How would you describe the music of Sitar?

Have you felt any variation in response among the people you perform for?

What kind of relationship have you had with critics?

What impact did Paris have on building up your personality?

What role did Baba Allauddin Khan play in your life?

What was the impulse that helped you to add creativity in your music?

Did you follow any script while performing?

How important is the response of the audience to you?

Did you ever feel frustrated by your life?

Some are saying the virus came from passport holders, but the affected were the ration card holders,what do you think?

There are two things here. I get a lot of calls to get my daughter from Dehradun, my son from Kota. That is a valid concern, but I can’t help. I can counsel, and I don’t grudge their emotional stress. As for passports, that is a substantial fact. For example, what happened in Nizamuddin. If the Tablighi issue had not had been there, maybe the issue would have been under control.

There seems to be a noticeable blindspot when the lockdown was announced — the unorganised sector, the migrants. How did the government not foresee this?

You are not properly informed. Lots of migrants come from my state. The government of Bihar is running nearly 13 feeding centres…I appreciate all state governments for taking care of them… Anand Vihar was where it started and could have been avoided by the local administration.

What have you done to ensure that the digital ecosystem can handle this major shift in the economy?

This is the first challenge that India’s great IT success story should not be disrupted. The first thing I did was to permit work from home in the most liberal manner, which required relaxing the rules of big deposit, of authorised permission of TSPs, etc… I foresee, the world is going to become a different world post-COVID… Work from home may become the new norm. I have asked my department to work with a robust mechanism so that India’s work from home model is economical and beneficial…

What is driving our protesting students across the nation?

Frustration towards the system and negativity are driving them. At the same time, they are motivated to do something for the country. So, the demonstration is a mix of both. In between, anti-social elements are taking advantage of the situation. They bring a bad name to the demonstration.

The protesters say that the country’s constitutional values are being derailed.

Their perception is true for them. Either they can change it through dialogue or come up with a solution. Demonstrations should be objective and not emotional. People should not be swayed by rumours. The right information should be disseminated. The benefits of the Act should be explained. If there is a correction needed for a particular demand, a fair hearing should be given.

You have overwhelmingly welcomed the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict. Has the verdict pained the Muslim community?

It is not pain, they have understood the issue. I had met more than 1,200 Muslim institutions and 500 imams to resolve the Ayodhya issue. Muslims were very cordial.

You have overwhelmingly welcomed the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict. Has the verdict pained the Muslim community?

They wanted a solution to this. Muslims had only one demand — that the disputed site should not be handed over to those who demolished the masjid. And the SC has ruled that the site should be given to a new trust. That honours the Muslim sentiments. There would be some vested interests on both sides who want to keep the issue alive.

Why do you think Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who retired less than four months ago, can be nominated to Rajya Sabha?

First of all, he has been nominated from the eminent persons category in which category historically persons like M S Swaminathan, Raja Ramanna, MGK Menon… a whole range of eminent people entered the Upper House. There has been a tradition. There have been great journalists too — Kuldip Nayar, H K Dua, Shobhana Bhartia etc. Let me draw from the history. Jawaharlal Nehru appointed Justice Fazal Ali as the Governor of Odisha in 1952-53, one of the most iconic figures of India Justice Mohammadali Carim Chagla, who was chief justice of Bombay High Court for nearly 11 years and still remains as the one of the finest judges of India of intellect and courage, was offered ambassadorship to the US. He became a distinguished ambassador in the US, high commissioner in the UK and then chose to become the HRD and External Affairs Minister. Come to the next issue. (Koka) Subba Rao was a chief justice of Supreme Court. He contested for the post of president against Zakir Hussain. Was the independence of judiciary compromised because of these? Nothing.

But the BJP is a party that always criticised the Congress for such moves? BJP claims to be a party with a difference? Where is the difference here?

This government is led by Narendra Modi. Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu, late leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley and Ravi Shankar Prasad fought against the Emergency. We fought for three freedoms — individual freedom, independence of judiciary and for media independence. We have suffered from the cause of independent judiciary. So, please dont preach us. That is our commitment and that is our standard for a party with a difference.

Former judges, especially those Collegium members who came out with him (Gogoi) to make an allegation of government interference, have reacted strongly and said this would compromise the independence of judiciary. Your comment

There are judges and there are judges. I dont want to join any issue with any retired judge except to say there are judges, there are judges.

Are there any specifics that the Ministry is working out to attract further investment in electronics manufacturing?

