Nirmala Sitharaman's Swipe At Amartya Sen: "Worrying That Scholars..."

"It's worrying that scholars can be now influenced more by their personal likes and dislikes rather than comment on the basis of facts. It's really worrying that scholars can become imprisoned by their own likes and dislikes." Nirmala Sitharaman said while answering a question about Amartya Sen.

It is worrying that scholars can be now "influenced" and become "imprisoned" by their own likes and dislikes rather than comment on the basis of facts, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, as she took a swipe at Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen for his views about the BJP government.

During a conversation organised by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government on Tuesday, Ms Sitharaman was asked by Harvard Professor Lawrence Summers that "number of people in our community", notably economist Amartya Sen has expressed "rather strong reservations" about the BJP government.

He said there's a feeling that the legacy of tolerance "has been very much called into question" and that the attitude taken by "your government to the Muslim population is something that comes between the United States, given our values of universalism and inclusion, and India."

During the conversation at Harvard Kennedy School, Ms Sitharaman said that even the issue of violence in states not governed by the BJP "will be at the doorstep of the Prime Minister because that suits my narrative."