Harish Khare is easily among India’s preeminent political journalists, someone who knows both politics and journalism.
Doctorate from the Deendayal Upadhyay Institute for International Research and Studies, also known as Yale, Khare was the media advisor to Manmohan Singh who had the temerity to tell Arnab Goswami to STFU on live TV.
Currently editor-in-chief of The Tribune, Chandigarh, Khare’s column ‘Statecraft’ is a relief from pedestrian writing, philistine thinking, and the gold-plated chamchagiri that is the bread and butter of columnists.
In yesterday’s column, in which the word “mind” appears 10 times, Khare zeroes down on the most devastating impact of three years of the Narendra Modi regime—the closing of our minds—the apogee being his vitriol even at a celebratory event such as the opening of the Sardar Sarovar dam.
# “There was a time when such cultivated pettiness [as Modi’s] would have been music to many ears. No longer. Now, it is beginning to jar. The nation no longer feels elevated with such small-mindedness as was witnessed last Sunday.
# “How long can we feel excited about yet another CBI raid on a Karti Chidambaram or an Enforcement Directorate case against a Robert Vadra, or ignore all the evidence of grave damage inflicted by mofussil minds on national economy and national institutions?”
# “Evidence has mounted. The nationwide dislocation of demonetisation; the GST-centric disruption; the marked slowdown in economic growth; the alarming drop in GDP numbers; and, staggering unemployment, all mock at the outsized claims made by limited minds exercising unlimited authority.”
# “Charisma has not produced either competence or capacity. While it is possible for a leader to infuse a sense of energy and purpose in a confused society, a personality cult has its definite downside. And, that downside is now taking its toll on the nation’s vitality and creativity. We are being asked to close our minds.”
# “We now seem to be in thrall of some kind of crony mofussilism. We are weeding out first-rate minds and talent.”
# “Because the media and the intelligentsia have lost their professional courage to tell off the second-rate performers, there is a new arrogance.”
# “Just because they find themselves moved from the cramped quarters in VP House on Rafi Marg to spacious bungalows with manicured lawns on Safdarjung Road, these mofussil minds feel themselves cockily validated.”
# “What we are witnessing is a closing of our minds. The personality cult has become institutionalised, and the Great Leader’s limits and weaknesses are now drowning out the strengths and assets.”
# “He dazzled the nation once; no more. A fatigue has set in as undersized performance has not matched the over-exaggerated promises and claims.”
Read the full column: Conceits of mofussil minds
Screenshot: courtesy The Tribune
excellent article,thank u “CHURMURI” for reblogging this fine article.sri khare sounds optimistic when he says common people are taking note of these pettiness and i hop he is right.
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keeping aside economics for a while, damage caused to the already fragile federal structure of the country by this govt is a matter of grave concern…
Non hindi speakers have been compelled to feel unimportant ,second class in the country…decentralisation of administration which was believed to be the core of democracy has been by passed..it is a one man show..
NEET, changes in structure of banking exams…these are irreversibly damaging unity of the nation, hope some sane minds in the present set up takes note of the perception and help to bring back the wavering administration back on track.
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Appreciation for commenting on timely editorial by Khare on conceits of mofussil minds. While I agree with the general tenor of the article that we are seeing cult of one leader ( Hopefully not like Turkey’s Erdogan) author in my opinion has missed the boat while commenting on some economic initiatives. Let me quote him and comment on some of the things where Khare could have been more “charitable’ and gained even more credibility to what he is arguing for.
“Evidence has mounted. The nationwide dislocation of demonetisation; the GST-centric disruption; the marked slowdown in economic growth; the alarming drop in GDP numbers; and, staggering unemployment, all mock at the outsized claims made by limited minds exercising unlimited authority. The unprecedented rise in petrol and diesel prices is justified in a most cavalier manner. All this adds up. ”
Do we have any proof that demonetization has resulted in lower GDP? Is there any credible study to show demonetization has led to cancellation of major projects or disrupted economy so much to decrease production? Undoubtedly it has created hardships to just about every section of the society. There is enough proof. Short term impact has been negative in terms of hardships and some economic slow down – but not to account for GDP drop of more than 1% without a deep study. Also we have to wait for longer term benefits.
What staggering unemployment? We had it even before and this is not a new phenomenon. Yes, we can criticize Modi for having failed to create millions of jobs he promised, but not for staggering unemployment.
Khare is not on strong government while he criticizes GST. Economic history will show that it is one of the greatest initiatives of this government. When some game changing initiative like GST is implemented it is bound to be disruptive and there will be problem. India should have adapted it a long time back. GST will indeed create “One Nation, One Tax (unfortunately many slabs), One Market”. This is a great achievement and bound to contribute to increased GNP in future years.
Khare is also on soft ground while talking about rise in petrol and diesel price. Petroleum minister Pradhan has given enough press statements discussing reasons for the increase and also how additional revenues has helped the government to reduce fiscal deficit and keep interest rates low. Being a student of international petroleum economics, I have studied this topic in depth (has written articles) and admired the wisdom of the government in not passing the benefit of lower oil prices. Government has not been cavalier at all in describing its rationale to increase petrol and diesel prices. It is because of this reason as government was slowly increasing excise taxes (state governments also have been aggressive in increasing state sales taxes), opposition did not protest. Only now they have started.
Since Khare wanted to expose only the wrong things the PM has done which is understandable, he failed to discuss how he used Aadhaar ( here Modi can be faulted for opposing it while in the opposition) to reduce subsidy and reduce corruption while continuing to help the poor.
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Being a dehati person (“haLLi gamara) myself, I am rather pleased that Shri Khare calls Modi’s elves a bunch of moffusils. Maybe they indeed merit his scorn, but two thoughts trouble me: first, he has been a paid performer for the Congress machine; second, what exactly did all those foreign returneds occupying key national posts during the heydays of the Europhile Nehru dynasty do by way of making our country hunger-free, disease-free, and prejudice-free? OK, maybe a better way to ask the question is, how much did they contribute to realising the vision of India as embodied in the nation’s constitution?
My dehati mind cannot wrap itself around KP’s aside that Shri Khare is somehow associated with Yale.
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