Politics in India has become “deeply anti-intellectual,” encouraging instead the creation of “bhakts” who are driven by prejudice, political scientist Gopal Guru said on Wednesday.
Prof. Guru was speaking on the ‘Enduring Legacy of National Movement and Contemporary Crisis’ at the History Congress organised by the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to mark the 100th year of the Vaikom Satyagraha.
India today faces a scenario where there is no space for serious thought, he said. Anti-intellectualism spawns bhakts, who are led by prejudice and “narrow-thinking,” he said. “Our politics has become deeply anti-intellectual. And you have no short-cut solutions to the problem,” he said.
The political task, Prof. Guru said, is to create the capacity for reason, where the ‘‘why’ questions assume great importance, as this capacity is upset in the politics that promotes bhakts, he said. The Vaikom Satyagraha was not merely a vibrant chapter in the social history of Kerala, but a guiding light for the national movement, he said.
Shashi Tharoor, MP, emphasised the need for an India that is anchored in the founding values of the national movement in its response to contemporary challenges. The BJP government at the Centre has sought to weaken Parliament and other democratic institutions, hollow out the Right to Information Act and promote an “atrocious personality cult” around one man, he said.
“The choice before us in the 2024 elections is very clear. We can have a new India that belongs to all of us, led by a government that works for all of us or we can have a new India that belongs to some and serves the interests of a few. We can choose a new India that embodies hope, or one that promotes fear,” Mr. Tharoor said.
Anil Sadgopal, former dean, Faculty of Education, University of Delhi; Mathew Kuzhalnadan MLA; and History Congress general secretary Sebastian Joseph also spoke.
