Going beyond the romanticism of Communist ideologues and State ruthlessness, Ramachandra Guha talks of nuclear trade, Maoists and more…
You have quoted E J Hobsbawm and called Maoists as ‘social bandits’. Here just as we have Chidambaram’s zero tolerance policy, we also have Arundhati Roy romanticizing them. What should be the voice of rationality?
You see, I am a scholar, neither an ideologue nor a politician. My training and temperament doesn’t allow me to reduce this issue to black and white portraits. If you read my essays in ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ and ‘Outlook’, you will see that I have continuously talked about the political dispossession of the adivasis. Concentrated over a few hill districts, they are not a sizeable vote bank, whose voice can be attended by the political class, unlike Dalits and Muslims who are more evenly distributed across the country and so have a far greater impact on the elections. This is not to say that Dalits and Muslims have not been discriminated against but atleast their concerns have found representation through democratically elected parties. But do you have an adivasi Ambedkar or even an adivasi Mayawati? So there is this whole political vaccum where the Maoists have stepped in with great sympathy from some left-wing city-based intellectuals. Then the Salwa Judum polarized the tribal society, 60000 people were displaced from their homes, and thousands have been murdered. As a citizen of this country, I do feel deeply disturbed. Operation ‘Greenhunt’ is certainly insensitive but how do you account for the massacre of 70 CRPF jawans? They were no chamchas of Chidambaram. Maoists have set off land mines, killed both civilians and policemen. In the medium and long term, they can provide no solutions. Essentially they want to overthrow the Indian State. They don’t believe in democracy.
How do you see the way our Government is tackling the Kashmir crisis especially in light of the disillusionment of the tech savvy Kashmiri youth?
Kashmir is unique. There the legitimacy of the government is under question since 1947. Unlike Central India, where the Maoists want to bring a totalitarian regime, elections have been held in Kashmir but they have been rigged. Pakistani elites can’t forgive us. There is a geopolitical context, a social context. So it’s a complicated baggage. We do understand the agony of the stone throwers but they cannot simply overthrow the government. Azadi is impossible to achieve. As it is fundamentalists co-opted the freedom struggle and the cry changed from azadi to jihad but the abuses of the army pushed the locals to rally behind separatists. However you will also have to remember the reactionary background of Syed Ali Shah Geelani. He believes in Sharia. A standalone Kashmir is not a tenable idea either.
So what’s the way forward for Kashmir?
Solution is certainly greater autonomy for the people of the state. I was very disappointed by the Commission that was sent there. Some Delhi elites were sent. Why couldn’t a knowledgeable and sensitive person like Gopal Krishna Gandhi have been sent?
In an editorial, you wrote about MS Gurupadaswamy’s brush with Vikram Sarabhai and in it you critiqued the Atomic Energy Commisssion. What is your take on Manmohan Singh’s nuclear policy vis-a-vi the Jaitapur plant controversy and India’s nuclear sovereignty?
The AEC has no transparency. Nuclear energy is not good for the country’s energy security. More thinking is required on forms of non conventional energy. Energy security should come from solar, wind and hydro power, not from nuclear energy. Look at the kind of research that is going around in countries like Germany and China. But we have a most incompetent Renewable Energy Minister in the form of Farooq Abdullah.
You have extensively written about sycophancy in the ruling party. Today it seems totally directionless in terms of controlling corruption or even inflation. Yet it started on huge promises. What went wrong?
With Congress the problem is always with the division of authority and responsibility. The Prime Minister should have fought the Lok Sabha elections. He would have got some authority. The UPA chairperson has no responsibility but all the authority. Atleast the BJP nurtures state leaders but here Madam must decide who will be the next PM. She has all the power.
Especially in light of the Radia controversy and paid news, how do you assess the way our media is functioning?
Corruption is there everywhere. That is not my main grouse. That is only a part of the problem but what bothers me is hand-out journalism. There is very little field reporting. Media is only concerned with middle class interests like cinema, sports and politics. National newspapers have no reporters in the North east. For instance there was hardly any coverage on the blockade imposed by the All Naga Students Association in Manipur. This creates feelings of being on the borderline, not being cared about. Where is reporting that captures India in all its flavours? However there are some journalists like Sankarsan Thakur and Radhika Ramaseshan doing good work.
What, according to you, would be the 3 most important events of the last decade?
You will have to ask this question many years later as only time can give you the proper import of an event as what appears important now, may not be significant many years later. ‘Makers of Modern India’ has some very interesting names like Tarabai Shinde and Jyotirao Phule apart from the usual ones. Take us through the criterion for selecting or not selecting personalities for this collection.
There were basically 3 conditions. One, they had to be thinkers and activists, not pure intellectuals. So I couldn’t put Vallabhai Patel and Subhash Bose as they didn’t leave behind much original writing. Next, their writings should be accessible to people, which is why I couldn’t put Vivekananada andi Aurobindo as their writings have an archaic feel. Also the people mentioned in the book, wrote about socio-political issues like caste, foreign relations which are relevant even now. And of course to that you have to add the editor’s knowledge or lack thereof. The book reflects 30 years of my reading. So an unconscious bias can always be there.
How is the volume on Gandhi shaping up?
Right now I am concentrating on Gandhi’s stay in South Africa. Not much attention is paid to those 21 years of his life. So I am working on Gandhi in the context of South African history.
