India Today [January 29, 2018] | Hindu Vs Hindutva

124 Pages·2018·33.777 MB·English

by  India Today

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HINDU
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lPurushottam Agrawal
lVinay Sahasrabuddhe
lKiran Nagarkar
lArshia Sattar
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EXCLUSIVE MULTIMEDIA CONTENT ONLY FOR IPAD
INTERVIEW I WANT TO HACK A PATH IN THE BUREAUCRATIC
JUNGLE THAT AFFLICTS OUR RELATIONS
BIG STORY OH MY LORDS!
UPFRONT ONE COUNTRY, TWO PASSPORTS
STATES STILL ON THE FENCE

#HinduVersusHindutva
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www.indiatoday.in
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa I am not a very religious person,
EDITORS: Kaveree Bamzai (Special Projects), Ajit Kumar Jha (Research)
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh thou gh I was born a Hindu. I do
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha celebrate the festivals and follow most
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: Damayanti Datta, S. Sahaya Ranjit,
Sandeep Unnithan of the rituals. My father was a follower of
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop the Arya Samaj and we had havans on all
Mumbai: M.G. Arun Hyderabad: Amarnath K. Menon Chandigarh: Asit Jolly
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair, Jaipur: Rohit Parihar auspicious occasions, a tradition I con-
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee tinue to this day. I was born in Pakistan
Mumbai: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; patna: Amitabh Srivastava
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha and growing up in newly ind ependent
Kolkata: Romita Sengupta; Bhopal: Rahul Noronha; India, differences of religion, caste or
Thiruvananthapuram: Jeemon Jacob; BeiJing: Ananth Krishnan
ASSISTANT EDITOR: pune: Aditi S. Pai ethnicity were not something I was aware
CHIEF COPY EDITOR: Aditya Mohan Wig of. We were taught to respect everyone,
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor), India Today cover, Feb 4, 2002
Rajwant Singh Rawat (Principal Photographer), regardless of their roots. Some may call
DCehoanddhraar D(Ceheipef K Puhmoator g(Prahpohtoegr)r,a Dpahneer)s;h M Audmibl aJia: sMsaanwdaalra S(Puhreostohg rapher); me deracinated, and I have to confess I
ahmedabad: Shailesh B Raval (Principal Photographer); still do not know my gotra, but I believe Swami Vivekananda, who can only be de-
Kolkata: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer); scribed as the first rock star of Hinduism,
Chennai: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer) the greatest quality of Hinduism is its
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher), believed in. I believe Hinduism teaches us
liberalism and its plurality. It is those
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Photo Researcher) qualities that are under threat today, to live amidst a variety of other identities,
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty and to do anything differently would be,
as who we pray to and how we pray be-
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director);
Jyoti K. Singh (Art Director), comes politicised. as Tharoor notes, a partition of the soul,
Vikas Verma, Rahul Sharma (Associate Art Director); after the partition of the soil.
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer) Where there is religion, can politics
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production), be far behind? This unholy alliance is In the best traditions of the religion,
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator),
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator) ruining the world. Our democracy has we have invited reputed scholars, ideo-
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Manoj Sharma been weakened by vote bank politics. logues and politicians to debate the issue.
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact) There is former BJP general secretary,
The most obvious manifestation of this is
IMPACT TEAM K.N. Govindacharya, who believes Hin-
Senior General Manager: Jitender Lad (West) the culture of app easement of minorities
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North), dutva means Hinduness and not Hindu
practised by the Congress party in the 49
Upendra Singh (Bangalore),
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) years it ruled the country since indepen- nationalism in the Western sense; former
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER: Vivek Malhotra West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna
Assistant General Manager: Garima Prashar (Marketing) dence. The aggressive assertion of Hindu-
SALES AND OPERATIONS: D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager ism, otherwise termed as Hindutva, that Gandhi says the freedom of a Hindu to
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager (National Sales) self-define his or her dharma is the great-
Vipin Bagga, Deputy General Manager (Operations) we are witnessing today is a backlash to
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (North) est asset of Hinduism; novelist Kiran
Arokia Raj L., Regional Sales Manager (South) this. As the BJP’s Vinay Sah asrabuddhe
Nagarkar calls out the Sangh parivar for
writing in this issue says, “it has spurred
obliterating the inherent inclusive values
a mindless competition to get the tag of
of Hinduism; while the bestselling author
minorities”. This is not the way forward if
Devdutt Pattanaik exposes the myth
we are to build an equitable society. The
of the wounded Hindu, tormented by a
disadvantaged should be helped regard-
Volume XLIII Number 5; For the week less of caste, creed or religion. It will thousand years of slavery at the hands of
January 23-29, 2018, published on every Friday the invaders.
