Prof Jasbir Singh
In India it is said,
I” meaning king is worshiped in his country but the scholar is respected everywhere. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya is a living example of this idea. His every thought and word made him a unique personality in the world. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya is an unparallel example of how a leader should be in social life, how to live up to the democratic values and imbibe the morals and ethos of this great country India. Born on September 25, 1916 (Ashwin Krishna Trayodashi, Samvat 1973) in the village of Nagla Chandraban, now called Deendayal Dham, near the town of Farah in Mathura District which is about 26 Kms from Mathura, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideas are significantly relevant in the present time. Every time one reads, speaks, thinks, and discusses his thoughts, one experiences freshness, a new perspective, a novelty in his words and thoughts.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya is revered by all, irrespective of different ideologies. In his political career he maintained cordial relations with everyone. He wrote his political diary, in which he openly criticized the Nehru government policies on security, food, and agriculture. But when he published his diary in the form of a book, he got its foreword written by Congress leader and the then UP Chief Minister Shri. Sampurnanand. In his foreword, he commented that this book is a “psychological glow” for future readers. Today, we are observing how this ‘glow’ of the thoughts of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya is spreading its shine in the whole of India. Based on this, India is marching towards modernization and taking on the reins of world leadership.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was never been convinced by the extreme ideologies and thoughtless imitation the Western thoughts. In 1947 India achieved political independence but Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay was one of those thinkers in India who believed in Swaraj of ideas. It means decolonization of ideas, that is decolonization of Indian minds. India was free politically but ideologically colonial hangover was there. His relevance lies in the fact that in political, social, and cultural discourse, he introduced the basic concept of Indian philosophy.
According to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya every individual is subject to certain obligations and regulations. Rights of the executive, of the legislature, and the people, are determined and regulated by Dharma (His Dharma is confused by many with religion rather than the principles of governance). Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya looked forward to identify desirable goals for Indian society and the intellectual and spiritual basis for their attainment. But his political philosophy has remained largely undebated. In the era of neo-liberalism, a debate on national identity must be undertaken to highlight the need to develop a broader framework of national integration and national identity.
The first national-level conference of Bharatiya Jan Sangh held from December 29-31, 1952 was meticulously organized under the supervision of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya. His organizing skills were unparalleled. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee was so impressed by his skills and capacity that he remarked, “If I had two Deendayals, I could transform the political face of India!”
R. Balashanker in his article in Indian Express on September 24, 2016, wrote that Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was to the BJP what Mahatma Gandhi was to Congress. This statement shows the relevance of Upadhyaya in the political development at that time. However, the sudden and untimely death of Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in 1953 left the entire responsibility and burden of the organization on his young shoulders. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya served as the General Secretary for nearly 15 years and raised the organization with high spirits and enthusiasm, thereby making it one of India’s strongest political parties. By 1957, Bharatiya Jan Sangh had 243 regional and 889 local committees. At the 14th annual session of Bharatiya Jan Sangh in Calicut in December 1967, Pandit Deendayal was elected as the president.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was active in India’s political life from 1937 to 1968. He emerged as an all-round national leader but when this seasoned leader emerged as President of his party, destiny took him away in a gory incident. On February 11, 1968, he was mysteriously murdered and his dead body was found at the Mughalsarai railway station (in August 2018 it is renamed to Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Junction).
And his body was brought to the residence of Sh. Atal Bihari Vajpayee at 30, Rajender Prasad Marg where Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya used to stay while in Delhi. Sh. Golwalkarji approached Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s dead body, his eyes filled with tears and he could only say in a choked voice, “Oh what has happened to him! Many people run families, they can imagine the loss. Since I do not run a family, my sorrow is hundredfold. I won’t say anything about our personal relations. All that I can say is those whom the Gods love, die young.” “The heart is filled with sorrow. One wonders how all this could have occurred; this is a matter of investigation.”
Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s sentiments were expressed through the article, ‘We accept the challenge’, therefore, “Come, let us consider every drop of Panditji’s blood as the holy mark on our foreheads and move towards the ideals he lived and worked for. We should take every spark from his funeral pyre to our hearts and work to our utmost like him. We should turn the bones of this Dadhichi into stones and hurl them on the enemies so that our sacred soil is free of all roadblocks. A small lamp has been extinguished, We’ll have to fight darkness by lighting our lives, the sun has set, We’ll have to find our way in the light of the stars. ‘Our friend companion and guide is gone. We’ll have to cherish his sacred memory and move on to achieve our objectives.”
There are many stories and interpretations regarding the death of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya but it was a well-planned murder of a saint, philosopher, and a great thinker. Generally, such tragedies and murders remain unsolved and buried in the pages of history. But this death needs to be investigated and the truth should come out as the people would like to know how a sage who from a humble start rose to the heights of glory but fell into the jaws of death so soon. His death is shocking and mysterious which may remain unsolved though in 2017 his niece and several other leaders demanded a fresh probe into his murder.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya considered man supreme. According to him, “Man, the highest creation of God, is losing his own identity. We must re-establish him in his rightful position, bring him the realization of his greatness, re-awaken his abilities, and encourage him to attain the divine heights of his latent personality. This is possible only through a decentralized economy. Swadeshi and decentralization are the two words that can briefly summarise the economic policy suitable for the present circumstances.” He considered any development policy that is without human touch or humans at the forefront will not be able to achieve development. To him, an independent nation cannot progress if it relies upon western concepts like individualism, democracy, socialism, communism, capitalism, etc. At the same time, he hailed modern technology and western science but wanted to adapt blended to the conditions best suited to Indians. The concept of the mixed economy has also not been accepted by him as this concept could not determine the ideology /philosophy of its own rather had copied some of the components from capitalist as well as socialist thinking. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was of the view that western science might help one to move forward but thoughtless imitation of the western way of life and value system may harm the socio-economic and moral value system embedded in india’s rich traditions and ancient culture. His main thrust was on nationalism and value-based politics.
The central theme of the concept of Integral Humanism of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was the native model adopted in every aspect of the life of the nation. His arguments start with the basic foundation of Bharatiya (Indigenous Indian Model) culture and value system which are with us from the very beginning. The concept of unity in diversity followed by our leaders during the post-independence period, according to him, in various forms was central to the Bharatiya culture since time immemorial. There was complementarity underlying the diversity which is simply a manifestation of the internal unity. He was a firm believer that there is no conflict in social life in diverse cultures as “Conflict is not a sign of culture or nature; rather it is a symptom of perversion.” His main idea in this regard was that a nation’s culture should form the basis of independence. And act as a spinal cord of the socio-economic and political structure of the country.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was very clear when he mentioned that culture does not mean a worship of any deity or sect but it is related to the one(integrated) culture of our country. The integration of humans, according to him, is of both collective and of individual life and their well-being. Under Integral Humanism the needs of individuals combined with others can be satisfied. According to him, “We have thought of life as Integral not only in the case of collective or social life but also in the individual life.” This was the reason he hit hard on those who wanted to make an opportunity from the sacrifices of others to attain independence in India. He said, “If culture does not form the basis of independence, then the political movement for independence would reduce simply to a scramble by selfish and power-seeking people”
The treatise of Integral Humanism as propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhaya clearly states that any system which does not receive primacy is bound to degenerate. He derived the concept of Integral Humanism from the age-old wisdom of Indian seers who revealed this wisdom to mankind several thousand years ago. Deendayal Upadhyaya gave an alternative thought tracing its origins to the non-dualistic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta, as integral humanism propagates the oneness of various souls.
To understand Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s philosophy it is important to understand the objectives of humankind as propounded by him. According to him, humankind has four attributes of body, mind, intellect, and soul which correspond to four universal objectives, Kama (desire or satisfaction), artha (wealth), dharma (moral duties), and moksha (total liberation or salvation). For him, dharma is the basic and moksha the ultimate objective of humankind and society. Those who consider the problems of body and mind are always pursuing the materialist objectives of desire and wealth.
