Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year – 2022

 

Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year – 2022

I completed 71 years of the journey of my life – Yeh Jo Hai Zindgi Thodi Khatti Thodi Meethi – in December, 2021. Life continues, so far so good. We are saying Good-Bye to the Year 2021 and Hi to the New Year, 2022.  Before I do the usual stock taking exercise to close the year, I take this opportunity to wish my readers, friends and fellow countrymen all the best and Happy New year. May God bless us with further happiness and prosperity and to live with a sense of fraternity and harmony in the society at large?

The Year 2021, to my mind, remained a difficult year not only for India but for the world at large primarily due to Covid Pandemic and resultant economic slowdown and also tensions pertaining to geo-political developments all around. India being a prominent stakeholder in the world order, it was natural to get affected and live with the situation as best as was possible. PM Narendra Modi’s Government and also Governments of the States of India, it was a matter of satisfaction, did their best to meet the challenges before the country in spite of many odds, both obvious and also self created.  

On the internal front, with mixed outcome of failures and success as termed it by the Hindustan Times on December 27 “2021: For India, a year of mixed fortunes”, we reminded on track generally, in spite of difficult situations. Against the onslaughts of the pandemic, we could surge ahead in the much needed vaccination of our people. Though late the government responded to the Kisan Andolan and

succeeded in pacifying the farmers finally by withdrawing the alleged ‘black agricultural laws’ resulting in ending the avoidable standoff between the farmers and the government. The internal security situation with regard to Naxals, Khalistanis, separatists in the J&K and other sensitive areas of the country, by and large, remained satisfactory. Developmental agenda, particularly upgrading of national highways, it appeared, was given much needed priority. The economic activity was restored in the aftermath of pandemic. On the other hand, our failures in responding to the challenges were also too many to list; price rise, inflation, unemployment, corruption, religious fundamentalism resulting in intolerance and giving rise to fissiparous tendencies, constitutional morality, fears and insecurity among the minorities and the socially undermined segments of the society, remained glaring. Parliament could not function properly due to uncalled for and avoidable disruptions. The Government and the Opposition remained at logger head which was not a good sign for a parliamentary democracy. Yet another gratifying aspect was that our players did well at the Japan Olympics in 2021, in this regard, perhaps we have arrived but we are yet to reach. We are to remain alert and responsive in addressing these issues and have a fresh look on the warnings given by our founding fathers particularly father of the constitution Babasaheb B.R. Ambedkar.  Babasaheb gave the following three warnings in his last speech in the Constituent Assembly on November 25, 1949:-

‘If we wish to maintain democracy not merely in form, but also in fact, what must we do?

The first thing in my judgment we must do is to hold fast to constitutional methods of achieving our social and economic objectives. It means we must abandon the bloody methods of revolution. It means that we must abandon the method of civil disobedience, non-cooperation and satyagraha. When there was no way left for constitutional methods for achieving economic and social objectives, there was a great deal of justification for unconstitutional methods. But where constitutional methods are open, there can be no justification for these unconstitutional methods. These methods are nothing but the Grammar of Anarchy and the sooner they are abandoned, the better for us.

The second thing we must do is to observe the caution which John Stuart Mill has given to all who are interested in the maintenance of democracy, namely, not “to lay their liberties at the feet of even a great man, or to trust him with power which enable him to subvert their institutions”. There is nothing wrong in being grateful to great men who have rendered life-long services to the country. But there are limits to gratefulness. As has been well said by the Irish Patriot Daniel O’Connell, no man can be grateful at the cost of his honour, no woman can be grateful at the cost of her chastity and no nation can be grateful at the cost of its liberty. This caution is far more necessary in the case of India than in the case of any other country. For in India, Bhakti or what may be called the path of devotion or hero-worship, plays a part in its politics unequalled in magnitude by the part it plays in the politics of any other country in the world. Bhakti in religion may be a road to the salvation of the soul. But in politics, Bhakti or hero-worship is a sure road to degradation and to eventual dictatorship.

The third thing we must do is not to be content with mere political democracy. We must make our political democracy a social democracy as well. Political democracy cannot last unless there lies at the base of it social democracy.’

On the external front, let me remind my readers that in diplomacy it is said that external policy is an extension of internal situation. First of all, therefore, we need to set our house in order. Our immediate neighbors, China and Pakistan kept us on toes in one way or the other. We cannot afford to lower our guard and must prepare ourselves to secure our borders and watch our interests both militarily and diplomatically. The emerging situation in Afghanistan remained yet another big irritation and worry. The security situation in the Indo-Pacific region, primarily on account of China’s increasing profile, kept us engaged with the other stake holders. Our

Diplomacy at work

security interests and energy supplies from Central Asia and Iran, our extended neighborhood, obviously, kept us alive to further strengthen our relations with these countries. India being a large country, with an independent outlook, cannot afford to be a camp follower. We are to balance our dealings and approaches with the big powers like Russia and the USA. It is a matter of gratification that India’s foreign policy remained responsive and effective in watching and promoting
our national and international interests under the dynamic leadership of EAM Dr. S. Jaishankar and our diplomatic machinery. International engagement in the wake of Covid pandemic, kept us alert to deal with the situation in cooperation with the international community.  We could deliver, so far so good, to keep India’s flag high.