happen only if we stop mixing politics
l Editorial/Corporate Office Living Media India Ltd., India Today Group Mediaplex, with religion and prevent extremists from There is much more. Some of it is
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from Rest of India (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.); Fax: [phone]; distinction between Hinduism as plural
Mumbai: 022-66063411/3412, Kolkata: 033-40525327, Chennai: 044-24303200; book, Why I am a Hindu, puts upfront a
e-mail: [email protected] and Hindutva as singular is being lost
l Sales: Direct all trade enquiries to General Manager (Sales), Living Media India critical issue of our time—the difference
Limited, B-45, Sector 57, Noida-201301 (UP) at the hands of the newly empowered
l Regd. Office: K-9 Conn aught Circus, New Delhi-110001 between Hinduism and Hindutva. While
l Impact Offices: 1201, 12th Floor, Tower 2 A, One Indiabulls Centre, (Jupiter local gatekeepers of Hinduism and active
Mills), S.B. Marg, Lower Parel (West), Mumbai-400013; Phone: [phone]; Hinduism has a distinct cultural ethos
NFaexw: 6D6e0lh6i3 l2 2G6u ln aE -C1o,m Gproleuxn,d 5 Fthlo Forl,o Voird, eMoacoinn BTuowildeirnsg, ,J hNaon.4d4ew3,a Alannn Eax Stna,l a i, with a common history, common litera- proponents of a Hindu rashtra. For a
Chennai-600018; Phone: [phone] l 201-204 Richmond T owers, 2nd Floor, ture and common civilisation, Hindutva multi-cultural country like India to be
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Hyderabad-500082; Phone: [phone], Hindu nationalism, and that non-Hindus for disaster. But I remain hopeful. After
2P3h4o1n0es9:8 223, 7273045171,4 29387; 7F0a5x8: 2; 3F4a0x3: 428347 7l0 3599/ 1l0 24/5C,, K“Saurarykakraattth R Boalddg,” K, o2cnhdi F6l8o2o0r,1 6; must acknowledge their Hindu parentage all, which other religion in the world can
Behind White House, Panchwati, Office C.G. Road, Ahmedabad-380006; Phone: say that it does not claim to be the only
26560393, 26560929; Fax: [phone] l Copyright Living Media India Ltd. All or convert to Hinduism to return to their
rights reserved througho ut the world. R eproduction in any m anner is p rohibited. true one?
Printed and published by Manoj Sharma on behalf of Living Media true cultural roots. Hindutva maintains
India Limited. Printed at Thomson Press India Limited, that Hindus need to preserve and protect
18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana)
and at A-9, Ind ustrial Complex, Maraimalai N agar, District their religion and culture against the
Kancheepuram-603209, (Tamil Nadu). Published at K-9, Connaught
Circus, New Delhi-110001. Editor: Aroon Purie. onslaught of a hostile, alien world. It
plu inb dliiac attoidoany mdoaetes rniaolt. take the res ponsibility for returning unsolicited is insecurity that drives this sentiment
All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of rather than strength, which is what (Aroon Purie)
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
JANUARY 29, 2018 INDIA TODAY 1
UPFRONT LEISURE
IN SID E
ONE COUNTRY, TWO VISHY THINKS FAST
PASSPORTS PG 3 PG 67
BOOKS: THE GROWTH Q&A: WILLIAM
DELUSION DALRYMPLE
PG 8 PG 76
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
20 “THE
BUREAUCRATIC
JUNGLE THAT
AFFLICTS OUR
TIES MUST GO”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu in conversation with
India Today Group Editorial
Director Raj Chengappa
JUDICIARY
24 OH MY
LORDS!
