The distinguished scholar, Constituent Assembly member and Bharatiya Jana Sangh president has been forgotten
The National Democratic Alliance regime has taken it upon itself to honour and commemorate forgotten heroes of the freedom struggle, with some zeal and fervour. It is, thus, surprising, that a stalwart who was universally regarded as the most erudite figure in the Constituent Assembly, who commanded not just respect but adulation among his admirers and critics alike, is a forgotten figure. This is astounding indeed, as he was the president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (he spent most of his political career in the Indian National Congress).
Raghu Vira was born in Rawalpindi in 1902, the same year as Jayaprakash Narayan, his close friend. At a remarkably young age, he acquired two doctorates, one of them from leiden. He made his mark as a Sanskrit don, but by that time, he had acquired proficiency in nine Indian and seven European languages. His proficiency was such that he could not just read and write, but also conduct full-fledged lectures and orations.
Vira simultaneously continued with his academic activities and struggle for India’s freedom. Also, the nation has more than good reason to be grateful to him, for his commentary on the Mahabharata, which is generally perceived to be the most erudite volume on the subject. A polymath in every sense of the word, he strongly believed that, while we should learn and acquire skills in English, our didactic teaching should be conducted in the vernacular. He authored an English-Hindi dictionary almost single-handedly; the volume is still regarded as an authoritative reference text.
One of his many monumental contributions was the collection of ancient Indian Sanskrit texts from different parts of the world — Mongolia, China, Malaysia and Indonesia. This work earned him a committed admirer in Sukarno, the first President of independent Indonesia. Jawaharlal Nehru and Zhou Enlai wrote to him panegyric letters of appreciation.
He was elected to the Constituent Assembly, where his scholarship and brilliance were in evidence in nearly all the debates that took place. The Assembly had more than its share of giants from nearly every sphere of human activity. Vira, a loyal member of the Indian National Congress, stood out even when his positions were not accepted by the majority. He had prepared a text of the proposed Constitution in chaste Hindi.
While the President of the Assembly personally understood the text and complimented him for his efforts, he ruled in favour of Nehru when the latter contended that Hindi was far too complex for most to comprehend; Nehru himself admitted that he could not understand it at all. Moreover, the members from South India — Alladi Krishnaswamy Iyer, N Gopalaswami Ayyangar and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan — while lauding his efforts, could foresee problems, as people in the south, unless well-versed in Sanskrit, would have considerable difficulties.
Vira remained a loyal Congressman and was elected to Parliament in 1952 and 1957. He visited China in 1955 and, convinced that the country's intentions were hostile towards India, attempted to persuade Nehru on several occasions to abandon his attempts to befriend it. The differences became so severe that Vira resigned from the party in 1961 over the issue.
Despite knowing of his lifelong devotion to the Congress, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh invited him to its fold. He was made president of the fledgling but rapidly expanding political formation. He continued to be a vocal opponent of Nehru's China policy and delivered several addresses in 1961-1962, the last being only a month before the Chinese aggression.
His commitment to national welfare was such that he was always prepared to support even his political opponents, when he believed that, what they were proposing was in the national interest. Ram Manohar lohia was a socialist to the core but regarded Vira as one of his most reliable friends. Incidentally, Vira was travelling to canvas for the socialist lohia when his car collided with a tree that led to his death.
Those who spoke of him in the most moving terms on the occasion (apart from lohia) were his close friend and socialist Jayaprakash Narayan, AK Gopalan, Humayun Kabir, EMS Namboodiripad, Hiren Mookerjee, his friend-turned-favourite pin cushion Jawaharlal Nehru, lal Bahadur Shastri and K Kamaraj.
Surprisingly, Vira, despite having served as the president of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, remains a completely obscure figure within the Bharatiya Janata Party. This author personally mentioned his name to at least six people high up in the BJP echelons. Four had never heard of him and two were completely unaware of his stellar contributions.