Kolkata: Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen said on Sunday that the 'climate of intolerance' prevailing in India will not last long and people must unite to fight it. Attending a discussion titled 'Know Your Neighbour' organized by Pratichi Trust in Kolkata, Sen said, "If someone does not agree with your opinion, or is of a different religion, then he will be killed, this situation cannot last for long.
People have to work together. We have to put our differences aside. We have to reduce the distance between each other. Perhaps a big reason for this is that we are increasingly forgetting to forgive." He also said that Amartya Sen Research Institute's research has revealed a thorn in the path of emotional communication in the present world, a terrible misunderstanding between religions and races.
"Ignorance and lack of education are responsible for this," said Sen. Responding to a query from a seventh-grade student, he said: "Is diversity always good? Lately, India has been engulfed in diversity, which was not the case before. We have to see both the advantages and disadvantages of diversity."
The Nobel laureate economist clarified that he does not like the diversity in which one group has a lot of money and the other group is poor.
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi's comments during the freedom struggle, Sen said that "Gandhi himself said during the preparatory phase of the freedom struggle that we should reduce the separation between us. We should be more united. Our ability to respect others is diminishing. And that is one of the reasons why we are lagging behind."
TMC backs Sen's comment
Supporting Sen's comments Trinamool Congress (TMC) national spokesperson Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said that the Nobel-laureate economist said the right thing adding that Sen has criticized the culture of division across the country.
Elaborating further Roy said that Sen wants to change the situation arising from the BJP dividing the entire country on the lines of religion, caste, gender, and language. CPI(M) state secretary Mohammad Salim said, " Sen spoke about his perception as a real thinker. Rabindranath and Nazrul are the pride of our country. When talking about our state, we talk about pluralism and unity. That is what Amartya Sen wanted to highlight.
Expressing his reservation against Sen's comment BJP leader Dilip Ghosh took a serious dig at the Nobel laureate for his statement. "Earlier he used to talk about the country's economy, now he doesn't talk about the country's economy or doesn't want to talk about it. Now he is seeing intolerance. You are old, sit quietly and why do you take the trouble to come here?"
