Implementing PROUT
-- Acharya Santosananda Avadhuta
Despite all their efforts, people are still mired in misery and suffering. Cures were suggested for this so that women and men could happily live in a world, free from stress and suffering but this dream has so far eluded human society. In this quest for more and more happiness, besides spiritual endeavours, socio-economic theories have also evolved, giving birth to ideas of Capitalism, Marxism and other schools of thought. Many revolutionaries were born and many revolutionary events took place in pursuit of this goal, namely many Freedom Movements, The Enlightenment, French Revolution and Communist Revolutions. There have also been various smaller movements to remove discrimination, disparity and injustice but the cherished goal is nowhere in sight.
Establishment of Moralist Society
The latest in this evolution of thought is the socio-economic philosophy of Progressive Utilisation Theory abbreviated as PROUT. It was postulated in 1959 by Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar (also known as Shrii Shrii Anandamurti). Shrii Sarkar explained how PROUT is a panacea to establish an exploitation-free social order. He has dwelt at length on social, economic, political, cultural, educational and moral issues confronting humanity.
He has also envisioned a dream goal which is called a moral revolutionary society (Sadvipra Samaj), whose objectives among others are:
1) Governance by moralists alone
2) Self-reliant economy
3) Jobs for all
4) Genuine establishment of moral, cultural and human values. This implies no discriminations based on caste, race, religion, age etc.
5) Coordinated and not subordinated cooperation between individuals and social groups
6) An autonomous mechanism to deal with any social menace that may emerge or erupt in the said revolutionary moralist society.
Whether these objectives too remain a dream out of reach, or will they ever see the light of day?
Now the question is how can these objectives be attained? I am writing this paper with the conviction that PROUT indeed can resolve the age-old dilemmas, riddles and challenges that humanity until now has failed to grapple with successfully. However, the aim of this paper is to find answers on how PROUT can be implemented.
In a nutshell Shrii Sarkar deals with two aspects:
1) The integrity of an individual’s moral character
2) A well-knit social order that discriminates against none.
Shrii Sarkar always emphasised that only those who are mentally strong with infallible moral character – they alone should be entrusted with the responsibility of socio-economic management and political governance. Such moralists alone can establish an exploitation-free society. So to begin with, one thing becomes clear – a movement headed by moralists alone can put PROUT into practice. Exactly who is a moralist? Three significant qualities which are fundamental to the question are:
1) One’s thoughts, words and deeds should always be the one and the same.
2) One must in all circumstances – favourable or unfavourable – remain fully devoted to carry out one’s ideological commitments.
3) When the goal has been set, one must never abandon it.
The degree to which one is established in morality based on the above principles can be judged by how near one is to the goal of establishing PROUT.
Action Required NOW
Starting from 1959 until now, for various reasons, Proutists have not been able to significantly influence the existing social currents anywhere in the world. The ideas of PROUT have no doubt been disseminated through various programs (books, seminars, etc.) and PROUT has won the approval and admiration of several distinguished persons throughout the world. But as it stands, PROUT is yet to be taken seriously by intellectuals or organisations of any standing or any government anywhere in the world. Because of this PROUT has not been able to become an integral part of the main current of social activities anywhere. So how do we make PROUT the dominant social current and move towards the goal of a just socio-economic and political order?
Shrii Sarkar’s Call
Some people may like to say that when God desires then PROUT will automatically be established … since no one has the ability to resist God’s will, therefore PROUT will be established once God wills it … we should therefore not bother about it and should only go on discussing, sermonizing about this philosophy amongst the people. Such a psychology goes against everything Shrii Sarkar said and did. Many times he has stated that he wants to see significant change in society without any further delay. We never fulfilled this ardent aspiration of his revolutionary mission.
In countless inspiring messages in his books, he repeatedly asks us to take action NOW to save humanity and bring the suffering to an end. Thus far these words have failed to motivate any notable revolutionary zeal in us to establish a government of spiritual moralists. Rather the aforementioned superstitious attitude extinguishes whatever revolutionary fire exists in the Proutists.
Let us recall some of the soul-stirring messages of Shrii Sarkar to all moralists:
“In this world, in this entire universe, the wind is blowing in our favour. It is the most opportune time to do something for the present and future humanity. At this critical juncture one moment of time has the value of 100 years. Utilize the present position – utilize the situation. Do your duty with more zeal. Let your speed be accelerated. It deserves more acceleration…
“The world moves fast, the universe moves very fast, and the psychic counterpart is also moving fast. Recently the speed of this movement has been greatly accelerated. You should realize this, and you must accelerate the speed of the duty allotted to you. You should maintain a proper balance with the revised speed. Everywhere sanity and rationality will rule human psychology. Humanity will rule the universe.” (Move With Ever-Accelerating Speed)
“Parama Puruśa [Supreme Lord] has blessed you with hands to work and legs to move; has infused you with the stamina to act; has endowed you with practical intelligence, so make the best use of them in the fight against the demons. You must not sit idle relying on fate. Be vigorously active.” (Ananda Vanii 1 January 1977)
“Just as the advent of the purple dawn is inevitable at the end of the cimmerian darkness of the inter-lunar night, exactly in the same way I know that a gloriously brilliant chapter will also come after the endless reproach and humiliation of the neglected humanity of today.
