The brand of socialism that our socialist leaders peddled in has been of such questionable variety that it has met with rejection.The other day the newspaper item carried a news that the famous and firebrand socialist leader George Fernades who is unfortunately a victim of Parkinson's disease, is at the eye of a storm involving a fight over a property owned by the socialist leader worth 16 crore between his wife Laila Kabir and friend Jaya Jaitley!!!

It is said that Socialism is like a hat that has lost its shape because everyone wears it. There are many varieties/ brands of socialism. Pt Jawahr Lal Nehru advanced the notion of 'democratic socialism'. In Marxist ideology, socialism is a stage prior to communism. This is called scientific socialism which means- from each according to his ability- to each according to his work. There are many political groups swearing by socialism. Jai Prakash Narayan, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Acharya narendra Dev were prominent.

Essentially, socialism means social justice. There are many provisions in our constitution for improving labour conditions and giving fair deal to weaker sections. Obviously, this is a contribution of socialist thoughts. Today, in the entire world, the downtrodden and weaker sections get better deal than a few centuries ago. The conditions of workers in Britain and other early industrial countries were very bad. Now, there is regulation through humane legislation in field of labor law.
Although there is much to be desired, we may safely conclude that whatever improvement has taken place in condition of workers and downtrodden is because of socialist thought, howsoever vague this may be.

I am afraid you have missed the central theme that I was trying to highlight.I never bothered myself with questioning the lofty ideals that socialism preaches and its relevance in a country like India.I wanted to emphasize the role of these socialist leaders in making it disappear in our land.What is the unvarnished truth?How does Bharat Mata look like after decades of Independence? In our villages where our 70% of our population lives,the people are struggling to eke out a bare minimum living.Condition in our cities? Even in our commercial capital Mumbai- half of it population is condemened to subhuman living conditions.If these are not grim realities of failed socialism and then what these are! Take a look at our state-run schools,hospitals,orphangaes.Where do you find the trace of socialism?Our social rulers flaunt addresses at the very best part of cities and town and enjoy the best of life and at the same time mouthing socialist cliches for the struggling masses.This was my theme and my pointed reference to George Fernades owning a 16 crore plot in one of the most fashionable area in the country was deliberate.

I pointed out that much is still to be desired. The unorganized sectors need more justice. But even then whatever has been achieved by the organized workers and whatever land reforms have taken place and zamindari abolition, all these are owing to ideology of socialism. Presently,

@Chinmoy you have aptly pointed out the irony of socialism and its misuse by the likes of George Fernandes!! How did he happen to amass property worth Rs. 16 crores if he believed in socialism?

Isn't that true for all the leaders who preach socialism except for the handful few such as Ram Manohar Lohiya, Jay Prakash Narayan and others! The reason this philosophy failed that the preachers themselves became selfish when they found opportunities to gain wealth!

@Gulshan, it is true that it helped abolish zamindari but not completely. Even now there are scores of farmers who fall prey to loansharks and have to lose their farms! This is zamindari in disguise!

@Kalyani

You have mentioned the names of a few exceptionally honest leaders who commanded great respect.An ideology can be as good as its practioners make it to be! You can't make a silk bag out of sow's ear as the saying goes!!