How Majoritarianism Is Stalling India’s Development

The pervasive religio-political narratives cultivated over the past decade have induced a collective stupor in our nation, hindering economic progress. India, particularly its elite, has succumbed to an intellectual lethargy born from a fusion of religious pride, animosity and the allure of 'Vishwaguru' perceived global leadership. There are many examples of this stupor. Here are two recent experiences:

While speaking to management students at a college, I asked them a question: "How many of you think that our country is among the top ten in the world in terms of economic progress?" More than half raised their hands. I further asked how many thought India was in the top 20, then the top 30, and so on. Almost all the students believed that India was among the top 20 countries.

However, they were shocked to learn that India is not even among the top 100. They were also surprised that China is still not a developed country, but a developing one. They were confident that we would become a developed nation by 2047, and they also believed that since China is ahead of us, it must be developed.

But the fact that a Chinese citizen earns five times more than an Indian citizen, and yet China is not a developed nation, came as a shock to the students. The vast gap between developed countries and India seemed unbelievable to them.

Ironically, these students belong to India's elite class that is always excessively concerned about what the world thinks of us and where we stand in comparison to the world.

Another experience: A woman with strong Hindutva views posted on Facebook, praising the sanatan dharma immensely. In response, I wrote, "There are many beautiful things in the Hindu tradition. It does not have the rigidity of Islam. There are many liberal traditions that speak of magnanimity. But within these liberal traditions, there are some very bad and vile customs and practices. And there are things that have been going on for hundreds of years and are still effective. For example, just a few decades ago, people from specific castes used to manually remove human waste and carry it on their heads. And even today, people from the same castes collect garbage, descend into drainage pipes, and some suffocate and die."

The woman retorted to my statement, saying, "In my childhood, we had septic toilets. No one had to carry excrement." What can one say to this? This woman, who praises sanatan dharma, suddenly narrowed her vision so drastically. Her stance was clear: because she had septic toilets in her childhood, it was impossible that anyone in Sanatan Bharatvarsha (India) was subjected to the inhuman treatment of carrying excrement for centuries.

Economists Dean Spears and Dean Coffey have presented a compelling argument on how our 'sanatan' beliefs regarding touchable-untouchable and pure-impure continue to be a major obstacle to India's development.

The connection between the practice of open defecation and India's high rates of child mortality and malnutrition is clear. Germs from feces go from the soil into the water, and from there into the bodies of newborns. Many children have upset stomachs. Some of them die, and some remain malnourished. Malnourished children who survive have stunted intellectual development throughout their lives and therefore remain in poverty.

There is a direct correlation between the health of a country's people and their income. Although the figure of 600 million Indians defecating in the open is from before the start of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Clean India Mission), the proportion is still very large today. In 2018, 39% and 60% of people in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, respectively, were defecating in the open.

These two economists delve deeply into this subject. Out of the 194 countries for which the World Bank has data, India ranks 44th from the bottom. This means that 150 countries have lower child mortality rates than India.

We are a member of BRICS. The child mortality rate in China, Brazil, and Russia – the other countries in this group – is three times lower than the rate in our country. Additionally, Bangladesh, Kenya, and Rwanda have lower child mortality rates than us.

Is poverty the only reason behind this? The study suggests otherwise – India's child mortality rate is 20% higher than that of countries with similar levels of poverty. Every year, 825,000 children in our country die before the age of five. If the child mortality rate were the same as in countries with similar levels of poverty, this figure would be around 650,000. This means that 170,000 child deaths could have been avoided if poverty were the only reason.

The reference for these remaining 170,000 children's deaths is not poverty. To understand how large this additional child mortality figure is in a global context, it is important to note that this figure is equal to the total number of child deaths in all the countries of South and North America combined.

Spears and Coffey investigate why Indian people still defecate in the open on a large scale and why toilets are not used. They present a compelling argument, with solid data and logic, on how this question is linked to our mindset of touchable-untouchable, our notions of purity, and how the root of this problem is also cultural in nature.

They suggest solutions to this complex problem. In today's "Vishwaguru" nationalist environment, which has induced a stupor in us, such a presentation is bound to be explosive, and therefore, bound to be ignored.

But child mortality and malnutrition are just two of the most important issues in the context of development. And if we want to solve this problem, we have to take a thorough look at it. Unfortunately, the country's elite refuses to look at many such issues of development with open eyes. And this mindset is spreading downwards.

The dominance of the Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party in today's politics is a dominance that is taking us away from reality. It is necessary for the country's development to remove its grip on the mindset of the high and middle classes who lead the country's intellectual discourse.

With the Thackeray brothers coming together, a politics of linguistic identity that challenges religious identity has begun in Maharashtra today.

Here, it is useful to recall Tamil Nadu's politics of linguistic identity. This state has performed effectively in the fields of education and health compared to other states. The state has always ranked high in terms of per capita income of its citizens. There is no real correlation, but there has always been an ongoing discussion about whether there is any connection between Tamil Nadu's progress and its politics of linguistic identity.

What can be definitely discerned is that speaking a different language and seeking part of their cultural identity has been a disruptor in the Hindutva project of using Hindi to transmit Hindutva seamlessly. This diversity has been a challenge for the Hindutvavadis to surmount.

During the pandemic, Tamil Nadu, recognizing that the loss of education for primary school children would have a permanent impact on their future, developed an effective plan to provide special education for those children. It was discussed all over the world. This state is often cited as an example of how the politics of linguistic identity may have helped further a distinct identity which has allowed alternative viewpoints to flourish that have been about the development of ordinary, poor people.

There is no historical basis to believe that Uddhav and Raj will take the politics of linguistic identity so deeply. Also, it is not clear if language politics will not create its own problems, like encouraging language chauvinism. But their coming together will no doubt create some momentum for the opposition. It is essential as it will help dispel the stupor that the "Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan" Vishwaguru nationalism has induced in the public mind. A strong opposition has a big role to play in this.

Milind Murugkar writes on economic and social issues.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.