I had the privilege of having a long association with Kushok Bakula Rinpoche for nearly three decades. He had a unique personality and was gifted with many virtues. He had many firsts to his credit and excelled  in  each  one  of  them  as  a  monk,  a  politician  and  an ambassador.

I met him for the first time in 1969 when he was a Member of Parliament from Ladakh. He entered the parliament in red robes, the traditional dress of a Buddhist monk. Shri Shashi Bhushan, the then Congress MP had gone on an indefinite fast in Birla House, the place hallowed by the blood of Mahatma Gandhi, demanding that the place be converted into a national monument. Kushok Bakula supported the demand because he was convinced that Mahatma Gandhi was not only a harbinger of freedom and peace but also an embodiment of  human  values,  human  rights  and  human  dignity.  As  a  true Gandhian, Kushok Bakula who was also committed to the vows he had undertaken as a monk, never faltered tromp his path and served the cause of humanity without any discrimination, nursing no ill will against  any  community  or  religion  or  faith.  His  approach  was universal and this humane attitude endeared him to all people who admired and adorned him as the incarnation of an Arhat.

Before entering the Parliament, he again was the first monk to be elected from Ladakh as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir. Ladakh had been a neglected and backward area from the pre-independence era. Kushok Bakula, being conscious of the problems of the people of Ladakh, availed this opportunity and while speaking in the Budget session of the Assembly he focused the  attention  of  the  ruling  party  to  which  he  belonged  that economically backward and politically disjointed Ladakh would be the weakest link in the chain of national unity. Kushok Bakula was again the first to deliver his speech in Ladakhi language on the floor of J&K Assembly. He made a hard-hitting speech, without any fear or  favour,  which  irked  the  ruling  party  but  it  raised  the  stature  of Kushok Bakula as a man of integrity, honesty, straight forwardness and commitment. He exhibited the qualities of both a monk and an honest politician for whom the primary concern was his people and not power.

He  also  became  the  first  monk  to  be  a  Minister  in  J&K Government. He toured every nook and comer of Ladakh to usher an  era  of  renaissance  and  development  and  launched  a  campaign against illiteracy. He believed that there could be no development without education. He helped Ladakhi students to go to other states and abroad for higher studies. He was not averse to modem scientific education but at the same time he wanted the people to preserve their ancient cultural heritage and take pride in being a Ladakhi.

He was a patriot and a nationalist whose secular credentials made him an idol of the common people. He supported the demand for the establishment of Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council, emphasizing the need to develop this border region as a fortress of national unity and national integration by strengthening its economy and  removing  backwardness  of  its  people.  The  emergence  of  the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council is, in fact, a tribute to  the  strenuous  efforts  made  by  Kushok  Bakula  to  realize  this cherished dream and whatever development we see in that region, credit goes to Kushok Bakula, the great visionary of our age.

Only a revolutionary like Mahatma Gandhi could give the clarion call  of  “Do  or  Die”  during  the  ‘Quit  India’  movement  of  1942.

Like him, Kushok Bakula was a man of action with a revolutionary outlook. He was an optimist who wanted to bring about a change in the  materialistic  outlook  of  the  people  and  make  them  follow  the spiritual  path.  There  was  no  place  for  escapism  in  the  ideals  he followed and preached. He never compromised his principles at any cost  whatsoever. As  a  Member  of  the  Minorities  Commission  of lndia,  Kushok  Bakula  was  highly  respected  for  his  rational  and realistic approach to the problem. He performed his functions with dignity and honor.

Kushok Bakula was the first monk to be the Indian Ambassador.

He  remained Ambassador  of  lndia  in  Mongolia  for  a  continuous period  of  long  ten  years  in  spite  of  political  changes  in  the Government of India. It was during his tenure as ambassador that the  people  of  Mongolia  witnessed  peaceful  transformation  of Mongolia from a communist to a democratic regime. It was Kushok Bakula  who  influenced  peaceful  transformation  of  Mongolia.  He helped revivalism of Buddhism and restoration of monasteries, which had  been  destroyed  during  the  communist  rule.  He  built  a magnificent monastery in the heart of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar or  which  itself  is  a  tribute  to  his  contribution  to  the  revival  of Buddhism in that country.

I  had  the  occasion  of  attending  international  conferences  with him in many countries. Kushok Bakula was the founder of the Asian Buddhist Conference for Peace of which he also remained President with  its  international  Headquarter  in  Mongolia.  His  views  in international conferences were heard with rapt attention as he always spoke with passion and deep understanding of the issues involved therein.  He  was  opposed  to  violence  in  all  its  forms,  whether  in thought, words or deed. He firmly believed that when violence sets in,  reasoning  goes  out.  He  was  a  votary  of  universal  peace, communal harmony, clean environments and protection of nature.

He had avowed faith in the capacity of human beings to make this planet a ‘heaven on earth’ by their virtuous deeds and by pursuing the  path  of  peace,  amity  and  compassion.  He  was  opposed  to  the manufacturing, stock piling and use of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.

Kushok Bakula stood like a colossus whose contributions are too many  to  be  elaborated.  He  was  truly  a  saint  who  shall  always  be remembered.  The  best  tribute  that  we  can  pay  to  him  is  in  the reiteration  of  our  resolve  to  follow  the  ideals  for  which  Kushok Bakula lived and dedicated whole of his life.