Admiral who defended the nation and Constitution

Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas or Ramu as everyone affectionately called him, was more than a decorated Chief of the Indian Navy. He became a known figure in the Indian civil space of social and peace movements. Ramu understood civil space and its importance in a democratic society, and upon retirement shifted his attention and time here.

Undoubtedly, Ramu was influenced by the four ladies in his life — his wife Lalita and three daughters, all of whom reflected his own ideals of tolerance, women’s rights, and the understanding of the links between security, development and peace. It is no wonder that it was during his tenure that women were inducted into the Indian armed forces with the Navy taking the lead. He showed the way to gender equality in his professional life and daily practice.
It was then, after his distinguished service in the Indian Navy, that this part of his life came to the fore. Of course, it was natural that many institutions asked him to be a member of their boards. So he was on the governing body of Springdales School, among several others, always supporting ideals for education, supporting that the economically weaker sections be given space in public schools, where Springdales showed an exemplary lead. This is when social movements beckoned him. Lalita, my friend, had been engaged in social movements for long by then. This seemed to be Ramu’s natural space.
Then there was the critical juncture when India decided to go openly nuclear. This was a moment of deep anguish and personal dilemma for the admiral. Having spent a life in defence with a mindset steeped in arms and the belief in the necessity of deterrence, Ramu, now an activist associated with social movements, faced a personal security dilemma. On the one hand, there was concern that the ultimate weapon of indiscriminate, mass and irreversible destruction be inducted into Indian defence but on the other hand, was the moral compass calling from the land of Gandhi, non-violence and peace, to rid itself of poverty and face the challenges of development.
Ramu made a choice to support the path of peace and crossed the line into social activism. He supported and often led Indian and global movements for nuclear disarmament and a nuclear-free world. He became part of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace. He added his voice to the calls for peace in the subcontinent. He became part of the Indo-Pakistan Soldiers Initiative for Peace. His presence boosted the peace movement and he travelled far and wide for this cause.
But this was not all. The admiral was now part of many intersecting movements that centred around the vision that the development paradigm should be led by grassroots people’s concerns. That the idea of growth benefits “trickling down” would be too slow. These movements were warning about neoliberal agendas of privatisation and globalisation. Ramu gave them a patient hearing. He went for any number of people’s hearings, and public conversations on these issues where affected people spoke. He sided with the poorest, the excluded, the marginalised.
Ramu was also involved in some people’s struggles against the eviction of villagers in the Raigad region of Maharashtra. Here villagers were resisting their own eviction when their homeland was designated as a special economic zone. Ramu went there several times and appealed against this move and that the villagers get a fair and good deal. Ramu similarly supported the struggles of the fisherfolk and their movement against deep sea trawlers. He engaged with climate activists, with women’s pension schemes, and stood with farm workers and minorities of all types. He supported and was known to so many movements where the poorest people were struggling for their rights.
But that is not all. When the sweep of corruption faced the nation, Ramu briefly became the elder statesman for the fledgling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The AAP leadership had difficulties accepting the fair position that Ramu would take in a factional dispute in the party, which led to his expulsion as the internal Lokpal. Ramu then had enough of party politics and returned to his commitments in the social, developmental and peace arenas.
In all this Ramu never forgot the Indian soldier and the ranks of the Indian defence forces and was always there for them when they called and were in need. Even though he and Lolly (Lalita) lived on a distant farm in the village of Bhaimala, on land gifted to them by the Indian government for his valour and service to the nation, Ramu would travel back and forth and remain steadfast to the ideals of the oaths he took to serve the country and its Constitution.
Ramu made a difference wherever he was. His leadership shone regardless of the arena he was in. Whether at his home, on a far-off farm, where his humanity and kindness were felt by all around, or in the various social movements, Ramu’s enlightened presence made that critical difference. Where would you find an admiral holding up those that development, defence spending and high Gross Domestic Product had passed by? It was indeed a privilege to know Ramu.
So that’s what Ramu was. His ideals, ideas and practice will remain in these forgotten fields where he stood firm on both tempestuous seas and on terra firma.
Anuradha Chenoy is an associate fellow of the Transnational Institute, The Netherlands. The views expressed are personal