Are we an unlucky generation of Indians that we had someone like him, by accident as someone said, and we failed to listen?
NEW DELHI: Saying goodbye is sometimes very difficult and sad; even if you know all along that it is inevitable. Words failed me when I heard of Dr Manmohan Singh’s passing away: one can with effort describe the deep loss of someone who means a lot to you, but how does one grieve over the loss of a moral compass and a torchlight that helped you break the darkness?
Dr Manmohan Singh had not been very active in public life as his age advanced, but every moment spent with him in private remained a treat to be cherished. People who knew him over many decades and had worked with him during his remarkably illustrious career, speak untiringly of his brilliance as an economist and profound foresight of a policymaker and statesmanship. Interestingly, the amazing structural reform he brought about as Finance Minister under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao and the dismantling of the State control could have had no better person to undertake as he grew up as an economist in the heyday of public sector economy. Yet the opening up was carefully calibrated to secure the strategic sector, permitting many traditionally protected industries to face the market, but at the same time the common citizen was protected by a social safety net that developed during his prime ministership into a social welfare economy.
Although Dr Saheb, as he was fondly known by his well-wishers and admirers, served as an international civil servant for many years and then held several positions in Government of India before becoming Finance Minister and was faulted by traditional politicians for not being political enough, but his several budget speeches and Parliamentary repartee studded with choice Urdu couplets, were nothing less than political statesmanship at its best. The words he said to late Sushma Swaraj, “Kuch to majbooriyan hongi, koi yunh hi bewafah nahi hota,” not only disarmed the Opposition but may well be a telling comment on the difficult political situation he was to deal with as the head of a coalition government. India was on the cusp of dramatic transformation from a steady post-Independence, non-aligned country to an emerging economy aspiring to sit at the high table of the world’s powerful countries.
All challenges his economic reforms encountered were dwarfed by the focus on ending the nuclear apartheid against India, caused by India’s principled opposition to the discriminatory nuclear control regimes. Decades of drifting apart of the United States and India was sought to be reversed and the former brought on board to make India a de-facto member of the nuclear club. There were doubting Thomases, and ideologically opposed coalition partners, but Dr Singh held the ground and pulled off the historic accomplishment, unleashing vast possibilities for India’s trade and energy self-reliance.
The pursuit of the civil nuclear deal naturally drove the Left and the UPA apart. Realpolitik took over, forcing Dr Singh to deal with forces he would have best wanted to avoid. Hard politics came to the fore but the government survived and so did India’s opportunities.
The opening up of market opportunities after decades of control had their own challenges. 2G and coal allocations, two major drivers of growth ran into trouble not so much because of irregularities but because the atmosphere turned toxic. Appellate courts that had been generally supportive of the government of the day’s economic policies, became unduly suspicious, turning the Teflon apparel of the incumbent Prime Minister into blotting paper for reckless allegations. Time has proved the allegations to be unwarranted and misconceived, but the intensity and unrelenting nature of the attacks derailed the growth story and imprinted “policy paralysis” on the profile of UPA II. What began as a dream was sadly reduced to a living torture, prompting Dr Singh to state that history would be much kinder to him than contemporary reportage. A party known for its public movement DNA was suddenly made to look isolated and helpless as India Against Corruption used a variety of potent techniques to create doubt about the viability of the UPA. It did not help that coalition allies were being targeted, forcing the Congress into “damned if you try to help, damned if you don’t” situation. From Amar Singh to A. Raja, the platform Dr Singh had steered brilliantly in UPA I all but collapsed. Undoubtedly for a private, reserved, lonesome thinker and essentially decent human being, unaccustomed to cynical manipulation of contemporary politics, Dr Singh seemed to suffer in silence, but not without underscoring, “mana ki tere did ke qabil nahi hoon main, tu mera shaq to dekh, mera intezar dekh.”
Political crises break the strongest amongst us, but people cannot forget the cherubic smile that kept his visage glowing in the darkest moments. There was never an unkind word or anger about people who hoped to hurt the Congress by attacking Dr Singh, but they knew that denting his integrity was an impossible task.
Contemporary politics has no dearth of performing stars, but not many that one can hold in awe and feel affectionate respect for. Similarly, there are scholars and intellectuals galore who can amaze with their ideas, but not many whose words bring comfort and confidence. Dr Manmohan Singh combined intellect with sensitivity, unassuming nature with grace and elegance, personal integrity with not a touch of willingness to compromise for gain, teacher and philosopher rolled into one.
President Barack Obama paid him the ultimate tribute when he said, “When Dr Singh speaks, the whole world listens.” Are we indeed an unlucky generation of Indians that we had someone like him, by accident as someone said, and we failed to listen? Now that he has gone away, will his words and thoughts resound to remind us of the debt we owe to him, not just for his remarkable CV but for him being what we saw him be? In times to come, the generations to be will think of us to be lucky to have seen Dr Manmohan Singh. But we will not forget that we shortsightedly chose to restrict his benefaction because we were unable to rise to his level of grace.
* Salman Khurshid was Minister of External Affairs in the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.