Hyderabad, August 6: The political event for Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Bhogapuram Airport launch has drawn sharp ethical objections from former senior IAS officer Dr. P.V. Ramesh.
In an interview with Kantamaneni Ravishankar on the Telugu One media channel, Dr. Ramesh strongly opposed the state deploying 13,000 tribal women and youth for a mass Dhimsa dance performance aimed at setting a world record. He noted that converting living indigenous traditions into a commercial PR show conflicts with broader United Nations principles on indigenous cultural protection and human rights.
Dr. Ramesh argued that taking indigenous rituals out of their natural setting to use as background decoration for politicians degrades living heritage.
He emphasized that cultural rituals belong strictly within the community’s lived traditions.
“Whatever purpose or context those traditional rituals belong to, they should strictly be used for that alone...”
He noted that using tribal expressions for political world-record attempts goes against basic UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) principles, which protect indigenous communities from having their culture commodified by state authorities.
Dr. Ramesh added that treating culture this way is wrong regardless of who holds power.
“Whether done on a small scale or a large scale, it is wrong. Whether Jagan Mohan Reddy does it or Chandrababu Naidu does it, it is wrong. Wrong is wrong!”
Credit and Criticism
Dr. Ramesh congratulated both the state government and GMR Group on completing the Bhogapuram Airport. He noted that the project was originally planned ten years ago during Chandrababu Naidu’s term, when Dr. Ramesh served as Finance Secretary. However, he insisted that praising development should not mean accepting political excesses.
When Ravishankar mentioned that viewers might view his critique as political bias, Dr. Ramesh recalled his principled stance during Naidu’s arrest in the Skill Development case. He reminded viewers that he was the bureaucrat who spoke out publicly based on his conscience, despite facing personal consequences.
He reiterated that his critique of the Bhogapuram event comes from the same commitment to principle: Indigenous traditions must not be commodified or used as political props for state spectacles.
