On Aquino

To the Editors of the Crimson:

I understand that Harvard/MIT held a memorial service for senator Benigno Acquino on the 7th of November. From this distance I would through your column like to associate myself in this tribute to be paid by Harvard, with which I too have been associated for two academic years.

I got to know Benigno Acquino at Harvard; both of us were Fellows at the Center for International Affairs in 1980-81. I met him again in June this year, during the 25th anniversary seminar and celebrations of the Center, and last saw him at a dinner to honor Ben Brown when he retired as Director of the Fellows Program. Anyone who knew him will recall his single-minded commitment to democracy and social justice in his country. What struck me was his interest in the functioning democracy in India and his confident faith in the power of non-violence. In the statement which he had drafted to read after landing in his native land he was to say. "According to Gandhi, the willing sacrifice of the innocent is the most powerful answer insolent tyranny that has yet been conceived by God or man," In his death he proved the point. As an Indian, I could not but feel proud and humble at this faith and its vindication. Like Gandhi and Martin King he will forever remain a beacon for moral defiance and its ultimate political-power and efficiency.

The other and more pertinent reason for me to add this little tribute is because of what Acquino told me of his gratitude to Harvard and MIT for providing a haven in the yeas of evile. He knew that his presense in the United States was an embarrassment to Washington when the new administration took over in 1981. He doubly appreciated the friendship and support, particularly of Ben Brown at the Center, when, contrary to the normal practice, his associate fellowship was extended for a second year. In the third year, the time he was active in fearlessly speaking aloud for the restoration of democracy in the Philippines [sic]

Acquino was not the first foreign democratic leader, dispossessed or excluded from power and politics at home, who was welcomed and supported at Harvard. As somebody who enjoyed the privilege of Beaigno's friendship may i pay tribute to Harvard when harvard honors the late Filipino patriot. This was in the noblest tradition of American democracy and of academic freedom in its universities. Benigno recognized that the Veritas of John Harvard was not just a commitment to the expanding horizons of knowledge but to upholding the torch and democracy round the world. Benigno Acqaino's years at Harvard will I hope, be looked upon with pride in the annals of a great university. Jagat S. Mehta   Tom Slick Professor of World Peace   (former Foreign Secretary of the Government of   India)   The University of Texas