Qurban Ali

(Madhu Limaye was one of the most distinguished personalities of modern India who played a pivotal role in the freedom movement and later in the liberation of Goa from the Portuguese. He was a committed socialist, a distinguished parliamentarian, Champion of the civil liberties, a prolific writer and dedicated to the cause of the common man of the country. He was a dynamic leader of the democratic socialist movement and always stood by his ideology throughout his life. The virtues of simplicity, austerity, high moral attitude and Gandhian philosophy of peace and non-violence had a great impact on him, which he followed and practice and earned a place of distinction among the galaxy of leaders. As a socialist stalwart he guided the socialist movement in the country during different phases.)

Madhu Limaye son of Shri Ramchandra Mahadev Limaye was born on 1 May 1922 at Poona in Maharashtra. Limaye had his Middle School education from Robert Money School, Bombay and Saraswati Mandir Poona. A brilliant student, Limaye completed his Fifth, Sixth and Seventh standard in just one year. Denied permission to appear for the Matriculation examination at the age of 13.

The interruption in formal schooling provided him with an opportunity to read books on history, freedom movement in various countries and biographies of great personalities. After having his school education, Madhu Limaye enrolled for higher education at the Fergusson College, Poona in 1937 and opted World history, Indian Administration, English and Sanskrit as subject ideas. It was during this period that Limaye was attracted towards the socialist ideas. He, thus, started participating in the student movements and became an active member of the All India Students Federation. Since then Limaye’s journey to free the humanity from the bondage of colonialism, deprivation and injustice began.

Freedom Fighter

Madhu Limaye entered into the politics at the very tender age when he joined a May Day procession on his 15th birthday in Poona in 1937. This procession was attacked violently by RSS volunteers. Leaders of this procession Senapati Bapat and SM Joshi injured in this attack badly. This was the first date of Madhu Limaye with politics of struggle and resistance. After this baptism, Madhu came in close contact of SM Joshi, N G Goray and Pandurang S. Sane alias Sane Guruji and attracted drastically towards national movement and socialist ideology along with his other contemporaries V.N. alias Anna Sane, Keshav alias (Bandu) Gorey, Gangadhar Ogle, Madhav Limaye and Vinayak Kulkarni and joined their study circle. On 31st December 1938 this group decided to be the full time worker of Indian National Congress and the CSP.SM Joshi was the General Secretary of the Poona District Congress Committee as well as Secretary of the Provincial Congress Socialist Party. In 1939, SM, appointed Madhu Limaye, the district General Secretary of The Poona Congress Socialist Party (CSP) at the age of 17.Young Madhu Limaye organised CSP in Poona with devotion. Same year two renowned socialist leaders Jayparakash Narayan and Dr Rammanohar Lohia visited Poona and were impressed with the skills of Madhu Limaye.

In 1939, when the Second World War broke out, he thought that this was an opportunity to free the country from the colonial rule.         In October, 1940, Madhu Limaye started campaigning against war and was arrested for his anti war speeches and put up in Dhuliya jail of Khandesh region almost for one year. He was released in September, 1941 and undertook the task of organizing Rashtra Sewa Dal and youth camps in different part of Maharashtra.In August 1942, AICC held its conference in Bombay, where Mahatma Gandhi gave the call of ‘Quit India’. This was the first time when Madhu Limaye saw Gandhiji from close quarter. Many senior leaders of the Congress party including Gandhiji were arrested. Madhu went underground along with some of his colleagues and played a key role in underground resistance movement along with Achuyt Patwardhan and Aruna Asif Ali. He established a printing press and started ‘Krantikari’ a Marathi journal edited by Achyut Patwardhan and SM Joshi. At that time he was staying in a place called ’Mushak Mahal’ in front of Bombay Central station. It was raided by police on 18th April 1943, and Sane Guruji, N G Goray, Shribhau Limaye and Madhav Limaye got arrested but SM Joshi and Madhu Limaye escaped. After the raid at ‘Mushak Mahal’ socialist changed their hideout and shifted to a new place called ‘Huddle House’. In September 1943, Madhu was arrested from this place along with SM Joshi and Vinayak Kulkarni. He was arrested under the Defence of India Rules (DIR) and was detained without trial in the Jails of Worli, Yervada and Visapur till July 1945. During his detention, the British Government tried its best to extract the secrets of the underground activities from him, but Limaye remained tight-lipped despite severe atrocities committed by the police on him.

In Socialist Movement

Madhu Limaye was associated with the Indian National Congress, and the Congress Socialist Party almost for one decade, 1938-48.He attended the CSP’s Kanpur Conference in February, 1947, where the prefix ‘Congress’ was removed from the Socialist Party. Limaye was in the forefront of the reorganizing the Socialist Party and was given responsibility of the Khandesh region. He successfully moblised trade union workers and brought the peasants and the youth into the socialist fold.

