G.G. Parikh 100: A Socialist Who Practiced and Promoted Gandhian Values All His Life
This month last week, 83 year old US Senator Bernie Sanders said that “people in the US accuse Russia and other nations as Oligarchies, conveniently forgetting that ‘Oligarchy’ is a global phenomenon headquartered in the United States, where a small number of incredibly wealthy billionaires own and control much of the global economy, they own and control our government through a ‘corrupt campaign finance system’. Since 2020 five billion people all over the world have become poorer while the world’s 5 richest billionaires have more than doubled their fortunes at a rate of $14 million per hour.” In Mumbai, on the penultimate day of this year we are celebrating 100th birthday of Dr. GG Parikh (GG), a person who dedicated his life to rid the world of inequalities and establish a society free from exploitation.
During my several visits to Mumbai in the last couple of years, I had made it a point to visit GG to derive inspiration from him. On the morning of 7 September this year GG took me in his car from his Grant Road residence to the two of the many institutions he helped establish, Vaikunthbhai Mehta Research Centre for Decentralized Industries (VMRCDI) in CBD Belapur and Yusuf Mehrally Centre (YMC), Tara in Raigarh District. Both these organisations are engaged in work related to promotion of cottage/decentralized industries, healthcare (a 35 bed free hospital), education (running free Marathi & Urdu medium school), environment, khadi/handloom, a dairy farm, organic manure/organic farming, communal harmony etc. since several decades.
The journey was 80 kms one-way. That day, almost the 9 hours which I spent with him, Ali Bhojwani and Machinder visiting VMRCDI and YMC was not only memorable and inspiring, but a proud privilege for me. More so also because a freedom fighter of the stature of GG imprisoned during the 1942 Quit India movement and the Emergency (1975) was showing me the work he is engaged in even at this age. These were the kind of work a socialist needs to engage oneself in, was what I was being told by mentors all my life.
I saw for myself the work in YMC and VMRCDI promoting work related to Gandhian economics like practicing self-reliance, sustainable living, providing platforms for marketing of artisans /craftpersons products from villages across the country etc. An exhibition was organized last year which was aptly named ‘Tolstoy Farm 2.0’ reminding us of Gandhi’s ‘Tolstoy Farm’ in South Africa (1910). All these works are being done here solely with the objective of forging an alternative economy, promoting self-sufficiency, self-reliant villages, employment generation in rural areas, making rural people also get the same facilities of urban people, creating self-sufficient village model, etc. The focus here is on empowering the rural artisans so that they don’t have to migrate to cities in search of jobs, ending up making their own life miserable living in city’s slums.
Decades ago the socialists had taught us in ideological Training Camps that “to realize the dream of Democratic Socialism, an exploitation free society we need to work promoting ‘Gandhian economics’, decentralization, appropriate technology, social harmony, casteless society, secularism, strengthen democracy etc. I was seeing all these live models here, thanks to GG.
In 1962 the freedom fighters led by GG founded the Yusuf Mehrally Centre. The very same year came Lohia’s famous quote “people will listen to me, perhaps after I am dead.” Many of our socialists are proud that Lohia’s words proved right. Of course many things what he predicted proved right. But today how many of the important issues Lohia said are being ‘listened to’ or ‘practiced’ in everyday life by the people who pride themselves as socialists? Are socialists working towards this end? History will judge.
For instance, India is capital scarce but labour abundant. Hence focusing on ‘Appropriate Technology’, Lohia emphasized a labour-intensive technology approach as opposed to the capital-intensive technology, as this would pave the way to generate more jobs exponentially, encourage decentralized governance/ autonomous villages etc. But today the rate at which spinners and weavers in the country are dwindling by the day, it will not be an exaggeration if I say, “we will not get ‘pure‘ hand-spun and hand-woven cotton Khadi fabric sold by KVIC after 2-3 years. Moreover most of the Khadi fabric worn even by most socialists are spurious, not hand-spun and not hand-woven. Then how else will employment generation take place? Governments can’t buy Khadi and distribute them free to people. People need to look for it and buy ‘pure‘ Khadi themselves. 98 percent of cotton seeds from which cotton yarn are produced is from ‘patented‘ genetically modified Bt Cotton seeds monopolised by US MNC Monsanto (now Bayer). Will socialists not speak about this? Shall we be silent on the issue? Is it not our priority?
Government jobs are available only to one or two percent of people. Empowerment of the four categories OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis,Women, Minorities has always been a common narrative. Khadi which generates more employment than mill-made fabric needs only 3 litres of water to produce one meter of fabric, whereas mill-made fabric needs 55 litres of water to produce the same. Hence one thing we need to keep in mind is that if more employment generation and empowerment of these 5 categories are to be ensured while taking care of environment, we need to be doing a little of life-style changes and every year purchase minimum number of products produced by spinners, weavers, cobblers, etc who overwhelmingly belong to these 5 categories. While we express concern over rising unemployment, climate change/environment etc. the bare minimum we as socialists need to do is promoting products made in cottage industries and buying ‘pure‘ Khadi / handloom, handmade footwear among others. There is no shortcut. Socialists laid stress on ‘Precept and Practice’ which GG practiced all his life.
We were told by socialists that the way to realize the dream of socialism was through Lohia’s formula of ‘Spade, Prison and Ballot,’ each symbolizing ‘Constructive-Work’, ‘Struggle’ and ‘electoral politics / Democracy’ respectively. Today if we have to reverse the trend what Bernie Sanders said, we need to take inspiration from GG’s lifelong promotion of Khadi, constructive work through VMRCDI / YMC even at this ripe age, his efforts and focus through these institutions on ‘Appropriate Technology’ – work on decentralised industry, running the ‘Janata Weekly’ without interruption since several decades, setting up and naming of Yusuf Mehrally Centre after Yusuf Mehrally who coined the slogan ‘Simon Go Back’ and ‘Quit India’ giving a fittest tribute to a freedom fighter belonging to a Muslim Community, work on communal harmony, his imprisonment during Quit India (1942) and during Emergency (1975-76) being a co-accused in the ‘Baroda Dynamite Case’ along with George Fernandes and many other struggles, being a member of the Congress Socialist Party (pre-independence), being member of Socialist Parties post-independence throughout their splits and mergers till 2000, have all been the work related to ‘Spade, Prison and Ballot’.
GG, a firm believer in Gandhi’s ‘moral authority’, has seen the pre-independence and post independence period closely being politically active. To stop the drifting away from Gandhiji’s teachings and to realise the dream of Gram Swarajya, knowing well out of own experience, that Gandhi’s ideas are the panacea of all evils facing the world, GG has been tirelessly working through these organisations — thus, dedicating his life working towards continuing the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, taking responsibility, without waiting for an ‘ideal government’ coming into place some day to bring about a change.
(The author is a former Rajya Sabha MP.)
