By Patwant Singh As the evening shadows lengthen On the rich farm lands which lie between Chandigarh and Rupar,a figure emerges at dusk each day from a farm near Kharar a tehsil town nine miles from Chandigarh. He tums onto a country road and for the next hour walks briskly along it. On either side of it, fruit farms, wheat and potato field stretch out into the distance. : “As he walks, men come out of more darkness and fall into stride with him. These are farmers who Come to tell him their problems during his evening walk; about tube wells, the fate of loan applications to the cooperative bank; about seeds, fertilizers and pesticides. He listens, and has a word of encouragement for one, advice for another, offers to help the third and makes each one feel wanted, “Encouraged, enthused.
“One by one the men go off into the darkness and the long figure tums once more through the gates of his farm, to a simple dinner cooked with care by his wife. By nine he is in bed and another day has ended for Dr. Mohinder Singh Randhawa scientist, scholar, farmer and civil servant.”
I wrote this over 20 years ago after a weekend with him when he was the Chief Commissioner of Chandigarh, but preferred to live on his Kharar farm.
His easy accessibility was in contrast to the pretensions of the many insignificant men in India’s public life. It gave no indication of his achievements. Nor of the prestigious positions he had held in a remarkable career in the Indian Civil Service.
The reach of his scientific studies and the staggering range of his scholarship, are reflected in the amazing extent of literature he produced. From successive volumes on agriculture, algae, horticulture village studies and animal husbandry to books, like Basholi Painting, Kangra Painting of the Bhagavata Purana, and a long list of other titles.
Yet, when he died on March 3, 1986, just one man out of the entire Akali ministry in Chandigarh went to his funeral. Not even one attended his bhog.
Aside from the insensitively of these political opportunists who draw their support from me peasantry a peasantry which as the ideo Josue of its green revolution the Akalis extended no help to the widow of this man who, because of his impeccable integrity, did not leave much wealth behind.
Did the state, which spends millions everyday on its killing fields, alleviate the distress of a family whose patriarch had helped to infuse new life and hope in a Punjab ravaged by Partition? No.
Given the political climate, and the odds against an expression of concern by the State, it is clearly the Sikhs who should take the initiative since this gifted man was a Sikh. This, tragically is the base level to which the politicians, state and society have sunk in India.
Police Post Attacked 3 Killed In Srinagar
SRINAGAR: Three persons died and a large number of persons were injured in clashes with police in Siri Nagar during the Kashmir Bandh during the last four days. The call for the Bandh was given by the Kashmir Liberation Front to protest the arrest of their leaders.
Police spokesman said that the KLEF activists used automatic weapons in attack on three different police posts.
The front spokesman refuted the government charge and said police used excessive force on peaceful protesters. Some people did throw stones and bricks but never used the automatic weapons.
The situation in Kashmir valley is still very tense and curfew is imposed in the town of Anant Nag.
Beware of Anti-Sikh Rumours
Article extracted from this publication >> April 14, 1989
