Freedom fighter, administrator

THE NATION has been a silent witness to the ephemerality of name and fame of many leaders who adorned public offices. There were those who found themselves marginalised and maligned once out of power while others had to quit in disgrace and be thrown into a state of being totally forgotten, not to speak of some others who were the very embodiment of stinking corruption and official misconduct.

Yet there were a very few stalwarts who were revered and respected and listened to with all esteem and consideration whether in or out of power and whose selfless service to the people at large is remembered with gratitude. To this illustrious category belongs Mr. C. Subramaniam who had left an indelible imprint in the history of India as an outstanding statesman, administrator, politician and an acknowledged leader who had an innate ability to convert challenges into glorious achievements.

Brought out by the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan with which C.S. was closely associated for four decades, this publication, dedicated to the farming community of India, portrays in an absorbing manner the varied facets of the public life of C.S., ranging from his participation in freedom struggle as a student, getting elected to the Constituent Assembly, coming into close contact with Rajaji and Pandit Nehru, to his significant contributions to the development of the nation in general and agriculture and science and technology in particular and getting immortalised for being the architect of the Green Revolution. It will be no exaggeration to say that posterity will remember how Mr. Subramaniam, as Union Food Minister, averted near famine conditions in the 1960s and laid down sound agricultural policies to overcome possible famines in future.

Well known as an able and competent administrator who valued integrity and moral uprightness in public life, C.S., moulded by Rajaji, was a fearless politician who had the guts to call a spade a spade. Power and pelf could not influence his convictions nor motivated criticisms could deflect him from the ideals cherished by him. However, in his last days, C.S. was an unhappy and dejected man seeing the nation slipping into the vortex of moral decay and marring its image due to acts of violence arising out of religious hatred and rivalry.

He quotes Swami Vivekananda as having said that as far as Hinduism was concerned it was not a question of mere tolerance of other religions but the acceptance of all religions as true. This sensitive issue, besides a wide range of other subjects, are reflected poignantly in his write-ups that appeared in the Bhavan's Journal and reproduced in the book under review.

Elaborating on moral decay, C.S. opines that corruption has become a way of life, nay a philosophy of life and the evil is not confined to bribery but it encompasses nepotism and selling one's conscience for achieving personal benefits.

R. PARTHASARATHY

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