Former Prime Minister H. D. Devegowda has every reason to feel aggrieved for being left out of the inauguration ceremony of Bogibeel Bridge in Assam. The 11th Prime Minister of India was not in power for a long time. He lasted in the hot seat for barely 10 months. Just as leaders before him he also didn’t have a magic wand in his hand, Mr. Devegowda couldn’t deliver much. But within this short span of time, he did start one important task. It was Mr. Devegowda, who initiated the process of bringing the North-East closer to the mainstream. He gave enormous thrust on the development of the region and at the same time took the peace process ahead.
What Mr. Devegowda did to achieve his twin goals of peace and development in the North-East? Firstly, soon after taking over the reins of the country on June 1, 1996, the then Prime Minister made it known to all that he wanted to visit the North-Eastern region as early as possible. Moreoverhe made it a point that he would visit all the North-Eastern states in one go. As during that time the North-East uses to be under the influence of Monsoon, his advisers suggested that instead of visiting the region in one go; the Prime Minister should do well if he planned his trip state-wise. But Mr. Devegowda rejected that suggestion. He insisted on visiting the region in one trip. Finally, the said trip took place sometime in October in the year. The then Prime Minister visited all the states of the region and sanctioned various development projects on the spot as per the demands of respective state governments.
He also took the Naga peace process a step further. His predecessor the late P. V. Narasimha Rao initiated the process by meeting NSCN (IM) leaders at Davos. But soon after the meeting, Mr. Rao’s tenure came to an end. After taking over Devegowda cutting across party lines sent Congress leader late Rajesh Pilot to Bangkok to continue the dialogue as Prime Minister’s emissary. For choosing Mr. Pilot as his emissary, Mr. Devegowda’s own party men were angry with him. But he was unperturbed. Mr. Devegowda strongly believed that as the Prime Minister of the country his decisions would be guided by national interests, not by partisan considerations. During that said period Mr. Devegowda also laid the foundation stone of the Bogibeel Bridge.
So courtesy demanded that the former Prime Minister should be invited for the opening function of the bridge. But the man who was the main architect of the bridge remained forgotten. Mr. Devegowda himself lamented that forget about inviting, no one from the government side even informed him that the bridge was complete and would be inaugurated shortly. When a former Prime Minister has to lament in such a manner, it is not difficult to understand what our politicians preach, they don’t practice it themselves. They often talk about not mixing development with politics. But in reality it is politics which is dominating development in the country. This is not a good sign for democracy. In a democracy, governments will keep on changing. But at the same time, we should keep it in mind that by forgetting the past, no nation can move forward. As we will have to learn from our past, similarly we will also have to show respect to it to make a meaningful progress.