COVER STORY 42 K.N. Govindacharya
45 Gopalkrishna Gandhi
Hindu vs The revolt by four senior judges
48 Devdutt Pattanaik
of the Supreme Court raises
33 Hindutva 52 Purushottam Agrawal many crucial questions. Is a
55 Vinay Sahasrabuddhe resolution on the cards?
34 Shashi Tharoor
Excerpts from the author-MP’s 58 Kiran Nagarkar
new book, Why I am a Hindu 61 Arshia Sattar Cover photograph by BANDEEP SINGH
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2 INDIA TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018
FROM THE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
www.indiatoday.in
GADKARI MISFIRES AI SALE PROSPECTS
UPF RON T
AT NAVY TAKE A NOSEDIVE
EDITORP-ING-C H4IEF:Aroon Purie PG 6
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR:Raj Chengappa I am not a very religious person,
EDITORS:Kaveree Bamzai (Special Projects), Ajit Kumar Jha (Research)
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR:Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR:Bandeep Singh though I was born a Hindu. I do
MANAGING EDITORS:Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha celebrate the festivals and follow most
EXECUTTIVHE EEDI TFORAS:LDaSmEay aGntOi DDat ta, S. Sahaya Ranjit, POV: NO CURE IN THIS
SandeOepF U nGnitRhaOnWTH of the rituals. My father was a follower of PREVENTION POLICY
DEPUTY EDITORS:Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop the Arya Samaj and we had havans on all
MumbaPi:MG.G .8 Arun Hyderabad:Amarnath K. Menon Chandigarh:Asit Jolly PG 12
SENIOR EDITORS:Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair, Jaipur:Rohit Parihar auspicious occasions, a tradition I con-
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS:Kaushik Deka, AshishMukherjee tinue to this day. I was born in Pakistan
Mumbai:Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; patna:Amitabh Srivastava
ASSOCIATE EDITORS:Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha and growing up in newly independent
Kolkata:Romita Sengupta; Bhopal:Rahul Noronha; India, differences of religion, caste or
Thiruvananthapuram:Jeemon Jacob; BeiJing:Ananth Krishnan
ASSISTANT EDITOR:pune:Aditi S. Pai ethnicity were not something I was aware
CHIEF COPY EDITOR:Aditya Mohan Wig of. We were taught to respect everyone,
PHOTO DEPARTMENT:Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor), India Today cover, Feb 4, 2002
Rajwant Singh Rawat (Principal Photographer), regardless of their roots. Some may call
DCehoanddhraar D(Ceheipef K Puhmoator g(Prahpohtoegr)r,a Dpahneer)s;h M Audmibl aJia:sMsaanwdaalra S(Puhreostohgrapher); me deracinated, and I have to confess I
ahmedabad:Shailesh B Raval (Principal Photographer); still do not know my gotra, but I believe Swami Vivekananda, who can only be de-
Kolkata:Subir Halder (Principal Photographer); scribed as the first rock star of Hinduism,
Chennai:N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer) the greatest quality of Hinduism is its
PHOTO RESEARCHERS:Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher), believed in. I believe Hinduism teaches us
liberalism and its plurality. It is those
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Photo Researcher) qualities that are under threat today, to live amidst a variety of other identities,
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS:Tanmoy Chakraborty and to do anything differently would be,
as who we pray to and how we pray be-
ART DEPARTMENT:Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director);
Jyoti K. Singh (Art Director), comespoliticised. as Tharoor notes, a partition of the soul,
Vikas Verma, Rahul Sharma (Associate Art Director); after the partition of the soil.
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer) Where there is religion, can politics
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT:Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production), be far behind? This unholy alliance is In the best traditions of the religion,
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator),
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator) ruining the world. Our democracy has we have invited reputed scholars, ideo-
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR:Manoj Sharma been weakened by vote bank politics. logues and politicians to debate the issue.
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER:Anil Fernandes (Impact) There is former BJP general secretary,
The most obvious manifestation of this is
IMPACT TEAM K.N. Govindacharya, who believes Hin-
Senior General Manager: Jitender Lad (West) the culture of appeasement of minorities
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North), dutva means Hinduness and not Hindu
practised by the Congress party in the 49
Upendra Singh (Bangalore),
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) years it ruled the country since indepen- nationalism in the Western sense; former
GROUP CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER:Vivek Malhotra West Bengal governor Gopalkrishna
Assistant General Manager: Garima Prashar (Marketing) dence. The aggressive assertion of Hindu-
