Every house must have a Bajaj, Hamara Bajaj

Here’s the Thing

Two months ago, an old man in his eighties walked into my office cabin and handed out an “Open letter to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi” that he wished us to publish. The man said he was formerly a top executive of a central PSU and had headed power projects in Kashmir at the height of militancy in the 1990s. “My colleagues and I suffered due to the Kashmiris’ Azadi struggle and the militancy. In fact, I became head of our project because militants kidnapped my boss,” the man said, “But I still cannot support the lockdown in Kashmir. This is not who we are, this is not India. That’s why this open letter to the PM.”

As I was reading the letter and chatting with him, empathising with him, the old man suddenly asked me to hand him back the letter.

“I’m sorry, I do not want the letter published. I’m an old man, I do not want to be targeted for criticising the PM. This government is vindictive. My children, too, have warned me about it. I’m sorry I wasted your time,” he said, and walked out of my cabin, slowly, dejectedly.

In late October, I met a former special secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, for lunch. A former naval intelligence man, he had spent his final years in government service working on the nation’s maritime security. He had much to say about the state of security affairs and especially civil-military relations under the Modi government.

“The reality on the ground is so different from the public rhetoric,” he said. Why don’t you write about it in our paper, I said. “Oh, no, no, no. I don’t want to be targeted,” he replied. But you are a quintessential establishment man, would they go after you, I asked. “Have you seen what’s happening to (Election Commissioner) Ashok Lavasa?” he retorted. →

So, when industrialist Rahul Bajaj spoke out, nervously and with a number of caveats and expressing fear that “mujhe bolna nahin chahiye tha…mein suli pe chadgaya,” it was all very understandable.

But Bajaj did what only he, at 81 and with the legacy of his grandfather Jamnalal Bajaj on his mind, could have. He did not talk about the prevailing economic situation and the worries of the industry and the billionaires. He began by calling out the government, and specifically PM Modi, on the BJP’s promotion of Godse-bhakt and terror undertrial Pragya Thakur to Parliament.

Bajaj spoke up, but what about India’s other captains of industry and billionaires? Are they all fine with the direction in which India is headed? Do they stand for anything other than their own profit and wealth?

Contrast the Indian billionaires and their silence, with how America’s billionaires and CEOs have publicly taken on Donald Trump on several issues. Trump formed a CEOs’ council, but almost all of them resigned from it in protest against his anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, anti-diversity policies; Trump withdrew America from the Paris Accord, but the country’s business leaders said they would stand by it. What do our business leaders do when Modi does a demonetisation, when our democracy is subverted by the electoral bonds scheme, when Amit Shah announces a nationwide NRC circus, when mob lynching and fake encounters have become the order of the day?

Of course, our billionaires can hide behind the ruse that American businesses are better protected from State power than Indian businesses are in India; they can point out that the US Supreme Court, and even the state courts, have stood up to President Trump when they were required to, unlike, well, you know which institutions in India. They can put out excuses for their silence. What excuses do they have for not demanding better institutions in India?

Some months ago, two billionaires, considered sage business leaders, did suddenly speak out against mob lynching and the “divisive atmosphere.” The timing was odd. The government took the hint, cut corporate taxes and rolled back Budget provisions against the ‘super rich.’ The billionaires fell silent.

Since 2014, the former head of India’s most respected industrial group has been a frequent visitor to Nagpur and the group has been the biggest contributor to the BJP through electoral trusts (different from electoral bonds). Does he stand for the same idea of India that the Modi-Shah duo do?

We are approaching a dangerous period. As we approach the 2030s, we are approaching the 1930s. Business leaders must think what kind of India they want. Here’s a Budget suggestion for them: On February 1, after watching the Budget speech and analysing it for the television channels, please gather together and watch Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List.