The Unpleasant Truth: 90 Percent of Indians Are Fools

Bangalore: “Speak the truth, speak the pleasant, but do not speak the unpleasant truth,” former judge of the Supreme Court and the Chairman of the Press Council, Markandey Katju quoted shastras before revealing the unpleasant truth that 90 percent Indians are fools. “The country’s situation today requires that we say “Bruyat satyam apriyam”, i.e. “Speak the unpleasant truth” he wrote in The Indian Express which said, “The truth is that the minds of 90 percent Indians are full of casteism, communalism, superstition.”

Katju has been judgmental about a variety of aspect in the society and their many failings, and has been into many controversies in the recent times for his remarks on media, corruption etc. However, unlike his usual targets of criticism, this time Katju has attacked his best supporters, the middle class TV viewing public – when he said 90 percent Indians are fools.

Katju’s first point of justification is that – “when our people go to vote in elections, 90 percent vote on the basis of caste or community, not the merits of the candidate.” So are people such as Phoolan Devi with criminal backgrounds gets elected to the Parliament.  However, his precise number of 90 percent seems quite vague as there are no concrete data to suggest that 90 percent vote based on their caste and community. In fact, the recent UP elections show the number is incorrect as the figures suggest that all communities were divided between many political parties.