Manmohan Singh: remembering India’s ‘gentle leader’ with iron determination

The perspective of a timid politician is something difficult to imagine. Unless that politician is Manmohan Singh.

from the death of former Indian prime minister on Thursday, Much has been said about the “gentle and soft-spoken politician” who changed the course of Indian history and impacted the lives of millions.

His state funeral will be held on Saturday and the Indian government has announced an official seven-day mourning period.

Despite an illustrious career (he was governor of India’s central bank and federal finance minister before becoming prime minister for two terms), Singh never gave the impression of being a big-stage politician, lacking the public arrogance of many of his peers.

Although he gave interviews and press conferences, especially during his first term as prime minister, he chose to remain silent even when his government was mired in scandal or when his cabinet ministers faced accusations of corruption.

His gentlemanly ways were deplored and adored in equal measure.

His fans said he was careful. do not choose unnecessary battles or making lofty promises and focusing on results, perhaps best exemplified by the pro-market reforms ushered in as Finance Minister, opening up India’s economy to the world.

“I don’t think anyone in India believes that Manmohan Singh can do anything bad or corrupt,” said his Kapil Sibal, former Congress Party colleague, once said,. “He was extremely cautious and always wanted to be on the right side of the law.”

His opponents, on the other hand, mocked him, saying he exhibited a kind of confusion unbecoming of a politician, let alone the prime minister of a country of more than a billion people. His voice, hoarse and breathless, almost like a tired whisper, often became the butt of jokes.

But the same voice also appealed to many who found him identifiable in a world of politics where sharp, high-octane speeches were the norm.

Singh’s image as an introverted, modest and media-shy politician never left him, even as his contemporaries, including members of his own party, went through dramatic cycles of reinvention.

However, it was the dignity with which he handled every situation – even the difficult ones – that made him so memorable.

Born into a poor family in what is now Pakistan, Singh was India’s first Sikh prime minister. His personal story – that of a Cambridge and Oxford-educated economist who overcame insurmountable obstacles to rise through the ranks -, together with his image as an honest and thoughtful leader, had already made him a hero for India’s middle classes.

But in 2005 he surprised everyone when he publicly apologized in parliament for the 1984 riots in which around 3,000 Sikhs died.

The riots, in which several members of the Congress Party were accused, broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. One of them later said they shot the Congress politician to avenge a military action she had ordered against separatists hiding in Sikhism’s holiest temple in Amritsar, northern India.

It was a bold move: no other Prime Minister, including that of the Congress Party, had gone so far as to offer an apology. But he provided a healing touch to the Sikh community and politicians of all parties respected him for his brave act.

A few years later, in 2008, Singh’s low-key leadership style received more praise after he signed a historic deal with the United States that ended India’s decades-long nuclear isolation, allowing India access to nuclear fuel and technology. for the first time since testing. in 1974.

The deal was massively criticized by opposition leaders and Singh’s own allies, who feared it would compromise India’s foreign policy. Singh, however, managed to save both his government and the agreement.

The period 2008-2009 also witnessed global financial turmoil, but Singh’s policies were credited with protecting India from it.

In 2009, he led his party to a resounding victory and returned as prime minister for a second term, cementing his image as a benevolent leader, or rather, the exciting idea that leaders could be benevolent

For many, he had become the epitome of virtue, the “reluctant prime minister” who stayed out of the spotlight and refused to make dramatic gestures, but who was also unafraid to make bold decisions for the sake of his country’s future.

Then things started to fall apart.

A series of corruption allegations – first around the holding of the Commonwealth Games and then over the illegal allocation of coal fields – plagued the Congress Party and Singh’s government. Some of these corruption allegations were later found to be false or exaggerated. Some cases from the era are still pending in court.

But Singh had already started to feel some pressure. During his tenure, he made several attempts at reconciliation with Pakistan, India’s archrival, hoping for a thaw in decades-long frosty relations.

The approach was harshly questioned in 2008 when a terror An attack led by a Pakistan-based terrorist group killed 171 people in the city of Mumbai.

The 60-hour siege, one of the bloodiest in the country’s history, opened a chasm of accusations, as the opposition blamed the tragedy on the government’s “soft stance” toward terrorism.

In the years that followed, other decisions Singh made backfired.

In 2011, an anti-corruption movement led by social activist Anna Hazare shook Singh’s government. The frail 72-year-old became an icon for the middle class as he demanded strict anti-corruption laws in the country.

As a middle-class hero, Singh was expected to address Hazare’s demands more insightfully. Instead, the prime minister attempted to quell the movement, allowing police to arrest Hazare and break up his demonstration.

The move fueled a wave of public and media hostility against him. Those who once admired his understated style wondered if they had misjudged the politician and began to view his calm ways through a less generous lens.

The sentiment intensified the following year when Singh refused to comment on the horrific gang rape and murder of a young woman in Delhi for more than a week.

To make matters worse, India’s economic growth was slowing. Corruption increased and jobs fell, sparking waves of public anger. And Singh’s modest personality, which once made his every move seem like a revelation, was labeled by some as showing complacency, distrust and even arrogance.

However, Singh never attempted to defend or explain himself and faced criticism silently.

That was until 2014. In a rare press conference, he announced that he would not seek a third term.

But he also tried to set the record straight. “Honestly, I think history will judge me more kindly than the contemporary media, or the opposition parties in parliament did,” he said, after listing some of the biggest achievements of his tenure.

He was right.

As it turned out, neither the Congress nor Singh could fully recover from the damage of losing the general elections to the BJP. But despite the many obstacles, Singh’s image as a kind and insightful leader remained with him.

During his tenure as prime minister and despite a second term plagued by controversy, he maintained an aura of dignity and personal integrity.

His policies were seen as focusing on the middle class and the poor: he approved multiple increases in salaries for central employees, kept inflation under control, and introduced emblematic schemes on education and employment.

It may not have been enough to get him out of political dilemmas or protect him from some of the failures of his career.

But there was more to his shyness; He was a leader of fierce determination.