05-26-2006, 12:56 AM
Just remembered this interview from M K Narayanan a few months ago..
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/19intera.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>What are the issues that we can't manage?</b>
Rising expectations. Everyone wants more of the cake.
I am just taking a small issue: The Supreme Court has struck down the minority status (of educational institutions). It can snowball into a major issue. Because people will see it as a striking down of educational opportunity. This is a very small area, higher education. But this is true of so many other matters.
When we talk sitting here, it is simple, but when you go down you can see how people are so much more aware of what is what. There is no degree of passivity today.
<b>Especially in a city like Mumbai.</b>
<b>Not only Mumbai, but if you go down to the villages in Tamil Nad or Kerala -- I am not very familiar with the Hindi heartland -- the concern is that I am not getting what I am supposed to.</b>
When farmers commit suicide -- it is not as if this is the first time that things have been so bad. But people see that others are doing so much better than us and we are not getting our share. You are saying we say we are prospering, we have 8 per cent growth, I am not getting that share.
The reason why the bulk of forward castes in India decided to migrate to the United States -- the best thing that they did I suppose, since they helped us in the long run -- is based on this. We must have an outlet. Can you provide the outlet? I think that is a fundamental issue.
Then various movements -- Left wing extremism, for instance. The peripheral areas. How are you going to integrate the Northeast and others into the mainstream of India? These are socio-economic, socio-philosophical issues, there are so many issues.
Are the Nagas, for instance, an integral part of India? If you speak to Muivah or the Meteis or the Bodos, everybody is talking in terms of identities and separate homelands.
Finally, the biggest thing is what is the strength of the Centre. Everyone talks of more federalism, but the Centre is important. You cannot have a weak Centre.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
http://ia.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/19intera.htm
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>What are the issues that we can't manage?</b>
Rising expectations. Everyone wants more of the cake.
I am just taking a small issue: The Supreme Court has struck down the minority status (of educational institutions). It can snowball into a major issue. Because people will see it as a striking down of educational opportunity. This is a very small area, higher education. But this is true of so many other matters.
When we talk sitting here, it is simple, but when you go down you can see how people are so much more aware of what is what. There is no degree of passivity today.
<b>Especially in a city like Mumbai.</b>
<b>Not only Mumbai, but if you go down to the villages in Tamil Nad or Kerala -- I am not very familiar with the Hindi heartland -- the concern is that I am not getting what I am supposed to.</b>
When farmers commit suicide -- it is not as if this is the first time that things have been so bad. But people see that others are doing so much better than us and we are not getting our share. You are saying we say we are prospering, we have 8 per cent growth, I am not getting that share.
The reason why the bulk of forward castes in India decided to migrate to the United States -- the best thing that they did I suppose, since they helped us in the long run -- is based on this. We must have an outlet. Can you provide the outlet? I think that is a fundamental issue.
Then various movements -- Left wing extremism, for instance. The peripheral areas. How are you going to integrate the Northeast and others into the mainstream of India? These are socio-economic, socio-philosophical issues, there are so many issues.
Are the Nagas, for instance, an integral part of India? If you speak to Muivah or the Meteis or the Bodos, everybody is talking in terms of identities and separate homelands.
Finally, the biggest thing is what is the strength of the Centre. Everyone talks of more federalism, but the Centre is important. You cannot have a weak Centre.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->