At a time when a controversy is brewing between those who believe that India is under the grip of intolerance and the government that firmly denies it, and at a time when a top Indian English daily has reported that more than 100 scholars both Indian and international have signed statements in protest, Niti Aayog member and economist Bibek Debroy presented a contrarian view on Tuesday.

Roy revealed that during the period when he was the director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies (RGICS) he experienced several instances of intolerance, and many of those he claimed were at the specific insistence of Sonia Gandhi.

"The RGICS was envisaged as an independent think-tank. My mandate was specifically to make the institute self-financed. I argued before the governing council that I could not possibly make it self-financed and look for projects unless I distanced itself from the perception of it being a Congress think-tank," said Roy.

In the exclusive interview with Karan Thapar on his show To The Point, Roy said: "The director of a research institute should not force his views on the think-tank."

On intolerance involving Sonia Gandhi, Roy cited two instances:

1. "First instance was when in 2002 I invited Dr Seshadri Chari, the editor of the Organiser newspaper, to a conference on Indian politics, society and reforms, eventually published in the form of a book. There were people who spoke on behalf of Mrs Gandhi, not herself, and said 'Please do not invite Seshadri Chari. I stuck to my guns. It did not cross the threshold."

2. "It was about a paper that I and a colleague undertook called An Economic Freedom Rating of States in India. It was published in 2004. No one objected, until 2005. This study had ranked Gujarat No.1. In 2005, when the municipal elections were happening in Gujarat all hell broke loose. I was told that henceforth any publication by the RGICS has to be politically vetted. This was sent to me signed by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, who was the chairperson, on a standard green sheet of paper. I resigned."

Chief Economic Adviser should apologise to Jean Dreze

The Niti Ayog member also said that economist Jean Dreze deserved an apology from Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramaniam for the way the Finance Ministry treated Jean Dreze. Dreze was invited to the Delhi Economic Conclave by the Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramaniam on behalf of the Ministry of Finance. Dreze accepted, but when he was on a train to Delhi he was informed the invitation had been withdrawn, and won't even be permitted to attend the conference, without any reasons provided.

"I have to hear both Dreze and Subramaniam to know the facts. But if it happened this way, then the situation needed to been handled better. Jean had to be told clearly what had changed. Arvind must have had reasons. He owes an apology and explain to Jean and there needs to be transparency about it," said Roy.



Watch the complete interview here: