‘Echoes of Nazi Rule’: Abhijit Banerjee on JNU Attack

An alumnus of the JNU, Banerjee urges the government to establish the truth of what happened at JNU on Sunday 5 Jan.

Indian-American economist Abhijit Banerjee has urged the government to establish “the truth of what happened” at JNU.

(Photo: The Quint)

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee has urged the government to establish “the truth of what happened” in the light of the mob attack on students and faculty at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Sunday, 5 January.

An alumnus of the university, Banerjee, while speaking to News18, said that the attack “has too many echoes of the years when Germany was moving towards Nazi rule.”

Violence broke out at JNU on Sunday night after masked men armed with sticks attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus, prompting the administration to call in police. At least 18 people were injured and admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“I am really concerned about those who were injured. I wish everyone injured a speedy recovery,” Banerjee said.

“The government needs to actually establish the truth of what happened and not let it get drowned in the chorus of counter accusations.”

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee

Banerjee was a student of MA (Economics) at JNU in 1983 and was arrested during his time over protests against the expulsion of the then students’ union president.

“I was arrested thrown into the Tihar jail, charged not quite with sedition, but attempt to murder and the rest. The charges were eventually dropped — thank god — but not before we spent 10 days or so in Tihar,” 

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee

Delivering an address at the Brown University 9 October 2019, the 58-year-old slammed the Indian government, stating that institutions were turning into “zombies” and the Centre’s big-ticket economic decisions were responsible for the “demand problem,” reported NDTV.

He added that institutions in India went from being “hyperactive to zombies” and the latter was worse as it means that they are now “completely frozen.”

The Indian-American economist received the Nobel Prize in Economics in Sweden for his ‘experimental approach to alleviating global poverty’ on 10 December 2019.