Ramachandra Guha: Rahul Gandhi is an incompetent leader

The absence of historical context has been a major issue when it comes to political writing in India While context is essential to understanding the undercurrents that sway todayrsquos political strategies historian Ramachandra Guha feels it is sorely missing from Indian writing thanks to what could be called the historypolitical sciences divideRahul Gandhi seen here with Mumbai Congress chief Sanjay Nirupam yesterday is not a leader that inspires confidence even in his own party men believes Ramchandra Guha PicBipin KokateAs Guha one of the countryrsquos foremost intellectuals himself puts it In the Indian education system everything that happened before 1947 is History and after 1947 is Political Science Historians do not transgress beyond that dateRamachandra GuhaAnd it is the works of political scientists and sociologists that we have to turn to understand about what has happened to India after independence To ignore what Guha refers to as ldquothe largescale Indian political experimentrdquo mdash essentially the history of the Republic of India mdash is to turn a blind eye to the fault lines that continue to threaten this democracy In our seventh decade of freedom historians need to cross this Lakshman rekhardquo stressed the acclaimed author of India after GandhiExcerptsQ What impedes the construction of an archive of contemporary historyA For one thing the closer you are to an event in time the harder it is to write about For instance we donrsquot know whether economic liberalisation will be good or bad or how Narendra Modi will be remembered itrsquos easier to write about the distant past Another challenge we face is that even the Indian who is interested in politics has no live controversial views on figures such as Jawaharlal Nehru Bal Gangadhar Tilak or BR AmbedkarLimitations on free speech and expression pose another challenge The culture of intimidation of politics here is inhibitive If I write about the Bengal Famine of 1943 itrsquos unlikely my book will be a subject of controversy but if I write about farmer suicides and the policies that cause it there will be uproar There is certainly a growing intolerance of scholarly views and debate On Tuesday I will be offering examples of the kinds of books young scholars can write to overcome these challengesQ The Congress ledUPA is perceived by many to have been extremely corrupt and the BJP is viewed as divisive Whatrsquos your view on these labels Also why do they stickA We must move beyond labels to examine the practice and the leadership style of parties which is where scholars come in When labels endure for some time however there is some truth to it The Congress has been known for corrupt practices for 3035 years the BJP has been divisive for as many years Itrsquos superficial sure But if a large section of India has thought this for 30 to 40 years and the party has not amended it there is some truth in itQ Tell us about your forthcoming publication Democrats and DissentersA Itrsquos a collection of 19 major essays ranging from 8000 to 10000 words Some are profiles of intellectuals like Eric Hobsbawm Amartya Sen and Tagore some are based on my travels overseas Irsquove compared the Indian political experiment with China and Sri LankaThere are essays on the darker side of the Indian democracy for example one on adivasis as the most victimised group There are four groups of Indians that are marginalised Dalits Muslims Women and Adivasis While Dalits Muslims and women are marginalised hated and discriminated against at least their problems are written about and make it into the public discourse But the problems of adivasis who are discriminated against the most remain invisible until Maoists come and work thereAnd then there are essays with a slightly lighter tone One is titled The Greatest Indian after Gandhi and examines how we judge greatness another was something Irsquod originally written after the terror attacks in 2008 An editor had asked me if 2008 was our worst year with communal violence floods etc So I wrote an essay about the worst year in India since 1947 In 1948 we had the Partition in 1966 famine stalked the land in 1984 there was the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and pogrom directed against Sikhs following Indira Gandhirsquos assassination So there are multiples essays and various different arguments that you can exploreQ Why is it that the plight of tribals doesnrsquot get the attention it deservesA Itrsquos always complex and nuanced why something has happened or not happenedFor one thing adivasis have never had an articulate orator an Ambedkar for the adivasis someone who provides a compelling vision Second they live in inaccessible areas Besides theyrsquove always remained in the blind spot of the national movement Gandhi Nehru Patel all understood that women have to be made equal partners they were all conscious of the horrors of the caste system and all understood the need for India to function as a multifaith society but the adivasis were never understoodDalits and Muslims play a role in the 350 constituencies so yoursquoll see all the political parties falling all over Ambedkar these days never mind their partyrsquos history But adivasis who live in the forests and upper lands are not much of an influence on election hence theyrsquore ignoredQ How is it that partisan politics issues such as cow protection that yoursquove written was used way back in 1952 to unify Hindus continues to be a favoured tool for parties in an India thatrsquos really looking for development improved communications progress and literacyA This is not what Narendra Modi promised voters in 2014 Itrsquos clearly with an eye on the Uttar Pradesh elections Yoursquore going to witness polarisation on one side by Amit Shah on the other side by Azam Khan I find this very worrying because they have no larger agenda both are fully interested in polarisation Hence the resurrection of the cow protection issue Itrsquos shameful and poisonous and does not augur well for our democracyQ Narendra Modirsquos government has disappointed on many counts mdash he has not delivered on the economic development the promise that was really the key to his victory Do you predict a return of the CongressA No and I donrsquot mind being quoted on this Rahul Gandhi is an incompetent leader unfit to lead a major party There may be some natural incumbency so from 44 seats in the Lok Sabha it may go to 80 or even 100 but the Congress is on the decline Rahul Gandhi is manifestly unsuited to politics He is not a leader that inspires confidence even in his own party menQ You get more than your share of hate mail Do you expect to offend any particular groups with Democrats and DissentersA The thing is this Of course there may be people who get offended but I wish people would read it I do get appreciative mails too Some like my writing some donrsquot thatrsquos fair enough When you wade into controversial issues you expect that But these are substantial complex essays that lay out arguments carefully So if you should say that itrsquos incomplete or that my analysis is wrong after reading it Irsquod welcome the discussion and disagreementGodrej Archives presents Dr Ramachandra Guharsquos lecture on the Challenge of Contemporary History on January 19th at 6 pm at Visitorsrsquo Centre CSMVS Museum Kala Ghoda