“Those who love humanity and those who desire the welfare of living beings should be vigorously active from this very moment, after shaking off all lethargy and sloth, so that the most auspicious hour arrives at the earliest.” (Ananda Vanii 1 January 1971)
“Despite its advent onto this earth many thousands of years ago, humanity is not yet capable of building a well-integrated and universal human society. This is in no way indicative of the glory of human intellect and erudition. You, who have understood the predicament, realized the urgency, seen the naked dance of evil and heard the hypocritical and raucous laughter of the divisive forces should throw yourselves into this noble task without further delay. When the ends are just and noble, success is inevitable.” (Ananda Vanii 1 January 1975)
The above messages of Shrii Sarkar are a clear indication that he wants us to translate the ideals of PROUT into a living reality at the earliest. Not only that, he also guarantees us success once we throw ourselves into action for the realization of this goal.
Two Movements
Summarizing the objective outlook of PROUT, two movements are implied – a socio-economic-cultural movement and a political movement. For spearheading the socio-economic-cultural movement, Shrii Sarkar has propounded socio-economic groupifications called Samajas e.g. Malwa Samaj, Asi Punjabi Samaj, Hadoti Samaj, etc. based on certain essential factors such as similar economic problems, uniform economic potentialities, ethnic similarities, the sentimental legacy of the people, and similar geographical features. Through this he wants us to identify with the sentiment of a particular region. Through these socio-economic groupifications, Shrii Sarkar wants that an anti-exploitation socio-economic-cultural movement should come into existence.
PROUT in fact advocates ensuring that economic power comes into the hands of the common people. The goal is to ensure that everyone is economically self-reliant and therefore PROUT principles and policies seek to involve local people in the planning and economic development of their region. The reason is that local people are the best judge of their own needs and aspirations. Their direct involvement with the economic activities of their region is essential for them to achieve self-sufficiency.
To battle degenerating pseudo-culture also infuses in a person, a fighting spirit against exploitation. Protecting one’s cultural and sentimental legacy is important as it enables people to unite on a common platform easily and then to take the struggle against immoral misrule strongly and steadfastly.
The concept of Samaj (eco-cultural region) is given with the object of creating one indivisible society. That is why Shrii Sarkar gave the name Samaja (a group of people moving together as one). For administering Samaja (i.e. for social and economic management), a Sadvipra Raj (political order) is required – a government of moralists. Therefore Prout has visualised a second movement, a political movement.
Revolution, Not Evolution
The second movement is purely a political one.
In the last chapter of His book Ananda Sutram, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti begins by talking about the rule of a particular psychology that is prevalent in a particular place, in a particular age, and how in course of time, that leads to exploitation, discrimination and all types of degeneration. In such a situation, the moral forces have to save the people and end this exploitation. So their movement for the eradication of exploitative rule takes place either by evolutionary or by revolutionary methods. Therefore it goes without saying that for a Proutist revolution to really succeed, its leadership must be in the hands of moralists.
It is pertinent to mention here that Shrii Sarkar prefers Revolution over Evolution. For this purpose, he has also written at length on his concept of Nuclear Revolution.” Shrii Sarkar states
“Intellectual revolution stands for the propagation of ideals, but to materialize these ideals takes a pretty long time. Suffering humanity is not going to wait for this. Intellectual revolution is possible in theory only.
When the hopes and aspirations of a group of people – a majority or a minority – are not fulfilled in a democratic framework, a non-democratic or sanguinary revolution is sure to take place. Such a revolution, although undesirable, is inevitable and irresistible.
Physical revolution denotes fight against all factors which go against the principle of public welfare. The Proutists will inaugurate a new era of revolution against all sorts of fissiparous tendencies and social evils. If a country’s laws are not strong enough to rectify the conduct of immoralists, the Proutists will do something concrete.” (Discourses on PROUT)
“Countries that exploited their colonies used to make efforts to promote the welfare of their population within the democratic structure, but if they had wanted to contribute to social welfare and had stayed outside the democratic framework, preferring instead the path of worker revolution, they would have progressed faster, and without exploiting any colonies. In fact, in a democratic structure the people’s progress is very slow. It cannot be called revolution; rather it is evolution, that is, gradual change.
