Peacemaker by conviction

Nirmala Deshpande had arrived at her own truth and she stuck to it till the end, writes Sudarshan Iyengar.

The sudden demise of Padma Vibhushan Nirmala Deshpande 8212;8216;didi8217;, as she was known to most of us 8212; has created a void in persuasive peacemaking efforts in critical conflict areas in the country and in South Asia. The country has also lost a staunch follower of Vinoba Bhave. Known to take controversial positions, Nirmala didi held on to her convictions till the end.

Born to well-known Marathi writer and parliamentarian P.Y. Deshpande and Vimalabai on October 17, 1929, she studied in Ferguson College, Pune, and obtained her M.A. in political science from Nagpur University. She served as a lecturer in political science in Morris College, Nagpur, but soon gave it up to join Vinoba Bhave in 1952 in the Bhoodan Yatra 8212; a march for asking for the gift of land for the poor. Didi travelled 40,000 km with Vinoba, covering the length and breadth of the country. This gave her rich insights into India8217;s rural society and the problems it faced. She primarily worked in two areas 8212; for rural development and to bring peace among conflicting groups and regions, including Punjab, Kashmir, Pakistan and, more generally, South Asia.

Nirmala didi was one of the founder members of the Akhil Bharat Rachanatmak Samaj, of which she was also the founder president. The Samaj worked for tribals and Scheduled Castes in the fields of education, employment and empowerment. She was also president of the Harijan Sevak Sangh. She made efforts to organise peace work through the Shanti Sena in times of communal riots and tension. As director of the Peace Training Institute Shantisena Vidyalaya at Kasturbagram, Indore, she had to her credit many success stories of women and young girls, plunging into peace activity in any situation and establishing peace. The aim was to work for 8216;Gram Swarajya8217; in India.

During 1974-75, she was involved in a major controversy. The Sarvodaya movement was at the crossroads on the issue of the crisis of democracy in Bihar. Jaya Prakash Narayan had decided to lead a public movement to root out the corrupt Bihar government. The matter was discussed in the Sarva Seva Sangh, the national body of all-India Sarvodaya workers. Vinoba Bhave was of the opinion that people should not confront the state as the time was not opportune and the country faced external threats. JP stood his ground and there was a divide among Sarvodaya workers. Nirmala Deshpande firmly stood beside Vinoba Bhave.

In the years to come, she grew close to Indira Gandhi and it was said that she had become her conscience keeper. It is true that during and after Emergency, she enjoyed tremendous confidence of Indira Gandhi. I met her during the last one year on many occasions, but I did not see any remorse in her with respect to this subject. She had arrived at her own truth and she stuck to it.

Nirmala Deshpande should be remembered, particularly by the younger generation, for her efforts in making peace in conflict situations. She organised peace marches in Punjab in 1983 and 1984, and led the Peace Mission in Kashmir in 1994. She organised a 8216;Sarva Dharm Sambhav Sammelan8217; in various parts of India and the Indo-Pak Amity Meet in May 1996. In militancy-ridden Punjab, she took thousands of peace activists, mainly women, to help the local people in keeping peace and communal harmony. She led by example, travelling in a jeep without security. 8220;God is with me8221;, she said.

In the days of militancy in Jammu 038; Kashmir, she organised peace work by enlisting a few outsiders and many local friends. Once she was asked not to travel to a particular destination as the militants had laid landmines, but she ignored the warnings. She confided to us that the militant informers told her later that since 8216;Didi was so determined to travel, they had removed the landmines from the route!8217; She believed that people were the ultimate arbiters in our society. They should come out and strive for peace.

Story continues below this ad

Nirmala Deshpande was very disturbed after the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Along with some friends she formed Sanjhi Virasat, a forum of writers, artists, and the creative community to uphold India8217;s tradition of composite culture. She helped organised the Adhyatma Jagaran Manch and people8217;s integration council to mobilise for national integration and communal harmony.

She was a sitting member of Rajya Sabha and was associated with more than a dozen organisations at the national and international level. Lesser known is the fact that she was a writer and had written a novel in Hindi.

I met didi last in mid-April this year in a workshop convened at the Gandhi Peace Foundation in New Delhi to brainstorm on the preparation of a manual on the Shanti Sena, her pet project. Shanti Sena was her first and last work. Her vision was derived from her understanding of Vinoba. She said, 8220;Vinobaji8217;s mantra of Jai Jagat 8212; victory of the world 8212; is becoming more and more relevant. Indian sages have always regarded this tiny earth as one family. It is to make this a reality that Gandhians have to take the lead, to rise above caste, creed, religion, language, nation, race etc. and be a true citizen of the world, working for the world family, and a world government.8221;

I think we should appreciate and follow this wisdom bestowed to us by one of the last few Gandhi-Vinoba clan members to walk among us with grace and gusto.

The writer is vice chancellor, Gujarat Vidyapeeth, Ahmedabad