Let’s learn restraint from Jyoti Basu: Dr. JP

Lok Satta Party President Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan said today that the greatest tribute we can pay to Marxist leader Jyoti Basu is to imbibe his qualities of extraordinary moderation and restraint, and reconciliation of conflicting interests and steadfast adherence to the middle path in a diverse society like India.

In a tribute, Dr. JP described Mr. Jyoti Basu as one of the tallest leaders in post-independent India and his demise is a loss to the entire nation, and not merely to West Bengal. It would be an insult to Mr. Jyoti Basu to measure his greatness by the length of his tenure in office. He should be assessed on the nature of politics he pursued amidst the culture of tremendous viciousness, short-termism and instant gratification.

Mr. Jyoti Basu, he said, was one of the key architects of the coalition era in India. Although wedded to Marxism, Mr. Jyoti Basu had the wisdom and foresight to realize his limitations and build bridges of friendship between political islands in the interests of national stability and welfare. A nationalist to the core, Mr. Jyoti Basu rejected extremities in politics because he knew that the follies committed by those in power would have profound and long-lasting repercussions. He mastered the art of exercising power with restraint.

On behalf of the Lok Satta Party, Dr. JP expressed profound grief over Mr. Jyoti Basu’s demise and conveyed condolences to the bereaved family, party colleagues, friends, admirers, and supporters.