sore772018 Detaisprint ‘nthe context of the ongo- the opponents. mixed economy for future [iit cul — My former colleague and India. While the public sector tural awards being professor of politicsand eco- would be under State control returned to the State, itis ap- nomics at the Lusophone and provide jobs to millions propriate to reflect on these University in Lisbon, Nuno ofthe population, the rest would realities and their implica- Cardoso da Silva, isall set to be left to private enterprise, en- tions for democracy, because bringout aprinted Manifesto suringthereby thelong-term in- it is being touted by the Libertario, a booklet of less terests of the Indian financial ‘media that represent agents than 40 pages, wherein he oligarchy. It should not come who make and unmake the contends thatwecan achieve as surprise if M.K. Gandhi culturally “distinguished”, a better democracy, though it was shot dead in an Ashram and present the case as a will forever remain an utopia, built by the Birlas. manifestation of popular dis- under what he classifies asaso- To refer back to culture gust with the recent cases of —cialistibertarian regime. Hisre- and awards, they are tools attacks and killings of some flections and proposed model that dominant bourgeois in- Crores crs prominent writers. has the historical experience of terests use for buttressing It isfurther implied thatsuch Portugal as background. It their vision of nation build~ tk gruesome events are State- seems tobeadmittedly moti- ing. Culture and heritage are AGOrE planned or tolerated under the vated by the ongoing mess of _ negotiable concepts and am- probably saw dispensation of the BJP thatwas Portuguese politics. biguous, not shared convine- through this wien an absolute mandate w _Aftera rapid survey ofthe ingly by al the citizens of rulethecouny ttabosuggested Western history to build his State, depending upon the ex- whenhe — thattheGovemment is turning case against abusive at- periencesof each social group in returned the ablindeyetoits cultural ally, tempts at enforcing a make- their socio-political evolution. award following t@RSSandits ilk, with their believe democracy ala carte, Different actors have their ov 19 fundamentalist activities, the author concludes that a vision and axe to grind. The so- thegriesome Matel iy ueiceice G RoNisnmbaineeNe Gal Hikes Sete au incident of | wards other faiths and secu- fusion ofliberty and equality, _opinion-makerscanbeidentifid a Iarists.In bref, thisis viewed implying a guarantee of a with actors of different social Jallianwala asa serious threat to the In- dignified life to all citizens _ groups, with underlying mo- Bagh, and never dian democracy. could be achieved under Lip- tivation to promote their in- Sonped Incidentally, there has ertarian Socialim, My sur- dividual or groups interests, stopped never been such a thing as mise is that these reflections always under the flag of dem~ appreciating universal culture. Culture is and proposals are justa new crate rights. the satyagraha community based and re- variant of Counter-Econom- One ofthe silent wishes of flects the heritage of that ics,within the agoristic trend, the bourgediseis tobe placed approach — community. twas largely on [http://wwwanarchismnet/ amongtheaward winners, with: newlibertarianmanifesto.ht’ out realizing that it is not just a m] recognition afer, butrecogni- Surprisingly, bourgeoisie —tionbytheaward giversthatthey and elites do not find a pres- ate winning another champion ence in the book. The main for their cause or vision. Few culprit indicated is the finan- may know why Gurudev was cial oligarchy thatneeds tobe awarded the first Nobel prize checked. It fails to see in the _in India, Theaward was given many variants of bourgeoisie to an English translation of the willing partners in cor- his poems in Bengali, At that ruption. I consider this a stage of Indian struggle for major shortcoming of the Independence Tagore was a 4 analysis, without questioning tall figure of Indian culture, thisbasis thatidentities were the fact that major financial just as Gandhi dominated the created for building the na-operatorshaveamajorrole,not political scene. tion-states, almost always by exclusive role, in shaping na- The award was an imperial the initiative of selfinterested tional poitcs.Clserin India, we strategy of placing a wedge leadership ofbourgeoiselites,e- can recall The Bombay Plan of between the two stalwarts of ther lnealorin ennnivance with 1940 Thrm://fam 20/1PLGontl rhe Indian leadarshin know hpinwwe. paper oheraldo inDetallpent aspx = G4008boxid= 45243404 12sore772018 external rulers, for gaining influence and power to build further their interests. There are always tninter- ested or dissident groups anywhere. These were or are won over with allurements ‘or bamboozled with threats Ie is against such a scenario that accompanied the birth of every nation state that we need to understand the so- called democracy as yet another strategy of the bourgeois elites in gaining consensus, with or without honest consent of Inipitwwwepaper cheralda inDetalsprint aspx id= 164008boxid=45243401 Detalsprint Which was'a blueprint of the big business of India to de cide the future of independ- ent India, The British colonial regime owed them huge debts for assistance during the two World Wars in the Asian scenario. ‘The Indian National Con- ress was leading the politi- cal struggle for Independence with ongoing financial support ofthese In dian entrepreneurs, like Tata and Birla among others, The Bombay Plan settled for a ing well and hoping that ‘Tagore's proclaimed anti-na- tionalism could dent the po- litical strength of Gandhi's movement. Tagore probably saw through this when he re- turned the award following the gruesome incident of Jal lianwala Bagh, and never stopped appreciating the satyagraha approach of Gandhi in nation-building. (Teotonio R. de Souza is the Jounder-director, Xavier Cen- tre of Historical Research, Goa (1979-1994), 22