(Mr. B. Raman, was one of the founders of the Chennai Centre for China Studies. We, in the C3S, will always miss him – D.S.Rajan, Director, C3S)
With the ever changing strategic environment of our country, I am constantly reminded ofMr. B.Raman and his contribution to our web site. Here is a piece from one of our guest columnists.-Director
The world has changed ever since Shri B. Raman passed away a year ago on 16th June. The middle east – Pakistan – China – USA and the new Modi govt at the center in India – all these events pose new question marks and challenges – ardent readers of Shri B Raman are surely missing his valuable inputs and views on all of these matters. While the threads of these new events do lie in the past on which he had been writing elaborately for our benefit, his inputs have the immense potential of being the guiding principles on which to deduce the possibilities of how the things may take shape in future.
His writings reflected his great admiration for Shri R N Kao and his team. The beginning years of R&AW was a period of great satisfaction to the team for achieving professional heights. Shri B. Raman used to get moved thinking about those wonderful years spent together.
In the aftermath of 26/11, when Shri M.K.Narayanan was moved out of the office of NSA and given the term as Governor in WB, Raman’s article on MKN was deeply emotional – he obviously held Shri Narayanan in high esteem – it was a pleasant surpise to read from Raman that MKN with his humor used to cheer up his colleagues during the lunch time intervals.
In the last phase of his life, Raman on 28th April 2013 wrote about “Those Magnificent Kaoboys ” who rode on mule backs to enter China border from Ladakh and accomplish the difficult tasks – about the boss’s pat they would get on their backs for taking risks. It appeared to me as if the glorious memories of life in R&AW never left him and let retire in true sense.
The personal achievements must have been many although he may not have been able to publish the same – he did however write on how he from Switzerland could get the synopsis of the Bofors articles for the then PM Rajivji a day before IE published them.
He wrote with regret about the later years in R&AW when the recruitment criteria were diluted to accommodate influential candidates. His views on the novel written by ex colleague Shri Amar Bhushan about the betrayal by a R&AW officer who defected to USA undetected were an insight as well.
He acknowledged graciously differences of opinions from the readers – but on some occasions he himself became a victim of bad criticism on the internet media especially when he wrote about some journalists and their travel to Libya etc. The public anger against the biased media was so deep that anyone who praised them also became a target of the public anger. Personally I did not agree with Shri Raman but I was also sad to read ungraceful comments on him – I felt he had a right to his views and I could never forget the fact that he was a great patriot.
Patriotism is what brought Raman and his readers close – today a sea of change is awaiting at our doorsteps with NaMo at the helm of India affairs.
In the midst of such times of great expectations, I would like to remember the lines of the great Marathi poet Kusumagraj in Shri Raman’s memory.
(Courtesy : South Asia Analysis Group)
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