TARUN TEJPAL – The Shadow Warrior

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The Shadow Warrior
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Tarun Tejpal - THIS WOULD be an interesting
question. Not how everyone and their tentwallah
judge Manmohan Singh, but what, when he looks
into the mirror, does he make of himself? Does he
see a professorial economist who bust the seams
of possibility by becoming the Prime Minister of
the biggest democracy in the world? Or does he
see a decent, remarkably inoffensive bloke who
also managed to become a decent, remarkably
inoffensive politician? Does he see an efficient
flunkey, living and dying by the whim of the
master? Or does he see an artful leader couched
in the skin of an artless follower? Does he see
strength in his eyes? Or does he see weakness in
his jaw? Is that honesty shining there, or is it
timidity? Is he the handwork of a superior will,
or is he the creation of a lucky accident?
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Wide-eyed moralists imagine history to be a fair
and lofty judge, full of considered
pronouncements. The truth is history struggles to
make sense of the snarl of human affairs. By no
reasonable reckoning ought Manmohan Singh to have
become one of six Indians in 60 years to serve a
full term as a Prime Minister that too of a
coalition government and to be limbering up for
more. Hes never won a Parliamentary election
his oratory would not distract snacking birds he
lacks the common touch or the ringing phrase for
his acumen in statecraft he would be turned back
from the gates of Kautilyas gurukul and if he
has driving ambition its travelling on an
invisible carpet that no one has ever seen. In
fact, if motivational pundits want an
illustration of the fulfillment of undeclared
purpose, here it is. One of the key reasons
Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister may well be
the fact that he never declared that he wished to
be. Perhaps nor did Pranab Mukherjee and Arjun
Singh, but oh it shone so bright in their eyes.
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The simple way for history to read the unusual
Sikh is to say the Bible was right. The meek will
inherit the earth and sometimes the meek will
also be decent and efficient. There can be no
dispute about that his decency and efficiency.
Yet, laudable traits as they are, they are also
routinely found in army officers, film
technicians and swayamsevaks. In the leader of a
billion people you may want to look for more.
Vision, inspiration, courage, will, statecraft
the ability to articulate the soul of a people,
to bend the arc of history to a higher note.
Execution and implementation are indispensable
wonderful things, but there are sound men to do
that, bureaucrats and technocrats, economists and
social workers all of them excellent masons and
carpenters constructing the edifice the architect
has ordained.
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Two crucial questions suggest themselves. For
the last five years, what has Manmohan Singh
really been? The sui generis architect, or merely
the first among the sound men, the implementers
and executors? And secondly, what is the true
nature and value of the edifice he has been
involved in constructing, as architect or as
mason? His obvious personality makes the answer
to both questions tricky and difficult. Some
claim it is a mistake to get fooled by his
manner. His lack of bluster and grandiloquence
the defining traits of Indian politicians does
not mean he is not the man in charge. In fact,
say these admirers, the man is too refined a
political animal to fall for these cheap
affectations and it is the reason why he, and
not the hustlers, is the Prime Minister.
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When tested against the record the theory
flounders. There is nothing in Manmohan Singhs
record that suggests that he has ever been a
prime mover. At every stage there is clear
evidence that he has done what he has been
mandated to do. His stint as Finance Minister
with Narasimha Rao being a good example. Its
fair to contend that as Prime Minister too, he
has carried out the orders of the Congress party,
or more accurately, Sonia Gandhi. The broad and
narrow guidelines have been Sonias the
methodologies perhaps his own. What may be true
is that his ideas have been in reasonable
consonance with Sonias, but what is also true is
that they were played out because they were
Sonias, not because they were his. This is a
somewhat loose statement. Most top decisions are
the consequence of consensus which is anyway
Sonias style but the point is the gentle Sikh
may be the Prime Minister who spent more time
looking over his shoulder than any other in
Indias history.
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In a curious way, it may have actually worked to
his advantage. Given the narrow frame of
economics and corporates that have been his
dominant world, given his lack of political
horse-sense and an idea of the popular pulse,
Sonias overarching shadow pushing to connect
with the underclass, may well have provided him
invaluable navigation. AT THE end of five years
at the helm, a stern reading might see Manmohan
Singh as the uber bureaucrat. Brilliant with
files, notations, doing the sums keeping his
head down, never stepping out of line, ruffling
no feathers, awaiting his cues. Commanding
obedience not by the force of personality, but by
virtue of position. Without the PMs tag he would
lead a procession that would scarcely fill a
corridor of South Block leave alone Ramlila
Maidan. Well, if he is the uber bureaucrat, the
first among the implementers, and at best only a
co-architect, then what is the value of the
project he has been involved in?
