Personal attacks on Rajan, questioning his patriotism was unfair, says mother

Outgoing RBI governor Raghuram Rajan’s parents have said in an interview to The Indian Express that had the government reacted to Subramanian Swamy’s verbal attacks earlier, Rajan may have considered staying on as the chief of the central bank. [caption id=“attachment_2844782” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Raghuram Rajan.
Reuters[/caption] “Let anyone question his policies or style of functioning. But isn’t it unfair attacking someone personally, questioning his patriotism,” asked Mythili, Rajan’s mother. The view assumes significance in the context of prime minister Narendra Modi’s statement that he ‘appreciates the work’ that Rajan has done come and that he doesn’t suspect Rajan’s patriotism. Critics have pointed out that Modi’s assertion came in a little too late and treats his attacker, the BJP’s maverick Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy, with kid glows. Swamy had unleashed his attack on Rajan in the public arena through his Twitter account and in letters to the prime minister. However, Modi maintained a stoic silence then. Modi praised Rajan for his work and stated that his experience with Rajan was good in his his much-hyped interview to the  Times Now  channel on Monday,  more than a week after Rajan announced his decision to not go for a second term. “I appreciate the work that he has done. He is no less patriotic. He loves India. Wherever he will work, he will work for India and he is patriotic,” Modi told the interviewer, who chose not to prod further on why the prime minister did not make the statement all this while. Interestingly, Swamy’s name was never mentioned, either in the question or in the answer. In The Indian Express interview today, Rajan’s parents, however, expressed their fear that Rajan would be “angry” with them for their comments on him. They also reminisced how the governor as a college student along with his friends had saved many Sikh students during the deadly riots of 1984 that broke out in the aftermath of Indira Gandi’s killing. It was this helpful nature of Rajan, said his mother, that prompted her to urge him to study at IIT and not St Stephens where he wanted to take up economics. Interestingly, Rajan’s parents had not been very enthusiastic of his appointment as the governor when the announcement was made on 5 September 2013. Amid the elation in certain quarters, the lone voice of Govindrajan, his father, tempered the enthusiasm with caution. The former diplomat had then said prophetically to The Hindu newspaper, “Lifting someone too high… the drop can also be sharp.” Those concerns turned true when Swamy let loose words aimed at not granting a second term to Rajan.