At Ambedkar Museum and Memorial at Pune

As regards my own, I kept my self busy in reading and writing in my own humble way and wrote 52 blogs in the year 2021 on matters of interest and concern to the community and the society at large. It remained a matter of great satisfaction for me that most of the blogs got critical acclaim from discerning readers. My friend Prem Chumber, Editor-in-Chief of the esteemed Ambedkar Times and Desh Doaba, two weeklies being published from California in the US, was very supportive in carrying my blogs in the Ambedkar Times. I must say a big THANK YOU to Prem Chumber ji and wish all the best for further success in the years to come. With regard to my reading to educate myself, over the year, I read some good books and reviewed them in my blogs. It was a satisfying exercise. With regard to my social and community responsibilities and activities, on April 14, the birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, I was invited by the Vidya Dham to their function to commemorate the greatest son of India in the contemporary times as Guest of Honour and also as the Chief Guest at the function arranged by the Jalandhar Regional Passport Office. In July, Atmanirbhar Global Chamber of Commerce and Industry, headed by my friends Ambassador Anil Trigunayat as and Anil Mehta, honoured me by appointing   as a Senior Adviser to the apex chamber. In August, I visited Pune on the invitation of Social Studies Foundation to deliver a lecture on the theme ‘Silent Contributors to
the development and progress of modern India’ and to release the special issue of the ‘Unheard Voices’. The Pune visit provided me an opportunity to visit the esteemed Symbiosis University and pay obeisance to Babasaheb Ambedkar at the Museium and Memorial named after the worthy son
of India and rightly called “Prerna Bhoomi’ thoughtfully hosted by the Symbiosis University. It was an added honour to hoist the Tri-colour, as the Guest of Honour at prestigious Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics on the Independence Day on August 15. In September, I spoke at a Webinar arranged by the Civil Services Mentor and my friend, Ahsanul Haq on the theme – Career Opportunities and the IFS which was attended by more than 150 civil services aspirants from India and abroad. Released book 'Babasaheb Dr. Ambedkar - Jiwan Te Chintan' along with Hon'ble Governor of Punjab, Banwari Lal Purohit. Various online web- TV outfits like Dalit Dastak, Punjab Grand, Navi Raah, Doordarshan, All India Radio, and The Print among others invited me for interviews and talks on matters of interest and concern to the people. I found this exposure very useful and beneficial. Though the GOI is blissfully silent on the proposal of April 14, birth anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar as International Day of Equality under the aegis of the UN yet I did not lose hope and kept on reminding the EAM and PM and also other stake holders on the proposal resting with MEA since June, 2015 and resolve to keep pursuing the proposal, keeping in line with the poetic message of Allma Iqbal:

हर दर्दमंद दिल को रोना मेरा रुला दे ;

बेहोश जो पड़ें हैं शायद  उन्हें  जगा दे.

It was disappointing that due to the Covid pandemic difficulties, neither we nor my children in Sweden and Canada could see and see each other for the last two years. Hopefully, the New Year brings in good times and life goes on as usual. But the matter of concern and worry remains with yet another wave of Omicron which is feared to knock us down again. I am not a pessimistic but we need to on our guards. The governments and concerned bodies like the Election Commission should not be oblivious of the resultant fall out of forthcoming state elections scheduled for early next year in spreading the pandemic by huge public gatherings and rallies which tend to throw all norms and protocols to the wind as happened last year during the West Bengal other elections. The second worry which I may share here, which requires serious consideration and thinking, is successively dwindling ‘constitutional morality’ in governance both on the part of political class and also the so called ‘steel frame’, the bureaucracy. Babasaheb Ambedkar rightly said in the speech referred to in the preceding paras, “I shall not therefore enter into the merits of the Constitution. Because I feel, however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot. However bad a Constitution may be, it may turn out to be good if those who are called to work it, happen to be a good lot. We would ignore this reality at our own peril. It is a matter

Cheers and Happy New Year

of gratification that in spite of all failures and difficulties, we are on rails. It was possible only because of the Constitution of India so laboriously framed by our forefathers, particularly Babasaheb Ambedkar. Let us take a solemn pledge on the close of the Year 2021 and ushering in the New Year, 2022 that ‘We Would Not Fail Our Founding Fathers. With this, I once again greet my fellow countrymen and international fraternity and wish them Happy New Year, 2022.