If undeveloped countries avoid the path of revolution and choose the path of slow change, or deliberately ignore the defects in democratic socialism or in the concept of a welfare state, the welfare of their people will never be anything but castles in the air.”(Shúdra Revolution and Sadvipra Society)
“The transition from one age to the next may take place through natural change, evolution or revolution. Natural change or evolution can bring about change from the kśatriya era to the vipra era, and from the vipra era to the vaeshya era, but to eliminate vaeshya exploitation, the application of tremendous force is absolutely essential.” (Nuclear Revolution)
“Now, those who are courageous enough to speak out this truth in clear language – those who say, “Shatter this bondage of limitation!” – their path is called the path of revolution. And those who say, “Everything will be done gradually… why so much haste?” – their path is called the path of evolution. They can never accomplish any glorious task.” (Exploitation and Pseudo-Culture)
A Government of Proutists
Once a government comes into the hands of moralists, they will establish different samajas (socio-economic groupifications) based on constitutional provisions and work out the mechanics for their advancements. Without legal backing, it is not possible to initiate developmental planning for the true economic liberation of the people of a particular samaja. Therefore the emphasis of this paper is on how to take power from the immoralists and establish the rule of Proutists.
For Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar, leadership is the most crucial issue. It is a leader who brings a good or bad system into practice. If moralist revolutionaries lead a movement, it will bring about a humane social order in a practical sense. Therefore Proutists will themselves have to be strong moralists in order to take over power from the immoralists. Then alone a genuine Proutist government will come into existence. Immoral leaders never act selflessly and therefore always remain concerned with their own happiness and well-being. They will therefore never allow moralists and Proutists to hold power. This is the reason why despite the persecution of Proutists for decades, no recognised leader – social, political or corporate – has ever come out openly against this persecution. Not less than fifty persons have been killed and many gory incidents have taken place, yet none of the well known persons took pains to ponder seriously over it.
History bears testimony about the fact that all the radical revolutionary movements first captured political power and then tried to introduce their system which they had been agitating for. It is for this simple reason that no system or ideology will come into existence without a proper governing body to devise a mechanism for the introduction and establishment of this cherished ideology. Hence a government of Proutists is essential for the promotion and implementation of Proutist ideals. PROUT cannot be implemented if we are to continue to live under the rule of a hostile government. The existence of a PROUT friendly government is indispensible for the purpose. A government financed, sustained and dependent on capitalists for its very existence can never be friendly to PROUT and Proutists. Therefore Proutists forming their own government is the demand of the day.
A Step Forward
Let us first discuss the Samaja (eco-cultural) movement. It moves people to agitate in order to empower themselves socially, culturally and economically. When the government accepts the demands of the Samaja movement and enacts laws to that effect, its materialization takes practical shape. Otherwise, social inequality, economic disparity and cultural depravity remain the order of the day as we witness today. Precisely for this very reason, Shrii Sarkar also envisaged a political movement to bring Proutists to power – it is the only way out.
Proutists in the seat of power will be a step forward in establishing PROUT ideology. A PROUT friendly government can turn the vision of PROUT into reality. The present absence of a PROUT government is one of the main reasons why Proutist institutions have not succeeded in accelerating and consolidating their position. A sympathetic and supportive government is an important factor to provide impetus to ideologically revolutionary activities. So in order to bring acceleration and consequent victory of Proutist ideals – the rule of moralists (Proutists) is essential. Samaja movements will help in facilitating this task. Both movements – political as well as socio-economic – cultural—are necessary and are meant to complement each other.
In order to start a political movement, a clear vision and direction is required. In 1968, Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar founded a political party called Proutist Bloc, India (PBI). All these years this party has not been active enough at the desired speed, desired strength and therefore it has yet to find a place on the political map of India. Now, in the present era, PBI activists have resolved to wage decisive struggle with the immoral forces.
Bifurcation of Powers
Economic and political powers need to be segregated. It is unwise to give both powers to one institution. Therefore, economic power (via Samaja activities) will be vested in the hands of the local people who would be sovereign in this regard. To understand why, it is essential to realize that the dominant doctrine today in social and perhaps scientific thought is the doctrine of “the survival of the fittest.” This doctrine causes people to take the suffering of the helpless and the weak as something natural and not worth becoming outraged over. Shrii Sarkar dealt a death blow to this concept by saying that every living being has dual values.
Firstly there is their inestimable value of their existence and second there is their utility value as a precious resource for society. Until now, in practical life there has been little or no recognition of people’s existential value because the doctrine of “survival of the fittest” still dominates the collective psychology. As a result certain persons dominated by this doctrine have been more and more active in acquiring more skills and knowledge and have at the same time never hesitated to exploit, suppress and oppress others without any qualms. Indeed, they always were vociferous in justifying their actions to the public claiming that their wealth was the result of their talents and hard work and that other people have the opportunity to struggle and succeed just like they did. Interestingly, in the past, successful dacoits propagated the same type of justification for their social vices.
Shrii Sarkar thoroughly differs from this duplicity of thought. When the Supreme Entity cares for the existence of even the lowliest and most helpless beings, why then should human beings not do so likewise? Why should they deny others the very right to remain alive? The benevolent Lord knows that a newborn baby has undeveloped digestive organs. Therefore He provides milk in the mother’s breast before the child is even born. Similarly the Lord has not discriminated against the most hateful sinner with regard to their right to exist. We are to look upon all as a dignified manifestation of the Supreme Lord. Therefore we have to guarantee the existential value to one and all. This is why Shrii Sarkar has guaranteed economic power and economic rights to one and all, so that everyone becomes self-reliant and so that no one should feel that their life could not blossom due to a lack of resources and opportunities. Therefore we have to usher in a system where everyone exists with dignity without any worry about poverty, suppression and exploitation. Thus Prout’s economic movement of Samaja puts economic power in the hands of the common people.
