Tribute to President K.R. Narayanan and His AdC Major Gopi on their Death Anniversary

K.R.Narayanan, who was ninth President of our Republic during 1997 and 2002 passed away on November 9, 2005 after serving the nation with distinction. His exceptional legacy in defending the Constitution and secularism constitutes crowning glory for the whole nation. 

Legacy in Defending Constitution and Secularism

Narayanan was the President of India when our country celebrated the golden jubilee of our Independence, the Constitution and Republic. The President takes oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution. In fact, the way he defended our Constitution and secularism remains an unparalleled example for others to follow.

Incidentally, when National Democratic Alliance government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee contemplated to review the Constitution, Narayanan while delivering his speech on the occasion of the golden jubilee of our Republic, very searchingly asked, "Let us examine if the Constitution has failed us or we have failed the Constitution". It was because of that sharp interrogation by the head of the Republic that the Vajpayee government, instead of reviewing the Constitution, reviewed the working of the Constitution. 

Gujarat Riots of 2002: ‘Crisis of State and Society’ 

When some of the victims of Gujarat communal riots in 2002 visited Delhi, none from the NDA government, including Prime Minister Vajpayee, met them. Narayanan was the only State functionary who met them and described the riots as the "crisis of our State and society". 

Triumph of Human Spirit Over Matter 

When he met noted physicist Stephen Hawking and the media asked him about his experience of meeting such a great scientist, Narayanan, with characteristic brilliance, said "Professor Hawking represented the triumph of human spirit over matter".

In fact, Narayanan's life and work itself represented that triumph of human spirit over matter. As President of India, he had repeatedly cautioned that the ever rising counter-culture of communalism was exerting enormous pressure on our Constitution, secularism and civilisational values of tolerance and acceptance. 

Narayanan Interviewed Gandhi in 1945 

When he was a young reporter in Times of India in 1945, he interviewed Mahatma Gandhi in Mumbai and asked some pertinent questions that are now being raised for addressing the deprivation caused by hierarchical structures of violence manifested in the form of caste and other primordial categories. 

Scuttling Vajpayee’s Proposal for Bharat Ratna 

When he proposed Vajpayee to confer the Bharat Ratna on renowned flautist Bismillah Khan, the latter readily agreed and also recommended the President to consider the name of V D Savarkar (Hindutva icon) for posthumously conferring the Bharat Ratna. Narayanan sat over the proposal and Vajpayee later withdrew Savarkar's name for the highest civilian honour.

Tribute to Major Gopi

On November 10, 2005, a day after Narayanan’s demise Major Gopi, who served President Narayanan as his ADC for almost five years, laid down his life in Kashmir in a fierce encounter with terrorists. The exceptionally great and fulfilling tenure I had in Rashtrapati Bhavan as Officer on Special Duty and Press Secretary to President K.R. Narayanan can be attributed to my work centring around President Narayanan and Major Gopi.

The tragic passing away of both in quick succession shattered me completely. While President Narayanan was bound by his oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of India, Major Gopi defended our unity, integrity and pluralistic heritage as one of the finest soldiers of Indian Army.

Commissioned in 16 Garhwal Rifles in December 1992, Major Gopi was a soldier of extraordinary caliber. His love for books and his passion for reading, writing and composing poems remained the distinguishing features of his life. His quest for knowledge and capacity to cultivate wisdom amply brought out his expansive outlook and the majesty of his personality. His numerous poems and short stories demonstrated his creative faculties, literary and philosophical bent of mind and rich imagination.

Apart from serving President Narayanan, Major Gopi had the distinction of serving former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for a few months. He consciously preferred to go back to Kashmir and serve in the rough and tough hilly terrain infested with terrorists, after the completion of his tenure in Rashtrapati Bhavan. He added lustre to the positions he held and invested them with rare dignity, charm, grace and authority. In combining the excellence of a soldier with the creative ability of a writer and poet and in upholding robust humanism and spiritual values.

Gopal Krishna Gandhi, the former Governor of West Bengal, rightly described him as “the flower of the Indian Army” and a professor of English literature from Chandigarh University hailed him as "Sant Sipahi”, the honorific title of a revered Sikh Guru. Such a rare honour bestowed on him underlined his extraordinary virtues and high standard of conduct. The people of the villages in Jammu and Kashmir, where he served and laid down his life, showered on him abundant love for his compassion and humanism.

The announcement from the mosque of the Arin village, where he attained martyrdom on November 10, 2005, urging people not to cook dinner that evening testified to the respect he commanded. He laid down his life in a fierce encounter with terrorists right at the time when the funeral pyre of President Narayanan was being lit.

An outstanding soldier with a philosophical outlook and "Roshan Khayali" and “Enlightened Thinking”, Major Gopi, was serving to defeat the forces determined to make Jammu and Kashmir a bloody theatre of civil strife.  In following President Narayanan’s articulation that civilisations never clash but barbarians do, and civilisations come together to form confluences, as an Army officer, he upheld the confluential attributes of J&K to defeat terrorism.  His broad outlook, vision and, above all his bravery and sacrifice will shine for ever. You are immortal Gopi.

S N Sahu Served as Officer on Special Duty to President of India K R Narayanan. The views are personal.