In 1947, from August till November he was active in Khandesh and has given some account in the last pages of his autobiography. On 21 November 1947, he left for Europe and attended Socialist International’s Antwerp (Belgium) conference as a sole delegate of Indian Socialist Movement. He was in Europe for almost five months. Visited England, France, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Italy.

He was elected to the National Executive of the Socialist Party at Nasik Conference, March, 1948. He was the Secretary, Parliamentary Sub-Committee, Socialist Party under the chairmanship of Dr Lohia (1948-49). Elected as the Joint Secretary of the Socialist Party at its Patna Conference in 1949, and was also the Secretary, Foreign Affairs Committee of the Socialist Party under the chairmanship of Dr Lohia (1949-50). Elected again as the Joint Secretary of the Socialist Party at its Madras Conference in 1950, and was also Member Foreign Affairs Committee of the Socialist Party (1950-52)

Madhu Limaye married Professor Champa Gupte on 15 May 1952. She proved a great source of inspiration and support to him, both in his personal and public life. Champa Gupte nee Limaye was a strong woman with an abiding faith in the principles and ideals of socialism and stood by Limaye all through in his struggles and travails. They, in fact, complemented each other in all their endeavours.

Elected again as the Joint Secretary of the Socialist Party at its Pachmarhi (M.P) Conference in 1952, and was also Member Foreign Affairs Committee of the Socialist Party (1952-53). In early 1953, on JPs behest he joined Asian Socialist Bureau at Rangoon, as Secretary.

Madhu Limye also got elected, Joint Secretary, Praja Socialist Party at its first Conference held at Allahabad, 1953-54, after the merger of SP and KMPP, but later on was first suspended and then expelled from PSP in 1955 for raising some ideological issues.

As one of the most dynamic leaders of the Socialist Movement, Madhu Limaye strove ceaselessly to translate the socialist ideals into the national ethos. His contribution in shaping the destiny of modern India is indeed tremendous. After serving Congress Socialist Party, Socialist Party and Praja Socialist Party, he joined Socialist Party founded in 1955 by his mentor Dr RM Lohia but could not attend the Foundation Conference of the Socialist Party since he was arrested in Goa for participating in its struggle for liberation.

Goa Liberation Movement

Madhu Limaye participated in the Goa Liberation Movement, in mid-fifties, which was launched in 1946. A staunch critic of colonialism, Limaye led a mass Satyagraha in 1955 and entered Goa on 25/26th July. At Pedne, the Portuguese police attacked the satyagrahis violently, resulting in some deaths and injuries on a large scale. Madhu Limaye was beaten up brutally. He was kept in police custody for five months. In December 1955, the Portuguese Military Tribunal sentenced him to 12 years imprisonment. But, he neither offered any defence nor appealed against the heavy sentence. Once he wrote ‘It was in Goa that I have realized how profoundly Gandhiji has transformed my life, how deeply he has shaped my personality and will.’ During the Goa Liberation Movement, he spent over 19 months in Portuguese captivity. During captivity, he wrote a book ‘Goa Liberation Movement and Madhu Limaye’ as a prison diary. The book was published in 1996 on the occasion of the golden jubilee of the launch of the Goa movement in 1946.

After his release from the Portuguese custody on 25th February, 1957, he continued to mobilise the masses and sought support from different sections and urged the Government of India to take firm steps towards the liberation of Goa. After this mass Satyagraha, Government of India was compelled to take military action and liberated Goa from the Portuguese rule. Goa was ultimately liberated in December 1961 and become an integral part of India. He contested 1957 General Elections from Bandra but got defeated. He mobilise Trade unions and workers along with George Fernandes in Bombay and it was a great success (1957-58).

Leader of the Socialist Movement

Madhu Limaye was elected the Chairman of the  Socialist Party at its National Conference held at Sherghati (Gaya) in April 1958. During his  Chairmanship, great efforts were made in strengthening the organization by adopting specific policies and concrete action plan. His belief in socialism was not dogmatic or doctrinaire but was a way of life. To him, unless the hierarchical social order was destroyed, social justice would be a distant dream for a large section of the society. Madhu Limaye played a vital role at Benaras Conference in 1959, where the Socialist Party, under his Chairmanship, adopted a resolution on providing special opportunities for the backward sections of the society. After the merger of SP-PSP in 1964, he contested Munghyer (Bihar) Lok Sabha by-election as the candidate of unified SSP and became the Chairman of its Parliamentary Board. SSP splinted at Banaras on 1st February 1965, and PSP was revived. Madhu Limaye was Leader of the Samyukta Socialist Party Parliamentary party in Fourth Lok Sabha, 1967. He also wrote a booklet ‘Why Samyukta Socialist’.

