Swapan Dasgupta’s Political Thought
by Vijay
I have always maintained that Swapan Dasgupta represents one of the teen murtis of intellectual India’s right wing revolt – the other two being Ashok Malik and Arun Shourie. In my view, it is these three gentlemen, in their role as public intellectuals that provide the most coherent voice to the concerns of conservative middle India.
Clearly, Mr Dasgupta occupies a charmed position in India’s political discourse. He has established himself as the leading interpreter of the Indian Right for the country’s English-speaking middle classes in a professional environment which teems with those of the left-liberal persuasion – no small feat. Recently, a more youthful, fashionable libertarian set has sprung up but they shall form the basis of a future post. Swapan compliments his aforementioned role with that of a political activist often appearing in public gatherings to speak in support of the BJP. This has earned him the sobriquet of “neo-ideologue” – not an unfair characterisation if his work on the BJP’s 2004 Vision Document and (presumably) other party matters is taken into account.
Dasgupta’s success in combining intellectual non-conformity with political activism is sometimes sneered at by those who sit on the high-horse of objective reportage and question his credentials as a journalist.
What is more interesting however, is the nature of Mr Dasgupta’s political views. We know that he is a self-described friend of the BJP and a confirmed political conservative. But, what is the nature of this conservatism?
Reading through Dasgupta’s vast output of essays and op-eds one gets the general impression that he has drunk deeply at the fountain of British conservatism. His work is full of references to major events in British history and he frequently utilises British conservative metaphors to make his point. I suppose this is a condition that ails all post-colonial intellectuals. A young Jawaharlal, fired by the emancipatory potential of Fabian thought, returned to the “dustbowls of Hindustan” to put into practice those convictions. Strictly speaking, Nehru was not post-colonial but I trust the reader grasps my point. This then, was the beginning of the famous Nehruvian consensus that has influenced more than two generations of independent India’s intellectual establishment and continues to form the orthodoxy of intelligent conversation in the country.
I am unsure as to what extent Swapan Dasgupta holds the experience of British conservatism to be applicable to the Indian context. As I’m sure he would agree, all conservatisms are contextual and claim no universality. However, there is little doubt that he holds British conservatism and Britain’s Conservative Party as the benchmark to which other conservative movements should aspire to.
It is here that we differ. I find the British Conservative impulse to be remarkably dull and staid – committed to the preservation of existing institutions and social norms as values in themselves, no matter their utility. It does well to live up to the caricature of conservatism as a particularly unimaginative, status-quoist and a downright barren mode of thought. Michael Oakeshott, a significant conservative thinker of the last century who also happened to be British argued that to be conservative is to esteem the present above all else. I find this sentiment especially problematic to sustain in an Indian context, a country crying out for a new kind of commitment and authenticity in politics.
As I’ve pointed out in a previous post, India’s political culture is a paradox – in the sense that it is apolitical. Indians find themselves in a context where their Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling national party are both apolitical. In fact, the Prime Minister’s disinterest in the political is marketed as a virtue to a public that has long suffered at the hands of professional politicians. Thus the kind of politics that India needs to embrace in order to ensure public good is a redemptive brand of politics. A conservative movement in India must present an alternative vision for the country and combine this with a vigorous opposition to the comfortable consensus in the political class. The cynicism of the average Indian however and his chalta hai manner may preclude that state of affairs from ever coming to pass.
Update: This piece was also cross-posted on Himal Southasian’s Blog
Comments
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Vijay, a view of the present from Dec 05, 2009 when you penned this blog on Swapan, would indicate a slight but obvious drift from his right wing conservative leanings, especially with BJP. His recent posts, media appearances and participation in talk shows definitely indicates a sort of confusion as to where to lean to now. He seems to be scared to touch Congress, seems to loath CPM, seems to be uncomfortable with BJP of late, seems to hate TMC, BSP, RJD et cetera; where and whom to turn to?
I could be wrong, but this was the feeling I got especially his views aired post Ayodhya, A. Roy, Geelani so on and so forth.
Just penned a few thoughts, that’s all.
Prashanth,
To be completely honest, my views on the BJP are confused as well. I certainly think Swapan has stepped back from an uncompromising commitment to assertive hinduism. I remember there was a time in 2004 when he wrote a piece on Evangelical Hindutva in Seminar magazine. If memory serves, his essential argument was that the BJP failed to succesfully capitalise on the Hindu evangelist upsurge in Gujarat and other areas. In a way, he was almost chiding the BJP for not being Hindu enough.
I think Swapan Dasgupta is a solid analyst of politics. His present intellectual confusion is a product of his critical faculties being bewildered by the complexities of Indian electoral politics. Sometimes, it is not possible to arrive at a cogent analysis of why something went wrong/didn’t quite happen the way you expected it to. My personal view is that the BJP’s defeat in 2004 was a historical accident. It rudely interrupted the natural evolution of the BJP into the natual party of government. I don’t know if the BJP can return to that path of evolution. Perhaps another historical accident is required.
Vijay,
I reckon, you are right when you say confusion exists with BJP. I too have to confess with guilt though that BJP finds itself distancing from a comeback to the center basically due to lack of leadership, devoid of strategy, efficient planning and political foresight. Sadly, those competent to proffer this guidance are not in the forefront. To this effect, Swapan would have been an able contributor provided the Party had not been defeated.
Yes, a historical accident indeed. But, dont you think Swapan’s political analysis eclipsed the 2004 election setback. What was from an absolute victory, the Party went into delirium when slapped with an unprepared defeat. This included cadres like me as well, I must say.
So what went wrong. Was it overconfidence? Was it lack of reaching out to the Middle and Lower Middle Class vote bank? Was it absolute ignorance of the Poor? Introspections are aplenty.
Nevertheless, with due respects to Swapan’s political analysis and foresight, he should be proferring measures of recuperation to the BJP instead of remaining confused or leaning away from a belief he derives comfort from. I am sure eminent leaders like Arun jaitely, Arun Shouri, Jaswant Singh etc. would heed to his views. Well, let us hope so and the Party revive itself to a formidable force by 2014.
There can not be a better platform than now considering all the scruples Congress is struggling with
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