After historians, eminent' economists join the war for India's soul

They have every right to criticise the current government. But please respect data and facts.

- YASHWANT DESHMUKH & SUTANU GURU 

When Sunil Khilnani wrote the “Idea of India” in 1997, it was not just about the country marking 50 years of independence from British colonial rule. It was a powerful salvo fired in what was by then a clear and decisive war for the soul of India.

Many similar salvos have been fired. Most of them have come from “eminent historians” who have either denigrated or denied Indian (read Hindu) history. The bitter war is still being waged in the political, social and global arena.

This has become a take-no-prisoners ideological war. When wars become ideological, the first casualty are facts and data. So, the authors have been watching amused as “eminent economists” have now joined battle.

But just as “eminent historians” have mauled facts for decades, “eminent economists” have started mauling data. Since space is limited, the authors will highlight just two eminent economists: Kaushik Basu and Raghuram Rajan. Rhetoric 7 polemics come free, so just carefully read what the two have been saying in public.

Most analysts and rating agencies were of the opinion that India will grow at about 6.5% in the second quarter of 2022-23. The doomsday chorus singers that include “eminent economists” were lamenting the end of the Indian promise.

Recently released data shows the GDP growth rate was actually 7.6%. Kaushik Basu, former chief economic advisor of India in the UPA regime and professor of economics at Cornell University, who sometimes relies on New York taxi drivers to analyse the Indian economy posted on X: “7.6% growth is not bad, but it’s a sad commentary on changing standards when a nation like India, which once routinely grew around 8%, now celebrates that growth is at 7.6%, especially when this happens with youth unemployment at a near all-time high.”