that they don8217;t have to politically finesse their investigations. It is far better for political leaders to take up specific issues where civil liberties have been violated than to make general pronouncements. The latter, given the police8217;s lack of de facto functional autonomy from the political executive, tend to handicap investigations. It is when politicians issue omnibus statements that terrorism or anti-terror policing tends to get framed in terms that don8217;t help administrators.

Administration isn8217;t helped either when SEZs are framed as a zero sum game between industry and farming. The argument about farmers not getting enough compensation is based on misconceptions about land valuation. Small agricultural plots by themselves aren8217;t worth much. It is SEZs that make them valuable. For landowners to benefit the best way is to hold auctions 8212; that will cut out political middlemen. The target should be political 8216;commissions8217;, not industrial plans. As for protecting agriculture, the plain fact is that far too many people are employed in it. India8217;s way out of mass poverty lies in reemploying millions of agriculturists in industry. There8217;s a certain romanticism associated with the 8216;kisan8217; in Indian political rhetoric and practice. A long history explains it. But a better future demands we recognise factories, not farming, will empower India8217;s poor.