Political Power
But so far as governance and administration is concerned, it cannot be entrusted or delegated to everyone like economic power. Only moralists should occupy the seats of governance, not any Tom, Dick or Harry. Without the presence of a strong moral foundation in a person, they are bound to deviate from the righteous path and fail. Those remaining in government or in administration must necessarily possess moral and spiritual attributes. Precisely for this reason, PROUT’s political movement will be in the hands of moralists alone without any compromise. Here the role of the common people is that of an activist and voter and not that of a leader or an official functionary.
One of the negative results of failing to maintain this separation can be seen today. There is concentration of wealth and power in a few hands, resulting in poverty and deprivation everywhere. These economic giants are controlling the politics as well. Virtually both the powers – economic and political – are effectively vested in the same set of persons. In addition to this, for all practical purposes, the government (i.e. national or provincial bodies) controls all the finances. Evidently the centre (national government) has usurped both the powers – economic as well as political. As a result, there are perpetual complaints that the government discriminates when it comes to allocation of funds. Once the economy becomes people-centred, it is the local people – who know what is good for them – will have the final say regarding the generation and utilisation of economic power. Thus once the economy is in the hands of the local people, there is every chance that poverty, exploitation and deprivation will leave for good.
In order to grapple with this disparity in the economic condition of the people, economy therefore needs to be decentralized and for this reason Proutist Universal (apex body of PROUT organisations and movements) has started 44 Samaja movements in India. But in order to maintain unity and structural solidarity of the country, there is only one political unit, i.e. India. Thus there is one Indian government accommodating all the 44 Samajas. We have therefore to understand the significance and need of the bifurcation of both the powers and restructure the whole system accordingly.
Politics has to be the exclusive domain of moralists while the economy remains in the hands of the local people. There is centralization of political power and the economic power will be decentralized.
Elections
Right from the early days Shrii Sarkar started creating and inspiring cadres to participate in elections. Why did he continue with this? The reason is by this the cadres were made to go out and see the suffering in the society and listen to people’s problems. This makes them dedicated to the mission of PROUT and it makes them think deeply how to solve their local problems with PROUT. Furthermore the struggle to carry out the work despite financial constraints and violent onslaughts by corrupt people, often forces them to become courageous and make leaders out of them. Shrii Sarkar said in the discourse “Nuclear Revolution”, leaders are born out of the process of doing the revolutionary work of mobilizing the people.
PBI will not be a three-month program during the elections period. Representatives will learn to fight for the people’s issues all the year round, year after year. They will teach the people to think for themselves, articulate their feelings and fight for their rights and their dreams through PBI. Through this, the people will become a powerful force that will not just bring candidates to power but will always be engaged in fighting to establish PROUT in their local area. In this way national mobilization of the Proutist activists of India and the Indian people will take place to create a new breed of Proutists who enjoy struggling against all odds. Shrii Sarkar thus says in his discourse “Spiritual Lessons of the Giitá ”,
“Hence, non-struggle – the absence of struggle – is but another name for death. It has been my constant endeavour to arouse this spirit of struggle in you; I have never encouraged aversion towards struggle.”
So to bring back the spirit of moral struggle is the most important task facing Proutists today. PBI will honestly accomplish this task.
PBI and Samaja – An Ethos of Coordinated Cooperation
In the electoral stage prior to formation of government, the role of PBI vis-Ã -vis Samaja will basically be as follows:
1) PBI will encourage and reinforce samaja sentiments mainly in rural areas since local people are deeply attached to their sentimental legacy. In towns, cities and large metropolitan areas where people come from diverse cultural backgrounds, PBI will mobilise them encouraging and reinforcing pan-Indian and even global sentiments. Here the objective is to bring people into the PBI fold so that it is able to promote a people’s uprising by mass mobilisation in order to remove corrupt persons from power.
2) In elections, PBI will do its best to choose its candidates on the basis of merit. The best cadre in the constituency will be selected for the elections – only those with strong moral integrity having selfless love for suffering humanity. In selecting candidates, PBI will always consult the respective samaja and will give its recommendations serious thought, because the object after elections is to materialise the development plans based on comprehensive and grassroots knowledge from people of respective samajas.
3) With regard to selecting married persons as candidates, preferably they should not be divorced persons or married to divorced persons.
PBI and PROUT Federations
PBI will also extend all its cooperation to the five frontal Proutist organisations of UPLF (Universal Proutist Labour Federation), UPSF (Universal Proutist Student Federation), UPIF (Universal Proutist Intellectual Federation), UPYF (Universal Proutist Youth Federation) and UPFF (Universal Proutist Farmer Federation). It will bring the agenda of these Federations into the limelight by highlighting their agenda in the political arena. It will work seriously so that their demands get adequate attention and it will work sincerely so that these demands are acted upon by the legislative and administrative authorities.
