(1)Death of Lal Bahadur Shastri

Disclaimer: I want to clarify one thing here. I am not claiming anything. I am just amused at what I have heard. If anyone finds this blog post offensive in anyway, feel free to contact me. The kinds of topics my dad and me end up talking are pretty weird. Today was the turn of Indira Gandhi. It started with dad reading a particular piece of fact on one of the channel tickers. It said that eight US Presidents have died while in office out of whom four were assassinated. He called me and wanted to know about those four guys. My information was limited to Abraham Lincoln and J.F. Kennedy (I am not sure though). This raised the similar question about our head of the states.

The only example that came to my mind was Lal Bahadur Shastri. He is one of the few Indian Prime Ministers who actually impress me with their deeds. I have read little about him, but whatever I have read tells me that he is the kind of PM India needs today. To tackle Pakistan and to tackle other problems we face.

And when you are talking about Lal Bahadur Shastri, you cannot avoid talking about his death under mysterious conditions. We defeated Pakistan, we went to Russia in Tashkent to discuss Ceasefire, and what we got in return was a dead Prime Minister. It was a war where we totally torn apart Pakistans morale but the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri changed a lot. Indira came to power and as far as I know, hell broke loose. It is lack of information on things like these that makes me want to dive into history books. And maybe I will. What if Shastri had stayed on? I guess India would have been a very different nation with perhaps no tension of Pakistan hovering around.

Something that could have affected even more considering the money spent on the defense budget could have gone into better areas. But well, history is as cruel as present is and we have to live with what we have. And Mr. Manmohan Singh with his funny cabinet containing Laloo Prasad Yadav and the likes is what we have

And as dad said, we talk only good stuff about dead people. Happened with Indira Gandhi and happening with Veerappan!

(2)Lal Bahadur Shastri (1904 - 1966): A selfless leader

When he was the Railway Minister, he owned moral responsibility for a train accident in south India and resigned, in 1956. He did not have a house of his own, even when he was the Home Minister and people used to tease him the "homeless Home Minister". That was Lal Bahadur Shastri, who shares his date of birth with Mahatma Gandhi and was a staunch follower of the latter's path of truth and non-violence. In the first general elections of the Indian Republic, the Congress was returned to power with a huge majority. Shastri, who was the general secretary of the party at that time, had complete control over the selection of partry candidates. But he did not contest the elections. The Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, however, did not wish to leave such an able and honest man outside the government. He persuaded him to seek election to the Rajya Sabha. He won the election and was appointed the Railway Minister. At that time there were four classes in the railways: first, second, inter and third. The first class compartments offered extreme luxury while the travails of passengers in the third class was beyond description. Shastri made relentless efforts to remove the wide disparity between the first and third class compartments. The first class, which offered royal comfort, was abolished. The old second class was converted into first class and the inter class was turned into second class. His idea was to have only two classes in course of time. He provided greater facilities to passengers in third class compartments. It was during his time that fans were provided in third class compartments. He resigned as Railway Minister owning moral responsibility, when an accident occurred in Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu in 1956 in which 144 persons were killed. In fact, he had put in his papers when an accident had occurred in Mahboobnagar three months earlier, killing 112. But Nehru had not accepted it. He refused to continue in the post after the Ariyalur accident.

