“Intellectual Distancing”: Ramchandra Guha Objects To Mission Jai Hind Statement Made In His Name

Taking a different stance from earlier, author Ramchandra Guha has expressed objection to the statements made in his name in the 7-point agenda prepared by group of experts and activists.

Notably, the 7-point agenda, titled Mission Jai Hind, contained a plan of action to help the country fight the current covid-19 pandemic.

The plan in general garnered mixed response from different sections of society. One of the clauses was 7.1 which stated that all private property, which included bonds, gold, property etc ‘must be treated as a national resource’ to fight the pandemic. The section in particular invited criticism from wide sections of people.

It was in this respect that Ramchandra Guha stated objection and decided to distance himself from the said clause of the plan.

Earlier in the morning, Guha tweeted, “The Mission Jai Hind Statement that was sent to me had this broad statement of principle as clause 7.1, which I approved, namely: “All resources within the nation are national resources, available for this mission.”

He further added, “The published version had a radically different clause 7.1: “All the resources (cash, real estate, property, bonds, etc) with the citizens or within the nation must be treated as national resources available during this crisis.” I have not and do not endorse this.”

After facing backlash for the said clause, former AAP leader and current Swarajya Party leader Yogendra Yadav tweeted a changed version of clause 7.1, reformulating it as “The government must explore emergency ways of raising resources going beyond the usual set of taxes and levies to cope with the problem of funding large relief packages .”

Update: After Yadav published the latest version of contentious clause 7.1, Guha has endorsed the updated version.

He tweeted, “ The new pt 7.1 in the Mission Jai Hind Statement is extremely appropriate and all controversy should now be set at rest.”