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Amartya Sen wants politicians to stop threats

Kolkata: Even as he pointed out that acquisition of land for industry should be the last recourse, economist Amartya Sen said a huge transformation in the thought process was needed to move away from the culture of threats and agitations so that a dialogue could be started for West Bengal’s development.

Participating in a discussion on ‘Whither West Bengal’s Development,’ he said: “The opposition, the government and the citizenry should have an open-minded discussion.”

While none on the panel of economists uttered Singur during their speeches, Professor Sen said, “No one uttered this word [Singur] but it is important to find out why it happened.”

He quoted from the Vedas and said the order of` ‘Paramaparya’ ordained that once a certain stage was reached in a certain matter, one did not go back on it and moved to the next stage.

“Once settled, street-fights cannot take place to close down a venture. Social awareness and wisdom was needed to follow a certain order of things,” the Nobel laureate said during a 22-minute speech.

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