I have often come across industrialists who pose as intellectuals and use their affluence and clout to torture their audience with their half-baked ideas on everything under the sun. They justify whatever they say simply by the crushing weight of their wealth and social status. One such insufferable snob who does not understand his own limits, is N R Narayanamurthy of the Infosys foundation.
When I picked up Narayanamurthy’s book ‘A Better India, A Better World,’ my uncanny ability to smell secular moles took me straight to p.75 – In Part II called ‘Values’ is included Narayanamurthy’s ‘Darbari Seth Memorial Lecture’ delivered at New Delhi. The lecture is titled ‘In Praise of Secularism’ and this is what India’s IT icon has to say on some nagging controversies related to secularism:
“We should not get worked up about some elements of our minority communities occasionally identifying with majority communities of other nations. We must understand that every minority basks in the glory of a majority with whom they share a cultural, religious or national heritage. This is as true of French Jews basking in the Israeli victory of 1973 as with Indians in England cheering the Indian cricket team in 1971. This is also true for a few Muslims in India cheering the victory of the Pakistan cricket team playing against India. This is natural and not something to be unduly worried about.
There are many people who believe that the country must have a uniform civil code. My own view is that this is not necessary as long as the country’s economic progress is not hampered…”
This is what happens when a person is put on a pedestal for his success in a particular field and is then invited to come and lecture at every public meeting irrespective of whether his credentials have anything to do with the topic he is ranting about.
Wonder what NRN thinks about the Muslims in Mumbai or elsewhere who’ve been extending overt or cover support to terrorists like Ajmal Kasab to carry out 26/11 type of attacks – we shouldn’t worry too much about that too, I suppose.
As for economic progress, he’s missed that simple logic that Infosys succeeded in India because of the liberal atmosphere that the Hindu mindset creates. National Security and Integrity are prerequisites to Development Mr. Narayanamurthy.
The Audacity of Convictions 