Goodbye Bhai : The struggle will
continue
Prem Singh
His
full name was Bhalchandra Bhai Vaidya but people used to call him Bhai Vaidya.
I always addressed him as 'Bhai'. In our village, it was an accepted
norm to call a father 'Bhai' and a majority of people followed this
practice. I came in personal contact with Bhalchandra Bhai Vaidya after
my father passed away, therefore I never really missed that close connection
one feels with one's father . Before the re-launching of the Socialist
Party, he used to call me Professor, but I would always call him 'Bhai'. An
invisible thread of the almost familial relationship that developed between us
from the very first meeting continued for all the time ever since.
While he was working in the Socialist Party for the last
seven years, he considered everything suggested by me in the policy matters of
the party very seriously and had an endearing sense of respect which he
displayed clearly. He would give brief hints when was asked about his opinion
about policy decisions, resolutions, memorandums, even press
notes/releases of the party. Whether it was a government decision or a
national-international incident or event, in order to send a statement of
the party, he, as president of the party, used to every time send
an SMS through his mobile phone from Poona, giving some
directions and suggestions regarding it. I worked with him as general secretary
and spokesperson of the party.
I remember when I took a
stand against the so called India Against Corruption (IAC) and the Aam
Aadmi Party, on the basis of the Constitution of India and the socialist
ideology, Bhai always said that the party was firmly behind me. There was no
deviation from any member of the Socialist Party during the deceptive headiness
provoked and organized by those vested interests in defense of
neo-liberalism. This unequivocal support could happen solely due to
Bhai's personality, understanding and ideological perseverance.
He died on 2 April 2018 from
pancreatic cancer, shortly after he was admitted to Poona Hospital on March 26,
barely three weeks after his ailment was first detected. I
learnt about his illness only after he was admitted to the hospital. Dr.
Abhijit Vaidya told me on phone that operation or chemotherapy at his age was
not suitable. He also told that Bhai was insisting to go back home from
the hospital. But this was not to be and he took his last breath in the
clinical confines of the hospital. Several comrades from Poona and
Maharashtra visited him there . The news of Bhai's death was a sudden
blow for the comrades our side Maharashtra.
I
reached Poona on 3rd April to bid a last good-bye to Bhai. His mortal
body was kept for the last glimpse at Sane Guruji Smarak, the headquarters of
the Rashtra Seva Dal (RSD). There was a continuous flow of people from the
morning to the late afternoon who were coming to pay their last salute.
There were a large number of women among them. Sainiks and Sainikayen of the
RSD kept working whole day with promptness to help and facilitate the visitors.
At 4 pm the officers of police administration came and wrapped the body of Bhai
in the national flag. On reaching the crematorium, a police band
played in his respect and he was also given a gun salute, after which his
body was taken to the electric crematorium. This state honor was given to
him due to his position as a former State Home Minister of Maharashtra
(1978-1980) and former Mayor of Poona (1974-75).
I
was surprised that thousands of people participated in the last journey of a
leader who was away from the corridors of power for the past three
decades, who fought anonymously in remote towns and villages
against governments bringing in neo-imperialist slavery to the
nation. People thronged the funeral journey to the cremation ground, a
distance of about two and a half kilometers. Among the crowds that surged
to bid their last farewell and respects, the activists of the Socialist Party
(SPI) and Socialist Yuvjan Sabha (SYS), forcefully raising revolutionary
slogans like 'Bhai Vaidya amar rahe' (Bhai Vaidya will remain immortal), 'Bhai
tere sapano ko ham manzil tak pahunchayenge' (Bhai we will bring your dreams to
the destination), 'Lokshahi samajwad - zindabad zindabad' (democratic socialism
- long live long live), 'Bhai Vaidya ko lal salaam' (red salute to Bhai
Vaidya), 'ladenge jeetenge' (will fight will win), 'samajwad lana hai - bhoolo
mat bhoolo mat' (have to bring socialism - do not forget do not forget), were
merely a fraction of the milling sea of humanity.
