Amartya Sen: Multiple identities have done a lot for Bangladesh
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
February 03, 2023

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Home
  • Economy
    • Aviation
    • Bazaar
    • Budget
    • Industry
    • NBR
    • RMG
    • Corporates
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Features
    • Book Review
    • Brands
    • Earth
    • Explorer
    • Fact Check
    • Family
    • Food
    • Game Reviews
    • Good Practices
    • Habitat
    • Humour
    • In Focus
    • Luxury
    • Mode
    • Panorama
    • Pursuit
    • Wealth
    • Wellbeing
    • Wheels
  • Epaper
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Videos
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • COVID-19
    • Games
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2023
Amartya Sen: Multiple identities have done a lot for Bangladesh

World+Biz

TBS Report
08 October, 2019, 01:40 pm
Last modified: 10 October, 2019, 03:00 pm

Related News

  • PM likely to attend G20 Summit in New Delhi September
  • Indian shares struggle for direction as Adani rout deepens
  • Australia batter Usman Khawaja flies out to India after visa approved
  • India raises defence spending by nearly 13 per cent to ₹5.94 lakh crore
  • India Budget 2023: No income tax up to 7 lakh rupee, revised tax slabs for new regime

Amartya Sen: Multiple identities have done a lot for Bangladesh

TBS Report
08 October, 2019, 01:40 pm
Last modified: 10 October, 2019, 03:00 pm
Amartya Sen: Multiple identities have done a lot for Bangladesh

Amartya Sen, the Indian economist, philosopher, public intellectual and a Nobel laureate has said that multiple identities have helped Bangladesh a lot, and had been helping India too, until "there was a deliberate attempt to undermine it". 

He claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, despite being a dynamic and enormously successful politician, does not have the "breadth of vision" about a multireligious and multiethnic India. "Bangladesh has been, in many ways, more successful than India now," he told The New Yorker, citing life expectancy and women's literacy data. 

"...in terms of the kind of narrowness of Hindu thinking, it is not reflected in a similar narrowness of Muslim thinking in Bangladesh. I think multiple identities have done a lot for Bangladesh."

Sen further commented that today's India is dominated by a "hard-nosed, hard-Hindutva thinking", where one can now "chastise a Muslim" for eating beef. 

Citing the Vedas to say Hinduism did not prohibit beef-eating, Sen said, "Not only from secularism and democracy in post-independence India but also in the understanding of the heritage even of Hindu India".

In an interview with the New Yorker, Sen discussed his memories of a pre-independence India - where he was schooled in the British-Indian reign, his fears and hopes for Indian democracy and how Bangladesh has, in many cases, done better than India after independence. 

When asked about his views on Bangladesh and how far the nation has come since independence, Sen replied, "Absolutely. It is very central. And, if you think about that, Bangladesh has been, in many ways, more successful than India now. It used to have a life expectancy lower than that of India. Now it is five years longer. Women's literacy is higher than in India. And, in terms of the kind of narrowness of Hindu thinking, it is not reflected in a similar narrowness of Muslim thinking in Bangladesh. I think multiple identities have done a lot for Bangladesh. It was doing a lot for India, too, until there was a deliberate attempt to undermine it. That had been present earlier. In the nineteen-twenties, there was a strong pro-Hindu movement. Gandhi was shot by an RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Fascist Hindu movement) member, which is the dominant influence on the BJP today. But they were not in office. We didn't feel threatened because they seemed like a fringe. But that fringe gradually became more dominant until the latest election, and they had a massive victory, a victory partially based on political effectiveness."

Talking further about present-day India and influence of BJP, Sen commented that Modi does not have the breadth of vision about India—. "He has been, from his childhood, relating to the RSS and the propaganda of that perspective. On the other hand, as a political leader, he is dynamic and enormously successful. So there was the Modi factor. They also got a massive amount of money. I was quite surprised at how the business community, not just two or three that are often quoted as the big donors, they got support from the bulk of the business community. They had more money and gumption at the time of the election than any other party. They won an election with a massive majority, but, again, you have to look at the issues I have written about, even in the context in America. The electoral system has its flaws. That massive majority he had was based on less than forty per cent of the vote."