SALES AND OPERATIONS:D.V.S. Rama Rao, Chief General Manager ism, otherwise termed as Hindutva, that Gandhi says the freedom of a Hindu to
Deepak Bhatt, General Manager(National Sales) self-define his or her dharma is the great-
Vipin Bagga, Deputy GeneralManager (Operations) we are witnessing today is a backlash to
Rajeev Gandhi, Regional Sales Manager (North) est asset of Hinduism; novelist Kiran
Arokia Raj L., Regional Sales Manager (South) this. As the BJP’s Vinay Sahasrabuddhe
Nagarkar calls out the Sangh parivar for
writing in this issue says, “it has spurred
obliterating the inherent inclusive values
a mindless competition to get the tag of
of Hinduism; while the bestselling author
minorities”. This is not the way forward if
PASSPORT we are to build an equitable society. The Devdutt Pattanaik exposes the myth
of the wounded Hindu, tormented by a
disadvantaged should be helped regard- SEEING RED
VoluOme XLNIII NumEber 5 ; CFor thOe weekUNTlRess oYf cas,te , creed or religion. It will thousand years of slavery OatV tEhRe OhaRnAdNsG oEf
January 23-29, 2018, published on every Friday happen only if we stop mixing politics theinvaders. The government plans to
llF CSE-ud8bi,t soSTcrericiaptlo/tCiro-o1nr6sp:Ao WF,r oaFrtie lam Os sfCifsiicttyae,n LNcioevi icdnOoagn -Mt a2ec0dt1 iCa3u 0Isn1 td;o PimaPh eLortn dCe.a:, r0Ine1d A2Iin0ad- T4iao8 dT0ao7yd1 a0GSy0r oGurpo uMpe,S dBi-a4p5l,exP, Owraidthic RraelilsiginiTognf aaiSnthd. prevent extremists from despTohnedreen ist ,m suucchh aimssas o1au0reute Ihtn.h- dSsoitaoarnmn sad nwear diodth fte rlidetaus nicssa stthliaoa-nn
Sector-57, Noida (UP)-201301; Phones: Toll-free number: 1800 1800 100 (from passports with orange sleeves
BSNL/MTNL lines); (95120) 2479900 from Delhi and Faridabad; [phone] Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s new tor Arshia Sattar’s argument that the
from Rest of India (Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.); Fax: [phone]; distinction between Hinduism as plural
Mumbai: 022-66063411/3412, Kolkata: 033-40525327, Chennai: 044-24303200; book,Why I am a Hindu, puts upfront a
e-mailB: weycar [email protected] Thakur and Hindutva as singular is being lost
lSales: Direct all trade enquiries to General Manager (Sales), Living Media India critical issue of our time—the difference
Limited, B-45, Sector 57, Noida-201301 (UP) at the hands of the newly empowered
l Regd. Office: K-9 Connaught Circus, New Delhi-110001 between Hinduism and Hindutva. While
lM Iilmlsp),a PSc.tB O. fMficaersg:, 1L2o0we 1e,r r1 P2hathre aFl l(poWores,s Tt )oh, wMeourm 2pb Aai,i -On4n0eg0 0In 1dt3i;ao Pbhu ocllnse aC: e6tn6ct0r6eh,3 (3J 5ut5ph;iteer Hinodffuicisiamls h aapsa ar td, iwstoinucldt ccuonlttuinraule e wthioths the lofocraml gear tKekereaelpae crhs ioeff Hmiinndisuteisrm O aonmdm aecnti ve
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Chennai-600018; Phmonee: 2n84t7 ,8 5t25hle 20 1M-204i Rnicihmsotnrd Tyo woerfs, 2Endx Fltooer,rnal ture anIdt tcooomk mtwoon d caivyisl ifsoart Cioonn,g Hreisnsd purtevsai- msuubltsit-acnutlitaulrlya lf rcoomun Gtruyl fl irkeem Iinttdaina cteos b, e
12, Richmond Road, Bangalore-560025; Phones: 22212448, 22213037,
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Kolkata-700071; Phones: 22825398; Fax: [phone]; l 6-3-885/7/B, Somajiguda,
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rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction in any manner is prohibited. trueone?
Printead dandd prueblsisshe ad bny Mda ntohj Seha nrmaa mon beehsa lof off Lpivaingr Meenditas and trueex cpuoltsuedra tlh reo BotJsP. ’Hs “ionbdsuetsvsiao mn”a winittha ins foreign governments official sanction to
India sLipmioteud. sPrein.t eAd ant Tdho mthsona Ptr eassp Inpdila iLcimaitnedt,s requiring thasta Hffirnodnu asn nde reedit teor aptreeds eRravhe ualn’sd p porinott ect discriminate between Indian citizens.
18-35 Milestone, Delhi Mathura Road, Faridabad-121007, (Haryana)
and aat An-9 , eInmdusitrgiarl Caotmipolenx, M cahraeimcalkai ,N taghara,Dti sitrsic tthose with theairb roeultig diiosnc raimndi ncautlitounr.e E amgaiginrsatt itohne clear- Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan
Kancheepuram-603209, (Tamil Nadu). Published at K-9, Connaught
Circusl,e Nsews Dtehlhia-1n10 0a01 .1 E0dittohr: A-rsotona Pnurdie.ard education, onsalanuceg hist toyfp aic haollsyt irleeq, ualiireend wbyo rwldo.r kIting called on the government to “rectify” its
pluinbdliiacawttoidoanoy mduoaetles rdniaol t. btakee thge rievspeonnsib iplitya fosr rsetpurnoinrg tunsso lwiciteidth orange is inclsaescsu mriitgyr tahnatts dtor itvhees othili-sr iscehn ctoimunetnrties decision, saying that two colours would
All dsislpeuetevs earse. sEubvjeectr tyo othne eex celulssieve, jduriispdlicotimon oafts and rathofe rth teh aAnr asbtriaenng Gthu,l fw. Nhiocth s iusr wprhiasitngly, “lead to a situation wh(Aerreiono tnho Pseu wrhieo)
competent courts and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only
8 INDIA TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018
JANUARY 29, 2018 INDIA TODAY 3
ULeptf rEodnitt--1J-a3n-2Ja9n.in2d9d.in d 5d 8 11/1/177/2/2001188 1 81::1240::3407 PPMM
UPFRONT
have not passed 10th standard would be considered as
second class citizens”.
