Who founded the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)? This is one of my favourite questions to ask. Not because the answer is particularly interesting. But because of the nature of the question. Do Americans remember Eisenhower’s ‘vision’ each time NASA makes a big discovery?
Now think about the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Our scientists at ISRO keep making India proud every few months. But every time they do something big, we have this strange chatter from liberals online, on television channels, and in newspapers. Where would India be if Jawaharlal Nehru had not founded ISRO? Technically, Nehru founded the organisation that later became ISRO, but that is really not the point.
So are Americans ungrateful people because they do not talk about how Eisenhower founded NASA? Of course not. If you think Rajiv Gandhi ‘brought’ computers to India, ask yourself who ‘brought’ computers to America? Or to Japan, France, Germany, or anywhere. Do you honestly believe that without Rajiv Gandhi, there would be no computers in India today? No, our obsession with finding the ‘vision’ of so and so behind everything is the exception, not the norm. Especially with so many of our prime ministers coming from just one political family. It is strange. It is feudal. And it makes us look unserious in the rest of the democratic world.
Other countries have great leaders too, but they do not worship them. Take Franklin D. Roosevelt. He brought America out of the Great Depression. He won the World War II. He was elected President of the United States four times! Did I mention that Roosevelt had suffered from polio, and was confined to a wheelchair? It did not stop him from crushing Hitler. You can hardly think of a story more inspiring than this.
So, what did Americans do? Surely, they decided to make Roosevelt a permanent national saint, and spent the next fifty years electing his children and grandchildren to office, right? No, Roosevelt died in 1945. His son tried to run for governor of their home state of New York, but failed. And Roosevelt’s party suffered a crushing defeat in the elections of 1946. The Republicans won. Then they pushed for a constitutional amendment that said nobody could be elected President more than twice. So, another four-term President like Roosevelt would be impossible.
Yes to great leaders. No to anything resembling a king.
So just one year after World War II ended, Americans had already moved on to other issues. This is not unusual. Churchill did great things for Britain. But Churchill lost the 1945 elections in a landslide. Charles de Gaulle saved the honour of France in World War II. But by 1951, he was struggling politically. His party won just 107 seats in the French National Assembly of 625 members.
How did John F Kennedy win the Presidential election of 1960? He accused Eisenhower, who was the incumbent President, of making America weak, causing a “missile gap” with the Russians. You mean the same General Eisenhower who had been the supreme commander of Allied forces in the Second World War? How could anyone accuse him of being weak on national security? Yes, they could. Because General Eisenhower led Allied forces to victory in the Second World War in 1945. This was 1960. What had Eisenhower done since then?
Now think about Indian liberals who want to guilt trip us over Rahul Gandhi. Nehru fought for our freedom. How can you be ‘ungrateful’ to his great-grandson?
Again, this does not mean that we do not respect the contributions and sacrifices of our great leaders. It is a wonderful thing that our first prime minister funded the Indian Institutes of Technology, for instance. But we cannot go on talking about Nehru each time someone goes to an IIT. How many people would even know that John D Rockefeller founded the University of Chicago? Does Rockefeller get thanks every time the University of Chicago does anything? The algorithm that became Google was developed by Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who were then graduate students at Stanford University. So, if you use Google today, be sure to thank the ‘vision’ of Leland Stanford, former California governor and (notoriously corrupt) businessman who founded that university. Sounds ridiculous, I know. So then why do we keep doing something similar in India?
We are proud of our great leaders. We should be proud of their work in nation-building. But a great historical nation such as ours cannot become a living tribute to any one individual, their memory, or their family. Because the nation is greater than us all.
Abhishek Banerjee (@AbhishBanerj on “X”) is an author and columnist. The views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
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