Any hint of dissent is frowned upon by Modi government: Shashi Tharoor
Mumbai, Sep 5 : Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who is now actively involved in an ambitious multilingual web series based on his book 'Why I Am A Hindu", says any criticism of the current government is frowned upon nowadays.
Tharoor's next book on the four years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is all set for release. Being known to be a vocal voice of dissent against the Narendra Modi government, does the author-politician foresee controversy for his new book?
He said: "Not from the readers, the people who read my books... No, they won't see anything worthy of dissent. However, I can't predict how the Government in power would react to the book.
"Nowadays, any hint of dissent is frowned upon by the government. Unfortunately, any criticism of the government's policies, no matter how healthy and just, is taken as an attack on individuals who run the Government. This was not the case when we, of the Congress (I), were in power," Tharoor said.
"Criticism of the government, was in fact, encouraged then. Now when we are in the opposition, the rules have changed," he added.
As though the erudite and articulate parliamentarian-academic didn't have enough on his plate, he has now involved in an adaptation of "Why I Am A Hindu", for which he will also turn narrator.
He says he agreed to the web series because he believed in the producer, Sheetal Talwar.
"When Sheetal Talwar came to me, I liked his conviction. He made no tall promises. But he assured me the essence of my book would be captured in the series. I have not read the screenplay yet.
"But I'm confident it will do justice to my thoughts on Hinduism. Nowadays this question of who is a real Hindu is being asked constantly. I want my thoughts on this subject to reach out a wider public than the one afforded by a book."
Tharoor, who deals simultaneously and actively with his parliamentarian duties, has also authored a large volume of fictional and non-fictional work.
"If we include the book that is coming out in the next few months, it is 17 books. I've various other duties and obligations, including an ongoing legal battle to prove my innocence in the case where I'm being made out to be the person that I am not."
Adding to his schedule is now the web series, which he says is important to him.
"There are many misconceptions about Hinduism in the current times. I am going to be the narrator for the English version of the series. A very distinguished voice will join in for the Hindi version," he said.
Cinema is one of the pleasures that Tharoor has forfeited in the pursuit of a larger good.
"In the past few years, my work as a parliamentarian and my writings have occupied a large part of my time. Then there are various other imperative pursuits.
"For these, I've given up many pleasures, including cinema and cricket. But there is no regret over these losses. I cannot be a rubber stamp politician. Politics is a tool for me to try and improve the status quo to the best of my abilities. Likewise my writing, Tharoor said.
"It is important for me to ensure the thoughts in my book on Hinduism are put out there on a platform where the optimum would be able to receive them," he added.
Tharoor's tweets are perceived as works of art, carved and polished with the most chiseled words.
Taking the compliment graciously, he said: "It's kind of you to say that. But the truth is, I don't toil over the tweets. "The medium demands brevity and one has to finish what one has to say in the shortest possible way."
In the meanwhile, there are miles and miles to go before Tharoor takes a long nap.
With the January 2014 case pertaining to the death of his wife Sunanda Pushkar ongoing against him, he admits the bandwidth of his creativity is somewhat shrunk.
"There is much more that I want to do. But current circumstances restrain me from expressing myself fully. Because of the legal issues, I am not even allowed to speak about the case," he said.
"My one reassurance in this whole situation is that the people I meet do not seem to believe in what I am being accused of. Wherever I go, I am met with the same warmth and goodwill that I experienced before," Tharoor said.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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