99.CHO: AN INSTITUTION FALLS !

99.CHO : AN INSTITUTION FALLS!

IN THE passing of Cho Ramaswamy, we have not just lost a colourful figure and mighty personality. A whole institution has fallen.

Many Sided Personality

People are generally aware of the many sided personality of Cho, and his achievements and contributions to various fields. He traversed with consummate ease and aplomb theatre and cinema, literature and politics, religious lore and current public affairs. He was essentially a critic, holding a mirror to the society to reflect on its own foibles and failures. Behind it were sound scholarship and natural genius. His writings were laced with humor and subtle satire. He did not spare anyone or anything from his critical assessment. He at the same time made people pause and examine their own opinions and assumptions. In this he acted as a conscience keeper.

 But the man in him was without malice or personal ill-will. His criticism stemmed from first principles and not from personal agenda or prejudices, or expectation of reward. This is the reason why he could maintain cordial relations even with those who were subject to his criticism. He had the courage to disagree, without being disagreeable. His humour softened the harsh edges of his judgement.

From Theatre to Journalism

I want to focus on just one aspect of his public life and contribution: on his journalistic career, with reference to the magazine Thuglak which he ran since 1970. In this, I feel compelled to draw parallels with Rajaji.

I came by this magazine by chance. Cho was then mainly known as a theatre personality, famous for some popular plays. He was known for his ready wit, satirical analysis of current events, especially exposing the political class. But I had no interest in theatre or cinema.  He  emerged as a full-fledged political commentator and serious writer only with the launching of this magazine, which followed on the runaway success of his drama Mohammad Bin Thuglak. I used to look to English language books and magazines for serious reading. Thuglak provided thoughtful reading in Tamil. And Cho had an original style and could convey his ideas engagingly, no matter the subject. On many issues he provided a clarity not found in the English newspapers! Reading Thuglak became a compulsive habit.

Tale of Two Magazines:

Swarajya and Thuglak

By then I was a serious reader of  the weekly magazine Swarajya, which was Rajaji's mouthpiece, following it from 1960. Rajaji was carrying on a lone crusade against Nehru's brand of socialism since the Avadi Congress of 1954 . Rajaji could see that this style of socialism was tending towards totalitarianism, with a corrupt political class and entrenched bureaucracy. But there were no other takers for this view right then. All political parties were swearing by socialism, which was then in fashion, and there was no real alternative. Rajaji with some associates launched the Swatantra Party in 1960 to provide a clear-cut alternative. Nehru quickly labelled it the rich man's party. It was patently unfair, but it stuck. Nehru could shout socialism but shamelessly seek funds from the Tatas and yet call the Swatantra Party the rich man's party! He was such a hypocrite.

Rajaji would write in Swarajya week after week, tirelessly exposing the shortcomings and dangers of socialism and the damage it was causing to the economy and society.[He was then past 80.] He was also drawing attention to the corruption bred by the Permit-Licence-Quota Raj, which was what actually prevailed in the name of the socialistic pattern. But his was still a voice in the wilderness, when he passed away in December, 1972. It required the shock of the Emergency for even leaders like Jaya Prakash Narayan and Acharya Kripalani to realise the full dangers of Statism and galvanise the nation. But this awakening proved to be temporary.

After Rajaji's demise in 1972, Swarajya ceased to interest me,its light having gone, and there was no other English periodical of such scope. [A.D.Gorwala's 'Opinion', Raj Mohan Gandhi's 'Himmat' were no real alternatives.] There was a vacuum, and Thuglak filled it for me.

Rajaji promotes DMK

In the meantime, Rajaji had brought about a historical change in Tamil Nad politics. In the 60s he had endorsed the DMK as the alternative to the Congress, just to teach the Congress a lesson. His logic was that if the Congress lost the election once, it might reform itself, shedding its arrogance.Loss of power would restore the sense of balance. By supporting the DMK, Rajaji had made it, till then a fringe player, without a serious agenda, look respectable, and acceptable to the educated middle class. His endorsement at least lent it some credibility.

Rajaji with DMK leader C.N.Annadurai. Whether DMK would have undergone a real transformation if Annadurai had lived longer is debatable!

photo:www.infoqueenbee

By then,[mid 60s ] central govt sought to impose Hindi, and  Tamil Nadu erupted in open  defiance. The govt could not gauge the public mood correctly, and handled the spreading public and student agitations without imagination. It alienated the entire educated class; the masses had already been captured by the forces of glamorous cinema and empty public oratory by the Dravidian elements. Rajaji had also raised his voice against the imposition of Hindi. In the 1967 election, Congress under Kamaraj was routed, and it has since been decimated. The Dravidian elements have been ruling since then ie for half a century! No all-India party [if we really have any] can have  appeal in Tamil Nad.

Rajaji's misstep?

