Yes, Prime Minister! Silence is golden

Sandeep Sinha

It was a delight to hear former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speak at Panjab University on Wednesday, not so much for the things he said, but what he left unsaid. The economist in him was evident in the economy of his words and the gentleman in him desisted from attacking political rivals. “Hazaron jawabon se achchi hai meri khamoshi, na jane kitne sawalon ki aabru rakh li,” he had remarked recently in a riposte to the criticism that he was not forthcoming enough. There were some great moments though like when the audience gave him a standing ovation and even when the clapping stopped, the VC continued, and the crowd joined in again. Those who came in earlyhad to stand up four times, twice when the PU anthem was rehearsed, once when the PU anthem was played after Singh arrived and finally towards the end when the National Anthem was played.

The former PM stuck to his subject for lecture making one wonder if he was a politician among the economists and an economist among the politicians.

The demeanour of Manmohan Singh was dignified and the ebullience of a run-of-the-mill politician absent. He arrived dot on time and the speech lasted barely half an hour, shorn of rhetoric, before an audience of students and teachers.

The speeches of eminent public figures have always been of great interest.

Jawaharlal Nehru’s tryst with destiny speech and John F Kennedy’s “We shall never fear to negotiate, but never negotiate out of fear” is part of lore. Winston Churchill’s “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight in the streets… but we shall never surrender” jacked up the morale of his countrymen as German Luftwaffe bombers rained fire from the skies.

I had the chance to listen to the speeches of some of our public personalities and admired the way they held the audience in thrall. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, long before he became the Prime Minister, came to address a rally in our town. I still remember the silk kurta he wore and an immaculately white dhoti with a blue border. “Nyaya chahte ho toh ukhar phenko rajshahi ko,” he said in his characteristic style, accompanied by a pause, to some of young men pleading for justice in a murder case. He did not know the background but improvised and then began a tirade against the Central Government.

Chandrashekhar was equally flamboyant. He had this habit of requesting people to donate just Re 1 at the rally after his padyatras. Critics sniggered it was his party’s way of turning black money into white. But he was a leader who connected well with the masses.

George Fernandes was a leader who could berate the crowd. He was an MP from the constituency where we lived. There had been an incident of gang rape by police personnel. Fernandes was reading out a newspaper report related to the incident at a nukkad sabha. The crowd tittered as Fernandes read out the report. “Tumhari isi napunsakta ki wajah se aise incident hote hain,” he told the crowd, which fell silent, chastised. Charan Singh was equally blunt. The crowd at his meeting started raising slogans in protest. “Jo sharif hon woh ruke, baki chale jayein,” he told them in no unequivocal terms.

Unlike Rahul Gandhi who is still shaping up, his grandmother Indira Gandhi was combative as she had to face a struggle for succession from the old guards. India Gandhi had the habit of raising the Pakistan bogey while her son Rajiv’s “Nani yaad dila denge” speech created a furore. HD Deve Gowda, the humble farmer from Hardanhalli, whom critics gently disparaged as “fumble harmer”, rued his lack of eloquence in speech after he lost the trust vote in Lok Sabha.

PV Narasimha Rao was criticised for his indecision but was a relatively successful PM. In his defence, one can quote from the French Nobel laureate Andre Gide’s The Immoralist, “I do not indeed claim that neutrality is the certain mark of a great mind, but I believe that very great minds have been very loath to conclude and that to state a problem clearly is not to suppose it solved in advance.”

Parkash Singh Badal had the tendency for Congress bashing. “Je angrezan ne nai kitta, je Mughlan ne nai kitta, oh sadde desh di Congress di sarkar ne kitta hai.” How many takers were there for this is not known, but it is an example of their art of communicating with the people. The leaders and their speeches are the colours of a rainbow that leaps across our political spectrum. Take your pick!