Council for a Community of Democracies

ISC Member George Mathew and the Institute of Social Sciences Honor Václav Havel & His Legacy
March 7, 2012

On March 7, the Institute of Social Sciences organized a meeting to honor the legacy of Vaclav Havel in promoting democracy in Eastern Europe and its worldwide impact. Chief Guest Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Member of Parliament, former Union Minister and a veteran diplomat addressed the gathering along with His Excellency, the Ambassador of Czech Republic Mr. Miloslav Stasek, Mr. Juraj Petruska, Counsellor & Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of the Slovak Republic was also present. Experts on Eastern Europe, academicians, representatives from civil society organizations and students from Jawaharlal Nehru University and Delhi University participated in the meeting.

All participants observed a minute’s silence before the meeting started, to pay homage to the great champion of democracy. In his welcome address Dr. Ash Narain Roy, Director, Institute of Social Sciences, said that Vaclav Havel’s essay on ‘The Power of the Powerless’ became a mantra for all those who were struggling in Eastern Europe against tyrannical rule.

Vaclav Havel received many prestigious awards including the Gandhi Peace award in 2004 but he never received the Nobel Peace Prize which he richly deserved. He probably could have received it in 1991, but as Gandhiji said, “you have to lose for someone else to win.” Havel was one of the most heroic figures of our contemporary world who sought Dr. Ash Narain Roy, Director, Institute of Social Sciences delivering the Welcome Address. Also seen from left: Mr. Miloslav Stasek, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar and Dr. George Mathew to develop a more spiritual concept of democracy.

Dr. Roy quoted Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, Washington, from what he wrote on Havel’s legacy in the Washington Post: “Havel will be remembered as a dissident playwright and Czechoslovakia’s first president following the Velvet Revolution of 1989. But he was more than a writer and a statesman. He was also a moral and intellectual leader of world stature and significance.” [full text attached].

In his presidential address Dr. George Mathew, Chairman, Institute of Social Sciences said that on 18 December last, when he heard the news of Vaclav Havel’s passing away, it was a very sad moment for him. He said that “as advocates of democracy, we were very keenly observing the developments in 1970s and 80s in Eastern Europe. In the mid-70s we were also extremely concerned about the democracy situation in India. At that time, we could observe from here, Vaclav Havel, playwright and intellectual, emerging as a people’s leader, fighting for human rights and freedom”.

Dr. Mathew recalled his participation in the 2009 Forum 2000 meeting in Prague (10-11 September) where he had the opportunity to interact with Vaclav Havel. He recalled Havel’s statement in the Forum: “When there was a totalitarian regime here and we were trying to stand up to it in a certain way, we felt very intensely how important the support and solidarity of people from various corners of the world was. It was a great encouragement when we saw that there are many people often very far away [who supported us]…. We have been attempting now for twenty years already to return the solidarity that we received and express support for all those who are fighting for human rights [and democracy] anywhere in the world.” [full text attached].

The Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Mr. Miloslav Stasek, said that India was one of the first countries that President Havel visited. He expressed his happiness about the rising popularity of Havel in India and elsewhere. Havel, he said, was greatly impressed by Mahatma Gandhi and his principle of non-violence. He thanked the Institute for organizing the meeting to discuss Vaclav Havel’s legacy and the enthusiastic response among Indian intellectuals, students and democracy activists.

Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Member of Parliament and former Minister, Government of India, spoke eloquently of the man who fought valiantly against the repressive Communist regime through his writings and thus provided intellectual leadership to all those democratic forces in Eastern Europe who were struggling to come out of the Stalinist yoke. He recollected how India as leader of the non-aligned world exemplified the third way which more than 100 newly independent countries found it relevant to stay out of the Cold War camps. India never found attractive the model that promised better economic progress at the cost of freedom. Mr Aiyar disapproved of India’s policies not to condemn Russian action in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.

Please see below for the Opening Speech given by Ash Narain Roy:

His Excellency Mr. Miloslav Stasek, Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, Honorable Member of Parliament and former Union Minister, Dr. George Mathew, distinguished guests and friends,

It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome you all to the Institute on this solemn occasion to pay tributes to Vaclav Havel and discuss his legacy.

His essay ‘The Power of the Powerless’ became a mantra for all the struggling people in Eastern Europe against the tyrannical rule. The gist of that essay was how the citizens were forced to ‘live within a lie’ under the Communist regime.
That essay became a source of inspiration to the Poles in the late 1970s before the formation of Solidarity. It has been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Persian and many other languages.

It is only appropriate that Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is a great protagonist of power to the people, should be speaking of a man whose essay, the “Power of the Powerless” inspired a generation of revolutionaries in Eastern Europe. My Aiyar is a secular fundamentalist, a Marxist and, above all, a democrat. He is eminently qualified to speak on Vaclav Havel’s legacy.

