Kolkata:

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Saturday said India has the tradition of Hindus and Muslims working and living together in cohesion.

Sen, a noted economist, was speaking at a programme at the Alipore Jail Museum to foster book-reading habits among underprivileged youth.

“Going by the history of our country, Hindus and Muslims have been working together in harmony in perfect coordination and synergy for ages. This is ‘Juktosadhana’ as underscored by Kshitimohan Sen in his book. We need to stress on this idea of ‘Juktosadhana’ in our present times,” he said.

In this context, he flagged the word “religious tolerance”, saying that should not be the sole emphasis.

“It is not merely like allowing the other community to live and not beat up anybody. Perhaps that has become a necessity in the present situation as people are being beaten up. But most crucial is to work together,” he added.

Sen, who is known for his liberal views, said that children need not be inculcated with the values of tolerance as they are not affected by any “divisive toxicity” and grow as friends because they are not imparted “bad education” which can poison their minds.

Elaborating on ‘Juktosadhana’, he said it is manifested in politics, social work, and art.

“Can you differentiate between Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Pandit Ravi Shankar on their religious identities? They can be differentiated for their own genre of classical music,” he said.

Cautioning against any attempt to subvert the pluralistic character of India, he said Mumtaj’s son Dara Shikoh was one of the few who had translated the Upanishads into Farsi.

“This shows he was well-versed in Hindu scriptures and Sanskrit language. And now there are two schools of thought who are making certain comments against our pride and treasure Taj Mahal, which is a magnificent structure and built in memory of Mumtaj Begum,” Sen said.

“While one school of opinion is against the Taj Mahal looking so beautiful and having so much grandeur, there is another school which wants the name of the monument changed so that it is not associated with a Muslim ruler,” he said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kolkata:

Nobel laureate Amartya Sen on Wednesday asserted the recent Lok Sabha poll results point to the fact that India is not a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.

Mr Sen, who arrived in Kolkata from the US in the evening, also expressed displeasure over the “continuation” of putting people behind bars “without trial” even under the new dispensation.

“That India is not a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ only has been reflected in the election results,” Mr Sen told a Bengali news channel at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here.

“We always hope to see a change after every election. Some of what happened earlier (during the BJP-led central government) like putting people behind bars without trial, and widening the gap between the rich and poor, are still continuing. That must stop,” he said.

The eminent economist said there is a need to be politically open-minded, especially when India is a secular country with a secular Constitution.

“I do not think the idea of turning India into a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ is appropriate,” Mr Sen, 90, said.

He was also of the opinion that the new Union cabinet is “a copy of the earlier one”.

“The ministers continue to hold similar portfolios. Despite a slight reshuffle, the politically powerful are still powerful,” he said.

Mr Sen recalled that during his childhood when India was under the British rule, people were jailed without any trial.

“When I was young, many of my uncles and cousins were put in jail without trial. We had hoped that India would be free from this. Congress is also to blame for the fact that this did not stop. They didn’t change it… But, this is more in practice under the present government,” the Nobel laureate said.

On the BJP losing the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat despite building the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Mr Sen said attempts were made to overshadow the country’s true identity.

“… Building the Ram Temple spending so much money… to portray India as a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, which should not have happened in the country of Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. It shows an attempt to neglect India’s true identity, and it must change,” he said.

Mr Sen also said that unemployment was on the rise in India, and sectors like primary education and primary healthcare were being neglected.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Suri (West Bengal):

The Visva-Bharati University on Saturday submitted several documents to a court in West Bengal’s Birbhum district to justify the eviction notice it has served on Nobel laureate Amartya Sen asking him to vacate 0.13 acre (5,500 square feet) of land which it claims he is illegally occupying.

District Judge Sudeshna De (Chatterjee) on August 8 stayed the eviction notice and directed that the stay will be in force till the disposal of the main case related to the ownership of the plot in the Santiniketan campus of the central university.

The court was hearing a case in which the economist had challenged the eviction notice.

“Today the university authorities submitted several documents in support of the eviction order. We have asked for copies of them. The court will pass the order on whether we can get those documents on September 21,” said Rahul Auddy, one of Mr Sen’s lawyers. 

Visva-Bharati had sent the eviction notice to the economist on April 19, asking him to vacate 0.13 acres of the total 1.38 acres of land of his ancestral residence ‘Pratichi’ in Santiniketan by May 6. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)