The decision to eliminate the last page means
passports can no longer be used as address proof.
It was recommended by a three-member panel
of officials from the MEA and women and child
development ministry. International regulations,
MEA officials said, regard only machine-readable
travel documents as authentic and all the necessary
information for international travel was already on
the front page. Ironically, the decision was also taken
to not discriminate against single parents, adopted
children, and women who do not want to list their
husband’s name on their passports. But there has
been little official response to the charges of dis-
crimination on the basis of passport colour.
An MEA official who wished to remain anony-
mous said the colour coding would make it easier to
process passports requiring an emigration check and
“simplify passport issuance”. But there is no specific
date as yet by which the new passports will be offered.
GADKARI VS NAVY
A questionable claim
to making the passport A Man out
Some experts
process more efficient,
feel passports
some experts argued,
with different of His Depth
is not enough reason to
colour codes permit the stigmatis-
will lead to ing of Indian citizens.
stigmatising of Sehjo Singh, a director R eal estate has always been at a premium in space-
Indians work- at ActionAid India, a starved Mumbai. This is because the 600 sq. km
children’s rights organ- city has changed little since the British turned its
ing abroad
isation, told reporters the seven islands into a giant man-made breakwater in the
government “must clarify mid-19th century. The city’s scarce real estate recently
how this system will work in favour of the workers”. aroused passions when Union minister for shipping,
Office holders from non-resident Indian groups surface transport and water resources Nitin Gadkari, in
expressed mystification at the decision to remove the an unseemly public outburst, accused the Indian Navy of
last page, arguing that Indians abroad relied on their stalling development. At a January 11 function to lay the
passport as the most authentic evidence of details foundation stone for a new international cruise terminal,
such as their home address. Many wonder if Aadhaar Gadkari cited the navy’s opposition to the construction of
cards can claim similar authority. It’s also odd consid- a jetty near Malabar Hill to connect to a proposed 320-
ering that police verifications of the address as men- room luxury floating hotel on a cruise liner offshore.
tioned on the application will continue, so why can’t Adding a dash of Mahabharat-esque churlishness,
the last page be retained or made voluntary so that Gad kari said the navy’s opposition to the project was the
passports can continue to suffice as address proof? reason he wouldn’t part with “an inch of land” for naval
But of greater concern, admit MEA officials, housing projects in south Mumbai. “Everyone wants to
is the decision to introduce orange passports. The build quarters and flats on south Mumbai’s prime land.
Gulf states’ human rights record on Indian domestic We do respect you, but you should go to the Pakistan bor-
and manual workers is chequered, and the emigra- der and do patrolling,” the minister said. Gadkari’s com-
tion check and orange passport are intended to ments betrayed his ignorance—the Indian Coast Guard
make human trafficking more difficult and protect patrols the maritime boundary. Also, south Mumbai was a
workers from exploitation. The practical effect of garrison town housing the British army and navy for over
the emigration check on human trafficking, though, two centuries before it became India’s financial capital.
has been negligible. And the orange passports might The intemperate remarks in the presence of Vice-Ad-
serve only to turn, as Rahul observed, vast swathes of miral Girish Luthra, commander-in-chief, Western Naval
Indians into second class citizens. n Command, drew much flak on social media and condem-
4 INDIA TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018
INDEX
THE RAJINI FACTOR
A new india today-Karvy poll suggests that if Tamil
Nadu assembly elections, due in 2021, were to be held
immediately, superstar Rajinikanth’s new party, still
without name or symbol, would make a dramatic
debut. Indeed, many TN voters already see Rajini as
a potential chief minister. There is bad news for the
ruling AIADMK, with the survey showing a sharp drop
in the numbers of seats and imminent electoral rout.
While the DMK will take heart from these numbers,
the elections are still far away. The real question
posed by these results is: if Rajini’s party is already so
prominent, where might it be in three years?
