Taking stock: Raghuram Rajan, Narayana Murthy join debate on intolerance

New Delhi: A day after Moody’s warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi to check growing intolerance in the country, RBI governor Raghuram Rajan also stressed on the need to create an environment in which ideas can flourish.

Saying that the right to question and challenge must be protected, he observed, “Resort to bans will chill all debate.” He was instantly attacked by senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who claimed that “Rajan had made a mess out of RBI” and demanded that he be “immediately sacked by the Prime Minister”.

However, the criticism of growing intolerance did not stop with the governor, as Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy also expressed concern on Saturday that there was considerable fear in the minds of the minority.

Music conductor Zubin Mehta also joined the chorus, saying, “Our writers, our filmmakers do have a chance of speaking their minds. We should not ostracise them. Otherwise, we will become a dictatorship” he said.