A Distinguished Parliamentarian

A parliamentarian par excellence, Madhu Limaye was elected four times to Lok Sabha from 1964 to 1979. He is known for his deep understanding of various subjects, through knowledge of Rules of Procedure and effective use of parliamentary devices. He was an encyclopedia of the Indian Constitution and his speeches in Parliament on constitutional matters are a milestone and not only reflected erudition, maturity and understanding but also demonstrated his concern and commitment for the cause of common man. Whenever he rose to speak, members across the party line listened to him with rapt attention. According to Madhu Limye, “Parliament was not a substitute for mass and popular movements but an additional instrument of public service and a platform for airing public grievances. It should be used as an instrument for reflecting the hopes and inspirations of the common man.” He raised important issues before the house by effectively deploying his vast knowledge. He will be remembered as an outstanding parliamentarian who enriched debates and proceeding of the house in his inimitable style.

Champion of the Civil Liberties/Court cases

Madhu Limaye has been a fighter for civil liberties all his life. He confronted Judiciary many times and himself argued his cases from lower courts to High Courts and in the Supreme Court and was invariably successful. In 1955, when Madhu Limaye led a mass Satyagrah in Goa against the Portuguese authorities and was kept in police custody for five months without trial and later the Portuguese Military Tribunal sentenced him 12 years imprisonment, he neither offered any defence nor appealed against the heavy sentence since according to him it was a liberation movement but later on he challenged illegal detentions in free India every time he was arrested.

In 1959, when he was Chairman of the Socialist Party and the Punjab unit of his party launched a movement against price rise travelled to the various district of the state and on 7th January 1959, when he was sitting in the district party office of Hisar, he was arrested by the police without any warrant. He filed a Habeas Corps against his arrest in Punjab High Court under 226 of the IPC against his arrest. The High Court accepted his writ against his illegal detention and released him on 2nd February 1959.

The second time he was arrested on 5th November 1968 at Lakhisarai railway station under his parliamentary constituency in Munger for the violation of article 144 and of railway law 122. Madhu Limaye challenged his arrest in the Supreme Court and Court declared his arrest illegal and sat him free immediately on 18th December 1968. There is a long list of his court case where he challenged the arrest made by administration and police to help the ruling party to crush its political opponents or protest against its anti-people policies. He strongly disapproved the unconstitutional methods adopted by the government to curtail the civil liberties of the citizens.

In the late sixties, unconstitutional controversies occupied the centre stage of national debate. Madhu Limaye protested vehemently on these issues and wrote letters to the then President V .V. Giri and a Judge of the Supreme Court, Justice K.S. Hegde on constitution and conventions and later on discussed these issues in his books Limits to Authority, New Constitutional amendments: death-knell of popular liberties. Parliament, Judiciary, and Parties – an Electrocardiogram of Politics in detail.

Foreign Policy and International Relations Expert

Limaye was a firm believer in the principles of Non-alignment. To him, the concept of Non-alignment was deep-rooted within the framework of freedom struggle, the basis of which has been anti-colonialism, freedom for all people, disarmament, protection of economic interests of the developing countries and world peace.

He wanted to inject a new content and dimension to the non-aligned movement to make it more people-oriented. He felt that the movement must articulate the economic and social aspirations of the down-trodden people. He held the view that India must take a firm stand in the so-called North-South confrontation since that was an extension of the struggle of the colonial peoples against political and economic imperialism.

The policy of non-alignment must work against the imperialistic hegemony of any of the blocs. At the same time, he felt, it should not act as a deterrent to bilateral relations between and other countries. He asserted that the independence of India’s foreign policy should be ensured at all costs and that it should aim at safeguarding our political, economic and strategic interests in the long run. He was of the opinion that along with political independence, countries must also be freed from economic exploitation. Non-alignment should also create an enabling atmosphere where the industrially developed nations contribute for the economic growth of the erstwhile colonies. Then alone the policy of non-alignment would become meaningful.

On the nuclear issue, he always emphasized that unless all nuclear powers agree to total disarmament, including the destruction of the accumulated nuclear arsenals, India should make no compromise in the matter of its own nuclear development. In this respect, he believed that India must develop its own nuclear technology as early as possible to become self-reliant. In the event of an impending threat to India’s security due to the crisis in Bangladesh in 1971, Limaye lent his unstinted support to the then government of India. In fact, he persuaded Jayaprakash Narayan to take the lead in mobilizing world opinion in favour of the liberation of Bangladesh, which was primarily the responsibility of the Government of India. But a true nationalist like Limaye did not sit idle in the moment of national crisis. He also toured various countries to garner international support for the liberation of Bangladesh.