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Manmohan Singhs years will be seen as a rampant
reign of the corporate and the wealthy bracketed
between two surges for the aam aadmi. The first
when the UPA came unexpectedly to power and
mouthed the aam aadmi platitudes in sheer
gratitude. The second, in these last nine
months, prodded by the prospect of going back to
a suffering voter. But for the meat of his tenure
the Prime Minister poorly advised or with bad
instinct seemed to exist only for the rich of
this country. Interminably, he was to be found in
inane event after inane event of the business
organisations and the business media. Anyone to
do with serious money could always find time with
him anyone to do with peoples problems and
peoples movements had to pass out quietly at
Jantar Mantar or form a queue outside 10 Janpath.
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IT WAS almost perverse, his fascination with the
rich. The economists awe for those who actually
possess wealth not just analyse it. He appeared
to have misplaced the most important, unalterable
lesson every political leader in India must
completely internalise that first, second and
last, the Prime Minister of India must be seen to
represent in every utterance and act, every
hour that he is in office the poor and
destitute of the country. This is a covenant
beyond argument, till we can educate and feed all
our children, till we have brought down the
numbers of our impoverished to below 10 million.
For the records sake, at present, the figure
hovers at over five hundred million. To be fair,
as an uber bureaucrat he did apply such poultices
as were ordained by the high command, and several
of them, from RTI to NREGS, were full of soul.
But only too often he failed to provide the
presence and the symbolisms that give a ragged,
ravaged country fleeting hope.
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His pronouncements on the Naxalites were
ill-advised his silence on Gujarat and the
Muslim persecutions was deafening the
interventions into farmer suicides ineffectual
and on the most important issue of shoring up
environmental activism and protection, his tenure
may actually prove to have been
counter-productive. In every people versus
corporates battle SEZs, environment he did not
seem to be on the side of the people. The most
charitable explanation and it may well be true
is that he was hobbled by the aggressive
interests of the coalitions constituent parties
and by the avarice of his own ministers. This,
then, serves up the bitter conundrum of an
indisputably honest man who may have presided
over a government of great corruption. It is a
conundrum that gives honesty a bad name.
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At one point the man showed steel and instead
of repairing his sheen, ended up throwing up
fresh questions about his priorities and
allegiances. Only time and real events will tell
us the gains and losses of the nuclear deal, but
for the moment, his image as a World
Bank-American construct stands affirmed. At one
point, the man showed statesmanlike calm and it
will always redound to his great credit. Post
26/11, when the chatterati and the media were
baying for Pakistani blood, the Prime Minister
remained measured, his response redolent of a
great nations sagacity, not a punks fury. In
fact, that may be one of his lasting legacies.
That by just being who he was, he lowered the
political shrillness, moderated cheap tempers. At
its best, this refinement even if of the uber
bureaucrat is what we have to be thankful for.

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It is a sign of the times, and of the state of
national political leadership, that we are
grateful he did not degrade the public discourse
any further, even if he failed to exalt
it. Ironically, history may finally judge him
not by who he was and what he did, but by what
comes after. If the Hindu right-wing consolidates
and comes back, he will be seen as the man who
didnt do enough to stall the storm. If Rahul
Gandhi fulfils the promise of his genes and
acolytes and ushers in a Congress renaissance, he
will be seen as the baton-bearer who provided the
smooth transition. A footnote in an astonishing
family saga. But if we slide into a mish-mash
politics of messy coalitions, contesting
identities, narrow claims, and governance
anarchy, then he will be fondly remembered as the
last of the sane giants. So what does he
possibly see when he looks into the mirror?
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He probably sees a sincere, hardworking man who
rode every accident of history with humility and
gratitude. He probably sees someone truly
exceptional, not great. He probably sees more
decency than courage, more willingness than will.
As the image shimmers, he sees there is a vision,
but perhaps in need of some expansion and
refurbishing. He turns to catch his profile.
The nose and the jaw well, they belong to both
master and follower. He looks into his eyes, and
then over his shoulder. He lets out his breath.
Actually, hes done okay. Given the
circumstances, as well as he could. And if there
is a second chance, he would certainly work
harder at doing better
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It's Written by Tarun J Tejpal. Tarun Tejpal
says Ironically, history may finally judge
Manmohan Singh not by who he was and what he did,
but by what comes after. Tarun Tejpal is a
journalist, publisher, and novelist. In a 26-year
career, Tarun Tejpal has been an editor with the
India Today and the Indian Express groups, and
the managing editor of Outlook, Indias premier
newsmagazine. In March 2000, he started Tehelka,
a news organisation that has earned a global
reputation for its aggressive public interest
journalism. Also you can check Tarun J Tejpal.