The Prodigal Son
Subramanian Swamy, activists,
guide, author, politician, litigant, professor, economist, lawyer and what have
you. These are only some ways you can put the man into a concise form. On the
real life stage he is a jack of all trades, constantly filing Public interest
litigations and relentlessly following up for justice.
More appropriate description
would be a Harvard pass out and a Jan Sangh worker, though he can don many
other hats as indicated above. It is his association and disassociation with
Harvard first as a student and then as a summer session lecturer that would
fall more under the glare of the search light as would his rightist Hindutva
leanings that would aptly describe his association with the Hindu outfit. It is
his prodigal views on the minority that transforms into a book that works
towards him being thrown out of the Harvard association. But it is his right
leaning views that closely adheres him to the Bharatiya Janata Party the
principle opposition party in India which he has recently joined.
His hatred for the Gandhi family
is well known and he leaves no stone unturned in trying to corner them whenever
he can and in whatsoever manner he can. He is quite an expert on China and
openly flaunts this as openly and as vocally as he can. He considers himself as
a master on many subjects and he is known to cross swords to the point of people
terming him as a ‘shrill’ politician who can also cause damage to the party he
associates himself with besides helping them to earn brownie points. In a
nutshell he can touch extremes and can be termed as a maverick who is
interested in propagating his cause at no gain to anyone else.
The flip side is that he is a
highly self-centred man who cares more about his claims while expecting others
to toe his line. In other words he is constantly looking to score victories in
all battles. When he is voted down, he does not accept it sportingly but
challenges the judgment or reads between the lines to show how he has been
vindicated. Other times he challenges every judgement that goes against him in
a higher court wherever the law allows.
His challenges to all and sundry
and the way he enjoys his adulation in public forums makes him more of a drag
than a votary of liberalisation which he professes to have drafted once. On
some issues he is also fouling his own party. Raising Public Interest
Litigations against every progressive step taken by the government acts as a
disservice to the nation and stalls progress.
If only he would have used his
knowledge and academic credentials coupled with expertise on his subjects to
increase productivity in the country. If only he would not act as a maverick
but as a conscious citizen willing to forget and forgive as long as it is for
the good of the nation. If only he would try to partner people who are trying
their level best to get the dwindling economy on track, he would be remembered
as someone who though argumentative willing to forgo adulation and
self-righteous rhetoric for the benefit of the nation as a patriotic Indian.
Whether and what he will do
cannot be predicted as also his alliances and associations. He can be your
political bosom mate one time and your sworn enemy another time. For now he
remains a loyal Bharatiya Janata Party activists and pro Tamil Nadu government,
but how long the stakes will hold is something that cannot be predicted as the
man himself.
Robin Varghese
18th August 2013
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