FOCUS

LAL BAHADUR SHASTRI
THE GREATEST INDIAN SINCE BAAPU, THE MAHATMA – A 2nd Oct. Tribute

In sensation mongering, Indian media, whether the print or the 24x7 electronic media, leaves probably most members of the 4th estate – globally – behind. The lunacy for TRP appears to be the staple diet for most of these electronic media channels. Thus the nomination and selection of the so-called “Greatest Indian After Mahatma” made its rounds in circles, for whatever it was worth, as if there were no issues of relevance to be highlighted, especially with CAG destroying the sleep, literally, of the government in New Delhi. Reportedly, the imported Indian channel CNN/IBN had made a list of 100, of such great men. This list was given to a panel of ‘eminent’ jury to be pruned to fifty. The panel had on its list, 7 media men, 5 authors and writers, 3 sportsmen and sports writers, 2 from Arts and Cinema etc besides1 bureaucrat and 1 lawyer politician. Interestingly 50% of these ‘eminent’ men were from world of letters, like journos and writers who need not be always objective in their writings. There was a lone politician in BJP’s Arun Jaitley, that was surprising. Who decided that they are the only elites to adorn the panel, is a moot point. Surely, some claims to eminence must be there, although most Indians may be ignorant of their being eminent. After all isn’t it the media which makes or breaks personalities in the public space? Here the debate is not about the panel of ‘eminent’ jury.

This jury, in its wisdom includes some of the names which they think deserve to be in the list of 50 and prunes it further to a ‘List of Ten’ and the ‘great Indian public’ to vote according to their own perception of what constitutes greatness after Mahatma. Many years ago during the heydays of Bachchan Gandhi bonhomie, one fine day or not so fine day, Rajeev Gandhi as Prime Minister, in his wisdom, announced the name of the chairman of Nehru Centenary Committee. The very day, when the news appeared in the print media, that actor Amitabh Bachchan would be the chairman of the newly formed committee on Nehru Centenary Celebration, there was intense debate – how wrong was the appointment. Of course Gandhis did retrace their steps to annul the appointment to put the whole controversy to a close.

It was probably these so-called elites who protested then. This time round at least 26 of them were in the panel, who conveniently forgot to include, not only in the second list consisting of 50, selected from the original list of 100, but the all knowing CNN/IBN Chief Rajdeep Sardesai too did not include Late Lal Bahadur Shastri in the first list of 100. That was indeed a kind of bankruptcy or the impoverishment of imagination of these so-called intellectuals, especially, when Pandit Nehru, himself made a glowing reference to Shastriji after he resigned as the Railway Minister in 1956. Taking moral responsibility for a series of railway accidents, Shastriji resigned as the then Railway Minister. Accepting it reluctantly, since Shastriji insisted, Nehruji stated in the parliament “I should like to say that, it has been, not only in the govt. but also in the Congress, my good fortune and privilege to have Shastriji as a comrade and colleague, and no man can wish for a better comrade and better colleague in any undertaking – a man of highest integrity, loyalty, devoted to ideals, a man of conscience and a man of hard work. We can expect no better. And it is because he is such a man of conscience that he felt deeply, whenever there was any failing in the work entrusted to his charge. I have the highest regard for him”. It was perhaps the cleanest certificate Pandit Nehru gave to any of his teammates in the cabinet or the party in his entire public life.

Thus it is indeed very sad that people like Rajdeep Sardesai of CNN/IBN could not find a place of greatness for Shastri. But this Sardesai in his wisdom included the likes of Kanshi Ram, actors Rajnikanth, Kishore Kumar, separatist Phizo, naxalite Charu Majumdar, police officer activist Kiran Bedi etc., in his list of greats.

Could it be that, since the original list didn’t have Shastriji, these elites too didn’t think of him? That is not the case, these elites included Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya who was certainly greater than Kiran Bedi. Elites also included Shivram Karanth, C.Rajgopalachari and E V Ramaswami Naiker, and what about Vishwanath Pratap Singh the Mandal man, Bofors exposer? Isn’t he greater than Kanshi Ram or Charu Majumdar !

The whole list of 100 by CNN/IBN Think Tank, then the list of 50, as decided by elites, and the last of 10 selected by netizens, the net users, the aam aadmi, has only proved our poor sense of historical perspectives and a lack of fairer sense of judgement.

Commenting on the ‘List of Ten’ as voted by aam aadmi from the elitist 50, Ramachandra Guha, historian and a panel member, stated that “the elevation of APJ Abdul Kalam to the 2nd position and ranking Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya at 50, in both cases, aam aadmi got it spectacularly wrong.

Forget about Rajdeep Sardesai’s ignorance of history. What about Guha himself? What explanation, as a historian, he has for omitting Shastriji, in the list of 50? And come to think of it, Shastriji not only shares the birthday with the Mahatma, he is a Bharat Ratna too, awarded posthumously, besides being a greatest Gandhian in literal sense, since Mahatma.

