Address At The Babu Jagjivan Ram Centenary Lecture, Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi
New Delhi : 05-04-2007
Evolution of Leadership
"Shared vision is progress"
I am delighted to deliver the Babu Jagjivan Ram Birth Centenary Lecture. My greetings to the distinguished participants, organizers, scholars and social scientists. When I was asked to deliver the Babu Jagjivan Ram centenary lecture, the first thought that has come to my mind was what a great privilege and honour for me to deliver this lecture commemorating the legacy of veteran freedom fighter, great organizer, brilliant orator, committed social activist, distinguished parliamentarian, true democrat and able administrator.
On the centenary occasion of Babu Jagjivan Ram, I was thinking what thoughts I can share with you. Leaders at various times of Indian history and elsewhere appeared in the scene whenever the nation was driven by a vision. For example, the vision of Independence movement of the nation created the best of political leaders. Also, it is the uniqueness of India, that simultaneously leaders in education, leaders in judiciary, leaders in science, leaders in industry and leaders in agriculture also emerged.
Recalling Great Leaders of India
Nations are built over generations. Thinking of Babu Jagjivan Ram, I am reminded of the poem
"Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime
And departing, leave behind us
Foot prints on the sands of time"
Babu Jagjivan Ram's life has rolled over history and has made our nation prosperous, strong and free. Freedom is an expansive proposition. It is attained by sacrifices made by young and old and preserved by sweat and toil of generations. Babu Jagjivan Ram belongs to that generation of freedom fighters whose courage and convictions has lead to an independent India. He was associated with the historical figures of our freedom movement and together they created the vision of Independent India, a freedom that we achieved after 90 years of struggle.
When he was just 17, in 1925, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, the founder of Banaras Hindu University visited Arrah in Bihar. Young Jagjivan Ram, the best student in the school read the welcome address. Impressed by his confidence and academic excellence, Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, invited young Jagjivan to study in the Banaras Hindu University where he completed his inter-science examination and joined Calcutta University for his B.Sc. degree. While at Calcutta, he organized a Mazdoor rally at Wellington Square which was attended by over 35,000 people. This brought Babu Jagjivan Ram into limelight and leaders like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose took notice of him. This is the period he got acquainted with Chandra Sekhar Azad, Manmath Nath Gupt and other leading revolutionaries and was greatly influenced by the ideology of casteless and classless society.
Though Babu Jagjivan Ram had always been dreaming of becoming a scientist, as he grew up, he could not ignore the socio-political situations enveloping the country and he sacrificed his personal ambitions to answer the call of his Motherland. While Babu Jagjivan Ram was 28, he was elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly without a contest.
Political visions: In the post-independent India, as an important member of the Constituent Assembly, he ensured the importance of social justice as one of the ideals enshrined in the constitution. Babu Jagjivan Ram had the unique privilege of serving number of ministries in the Central Government such as Labour, Transport and Communication, Railways, Food and Agriculture and Defence. As Labour Minister, he laid the foundation for a new era of a labour welfare, industrial climate and productivity in the form of Minimum Wages Act and Employees State Insurance (ESI) Act. As Communication Minister, he nationalized the private airlines and spread the postal facilities to rural villages. As Railway Minister, he gave a new thrust for modernization of the railways. As an Agricultural Minister, he pulled the country out of the clutches of severe drought and heralded the first Green Revolution. As a Defence Minister under the dynamic leadership of Mrs Indira Gandhi, he oversaw the liberation of Bangladesh. Whenever we think of Bangladesh, I am also reminded of the military leadership provided by Field Marshal S.H.F.J. Manekshaw who successfully executed the national mission. While looking at the leadership qualities of Babu Jagjivan Ram, I ask myself about the evolution of leadership.
Courage of conviction gives us strength and dignity
I would like to recall my traveling on 16th September 2004 in a train powered by steam engine in a first class compartment of 1900's vintage organized by Durban state of South Africa. When the train was moving from one station to another, Mahatma Gandhi's struggle against apartheid system in South Africa was going through my mind. The train halted at Pietermartizburg, the station where the monster of apartheid bit Gandhiji on a cold winter night. He was evicted out of a first class compartment because of the colour of his skin. When I alighted at the Pietermartizburg railway station, I saw a plaque in the railway station, which reads like this:
In the vicinity of this plaque
M.K. GANDHI was evicted
from a first class
Compartment on the night of
7 June 1893.
This incident changed the course of his life and the destiny of India. He took up the fight against racial oppression. His active non-violence started from that date. This was the rebirth of Ahimsa Dharma after the Kalinga War in 300 B.C. Gandhiji later developed the Ahimsa Dharma and gave India a powerful tool to win independence.
