'But the stress is on issues like pollution problems or land acquisition or agitation against the India-US Civil nuclear deal,' he said.

Participating in an interaction shortly after the lecture, Sen lauded the mature way in which the residents of Mumbai reacted to the terrorist strike last November.

Drawing a contrast between the incidents in the aftermath of the Babri mosque demolition of 1992 and the Mumbai terror attack, he said: 'When the Babri Masjid incident happened, we were unprepared. We did not have any opportunity to regroup.

'But after Mumbai everyone was protesting against foreign terrorists coming to India and not on domestic factors. And I know for certain that as we make more and more use of reason, it matures us.'

Sen also expressed disappointment over Gujarat -- the scene of the devastating communal riots in 2002 -- not voting the way the rest of India did in the 2009 general elections.