Dr. Manmohan Singh’s demise left us all speechless and gave a feeling of emptiness all around . Memories of my relationship with him rushed through my mind. Way back when I was MLA, his nephew was seriously injured in a train accident near Aligarh in 2003 ,and thereafter he was admitted in JNMC Medical College, AMU. Subsequently I got a call from Dr Singh’s office asking to render all possible help to his kin. I did my best along with my associates, for his requisite needs and as luck would have it, his life was saved. Soon after I recieved a call from Dr Saheb called in which he endearingly expressed his gratitude and asked me to visit him whenever I happen to be in Delhi. Soon after, on my first visit to Delhi I met him and then those meetings became frequent in course of time.
When we run down through Dr Manmohan Singhs public life and examine his achievements as Finance Minister and subsequently as Prime Minister we find they were manifold and were not only innovative but also reflected sensitivity towards the social environment of the nation and ensured the upliftment of the downtrodden through schemes like “MNREGA” His initiative of “Direct Transfer scheme” touched the life of the person at the last rung of the ladder and at the same time made a dent on prevailing corruption. He gave a distinct flavour with his humility , “to politics of power “unlike what we are witnessing in the realm of present day politics. Assessment of his personality can be gauged from the opinion which is emerging subsequent to his death from eminent people, from all walks of life. Sum total of these, uniformly appear to be very positive . Be it is his political opponents or contemporary world leaders of the time they all in unison unanimously project him not only as an ideal leader but a leader of consensual politics. His humanitarian approach and sensitivity is articulated in the condolence message of the current Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mohammad Ibrahim who fondly recapitulates that during Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure as Prime Minister, when he was in prison in Malaysia, Dr. Saheb magnanimously proposed scholarship for his children. Honorable Mohammad Ibrahim addressed the deceased personality as his brother and friend whose demise has left an emotional void for him on the other hand a journalist of repute refers him as “Shant Singham” portraying his calm demeanor combined with grit and resolve.
In their condolence messages, present day leaders of the country’s ruling party, who had earlier fired salvos of diatribe at him during the general elections of 2014 and later, whether it be todays Prime Minister, the President or the Defence Minister everyone has unanimously accepted his contribution to nation building. This tribute from their side would have been more meaningful ,had it contained, few words of remorse to their earlier utterances like calling him “Maun Maun Singh’ and ‘Accidental PM”. To his credit Dr Manmohan Singh had borne all this with equanimity and without rancor.
Allegations in 2 G scam were part of a Machiavellian strategy by contemporary politics to tarnish his image but later Supreme Court’s acquittal held him in good stead. His commitment to democracy was so strong that he regularly conducted press conferences and thereby providing transparency to the system unlike our present day prime minister who shuns them like plague. Recall the bold move taken by Dr. Saheb against all odds in 2007 keeping national interest foremost despite opposition from major allies ,and thereby endangering his govt, to sign nuclear treaty with America. As a result bringing to an end India’s Nuclear boycott from the elite,” comity of nations”. As a sequel,India could become a member of the Nuclear Club. All this later became the foundation stone for cementing of relations with America and this fact today is corroborated by the condolence message of the current U.S President Joe Biden.
If we go back to his journey as finance minister of the country in 1991, when economic crisis was looming large over the nation he with his understanding of economics navigated the country’s economic ship ashore, pursuing the policy of liberalization which turned the tide for better .Since then the country is surging ahead and as a result today we have emerged to be the fifth economic power of the world and this is even affirmed in the condolence statement of U.N Chief Antonio Guterres.
During his tenure as Prime Minister, when entire world was in the grip of economic recession in 2008 India achieved a record growth of 8.1% as a corollary resulted in the extrication of 25 crore countrymen from poverty line. During the above mentioned period of recession, world leaders sought his advice how to deal with their then grim financial crises.
His simplicity and humility earned admiration of his contemporaries and small example would illustrate while holding the charge as chairman UGC, he would go to his office on a bicycle. In the present day scenario it would be difficult to find another example of this kind. Further he never tried to gain people’s sympathy, by wearing his poor family background on his sleeves nor did he try to impress people with his Cambridge and Oxford education. His simplicity has been confirmed by his then security officer and currently minister in the UP government, how he liked his Maruti 800 more than his BMW. In other words he tried to carry forward Mahatma Gandhi’s & Lal Bahadur Shastri’s legacy of simplicity and has a lesson or two for present day politicians.
Author is a former Congress MLA from Uttar Pradesh
