Dear Harivansh, Never Deviate from the Principled Stand

 

For the last few days, the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Shri Harivansh is under flak from some people. I can only say that they are less than fair to him. Harivansh Narayan Singh, which he possibly shortened at the advice of his political mentor Chandrasekhar ji, is a man of high principles. Harivansh and I have been together in the Banaras Hindu University for five years. Hardly a day had passed during our stay in the hostel, when we had not gossiped, discussed, debated, and argued, sometimes even hotly on almost every subject we could think of under the sun.

He has been the admirer of Jai Prakash Narayan from his university days and had told us many unknown stories about him. JP‘s education in America by doing even menial works and his absconding from Hazaribagh jail by jumping the walls of a prison is known to the whole world. However, the stories of JP’s visits and meetings with the villagers in Doab of the holy rivers Ganga and Ghaghara, inspiring them for pursuing education, working relentlessly for the eradication of casteism and poverty were always a pleasure to hear from Harivansh. It will not suffice to say that Harivansh was awfully in the influence of JP as he was like a demigod for him. We used to joke among ourselves that the easiest way to anger Harivansh was to criticize JP. He never brooked even the slightest criticism of JP.

Harivansh used to be a voracious reader of the books, periodicals and newspapers during his university days. He used to read more such books as were not prescribed in the course curriculum. I am sure he must still be continuing with his good old habits. He must have changed and mellowed like all others during the last more than forty years but the elan' of a person seldom change. I have last met him when he was the media advisor to the then Prime Minister Chandrashekhar. Once or twice he sent his car to fetch me to his office in the South Block and he used to come with me up to Bengali Market to glance over and purchase new books.

When he became a Member of Parliament, I sent my greetings but never met or even intended to meet him personally. When he became the Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, I felt happy that an honest, abstemious and well-read person will get the opportunity to preside over the upper house, which is considered to be the house of the mature and experienced Parliamentarians. However, when I saw the unruly, ugly, and uncouth behaviour of some of our Parliamentarians in the video clippings of the news channels, my heart sunk in deep despair.

A sensitive person like Harivansh must have been deeply hurt by the conduct of some of our MPs, who threw all parliamentary norms and decorum to the wind but I am sure that it will strengthen his resolve to follow the right path.

Dear Harivansh, you come from Ballia, the soil of rebellions, which does not know to be subdued or bowed down by any onslaughts. Therefore, I have the benign hope that you will go by the inner voice of your conscience, which I believe, is serene and will always be conforming to the high traditions of Parliamentary democracy in the larger interests of the country.