The author of book Mother Teresa, Navin B. Chawla, once recalled his discussion with Jyoti Basu. He asked, “you are a communist, and Mother Teresa is a Catholic nun. She had an unshakeable belief about god and you are a staunch atheist. How do you maintain mutual respect? Why do you keep your door always open for her?” He smiled and said, “We both share and love for poor! It was not just mutual respect despite different fundamental beliefs, but immense respect, care, and compassion for others. He always maintained an open door for her. Jyoti Basu once even allowed to interrupt cabinet meetings because Mother Teresa needed urgently to meet him.
“She makes me a bad Marxist since she makes me believe in godliness,” is what Mr. Basu said during a meeting with B. K. Chaturvedi, the author of book Messiah of the Poor.
He was born on 8 July 1914, in Kolkata and died on 17 January 2010. He served as a chief minister of West Bengal state from 1977 to 2000 and was a cofounder of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
Jyoti Basu Quotes
Here are quotes of Jyoti Basu:
I don’t know why are we having elections in five phases. Maybe because workers and officers of the state have helped us in implementing our policies.
It was a reflection of people’s faith in our policies and we hope that the opposition will cooperate with the government in its good work and play a responsible role.
There has been no case of government employees being partial in the past.
The situation is very grim, and only the army can help us.