Former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh has said that the BJP is showing all signs of “stifling dissent” within months after the party came to power. Referring to the Intelligence Bureau report that named Greenpeace India as an organisation that is negatively affecting country’s growth by ostensibly encouraging people’s movements, Mr. Ramesh said such actions against an organisation like Greenpeace is “unfortunate.”
He was speaking here at a seminar on toxic pollution.
“If an organisation like Greenpeace is kept under a tight leash, then it indicates that you (Union government) do not want any questioning, any opposition, any dissent,” Mr. Ramesh said. He gave the example of American expressways to elucidate his point.
“There are highways and turnpikes in America. Highways have some speed breakers, turns etc, which reduce the speed, whereas turnpikes are super-long concrete expressways without any speed breakers or checks – we perhaps are now moving from ‘growth highways to growth turnpikes’ where there are no checks,” he said, adding that such a change in policy has turned “Greenpeace into a nuisance and in fact, all movements with an element of dissent – like the movement to save wetland in East Kolkata – becomes a nuisance. Unfortunately, that is the mindset now if anyone questions the model of growth.”
“Even while having industrialisation and growth, we need to have checks and balances in place, and Greenpeace provided that. I would say the government needs to listen to everyone and then act according to its policies,” he said.
‘No talk’ policy
Earlier in the day, criticising Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s policy of stopping all dialogue with the Maoists, Mr. Ramesh said that the Minister’s statement was “worrisome.” Speaking to The Hindu here, Mr. Ramesh said while he had not spoken to anyone in the new government on developments in the Maoist areas, including south Chhattisgarh, a ‘no talk’policy may actually worsen the situation in the areas controlled by the Maoists. Mr. Singh had recently said there was “no question of talks” with the Maoists anymore.
