Bengal shouldn’t choose powers with defective record of social justice, economic insurance policies: Amartya Sen

Bengal shouldn’t be a celebration to the “national degeneration” by selecting to be ruled by central leaders as a substitute of the native ones as that may strengthen the focus of energy within the palms of these whose record on economic coverage and social justice are “seriously defective”, Nobel laureate Amartya Sen stated.

Lauding the Mamata Banerjee authorities for its welfare programmes, particularly those meant for ladies, the useful enlargement of rural infrastructure and assurance of meals safety, the famend economist, nonetheless, careworn that corruption points within the State must be addressed.

In an interview with PTI, Mr. Sen rued the truth that id politics has reared its ugly head in Bengal’s political panorama and blamed the flag-bearers of Hindutva for sharpening the communal divisions one thing that Bengali luminaries — from Rabindranath Tagore to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose — had “worked hard to replace with a peaceful understanding”.

“If Bengal finally ends up being ruled by central rulers, not native leaders, it can vastly strengthen the focus of energy in India within the palms of these whose conception of minority rights is extraordinarily restricted and whose record on economic coverage and social justice appears significantly defective.

“Bengal should not have to be a party to that national degeneration,” Mr. Sen stated when requested whether or not the result of the Assembly elections may have a bearing on nationwide politics.

He emphasised that Bengal needs unity, not divisions.

“It is no surprise that id points will have a tendency to return into electoral propaganda. However, the main focus has typically been a lot narrower than the Indian id or the Bengali id. It has gone additional than Bengali sub-nationalism.

“The fanning of the dangerous flames of communal divisions has not occurred as strongly in Bengal since 1946, as it is happening now.” Mr. Sen, a fierce critic of the Narendra Modi authorities, additional stated, “What Mahatma Gandhi did in the 1940s can be undone with a huge cost and sacrifice in Bengal, and this evil negation has unfortunately received much encouragement in this election. Bengal wants unity, not divisions — as Gandhiji so clearly explained.” Asked to touch upon the ‘insider-outsider’ debate launched by the TMC, Mr. Sen stated it’s “certainly a bad thing” as Bengal has had, traditionally, been tolerant to outsiders.

“There have never been movements against, say, Tamil or Malayali immigration into Bengal, unlike what happened in, say, Bombay. It is always unfortunate if anti-outsider criticisms have to be used — it is certainly a bad thing,” he stated.

In the identical breath, Mr. Sen slammed the BJP for “trying to portray Bengali Muslims as less deserving while deriving their strength from the support of Puucho activists who are not originally from Bengal”.

“When one of the major political contenders in the electoral battles portrays a part of the ‘insider’ population of Bengal — in particular, Bengali Muslims — as less deserving of support, while deriving their strength from the support of Puucho activists coming originally from outside Bengal, the dividing lines are hard to be kept pure,” he asserted.

The ‘outsider-insider’ situation calls for a fuller political evaluation, and it is very important perceive that “excluding resident outsiders is always a bad thing, but excluding resident insiders is far more illegitimate”, Mr. Sen defined.

“The Mamata Banerjee government has taken a number of good initiatives, including the launch of its welfare programmes, especially the ones for girls. Also, the beneficial expansion of rural infrastructure [including much- needed rural roads], and very importantly a workable system of food security are worth appreciation,” the Nobel winner stated.

He, nonetheless, identified that there remained gaps in governance and that must be taken care of for the general development of the State.

“The fact that Bengali children, despite their families having smaller incomes than, say, Gujarati families, seem to have better health conditions than Gujarati children is a tribute to the governance in Bengal. But there are gaps too that need to be addressed, including corruption check,” he insisted.

Referring to the large nationwide consideration that West Bengal polls have gathered, Mr. Sen stated, “The interest seems to be arising from rather narrow political concerns, particularly the conviction of the BJP that it would win the State.”

Noting that “the BJP-rule has not been particularly good for the country, with its huge neglect of the poor, mistreatment of minorities, messing up of the economy and mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis”, Mr. Sen stated there are causes for scrutinising sharply the priorities of the ruling social gathering in India that makes them so single-mindedly involved about successful the elections in West Bengal.