There is immense potential and India has to offer a large market, good human resource, a very proactive leader globally and pro-investment policies. All the ecosystem is in place. Therefore, with new, very promising and pro-investment tax regime in place, we’re going to make a big case for India. I have already instructed my department that components manufacturing should be given priority so that entire value chain is covered, including the possibility as to how some incentives can be accorded to the value chain. We are also looking to send our officers with some industrialists to showcase India in roadshows abroad. We are going to push electronics manufacturing in a big way.

But as far as mobile manufacturing is concerned, less than 20 per cent of the value chain is being sourced locally…

We will work out the details, but there should also be a window for global manufacturers. You must understand that our electronics manufacturing was $29 billion in 2014-15, and it grew to $70 billion in 2018-19. Most importantly, India’s share in global manufacturing grew from 1.3 per cent in 2012 to 3 per cent in 2018, which is a big jump.

One of the realisations that India had from the Huawei episode was that we needed more localisation as far as telecom equipment is concerned. What are your plans towards that?

I already instructed my department that India should become a big centre of telecom equipment manufacturing. Chinese companies are there but other companies are also there. I don’t want to see everything from a China focus. I have to make India the big centre because India is a huge market.

What, according to you, is Pt Ravi Shankar’s contribution to the world of music?

When you talk to a person who has a radically opposite idea of music, one has to tread very carefully to not be misunderstood. As far as Pt Ravi Shankar’s contribution to music is concerned, it is unparalleled. For someone to have started as a dancer in his brother’s troupe in Paris, which also tells us that he was already exposed to the West, and then taking it further as a sitarist, it is remarkable. When his association with the Beatles happened, people started understanding what sitar was all about. And then people like Ut Ali Akbar Khan sahab and my father were able to establish who they were and what was their style and the fact that there were other thoughts of music too. It also opened the door for people like me and some others to walk into the world – Europe and America – and play for the people who by then already knew what sitar was. We didn’t have to start from the start.

What’s your opinion about Pt Ravi Shankar’s style of music?

His music, in my opinion, which I think is a normal opinion and also that of my father’s, had him think mathematically and that was because of who he was as a dancer. It was like the bol padhant (syllable chants of rhythm in dance) infused on the sitar.

Pt Ravi Shankar’s sitar playing from the dhrupad style and your father’s gayaki ang — created faultlines amid art connoisseurs and the masses. Would Khan sahab get annoyed?

As for Vilayat Khan sahab, everything in him was the opposite of Pt Ravi Shankar — music, thought, dealings with the world, his public relations, which is very exciting for me to see, because it’s nice to look at these two musicians, who are such excellent artistes doing the same thing — the same Yaman Kalyan, same sitar — but there is no similarity. The comparisons were made often. My father used to get annoyed and express it very often as to why people compared them. Ravi Shankar ji was a much cooler and calmer man, much less theatrical. He thought of every word and every line he said, in an interview or on the stage. Vilayat Khan sahab used to speak off-the-cuff. He said what he thought. For example, some people find Amitabh Bachchan very boring because you never get to see him emotionally excited about anything. You take any interview, everything is clearly thought of. And then you take the interview of someone who gets emotional, theatrical, angry. Some people find that interesting, some people find this interesting. My father used to get irritated and say, ‘why are you comparing two people who have nothing in common, because apart from the fact that this is wood and saregamapa, there is nothing else which is similar’.

The rivalry became the talk of the town as people spoke in hushed overtones about it. It is still spoken about. Also, over the years, a lot of gossip has been added to it.

I believe that if there is no rivalry, what’s the fun of things. Rivalry is also very important because that keeps you on your toes. There has to be a point of reference. Rivalry is a wonderful thing. I am absolutely for it. Rivalry and enmity are two different things. Now Shahid bhai (Ustad Shahid Parvez) is not my enemy, he can’t eat my food, I can’t play his programmes, we are living our own destinies. Vilayat Khan sahab’s point was that yes, we are rivals, let’s not be hypocritical about it and say, ‘hum toh bhai hain’. They were not. But there was mutual respect for the musicianship. Whenever my father was sitting with a group of people and he saw that the conversation was veering towards anything even slightly derogatory, because people would do that and say, ‘Khan sahab, uss din humne suna Ravi Shankar ji ko, pura dhul gaya festival,’ he would steer the conversation away and say that they may have a difference of opinion but please do not take away from the greatness of the man. The number of times I have met Ravi Shankar ji, he has always spoken so greatly about my father to me. And this is not in front of someone, this is when we were completely alone. I understand that it is difficult for someone in that position to not respect the other artiste. I was once in the Kamani (auditorium) green room and an artiste was performing before me. Someone told me Pandit ji has come to hear my concert and is waiting in the car. I won’t forget that. It is only the greatness of him to want to come and listen to Vilayat Khan’s son.

