Former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan while speaking at the 5th national conclave of the All India Professionals’ Congress (AIPC) said on Saturday that any attempt to reduce the minority communities to second class citizens will divide the country and create an internal rift.
The conclave was held in Chattisgarh’s capital, Raipur on Saturday. He opposed any attempts at turning minorities into second-class citizens and said it is time to confront majoritarianism and authoritarianism.
“In this age of geo-political development it will make us vulnerable and invite foreign meddling,” added Rajan.
He took the example of cash-strapped Sri Lanka to illustrate his point and said, “We only have to look south to see that when a country fails to create jobs and tries to attack the minorities, it doesn’t lead anywhere good.”
Rajan also spoke on the importance of liberal democracy in achieving economic growth and said, “Our future lies in strengthening liberal democracy and its institutions and not in weakening it.”
Speaking on the concept of liberalism, he said, “I must emphasise that liberalism is not anti-religion. The essence of every religion is to seek out good in everyone. It is also the essence of liberal democracy.”
Rajan said he opposes the idea that India needs authoritarian leadership for growth and said it is based on an “outdated model of development that emphasises goods and capital, not people and ideas”.