He became Home Minister after the death of Govind Ballabh Pant in 1961. He had rented a small house in Allahabad. Whenever he went to Allahabad, he used to stay in that house. After some time, the house owner had let it out to another family. When Shastri resigned as minister, he vacated the Government quarter and he did not have a place to live in. Born at Mughalsarai in Uttar Pradesh on October 2, 1904, Lal Bahadur Shastri had spent his early childhood at his maternal uncle, Raghunath Prasad's house. His father, Sharada Prasad, died when Shastri was hardly one-and-a-half years old, leaving his mother, Ramdulari Devi, to take care of their three children. After the death of her husband, Ramdulari Devi shifted to her father's house in Mirzapur. She played a vital role in shaping Shastri's life by imbibing the right values in him. After completing his primary education at Mirzapur, Shastri went to Benaras for further studies. He joined the Harish Chandra Vidyalaya, where he was deeply influenced by his mathematics teacher, Nishkameswar Prasad Misra, who inspired his students by telling them stories of great leaders like Guru Gobind Singh, Rana Pratap and Chhatrapati Shivaji. He graduated from the nationalist university, Kashi Vidyapeeth, in 1925 and was given the title, `Shastri', meaning one who is learned in the scriptures. The next year, he joined the `Servants of the People Society' started by Lala Lajpat Rai and plunged into the freedom movement. Shastri married Lalita Devi, the youngest daughter of Ganesh Prasad, in 1928. He did not believe in the dowry system and refused to take dowry. However, on the insistence of his father-in-law he took five yards of khadi cloth as dowry. Inspired by his political guru, Bapu Purushottamdas Tandon, Shastri joined the Congress Party. He became the City Congress secretary and the president of the Allahabad Congress Committee in 1930. He participated in all national movements between 1921 and 1942 and went to jail seven times. He was elected to the UP Legislative Assembly in 1937. Once when Shastri was in jail, he received the news that his daughter fell ill. He requested the jailor to release him on parole to attend to his daughter. The jailor granted him 15 days parole. On reaching home, he learnt that his daughter had died. He performed the last rites of his daughter and told his family members that he was going back to the jail. When they reminded him that he was granted 15 days parole, he said, "That was to attend to my sick daughter. But when she is no more, there is no reason for me to take leave." He became the Prime Minister after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. He tackled several problems like food shortage, unemployment and poverty. To overcome the acute food shortage, he initially imported food grains and distributed them throughout the country. Later, he drew long-term plans to make the country self-sufficient in food production. He showed his mettle during the Indo-Pak war, which broke out in 1965. He made it clear to Pakistan and the world that India would not take it lying down, if Pakistan continued to encourage cross-border terrorism. He gave full freedom to the Armed Forces to retaliate and the military bases in Lahore and Sialkot were attacked. The war had established the supremacy of India and brought Ayub Khan on to his feet. The United Nations passed a resolution demanding a ceasefire. The Russian Prime Minister, Kosygin, offered to mediate and Shastri and Ayub Khan started negotiations at Tashkent. A `no-war' agreement was signed between the two countries on January 10, 1966, and peace was restored. Shastri suffered a fatal heart attack the same night. He was awarded the highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1966. A statue of this great little man has been installed in a corner at the park opposite the Municipal Corporation office.

(3)

Kuldip

Nayar was Lal Bahadur Shastri's [Images ] press advisor from 1960 to 1964 and travelled with him

extensively. He provides an insight into the former prime minister's life. Shastri and the Congress Shastri has been forgotten by the nation. He has been pushed into the background. I have no doubt that there was a Congress conspiracy to underplay Shastri after his death. The Congress is the party that should have put him to the fore but I remember visiting a Congress meeting where Shastri's portrait was not even displayed with respect. He simply didn't fit in. Mrs Gandhi was strongly against the Congress old guard. When he died there was a strong resistance against his cremation in the area where Gandhi and Nehru had been laid to rest. Most Congressmen wanted his body taken to Allahabad. When Mrs Lalita Shastri said she would go public only then did the Congressmen relent. They even protested against inscribing the slogan -- Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan on hissamadhi. Then again, only when Mrs Shastri threatened to go on a hunger strike was it was allowed. After leaving the Press Information Bureau I became a reporter. Wherever I went to meet Congress leaders, I was labelled as 'Shastri ka aadmi' [Shastri's man]. Now, a committee has been set up by the Congress-led government to celebrate his birth centenary but it seems like an afterthought. I think after the death of Shastri, the Congress did not know where to fit him. When Mrs Gandhi succeeded him, the Congress didn't know where to put his legacy in the scheme of things then. Shastri stands for austerity. Shastri stands for simplicity and consensus.