SELF GOAL
Nitin Gadkari and
MCFaMadh nDaaervaviseshn atdtrr ata h e 4 (+2) 2 6 (-15) 16 24 130 (+32) 68 (-68)
flaoyuinndga cteiorne mstoonnye o f 3 VOPTREO SJEHCATREED % (+10) SPERAOTJ ESCHTAERDE 33
the international
cruise terminal l DMK+ l AIADMK l Rajinikanth l Others 3 (+3)
SATYABRATA TRIPATHY/GETTY IMAGES
4,758 33%
nation from the opposition Congress. The navy’s western
fleet, its largest, is located just over the wall from the
RESPONDENTS OF AIADMK VOTERS
terminal the minister inaugurated. Navy personnel and
ACROSS 77 ASSEMBLY SAY THEY’LL VOTE
their families cannot live far from their warships, which CONSTITUENCIES IN ANOTHER PARTY,
is why they are housed in south Mumbai. TAMIL NADU, 33% OF OF WHICH 60% WILL
Naval officials are particularly baffled at the outb- THE TOTAL, INCLUDING GO WITH RAJINI; 20%
urst because the project proposal had been shot down REPRESENTATION FROM DMK VOTERS WILL
by a high court-appointed committee last May. The ALL 39 LOK SABHA ABANDON PARTY, 63%
committee, which included the Mumbai Heritage CONSTITUENCIES OF THEM FOR RAJINI
Conservation Committee, municipal commissioner and
130 50%
police commissioner, examined the proposal jointly put
forth by a private developer and the Maharashtra Tour-
SEATS WON BY THE OF TAMIL NADU
ism Development Corpora-
DMK+ ALLIANCE, VOTERS BELIEVE M.K.
tion (MTDC) for a 320-room
INCLUDING CONGRESS, STALIN SHOULD BE
320 luxury floatel on a 132-metre
WITH 34% VOTE SHARE; THE NEXT CM; RAJINI
long luxury liner anchored two
118 NEEDED TO WIN IS NEXT WITH 17%
nautical miles off Malabar
ROOMS Hill. The committee cited ve- 68 65%
hicular and security concerns
were planned in the
luxury floatel, but an to deny permissions for the SEATS WON BY AIADMK, TN VOTERS BELIEVE JAYA’S
HC-appointed panel floatel. The 200 sq. m jetty WITH VOTE SHARE OF DEATH HAS CREATED A
has nixed the project with a 100-metre long walk- 26%, DOWN FROM 135 POLITICAL VACUUM
way jetty that would link the SEATS AND 40% IN 2016 IN THE STATE
floatel to the city by boats and
seaplanes and which would be
built at the southern tip of Marine Drive, the so-called
Queen’s Necklace at Nariman Point, the committee felt,
would mar the scenic view of one of India’s best seafront
promenades. The navy had only suggested a security
audit to ascertain the floatel’s impact on the city’s secu-
rity. An appeal by the developers had been rejected by
the high court just two days before Gadkari’s outburst.
Clearly, a case of misdirected fury. n
—Sandeep Unnithan
UPFRONT
CHATTER
The week in social media
AIR INDIA
@ShougatDasgupta
SALE PROSPECTS
Thugs on Film
TAKE A NOSEDIVE
Another week, another
gang of goons finds some-
one to bully to soothe
their injured pride and After announcing on January 10 that national carrier
compromised manhood. Air India would be opened up to possible foreign
In Muzaffarnagar, four direct investment (FDI), the government now
men filmed themselves says it will be sold as four different
beating a young Dalit
companies. While the core airline
man with sticks and
business, consisting of Air India
forcing him to chant the
and Air India Express, will be
names of gods and goddesses. The video
off ered as one company, AI’s
was widely shared on social media. Police suggest the
regional arm, ground handling,
attack could be connected to a recent incident in which
some Dalit men chose to replace idols and images of gods and engineering operations will
in their own homes with those of Dr B.R. Ambedkar. The be sold separately, Union minister
assailants were said to be connected to a right-wing of state for civil aviation Jayant Sinha
Hindutva outfit. In other recent attacks in Uttar Pradesh has said. “Aviation is a very fast growing
this month, a mob led by a priest shaved the heads of two sector, with really exciting opportuni­
Dalit boys as a punishment for apparently stealing stray ties for all participants, so we felt all of
calves. The boys were forced to wear signs around their
this will unlock growth and the competi­
necks that identified them as “cow thieves”. And UP’s
tiveness of the Air India group,” Sinha
busy Hindutva activists also found time to assault, on
said, adding that management control will
court premises no less, a Muslim man and his brothers on
be with local investors.
