India Shastra
Author : Shashi Tharoor
Publisher : Aleph, Rs695
Shashi Tharoor’s latest book is a compilation of 100 essays written by him about India of both the past and present. He shares with ANANYA BORGOHAIN the constructive ideas he has for the country
You have covered a multiple range of topics in this book — history, politics, education, social media, and so on. Does it collectively serve any specific objectiveIJ How do you look at it — an anthology of your written words or an invitation to the readers to engage in a dialogue with youIJ
Both actually. In fact, I hope all of my books initiate a reflection and dialogue on the part of the reader. But the fact is that I have already published two books (India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond and The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cellphone) on my view of India overall — politics, society, economics, culture. Now, I didn’t have any immediate plans of coming with another one but David Davidar (co-founder of Aleph Books) suggested that the watershed election of 2014 has called for a major stocktaking of the time for India.
I have been writing to express my views on a number of these developments since my return to India and therefore it felt appropriate to look back at my published writings in the last six or seven years since The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cellphone. And then review and update them as necessary. In many ways, India Shastra has now completed a trilogy for me. Except that as I have mischievously mentioned in the introduction that you might suggest that they are actually an exercise in Smriti (because I was looking back at history without a firsthand information in the first book), Shruti (The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cellphone was written about India from New York), and Shastra (my writings based on my direct involvement in the Indian Government). All of these collectively will present what I think of my country and what I care about.
Well said, but you have fiercely criticised the current Government in the essays. Are you then suggesting that we should stop being hopeful at allIJ
No, we shouldn’t stop being hopeful but at the same time, I was reading these headlines that said that every time I said anything in favour of the Government, I was praising Mr Modi. I was praising him for his speeches, ideas and communication. But I have also been consistent in saying that an idea which is not accompanied by budget, implementation plan, and executing authority will not give you results. So far in eight months, my fears have only come true. For instance, the MP village-adoption scheme is a wonderful idea but I don’t think we have the money for it. This has been my worry about Mr Modi. He is a man of words but his voters see him as a man of action and this is where I think the change has to come. We need actual changes on the ground. Fair enough, eight months can be too soon to critique, but I think these young voters needing opportunities, jobs, etc won’t have indefinite patience.
Talking about the voters, you say that they vote essentially on the basis of caste…
I have advocated and even discerned a trend of moving from the politics of identity to the politics of performance. I have decried the practice of caste-based politics. In India: From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond, Chandrababu Naidu was my poster child for moving towards performance rather than identity, though he was running an identity-based party called Telugu Desam. Similarly in The Elephant, the Tiger, and the Cellphone, we saw a Nitish Kumar phenomenon where he was not running on what was the background of Bihar politics in the preceding 15-20 years, but he was running on ‘Bijli, Sadak, Paani’.
Now, Mr Modi was a very good example of such a paradigm shift when he moved from the identification he was associated with after the Gujarat riots, to a message which said, “I am the man who has transformed Gujarat; I will give you sabka saath, sabka vikas”. Modi seems to have identified and attempted to harness this shift in our politics — from identity to performance. Other than that, my second problem with Modi is that he is pursuing an essentially liberal agenda — development, through a vehicle that is profoundly illiberal.
You recommend a Presidential form of Government. How would that work in a complex country like IndiaIJ
My advocacy is based on efficiency and results. From 1989-2014, we have seen coalition Governments. Coalition Governments, having had to spend a disproportionate amount of governance’s time, focus on keeping themselves together rather than on delivering results. So my first suggestion was, have a system where you elect somebody, for a finite amount of time whether or not he or she can maintain a coalition around him or her, but they are accountable for their performance. Second, in order to prevent the risk of a one-person rule, you replicate the same system at all levels of governance. So your States are also ruled by directly elected leaders with their own support basis. Your cities are led by directly elected mayors, your panchayats are elected by directly elected village heads. So, you give executive responsibility to real people and each level of governance should have its own budget and legislative authority.
America has only two parties; if one wins the Presidential election the other gets majority in Parliament, the Congress; so one will paralyse the other. But in India there’s no such danger because we are 45 parties in Parliament. So even if the President is elected from a party that may not win a majority, the President’s issue-based coalition building will see the day through. let’s say on GST, the President builds one kind of coalition, similarly tomorrow on population control, family planning, special packages for a State etc, he or she can still get laws through if he or she is a directly elected president because in our country the multiplicity of views will never cease.
You suggest that the I&B ministry can be dismantled.
You know, like Mr Modi had said, ‘minimum Government, maximum governance’. A minimum Government surely doesn’t need an I&B ministry. It’s a relic of the post-British colonial period and no other democracy has it. lK Advani had declared the ambition of abolishing it in 1977. But it has not yet happened. We need a broadcasting standard authority, effective self-regulation by the media themselves; we cannot challenge free press. More so in the era of internet and foreign television shows available in India. Most censor boards are basically bodies composed of industry representatives whose job is to only certify. People are downloading porn on their phones and we are censoring kissing scenes!
For someone who is very active on cyberspace, what would you suggest to handle the misuse of cyberspaceIJ
We are rather poorly organised in handling cyber-terrorism and cyber security because the responsibility for it is dispersed in several Government agencies. Here is a ripe fruit for the BJP Government to pluck. Do a serious review of our existing mechanisms of dealing with cyber security issues. I have argued in my book Pax Indica that we are extremely well qualified to tackle IT and cyber matters. But the way we are organised domestically doesn’t encourage us much. Tomorrow in, say, a war, we would need these resources for military reasons. Even nuclear power is influenced by internet systems. And I hope the NDA will pay very sincere attention to these issues.
You have been in the ministry of HRD. Do you think India has an ambience wherein intellectual curiosity could be cultivated academicallyIJ
I certainly believe so. I have often argued that it is never enough for a student to ask, “whyIJ”, it’s pertinent to also ask “why notIJ” Out-of-the-box thinking is indispensable. It’s too much about passing written exams but the bigger questions which life asks can’t be answered through textbooks, lectures and facts; even Google will do that for you today. For that we need the capacity to deal with the unfamiliar challenges of life. To do that, we need a different approach and the mind has to be trained to be curious and ask questions. And not only answer the questions but also question the answers the teacher gives. like Aristotle had said, “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
lastly, when do we get to read fiction written by you IJ
You know, this is my frustration as well. I have been busier and more consumed in my political life. In fiction, you have to create a world, an alternative universe populated by characters and incidents, and dialogues. Say, you are writing a scene and suddenly you are interrupted and you return to it six weeks later and try to pick up the thread, it’s very difficult. I have tried many times for long and my computers and laptops are littered with half-written manuscripts I have not managed to complete. I used to joke that one day the voters will return me to the world of fiction. But I won’t like to rush that day because I have a trust to fulfill for the voters who have voted me back into Parliament. And I also have personal, professional, and political interests and concerns in the public discourse that I don’t want to admit. But I promise my faithful readers that I am not lacking an idea but am lacking time to convert them into a fictional book. Perhaps, one day.
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