sir mirza ismail - great dewan of mysore

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The year 2008 will mark the 125th birth anniversary of Sir Mirza Ismail a great

Mysorean, an Indian who made us proud, a quintessential political conservative, a

remarkable person in public life, who believed that persons entrusted with overseeing the

welfare of people should in fact pursue that aim! The postal department can have no

excuses for not scheduling a function in Sir Mirzas beloved Mysore to release a splendid

stamp. Surely between now and 2008, the department should be able to complete their

formalities.

Mirza Ismail was the Dewan or Prime Minister of the erstwhile native state of Mysore

for 15 years. He was appointed Dewan in 1926 by Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar. Within

a year of the great Maharajas death, Sir Mirza retired from Mysore and moved on. My

grandfather Nagavar Madhava Rao, who joined as a young probationer in the Mysore

Civil Service in the 1920s, referred to the Krishnaraja-Mirza period as the golden age of

Mysore.

Sir Mirza was committed to the progress and development of Mysore. His memorable

insight into government behaviour was: No amount of income is of any avail if the

government is incapable of spending it wisely. Sir Mirza had three broad focus areas in

his vision for Mysore. The first was the development of its human capital. In town after

town, he pushed for the opening of schools for boys as well as girls. He would convince

wealthy people to make philanthropic donations promising to name a building or a wing

after their loved ones. He insisted on well-stocked public libraries being set up in all

reasonable-sized towns. He was a strong supporter and patron of the Central College in

Bangalore, of which he was an alumnus as well as Maharajas College Mysore and the

Indian Institute of Science. Womens education was passionately embraced by his wife.

His second area of interest was physical infrastructure. He was a supporter of irrigation as

a necessary foundation for Indian agriculture. Writing in 1954, he noted that huge

irrigation works at a staggering cost are taken up with alacrity but sufficient attention is

not being paid to minor irrigation works which would yield a quick return at a

comparatively small cost. Sir Mirza was proud that Mysore had been a pioneer in the

introduction of electricity. He extended this further setting up hydro-electric stations at

Shimsha and Jog. He was bold enough to go in for rural electrification, albeit in a

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fully-paid economically sensible manner. He persuaded Sir M. Visveswaraya to chair a

committee which led to the construction of the Chamaraj reservoir at Bangalore which

can supply nine million gallons daily should monsoons fail for three years. But he left

behind prophetic words for his successors: the administration would be well advised to

look ahead and prepare a scheme to ensure at least double the present supply.

His third commitment was to the industrial progress of Mysore. He was able to start orhelp to start some 25 different industries. He was no doctrinaire conservative. He dealt

head-on with criticisms of being a state socialist arguing that in an environment where

private capital is shy, the states temporary control of an industry with the aim of

encouraging ultimate private control was the correct course.

Light taxation, minimal interference in the lives of its people and a commitment to an

environment where people could aspire to progress and prosperity...these were the

hallmarks of Sir Mirzas Mysore. Mahatma Gandhi was pleased by what he saw and he

referred to Mysore as Ramrajya. Lord Willingdon, the Mahatmas political opponent,wrote to Sir Mirza saying Youre a wonder. Go on and all luck go with you.

From Mysore, Sir Mirza went to Jaipur where his achievements included cleaning up and

beautifying Jaipur, laying the foundation of a new university, a new medical college, and

so on. Cecil Beaton gave him the ultimate aesthetic compliment. Sir Mirza is the

arch-enemy of corrugated iron sheets, brass bands and of almost everything else that is

crude and vulgar... The main thoroughfare of Jaipur has been named M.I. Road.

Moving from Jaipur to Hyderabad, Sir Mirzas luck ran out. Not only was the Nizamunrealistic, but he was under the control of (in Sir Mirzas words) that wretched band of

foolish Muslims called the Ittehad-ul-Muslameens....They were bent upon moving heaven

and earth to see me out of Hyderabad. A Shia by birth, he consistently supported

Sanskrit learning, Hindu Mutts and Christian institutions because in his own words one

pleases the Almighty even more by serving other faiths than ones own. Paradoxical as

that may sound, I believe it is, nevertheless true, for to serve other faiths calls for

something more vital than passive tolerance. Hindu fanatics had tried to pressure the

Maharaja of Jaipur to get rid of his Moslem Dewan. The Maharaja to his credit, refused.

The Nizam was obdurate and lost a good advisor in difficult times.

In forgetting the likes of Sir Mirza, it is we the Indians of to-day who will stand small and

tarnished. I rest my case with the postal authorities.

The writer is chairman and CEO, Mphasis. Write to him at [email protected]


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11-03-20

sir mirza ismail - great dewan of mysore

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