George Fernandes: maverick and patriot
In a poignant footnote to last year’s General Election in India, one of the titans of modern Indian politics, George Fernandes, saw his long electoral career end in ignominy in his pocket borough of Muzaffarpur. Denied a ticket by the party he had founded, Janata Dal-United (JD-U), on grounds of ill-health (he had suffered a stroke, and was still in hospital weeks before the election), the 79-year-old Fernandes finished fifth in Muzaffarpur and lost his deposit – despite garnering the support of former Congress chief minister, Jagannath Mishra, in his last quixotic battle.
Thirty-two years earlier, he had fought a Lok Sabha election from the same constituency while still imprisoned in the “Baroda conspiracy case” (by Indira Gandhi during her phase of authoritarian “Emergency” rule) – and won a resounding victory. Three years later, he defied the “Indira wave” of 1980 to retain the seat with another thumping majority.
George’s popularity was built on the solid foundations of a maverick life devoted to the downtrodden of India (and her friends). He rebelled against his family’s desire to make him a priest – and instead became a trade unionist in southern Karnataka. But he parlayed the skills he learnt there into a heroic role in effectively organizing the mill workers of Bombay in the 1960s. His status as the uncrowned king of Bombay’s working-class was cemented in the 1967 general election, when he defeated the ruling Congress Party’s legendary fund-raiser, SK Patil, and became a key leader of the Socialist party nationally.
As Jayaprakash Narayan’s national movement against corruption, nepotism and soaring inflation gathered momentum in 1974, George became one of its most prominent leaders. In May that year, George (as president of the national Railwaymen’s federation) called a national railway strike – and upto half the 17 million railway workers stopped work for 20 days in one of the largest strikes ever. It was brutally suppressed, with thousands of workers being sent to jail – and Pokhran I (India’s first nuclear test) was conducted, evidently to divert the nation’s attention.
George himself was arrested while negotiating with the government, and one of his fellow strike leaders died in jail.
When Indira declared the Emergency on June 25th, 1975, almost the entire national Opposition was arrested – but not George, who evaded arrest and continued to lead an underground movement against authoritarian rule, travelling incognito around the country to organize the resistance. He was eventually nabbed by Indira’s police in Calcutta in June 1976, and convicted for “sedition”. Photographs of George in chains became a cause celebre around the world.
When the 1977 election was called, most of the Opposition was released but not George. His brother Lawrence had been tortured during the Emergency, and the wife of a close associate, Snehalata Reddy, died in custody. But the indomitable George fought on from behind bars, and won a big electoral victory.
Soon after he became Industry Minister in Morarji Desai’s Janata government at the centre, George demanded that IBM and Coca-Cola transfer more technology to their Indian operations. Both refused, and left the country. One major consequence of IBM’s departure was the emergence of such Indian computer and software companies as Tata Consultancy, HCL, Wipro and (eventually) Infosys to fill the void left by IBM. And Thums Up emerged as a substitute for Coke that remains the most popular Cola in India today. Even more consequentially, industry minister Fernandes facilitated a technology agreement between Siemens of Germany and BHEL, which helped vault the latter into a world-class manufacturer of power equipment.
Internal differences began to erode the cohesiveness of the Janata government in 1979, as Charan Singh organized a large faction opposed to Desai. As things came to a head, George made a spirited and highly effective parliamentary speech defending the Desai government’s stellar record on the economy and the restoration of constitutional liberties. But when the Janata party split a day later (on the issue of “dual membership” of some Janata party leaders in the RSS), George went along with the rest of his Socialist colleagues – aligning with Charan rather than Morarji.
The wheel turned a full circle when George became Railway minister in VP Singh’s Janata Dal government of 1989. He used that brief period in office to initiate work on the Konkan Railway, the first major new railway project in the country since independence, transforming the economic prospects of the hitherto-neglected Konkan coast of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
Again, George chose to go with Chandrasekhar (rather than VP Singh) when the Janata Dal split in 1990 – and gradually rebuilt his career with the Samata Party (now JD-U) that became the new home for socialists who felt uncomfortable with the caste politics of Lalu and Mulayam Yadav. His party became an integral part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA): George shed his past antipathy toward the BJP/RSS in order to create a credible national alternative to the Nehru dynasty, and became Convenor of the NDA, which romped to power in both the 1998 and 1999 General Elections.
