Elements of democracy, diversity and development are currently under severe onslaught, which is one of the biggest concerns, said Yogendra Yadav, politician, activist and psephologist.
Yogendra Yadav was in the city on Wednesday to be a part of a lecture organised by the Pune International Centre (PIC).
Also present on the occasion were political commentators Suhas Palshikar and Vijay Kelkar, eminent economist and vice-president of PIC. Yogendra Yadav delivered a lecture on the topic Defending India’s Swadharma: 2019 And Beyond.
Yadav emphasised that what the country needs is to create a strong political alternative which is missing.
Speaking about what is India’s Swadharma, Yadav said, “Key elements of Swadharma are under severe onslaught. Swadharma is not simply a cultural heritage, but one of the elements or combination of elements which provide us a vision as a collectivity to move forward.
“The three important elements of India’s Swadharma are democracy, diversity and development.” Speaking about democracy and diversity, Yadav said that democracy in India is not a simple liberal democracy, but has various elements.
“We have democratised the idea of democracy. It was unthinkable in the world that such a large country, like India, with so much poverty and illiteracy can follow democracy.
{{/usCountry}}“We have democratised the idea of democracy. It was unthinkable in the world that such a large country, like India, with so much poverty and illiteracy can follow democracy.
{{/usCountry}}“However, India has proved it all wrong. In India, diversity is more like co-living rather than celebration of diversity. India in contemporary times is the only country which accommodated such deep diversity,” he added.
Yadav emphasised that these elements of Swadharma are under severe onslaught and anti-modism will not work. He added that what will also not work is simply the opposition unity.
“I will not write off or undermine the opposition unity, but is does not deliver much in terms of safeguarding India’s Swadharma,” added Yadav.
He stated that what India needs is to recreate the vision of India and to create a political alternative.
the vision of India and to create a political alternative.