Dr Manmohan Singh will live on
Kajal Chatterjee *
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh visit Imphal in December 2011 :: Pix - David M Mayum
One holds every democratic right to dislike Dr Manmohan Singh as a politician, leader or Prime Minister (when he was at the helm) ! One may dislike his policies which he had undertaken, be it economic or nuclear ! So there lies nothing wrong in criticising him through furnishing of logic and sane arguments.
But it was astonishing to see how his critics, be they common people or Who's Who of BJP, used to abuse him the most by mocking him as "Maunmohan" invoking his relative silence or soft-spoken behaviour ! Is uttering rhetoric in the shrillest possible voice at the drop of a hat in public and taunting, abusing, ridiculing the Opposition the main job of the ruling Front ? Is tom-tomming his/her "achievements" (real or projected) relentlessly in all forums possible form the main job of a Prime Minister !
Rather any sensible Prime Minister would silently work behind closed doors or camera in his/her office leaving his/her contribution to talk for himself/herself!
And Manmohan Singh used to do this very thing with exceptional dignified silence befitting the Chair of the Prime Minister. When it should have been seen as a positive attribute of Singh as PM, this very quality of remaining "Maun" acted as his political nemesis !
In this very pathetic perspective, it is natural that leaders who have proved their supreme callousness, inefficiency, heartlessness through series of scandals, failures and reckless steps get awarded with the status of "bold superstars" just because they dare to beat their own trumpet in most vulgar fashion without caring to utter a single word of repentance or compassion for their draconian measures severely affecting millions of common citizens !
Thanks to their zealous oratory, they can even transform their utmost failures as "super success" by repeated utterances of their "achievements" with the common citizens (even those who got affected) dancing to their tunes thinking it as "true" !
It seems people find immense enjoyment in getting tortured and whipped.
Though I didn't like his policy of "economic liberalisation" which had widened the rich-poor gap to a dreadful extent and dealt a fatal blow on the poor and lower middle class (with upper middle class laughing all the way to the bank); but as far as civility, honesty, dignity, humility are concerned, Singh was almost unparalleled.
Also it must be admitted that he had played a major role in bringing various social welfare schemes including food security, poverty alleviation, education, Government transparency, Land Acquisition or Forest Rights.
Very rightly he had asserted --- "Discharging my responsibilities as Prime Minister for 10 years, I let my work speak instead of speaking out myself. I never divided the country for political gains; never tried to hide the truth and never lowered the dignity of the post. Despite the challenges, I always raised the prestige of India and Indians on the international stage".
It is not known how the world used to view India during the era of Dr Manmohan Singh at the helm or in earlier times; but surely the country's image was vastly different from what it is today.
With each passing day, India is regularly featuring in the world news thanks to demonisation of particular religious communities by outfits believing in majoritarianism, attacks upon Christians and Churches, atrocities upon Dalits, fatal assaults in the name of "Gomata", violent infringement upon diet and attire associated with minorities, murder of secular rationalists, filthy communal politics by invoking the myth of "Love jihad"!
Anybody daring to question various steps and policies undertaken by the forces of dominance in this democratic country with the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of speech, thought and expression are promptly dubbed "anti-national", "Sickular" "Urban Naxal" and being taken to task !
Was India an epitome of all things fine and fair in the Manmohan Singh era ! Certainly not. Communalism, casteism, racism, riots, "honour killings" and all other sins were obviously prevalent then.
But certainly the picture of that era was not as dreadful as today and most importantly not a single prominent personality was found to be encouraging/instigating the mischief makers or defending their indefensible acts.
In contrast, today those in power are found to garland the "cow-vigilantes" alleged to kill innocents or instigate their followers to shower bullets ('Goli Maaro') upon peaceful demonstrators opposing CAA ! If somebody invokes 'Shamshan-Kabristan', another calls for "revenge" against ... ! No, the Manmohan Singh era didn't see such a situation.
Not only did Singh use to stay at the farthest distance from communalism, his Government record in the front of moral cleanliness is also extraordinary.
Though a lot of financial allegations were levelled against Manmohan Government, not a single allegation has been proved. Rather many accused got absolute clean chit by the judiciary. And far from hiding the truth, Singh used to order his Cabinet colleagues to resign just on the basis of allegations, even if the main accusation is against any nephew of the Minister concerned !
Manmohan Singh was indeed "weak"; perhaps this is the reason why series after series of fatal terrorist attacks had happened only after the end of his era --- Uri, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Pulwama with the Chinese killing 20 of our soldiers in Ladakh !
In 2005, that "dumb" person in the "hot seat" was shown black flags and ridiculed by the far Left student groups in Jawaharlal Nehru University when he made a visit there for a lecture.
Far from unleashing State force to rein and nab them, the "dumb" "dialogue-less" statesman exemplified his supreme sense of liberalism and tolerance by drawing inspiration from Voltaire ("I may not agree to what you say, but I will die fighting for your right to say it") and allowing them to exercise their right to express grievances frustration and independent opinion! As if that was not gracious enough, he had even insisted the then JNU Vice-Chancellor to be lenient with the student activists who had booed the former!
One and only supreme confident souls can act so liberal unlike the damn cowards who send police to the homes of the "dissenters" so that they do not spoil the scripted party by airing their protests at the venue !
Manmohan Singh, the supremely dignified person of impeccable secularism, deserves a warm salute. May more and more such "MAUN" leaders take the charge of this nation for the sake of the Constitution, secularism, democratic ethos, humanity, humility, civility, simplicity and that remains the earnest prayer of all true sensible Indians. Dr. Singh will not be forgotten in a hurry.
* Kajal Chatterjee wrote this article for The Sangai Express
This article was webcasted on January 24 2025.
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