Carl Gershman, President of the National Endowment for Democracy, Washington, wrote about Havel’s legacy in the Washington Post saying: “Havel will be remembered as a dissident playwright and Czechoslovakia’s first president following the Velvet Revolution of 1989. But he was more than a writer and a statesman. He was also a moral and intellectual leader of world stature and significance.”

Havel was not a wild cat capitalist. He believed in the market economy but he wanted it to be highly regulated to avoid all the kind of buccaneering that goes on in the economy which we see today. His vision was very practical and down to earth. Havel never compromised with authoritarianism.

But he was also disillusioned with the democratic world. In 2004, in one of his essays on Kim Jong Il, he said: Kim is responsible for taking millions of human lives. All that is happening and the world is standing idly by. He blamed the democratic world for what he called “its limited ability to address humanity in a genuinely universal way”.

Vaclav Havel received many prestigious awards including the Gandhi Peace award in 2004 but he never received the Nobel Peace Prize which he richly deserved. He probably could have received it in 1991, but as Gandhiji said, “you have to lose for someone else’s to win.” Havel campaigned for Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s democracy leader who eventually got it.

Havel was one of the most heroic figures of contemporary world. He sought to develop a more spiritual concept of democracy.

Havel always emphasized the need to live within the truth. Havel chose a life of public opposition to an evil regime, abandoning the relative comfort that comes with conformity.

We are living in a strange world where Putin sheds tears after winning Russian Presidency but the world is not smiling. But what is happening in Romania? Romanian President Traian Basescu seems to be following in the footsteps of Putin. He has appointed secret service chief as Prime Minister. There is a hint that Prime Minister will be made new President and he could return as Prime Minister. Democracy in several new democratic regimes is moving in the reverse gear. This is where we need to remember the legacy of Havel.

Havel could have become an apparatchik, but he chose not to. He could have sought asylum during his first visit to the United States, just months before the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, but he returned home. He could have joined the communist writers’ union, but he wrote essays in favor of democracy and was thus banned from publishing his work.

Let me end by recalling the words of Vaclav Havel:

“Genuine politics is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us.”

That is indeed the legacy of Havel.

Thank you very much.

Please see below for the Welcome Address by Dr. George Mathew:

Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, former Union Minister, Government of India; His Excellency Mr. Miloslav STASEK, The Ambassador of Czech Republic; Friends and Colleagues,

On 18 December last, when I heard the news of Vaclav Havel’s passing away, personally it was a sad moment for me.

As advocates of democracy, we were very keenly observing the developments in 1970s and 80s in Eastern Europe. In the mid-70s we were also extremely concerned about the democracy situation in India. At that time, we could observe from here, Vaclav Havel, playwright & intellectual, emerging as a people’s leader, fighting for human rights and freedom.

For Havel, words were his weapons and he used them the best. When he went for public protest with 242 supporters with Charter 77, he highlighted “the authorities’ breaches of the international human rights standards”. For this action they were punished: his friend Jan Patocka, a Philosophy Professor died during interrogation. Havel spent 8 months in jail in 1977 and 78 and from 1979 five years in prison –the darkest time of his life.

The terms he coined like “Power of the powerless,” “Living in Truth” and moreover the chanting of the Velvet Revolution, “Truth will Triumph” are extraordinary milestones of Democracy movement under Vaclav Havel. His legacy for today’s generation and democracy movements all over cannot be overemphasized.

One of the happiest moments in my life was when I had the rare opportunity of meeting Vaclav Havel in Prague. I was invited for the international conference on “Peace, Democracy and Human Rights in Asia” in September 2009 organised by Forum 2000. This was a two-day event and eminent democracy advocates from many parts of the world − like His Holiness the Dalai Lama; Frederik Willem De Klerk, former President of South Africa; Mr. Jody Williams, Nobel Laureate; and many others − were present. Vaclav Havel was present throughout the programme and I found in him a wonderful human being. He repeatedly said the need for international solidarity for preserving and strengthening democracy. I quote from his speech in the conference: “When there was a totalitarian regime here and we were trying to stand up to it in a certain way, we felt very intensely how important the support and solidarity of people from various corners of the world was. It was a great encouragement when we saw that there are many people often very far away [who supported us]…. We have been attempting now for twenty years already to return the solidarity that we received and express support for all those who are fighting for human rights [and democracy] anywhere in the world.”

We could have organized this meeting in December or early January to pay our tribute to Vaclav Havel earlier but because of several constraints we could do it only now. But in a sense I am happy that it is taking place next day of the democratic process in India where 241 million people’s government in 5 State got elected yesterday.