As prime minister and as a human being, Dr Manmohan Singh embodied a quality long forgotten in Indian public life – decency. The debasement of language and actions in today’s political world, which often spills over to social media, often makes it seem that this is what India was always like.
A prime minister who has no hesitation in talking of kabristans and shamshans, who shows no interest in citizens being killed in Manipur and who presides over an apparatus which creates polarisation that leads to lynchings and deaths is now considered normal – a vast proportion of young Indians have no memory of anything else. Manmohan Singh for them is something their parents (may) talk about.
For those who remember him, and perhaps owe their prosperity to his policies, first as a finance minister in 1991 and then as prime minister for 10 years, Singh was under Sonia Gandhi’s thumb and is the man whose government was accused of monumental corruption.
History is not the strongest suit of contemporary Indians – unless it is mythology about ancient India’s supposed achievements – so no one bothers to know that Singh’s tenure opened up the economy to foreign investment, removed bureaucratic control for Indian companies and thus, set off record growth that was never seen before or since.
This growth was not limited to oligarchs or cronies. Middle class Indians too became rich and were buying foreign goods they had never seen before, from their neighbourhood shops. An entire generation grew up without the shortages their parents had seen. Post 2004, the world was making a beeline to India and everyone was convinced that India’s moment in the sun had arrived. The India story had just begun.
Not just the economy, but his tenure saw progressive legislation such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, Right to Information and the setting up of the office of Lokpal also passed.
All this was done without chest thumping or loud proclamations of being a Vishwaguru. Singh was a much respected person; Barack Obama said he valued his opinions. Singh did not need to hug anyone to prove to Indians that he was close to prime ministers and presidents around the world. He did not have “bhakts.”
Also read: Manmohan Singh: A Man of Integrity Among the Unscrupulous
Singh freely talked to the press, and often the newspapers were critical of his government. He didn’t mind, nor send the Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation, Income Tax or any other government investigative agency against them. That was not the democratic culture and certainly not his.
The Bharatiya Janata Party launched several ad hominem attacks on him; instead of criticising his policies, they made it personal. They called him “Maunmohan” because he did not speak much. Sushma Swaraj said the prime minister had lost his grace. Others said much more and much worse. His own left partner, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was relentless in their attacks on him. He must have felt hurt but he held his counsel. He was not into cheap remarks or jibes. He had dignity – both personal and because of his high office. That dignity seems to have simply vanished.
The public was sceptical when the Congress defeated Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s National Democratic Alliance government in 2004. The stock market fell by over 15% when the results came in, the highest-ever fall in one day in percentage terms. Five years later, when the Congress won again, with more seats, the markets went up by over 17% in one day, another record. Manmohan Singh would be back as prime minister, the country was happy.
