Recollections of a Governor

INDIA IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM: P. C. Alexander; Somaiya Publications Pvt. Ltd., 172, Mumbai Marathi Granthasangrahalaya Marg, Dadar, Mumbai-400014. Rs. 400.

THE KEY position he had held as Principal Secretary to the late Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, probably explains Dr. P. C. Alexander's not having even briefly referred to the Emergency she had clamped on India in 1975 in his otherwise exhaustive coverage in the present book under notice. He would probably explain that he is only taking a look at the new millennium India is stepping into and there is no reason why he should recall this dark period in the history of independent India. This, however, has not stopped him from discussing other events which the country had witnessed during the last century. Among these is his perception of the Governor's role in a hung Assembly in which he has criticised the invitation extended by Sri Prakasa to Rajaji to form a Government in the erstwhile composite Madras State.

The most moving, but also the most revealing part of the book by Dr. Alexander who has had a distinguished record as an officer of the Indian Administrative Service, are the concluding chapters on Mahatma Gandhi and the last months of the British rule in India which might have faded way from the memory of even readers of the generation to which he belongs. Not less interesting is the chapter on Ambedkar who was perhaps a very much misunderstood man in his time.

Not all the writings on Gandhiji - including the multi-volume biography compiled by Dr. Tendulkar - could give a definitive presentation of his greatness without a grasp of the quintessence of his philosophy of satyagraha and non-violence. If Gandhiji stuck to his belief, it should have been because he had no doubts that he could ultimately persuade the British to leave India because he could make them see that they had no moral justification to hold on to their rule. Looking back upon the earlier years of his life in South Africa and the humiliation he suffered when he was thrown out of the first class compartment of a train by a white man, the one thought which the incident should provoke is that he was the only man of his time who could have realised that this was an insult to which he should not submit when almost everybody else would have accepted it as a way of life.

Dr. Alexander has given a thorough and well-written analysis of these formative years which shaped the greatness of Gandhiji. He could also have given some consideration to the possibility of Gandhiji having decided upon non-violence because he instinctively knew after the many years he had lived in England that he would eventually get a positive response from the rulers of a civilised race in spite of the strategems they resorted to before leaving India as a divided country which would bleed for a while from communal violence. Among his many revealing and touching statements which have been attributed to him is: ``I love every Englishman but hate the British Government''.

Gandhiji's life ended in tragedy because of his having had no choice but to accept the Partition of the country and to save it from a continuing bloodshed into which it had plunged because of the hatred which had seized Jinnah who had projected the two- nation theory despite the absurdity of it which was evident from a greater number of Muslims still being left in divided India and the eventual liberation of Bangladesh. Jinnah's agony and anger exploded after his realisation that his achievement in vivisecting India was going to be woefully short of what he was aiming at when he sought to dismiss Rajaji's blueprint for the carving out of the Muslim majory provinces of Punjab and Bengal by calling it ``a mutilated, moth-eaten and truncated Pakistan''.

Right at the beginning of his book Dr. Alexander addresses himself to the question whether India is really a nation which was raised before Independence by the British rulers and also others. The survival of India as a single country for half a century after becoming free should put this question at rest. A sentiment widely diffused right across India as a geographical entity about its sharing the same culture has given it its identity though this could not stop its territorial blowing up during the many turbulent centuries of its history. This should probably explain its having retained its deeply felt and cherished distinctiveness. This could sound as an obtuse answer to a very direct and pointed question about whether India is a nation. Dr. Alexander does drive home this point when he writes about India being a civilisation ``which retained its identity without any break in its five millennia old history.''

While there could be no two opinions about India having to cling to democracy based on universal adult franchise, the questions raised about how India's politicians have made a mockery of it are very disturbing. Among the instances of this is the political defection to which elected members are resorting. He writes about the ineffectiveness in punishing unprincipled defections. Though he is not stating it so bluntly, the attention he has drawn to the callous irresponsibility of the elected Members of Parliament in wasting its time by forcing the Government to pass major bills in a hurry would not leave his readers in any doubt about their having betrayed their electorate who had reposed faith in them. His recollection of the Lok Sabha having voted without any discussion Rs. 54,468 crores for expenditure is about just one instance of several other bills which had been so passed. But he does not take too gloomy a view of the scene in Parliament since it may take sometime for a healthy party system to evolve in India. But there should be no complacency.

Dr. Alexander is fully aware of how excruciating it could be for the civil service when the political system throws up unscrupulous rulers who either do not understand or refuse to accept that the commitment of a bureaucracy should be to its duties as honest administrators and not to its political masters. He points out that ``a civil servant has not only to be politically neutral but also to be seen by the people as neutral and impartial''. He also disapproves of ``bureaucratic activism'' which could result from an officer overstepping his limits as a civil servant and giving a political dimension to his role.

He should be well aware of the excruciating agony a honest bureaucrat suffers when the choice for him is either to lump it by implementing the orders motivated wholly by self-interest or face the consequences of insubordination. He writes that if a bureaucrat is asked to ``implement an illegal order, it is his duty to point out to the minister why it cannot be carried out; otherwise he himself will be guilty of violation of law.'' Though he is not mentioning it, he should also be aware that such a bold, honest civil servant is fast becoming an exception. What could possibly be making the scene murkier is the emergence of a bureaucrat-politician nexus with shared interests.

Dr. Alexander's comments on the Vedas as being ``anadi'' - without their having a beginning or end - should lead to a fascinating run of thoughts on the concept of eternity. His writing about Jesus, Jews and the Muslims are just as thought- provoking. His comments on how India suffers badly from the failure to expand primary education the result of which has been to leave nearly 50 per cent of the people illiterate in spite of its having a very large number of highly qualified personnel as scientists and engineers deserve the attention of every one in the field. The country will continue to be poor ``unless the battles for education, health and nutrition are taken up simultaneously with high priority''.

Dr. Alexander's treatment of how India has fared since Independence is very wide-ranging. Among the issues he has taken up is the sad one of Indians having emerged as ``under- achievers'' and nearly 50 per cent of the country's population living below the poverty line. The tragedy here is that while Indians who have gone abroad or migrated have a very good record as achievers, the scene within the country is dismal.

He takes a close look at other matters including the under- utilisation of the country's production capacity and the power shortage and transmission losses resulting from thefts of power. The unscrupulousness of crafty businessmen who do not repay loans taken from banks gets a well-deserved bashing.

CVG

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