Simulations of futures

After independence several ideas were articulated for growth and development ranging from extreme Marxism to Gandhism. They led to rise and fall of several movements, engagements and disengagements, reflecting changes in both environment and actors. The actors who participated in them showed various tendencies, such as persistence, disengagement, shifting to other ideologies, radicalism and transcendence. You may occasionally meet one time Naxalite converted to liberal ideology and one time Gandhiite converted to Naxalism. Government policies have also created a phenomenal number of Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) which are actively working for development as partners. They take up sponsored projects from all kinds of donors and engage in service delivery; ideological issues have become secondary. Thus the country continues with multiple visions of future without consensus. In the recent past, however, some kind of consensus has emerged regarding the approaches to governance and development according to which the country must make headway and all social groups must share the benefit of development. The Eleventh Five Year Plan also provided a framework in which poverty and unemployment are also seen in social groups framework. There is no visible open divergence on this matter between scholars, media, political parties, and jurisprudence. Sometimes this is encouraged in the name of pluralism and multiple cultures.

This consensual thinking in India in terms of social groups is a new risk. It is likely to create conflicting nationalities, erode human autonomy, and produce conflicting versions of imagined futures. Human autonomy is further weakened by the new religious revivalism and revival of traditions and cultural pride. The highly educated elite as bankers, industrialists, scientists, bureaucrats, and social activists are commonly associated with caste associations and carry interest in astrology, mythology and magic. The society as a whole suffers. Human progress is blocked. Humanistic thought takes a back seat. Sociologists have to give a serious thought to neo-social-groups approach and religious revivalism. They cannot solve problems of India. It is fraught with several hazards.