Pluralism vital for growth: Ramachandra Guha.

PANAJI: A patriot loves his country, while a nationalist hates everyone else’s. There is no

substituting patriotism

with vulgar nationalism or jingoism, said noted historian and biographer, Ramachandra Guha.

He was speaking at the 2017 convocation of the BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa campus, Zuarinagar, on Sunday.

“Patriotism should not be defined by singing the national anthem, followed by ‘Pakistan Murdabad’,” Guha said, adding that retaining India’s pluralism is vital for the growth of the country’s economy. He said that

Sri Lanka

imposing its Sinhala culture on the Tamils in the north of the country resulted in a war that stunted the island nation’s economic growth.

Guha said that India adopting adult franchise after independence was nothing short of a miracle, and that it was the only country in the world to achieve such a feat, under the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

“But today we are in danger of reducing this democracy to an ‘election only’ nation. For the five years after it was elected, the government, both at the centre as well as the state, feel they are immune to criticism,” he pointed out.

The author said that India needs to cherish its democracy as it the only country other than Sri Lanka in the world to have consistently held free and fair elections every year without fail since first adopting adult franchise.

Guha said that the diversity in India, the depth of its civilisation and the country’s decision to adopt democracy all at once for all its citizens makes India extraordinary.

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