By Devender Singh Aswal
Dr Murli Manohar Joshi turned 90 on 5 January, 2024. His followers, admirers and well-wishers converged on his residence, 6 Raisina Road, New Delhi, an iconic bungalow he occupies since the days of the Vajpayee Government when he was Union Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Ocean Development. The celebrations were befitting the 90th birthday of an adorable elder statesman, scientist, scholar and, above all, an incredible encyclopaedia of India’s great cultural and civilisational heritage. While 5th January was the day for general greetings and felicitations, on the following day, his gracious and gifted daughters – Priyamvada and Nivedita, one excelling the other, organised a conversation on Sustainable World: A Vision for the Future. The conversation opened with erudite introductory remarks by the moderator, Pavan K Varma, former diplomat, scholar and ex-Rajya Sabha MP. The Opening Note was delivered by Dr Karan Singh, a contemporary of Dr Joshi in Parliament and a revered political philosopher and statesman.
The joie de vivre of the solemn event was set in tone with the nostalgic remarks by the daughters of Dr Joshi and a short artistic documentary prepared by them showcasing fleetingly some major accomplishments of Dr Joshi covering his long political journey. As Union Minister, HRD (now Education), Culture and Science and Technology, Dr Joshi introduced science and mathematics in the madrasas, enhanced the budget for promotion of Urdu language, introduced the much acclaimed Mid-Day Meal scheme and innovation mission to promote science and technology and made the Right to Education a Fundamental Right, etc. The nation can never be oblivious of the singular contribution of Dr Joshi in securing the patents for many indigenous products and herbs which would have been appropriated by the west but for his timely intervention and convincing articulations. The documentary also depicted some of the prestigious awards conferred on him and the hoisting of national flag at the Lal Chowk, Srinagar, on 26 January, 1992, marking the historic conclusion of his Ekta Yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir as the BJP President. However, the documentary conspicuously missed the visuals of a triumphant Dr Joshi and the key role played by him in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement.
Pavan Varma, the discussion moderator, while alluding to the many enriching contributions of Dr Joshi, referred him as the member of the Marg Darshak Mandal of the BJP. Dr Karan Singh, in his opening note, glowingly referred to his association with Dr Joshi as a member of parliament spanning over a span of over many eventful decades and shared his considered personal thoughts on the occasion. He, time and again, referred to Dr Joshi as ‘Panditji’ and hesitantly said that he can only congratulate Dr Joshi on his 90th birthday but as he himself is 93 years old, he may extend, he said mirthfully, ‘aashirvad’, which Dr Joshi accepted without demur. Dr Vandana Shiva, a renowned environmental activist, food sovereignty advocate and scholar, was quite appreciative of the contribution of Dr Joshi in the field of sustainable consumption and the threats of skewed globalisation. Vandana Shiva and Dr Joshi share common ground insofar as the vital issues of sustainable consumption and India’s food sovereignty are concerned. There is a certain perceptual and ideological bond between them as, I recall, Dr Vandana Shiva gave her invaluable testimony before the Estimates Committee of the Lok Sabha chaired by Dr Joshi on environmental issues. Sanjoy Roi, another panelist, highlighted the exceedingly wasteful consumption and stressed the need for educating the people to curtail waste and to promote sharing of resources.
In his key birthday address, Dr Joshi defined and underlined the need for sustainable human consumption in the finite world which is in-expandable. As a physicist, he referred to Rene Descartes and Bacon and referred to his favourite themes of conservation and sustainable consumption qua the lopsided development leading to deprivation, widening inequities and environmental depredations. Posing a philosophic question with a sense of wonder whether there could be real ‘equality’ in the prevailing economic order, where, as Pavan Verma said, there is a widening chasm between the poor and the rich, Dr Joshi underscored the need for at least a dignified existence of every individual as a human being. Dr Joshi has been a vocal critic of unequal globalisation much before Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz, who frontally assailed globalisation and its discontents. Notably, Amit Mitra, then secretary General of FICCI, and a renowned economist, had hailed Dr Joshi a precursor of Stiglitz, for his deep reservation about the very nature of globalisation.
The exploitation of natural resources driven by greed more than need, hurting and polluting the environment was a recurring refrain. Dr Joshi said that economists in India scarcely talk of the contribution of the Himalayas in the Indian GDP, while western economists have measured it as 44 percent of the Indian economy. He alluded to the multiple and immeasurable contributions of the Himalayas to our nation – economic, geographical, defence, cultural and, above all, spiritual. Himalaya is a place where the disquieted or the inquisitive from across the world seek ultimate shelter and solace. An unmindful and rapacious exploitation of the Himalayas without due regard for its geomorphology, he cautioned, is fraught with adverse consequences as demonstrated by many natural disasters.
The conversations were enriching, highly contextual and contemporaneous. The select gathering comprised, chiefly, writers, environmentalist, scientists and social activists. It was a novel, innovative birthday celebration. Dr Joshi was his usual razor sharp in intellect and memory, without trace of any rancour or sense of deprivation, as many saw in him a potential president of our republic. Age cannot wither his memory nor custom stale his profound scholarship, nor diminish his concern for our nation and the Mother Earth.
(The author is a Delhi based Advocate.)