What's your response to the objections raised against the NPR?

The NPR is a register containing details of all persons, not just citizens, usually residing in a village, a rural area or a town and so on. The Citizenship Rules of 2003 say that the Centre may decide a date by which the population register shall be prepared. The first NPR was done by the UPA government in 2010. When they did it, it was good. When we do it, it's bad.

It is alleged that these issues are being used by the government to divert attention from the faltering economy.

Who raised these allegations? Who made it a political issue? The Opposition did; the Congress did; the Left did. The fundamentals of Indian economy are strong. With regard to the global pressures, there have been some unease. Yet, India has been the recipient of the highest FDI in the world; we are 6 per cent higher than the previous year. We have reset the Indian economy.

What is the status of the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill?

I am very keen to push India as a data refinery – 1.3 billion Indians are generating massive data. The architecture of our data privacy law will soon go to the cabinet.

But companies won’t give up data easily, owing to issues of privacy.

That is why the committee is in place. The last word on data is yet to be heard. Let the committee’s recommendation come. It might need some legislative intervention because data business is an evolving business.

Will it take into account concerns of various MNCs on data localisation?

That we will consider, and why not. But as far as supersensitive or critical data is concerned, that has to be in India.

Has the government taken any decision on Huawei?

No, not yet.

The PM has asked every ministry for 10 ideas that will help revive the economy after the Covid-19 crisis. What will be your submissions?

We are working on it. One is surely electronics manufacturing; secondly, some great initiatives can be taken on working from home which can lead to more innovation. We can also revisit the spectrum issue. Spectrum can be used to drive a lot of innovation.

Has the quality of telecom services deteriorated?

Our telecom infrastructure is performing to its maximum. Out of 21 lakh Base Transceiver Stations in the country, only 355 today have malfunctioned. BSNL has also surprisingly performed well and I appreciate the good work that the postal department is doing to help the needy and the poor.

There is a continuum being drawn between the CAA, the National Register for Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR) by those protesting. What is your view on this continuum being drawn?

There are four concepts — the CAA, the Census, the NRC and the NPR. CAA we have already spoken of, the Census is an enumeration after every 10 years of Indians, it’s also a constitutional sanction, but there is one issue, under the Census Act you cannot disclose the statistics of individuals, households. The NPR is a register of usual residents, not citizens. This you get from the Citizenship Act of 1955 and then there is a citizenship registration and issue of National I-card rule of 2003. Rule 3, sub-clause 4 says the Central government may decide the date by which a population register might be prepared. The point is that you can release NPR data for better targeting of welfare, to be used by both Centre and State. On 7th May, 2010, during a debate in the Lok Sabha initiated by late Ananth Kumar, with the participation of Mr. Lalu Prasad, Mr. Mulayam Singh and Mr. Sharad Yadav, then Minister Mr. Chidambaram’s reply says, that it will be “obvious” that the NRC would be a “subset” of the NPR. Census 2011, he informs will be conducted in two phases, as well as reiterating the aims of the Census to do an “accurate de facto head count of the usual residents in India” within the deemed period. So, these very things I spoke of were spoken by the UPA, but they persist in their hypocrisy. Also the entire political class that is opposing us was supportive of the UPA on the same thing. Coming to the NRC, it has a defined legal framework, also under rule 4. The data would be collected, scrutinised by the registrars, appeals will be heard, but most importantly, the registrar general of citizens will have to notify the period and duration of the exercise in the official gazette. Nothing so far, not a word has been done so far.

Except that Union Home Minister Amit Shah has said on multiple occasions that it will be undertaken.

Prime Minister Modi has clarified that no discussion has taken place so far. There is a possibility that it may happen, but there is a legal process attached to it, NRC preparation has a distinct legal process to be initiated, with defining of rules with adequate consultations. But nothing has been done. The UPA did not repeal any of the Amendments of 2003, which kicked in only in December 2004 despite heading a government propped up by the Left Front and the socialists. This double standard of Congress party is astounding. There is now a serious competitive, aggressive and, at times, extremist positioning for vote-bank politics. Elements like PFI, like MQM, they are the urban Naxalites, the way they have hijacked the issue, it’s regrettable that a party like the Congress is competing with them. We acknowledge the right to dissent and protest for all Indians but violence is not excusable. What were the hidden forces behind the sudden escalation of violence?