Review of Singh’s My Tributes to Socialist Leaders | Harish Sharma

[fond noir][blanc]BOOK REVIEW[/blanc][/fond noir]

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My Tributes to Socialist Leaders
by Prem Singh

Foreword by Ravela Somayya, Dr. A. Raghu Kumar

Southern Springs Publishers
(under the auspices of Rammanohar Lohia Samata Nyas), Hyderabad
ISBN:978-81-962788-1-6
pp. 125, Price Rs 250

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It has rightly been asserted that the socialist tradition in India deserves a place in the narrative in the making of modern India. This assertion is made in the context of the contribution that the socialist leaders made during the evolution of the goals of the freedom struggle. People of India fought against the British imperialism not only for political freedom but also, and more importantly, to establish an equitable social and economic system. Socialist leaders like Acharya Narendra Deva, Ram Manohar Lohia, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Minoo Masani, Ashok Mehta, Achyut Patwardhan struggled resolutely to get the principles of equity and social justice included in the programs of the freedom struggle and then in the post-independence period leaders like Madhu Limye, Karpoori Thakur, Chander Shekhar, Kishan Patnaik George Fernandes, Mrinal Gore and Justice Sachar etc. worked relentlessly to achieve those objectives.

The book in reference by Prem Singh, himself a socialist crusader, is a collection of tributes and obituaries of some of the prominent leaders of the Socialist movement in India whom he has known personally and had interacted with them. Some of those are Madhu Limaye, Kishan Patnaik, Mrinal Gore, Justice Sachar, George Fernandes, the stormy leader, and Karpoori Thakur who was a committed socialist in the times of neo-liberalism. He has also written about leaders and activists like Surendra Mohan, Sathi Sunil, Brijmohan Toofan, Vinod Prasad Singh, Bhai Vaidya, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jagdish Tirodkar and Keshav Rao Jadhav.

The author in his tributes along with his impressions, has counted the contribution of each one of them towards the advancement of the socialist movement in India. Each one of them had sincerity and honest views about how India can be developed for satisfying the needs of the modern competitive world without compromising Indian values and ethos. They expressed their concerns about the threats of divisive forces and suggested various ways and means to eradicate the scourge of communalism and casteism, which was perceived as a major obstacle in the growth of the Indian economy.

Prem Singh offers profound tributes to the memory of Madhu Limaye. Madhu Limaye led a simple life and was a proponent of the idea of equality in political life. He was deeply concerned with the challenge posed by communal and separatist forces. To dismay of some and given the unlikelihood of a revolution, he proposed reviving Congress as a means to strengthen the Indian state. In this context Madhu Limaye though attacked communal forces in a brilliant manner, he chose not to comment upon the endorsement of the consumerist capitalism by the Congress. Consumerism is the main hindrance in the way of establishing egalitarian society.

Prem Singh admires Chander Shekhar for he was a practical politician within the parameters of socialist ideology. He will always be remembered for his opposition to liberalism. He was clear in his ideological convictions and had the political courage to convey his mind to even the bigwigs in international politics. His conviction stemmed from Gandhian economic philosophy as he was opposed to new economic policies. That is why he resisted the prescriptions of the World Bank and IMF when he told them with clarity and confidence that