“The new heroes”

In your excellent editorial, "The new heroes” (Parsiana, March 7-20, 2020), you veil your criticism of the speech delivered by N. Chandrasekaran, the current chairman of the Tata Group, at the birth centenary celebrations of Nani Palkhivala. Its grandiose title, "Building India for the Future,” would have led listeners to believe that it would draw on the legacy left us by our Nani, a legacy that should imbue in us a fearlessness to fight for what is right: asha, freedom of thought and of expression, our Constitution’s values, liberty, a questioning mind. Instead, according to your editorial, the speech was devoted to improving the economy. Chandrasekaran not only completely missed the essence of what Palkhivala taught by personal example but, worse, demonstrated exactly what he would have frowned upon: putting business preservation ahead of the nation. When we are on the verge of becoming a fascist state, this should be the least of the issues to moan about.
You excuse Chandrasekaran as being prudent but you also, correctly, hold up the example of how fearless women and students are fighting for Palkhivala’s beliefs; that is his true legacy. I too excuse Chandrasekaran. After all, his former boss, Ratan Tata himself has thought nothing wrong in meeting home minister Amit Shah and the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) boss Mohan Bhagwat several times, gratuitously endowing respectability on them.
The Palkhivala Memorial Trust was celebrating the great man’s birth centenary. Perhaps, the trustees erred in inviting a businessman to deliver a speech on courage. Any grandmother from Shaheen Baug would certainly have been a better choice: they are living Palkhivala’s legacy. Hopefully the trustees at the bi-centenary celebrations in 2120 will do a better job. NAWSHIR MIRZA
nhm@nawshirmirza.com