His philosophy of integral humanism gave centre-stage to the poorest of the poor in statecraft; so much so that it is the ideological philos

Rank communism and capitalism are now dead. But integral humanism of Deen Dayal Upadhyay is not only alive, but is the ideological philosophy in India. The

post-Independent Indian politics has found a deep ideological anchor in the thoughts of Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

In the philosophy of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, which requires wider debate and discussion among academicians, there is a balance of human life with nature. Now that the 77th United Nations General Assembly is taking place, the world leaders among others face the grave challenge of climate change and deepening social inequity. The developed world, both led by capitalism and communism, wrecked the environment with their reckless exploitation of the natural resources.

The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the self-centeredness of the developed world, as they stock-piled vaccines, while the poor in the least developed countries waited for the life-saving medicines and vaccines. It’s the time of crisis when the depth of an ideology is tested, and the integral humanism of Deen Dayal Upadhyay shone brightly on the world stage, as India delivered vaccines, medicines, food, Covid-19 kits to small and big nations alike, making no difference, with sole abiding ideal that each life be saved and nurtured.

In the Modi government, the integral humanism of Deen Dayal Upadhyay has found the finest expressions in the statecraft, while the BJP has embarked on the path of social democracy to execute the words of the top ideologue of the party in action.

When a child is born, he or she first becomes aware about himself or herself, and with the passage of time starts knowing about the family, society, state and nation. The human entity lives a life in a give and take with the surroundings, including nature. Thus, human beings, animals and vegetation strike a balance of co-existence, which was underlined by Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. If one stops caring for another, there will be imbalance, which will have consequences for all. Climate change is a consequence of the developed world being unkind to the basic principle of coexistence.

But the Modi government, while rolling out the Ujjwala scheme not only thought of the wellbeing of the poorest of the poor in the country, but also of the environment. Women were exposed to smoke, becoming unwell with several

diseases when they grew old, while trees were felled to burn the kitchen fire. The Ujjwala scheme thought of the wellbeing of women and nature in line with the core mantra of the philosophy of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay.

The greater significance of the ideals of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay is that one should exemplify the life principle, and that should be the abiding duty of the person for the self, family, society, state and the nation. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay was once travelling in a bus, and it so happened that he requested the person sitting next to him to play news on his transistor set. But the person saw that Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay was carrying a transistor set himself. So, he enquired if there is any issue with his transistor set to which Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay replied that he couldn’t renew the license of his radio set. Such a commitment to align the laws of the land with the life practices is central to the idea of a state and the people being in a symbiotic relationship.

Rajpath has been renamed Kartavyapath to remind all, including the people, the politicians, the officials and the ministers, that they have duties for the nation, society and citizens and that must be their life principles. This is the mantra being conveyed by PM Modi, which he has spoken of on several occasions, including from the ramparts of the Red Fort as recently as this year’s Independence Day.

Probity in life is the basic minimum for a healthy society and a great nation. No society can take care of its people if there is no probity. The people have to be honest, and they should be seen often being honest. Honesty cannot be a hidden jewel. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay lived his ideals. The BJP workers and others who read about him greatly benefit from the scale of probity in his life.

Once Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay was travelling in a train, he got to know that Guruji (MS Golwalkar) was also in the train in the first compartment. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay went to the first compartment and after a while he got down at his destination station. There he straightaway went to the office of the station master, and paid the fine for travelling a part of the journey while he had the ticket for the second class.

Such individual attributes when shared at mass level in the society can help shape the character of a great nation. The political class, the officials, the judiciary, and other members of the civil society have to demonstrate the credible attribute of probity in personal and public life.

Such was the significance of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay that when he passed away the late Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the “sun of our life has gone, and now we have to seek guidance with the earthen lamp”. Vajpayee had succeeded Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay as the president of Jansangh, and when he became Prime Minister of India, the government conceived Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) to help the rural parts of the country access the urban amenities. Vajpayee further embedded the philosophy of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay in his statecraft, as he spearheaded connectivity at a scale that was never seen in the country in roads, telecommunication, infrastructure, amenities and services. Besides, a nation that has self-belief can take care of the national interests also while being unafraid of others, which was demonstrated in Vajpayee carrying out the Pokharan II nuclear tests and Modi delivering body blow to the terror infrastructure in Pakistan through the Balakot and the surgical strikes in the wake of the Pulwama terror attack

On September 25, we all will commemorate the birth anniversary of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay to reaffirm to live by his ideals, the philosophy of integral humanism, and further accelerate the welfare of the poorest of the poor in the country so that they are not only taken care of but also made to stand on their feet.

Under the JAM trinity, the Modi government has brought to life the political philosophy of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, as massive scaling up of the financial inclusion of the weaker sections of the society was carried out in the recent few years, which again was an extension of the work done under the Vajpayee administration when India was given the affordable tools to communicate with mobile phones.

The Mudra, Suraksha Bima, Sukanya Yojna and others are all aimed to fulfil the political ideology of Deen Dayal Upadhyay, which again is being scaled up with the target of 100 per cent saturation of all schemes, including the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.

(The author is Director, Public Policy Research Centre)