Mission of PBI
Today, people believe that without indulging in immoral and unfair practices, it is impossible to succeed in politics, thereby implying a person cannot win a seat in the legislature without resorting to immoral means. This myth in the Indian psychology has to be shattered by PBI. In order to fill this gaping void of morality in politics, PBI has emerged with clear vision and determination to accomplish five tasks:
1) Endeavour to create polarization in politics. There should be a clear message to society that only moralists will be allowed to take part in political activity. Therefore morality has to be the minimum qualification of a political activist. The yardstick of judging a person’s morality will be his/her private and public conduct. In particular the amount of wealth of a candidate must be clearly scrutinized.
2) Do its best to organize and unite disgruntled moralists. Goody-goody moralists are not of much use for addressing the issue of people’s suffering. It requires fighting zeal and revolutionary spirit to challenge the immoral and exploitative forces.
3) Work for mass mobilization for bringing a new socio-political order into existence and as such will fully concentrate on mass awakening and mass uprising.
4) Endeavour to establish harmonious coordination with other PROUT activists and movements.
5) Endeavour to maintain a sympathetic relationship with other like-minded organizations and movements.
The ultimate aim of all these activities is to bring Proutists (moralists) into power in the form of a PROUT government.
THE AFTERMATH
Once we have a Proutist government, what is the guarantee that this government will implement PROUT principles and PROUT policies? This is a question that merits serious reflection.
Past experiences show that the new governments have deviated from their declared agenda and with the passage of time become tyrannical like their predecessors. That is why, the examples of revolutionary struggle and revolutionary governments formed after seizing power from exploitative governments no longer inspire people today. Instead people have come to believe that we may expect a change of government but never a change of the existing system and institute a durable, benevolent and thoroughly pro-people’s system of governance.
Shrii Sarkar has deeply gone into this issue and says in Discourses on PROUT, “The government, be it fascist, imperialist, republican, dictatorial, bureaucratic or democratic, is sure to become tyrannical if there is no MORAL FORCE to check the capricious activities of the leaders or of the party in power.”
This implies that Shrii Sarkar visualises two sources of power – the first official power and the second unofficial power. Official power means power derived from the national Constitution and statute books. The entire machinery of governance and administration functions within the ambit of the provisions laid down in the Constitution and legal statutes, i.e. through the official system. Anything not officially permitted is considered illegal and punishable.
Due to this situation, it is quite likely that a person lacking moral integrity who holds an official post of power, would exploit and unleash a rule of terror, taking shelter within the ambit of law. It is almost impossible to check and control such immoral actions by legal means within the government machinery, which remains in the hands of the very same immoral persons. Shrii Sarkar therefore has made us realise the need for a MORAL FORCE outside and independent of the official machinery of government.
Therefore he concludes the previous observations saying, “One cannot expect this moral force from the government power functioning within a democratic structure. We expect it from non-political ends.”
It is therefore evident that the desired moral force has to emerge from outside the realm of the government. How will this moral force become a reality for the common man? To understand this, let us examine and analyse the nature of Proutist politics.
Proutist Politics
Shrii Sarkar advocates partyless democracy – the reason being that people become divided in several groups due to their loyalty to different political parties and these parties keep them divided because only through such divisiveness they hope to come into power. The current system of party-democracy has many defects known to every intelligent citizen. The main defect is that people vote for the party and the party very often fields candidates who are not dedicated and are unworthy of struggling for the rights of the suffering people. Political parties select only those candidates who they feel are likely to win the election. It matters little to them if they are immoral and use illegal means, including money and muscle power. The supporters of a party vote for the party’s candidates without caring for their moral credentials. As a consequence the legislature gets filled with people of questionable character. Parties also enter into unholy alliances with one another for gaining power and money, without any consideration for ethics and moral values, killing the very spirit of democracy. In light of such a scenario, Shrii Sarkar advocates partyless democracy, where people will judge the merit of the candidates and then cast their votes.
The question still remains whether people elected in this new partyless democracy (just like those in the party democracy existing today) will fulfil the mandate of their manifesto. What is the guarantee that when they enter the legislature, their integrity would remain clean as before?
In order to keep a check on this, Shrii Sarkar visualizes another power centre independent of the official legal system. This would be the moralist power centre exercising corrective influence on the officials with the support of the common masses. People will rally around moralist leadership and accord them recognition due to their exemplary conduct, service-mindedness and indomitable integrity.
This power centre cannot be established by a legal process but would exist because of the people’s will for justice, equality and unity. People would support this unofficial, non-governmental power centre due to their implicit trust and confidence in the moralist leader’s selflessness and dedication towards the common good. Such unofficial leaders would exercise their influence on the people due to the force of their moral integrity and their uncompromising struggle against all forms of injustice alone. People would thus have genuine leadership to bank upon and even get inspired to become such leaders themselves. This moral movement will create mass support for change and will enable the leadership to exert effective and productive influence upon the government and the administration.
