Justice Biplab Kumar Sharma
(Former Judge, Gauhati High Court)
We understand death for the first time when he puts his hand upon one whom we love. It was on the morning of 2nd June, 1991, that I got the terrible news of Late Goswami meeting with a road accident, ending his life.
On the occasion of the 34th death anniversary of the late Dinesh Goswami, I fondly remember him. My pleasant experiences with the late Dinesh Goswami are manifold, which are hard to express, and even if I do, that would be endless.
Late Goswami was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1978, prior to which he was a member of the Lok Sabha, getting elected in 1971 from the Guwahati constituency. He was not only a lawyer but also a great orator, sportsman, dramatist, and writer, and, over and above that, a person involved in social activities. In his early student days, he, as a debater, won the All India, All Bengal and All Assam Debating Championships. As a lawyer, he was the General Secretary of the National Forum of Lawyers and Legal Aid and also occupied the position of Assistant Secretary of the All India Democratic Lawyers’ Association.
As a sportsman, he was the treasurer of the Sports Council of Assam. He was particularly fond of cricket and football, and even as a lawyer, he used to organize the games of cricket and football among the lawyers and judges. I still remember him as the goalkeeper of West Guwahati Club. Adding further dimension to his sportsmanship, he also became a great commentator of football and cricket games, both in English and Assamese languages. I still remember his regular joining in the Commentary Box set up by All India Radio in eastern India’s famous Bordoloi Trophy Competition at Nehru Stadium, Guwahati. As a member of Parliament, true to his tradition, he used to organize a cricket match annually between members of the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and also between members of Parliament and other groups like journalists and others.
Another dimension of his multifarious activities was his active participation with the Theatre Movement in Assam. He used to perform various roles in dramas. He was associated with the Indo-Soviet and Indo-GDR Friendship Society.
In the political field, it is really a matter of high regard and recognition of his capabilities and all-round qualities to have been nominated as a candidate for the Guwahati Lok Sabha Constituency from a national party like the Congress. He won the election with a thumping majority. Although defeated in the 1977 election, he was immediately thereafter nominated to the Rajya Sabha in 1978. Amidst the mass movement in Assam from 1979 to 1985 on the issue of foreigners, he switched over to regional politics, joining the Asom Gana Parishad, a regional party, and won the 1985 Lok Sabha election also from the Guwahati constituency. He was again elected to Rajya Sabha in the year 1990 and became the Union Minister of Law and Justice and Steel and Mining in the National Front Government.
As a politician, the late Dinesh Goswami was outspoken and forthright in criticism. He used to take a keen interest in the business of the House with active participation with various speeches on various topics, which naturally included his concern for the northeastern region, particularly Assam. It did not take him long to make his mark as a parliamentarian, and he participated in the proceedings with ability, vision and great oratory skills. In no time, he commanded respect from all sections of the House. As a leader of the Indo-Arab Friendship Association, the late Goswami attended the Non-Governmental Organisations Conference of the UNO on Palestine in Geneva and was the main speaker from India. Late Arafat, in his speech, hailed Goswami as the Crusader of Peace from India.
The late Goswami will be remembered for his invaluable work as leader of the Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms to cleanse our democratic system of its various ills. One of the important recommendations of the committee was state funding of the elections. The Committee had given its report in a record time of two months. The then Government of National Front accepted most of the Committee’s recommendations in principle. Certain major amendments were proposed to the Representation of People’s Act 1950 and 1951.
Another recommendation was with reference to the delimitation of the constituencies of the Parliament as well as legislative assemblies. Late Goswami was also keen on the issue of multi-purpose identity cards, as he felt that the scheme of identity cards for the purpose of elections would not be successful because the cards would be required ordinarily only at the interval of 5 years, and the voters may not have the necessary incentives to maintain them or to preserve them. He felt that if the same identity card could be used for a number of purposes, some of which would be of such a nature as to impel the citizens to possess and preserve them, the scheme would be successful. Both the above issues, i.e., delimitation and multi-purpose identity cards, are very much relevant for the State of Assam, with its demographic changes over the years so vividly discussed in the Sarbananda Sonowal versus Union of India judgement reported in AIR 2005 SC 2920.
One of the major contributions of Late Goswami to Assam during his ministership was to get the Planning Commission to agree to place Assam in the list of what is called the “Special Category States”, enabling it to receive planned financing at the ratio of 90% central grant and 10% state resources. This has accelerated the state’s economic development and building up of the much-needed infrastructure.
Late Goswami’s strong plea in Parliament for Liberal Central Financial Help to tide over difficulties of the flood victims resulted in much flow of funds. His efforts bore fruit when the Government of India appointed the Brahmaputra Board and their network of monsoon warning systems in the upper reaches of the Brahmaputra, extending up to Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh.
Development of communication and other infrastructure for Assam’s economic progress was a prime concern for the late Goswami. He left no stone unturned to focus on this point in all the forums where he got a chance to air his voice. His speeches in Parliament during the period of the Assam Agitation were strokes of masterpieces. He forcefully argued for the expulsion of illegal Bangladeshis from Assam. He wrote an article in the magazine “Parliamentary Chronicle”, published on December 1"5, 1980, captioned “Assam is not for Burning”, in which he forcefully and convincingly demonstrated the wilful neglect and planned injustice to Assam and its people by the Central Government since independence.
A day after the completion of his first stint in the Rajya Sabha, in a writing entitled “Many would be missed for many reasons”, published in the issue of the newspaper Statesman, it was written thus: “So long as the Assam tangle was in the news, Mr Dinesh Goswami (Ind.) was one member who tried to reason with the government with passion. There was no rancour in his voice, only sadness. But he was highly persuasive. He argued the case of his people ably and more than made up for some other members.”
Great writer Khushwant Singh, describing Dinesh Goswami, said, “I cannot think of another person who I liked so much on my first meeting with him, learnt to respect and admire in the few meetings we had and felt as great a void in my life when I heard of his tragic death and realised that I would see him no more as I did with Dinesh Goswami.”
The late Goswami was a prolific writer, and to mention a few of his writings are Chinaki Prithibi (a poem); Anchalik Baishyama aru Khudra Jatisatta; Kuhelika; Rashtra Sangha: I Have Kept My Word, Pal; Degeneration of Poll Process, etc. His numerous speeches in Parliament have been compiled by Kumar Deepak Das, former Member of Parliament, in his book entitled “Dinesh Goswami – An Ardent Patriot”, on perusal of which one can easily gather the vastness of late Goswami’s thought process, innovative ideas, and concern for the social issues, more particularly concerning the North Eastern region and Assam.
His untimely death at the age of 56 years is a great loss not only to Assam but to the entire country. On his death, Birinchi Bhattacharya rightly said, Akau Ebar Hari Gol Swadesh (Once again motherland faces defeat).