Cynical Indians often say the only titans left in India are watches. It possibly shows they are completely oblivious of the presence of Somnath Chatterjee, the Lok Sabha Speaker, in their midst. A man who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Communist stalwarts like EMS Namboodripad and Jyoti Basu, Chatterjee put his life-long association with the Communist movement at stake to preserve the dignity of his exalted position. Despite intense pressure from the CPI(M) high command, he refused to give up his non-partisan role and vote against the UPA government. Now, debate and dissent are the very essence of a democracy and intolerance has its roots in ignorance. Another recent instance of open revolt against the party leadership took place in the UK in contrasting circumstances. Robin Cook resigned as the Leader of the House of Commons to take on prime minister Tony Blair on the issue of the war on Iraq. While our Speaker stuck to his position and defied his party’s diktat, the articulate British parliamentarian gave up his position to castigate his party’s policy. In his dramatic resignation speech, Cook brilliantly deflated Blair’s unreasonable arguments for invasion of Iraq. “We cannot base our military strategy on the assumption that Saddam is weak and at the same time justify pre-emptive action on the claim that he is a threat,” he said. Cook warned the country against unilaterally entering the war without support from other western nations. While Cook used all his eloquence to criticise Blair’s strategy or the lack of it, Chatterjee exposed the shallowness of the Communists by effectively using the unspoken word. Towering men like Chatterjee can’t fit into the scheme of things when national governance is reduced to the level of student politics. Every party that flaunted its policy position during the trust vote lost face. One man who upheld parliamentary principles emerged the sole saving grace.