A situation will therefore naturally evolve and develop to such a stage when the various agencies of the government would not be in a position to ignore this power centre. Government officials would always be wary of this moral leadership due to its massive popular support. They will realise that once they refuse to listen to this moral power centre, they will be thrown out of power. So they would always feel accountable to this moral, non-governmental power centre.
Past examples of such popular moral political support in India include Mahatma Gandhi, Jayaprakash Narayan and recently Anna Hazare. They did not hold any official post in the organisation, which was running under their leadership. Without any position, the entire movement was under their control and the people followed them so long as they felt the leader was fully responsive and dedicated to their welfare. However, those past leaders made serious mistakes due to which they lost their role as a moral guide.
In the case of Mahatma Gandhi, he could not restrain the Congress from working as a political party after India gained political independence and that became the cause of his failure. Even prior to this, he could not prevent the partition of India despite his loud declaration that the division would take place on his dead body. In post-Independence India, the Congress party was taken over by opportunist politicians who refused to listen to Mahatma Gandhi.
In the case of Jayaprakash Narayan, after the Janata Party – a product of his labours – came to power, he disbanded the entire network of people’s organizations which was active in pre-election days and was in fact responsible for the thumping victory of the Janata Party at the hustings. Thus no one in the party would listen to him and he died in grief seeing the corrupted party collapse. What he should have done was to keep the network of organizations alive and use them as a means to exert pressure on the government. The rulers at the centre would have then felt accountable to this centre of moral power and this nucleus of moral power would have remained a threat to their nefarious activities. In the absence of such a non-governmental powerful centre of moral power, rule of the Janata Party collapsed without even completing its full term.
Similarly, a non-governmental people’s movement emerged centring around Anna Hazare. It also gained mass support but subsequently it was hijacked by those nurturing political ambitions. As a consequence, the movement flopped and lost its mass appeal and Anna is a bewildered man today. In retrospect, we see that Anna lacked penetrating intelligence and thus could not realise the nature of his companions or foresee their future actions.
Shrii Sarkar has introduced the concept of a moral power centre independent of government machinery but having unquestioned moral leadership. This power centre of moralists will emerge as the natural choice of the people. By this is not meant individual leadership but a collective leadership of strong moralists. While the legislators will do their work in the legislature, people under the collective leadership of moralists will keep a weathering eye on their functioning. When they find that a particular legislator is not acting in accordance with the contents of his/her manifesto, then they will exert moral force on him to resign and if required leave politics for ever. So, once the people are empowered under the leadership of such a moral power centre, which should evolve and get strengthened over a period of time in a natural way, it will become a practical reality. Such a non-governmental moral power centre will serve as a deterrent for any immoral act by any legislator, any executive or judicial authority.
Two Tiered Leadership
So we have a two-tiered leadership – 1) the official leadership represented in the governmental structure (legislative, judicial, executive, audit, secretariat, police, etc.); and 2) the non-official universally recognized moralist power centre. Both will complement each other. But in the case of the government machinery not working in the people’s interests, the moral power centre will create such circumstances to force them to mend their ways or vacate the seat of power. Such a system of social culture can guarantee the implementation of PROUT. None need fear that the legislators and other wings of the administration will not do their duty.
Without such a centre of moralist power, the implementation of PROUT ideals will remain only a dream. Therefore in PBI, there are leaders who will contest elections and enter into the legislature. Besides this, there are leaders who will always work with the masses without aspiring for any political gain. They will be natural leaders of the people (rather than appointed, nominated or elected leaders) and hence the interests of the masses will be safe due to their selfless leadership. The official (administrative) leadership will always be accountable to this moral leadership and be in awe of its relentless vigil to ensure welfare of the people.
Today, this second tier is completely absent. People are endlessly divided – having loyalty for and against certain parties and those who are elected by the people have no worries about the public going against them. These immoral legislators use all tactics to keep the people divided and docile and in low spirits. All the parties want to retain their separate identity and work day and night to consolidate their vote bank. In this nefarious game of power politics, one section of the common people always remains at war with the others. The parties spend funds lavishly to keep their party in the limelight and for attracting mass support to maintain hold on their followers.
In addition, every party in power always encourages the spread of alcohol, drugs, pornography and decadent culture at the grassroots level despite what their public stance might be. The revolutionary spirit in the dissatisfied and rebellious people is sapped by such degradation which keep them morally weak. Thus they compromise with their own exploitation and aid the exploitation of others. These rudderless, self-disrespecting people are no threat to the unscrupulous politicians and therefore the latter feel free from worry. They feel assured of remaining as MP or MLA for their full term.
Since the cunning legislators foresee the possible wrath of society against the exploiters who fund their election campaign, they are careful to keep creating controversies so as to divide people on superficial issues and social prejudices so that these exploited people no longer remain a danger to the exploiters. On the other hand these legislators shamelessly and freely use their term in office to inflate their wealth. They do not even bother to visit their constituencies to obtain a first hand account of people’s conditions there.