For the injustice these media men and the so-called elites of the Indian society have done to the memory of late Lal Bahadur Shastriji, we at ISSUES & CONCERNS thought it fit to set the record straight by anointing him as One of the Greatest Indians since Mahatma.

On 27th May 1964, at 2.30 pm the then Minister for Steel and Mines informed a hushed Lok Sabha that “The Prime Minister is no more. The light is out”.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first Prime Minister, who remained prime minster for all the 17 years from 1947, had passed away. He was 75, when he died. He was a gigantic influence in the post Mahatma era. Hence, naturally “After Nehru who?” was the question often asked, but never answered. West as usual had thought, especially because of their press, that there could be turmoil in an India  without Nehru.

However, Congressmen, under the leadership of Krishnaswamy Kamaraj Nadar, managed a smooth transition despite pulls and pushes from different groups and aspirees for the post of Prime Minister of India. The man reputed to be ajaatha shatru – without enemies – elected to be the 2nd Prime Minister of India, was Lal Bahadur Shastri.

Born on 2nd Oct. as Mahatma Gandhi, he remained without being remembered by most Indians including the media, both print and electronic. With almost certainty it can be stated with confidence that there will be hardly any student who would remember Shastriji’s birthday. It’s also true, that in spite of being quintessentially a great Gandhian, the  shadow of Mahatma simply left him no media space. All the same, his greatness cannot be diminished for the simple truth that when he died in harness, tragically away in Tashkent, there was hardly any money in his bank a/c, nor did he create a second line of political heir within his family, which is the order of the day among the present crop of politicians. Shastiji remained above all human failings. It’s unfortunate like Mahatma, God has stopped producing men of Shastriji’s convictions. It’s sad in the present day India “Parithranaaya Sadhunaam Sambhavaami Yugey Yugey” does not hold good any more.

Lal Bahadur Shastri died fairly young at 62 years. Would the things have been better if he was alive some 15 years longer like his predecessor?

In fitness of things, Indians of all hues, young and old, should know this great soul in greater details. Shastriji must occupy larger public space for the kind of exemplary life he lived, for the knowledge of all those who wants to take to politics to serve aam aadmi.

Having jumped head long as a boy of 15, in 1919, into struggle of independence, inspired by Mahatma’s call to quit schools and colleges to join national movement, Lal Bahadur never looked back. In 1925 he was arrested for the first time, but was warned and released. He joined Kashi Vidyapeeth started by nationalist teachers. In 1926 he cleared the degree of Shastri in first class, thus becoming Lal Bahadur Shastri. Prior to this he had dropped Srivastava from his name, as it indicated his Kayastha Brahmin lineage. This showed, very early, his sense of societal equity, as he was against caste system. A very striking quality of young Lal Bahadur was his frugal life style. He always lived austere. On graduation he joined the Servants of the People Society (SPS) where he met political activists of those days like Purushottamdas Tandon who was president of Allahabad Distt. Congress, and Allahabad was the nerve centre of Congress activities of those days. He was thru’ and thru’ a nationalist. His intense devotion coupled with organisation skill helped him get larger space and greater attention from the Congress leaders of those days, more importantly of Pandit Nehru. His ability at persuasion won him all round acceptability. He grew slowly in stature and in organisation as Ajaatha Shatru, the one with no enemies. Pandit Nehru’s trust grew to such an extent that he would let young Lal Bahadur manage his official correspondence including replies on his behalf.

His participation in the non-cooperation movement of Congress under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi earned him quite a few trips to jail under British. Salt Satyagraha in 1930 got him arrested and imprisoned for 2 ½ years. Again in 1940, he was imprisoned for offering individual satyagraha support to the freedom movement, for one year. Post Quit India movement in 1942, he was again arrested and imprisoned. This time for more than 4 years, until 1946. According to available details, he spent some 9 years in different jails of India. While in prison he spent most of his time reading books by international philosophers. Reportedly he had translated the autobiography of Marie Curie into Hindi.

During his terms in prison, a different and unique personality of Lal Bahadur was on display. Once when he was undergoing jail term after Salt Satyagraha, his daughter fell very ill and he took 15 days leave of absence to visit her, he came back even before completing the 15 days break, since his daughter had passed away before he even reached home. Again a year later, his son fell ill. A week’s permission was granted to Lal Bahadur to visit his ailing son. But his son continued to remain ill, but Lal Bahadur returned to the prison as promised despite pleading by his family. That was the level of commitment of Shastriji even to the Britishers, to keep his words, a very rare quality of any politician anywhere in India.

If his political life prior to independence portrayed him as a disciplined and principled person. His family life was an eloquent example of simple living and high thinking. Having married in 1927, inspite of prevailing tradition of demanding hefty dowry, Lal Bahadur settled for only a Charakha and few yards of Khadi as dowry. He was simple to the core. According to his biographer Dr Mankekar, “even when the kurtas would become threadbare at sleeves and collar, he would ask his wife to keep it for winter to be worn under the coat”. He was simplicity incarnate. Unlike half naked Fakir, that Mahatma Gandhi was, Lal Bahadur  Shastri was Mahatma in full attire, may be worn-out inside. 

