THE YOUNG TURKS

WHAT KIND OF POLITICS WILL FUTURE LEADERS OF INDIA PRACTISE? WILL THEY RISE ABOVE IDENTITY, AWAY FROM THE SHADOW OF CASTE, FOCUS ON ASPIRATIONS, TALK THE LANGUAGE OF INCLUSIVENESS? OR WILL THEY, LIKE THEIR FOREBEARS, PRACTISE A REGRESSIVE BRAND OF IDENTITY THAT SHARPENS SOCIETAL DIVIDES AND LOOKS TO BUILD VOTE BANKS BASED ON CRUDE POPULIST CALCULATIONS? HERE ARE FIVE FIREBRANDS IN CONVERSATION WITH MANAGING EDITOR OF INDIA TODAY TV, RAHUL KANWAL

Leader of Patidar agitation, Gujarat “We do not oppose anyone. We are not against anyone. I agree that when we talk about a single community, some people might not like it. But we only ask for jobs and education for youngsters and the rights of farmers. In Gujarat, as in India, there is corruption in education, there are no jobs, farmers work through the day but don’t get the right price for their crops. Whichever community one belongs to, one is entitled to one’s rights. No one has ever asked, ‘Hardik, why are you demanding reservation?’ No one has wanted to know the reasons behind our demand for reservation. Everyone just said, ‘You are a Patel, you come from a high caste, you have diamond merchants in your community, you have large plots of land, still you are demanding reservation?’ We are not saying that all our problems will be solved by reservation but listen to the clamour for jobs, see how people are committing suicide, look at the way schools are shutting down. We do our work and do it with pride. We don’t hide anything. If someone thinks we talk about caste politics, yes, we like caste politics.”

“HUM SAB KAREN WO CHORI, AAP KARE WO LEELA” “Your Government has ED and CBI. Why don’t you take action against me?”