New Delhi, August 10 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised the diplomatic insights of Vice President Hamid Ansari, a career diplomat, as Rajya Sabha members lavishly lauded him and bid an emotional farewell to the outgoing Chairman whose term ended on Thursday.
As Ansari chaired the Rajya Sabha on the last day of his second term, members cutting across party lines praised how he conducted the House for a decade, upholding constitutional and parliamentary values.
Modi said Ansari was leaving behind "great memories" and his "contributions have been important".
"You have been a career diplomat, what it means I got to know when I became the Prime Minister. Observing you I saw mannerisms of a career diplomat.
"Your diplomatic insights were invaluable, especially when I discussed with you before and after my bilateral visits. I appreciate your insights. I am grateful to you and your talent in leading the way for the nation," Modi said.
The Prime Minister also praised the 80-year-old who he said had kept himself "physically fit".
Congress leader Manmohan Singh recalled how during his term as the Prime Minister he received "maximum guidance and cooperation" from Ansari.
He recited an Urdu couplet -- "kuchh baat hai ki hasti mit ti nahi hamari; sadiyon raha hai dushman daur-e-zaman hamara" -- to note how India keeps going despite many challenges. Manmohan Singh said this was "largely because people of your statesmanship have guided India".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, also the leader of the House, said it was "a nostalgic occasion" to bid farewell to Ansari "after completing 10 years as a very distinguished chairperson of this House".
"You had experiences in various fields of public life. But dealing with the political fraternity was a different experience all together," Jaitley said, praising how well Ansari did the job which "is very challenging and thankless for the reasons that this House unlike in the 1950s and 1960s now has a changed character".
The Minister fondly recalled how once, angry over disruptions, Ansari called the House a "federation of anarchists" and how it triggered a debate on whether the term anarchist could be used for the House.
Leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad also wished Ansari said he was grateful to the "best" Chairman the Rajya Sabha has had.
"You have been running sessions with diplomacy. You are a sportsman too. Now I think you will have time to play golf. I wish Allah gives you a long life," Azad said.
CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury said he was finding it difficult to accept that Ansari's term had come to an end. "As you are leaving, the only regret I have is that we are still not settled. I wish you continue to share your wisdom with us even after leaving this House."
Ansari has served as India's ambassador to several countries and was India's Permanent Representative to the UN. He has also been Vice Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University.
Allow opposition to criticise, Ansari's farewell advice
Quoting India's first Vice President S. Radhakrishnan, outgoing Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid Ansari on Thursday warned that a democracy was likely to degenerate into tyranny if the opposition was not allowed to "criticise fairly, freely and frankly".
In his farewell remarks as he demitted office as Vice President, Ansari told Rajya Sabha members that the Upper House was a creation of the Constitution whose founding fathers wished it to portray India's diversity and to be a calibrated restraint on hasty legislation.
The Rajya Sabha, he underlined, should not be "a stumbling block in the way of action" and "is in fact an indispensable preliminary to wise action".
Ansari then quoted Radhakrishnan as saying: "A democracy is distinguished by the protection it gives to minorities. A democracy is likely to degenerate into tyranny if it does not allow the opposition groups to criticise fairly, freely and frankly the policies of the government.
"But, at the same time, minorities also have their responsibilities. Well, they have every right to criticise, their right to criticize should not degenerate into wilful hampering and obstruction of the work of Parliament. All groups, therefore, have their right and have their responsibilities."
Ansari said: "Deviation from the golden rule contributes neither to diligent policymaking nor to our claim to be a mature democracy based on rule of law."
The former diplomat said he fervently hoped that all sections of the House would seek to achieve this laudable objective.
Ansari recalled that when 10 years back he was welcomed in the House, an eminent leader -- whom he did not identity -- advised that no matter what the ruckus in the House, the Chair should never let his smile go off his face -- "as a smile can conquer them all".
"I confess I had no difficulty in benefitting from this eminently sensible counsel," Ansari said.
He said the Chair was like an umpire in cricket or a referee in a hockey match "witnessing the play and the players, but without becoming a player. Its only source of reference is the book of rules".
