1984

Make Me Do It !
The Enigma of Manmohan Singh

T. SHER SINGH

I often turn to a favourite anecdote from 20th century history every time I find myself troubled by the sluggish inner workings of democracy, and find that it never fails to put me back on track every time I revisit it. 

It’s a story that many historians question its accuracy, because they have no way of confirming or denying its validity. It stems from a purported conversation, no more than a few words, that took place privately. Between two men. In a whisper.

But whether or not it is apocryphal is totally beside the point. I take it as a parable, and like all parables, it has -- at least for me -- some truths embedded it it.

It’s an oft-told story about Franklin Delano Roosevelt (“FDR“), the 32nd President of the United States, who served an unprecedented (and, since then, unmatched) four terms in the White House before he died in harness a few months before the end of the Second World War.

Philip Randolph, the organizer and President of the first African-American labor union, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, had asked for, and was granted a meeting with FDR. Apparently, Randolph was a supporter and had been an ardent campaigner for the President and had earned his friendship through yeoman service in the course of the election campaign.

During this meeting -- held on September 27, 1940 -- Randolph complained about the lot of the black workers and the fact that FDR’s much-vaunted New Deal had done little to benefit his union members in reducing or removing some of the gross inequities they continued to suffer as remnants of the slavery days. Randolph was passionate in his advocacy and strident in his demands to end racial discrimination and to employ African Americans (then still referred to, derogatively, as “negroes“).

When the meeting ended and as they prepared to leave the room, FDR put an arm over Randolph’s shoulders and whispered to him: I agree with you, Philip … you have convinced me the merits of your demands. I want to help you. But here’s what you have to do to make it happen. I want you to go out and do all you have to do. Turn up the heat, go put pressure on me. Make me do it!   

*   *   *   *   *

Randolph, a consummate activist, knew exactly what FDR meant.

In less than four months -- on January 25, 1941, to be precise -- Randolph launched the March on Washington Movement, which included nation-wide protests and rallies.

It caused the very same year to “convince” President Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 8802 (1941), banning discrimination in the defense industries during World War II.

After the war, Randolph applied similar pressure on FDR’s successor, President Harry S. Truman, and “convinced” him to issue Executive Order 9981 (1948), ending segregation in the armed services.

There’s an important footnote to this story: It was Randolph who, 15 years later, headed another March on Washington. It was at the culmination of this march on August 28, 1963 … on the steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial … that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his "I Have A Dream" speech.

It’s reverberations can still be felt half-a-century later.

*   *   *   *   *

It is this story that I turn to in my repeated attempts to unravel the enigma of Manmohan Singh, the Sikh Prime Minister of a country which has, in recent years, and continues to today, committed enormous crimes against its Sikh minority.

I too, like most of my co-religionists, am troubled by the trajectory of Manmohan Singh’s career as a politician and what it has entailed for us.

But, before I go further, I want to put certain things on the table, so that we don’t need to dwell on them and get distracted from our main focus.

1   I believe Manmohan Singh is an extraordinarily gifted intellectual who established his credentials as a top-notch economist long before he rescued India from the doldrums, first as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, then as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, then as the country’s Minister of Finance, and then as its leader (2004 -) … a role in which he continues today.

2   I believe that he is primarily responsible, even as an individual, for the economic success that India enjoys in the world today. And that he is, unlike every other person in his cabinet, party, government and opposition, of impeccable integrity and unquestionable honesty -- qualities that are as rare on the subcontinent as the Koh-i-noor. 

3   I do not believe that he is a puppet of Sonia Gandhi, as alleged by his political opponents.

4   I do not believe that Sonia Gandhi has either the intellectual capacity or the political acumen to manipulate a man like Manmohan Singh. Her “success” is solely attributable to two factors: in a nation of lemmings, the latter are enamoured and blinded by, a) her nexus with the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty; and, b) the fact that she is a European, which triggers the subservient element in the Indian DNA embedded deeply through a thousand years of slavery and  subjugation by foreigners. Her mere ability to communicate in the local lingo, albeit direly limited, is automatically interpreted as sure proof of patriotism and intellectuality.