Most
of the people present there were not activists but those from the
general civil society. It was evident they were influenced by the rare
personality of Bhai that was an amalgam and wonderful combination of love,
service and compassion. Almost all the newspapers of Marathi and English
published reports on his demise. One newspaper wrote that his honesty was
actually the stuff of legends. I found that like Kishan ji, Bhai had no
sense of bitterness or malice towards anyone. Medieval saints have described
'sahajta' (innateness) as a rare quality which, it is acknowledged that can be
attained only by a rigorous practice of austerities. Bhai had attained this
innate spiritual nature through great perseverance in life.
He participated in the Quit India movement of 1942. When some people were acting as
informers of the imperialists, then at the age of14, Bhai was participating in the decisive
battle of the Independence Movement. Gandhi gave a call for the Quit India
Movement, but it was led by young socialist leaders. It is natural that
in 1946, at the
age of 18, Bhai
became a member of the Congress Socialist Party (CSP). In1948, he joined the Socialist Party, through
which he continued his long political struggle that prominently includes the
Goa Liberation struggle (1955-1961) and the JP Movement 1974-74). During the Emergency he remained in
jail under Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) from 1975 to 1977. He had an important role in the
Rashtra Seva Dal and became its president in 2001. Bhai's wish was that the Rashtra
Sewa Dal should take the responsibility of cadre building for the Socialist
Party so that the youth could be saved from the grip of communal politics.
Bhai
was an MA in Sociology and Political Science. He was a multi-dimensional and
studious person. However, he was essentially a political person. Borne out of
the womb of socialist movement, Bhai, along with Gandhi, was deeply influenced
by the thoughts of Jyotiba Phule and B.R. Ambedkar. At the global level he had
done a thorough study of the ideologies/systems of capitalism and communism. He
used to keep him updated with the articles and books published on various
subjects.
In
my opinion, the political inning of Bhai that started after 1991 is more important. This year, against
the constitutional values and provisions, the Congress imposed New Economic
Policies on the country. At that time senior BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee
had said that "Congress has now taken over the work of his party
(BJP)". This illegitimate decision was to breed the disastrous
consequences for the society and the nation building, to whom the society and
nation are facing. It is true that instead of putting a political fight to the
neo-imperialist attack, most of the socialists made power the goal of politics.
In doing so, they not only destroyed the socialist movement but also defamed
it.
However,
the fact remains that a comprehensive and decisive ideological
challenge to the neo-imperialism was put by the socialists. Socialist leaders/thinkers
such as Kishan Patnaik, Sachchidand Sinha, Vinodprasad Singh, Surendra Mohan,
Bhai Vaidya, Justice Rajindar Sachar, Pannalal Surana, Dr. G.G. Parikh, Sunil
initiated a big venture to create a small but new political stream as a genuine
alternative to neo-imperialism. It is also notable that in the mainstream
politics, socialist leader Chandrashekhar had constantly opposed the New
Economic Policies from the beginning.
Bhai
became the general secretary of Samajwadi Jan Parishad (SJP), formed in 1995. When the Socialist Party was
reinstated in 2011, he was made its president. At that time his age was eighty
plus. He did not want to take this responsibility. But on the insistence of
Justice Sachar and young socialists, he agreed to be the president. He
sustained that responsibility actively. After 1991, Bhai's life was spent in constant
struggle against neo-imperialism. He fought a long struggle against the privatization
of education.
It
is not that other leaders or political organizations are not active in
opposition to neo-imperialism. But they are either confused with the concept of
development or they accept capitalism, the conjoined twin of imperialism, as
the only path of development. Bhai clearly stated in the Socialist Party's
policy statement and in his several comments that actually communists are
not ready to leave the idea and model of capitalist development. They consider
industrialism as the yardstick of development. Bhai used to consider democratic
socialist ideology as an alternative to capitalism. He had firm conviction in
the imminent defeat of capitalism. From this ground of faith, he continued to
inspire Socialist Party workers. That inspiration is alive even after his
death.
Goodbye
Bhai! You rest in peace but the struggle of equality and freedom will continue
against neo-imperialist designs.
(Prem Singh teaches Hindi
at Delhi University and is president of Socialist Party (India)