As Defence Minister during the Kargil War, George won kudos for his leadership of India’s military response to the invasion – and especially for the rapport he established with ordinary jawans. He was the first Defence minister to visit the forbidding Siachen glacier, doing so on 17 different occasions. Then his lifelong reputation for probity came under a sudden cloud of alleged corruption in procurement of coffins and ammunition. Two commissions of inquiry (including one appointed by his opponents in the UPA) have since fully exonerated George of any wrongdoing.
That was only apt. For in power or out, George has been a devoted patriot who has supported forlorn causes with a doggedness and passion that have few parallels. While India’s support for the Tibetan cause ebbs and flows, George Fernandes has remained a lifelong friend of Tibet, and staunch supporter of the Tibetans’ autonomy and human rights. The All-Burma Students League, fighting for the restoration of democracy in India’s eastern neighbour, has similarly found a home in George’s official Delhi residence for decades. His commitment to Tibet and Burma dates back to the late-1950s, when he became the Praja Socialist Party’s foreign-policy and defense spokesman – and staunchly opposed Nehru’s appeasement of China.
His warnings regarding China (and that of other socialists like JB Kripalani) proved prescient when the catastrophe of 1962 occurred. As Defence Minister, George Fernandes’ candour in altering the world’s perception of why India needed a nuclear deterrent (the threat from the north) played a decisive role in gaining international acceptance of India’s defence needs. In 2003, he visited China and had a “frank” (i.e., blunt) exchange of views on Tibet, nuclear issues, Burma, etc.
While George Fernandes has often been criticised for flip-flopping on his political alignments, he has never wavered in the steadfastness of his commitment to India, democracy and human rights (in that order). When he quietly took his place as a Rajya Sabha member last August (yes, nominated by his JD-U colleagues from Bihar, in one final affirmation of affection), the first congratulatory telegram arrived from the Tibetan government in exile. True friends never forget.
Thirty-two years earlier, he had fought a Lok Sabha election from the same constituency while still imprisoned in the “Baroda conspiracy case” (by Indira Gandhi during her phase of authoritarian “Emergency” rule) – and won a resounding victory. Three years later, he defied the “Indira wave” of 1980 to retain the seat with another thumping majority.
George’s popularity was built on the solid foundations of a maverick life devoted to the downtrodden of India (and her friends). He rebelled against his family’s desire to make him a priest – and instead became a trade unionist in southern Karnataka. But he parlayed the skills he learnt there into a heroic role in effectively organizing the mill workers of Bombay in the 1960s. His status as the uncrowned king of Bombay’s working-class was cemented in the 1967 general election, when he defeated the ruling Congress Party’s legendary fund-raiser, SK Patil, and became a key leader of the Socialist party nationally.
As Jayaprakash Narayan’s national movement against corruption, nepotism and soaring inflation gathered momentum in 1974, George became one of its most prominent leaders. In May that year, George (as president of the national Railwaymen’s federation) called a national railway strike – and upto half the 17 million railway workers stopped work for 20 days in one of the largest strikes ever. It was brutally suppressed, with thousands of workers being sent to jail – and Pokhran I (India’s first nuclear test) was conducted, evidently to divert the nation’s attention.
George himself was arrested while negotiating with the government, and one of his fellow strike leaders died in jail.
When Indira declared the Emergency on June 25th, 1975, almost the entire national Opposition was arrested – but not George, who evaded arrest and continued to lead an underground movement against authoritarian rule, travelling incognito around the country to organize the resistance. He was eventually nabbed by Indira’s police in Calcutta in June 1976, and convicted for “sedition”. Photographs of George in chains became a cause celebre around the world.
