Australian sociologist Dr. Salvatore Babones on Tuesday happened to corner India’s ‘intellectual’ class and said that they were probably losing their place in the society. He also lauded India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said, “The personality of Modi is an affront to India’s intellectual class. It has brought them to a new fever pitch of anger over the loss of their place in society”.
“The personality of Modi is an affront to India’s intellectual class. It has brought them to a new fever pitch of anger over the loss of their place in society.”
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) November 7, 2022
~ Prof @SBabones on my show today: pic.twitter.com/ine4JvghPT
Massive criticism arose against Babones after he slammed India’s left-liberal ecosystem and called the so-called intellectual class ‘anti-India’ at the India Today Conclave. ‘Journalist’ Madhavan Narayanan took to Twitter to openly criticize the sociologist for his comments and indicated that he was nobody to opine on the Indian Democracy.
“Who is Salvatore Babones? Why is he important? Why should his opinion or perspective matter over mine or yours?,” he tweeted on November 5, hours after Babones participated in the India Today Conclave in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Who is Salvatore Babones? Why is he important?
— Madhavan Narayanan (@madversity) November 5, 2022
Why should his opinion or perspective matter over mine or yours?
Also, ‘journalist’ Rajdeep Sardesai who interviewed the sociologist at the Conclave seemed upset by Babones’ opinions and tried defending the anti-India brigade. He said that asking questions to the government is considered to be an act of patriotism and that criticising the government didn’t mean criticising the country.
“Babones’ argument on flawed democracy rankings deserves attention but A) GOI not equal to India b) many intellectuals were also critical of UPA government,” Sardesai tweeted sharing the entire video of the interview on social media.
‘India’s intellectuals are anti India..’ says @sbabones . His argument on flawed democracy rankings deserves attention BUT A) GOI not equal to India b) many intellectuals were also critical of UPA govt. Watch iview that’s gone viral here: https://t.co/dnwpeXBX1H @IndiaToday
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) November 7, 2022
However, Dr. Salvatore Babones on Tuesday stood steadfast by his comments and reiterated that India’s intellectual class in its public persona is anti-India. “I stand by what I have said. India’s intellectual class in its public persona is anti-India. In their hearts, I am sure, they are very proud patriots. But when they go out in the public arena to talk about India, they are certainly not highlighting India’s accomplishments,” he said.
“More importantly, when they criticize India as well as they should, they are, as a class, not doing so fairly and objectively. Instead, I see tonnes of evidence of intellectuals selectively attempting to present the worst possible picture of India in their international commentary. That is a problem for all Indians, even for India’s intellectuals,” he added.
He also said that India’s ‘intellectuals’ were making the Western world who does not follow Indian politics closely, believe that India is a fascist country. “..India is not a fascist nation but the Indian intellectuals are making the world believe that it is. Indian politics is not closely followed by the western world. Why would not the world believe it,” he stated.
Dr. Salvatore Babones also meanwhile said that the world is not interested in knowing the negative narrative about India. “What they are more interested to see is India’s authoritative narrative. Indian activists who speak the language of the west should be honest. That’s their role”, he said.
He also lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that the leader is superior enough to bring the left liberals to a new fever pitch of anger over the loss of their place in society. He also stated that he would be happy to be linked with the world’s most extraordinarily successful democracy viz India. “I’m very happy to be a bhakt of the world’s most extraordinarily successful democracy,” he tweeted.
Can an American be a “bhakt”? I’d really like to know!
— Salvatore Babones (@sbabones) November 7, 2022
More seriously: I’m very happy to be a bhakt of the world’s most extraordinarily successful democracy. https://t.co/754mk3ARan
On Saturday, Dr. Salvatore Babones participated in the India Today Conclave in Mumbai, Maharashtra to opine that India is being wrongly portrayed as a fascist state by the global media, which is affecting its image internationally. He also cornered the left-liberal ecosystem in India who usually keeps on targeting the BJP-led government and called them ‘anti-India.
He added that the left-liberal intellectuals base their criticism on the aspect which probably is never going to change. “Suppose that the UPA government comes into power. Is it going to take down the Ram Mandir, is it going to get rid of the UAPA? So the basis on which the criticisms are made, that basis will probably remain in place. If they do, the same criticisms will apply to them”, he noted.
“India has problems. And activists, journalists, and intellectuals absolutely have a role to call out the problems. But the problem is that they allow internationally to color the overall evaluation of this system,” he said. He reiterated that India is not a fascist country and that it is being wrongly portrayed as a fascist state by the global media.
