Pragamatic patriot (1933-2015)
SV. Raju was born on 24 September 1933, in Mumbai. His mother passed away when he was four years old. Seeing the ill-treatment meted out to him by his stepmother, Raju’s grandfather entrusted his upbringing to his uncle in Matunga, Mumbai. The trauma of his difficult childhood did not make him cynical. Nor did he have any ambition to be successful in the traditional sense of money and material comforts. He studied at Don Bosco School, Matunga, and passed his M.A. in political science from Khalsa College, Matunga.
His first job was with Garlick and Co. at Rs. 15 per month. His next job was with a labour relations organisation of a relative. At this time, he fell ill and was admitted to KEM Hospital where he met his future wife, a nurse, whom he married in 1961. The marriage between this Tamil Brahmin and the Protestant Christian was a great success, and it provided him a stable security net. Raju remained a Hindu, but shunned all rituals.
While working in the labour relations company, he came in touch with Minoo Masani who took him in as Executive Secretary of the Swatantra Party in 1959. Raju held this post for 14 years. The Swatantra Party formed a coalition government in Orissa in 1969. During his visits to Orissa, Raju used his own transport. He was a political rishi and did not use any government facilities. He was only 26 years old then and came in contact with outstanding intellectuals like Rajaji, Narayan Dandekar, Sir Homy Mody, V. P. Menon and N.G. Ranga. Association with these people had a tremendous influence on him, and yet he never dropped names. Six months before his death, Rajaji told him “I want you to keep the leaders together because I am afraid that they all want to go away”. His prediction came true and the Party collapsed.
He continued to work in Masani’s management consultancy firm of Personal and Productive Services (PPS). Even after the collapse of the Swatantra Party, he kept the Mumbai unit alive and also looked after other organisations like the Indian Committee of Cultural Freedom (ICCF), Adult Education Institute, and edited Freedom First magazine with Geeta Doctor. He wrote a number of books including the biographies of Masani, M.R. Pai and D.N. Patodia. Raju was committed to liberalism and national security. He was pragmatic and did not support the activists and some NGOs who pushed the requirements of individual freedom to extreme limits. In 1980, Swatantra Bharat Party was launched in collaboration with Shetkari Sanghatana of Maharashtra. The Election Commission had made commitment to “socialism and secularism” a condition for registration of a political party. Raju had no difficulty about secularism, but was committed to free enterprise. There are many parties who paid the lip service of making a commitment and not follow these guidelines. Raju instead, challenged the constitutional validity of such ruling. It was not like him to make a pledge and act against it. The petition is still pending in the Mumbai High Court.
He worked tirelessly, delivering lectures on human relations at SIES College, Sion, organising seminars on diverse subjects like national security, education, agriculture and freedom of the press. It was due to his perseverance that recommendations of a study group resulted in waiving off of farmers’debts to the tune of Rs 65,000 crores in 2008. The Indian Liberal Group was revived with 3000 members. Some of the members wanted to resign due to lack of funds and Raju told them, “You can leave the organisation only on death since you are life members”. A firm believer in the freedom of the press, he gave equal space for diverse and contradictory views in the Freedom First magazine. He passed away on 19 May 2015 leaving a void in the fight for individual freedom. He was a lone warrior in the effort to keep the flag of free enterprise and liberal policies flying. He led a simple life, and as per his wishes, no rituals were observed on his death.