When the 1977 election was called, most of the Opposition was released but not George. His brother Lawrence had been tortured during the Emergency, and the wife of a close associate, Snehalata Reddy, died in custody. But the indomitable George fought on from behind bars, and won a big electoral victory.
Soon after he became Industry Minister in Morarji Desai’s Janata government at the centre, George demanded that IBM and Coca-Cola transfer more technology to their Indian operations. Both refused, and left the country. One major consequence of IBM’s departure was the emergence of such Indian computer and software companies as Tata Consultancy, HCL, Wipro and (eventually) Infosys to fill the void left by IBM. And Thums Up emerged as a substitute for Coke that remains the most popular Cola in India today. Even more consequentially, industry minister Fernandes facilitated a technology agreement between Siemens of Germany and BHEL, which helped vault the latter into a world-class manufacturer of power equipment.
Internal differences began to erode the cohesiveness of the Janata government in 1979, as Charan Singh organized a large faction opposed to Desai. As things came to a head, George made a spirited and highly effective parliamentary speech defending the Desai government’s stellar record on the economy and the restoration of constitutional liberties. But when the Janata party split a day later (on the issue of “dual membership” of some Janata party leaders in the RSS), George went along with the rest of his Socialist colleagues – aligning with Charan rather than Morarji.
The wheel turned a full circle when George became Railway minister in VP Singh’s Janata Dal government of 1989. He used that brief period in office to initiate work on the Konkan Railway, the first major new railway project in the country since independence, transforming the economic prospects of the hitherto-neglected Konkan coast of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa.
Again, George chose to go with Chandrasekhar (rather than VP Singh) when the Janata Dal split in 1990 – and gradually rebuilt his career with the Samata Party (now JD-U) that became the new home for socialists who felt uncomfortable with the caste politics of Lalu and Mulayam Yadav. His party became an integral part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA): George shed his past antipathy toward the BJP/RSS in order to create a credible national alternative to the Nehru dynasty, and became Convenor of the NDA, which romped to power in both the 1998 and 1999 General Elections.
As Defence Minister during the Kargil War, George won kudos for his leadership of India’s military response to the invasion – and especially for the rapport he established with ordinary jawans. He was the first Defence minister to visit the forbidding Siachen glacier, doing so on 17 different occasions. Then his lifelong reputation for probity came under a sudden cloud of alleged corruption in procurement of coffins and ammunition. Two commissions of inquiry (including one appointed by his opponents in the UPA) have since fully exonerated George of any wrongdoing.
That was only apt. For in power or out, George has been a devoted patriot who has supported forlorn causes with a doggedness and passion that have few parallels. While India’s support for the Tibetan cause ebbs and flows, George Fernandes has remained a lifelong friend of Tibet, and staunch supporter of the Tibetans’ autonomy and human rights. The All-Burma Students League, fighting for the restoration of democracy in India’s eastern neighbour, has similarly found a home in George’s official Delhi residence for decades. His commitment to Tibet and Burma dates back to the late-1950s, when he became the Praja Socialist Party’s foreign-policy and defense spokesman – and staunchly opposed Nehru’s appeasement of China.
His warnings regarding China (and that of other socialists like JB Kripalani) proved prescient when the catastrophe of 1962 occurred. As Defence Minister, George Fernandes’ candour in altering the world’s perception of why India needed a nuclear deterrent (the threat from the north) played a decisive role in gaining international acceptance of India’s defence needs. In 2003, he visited China and had a “frank” (i.e., blunt) exchange of views on Tibet, nuclear issues, Burma, etc.
While George Fernandes has often been criticised for flip-flopping on his political alignments, he has never wavered in the steadfastness of his commitment to India, democracy and human rights (in that order). When he quietly took his place as a Rajya Sabha member last August (yes, nominated by his JD-U colleagues from Bihar, in one final affirmation of affection), the first congratulatory telegram arrived from the Tibetan government in exile. True friends never forget.
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