The Titan among Human Rights Intellectuals and a Great Humanist
Dr. R.M. Pal*
Mr. V.M. Tarkunde died on 22 March 2004. His loss is irreparable. Many liberals were Mr. Tarkunde’s admirers. This issue contains a letter from G.S. Bhargava, a renowned journalist, and one such admirer.
I used to address VMT as Comrade Tarkunde until a few years ago. When almost all of his old associates and colleagues started addressing him as Tarkunde Sahib, I also switched over to this mode of address. Comrade Tarkunde was a close associate of Romrade Roy. He contributed considerably towards the framing of the 22 Theses of Radical/New Humanism. I first met him in 1948 during the study camp held at a forest house in Dehradun, not far from the Indian Military Academy. It is there I observed that Comrade Roy and Ellen heavily relied on Com. Tarkunde for many things. He helped them financially. When he started his practice on his return to Mumbai after the dissolution of the Radical Democratic Party, of which he was General Secretary 1943 to 1948, he used to send money every month fgor the Roys’ maintenance. I came in close contact with him in 1952-53 winter when he and Chitratai – that’s how Mrs. Tarkunde would be addressed affectionately – came to Dehradun with their 5 month old daughter Manik and an ayah. Tarkunde came to look after Roy who was ailing at that time. Just about that time, Roy had started recovering from his attack of cerebral thrombosis.
When I came in his contact in 1969 when he again returned to Delhi to start his legal practice at the Supreme Court of India. I was pleasurably surprised to see him one ev4ening at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences where I was admitted for a general check-up. He told me that he had heard from a friend, Ram Singh, that I was not well and that I was admitted to the hospital. I hope it is nothing very serious, he told my wife and I when he stepped into the room where I was staying. He said, I have a number of projects in which I want your assistance so you can’t afford to stay in a hospital. On my discharge, I visited him a number of times at his Defence Colony residence. He had already planned to hold an All India Conference of Radicals to start the Radical Humanist Association. Vimal Prasad Jain and Advocate Suhash Malik and his wife Dr. Gauri Bazaz helped him in this project. He then brought the Radical Humanist weekly from Kolkata and started publishing it as a monthly magazine as its editor, from Delhi. Pandit Prem Nath Bazaz was its Managing Editor. Ram Singh, Vimal Prasad Jain, Suhas Malik, and later I were asked to join him. We would assemble at his Maharani Bagh home once every month. By this time R.L. Nigam also shifted to Delhi and he too joined the monthly.
Tarkunde had many un-Indian qualities. I will refer to one such. He would always appreciate any good work done by his colleagues. When I was Managing Editor of the RH, VMT once went to London to spend some time with his sister, a consultant in Radiology. In his absence I wrote a brief editorial note. He wrote to me from London, highly appreciating the note and asking me to write more often.
I returned from UK during the latter part of the Emergency. I was told by my colleagues that I was also on the list of those to be arrested. My friend, Dr. G.R. Dalvi told me that we would all face the situation together and that I should not go back to the UK. VMT said that now not many people were being arrested so that I might think of staying back. Two radical friends whose advice I accepted and who gave me moral courage were Dr. G.R. Dalvi and Maman Chand. And of course VMT.
Some of his old RDP colleagues, specially from Gujarat and Mumbai, were very unhappy with him and Prof. Rajni Kothari. I went to the US in 1994 where I was invited to a number of places to speak on the state of human rights in India, thanks to our friend Prof. Dhirubhai Sheth of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies set up by Rajni Kothari in Delhi. I was invited by the Indian Association at Chicago. My host, an old RDP member who had attended the Mussoorie Study Camp in 1949, did not mince words. He said Rajni and VMT had been very unkind to Mrs. Gandhi. I could understand that my host was not an admirer of Indira Gandhi but was very critical of a number of leaders in the Janata Party. My host and a few others thought that the Janata Party leaders were not capable of keeping India united. India will fall apart in their hands, they were convinced. They were all critical of Morarji Desai – a self-righteous man like him cannot be democratic and cannot run the affairs of the country. Once I made a cryptic reference to this to VMT. He got angry. He said I and many colleagues in the RDP lost our political base and because unpopular primarily because we fought against fascism. I cannot compromise with the fascist practice of Mrs. Gandhi. Look at her arresting an old man and freedom fighter Bhim Sen Sachar and Jayaprakash Narayan. Come what may, we must stand up against her. VMY did not compromise with people who were with Mrs. Gandhi. During the M.N. Roy Centenary Celebrations, of which I was Member-Secretary, Mr. Brahm Dutt, an old RDP member, told me one day that we should write to the UP Chief Minister requesting him for a grant for the celebrations projects. I asked VMT to write a letter to Brahm Dutt who was Finance Minister in the UP Government. He declined to write because the latter had joined Mrs. Gandhi. I then wrote to Brahm Dutt Ji and the UP government sanctioned a grant of Rs. 5 lakhs. But for that money the work of the Selected Works of M.N. Roy could not have started.
I don’t know anyone in present day India who saw the danger of fascism in communalism represented by saffron/Hinduised/religious nationalism which is preached by the Hindutvadi BJP leaders, except VMT. Even when he fell ill he wrote a number of short pieces on the subject. I have myself written fairly extensively on the human rights violations caused by communalism and the caste system. Once I requested him to write on the subject for the PUCL Bulletin. He wrote under the title “To speak for Reservation is not Casteism”. This piece was reproduced in the Radical Humanist. In his J.P’s Memorial Lecture he said, “I am of the view that the communalist nationalism represents a far greater danger to Indian democracy than personal authoritarian rule.” That communalism and religious Fascism was a strongly held view by VMT. When the BJP came to power with the active help of a few other parties VMT began to write about it. It is in this context that he said that people who have no choice in the next election might vote for the Congress Party. which comment has been resented by many liberals supporting the BJP. How could he recommend Mrs. Gandhi’s party? I may mention here VMT’s strong dislike for Hindu communalism. Once, one evening, he invitged a few of us for dinner on the occasion of A.B. Shah’s visit to Delhi. A.B. Shah spoke scathingly about Muslim communalism. VMT almost lost his temper and spoke about the fascist character of Hindu communalism. R.L. Nigam and I saved the situation. We took away A.B. Shah to one side and he stopped speaking on this subject.
One last observation. The condolence meeting for Tarkunde in Delhi was very well organized except for one thing. Not many people liked Arun Shourie sitting on the dais. His speech was also not related to the subject matter, i.e., condolence. He spoke about the Communists and M.N. Roy not joining the freedom struggle. Many people would have engaged in an argument with him had the subject been Fascism, the philosophy, practice and profession of fascism. I don’t know in India anyone else who wrote so much on the subject as has been done by VMT.
Tarkunde’s death means the end of an institution, one that represented a strong stance against fascism, communal Hinduism, and which stood up for human rights and humanism. His loss is a loss to all that is decent and moral in our society.
- This piece appeared in The Radical Humanist, No. 410, May 2004.
*Dr. R.M. Pal was a close associate of M.N. Roy and a veteran Radical Humanist. He was an editor of The Radical Humanist. He has also been President of PUCL Delhi and Editor of PUCL Bulletin. He was teaching English Literature and was Principal of Rajdhani College, New Delhi.