During the freedom movement, under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership the resistance to the British rule in India started gaining momentum. At one critical moment, the major issue was whether or not India should support the British in their war against Germany and Japan. Babu Jagjivan Ram was one among the principal leaders who delivered a public speech against the participation of India in the war between the European nations. For this, he was imprisoned by the British in 1940.
Forgiveness gives greatness
When I was standing at the Pietermartizburg railway station my thoughts were hovering on two scenes which I experienced in South Africa. One scene was, in Robben Island where Dr. Nelson Mandela had been imprisoned for 26 years, in a very small cell, and the other scene was at the house of Dr. Nelson Mandela.
Cape Town is famous for its Table Mountain; it has got three peaks called Table Peak, Devil Peak, and Fake Peak. Between the Peaks it was a beautiful sight throughout the day, sometimes dark clouds and sometimes white clouds embracing the peaks. Table Mountain is very close to the sea coast of the Atlantic Ocean. I flew by helicopter to Robben Island from Cape Town in 10 minutes. When we reached the Island, except sea roaring, the whole island was silent symbolizing the thought: this is the place the freedom of individuals was chained. We were received at the Island by Mr. Ahmed Kathrada, a South African, who was a co-prisoner with Dr. Nelson Mandela. What surprised me was the tiny room where sleeping and all human needs have to be fulfilled. It has to be remembered that Dr. Nelson Mandela, who was 6 feet tall was imprisoned in that room for 26 years - fighting against the apartheid. The major part of his life was spent in this silent Island. He used to be taken for quarrying in the nearby mountain for a few hours in bright sun. This is the time his sight got damaged. In spite of his body being tortured he revealed to the world his indomitable spirit. This is the time he evolved a manuscript of freedom in tiny letters every day, when the jail wardens went to sleep. This small tiny lettered manuscript finally became the famous book of Mandela "A long walk to freedom".
It was a great event for me to meet Dr. Mandela in his house in Johannesburg. What a moving reception, the man at the age of 86 gave with all smiles. Dear friends, I would like to share with you, when I entered Dr. Nelson Mandela's house, I saw his three dimensional form with cheerfulness: the mighty man who got the freedom for South Africa from the tyranny of apartheid. When I was leaving from his house, he came to the portico to give me a send off and while walking he discarded his walking stick and I became his support. While walking I asked him, "Dr. Mandela can you please tell me about the pioneers of anti apartheid movement in South Africa" He responded spontaneously, "of course, one of the great pioneers of South Africa's freedom movement was M.K. Gandhi. India gave us M.K. Gandhi, we gave you back Mahatma Gandhi after two decades. Mahatma Gandhi was an apostle of Non-Violence". That is indeed the tradition of India - to enrich whichever nation we go, our foremost responsibility is to enrich that nation. Enriching the nation is not only in financial terms, but enriching with knowledge, enriching with hard work above all enriching with honour and self dignity.
Nelson Mandela when he became the President of South Africa, he gave the people who specialized in apartheid and ill-treated and put him in the jail for 26 years, freedom to move, freedom to live in South Africa as equal citizens. Dear friends, a big lesson that we learnt from this personality Dr. Nelson Mandela is beautifully captured in one of the Thirukkurals written 2200 years before by Poet Saint Thiruvalluvar:
Which means, for those who do ill to you, the best punishment is to return good to them.
Great leaders share the qualities of sacrifice and forgiveness. It was these sterling qualities that Babu Jagjivan Ram brought to bear during the freedom movement, and thereby accelerated the dawn of independence in India. For example, under their policy of divide and rule, British rulers needed his political support and offered him large sums of money and ministerial birth. Babu Jagjivan Ram did not even consider it. Had he accepted this offer, it would have led to a major chain reaction in other provinces and would have been a major setback to the freedom movement. All national leaders and the masses praised this act of patriotism and integrity.
Shared vision gives progress
At this point, let me share with you a historic meeting between Swami Vivekananda and Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata during a ship journey. It happened in 1893. A ship was sailing from Japan to USA. There were hundreds of people in that ship including two significant personalities, Swami Vivekananda and Jamsetji Tata. Swamiji asked Jamsetji for what mission he was traveling. Jamsetji said that he wanted to bring steel industry to India. Swami Vivekanda blessed him. He suggested steel technology had two components " one is steel science and the other is manufacturing technology. What can you bring to this country in material technology" you will have to build material science within the country. Jamsetji was thinking and thinking and made a decision. Earlier when Jamsetji went to London he asked for technology transfer for Steel Plant. UK steel manufacturers looked at Jamsetji and said that if Indians make steel, Britishers will eat it. Jamsetji crossed the Atlantic Ocean, talked to Americans and brought manufacturing technology for steel. And the Tata Steel was established in Jamshedpur. He seeded and worked for the steel plant. Jamsetji is not there now, but TATA Steel is poised to roll out 10 million tones of steel per annum.
