Speaking at an event, “India’s Economy: How Did We Get Here and What Can be Done?” at the Center for Contemporary South Asia, Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University, USA on October 9, 2019, Dr Raghuram Rajan, Former Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has openly criticized the BJP government’s ideology of Hindutva agenda in terms of rising nationalism. Dr Rajan said,
“I don’t believe that the majoritarians actually improve national security, they weaken it, because they want national integration on their terms. In India, this means universal imposition of Hindutva. Majoritarianism nationalism is intrinsically divisive because it labels a bunch of citizens as ‘the others’ and by setting impossible terms for these minorities to be considered true citizens, it eventually ends up alienating them. In the long run, it seems to me that internal cohesion and economic growth, rather than divisive populist majoritarianism, will be India’s root to national security. So, all this sort of majoritarianism may certainly for a while been in elections, but it is taking India down a dark and uncertain path.”
This is not the first time Dr Rajan has openly criticized the present BJP government’s actions. He has targeted BJP on the lapse policy actions without a proper understanding of the Indian economy on several occasions. These lapse policy actions include:
Demonetization was the worst lapse policy initiative by the present BJP government, which made Dr Rajan quit the RBI chair in September 2016. It was the first time in the history of India that a sitting governor chose to quit and not opt for a second term as RBI governor.
Conclusion
If the present BJP government tends to act on its own agenda through the terms of National Register of Citizens, Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, Hindi imposition, and other issues of nationalism, then the country is really going to see a dark and uncertain path—as warned by Dr Rajan.