grounds of love jihad. Of course, the video went viral. n
The sale process is expected to be
completed by end­2018. Although the sale of the
airline—which has been losing Rs 5,000 crore a
year on average—was announced early last year,
Bad Sex the response from potential bidders has been
Award rather tepid. There has been only one formal
It is almost too
easy to poke fun at
the overwrought
account of a woman
who went on a INDEX
terrible date with
comedian Aziz Line out of
Ansari. Her story
quickly became Control
both a social and
mainstream media sensation. She starts it by recounting
how he gave her a glass of white wine in his apartment In more tit­for­tat firing, at least four Pakistani
before they went to dinner. She wanted red. She already soldiers were killed on January 15 by Indian
felt coerced, without choice. Though she says nothing. forces along the Line of Control. Tensions have
This pattern follows. She performs sexual acts on him, all been rising, with both sides reporting violations
the while wishing she wasn’t, but not telling him other- and incursions. On the same day, also along the
wise. She scolds him the next morning for failing to act on LoC, Indian forces killed five terrorists trying
her “non-verbal” cues. The near universal reaction has
to sneak over the border. “If we are forced,” said
been to criticise the woman and make grave, pompous
General Bipin Rawat on January 12, “then we
pronouncements about the damage it could do to the
may escalate our military action... the army is
#MeToo movement. But to take a trivial account and use
using its might to teach them a lesson.” The army
it to trivialise a serious movement is far worse behaviour
chief’s sabre­rattling was met with an equally
than that of a young woman who cannot summon up the
belligerent response from the Pakistani foreign
inner resources to say “no” and later responds with anger
minister, who described Rawat’s comments as an
rather than self-awareness. n
“invitation to a nuclear encounter”.
Illustrations by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY
1212 IINNDDIIAA TTOODDAAYY M JAAYN U1,A 2JR0UY1N7 2E9 1, 22,0 210817 INDIA TODAY 12
BITCOIN
expression of interest for Air India so far—from
A Source of Tax
IndiGo. Although the Tata Group, which owns
Vistara and has a stake in Air Asia, has said it was
evaluating a deal, there has not been any formal Revenue Maybe?
letter to the government on this so far. All poten­
tial bidders will want clarity on who will bear the
carrier’s huge debt, which stood at Rs 48,877 crore Bitcoin valuations tumbled nearly 20 per cent bet­
on March 2017. Of this, Rs 17,360 crore is loans ween January 5 and 12 on news that South Korea
taken to acquire aircraft while Rs 31,517 crore is was planning a trading ban on digital currencies,
working capital loans. even as the cryptocurrency continued to be under the scru­
Reports say the government is planning to tiny of Indian authorities.
hive off Air India’s unsustainable debt to a special A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as
purpose vehicle to make the deal at­ a medium of exchange. The income tax department, which
tractive. This would mean that had conducted searches at the offices of bitcoin exchanges
only the aircraft loans would in India, is now assessing the overall size of the cryptocur­
remain with the company. rency market. Its survey revealed 0.6 million active crypto­
This, say experts, could be currency traders in the country (unofficial figures put this
covered by future cash flows. at several times more) in nine cryptocurrency exchanges.
But some experts say the govern­ Up to Rs 17,800 crore has been traded on these exchanges.
ment’s plan to retain 51 per cent stake Reports quoting the survey said a 25­year­old, who had
in each of the four parts may be a deal­ invested Rs 25 lakh in bitcoins, has seen the valuations of
breaker for potential investors. It’s no the currency he held
secret that the airline’s woes owe mainly multiplying to Rs
to mismanagement over the years by its 760 crore. The I­T
political masters and the bureaucracy. department is trying
Only by letting the private partner have to work out a way of
a decisive say in the operations of the assessing these vir­
airline can it hope to be successful, as tual currencies for tax
the Maruti­Suzuki joint venture has purposes. One view is
demonstrated in the auto sector. n that cryptocurrencies
—M.G. Arun held for long periods
should be considered
capital assets and
taxed accordingly.
771 28 The value of
bitcoins had spiked
VIOLATIONS OF THE INDIAN SOLDIERS
2,000 per cent in the
CEASEFIRE ALONG KILLED IN CROSS-
period January­December 2017, touching approximately
THE LoC BY PAKISTAN IN BORDER FIRING IN 2017
2017, SAYS THE INDIAN AND 70 INJURED. INDIA Rs 12.5 lakh apiece on December 16. But it has steadily
GOVERNMENT—A 230% CLAIMS 138 PAKISTANI fallen since to touch Rs 8.72 lakh as on January 15, 2018.
RISE SINCE 2016 SOLDIERS KILLED IN 2017 South Korea announced on January 11 that a law to stop
cryptocurrency trading was imminent. Two of their largest
1,300 7
cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinone and Bithumb, were
CEASFIRE PAKISTANI SOLDIERS raided the same day, sending the currency crashing.