India is a country of more than a billion people. Two hundred million of them are Muslim. Two hundred million of them are Dalit, or what used to be called untouchables - Sen's view on a multireligious and multiethnic India. "A hundred million are what used to be called scheduled tribes, and they get the worst deal in India, even worse than the Dalits. Then there is quite a large proportion of the Hindu population that is skeptical. Many of them have been shot. Many of them have been put in prison. In these circumstances, to say that a majority supports him would be difficult. It's a situation where there are many restrictions. The newspapers don't get government ads, and they probably don't get many private ads, either, if the government is against you. As a result, it is very hard to have independent TV or newspapers, because of the difficulties created by the government."

Top News

Amartya Sen / India

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • International Monetary Fund logo : AP via UNB
    IMF sets time-bound reform agenda as it releases first tranche of loan
  • Shipped Bhola gas to cost higher, yet cheaper than spot LNG
    Shipped Bhola gas to cost higher, yet cheaper than spot LNG
  • January exports rise nearly 6% riding on high-value RMG items
    January exports rise nearly 6% riding on high-value RMG items

MOST VIEWED

  • FILE PHOTO: Printed Chinese and Japanese flags are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
    China hopes Japan can stop 'right-wing forces' from provoking disputes in East China Sea- foreign minister
  • Russian service members drive a tank during a military parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of Red Army over Nazi Germany's troops in the Battle of Stalingrad during World War Two, in Volgograd, Russia February 2, 2023. REUTERS/Kirill Braga
    Putin evokes Stalingrad to predict victory over 'new Nazism' in Ukraine
  • The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
    Ukraine hopes to secure full-fledged IMF financing programme
  • A view of the flags of Finland, NATO and Sweden during a ceremony to mark Sweden's and Finland's application for membership in Brussels, Belgium, May 18, 2022. REUTERS/Johanna Geron/Pool
    Finland, Sweden committed to joint NATO accession, prime ministers say
  • FILE PHOTO: Indian billionaire Gautam Adani speaks during an interview with Reuters at his office in the western Indian city of Ahmedabad April 2, 2014. Picture taken April 2, 2014. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo
    Adani's adversity raises the stakes for India and investors
  • The logo of Amazon is seen at the company's logistics center in Bretigny-sur-Orge, near Paris, France, 7 December, 2021. PHOTO: REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
    US layoffs hit two-year high in Jan. as tech slashed thousands of jobs - report

Related News

  • PM likely to attend G20 Summit in New Delhi September
  • Indian shares struggle for direction as Adani rout deepens
  • Australia batter Usman Khawaja flies out to India after visa approved
  • India raises defence spending by nearly 13 per cent to ₹5.94 lakh crore
  • India Budget 2023: No income tax up to 7 lakh rupee, revised tax slabs for new regime

Features

Six Jeep Wranglers and a special XJ Jeep Cherokee set out into the depths of Lalakhal, Sylhet for an experience of a lifetime. Photo: Ahbaar Mohammad

Jeep Life Bangladesh: A club for Jeep owners to harness the power of their vehicles

18h | Wheels
While the Padma bridge in operation is changing the lives of millions in the south for the better, passenger rush to Shimulia ghat died down. Photo: Masum Billah

How are the Shimulia ghat businesses faring after Padma bridge?

20h | Panorama
After so many investments going embarrassingly wrong, as was the case with Sam Bankman-Fried, perhaps tech investors’ preference for less experience will wane. Photo: Bloomberg

Are you the next Steve Jobs? Good luck raising money in 2023

20h | Panorama
An elderly couple's lonely battle to save Dhaka's trees

An elderly couple's lonely battle to save Dhaka's trees

1d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

A proper price formula can help investors to plan big

10h | TBS Round Table
Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

Rumors about Sarika that everyone thinks are true

8h | TBS Entertainment
Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

Mugging rife in Tejgaon, murder in Wari

11h | TBS Current Affairs
What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

What secrets are hidden behind Adani's wealth?

9h | TBS Stories

Most Read

1
Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!
Bangladesh

Bapex calls candidates for job test 9 years after advert!

2
Leepu realised his love for cars from a young age and for the last 40 years, he has transformed, designed and customised hundreds of cars. Photo: Collected
Panorama

'I am not crazy about cars anymore': Nizamuddin Awlia Leepu

3
Photo: Collected
Energy

8 Ctg power plants out of production

4
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo is seen outside the headquarters building in Washington, U.S., September 4, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas/File Photo
Economy

IMF approves $4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh, calls for ambitious reforms

5
Photo: Collected
Court

Japanese mother gets guardianship of daughters, free to leave country

6
Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane
Infrastructure

Fund cut as Dhaka's fast-track transit projects on slow spending lane

EMAIL US
[email protected]
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2023
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - [email protected]

For advertisement- [email protected]