“History would have been different”

Leaders from various parties on Wednesday assembled here to pay tributes to veteran Marxist leader, Jyoti Basu, said that he commanded national respect as a politician who followed party discipline and remained steadfast to his ideals.

The common thread was the manner in which he toiled for the poor and those who remained on the margins, one who initiated land reforms, strengthened democracy by extending it to panchayats and worked for communal harmony and an inclusive society. They said he lent stature to the political post and many said that had he become the Prime Minister in 1996, the course of history would have been different.

Union Ministers Pranab Mukherjee (Congress), Farooq Abdullah (National Conference) paid their homage as did a galaxy of leaders including Mulayam Singh (SP), Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Prakash Karat (CPI-M), A.B. Bardhan (CPI), Debabrata Biswas (AIFB).

Representatives of the Telugu Desam, Janata Dal (Secular), Revolutionary Socialist Party, Shiromani Akali Dal, Nationalist Congress Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and AIADMK and United Marxist Leninist (Nepal) also joined the meeting.

Mr. Mukherjee highlighted Jyoti Basu’s interpretation of the Constitution vis-À-vis the role of the head of a coalition government in the late 1960s, reflecting his pragmatic approach and that it remained relevant even now.

The Congress leader said that in the late 1960s the CPI(M) leader said in a coalition the leader of the government cannot exercise Constitutional supremacy of a head of the government since the decisions are taken collectively by constituent units in it.

CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan described him as a leader of the communist movement whose work in the West Bengal government remained a bright chapter.

Mr. Karat recalled that during his meeting in December, Mr. Basu remained concerned over the lack of growth of the party and cautioned that the movement was facing a tough time requiring greater effort and struggle.

The former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal said the Sikhs were beholden to him for his deft handling of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

AIADMK MP V. Maitreyan said just as Jyoti Basu’s visionary land reforms, the party leader M.G Ramachandran’s nutritious meal for school children got adopted into national policy.

CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury said besides being an able administrator who took several initiatives, Jyoti Basu was known to stand up and be counted when conditions were adverse and handled situations bravely.

Rich Tributes to Jyothibasu in Assam

Leaders of different political parties, intellectuals, artists in the State paid tributes to former West Bengal Chief Minister and Communist leader Jyoti Basu at a condolence meeting organised by the State unit of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) here on Wednesday.

“Jyoti Basu was the symbol of left, democratic and secular forces of the country. He led from the front in the struggle for improving the country’s federal structure through restructuring of the Centre-State relations, democratic movement both inside and outside the parliamentary institutions, struggle for life and livelihood of the working class to build a modern India and a developed country,” stated the resolution adopted at the condolence meeting.

The condolence resolution also mentioned about Jyoti Basu’s contribution to left and democratic movement of Assam and his long association with the movement of railway workers of the State during his initial years of political life. It also took note of the fact that Jyoti Basu’s father became a physician from erstwhile Berry White Medical School (the present Assam Medical College located in upper Assam town Dibrugarh).

The meeting chaired by senior State CPI(M) leader Hemen Das was attended and addressed by the leaders of Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), CPI, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Assam United Democratic Front (AUDF), Janata Dal (Secular) and RCPI.

Leaders of these parties specially mentioned how under Jyoti Basu’s leadership, the Left Front government embarked on land reforms in West Bengal on an unprecedented a scale in the country; instituted the panchayati raj system which gave the poor peasants and small farmers a say in running the panchayat institutions and ensured a corruption-free local self governance and how West Bengal became an oasis of communal harmony and secular values under his 23-year record tenure.

Jyoti Basu also set a very high standard for leaders of other political parties of maintaining party discipline when he abided by the decision of his own party not to join the United Front government even when the post of Prime Minister was offered to him, the leaders said.

Among other speakers former vice chancellor of Gauhati University Deva Prasad Barua and Editor, Dainik Asom and retired bureaucrat Jyoti Prasad Saikia recalled some of their personal interactions with Jyoti Basu to highlight his personality, value-based politics, honesty and other qualities of a true mass leader and a perfect administrator while paying tribute to the great leader.

(Courtesy : The Hindu)