VIOLATIONS IN 2017 KILLED IN MOST RECENT In India, entrepreneurs are watching the developments
BY INDIA, ALLEGES LoC CLASH, SAY INDIAN with interest, with some reports claiming Reliance Jio is
PAKISTAN. AND OVER NEWS REPORTS; set to enter the cryptocurrency space. Company sources,
100 ALREADY IN 2018 PAKISTAN SAYS 4, WITH
however, termed the reports as speculative, given the lack
3 INDIAN SOLDIERS
52 KILLED IN RETALIATION of clarity in regulations and the highly volatile nature of
cryptocurrency. Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani had
PAKISTANI SOLDIERS 38 said recently that emerging technologies, such as artificial
KILLED BY INDIAN intelligence and blockchain, would be of interest going
FORCES IN 2017 AND ARMED TERRORISTS
forward. Surely, the cryptocurrency story is far from over. n
254 INJURED, SAYS KILLED TRYING TO
PAKISTAN, HIGHER ENTER INDIA THROUGH —M.G. Arun
THAN THE PREVIOUS THE LoC IN FIRST 6
14 YEARS COMBINED MONTHS OF 2017
JANUARY 29, 2018 INDIA TODAY 7
UUPPFFRROONNTT
BOOKS
THE FALSE GOD
OF GROWTH
By Prosenjit Datta
ndia’s GDP is expected to grow had already borrowed heavily.
I
at well over 7 per cent next year Pilling looks at other attempts,
onward and maintain those rates before discussing in some detail how
for a decade or more. The Union Simon Smith Kuznets came to create
government takes pride in the fact GDP under the orders of Franklin D.
that we’ll be the fastest growing major Roosevelt. But GDP soon took on a life
economy and probably grow faster far beyond what Kuznets had envis-
than China. Some economists, in fact, aged. In fact, Kuznets had tried to
advise aiming for a higher GDP growth stop the measurement of all sorts of
rate—8, 9 or even 10 per cent plus, things in the GDP, but by then it had
arguing that we be more ambitious, es- become far too powerful to remain
pecially since we have the potential and under his control.
the so-called ‘demographic dividend’ Pilling goes on to discuss why GDP
in our favour. is a flawed concept, why it struggles
David Pilling says they are wor- The Growth Delusion: to measure things and how it counts
Wealth, Poverty, and
shipping a false god, and both the some stuff while leaving out others.
the Well-being of
concept of GDP and the obsession with Nations He gives colourful examples—like how
GDP growth are useless pursuits—a by David Pilling Britain’s Office for National Statis-
Penguin Random House
provocative argument put forward tics embarked on counting prosti-
Pages: 304; Rs 1,660
in his book, The Growth Delusion. tutes. Their earnings would, after
Pilling, who is an award-winning all, contribute to the GDP (as would
financial journalist and editor with drugs like cocaine and heroin). On
Pilling underlines
the Financial Times, London, has the other hand, Pilling points out that
the need to replace
studied the history of measurement of housework is not counted as GDP even
economic growth deeply. He has also GDP with a yard- though homemakers do enormous
travelled across the globe, reporting stick that maps the amounts of work. If they were to go out
from everywhere—Europe to Japan to and join an office and hire someone
well-being of
Africa (he is currently the Africa editor else to do their housework, that would
citizens more
of FT). As Pilling points out, for many add to the GDP. This, and other issues,
years his reports were focused on GDP accurately such as defence spending and wars
growth. But now, he thinks, it needs contributing to GDP growth, led to
to be junked by policymakers in all Pilling’s disillusionment with GDP.
countries and replaced with a yardstick But if GDP is a false God, what
that captures the well-being of citizens should replace it? Pilling looks at
more accurately. to present the king with a comprehen- alternative attempts to create indices—
Pilling combines deep scholarship sive report of France’s finances. Necker, from the Human Development Index
with an entertaining style of writing. who was a highly successful banker to the Genuine Progress Indicator
He starts off with the history of GDP— before he became finance minister, (GPI) to the Happiness Index. He dis-
and even before that, the first attempts was unfortunately prone to hiding the cusses the strengths and weaknesses of
at measuring the economy of a nation. truth. His report said France’s finances each. The perfect measurement system
He delves into the misadventures of were so solid it could afford to borrow has still not been created, but Pilling is
Jacques Necker, the Swiss finance a lot to fight many wars, without men- quite convincing in his argument that
minister of Louis XVI, who attempted tioning that under him the government GDP has outlived its utility. n
8 INDIA TODAY JANUARY 29, 2018