Too early to tell if PM Modi is 'true descendant of Indira Gandhi', says historian Ramachandra Guha at Times Litfest

NEW DELHI: Eminent historian Ramachandra Guha said on Saturday that it's too early to tell if PM Modi has dictatorial tendencies and therefore he can't say if he is a "true descendant of Indira Gandhi".
"After Indira Gandhi, there was a major fall in the way our democracy progressed and she set the fall of our democracy into motion," Guha said at the Times Litfest in New Delhi .
"It's too early to say if Narendra Modi is the true descendant of Indira Gandhi," the historian said, in answer to a question about the PM and what critics call his authoritarian decisions, one among them being demonetisation.
He did add though that the nature of India is such that anyone who tries to be a dictator cannot stay one for long.
Ramachandra Guha's talk at the Times Litfest was on the topic 'India at 70.'
After seven decades of being independent, Guha said, Indians have freedom of movement and association but "a serious deficit" of freedom of expression.
"We have freedom of movement and association, and even the Chinese don't have that... (But) There is a serious deficit when it comes to freedom of expression and India is less free than a democracy should be."
Referring to the situation in Kashmir, where the Valley has been almost shut down since renewed unrest that began in July, Guha said the Centre has mishandled the situation badly.

"We should settle debates with dialogue, not violence" Guha said.
Critics have talked about excessive use of force in the troubled state and the use of rubber bullets - to quell stone pelters - that have caused many people to lose their eyesight.
The historian then segued to the causes of unrest in India in general. One of the main causes, he said, is the phenomenon of jobless growth which "is a dark spot in our growth story."
"Agriculture has stagnated, and we have not been able to create more jobs for the young generation," he said, referring to one of the causes of unrest in less developed areas of the country.
Making matters worse, he said, is the complete lack of regard for the environment while pursuing development.
"India is an environmental basket case. This is the second biggest dark spot in the country and has a massive impact on us... This environment backfall is actively denied by our political leaders," Guha said.
To make political leaders mend their ways, the country's citizens have regular, free and fair elections, "the single greatest achievement of independent India", Guha said.
And the time and place when Indians are most free "is when they are forced to face a ballot box during elections," Guha said.
"We are more free than when the British left us but less free than what our constitutional founder hoped us to be."