The visionary Jamsetji gave one portion of his asset for starting a science institute today known as Indian Institute of Science at Bangalore. The message I would like to convey to this audience, dream gives vision, vision gives thoughts and thought leads to actions. Jamsetji brought two establishments to this country - first one was steel plant and the other was an educational research institution at the instance and the vision of Swami Vivekananda. Babu Jagjivan Ram supported the foundation for such visions. He was what you may call a strategist for building a nation from the bottom of the pyramid. His concern was to strengthen the role of labour in the growth of new institutions in India. The political role of labour was uppermost in his mind and he would say "I am myself a firm believer in the efficiency of negotiations, conciliation, and adjudication." In 1947, Babuji led the Indian delegation to the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conference. He was honoured as the first Asian Chairman at the ILO conference at Geneva in 1950. By tackling issues on labour and employment front, Babu Jagjivan Ram added to the industrial peace and productivity of the nation and its new enterprises created by other visionaries like Jamsetji Tata. He thus, contributed greatly to the productive potential of our country and as a consequence today our manufacturing sector is growing well over 13% p.a.
It is not only his concerns to strengthen the foundation of Industrial institutions that was bedrock of his contribution to the nation, but Babuji was responsible for policies that expanded the aeronautical sector in India that resulted in the development of civil aviation sector and genesis of Air India and Indian Airlines as nationalized air carriers.
Conclusion: Second Vision for the Nation
While I am with you friends, I would like to share with you a scene in Dar-es-Salaam during my visit to Tanzania on 14-September-2004. I was inspired to see the children of Uhuru Co-Primary School, Dar-es-Salaam, where the differently abled children are studying along with the normal children. All the differently abled children of that school rushed to me, embraced me and thanked me profoundly and showed what beautiful assistive devices they received from India such as wheel chairs, hearing aids, braille cane folding, caliper kit, prostheses, orthoses and computers. It was a pleasant surprise to me. Only Meera Kumar, who was a member of my visiting team, knew about my visit to Uhuru School. I realized that her heart was so compassionate, outgoing, helpful and expanding beyond national boundaries, seeking out humanity as a whole. Her heart had crossed the oceans to remove the pain of young children and showed them how India cares for Africa. That night after this sublime event, I was thinking how could the whole thought and feeling have come to Meeraji. Suddenly, I realized, that it was a genetic imprint in her, of her great father, our visionary Babu Jagjivan Ram.
The seeding for the national independence movement took place around 1857 or even before, I see the relationship between the urge for independence and the emergence of great minds. As the independence movement grew, it brought out the best of leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai, Lokmanya Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Abul Kalam Azad, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Babu Jagjivan Ram. The National movement had also brought simultaneously best of scientists and technologists.
The evolution of leadership took place due to the singular vision of the nation to realize freedom from foreign rule. The ignited minds of the 540 million youth who are aspiring to live in a peaceful economically developed, happy, prosperous and safe country are looking for a common vision for the nation, so that they can channel their energy to the national cause.
Having interacted with more than 1.5 million youth in India, I have experienced the feeling that no other challenge can inspire our younger generation of India transforming into an economically developed, strong, prosperous, happy and peaceful nation before the year 2020.
As a part of the Birth Centenary Celebrations of Babu Jagjivan Ram, let us now resolve to transform India into a developed nation before 2020 as our nation's second vision after independence. By this singular resolve, we will be paying the greatest homage to Babu Jagjivan Ram who is an example of development politics and who saw in political power an opportunity to transform people's life and promote their welfare by bold and well thought out plans.
May God bless you.
Seven Point Oath
1. I realize, I have to set a goal in my life. To achieve the goal, I will acquire the knowledge, I will work hard, and when the problem occurs, I have to defeat the problem and succeed.
2. As a youth of my nation, I will work and work with courage to achieve success in all my tasks and enjoy the success of others.
3. I shall always keep myself, my home, my surroundings, neighbourhood and environment clean and tidy.
4. I realize righteousness in the heart leads to beauty in the character, beauty in the character brings harmony in the home, harmony in the home leads to order in the nation and order in the nation leads to peace in the world.
5. I will lead an honest life free from all corruption and will set an example for others to adopt a righteous way of life.
6. I will light the lamp of knowledge in the nation and ensure that it remains lit for ever.
7. I realize, whatever work I do if I do the best, I am contributing towards realizing the vision of developed India before 2020.
Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam