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Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has boldly stepped into the raging debate over intolerance in Indian society – he was speaking at the convocation ceremony of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi on Saturday. Governor Raghuram Rajan made a strong case for maintaining India's tradition of debate and an open spirit of enquiry. Here are 5 key takeaway points from his speech: (AP)
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1. Raghuram Rajan said excessive political correctness stifles progress and called for an improved environment for tolerance and mutual respect. (Reuters)
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2. Raghuram Rajan said protection of right to 'question and challenge' was essential for India to grow. India's tradition of debate and an open spirit of enquiry is critical for economic progress. (PTI)
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3. Raghuram Rajan said actions that physically harm anyone or show verbal contempt for a particular group, so that they damage the group’s participation in the marketplace for ideas, should certainly not be allowed. (AP)
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4. Raghuram Rajan said 'sexual harassment, whether physical or verbal, has no place in society. At the same time, groups should not be looking for slights any and everywhere, so that too much is seen as offensive; the theory of confirmation bias in psychology suggests that once one starts looking for insults, one can find them everywhere.' (AP)
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5. Raghuram Rajan reacted to a question on whether ideas or behaviour that hurt a particular intellectual position or group be banned by saying, 'Possibly, but a quick resort to bans will chill all debate as everyone will be anguished by ideas they dislike. It is far better to improve the environment for ideas through tolerance and mutual respect.' The most essential requirement is to foster competition in the market place for ideas. All ideas should be scrutinised critically, no matter whether they originate domestically or abroad, whether they come from an untutored student or a world famous professor. (AP)
