New Delhi: From tax policies, administrative decisions to even Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling himself ‘pradhan sevak (prime servant)’, the BJP-led NDA government is inspired by the ancient Indian philosopher Chanakya, if Home Minister Amit Shah is to be believed.
Last weekend, BJP parliamentarians were handed a book — a compilation of Shah’s speeches over time — as study material during their two-day “abhyas varg” (training workshop) in New Delhi.
Although the speeches mention various leaders such as Syama Prasad Mookerjee, a chapter is dedicated to Shah’s reference to Chanakya’s treatises on various subjects such as taxation, nation-building, politics and diplomacy.
The chapter, Arya Chanakya, is of a speech delivered by Shah at the BJP-led think tank Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini in July last year.
If the speech is anything to go by, even the decision to nullify Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir could have been inspired by Chanakya, who Shah rates as one of the “architects of cultural nationalism”.
In the speech, Shah quotes Chanakya, the author of political treatise Arthashastra, and his theory on the importance of a strong ‘central empire’.
“If we are not able to unite Bharat, if we are not able to have an undivided Central empire, then our existence, our culture, our traditions, everything will get lost one day,” Shah said. “At that point, only he (Chanakya) was determined that the entire country will have to be weaved into one and will have to be given the form of an empire.”
In the speech, Shah appeared to suggest that the Modi government’s statecraft is drawn heavily from the “seven-point vision” as conceptualised and propagated by the ancient Indian philosopher.
Here are the seven points and Shah’s thoughts on them.
Trade and taxation
According to Shah, as presented in the book, it was Chanakya who introduced the concept of taxation. In the speech, Shah says the philosopher cited honey bees to explain taxation, an analogy that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also mentioned in her maiden budget speech.
“Giving the example of honey bees, Chanakya had said a raja (king) should tax in the same manner as honey bees extract nectar from flowers without hurting them,” Shah says. “In this manner, neither the flowers’ beauty nor their fragrance is affected though we manage to collect honey.”
According to Shah, Chanakya was a proponent of promoting new trade by keeping them tax-free. “This system can be in place for three years, which after a review can be kept for nine years,” reads the book.
Detailing Chanakya’s theory on taxation, Shah says the philosopher divided tax policy and prosecution policy into four sections. “First is to gain what is not there — to increase the revenue of the state. What has been gained should be secured and whatever revenue has been received, a minimum section of it should be kept aside and increased,” he says. “That which is secured should be increased too.”
Thus, Shah says, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi says ‘Sabka saath, sabka vikas‘, he is only carrying “forward Chanakya’s traditions”.
“Samast prajaa ka kalyan ho, iss prakaar ki niti honi chaiye aur vikas ki prakriya mai sabki hissedari honi chaiye (We should have a policy which envisions welfare for all. Everyone should have a role in the development too),” reads the speech. “Jab Narendra bhai kehte hai ki sabka saath-sabka vikas toh woh Chanakya ki parampara ko hee aage badaa rahein hai (When Narendra bhai says sabka saath-sabka vikas, he is taking forward the tradition of Chanakya).”
Also read: What was Amit Shah like as home minister of Gujarat? Biographers give an insight
Nation first
The happiness of the nation came first for Chanakya, Shah says, adding that the philosopher was the first to introduce the concept of “rashtra mahaan hai, raja mahaan nahi hai (The nation is supreme, not the ruler)”.
Shah claims that this is the guiding principle for both PM Modi and the BJP, who all believe in “nation first”.
“Agar rajya majboot hai toh raja surakshit hai, rashtra ko majboot rakhna… yahi raja ki prathmikta honi chaiye (If the nation is strong, the king is secure. To keep the nation safe and secure should be the primary responsibility of the king),” Shah says.
The pradhan sevak
Shah says Chanakya was the first to point out that “raja samvidhan ka pratham das hai, weh rajya ka pratham sevak hai (The king is foremost a slave to the constitution and the constitution exists to serve the country)”.
This is why, Shah says, Modi doesn’t refer to himself as the prime minister but prefers to be addressed as the “pradhan sevak (prime servant)”.
“I don’t know if he said this after reading Chanakya or not but his sentiments are surely the same as that of the philosopher,” Shah says.
Dynastic politics
According to Shah, Chanakya ended the practice of primogeniture, in which the eldest son is the heir to the throne, some 2,300 years ago.
“Just by being older, one doesn’t become the successor, Chanakya had said,” Shah says. “He believed that the best heir is the right heir. Chanakya says that had his system not been in place, Abhay Kumar would have become the King and not Ashoka.”
Following the footsteps of Chanakya, Shah says, BJP also believes that parties that indulge in dynasty politics cannot work for the welfare of the country.
Economic regulation
Economic regulation is another aspect of governance that Shah attributes to Chanakya, saying the philosopher envisioned it in the shape of a sannidhata (treasurer). The sannidhata, Shah says, used to be in charge of the treasury and was not bound to the king. “Today, the governor of the Reserve Bank of India and the director of SEBI are in the form of the sannidhata,” Shah says.
Shah doesn’t stop there and says that the concept of a revenue secretary was also introduced by Chanakya. According to him, it was the revenue secretary’s responsibility to know how much tax should be imposed in consultation with the finance minister and the king (in today’s time the prime minister) had no role to play in it.
Corruption
Quoting Chanakya, Shah also says that a state cannot be completely free of corruption.
“Corruption in a state is inevitable and it will remain. Whether fish (government officials) are drinking water while swimming is something no one can tell merely by looking,” Shah says. “Similarly, whether officials are indulging in corruption or not is very difficult to ascertain. After this Chanakya gave a final shape to his policy of countering corruption.”
Shah then points out that the vision of wealth tax was also introduced by Chanakya.
National interest before foreign affairs
Shah says Chanakya divided foreign policy into six aspects — Sandhi, which is for peacetime and is used for neighbours; Vigreh, for in times of war; Yaan, for peacetime but secretly preparing for war.
The fourth is Aasaan, which is to remain neutral but attentive; the fifth is Sanchay, which is to keep your powerful competitor in mind till you are strong enough and the sixth is Devedhi bhao, which is to eliminate a weak opponent by partnering with a strong ally.
Shah further says that more than Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, which means the world is one family, Chanakya advocated keeping the nation’s interests first.
“Some people call it narrow nationalism but I believe that this is how every country is being run,” Shah says.
Diplomacy
Shah says Chanakya’s policy of “saam, daam, dand aur bhed (peaceful negotiation, allurement, punishment and divide and rule) ” is now a popular catchphrase.
Shah narrates an incident in which a disciple of the philosopher wanted to know how he would react to being accused of getting a number of chiefs of states murdered.
Shah says that Chanakya responded by saying, “Desh ka liye hazaaro ko bunkar jo satya ki rassi banaata hai, usse zyada koi satyavaadi nahi ho sakta hai. Maine khud ke liye kuch nahi kiya hai, apne rashtra ko ek karne ke liye kiya hai (The one who uses the rope of truth to tie thousands together for the nation, no one can be more honest than him. I haven’t done anything for myself, everything I’ve done is to unite my nation).”
Also read: Amit Shah is the ‘prime’ minister in Modi cabinet & he hits where it hurts