I fancy to think that this is one instance where Rajaji's famed foresight failed him. He misjudged the DMK. It never changed its agenda, or gave up its anti-Hindu [disguised as anti-Brahmin] stance. It never gave up its basic anti-national stand,love of separatism- treating Tamils as a separate race, distinct from and superior to the rest of the country! And it  proved to be more corrupt than other parties till then. The Dravidian parties have  destroyed the roots of national feeling and thinking, almost completely, in the state,among two generations, and it is continuing especially among the youngsters through the state controlled educational system.

 Rajaji realised his misstep and tried to make amends by joining forces with Kamaraj in the 1971 elections, but Kamaraj lost again, though their coming together politically after more than a decade generated great public enthusiasm. [I believe this election in which DMK was aligned with Indira Congress was highly rigged. Kamaraj lost unfairly. But whether and for how long he would have been able to stem the forces of rising regional chauvinism which had taken hold of the younger generation even if he had won, is open to debate. Unfortunately, DMK provided a model for the rest of the country.]

Cho's fight against Dravidian politics

Cho's Thuglak magazine was launched when the fortunes of the DMK were on the ascendant. During the course of the next 45 years, Cho had fought relentlessly on the side of nationalism and value based public life. He  championed the cause of Hinduism, and opposed every issue dear to the Dravidian outfits- be it the LTTE, Tamil Eelam, Reservation, Tamil Chauvinism. In this Cho was all alone- the older magazines having abandoned their traditional bases and poses and warmed up to the Dravidian power centres to varying degrees. Cho alone had  the courage to take on the Dravidian dragons head on, single handed. He stated his views boldly and openly, without mincing words. Thus he opposed the govt.imposed reforms in the Tamil script. When the Jayalaitha led AIADMK govt had foisted a false case against the Sankaracharya of Kanchi, and this was used by the chauvinistic Tamil media to denigrate Hinduism and Brahmins, Cho had the audacity to start a serial in his magazine on Hindu religion named "Hindu Maha Samudram" ie The Great Hindu Ocean! He openly defended Brahminism. He wrote explaining the Hindu scriptures in his political magazine! There was a time when I really feared for him, especially when he wrote strongly against the LTTE.

One man institution!

Cho in effect tried to undo the damage caused by the original sin of Rajaji in promoting the DMK.  I do not think Cho succeeded. But surely, he has made lot of people think. He has left behind a massive volume of writing covering political theory and practice, and public affairs. 

Will history vindicate Cho?

The two magazines- Rajaji's Swarajya and Cho's Thuglak- provide all the commentary one needs on the course of national affairs in the last 60 years! Rajaji's stand against so called socialism stands vindicated in the aftermath of the 1991 economic crisis and the so called liberalisation since then. Only time will tell whether the mistake regarding the Dravidian parties will be reversed, and Tamil Nad will really join the national stream. That will be a vindication of Cho's tireless efforts towards restoring national values in Tamil Nad politics. His has been a lone battle for over 45 years!

Cho has left an immense void.

This lion-hearted man deserves our respectful salute!

NOTE:

The true magnitude and significance of Cho's contribution can be understood only by those who have followed the course of the Dravidian movement in Tamil Nad in the last half century, its methods and its stranglehold on society. Once in govt, it has attempted to smother all opposing views and differing thoughts. On the one hand, it has indoctrinated/ conditioned the younger generations through the state-controlled educational system. On the other it attempted to suppress differing views by such means as trying to ban publications, attacking newspaper offices through its cadres, vilifying individuals and organizations, etc.Its association with cultural media like cinema and consequent influence on society is well known. It has in effect disowned the entire national heritage in all spheres, and put a narrow, bigoted linguistic chauvinism, with superior racial claims, on the pedestal.The other part of the narrative is that North Indians[ non-Tamil Aryans] have kept it under subjection through Brahmins. The Dravidian movement splintered, but all groups operate under the same ideological umbrella which is basically anti-national and anti-Hindu.Even so called national parties like the Congress and BJP have courted the Dravidian outfits to register their presence or at least to buy peace. [The position of the Congress on the Dravidian narrative is extremely ambivalent.]The entire popular public media, print and electronic, subscribe to the Dravidian lines.It is only Cho who boldly bucked the trend and single-handedly voiced national and traditional religious concerns. He was thus in effect The Opposition in Tamil Nad politics for over 45 years. It is indeed a marvel!

Seasons return, but not to me returns
Day, or the sweet approach of Ev’n or Morn,
Or sight of vernal bloom, or Summers Rose,
Or flocks, or herds, or human face divine;
But cloud in stead, and ever-during dark
Surrounds me, from the chearful waies of men
Cut off, and for the Book of knowledg fair
Presented with a Universal blanc
Of Natures works to mee expung’d and ras’d,
And wisdome at one entrance quite shut out.

– John Milton.