The 15 volumes of The Complete Works of Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya released in New Delhi in the presence of RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi, BJP
president Shri Amit Shah and scores of eminent personalities from diverse fields
Pramod Kumar
The ideals, philosophy and organisational skills set by Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya through his conduct in public life have been a guiding force for crores of workers active in diverse fields of national life for over six decades. These workers always felt the necessity of compilation of the works of the great thinker, social reformer, nation builder and philosopher at one place. With the publication of The Complete Works of Deendayal Upadhyaya in 15 volumes that discrepancy has been filled to a great extent, if not completely. This could be possible due to the tireless efforts of a team of about 40 dedicated scholars and eminent personalities who worked on this project for over a year under the leadership of Dr Mahesh Chandra Sharma, who is himself an authority on Deendayal Upadhyaya.
Published by Prabhat Prakashan, New Delhi, the full volumes were released in New Delhi by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi and BJP president Shri Amit Shah on October 9 at the jam-packed Vigyan Bhavan, Delhi. Senior journalists Shri Ram Bahadur Rai, Shri Achyutananda Mishra, Shri Jawaharlal Kaul, Shri Atul Jain and Dr Mahesh Chandra Sharma also shared the dais.
“Deendayalji believed that the economic model of the nation must be bottom-up, not top-down and the welfare of poor should be at the centre of all government policies. When those at the bottom rise, only then those on top can rise even higher. Hence, the development process needs a direction where the poor man himself turns a warrior against poverty. This is how we can strive to attain an India free of poverty,” said Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, while releasing the Volumes. As a befitting tribute to the great soul, the BJP, which inherits the legacy of Deendayalji is observing 2016 as the Year of Welfare for the Poor.
Deendayalji advocated seven ideals—harmony, diligence, equality, prosperity, knowledge, happiness and peace. “Our government will endeavour to make an India of confluence of these seven streams. Panditji wanted to rebuild the society that witnesses no discrimination and where nobody even thinks of exploitation. “Panditji built an organisation from the scratches. Look at his capabilities, commitment to ideals and the strength of his belief! It is on the foundation laid by Panditji that we could exemplify to the world how to traverse the journey from being an opposition to being an alternative for governance,” the PM said.
It was because of his rare intellect and organisational skills that Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee once said if he had two Deendayals, he could change the face of Indian politics. Dr Ram Manohar Lohia also recognised that it was only because of the wide scope of Deendayalji’s vision that parties of various ideologies could come together to offer to the nation an alternative. “Panditji had another virtue; he insisted on building a cadre base; he built a new type of political worker that did not come from a particular political breed. He built the cadre where the worker was committed to the organisation and the nation was at the centre of his thoughts,” Shri Modi added.
Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi said the thoughts of Deendayalji given decades ago are now recognised by the world. “India has a lot to give to the world and that is being recognised now. India's approach has never been destructive, but constructive. She never used her strength to expand the boundaries. We go to win over the world not to defeat anyone. I feel a successful attempt is being made today to disseminate that view world over. We should move forward with confidence having a glorious feeling in the heart,” he said adding that ensuring welfare of the last man of society is not the responsibility of the government alone. All social, religious, voluntary organisations should act collectively and in unison.
Shri Amit Shah said Shri Mahesh Chandra Sharma and his team finished a significant task by compiling Deendayalji’s essays, speeches, statements, proposals and opinions on contemporary issues. “This compilation will benefit not only the BJP workers, but also every public figure working for the nation, in enhancing their personalities,” he said adding that the issues that Deendayalji highlighted in his era have assumed diabolical proportions today. “Stressing the interdependence of human beings and nature Panditji saw no conflict between developmental works and conservation of nature; rather, he insisted, a balance could be maintained between the two. Global warming is a problem that confronts us today because Panditji’s ideas were not implemented in his time. If the philosophy of Integral Humanism was pursued in developmental approach of previous governments, a whole lot of problems that we are confronting today would not have arisen in the first place,” the BJP president said.
Shri Shah said Deendayalji was always seen as a thinker, philosopher and organisation builder, but the world should know that he was a successful politician too. In the 1960s and 1970s, when the Congress was at the peak of its popularity, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh grew continuously, and when Panditji became its president in 1967, it was already bigger than several other political parties; not only that, it was also part of coalition governments in several states. He established a strong political party based on ideals, organisational strength and nationalism. The conceptualisation of cultural nationalism and politics based on nationalism are the contributions of Deendayalji to the Indian politics. “The seed that Panditji sown has now grown into a giant banyan tree and it is the supreme duty of every BJP worker to forever walk the path shown by him,” Shri Shah said.
It is a coincidence that when the nation celebrates the birth centenary of Deendayalji, the BJP, whose seed was sown by him, has a government at the Centre that enjoys full majority in Parliament. “The way the government led by Shri Narendra Modi has adopted the idea of ‘benefit to the last man’ in policies is unprecedented. The amount of efforts taken to bring the poor on the forefront of development in the last two-and-a-half years was seen never before. Shri Modi has successfully ended the conflict between a welfare state and the prosperous India. India is now the fastest growing economy in the world where the poor are constantly climbing the economic ladder,” the BJP president said.
Earlier, Dr Mahesh Chandra Sharma said Deendayalji was not in politics merely for politics, rather as a cultural ambassador. “In 1962, before the
invasion, China used highly derogatory words against the then Prime Minister Pt Jawaharlal Nehru. Delivering an emotional speech at the Jana Sangh convention Deendayalji directed the party workers to visit even the remote areas and tell the people that insult of Indian Prime Minister is insult to entire Bharat. Forget to which political
ideology you represent. When
somebody reminded him of the
forthcoming elections, Deendayalji stressed on following the ideal of Panna Dhai who sacrificed her son for the nation,” he added.
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