The philosophy of Integral Humanism advocates the simultaneous and integrated programme of the body, mind, intellect and soul of each human being. His philosophy of Integral Humanism, which is a synthesis of the material and the spiritual, the individual and the collective, bears eloquent testimony to this. In the field of politics and economics, he was realistic and down to earth. He visualized for India a decentralized polity and self-reliant economy with the village as the base.
In short, if one looks at the evidence Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya can be recognized as a great philosopher with conviction, a sociologist with a grassroot understanding of society, an economist to talk about the last person in society, and a political thinker who dares to oppose inefficiency and corruption in the political system. Giving utmost importance to human beings in the process of development he presented a model for development under Integral Humanism which should be an Indigenous socio-economic model having humans at the centre stage of the development process. Taking into account the wellbeing of individuals Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya propagated that Integral Humanism should ensure a dignified life for every human being in the society while balancing the needs of the individuals and the society as well. In most of his political statement, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya appeared convinced that the country’s future lay in the hands of this common man and felt that it was essential to acquaint him with modern realities. He wrote, “I will not assess the advancement of my country, by what the government did or what the scientists achieved but I will assess the advancement of my country, in terms of the advancement of the man in village, in terms of his ability to provide better life to his children.”
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya declared himself as a karma yogi, seeking to bring about these goals and he asked everyone to act in like manner. In his presidential address in 1967, he concluded with a string expression of support for the poor and powerless, “Every countryman is blood of our blood and flesh of flesh. We shall not rest till we are able to give everyone a sense of pride that they are children of Bharatmata. We shall make Mother India Sujala, Suphala (laden with fruits and overflowing with water) in the real sense of these words.”
His Integral Humanism enhances not only politically but also economic and social democracy and freedom. It seeks to promote diversity, best suited to a country as diverse as India.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya’s philosophy of Nation First and nationalism is at the forefront of India’s foreign policy which is free from any external pressure and influence. Not only this he has given us the philosophy of Nation First, harmony with nature. India is showing the same path to the world by leading the International Solar Alliance currently. His ideas are considered to involve the spirit of India, the psyche of India, the values of India, and the contemplation journey of India from the Vedas to Vivekananda, all these thoughts are reflected in the contemplation of Deendayal, so he used to talk about an economy that includes the whole India, in which the diversity of the whole India is reflected. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya not only prepared a cadre for the ideology of cultural nationalism but also gave a strong base for the organization to realize the ideals propounded by him. Today, the country is realizing this vision with the mantra of Vocal for Local. Today, the self-reliant India campaign is becoming a medium for building the future of the country’s village-poor, farmer, Agricultural labourer and middle class people. How to improve the standard of living of the person standing on the last rung, how to increase the ease of living, its efforts are being proved today. Ujjwala Yojana, Jan Dhan accounts, Kisan Samman Nidhi, toilets in every house, houses for every poor. Today, the country has moved forward many steps ahead and has proudly moved on the path of development.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya laid special emphasis on the need for self-reliance for the unity and integrity of the country. During the India-Pak war in 1965, India had to depend on weapons from abroad. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya propogated to make India self-sufficient not only in food grains but also in the field of weapons and ideas. Now, India is moving forward to fulfill this vision. Today, defence corridors are being built in India, indigenous weapons are being made, and fighter jets like Tejas are also flying in the air. If self-reliance in the field of weapons is strengthening the power of India and the economy of India, then India is giving leadership in many areas to the world today with self-reliance of thought.
The present government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bringing about many changes in the country. The stature of India is increasing in the world making every Indian proud in the country and in diaspora The present government also stresses the policies that talk of Nation First, consider patriotism as a core of ideology is a great tribute to the son of soil Pandit Deendayalji.
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was never against any system or progress of the systems working around the world. His only concern was that Indian systems and attributes are never to be forgotten. Maybe the developed nations of today might have started their journey towards development few years ago but Indian principles of development have been there for centuries together and were destroyed under the influence of outsiders whether they were invaders or traders. Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya cannot be dismissed on the ground that he was an idealist but his Integral Humanism is concerned with a more human touch to every economic policy which should be value-based for the ultimate salvation of mankind and a strong nation.
(The author is Chair Professor, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya UGC -Chair University of Jammu, Jammu)
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