'Muslim takeover' a baseless fear, says Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee

KOLKATA: Minorities in India, much like in the United States, were "not really anywhere close to being dominant" and the fear of any "Muslim takeover in India" was baseless, 2019 Economics Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee said in Kolkata on Monday.
Minorities in both India and parts of the US were "relatively economically and educationally" deprived, Banerjee said, alluding at least once in his speech to "the fringes of the ruling party (in India)".Monday evening's was his first public appearance in his hometown after receiving the Nobel on December 10 last year.
Banerjee spoke about the "fear of the Other" among a section of population that, he felt, might not be bigoted individually. "There is talk about... at least from the fringes of the ruling party about the demographics of the Muslim population. These are just ways to demonise a population," he said.
Noting that many of these narratives had no real basis, Banerjee said: "I don't think there is any real fear that there will be a Muslim takeover in India."
But he also emphasised the importance of a non-partisan approach to politics. "I don't want to join a political party but I want to remain useful. Our current political positioning is well-crafted and nobody should think we are the enemy. We would like to work with whoever is doing something useful for society," he added.