Shastri represents an ideology that was right of Centre but not left of Centre. After all, he is the man who said we need the five-year plan but let us have a one year holiday from plan. I remember vividly a small incident that brought out the stark difference between the two (Shastri and Indira Gandhi [ Images]) leaders. During Shastri's tenure his home in Janpath was upgraded quite a bit to suit the status of a PM. After his death, while searching for a suitable home Mrs Gandhi went to see Shastri's home. She entered the home, had a round inside and said, "middle class!" The making of Shastri Shastri was selected by veteran Congress leaders K Kamaraj, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy [ Images ] and S Nijalingappa to lead the nation. Moments after Nehru's death I asked him who should become PM, he said it should be the unanimous decision of the Congress. He gave two names in order. First, Jayaprakash Narayan and second, Indira Gandhi. He told me he wanted a unanimous decision over the selection. "But if there is a contest (which Morarji Desai contemplated) then I can defeat Morarji Desai but not Indira Gandhi," he told me. Probably he was right. However, the question didn't arise because Kamaraj was asked to talk to members informally. Shastri was made PM but Morarjibhai never accepted the decision. After Shastri became PM he had to face the war with Pakistan. When the Chamb border was attacked Shastri was asked to take a tough decision whether to cross the international border. The army chief said it would be difficult to hold on for long at Chamb. Shastri gave the order saying -- before they can capture Chamb you should capture Lahore [ Images ]. After the war was over, I asked Indira Gandhi if Nehru would have allowed the crossing of the international border. Mrs Gandhi said, 'Whatever the generals would have advised him he would have followed." But I wonder. A slight man made of steel After the war, Shastri's name was all over. Before the war many people laughed at him for his softness but not after the war. He came out as a tough hero. His toughness was evident at Tashkent. When Russian Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin (left: Shastri with Kosygin and Indian's then external affairs minister Swaran Singh) wanted Shastri to sign the agreement for peace with General Ayub Khan of Pakistan after the 1965 war, Shastri insisted on adding the assurance, "never again will weapons be used to sort out problems between

India [ Images ] and Pakistan." Ayub was maintaining a vague stance by quoting UN resolutions. "Then you will have to find another PM," said Shastri during the arguments. In the final agreement General Ayub Khan had not mentioned those words but Shastri continued to press for it. Ayub finally wrote it at the very last moment. General Ayub's handwritten assurance is still preserved in the Indian archives. Shastri was a slight person but with a strong mind. Also read: Kuldip Nayar on the Tashkent summit Shastri can't be revived If the Congress wants to celebrate Shastri, it will have to re-emphasis the honesty of Shastri. He stood for the small men of India. But the Congress has changed completely. Since Mrs Gandhi said that corruption is a world phenomenon, Congressmen are not losing sleep over it. Neither can I imagine Shastri imposing the Emergency. All those Congressmen seen active during the Emergency are part of this government. Ambika Soni is a confidante of Sonia Gandhi [ Images ], Pranab Mukherjee [ Images ], Arjun Singh [ Images ], Kamal Nath all were part of the establishment then. How can these leaders bring in the values of Shastri? The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty culture has also played a role in minimising Shastri's legacy. When Shastri was made a minister without portfolio in the Nehru's Cabinet, he was uncomfortable. Once in a huff he told me, "I shall quit and retire to Allahabad." While cajoling him not to entertain an such idea I said, "Nehru has you in his mind." Shastri said, "Unke dimag main to unki putri hai. (He has his daughter in his mind as successor.)" As soon as Shastri died the dynasty culture returned to the Congress. Shastri's message of life was that if he could become PM anybody could because he was a common man. As the Bible says the meekest shall inherit the earth, he proved it. In 1942 (during the Quit India Movement), when he was in a jail, his daughter was ill and he was released on parole. But he could not save her life because doctors had recommended costly drugs. Shastri never made money. In 1963, on the day when he was dropped under the Kamaraj plan I went to meet him. He was sitting in his home without a light. "Why are you sitting in the dark?" I asked. He said, "From today all expenses will be borne by me." He told me as a MP and minister he didn't earn enough to save for his rainy day.

On that evening, I told him to turn a columnist to earn some money. So he wrote a column on Lala Lajpat Rai. That was the first syndicated column in India. I syndicated it to four newspapers and collected Rs 500 from each. Quite a hefty sum! The second column was on Nehru but before he could write more he was recalled to the Cabinet. I don't see the revival of the values Shastri stood for. A day before his first press conference after becoming PM I asked him what will be your message tomorrow? He said: "I'll tell them that during my tenure there will not be any increase in food price and as PM of India I would ask members of the Planning Commission to have one more column in their charts to show me how many jobs will be created after spending thousands of crores of rupees." He was a man concerned about the common man of India. Can these values return to this country? I don't think so