RAJAN 2

On inflation, Rajan said he was hopeful that inflation On inflation, Rajan said he was hopeful that inflationwould fall below 6 per cent, a level that was breached in theprevious month, while adding that the data should be awaitedfor August — the last full month of his tenure. Asked if he had intolerance within BJP and Sangh Pariwarin mind when he made the controversial speech at IIT-Delhi inOctober last year, Rajan said, "No. I had the environmentcertainly at the back of mind where there was a discussioncertainly about tolerance." "It was a topical issue," he said. "But a week after Igave the speech, I met a Cabinet minister who said I have beensaying exactly these things. So it wasn’t as if it was ‘antigovernment’. Which government is going to preach intolerance?"he said. Rajan appeared to blame the social media for taking awayfrom speeches "what it wants to hear." "I think the way the speeches are sometimes interpreted,when you read the speeches it comes out the way the criticismappears," he said. Stating that the reporting of the speech was that it wasan anti-government speech about intolerance, he said, "Theactual content of the speech is a plea for tolerance becauseit is in the best tradition of India and continuation oftradition into the future. It was not about saying we have aintolerant environment. It was a plea for continuing ourtradition." He however did not agree with the question about hisspeech being misquoted and said communication is a continuousprocess and often ideas have to be repeated and re-emphasised. Rajan said he did not talk about "rising tide ofintolerance". "I talked about need for tolerance going forward if youwere to have an economy based on ideas, based on engagement,based on dialogues and that was in a speech at the IIT Delhiconvocation. "When you are talking to young minds, and you are tryingto tell them about a future we want to aspire to, you draw ona history of tolerance in the past and you tell them this iswhere we should be and this is where we should be going," hesaid. The Governor said in his opinion that speech was not"stepping out of bounds." "I think that is the legitimate duty, in fact the moralresponsibility, of the public figure who has the attention ofyoung minds, to tell them this is what good citizenship isabout, this is where we should be going. "I have absolutely no regrets about saying it. If peoplethink that was a criticism of the government, I think theyshould revisit what is in that speech and what any governmentwould say about what its moral duty is," he said. Stating that in such lectures one talks about topicalissues, he said, "but you engage in a way which is apolitical,which is about the best interest in our democracy and I thinkthat is absolutely legitimate." MORE PTI JD DP NKD CSBJ