Kolkata, June 7
A couple of days after Nobel laureate Amartya Sen said that Narendra Modi government's ‘schizophrenia led to Covid ravages in the country, former Tripura Governor Tathagata Roy hit back at the economist on Monday and asked him to ‘stick to his own job instead of speaking on everything in the society.
Taking to Twitter, the BJP hardliner wrote, "Amartya Sen, after winning the Nobel in Economics, has been poking his nose into every subject except his own. The latest is psychiatry – he has detected schizophrenia in Modi ji!".
Roy went on to say, "Dr Sen, recall the Banquet speech of your peer Friedrich von Hayek: ‘There is no reason why a man who has made a distinctive contribution to economic science should be omnicompetent on all problems of society — as the press tends to treat him till in the end he may himself be persuaded to believe'. Take Dr. Hayek's advice. Stick to Economics."
At a programme in Mumbai on Saturday, Sen had said, "India's ‘confused' government is focused on taking credit for its actions, rather than working to restrict the spread of Covid-19, resulting in schizophrenia that led to massive troubles.
"India could not play on its strengths because of a poor response to the crisis due to confusion in the government. The government seemed much keener on ensuring credit for what it was doing rather than ensuring that pandemics do not spread in India. The result was a certain amount of schizophrenia."
The state BJP had also protested against Sen's remarks, alleging that the comments were politically motivated.
State BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya had said that he (Sen) cannot keep on criticising the government in front of the entire world.
"I'm not that arrogant to state that Sen has grown old and requires counselling. But we must not forget his comments before Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister. Whatever he has spoken against the PM and the Central government is purely political," Bhattacharya had told reporters.
"He can give suggestions, as well as say things as everyone has that right in a democratic country," the BJP leader had said.
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