Disagree

Published on 14th February, 2016, in Mid-Day. When I read Amartya Sen’s Argumentative Indian, I was confused. Why was this book being written? I realised that it was to present India’s heritage of public debate and intellectual pluralism. It was also an argument against Hindutva, which many find to be rather singular, non-inclusive and contemptuous of intellectualism. Suddenly, the virulent ire of the Hindu Right against Amartya Sen made sense. But, I realised something even more interesting: Amartya ‘disagreed’ with Hindutva’s version and vision of India and Hindutva ‘disagreed’ with Amartya’s version and vision of India. For me, this use of ‘agree’ and ‘disagree’ and ..