Thus along with the urbane Jawaharlal Nehru, this simple but very genuine human being came into the post independent politics of the country with his own unique brand image. This was seen all along his political life, from 1947 to Jan. 1966, when he died in Tashkent, a day after signing, what’s known as ‘Tashkent Declaration’ between India and Pakistan.

Post independence, he became part of Uttar Pradesh cabinet. He was given Police and Transport portfolio. He nationalised the public transport in UP, to make it available to all possible places. As transport minister, he was the first to introduce women conductors in public transport buses. Come to think of it, this was even before 1950. He was clearly progressive and far ahead of his time. But the female members of the ‘elite panel’ Shubha Mudgal, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Shabana Azmi and Shobha De, did not blink, to think that Lal Bahadur Shastri was indeed a very great son of India, Mahatma or no Mahatma. As minister in charge of police, he addressed for the first time to use water jets instead of lathis to disperse unruly crowds. Since his qualities of head and heart was also known to Pandit Nehru, in 1952, he took Shastriji into central cabinet, despite having won legislative assembly seat in UP in the first general election that took place in 1952. It was in 1951 when he was made the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee that he came very close to Pandit Nehru, and Nehru at once made up his mind to make use of his talents as an organiser and as a person of impeccable integrity. Shastriji was made independent India’s first Railway Minister. In 1956, Shastriji resigned from ministership after a railway accident in Andhra Pradesh. Panditji didn’t accept his resignation. But three months later when Shastriji insisted on resignation, after another accident in Tamil Nadu, Prime Minister accepted the resignation stating that ‘it would set an example in constitutional propriety and not because Shastriji was in any way responsible for the accident’. This clearly shows that Shastriji was never after power or position, unlike Sachin Tendulkar, who wants to stick around in the Indian cricket team despite flops after flops. And our great opinion makers, elite men and women and of course of our great public, the net wired aam aadmi, have voted this Tendulkar as the 5th in the line of India’s greatest. That was indeed a bankruptcy of ideas. Yes fortunately Ramachandra Guha, one of the panelist has set the record straight. “Sachin Tendulkar may be the greatest Indian cricketer but he cannot ever be the greatest Indian”. In fact his very inclusion in the list of 100 itself was debatable.

1957, saw Shastriji again as a cabinet minister with Nehruji, evolving in different portfolios like communication, commerce & industry etc. In 1961, he became the home minister, and for the first time, he set up of a Committee on Prevention of Corruption. 

After the sudden death of Panditji in 1964, at the, not so ripe age of 75, Lal Bahadur was the consensus candidate for prime ministership. Suddenly all his experience was called upon to take over the onerous job of the top executive of the country.

Responding to the call of duty was one of his great qualities. As always the nation was his top priority and his family came much lower in priority. This was one single quality, for its sheer sincerity and honesty, alone could have propelled him to be the greatest of all Indians, post Mahatma. In a scenario of corrupt, self serving, Sons & Relatives India Pvt. Ltd, he was unmistakably the brightest star in the political firmament of the country. He has to be part of the national curriculum at all levels of education. Story of Shastriji’s life should occupy much larger space for the PRACTICAL MAHATMA that he was. When Nehruji, in his immaculate style spoke of him to the parliament, after accepting Shastriji’s resignation he had weighed every word to carry its intended meaning. Someday he has to become part of the folk lore, so that he becomes and remains an ICON, that Anna and his disintegrated team are searching. This country need another Lal Bahadur Shastri for the political deliverance.

His term of office of Prime Minister of India has been fairly eventful by the exigencies of the day. He was instrumental in initiating ‘Green Revolution’ in India, which galvanised India to become a food surplus country, and banished PL-480 for ever from the country. It was again during his tenure that the National Dairy Development board was formed in 1965, which eventually led to the ‘White Revolution’  and India became net exporter of milk  and milk products.

Despite his diminutive physical stature, he was truly tall and commanded respect of all those who came across him, and nobody took him for granted. His entire personality was deeply grounded and he commanded huge public goodwill. His toughness came to the fore while dealing with both Pakistani aggression so also the Chinese threat. He was a no-nonsense man. There has to be greater effort to keep his memory in public domain alive. It is very unfortunate for the country that he died so early. But despite that, his memory can be an inspiring story for all those who aspire for public life to serve the country and its people. Yes, if Shakespeare was alive in 1966, in all probability, he would have said, that 

“This was the noblest Indian of them all.

------------------------------------

His life was so gentle, and the elements

So mixed in him that Nature might stand up 

And say to all the world This was a man”. 

Indeed, he was one of the greatest Indians to have lived on this Indian soil for the posterity to remember. May his memory inspire every child who reads his life story. 

J.Shriyan