This type of psychology will vanish once fear is instilled in them that if they make a mockery of the promises in their manifesto the people would not tolerate them even for a day.
A Regular Activity
The propagation of Proutist ideology has to be a regular daily activity and not a seasonal or yearly activity. Only in this way can change be generated in the collective psychology towards PROUT’s ideals. People have to be empowered with PROUT – to feel that with this ideology and path of action they can liberate themselves. They must really rise and liberate themselves with PROUT. This strong sentiment for freedom must be nurtured and strengthened by constantly conducting PROUT educational programmes, thereby empowering the people. This also helps in consolidating the will power of the disgruntled people. These disgruntled moralists will have a platform – a nucleus of moralist – to voice their dissatisfaction and anger. The more they become organized and united, the more they would become aggressive for attaining their goal of social reconstruction. PBI will tirelessly work towards this end.
Finally the disgruntled people become capable of more and more acts of courage to end the prevailing exploitative system and bring genuine changes. Therefore Proutist political movements will succeed in giving a pure and efficient administration and pro-people governance and PROUT will eventually see the light of day. Shrii Sarkar expressed the pure truth saying
“There is joy indeed in launching a struggle against injustice, and that joy is part and parcel of aesthetic science.” (Párthasárathi Krśńa and Aesthetic Science)
Let this joy be felt by not just every Proutist, by every moralist on this planet; let even the immoralists yearn for this joy in their hearts.
Let us answer Shrii Sarkar’s clarion call given to us more than half a century ago in his concluding essay of Human Society Part Two, “Shúdra Revolution and Sadvipra Society”:
“Today I earnestly request all rational, spiritual, moral, fighting people to build a sadvipra society without any further delay. Sadvipras will have to work for all countries, for the all-round liberation of all human beings. The downtrodden people of this persecuted world look to the eastern horizon, eagerly awaiting their advent. Let the blackness of the new-moon night be lifted from the path of the downtrodden. Let the new human beings of a new day wake up to a new sunrise in a new world.”
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- Do you think staging rallies, dharnas (sit-ins) and contesting elections at this stage, before creating awareness of need for change will help establish Prout? Dharnas and rallies on a small scale are not taken seriously by media and people; they get mixed up and lost among other rallies on petty issues.
- Staging rallies, dharnas and contesting elections certainly help in creating awareness for the need for change. I do agree that dharnas and rallies on a small scale do not create much immediate impact. The solution therefore lies in steadily raising them to bigger and effective strength as part of a sustained grassroots campaign.
- Do you think masses will become ideological easily in order to support PBI movement?
- Masses can never become ideological. They can only be sympathisers and supporters. When they find that a particular movement holds prospect of bringing relief to them, they join it in droves. My experience is that the masses who raise slogans of Gandhiism, do not know what Gandhiism in fact is. Same is the case with the activists of other movements. Only few people at the top have the understanding of their ideology. This is true in case of Proutists as well. How many among us know the specialities and beauty of Prout? They just know the word Prout, and that it is the best philosophy and ideology. Their conviction is based more on devotional sentiment and partially on intellectual understanding.
Prout was propounded in 1959; 56 years have passed. Can you claim Indians in general know even the word Prout? It is known to a very small number of people who are the ardent followers of Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar. In the outside society, numbers can be counted on fingers.
- Do you not feel it is the time of intellectual fight and time for physical fight is not yet mature? Gain enough strength before taking the enemy face to face. Should we not concentrate at this stage on intellectuals and thoughtful people?
- I do not think we should say this is the time of intellectual fight alone. We have been waging this fight since 1959. This should continue but this is not enough. Prout ideas will remain confined to a few people as it has remained till now if we insist only on talking and discussing about Prout without corresponding work on the ground.
I have never suggested taking on the enemy face to face. My emphasis is on creating collective psychology and effecting genuine polarisation in politics. Propaganda and elections are parts of the strategy. Once collective psychology is evolved and consolidated in favour of Proutistic change, formation of Prout government becomes a natural consequence.
- We find political parties and politicians are not respected at present by right thinking people. Will they take PBI seriously?
- Politicians and political parties are not respected due to their conduct. Once their motives and activities are channelled towards unwavering sincerity and moral integrity, people will start respecting politics. Today it is the refuge of scoundrels. This situation has to be reversed. PBI will strain every nerve to accomplish this task.
- Helping people by pressurising government through agitating movements to solve their problems makes them think that the present system is right; and when we fail in our efforts, will not people turn to other persons and parties even if latter adopt corrupt practices?
- Efforts to pressurise the government is a strategy, it is not the way to solution. This helps in consolidating anti-thesis and organising as well as uniting viksubddha shudras (disgruntled moral virtuous revolutionaries).
This term( Viksubddha shudras ) refers to those possessing intellectual talent or martial abilities who do not get the chance to express these talents due to economic reasons. As a result they are nursing a rebellious spirit and waiting for the opportunity to express it.
People will certainly not abandon us when they find and realise that we are not the present day professional politicians. They will come forward to support us impressed and inspired by our sincerity, integrity, dutifulness and service mindedness. PBI stands for this.
