Australian sociologist Dr. Salvatore Babones spoke at the India Today Conclave on Saturday in Mumbai, Maharashtra, to express his opinion that India’s image abroad is being negatively impacted by the false portrayal of the country as a fascist regime in the foreign media. The left-liberal environment in India, which often criticises the BJP-led government, was also trapped by him, and he dubbed them ‘anti-India’.
Babones, an associate professor at the University of Sydney, claimed during a discussion with ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai that the groups and purportedly ‘liberal’ academics who support the opposition to the government are ‘anti-India’. Indian intellectuals are hostile against their country. As a group, not as an individual, there is a class of people in society that opposes Modi and the BJP.
The left-liberal academics, he said, base their judgement on a factor that is probably never going to alter. ‘ Let’s say that the UPA wins the election. Will the UAPA be abolished and the Ram Mandir demolished as a result? The critiques’ underlying assumptions will thus probably not change. If they do, they will face the same critiques,’ he said.
India’s intellectual class is anti-India, as a class and not as an individual: @sbabones#ConclaveMumbai22 | @sardesairajdeep
WATCH LIVE: https://t.co/jp4EHXNTHX pic.twitter.com/WOjzOFsTea— IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) November 5, 2022
Sardesai, who throughout the talk appeared angry, attempted to justify the anti-India movement by claiming that challenging the government is a sign of patriotism. ‘As distinguished from nationalism, patriotism is challenging your government. Therefore, the intellectuals you demonise are the ones we should celebrate since, in contrast to others, they are at least sounding a few alarm bells. India’s glory lies in this. Why not appreciate these rather than denounce them as anti-Indian?’
Dr. Salvatore Babones responded by stating that these ‘intellectuals’ must first determine if they are challenging the government in general or only the BJP-led administration. ‘The question is: Is this connected to the BJP government, or will it inexorably continue under any other government that will eventually come to power? Then, will there be a recalibration of opinions?’
There are issues in India. Furthermore, pointing out the issues is a responsibility of activists, journalists, and intellectuals. ‘However, the issue is that they let foreign factors to influence how this system is rated generally’, he noted. He reaffirmed that India is not a fascist nation and that the world media has a false impression of it as such.
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