5   It is true that Manmohan Singh’s tenure has been tarnished by rampant, nay, rising corruption in the country, including his own cabinet ministers, and the country’s successive Presidents and Vice-Presidents. Yes, he has failed miserably in curtailing the wholesale rotting of all levels of governments in his country, but I do not see it as his personal failure. It is a failure of the country as a whole that he is completely surrounded by yahoos, to the point that even the gift of his leadership has been squandered by a populace blinded by greed and prurience.

6   Despite its historical lows, I believe his departure and the advent of one of his two possible successors -- both are in the same category, in my reading -- will trigger untrammelled rape and pillage of the country’s resources. Yes, the rich will get immensely richer very quickly, the poor will get even poorer. I foresee the ultimate breakdown of society.

Having said all of the above, we can now turn to the elephant in the room.

1984.

Of course, I am -- like every other Sikh in the world and every decent, informed, objective and independent-thinking individual -- disappointed with Manmohan Singh’s handling of the genocide unleashed against the Sikhs of India in 1984 and carried on meticulously by the government(s) in the years that followed.  

His actions and words, but mostly his inaction and silence, reek of cowardice and gutlessness, of weakness and low self-esteem, and of the absence of a level of selflessness which marks the great leaders of humanity: Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr are two names from the modern era that come to mind … even though, I hasten to add, I am not necessarily a fan of the former. 

Manmohan Singh has fallen short. Yes, he is a great economist, and yes, he is the best and most capable and the most honest Prime Minister India has had in its entire 66 years of existence. But he has missed ‘greatness.’

His failure over 1984 is not the only reason I say so. But his handling -- and mishandling -- of it is a good example of what he could’ve done easily, but did not have the courage to do.

As a result, not only has he lost in personal stature but he has, in my opinion, failed to rescue India from a downward slide which, I fear, will ultimately lead to chaos and anarchy.

He was a golden opportunity for the country. And he had a golden opportunity placed in his very hands. Both opportunities lie wasted.

Having said all of this, however, I do not hold Manmohan Singh solely responsible for failing to rectify the nation’s himalayan wrongs to its heart and soul.

We, the Sikhs as a community, too have failed and bear the bulk of the responsibility.

My reasons lie in the Roosevelt and Randolph story.

We too had a golden opportunity to help the country recover its bearings, and the answer to the question as to what we could’ve done lies in FDR’s words to Randolph and the latter’s response in public activism.

That is how, for better or worse, democracies work. Even defective and limping democracies such as India’s.

Sikhs had the tools. Remember, we did it against the might of the British Empire, first by wresting back control of our gurdwaras during the great Gurdwara Reform Movement of the 1920s, and then by helping wrest independence from the British while the country stood impotently on the sidelines, looking on as we, the Sikhs -- a mere 2% of the population -- provided the bulk of the blood, sweat and tears.

It was what was needed the moment Manmohan Singh came to power.

But we didn’t do anything.

We did nothing.

Now, there are many explanations for our failures. Some weaknesses lie in our DNA, and we have yet to learn to overcome them. Some lie in our failure to pay heed to the political writings of Guru Gobind Singh and understand the true nature of power in a democracy, especially if you are a minority as small as we are. [This is no exculpatory excuse, though. Blacks and Jews have been persecuted minorities throughout their history in the West.]

There are other explanations. The mischief played by the fundamentalists within the majority in India, hiding behind the skirts of anonymity of numbers. The ’divide and rule’ policy inherited from the Brits and perfected by the boors who succeeded them. A lumpen population of a billion and more which has no moral spine or fibre.  And so on …

But, nothing absolves us of our own failures.

We dropped the ball.

Had we had our act together, we could’ve easily ’convinced‘ Manmohan Singh to do the right thing. The yahoos around him would’ve been no impediment, if we had stood tall.

We didn’t.

Therefore, in my opinion, given all the circumstances, including his personal weaknesses, he couldn’t.

Let’s not waste time in blaming others for our failures. Or joining the narrow-minded, short-sighted bigots in India in overlooking Manmohan Singh’s unprecedented contributions to their country and deriding him unfairly.

Let’s work on getting our own act together. It’s the only course open to us. 

A March on Delhi? Dilli Chalo?     


November 26, 2013       
 
 

read other articles in 1984