India Tomorrow
NEW DELHI—Expressing serious concern over the sale of Air India to the Tatas, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) has said that the transfer of public assets in the hands of corporates will deprive the ordinary citizen of his rights and result in crony capitalism.
JIH Vice-President Prof. Muhammad Salim Engineer said that Air India is among the latest national assets sold out to private companies.
“We are extremely concerned over how our nationalized assets are being sold to private companies, the latest being our national air carrier Air India which is now under the ownership of the Tatas,” Prof. Salim said in a statement.
The narrative peddled by the government is that “the government has no business to be in business” and that it is selling the loss-making public sector undertakings to private players to save taxpayers money.
“However, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind would like to point out that this approach will result in a situation where only a few companies will control the market. It will deprive the ordinary citizen of his rights and result in giving a fillip to crony capitalism, that will benefit bring advantage to business people and the government officials,” he pointed out.
“Workers’ rights and employment opportunities will take a hit, and the aim of India becoming a socialist republic striving to be a welfare state will recede,” JIH leader commented.
He said, “The apprehension among a large section of people regarding the government is proving true, namely that it is failing in managing its departments that are very important for the public benefit and that it is working under pressure to serve the interests of big industrialists at the cost of common people’s larger interests.”
Prof. Salim urged all concerned citizens to unite and oppose the disinvestment strategy of the government as the path of neoliberal capitalism would lead to neo-imperialism and the economic enslavement of its people.
