I was compelled to submit a book review during my probationary days. I was bent upon impressing my Course Director. The frail old man was an epitome of knowledge. His Alzheimer's disease did not deter his will to guide us all. This student of Dr.Manmohan Singh was a good guide.However on reading the book I was too impressed by the personality I was reading about.
With due irreverance to the controversies that surround the towering personalities of yesteryears, I would like to go ahead and glorify them.Even to say a word against them , we need certain standard and moral authority.These are the ,who gave their time, money and repute. Looking back and attributing reasons is easier. So go ahead if you agreed with me on this point.
The book I'm talking about is 'Rajaji-A Life' , by Rajmohan Gandhi. Not withstanding the title , it is essentially a narration of history itself from 1890's to early 1970's with the focal point remaining on Rajaji's life.The entire political trend as captured in the book can be divided into two parts with August 15, 1947 playing the role of master divide. Pre-independent India witnessed the petitioners becoming statesmen under the parental hegemony of Gandhiji. Rajaji belongs to this school. Post -independence, this statesmanship degraded into partisan politics.Rajaji foresaw this in 1922 and said,'Elections and their corruption, injustice ,and the power and tyranny of wealth and inefficiency of administration will make a hell of life as soon as freedom is given to us.Men will look regretfully back to the old regime of comparative justice, and efficient , peaceful, more or less honest administration'. I don't have to insist the amount of truth in this statement.
His relation with Gandhiji was unique. Gandhiji found his "conscience keeper" in Rajaji and in 1922 declared 'Rajaji is my only successor'. The latter claimed that he 'loved Gandhiji more than any man on earth can do to another'.Yet their undaunted twenty eight year old personal relationship saw them in opposite sides. In 1937, Rajaji, as the Premier of Madras Presidency, ordered the arrests of few Satyagrahis. When the national leaders opposed it , he would write to his political Master that it was 'to prevent the illegitimate claims and misuse of Satyagraha'. For him logic always prevailed over loyalty.
The irony of Indian independence is that it was fought bloodlessly but realised amidst streams of blood.One reason may be that ,Rajaji, the political seer, had no takers when he proposed Congress-League pact. Indeed he was shunted to political peripheries. When the realisation finally occurred on those who opposed him , the damage had already been done.His opposition to 1942 movement and Pakistan proposal were against the popular tide and made him politically unpopular.Had he compromised his conscience and remained in the main stream, he would have gained great political miles.At one point of time he had no equivalents in politics.
Rajaji was a political prophet.He along with Mountbatten, foresaw the break up of Pakistan in 25 years time. It happened exactly in the 25th year.Mountbatten made this prediction public when it actually happened. He was a great administrator too. AS the Chairman of Salem municipality , he proposed a 'Master Plan 'for the town , way back in 1917.As the Premier of Madras Presidency, he introduced the concept of sales tax, for the first time in Asia, to make good the falling government revenue due to prohibition.This was widely acclaimed by the economist of that time.He was prophetic when he said,'license , quota and permit raj will lead to corruption and stagnation'. The nation had to wait for 30 year to understand the truth.
Those were the days when state assemblies were places where Ladies and Gentlemen used to gather and discuss issues of national importance with utmost etiquette and ethics. When the Speaker , the rest would stop taking. If the prominent leaders left the house, they would seek the permission of the Chair. Do not blame me, if your mind involuntarily compared this with the scene of Mr. Somnath Chatterji holding his forehead and shouting at an 'Honourable' member for gesticulating towards the Chair.
Back to the topic, Rajaji's eloquence ,sharp oratory skills and quick wits added life to the legislative debates. The author quotes one such incident. 'It's evident from C.R.s reaction to a demand to know what C.R. had written to Nehru about the formation of a new Andhra state.
C.R.: It is a confidential letter
Viswanatham: Under what provision of law it is treated as confidential?
C.R.: These are letters from one gentleman to another and gentle men's correspondence is always private.'
The respect he claimed along with his negotiation skills gave him the additional role of a crisis manager. Be it bringing Gandhiji's fast to an end by negotiating between him and Ambedkar or holding congress together by acting as a buffer between Nehru and Patel, he came out as a successful negotiator.
His deep involvement in Indian politics never prevented him from having a vision for the world. He was the spokesperson of the delegation which met US President Kennedy on the issue of nuclear disarmament. As Kennedy would later tell 'it had a civilising quality about it'. In acceptance of his greatness White House issued an official communique, a gesture normally restricted to a visit by a Head of the state.
While trying to bring out the positive aspects of this great mans life, the author does not hesitate 5o remind us about his shortcomings. One such occasion is the enactment of Preventive Detention Act 1951 which C.R. supported. As we tend to forget, the author reminds us about how he opposed Rowlett Act and any arrest without trial saying, 'even if the government is democratic and purely Indian". The author has given great attention to minute details. One such instant is his mentioning about the Gandhian tradition of not involving in satyagraha during Christmas. After reading this one feels that 'satyagraha weapon' was more opponent friendly than it was to the user.
This nation is known not only for sacredness but also for sacrileges. In this era of petty politics, the society finds it convenient to forget the values for which these men lived. They had conflicting political stands and ideological differences. Still the humanness was ever vibrant. They had high ideologies to live with. May be this preoccupation saved them from demeaning acts. Non existence of any such ideology in the contemporary politics is well exhibited by the political foul plays staged day in and day out in national and state politics.
With its usual vigor to forget the past, this nation has once again rejected Rajaji his due. His 125th birth anniversary on 10.12.03, which by any conscious society would have been used as an occasion to remind its youth about the value of freedom, went unnoticed. But the final victory is again C. Rajagopalchari's, for this political clairvoyant had already predicted, 'in 25 years time people will be asking, Who was Rajagopalachari?'
