New Delhi: Renowned economist Bibek Debroy, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, passed away at the age of 69 on Friday. Debroy was celebrated for his extensive contributions to economic policy and research. He also chaired the Finance Ministry’s ‘Expert Committee for Infrastructure Classification and Financing Framework for Amrit Kaal.
During an interview with India TV in 2015, Debroy had opened up about rising intolerance in academics. According to the noted economist, intolerance in academic circles always existed in the country. He alleged that intolerance was practised by left-wing circuits and it enjoyed patronage from states.
2015: A year of intolerance
“So far as ‘intolerance’ in an academic circle is concerned, it has always existed except that it was being practised by a certain left-wing kind of a circuit that traditionally thrived on the basis of state patronage, government patronage. Now that circuit is feeling unhappy because its monopoly on that patronage is being contested,” he had said in 2015.
Notably, 2015 was the year that had witnessed intolerant crimes such as mob lynching. The topic had garnered political attention which led to huge debates across the country.
On the contrary, the economist underscored that there was a definite political motive behind the recent ‘intolerance’ debate in India which suddenly came to an end after the defeat of BJP in Bihar Assembly elections. “There is no factual evidence, and anecdotes are no evidence, to suggest that intolerance, however defined, has increased since May 2014. No one will be able to demonstrate that,” Debroy said.
WATCH: Full interview of Bibek Debroy with India TV
Debroy recalled how Congress banned books to protect Nehru’s image
To corroborate his argument on academic intolerance during the Congress regime, Debroy cited three glaring examples of intolerance in academic circles – book bans, and treatment meted out to Dr Shenoy and Dr Jagdish Bhagwati. “No book has been banned since this government came into power in May 2014. Most book bans were actually during Congress governments. And I mentioned one particular book which is the ‘Heart of India’ by Alexander Campbell published in 1958. It had no pornography, no obscenity. The only reason it was banned was because it was critical of Jawaharlal Nehru and his brand of socialism,” Debroy said.
Bibek Debroy also pointed out how Shenoy and Jagdish Bhagwati were forced out of India just because they had advocated an alternative economic philosophy which did not suit the government of the day and the left-wing intelligentsia. “Dr Shenoy who was part of a task force set up by the former Planning Commission in the course of the second Five-Year Plan. There were 22 economists in that and 21 of them endorsed the views that the government was pushing through in the Five-Year Plan document. Shenoy disagreed and he produced a minute of dissent. He was ostracised and he was never given a job anywhere in India so eventually he had to look for a job in Ceylon i.e. Sri Lanka,” Debroy had pointed out.
“Similarly, Jagdish Bhagwati’s life was made very difficult when he was here at Delhi School of Economics. Jagdish Bhagwati, as well as Padma Desai, thereafter went off abroad,” he added.
Also Read: Bibek Debroy, Chairman of PM’s Economic Advisory Council and economist, dies at 69