- Is it not that Samaj movement should precede contesting elections by PBI? Highlighting the need of local economy and culture will gain popularity among people that will eventually help in winning elections. Do you not think that PBI contesting few seats symbolically will not be taken seriously in present day politics?
- Contesting elections is also an integral part of the strategy. It also assists in mobilising masses and consolidating collective psychology in favour of Proutistic change. I do not think that Samaj movement has to precede the political movement. They have to proceed side by side. The spirit of both the movements should be to establish Prout. They should complement each other in letter and spirit. Samaj movement has also to evolve collective psychology in its favour in order to gain mass support for its agenda. It is not possible just by talks and discussions.
- In the face of the expanding influence of money and muscle power, liquor as well as caste and communal sentiments, do you think PBI candidates will not be overawed by them?
- This will not happen. The first quality of a PBI candidate is to possess passion for victory. We know we have to face these aforementioned factors in present day politics, and despite them, we are determined to win. We will effectively counter these factors with our abiding selfless spirit and spontaneous inspired mass support. No power howsoever mighty has stood as a permanent obstacle of the power of the masses. Despots and tyrannical rulers have been thrown to the dust by this kind of mass uprising. Hence once the disgruntled and exploited masses are organised and unified the real strength of the PBI movement will be seen.
- Do you not think Proutists must be in a position to give Proutistic solutions of the present day problems to the people in order to inspire their confidence and consequently acquire much needed credibility?
- They ought to know, but this is possible only for a few competent Proutists whom we can call ideological leaders. Masses and mass leaders sympathise and support the movement. They are however, attuned with the subterranean spirit of Prout but do not possess the deep knowledge of the philosophy and ideology. The collective body of the ideological leaders and mass leaders together will crown the Proutist movement with victory.
- What are in your view the methods to reach different media in order to reach people?
- All these methods like dharnas, memorandum, symbolic hunger strikes, protest processions and door to door contact are the methods to bring the movement closer to common people and earning popularity among the masses, thus broadening mass support for the movement. We will also agitate for redress of people’s grievances by bringing circumstantial pressure on the administration through these methods, and if needed even by courting arrest.
- What will be the methods to make people feel the necessity of a new system?
- Once we are able to make people aware of the cause of their sufferings through propagation of our philosophy and ideology and fighting for their cause with the administration, they will feel the need of the change of the system realising that their grievances are not being redressed and their suffering continues to accelerate.
- What is needed for changing the collective psychology in favour of Prout?
- For changing the collective psychology of the people, the best course is to organise and unite viksubdha shudras (disgruntled, impoverished moral virtuous revolutionaries) and thus bring about the polarisation between moralists and immoral politicians. Collective psychology evolves through anti-thesis as well as synthesis. Therefore while PBI will sincerely and seriously work for strengthening the anti-thesis, it will simultaneously popularise synthesis by advocacy of the new system to be introduced on the basis of Prout through platform propaganda and door-to-door contact. When people find that their sufferings are not being alleviated in the present system , and the new system offered by Prout has the practical remedies, the necessary collective psychology is bound to evolve and consolidate in favour of Proutistic ideals making Prout the dominating element of socio-economic-cultural and political currents of the society.
- You are repeatedly using the words revolution and revolutionaries. What exactly do you mean by these controversial words?
- There is no controversy or confusion regarding the meaning and significance of the word “revolution”. It means the tremendous application of all the three powers a human being possesses – physical, psychic and spiritual.
A revolutionary will not give any encouragement to lethargy. Their entire physical existence will be devoted and dedicated to the cause of suffering humanity.
A revolutionary will not support or encourage any dogma. Their intellect will remain liberated from all forms of narrow “isms”, social prejudices and psychic weaknesses. They will neither be trapped by any attachment nor by any malice. Their mind will always remain fixed upon the goal.
They will be bonafide spiritual persons having no trace of hypocrisy in their lives. They will never use spirituality as a commercial enterprise. They will never allow themselves to be worshipped but rather will give honour to all the unrecognised good people in the society. They will strive endlessly to work in a state of ardent love for the Supreme Entity.
In social life they will always be unable to bear the suffering of anyone and will personally wipe the tears from their eyes and fight for them against all odds. Those people who are rejected and hated by others will become the dearest objects of their love. They will build the personality of the victims of society and teach them to fight for their rights and show them how fighting for the rights of others is the greatest joy in life.
When these same qualities become manifest in the collective psychology and the people become unwilling to tolerate the sufferings of others in the society, we call it a revolutionary psychology. When this psychology leads to mass struggle and mass upheaval in the society it is called revolution. Those who at that time are ever absorbed in crowning this revolutionary struggle with all-round success and bringing about the triumph of justice for all beings are the leaders of the revolution.
- Any other reason of your being confident regarding the success of PBI movement?
- We are conscious that we have to maintain the consistency and continuity of the movement to reach the goal. We are also aware if we fail to do it we will also be pushed into the oblivion like other good movements of the past. Our hearts bleed for suffering humanity.
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