Amartya Sen isn’t exactly liberal when it comes to assessing his old friend Manmohan Singh. At an exclusive press meet at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research last evening, the Nobel laureate said: “Despite having known him for almost 50 years, I’d say that Manmohan has had to make certain practical compromises that have clipped his wings, especially when it comes to pacifying his allies from the Left.” But Dr Sen would still rate him 8 out of 10.“He has managed to get India out of an awkward corner. Sectarianism had vitiated Indian politics when he took over; it wasn’t an easy field to begin with. But my reason for rating him this high is because he recently said that he would give himself 6 out of 10. I respect modesty in a political figure,” he added.Sen was in Mumbai after a three-year gap for a lecture at the Tata institute as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations yesterday and to give away the Jamnalal Bajaj Awards 2005.Before the lecture entitled Science, Argument and Sceptics began in the packed Homi Bhabha auditorium, Sen was as informal as he could get — chatting about international politics and welfare economics over endless cups of coffee.His new book, Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny, releasing next March, encompasses topics as diverse as globalisation, Hindu-Muslim antagonism, Gandhi and Irish famines. But the one issue that has engaged him the most these days is India’s communal history.“Recently, after the London blasts, Muslim Britons were stripped of all other identity except their being Muslim. It took me back to an incident.when I was 11 years old. A Muslim labourer was knifed on our doorstep and he fell on my lap bleeding. I must’ve shut that incident out of my mind, but it resurfaced recently and got me going about the issue of multiple identities and how it can be redeeming,” Sen said.
