Religion Exploited as a Tool in Modern India: Parakala Prabhakar

Those who had no role in the countrys long freedom struggle are now marketing themselves to be patriots, which is a sham, Prabhakar said.Prabhakar, known to be a critic of the present dispensation, said that among other things, the new India is characterised by enormous levels of inequalities where the top one per cent of the population corners 22 per cent of the national income.

Political economist Parakala Prabhakar on Thursday alleged that the ''new India'' under the BJP dispensation has ''weaponised'' religion for political purposes.

Prabhakar, while addressing a press conference here, said attempts have been made to destroy federalism, and the federal structure in the country signifies the "undemocratic manner in which the government at the Centre is functioning". ''Religion was always there. But, the new thing in this 'new India' under the BJP dispensation is weaponisation of religion for political purposes and interests,'' he said on the sidelines of the Kolkata launch of his book 'The Crooked Timber of New India Essays on a Republic in Crisis'.

Claiming that there is a crisis in the economic and social sphere of the country, Prabhakar said in this "new India", it is difficult to be critical of the government as "it wants us to buy any narrative which it dishes out".

''The government at the Centre does not like to be criticised... Those who had no role in the country's long freedom struggle are now marketing themselves to be patriots, which is a sham," Prabhakar said.

Prabhakar, known to be a critic of the present dispensation, said that among other things, the "new India" is characterised by enormous levels of inequalities where the ''top one per cent of the population corners 22 per cent of the national income''. ''Only one per cent of India's population controls 40 per cent of the nation's resources,'' he asserted.

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