During his illustrious public life spanning over four decades, Limaye visited a number of countries across the globe. He was also the Secretary of the Asian Socialist Bureau, having it’s headquarter at Rangoon. As an observer delegate, he attended a meeting of the Council of the Socialist International in Paris, in 1953. He also accompanied Dr. Lohia on several foreign tours. He attended the 50th Anniversary celebration of the Russian Revolution at Moscow in 1967 along with S.M. Joshi.

His visits to various countries provided him immense exposure on the dynamics of international relations. His knowledge on international issues, interactions with eminent thinkers like Harold Laski and other famous personalities helped him to form a sound base of Indian foreign policy which is of immense relevance even today.

His ideas on Socialism & Secularism

Madhu Limaye’s entire ideological edifice was built on secular nationalism. He had an uncompromising stance on India’s secular credentials. With a strong belief in the spirit of tolerance, which forms the essence of India’s composite and plural culture, he firmly stood for the preservation of secular foundations of the Constitution.

His Democratic Values

With a firm belief in democracy and democratic values, Limaye fought relentlessly to protect the parliamentary sovereignty. Through his writings, speeches and actions he sought to protect democratic heritage in more ways than one. Being firmly committed to the healthy democratic ethos and conventions, he always stood by his principles and never compromised his values during turbulent political situations. His protest from jail against the extension of the term of fifth Lok Sabha bears testimony to this.

Madhu, played an active part in the JP movement and in the effort to create a united opposition party, 1974-77. He was detained under MISA from July 1975 to February 1977 in various Madhya Pradesh Jails. He resigned in protest, from membership of the fifth Lok Sabha, on immoral extension of its term by Smt. Indira Gandhi through abuse of constitutional provisions about emergency along with his young Comrade Sharad Yadav. He was active in the formation of the Janata Party and the coalition that gained power at the Centre following the emergency. He was elected General Secretary of the Janata Party, on his 55th birthday on 1 May 1977. But he was also blamed for the collapse of the Morarji Desai led Janata coalition government, by insisting that no member of the Janata party could simultaneously be a member of an alternative social or political organisation. This attack on dual membership was directed specifically at members of the Janata party who had been members of the Jan Sangh and continued to be members of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, RSS, the Jan Sangh’s ideological parent. The issue led to fall of Janata government in 1979, and the destruction of the Janata Party. Later he joined Charan Singh camp and became General Secretary of his Janata Party (S) and Lok Dal, 1979-82. In 1982 he broke away from Lok Dal and formed Lok Dal (K). Madhu Limaye retired from the active politics in 1982.

Last Phase

After his retirement from active politics, Madhu Limaye wrote more than 100 books in English, Hindi and Marathi and contributed more than 1000 articles in various periodicals, journals and newspapers.

Like his performance on the floor of Lok Sabha, his writings are also logical and incisive, fearless and forthright, backed by facts and historical perspective. Though he remained aloof from active politics since 1982, he continued to voice his concern on issues pertaining to the social, political and economic development of the nation through his numerous writings.He was especially caustic on Constitutional issues, where he set himself the task of defending the Constitution in the media against those who would seek to modify it to centralize power, or to replace the Westminster system with a Presidential one, fearing a ‘slow slide to despotism.

His scholarly attributes are well reflected in his works, which cover a varied range of subjects of constitutional and parliamentary relevance and of national importance. The national and international issues that had been raised by Madhu Limaye in his writings are bound to provide enough food for thought. Madhu Limaye would ever be remembered by the countrymen for his brilliant ideas, which have great relevance for generations to come. Some of his works include India Polity in Transition, India and the World, Birth of Non- Congressism, Communist Party: Facts and Fiction and Evolution of Socialist Party. His writings are reflective of his deep understanding of the numerous issues confronting the Indian society during different phases of History. His works also give an insight into the prevailing socio-economic and political situation and the views of the socialist leaders of his time.

For his commendable contribution in the freedom movement, Limaye was conferred the Sanman and offered a pension by the Government of India. But, he did not accept that Sanman and the pension and similar benefits offered to him in recognition of his contribution to the Goa Liberation Movement. He had not even accepted the pension scheme provided to the members of the Parliament. As a committed socialist, Limaye had demonstrated the spirit of selfless sacrifice which will be remembered for all times to come.

Madhu Limaye passed away on 8 January 1995 in New Delhi at the age of 72 after a brief illness. He was suffering from acute bronchial asthma. Madhu Limaye will be remembered by generations to come for his relentless struggle to protect civil liberties and championing, the cause of social justice. As an astute parliamentarian, he belonged to an exclusive genre of members who always used to come to the house after doing painstaking research and homework. A man of utmost integrity, Madhu Limaye always acted with conviction. He has set an example of the highest moral and ethical norms in public life. In his passing away the country has lost a true patriot, nationalist, renowned thinker, socialist leader and a distinguished parliamentarian.

(Qurban Ali is a senior broadcast journalist.)