good man
| Date :19-Mar-2019 |
THE untimely demise of Mr. Manohar Parrikar has delivered a severe blow to the country. That he was the reigning Chief Minister of Goa, or that he also served as Defence Minister with distinction, are only incidental details about the life and work of Mr. Manohar Parrikar. What was more important was that he was without doubt and beyond words one of the very good people in public life. He played his role in public life like very few would do. And as he did that and passed through the political battles and struggles, Mr. Parrikar earned one common epithet: Good man. True, he was every inch a good man, and nobody grudged him that word of sincere appreciation. When cancer assailed him a few years ago, the whole nation prayed for his well being and hoped that he would win that battle. That he ultimately succumbed to the deadly disease despite all efforts to give him the best treatment, shows how Destiny has Her own idea of how to run the world. But as She takes Mr. Manohar Parrikar away into the zone beyond life, Destiny will realise that she has few friends. For, when a man of the goodness and calibre of Mr. Manohar Parrikar gets plucked from the peak of success in such a manner, everybody grieves, friends and foes alike.
But even though he was in politics, Mr. Parrikar was one of the few persons who did not have any foes in the true sense. He did have opponents, but never foes. For, Mr. Parrikar had endeared himself to one and all because of his disarming smile, friendly behaviour, and accommodative leadership. Even when politics was always a see-saw business in Goa, when one legislator would tilt the balance to the other side, Mr. Parrikar became a darling of one and all, no matter who forms the Government. That was so because forming the Government was his incidental priority. What mattered to him most was the ultimate welfare of the people at all levels. That was the reason people took him as their man, a good man. Even in the keenly fought Goan politics, Mr. Parrikar became acceptable to all across the dividing lines only because of his humane qualities and his ability to mingle with commoners.
The people of Goa will never forget those sights of Mr. Parrikar moving on two-wheelers, stopping by any shop, and meeting people without any inhibitions or trappings of power he enjoyed for long years. These attributes he earned as a swayamsevak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. However, it is necessary to recount the contribution Mr. Parrikar made as Defence Minister. As he headed the critical ministry, he also fought his private and personal battle with the disease. But never did he allow anybody to get the actual idea of his trauma. His smile remained unaffected by the trauma, his commitment to people’s betterment unwavered.
To the idea of national security, he intended to give an altogether different shape. As Defence Minister, he achieved that goal like very few of his predecessors did. It was during his Defence Ministership that first and immensely successful surgical strikes were conducted across the border in Pakistan-held territory. It was during his tenure that India drew up a very ambitious plan to refurbish the Defence Forces in all the aspects of a standing Army. He gave an authentic and assertive leadership to the defence acquisition and modernisation programmes. His mastery is in both areas of leadership -- of details as well as of human management. Death is the final destination of all. But in Mr. Parrikar’s case, She made a terrible haste in taking him away. He really went away at a wrong time when the country needed people like him for principled leadership. True, India is lucky to have many such leaders even today. But a Parrikar would have added tremendous value to the galaxy. From now on, the national and Goan politics will never remain the same. People on both sides of the divide will miss him. So will we. Our salutes to the Good Man.