We moved to
another place post that and then internet came into my life, that’s was year
1995 I remember watching his infamous video where he was indulged in demagoguery
his infamous speech where from stage he said
“सुप्रीम कोर्ट ने हमें, अधिकार दिया है कि हम कार सेवा करेंगे. रोकने का तो सवाल ही नहीं. कार सेवा करके सुप्रीम कोर्ट के किसी आदेश की अवेहलना नहीं होगी. कार सेवा करके सुप्रीम कोर्ट का सम्मान किया जाएगा. खुदाई बाद वहां जो नुकीले पत्थर निकले, उनपर तो कोई नहीं बैठ सकता, तो जमीन को समतल करना पड़ेगा. बैठने लायक बनाना पड़ेगा. यज्ञ का आयोजन होगा. मैं नहीं कल वहां क्या होगा...'”
This speech
was given hours before babri demolition, I could connect the dots between his
speech and riots happened in my area since then I got apprehensive towards
religious politics.
You tube and internet introduced his encounter
with larger than life Nehrus aura in parliament In 1957, he was elected as a
member of the 2nd Lok Sabha from Balrampur in Uttar Pradesh. It was here that
he went toe-to-toe with veterans of the Congress, including Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru. Vajpayee also caught Nehru’s eye who saw great potential in
the young Parliamentarian.
Once Nehru is
said to have introduced Vajpayee to the British Prime Minister and said, “He
(Atal) is a young leader of the opposition who is always criticising me, but I
see in him a great future.” To another foreign dignitary, Nehru described
Vajpayee as “India’s blooming young Parliamentarian”.
Nehru is said
to have taken a keen interest in Vajpayee, who was unsparing in his criticism
of the government and yet, respected the high office of the Prime Minister
which Nehru occupied. Once, while taking a dig at Nehru, Vajpayee said, “I know
that Pandit Ji practices shirshasana and is welcome to continue doing so, but
this does not mean that he should look at issues with an inverted vision.”
In 1970,
during a particularly heated debate, Indira Gandhi accused the Jana Sangh of
being anti-Muslim and claimed she could deal with an outfit like the Jana Sangh
in five minutes. In his reply, Vajpayee not only took a dig at the PM but also
reminded her of how her father dealt with disagreements. “The PM says she can
deal with the Jana Sangh in five minutes. Can any democratic PM speak like
this? I say in five minutes you cannot even deal with your own hair, how can
you deal with us? When Nehru Ji was angry, he would at least make a good
speech!”
In 1984, before sending the Army to flush out militants from the Golden
Temple, Indira Gandhi is said to have sought his advice. Vajpayee advised her
not to take that course and think of an alternative but she went ahead with
Operation Blue Star anyway. However, this demonstrates the faith the PM had in
the veteran Parliamentarian.
Vajpayee would not shy away from praising other Congress leaders either. One of his friends across the aisle was Pranab Mukherjee. The two were often seen taking long walks around Parliament, discussing the state of affairs in the nation.
Once during
the NDA’s time in power, Pranab Mukherjee and Murli Manohar Joshi were locked
in an intense debate on Hindu scriptures, during which Mukherjee quoted
Sanskrit shlokas in Parliament. According to Kingshuk Nag’s book ‘Atal Bihari
Vajpayee: A man for all seasons’, Vajpayee, now the Prime Minister, stood up
and said to Mukherjee, “I warned Joshi not to take pangas with you on religious
matters. He does not know you have deep knowledge of the scriptures.”
Then came the year 1999 color tvs and cable
channels took over our drawing rooms , and kandhar hijack happened and Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee wanted
to begin the new millennium on a clean slate india succumbed to the
demands of Islamic terrorists latter it was identified that india lost golden opportunity
of making that aircraft land in amritsar but we let that opportunity let
slipped away with India significantly increased its diplomatic costs and
political risks. The hostage crisis brought out Indian diplomacy in poor
light, with Jaswant Singh focusing more on media spin rather than on
longer-term ramifications. Before he left for Kandahar, he publicly declared
that the government strategy was both to protect the passengers and crew on
board the hijacked jetliner and protect national interests. After he delivered
the terrorists, his public comments emphasised only the first goal and were
tellingly silent on the second. That was failure and then 1999 kargil happened,
I was watching barkha dutt covering on TV india was sleeping when terrosist
backed by Pakistani army made permanent settlement on hills under India’s boundary
Atal bihari was a very well intentioned man he remember him holding hands of
navab sharif in Lahore after historic bus service between Amritsar and Lahore was
inaugurated , kargil happened just after that (Details are there in Mushraffs biography
“Line of Fire”) , india suffered because of its negligence we let intruders
build permanent settlement , because of sluggishness and delayed response to understand
what actually happened india let Pakistan successfully captured 140 position of utmost strategies
importance without a bullet fired and literally half of the Kashmir was at
their mercy(yeah the positions were so important)
India never knew about it
until a Shepherd(from the caste to which rubia who was rapped belonged to )
told them that some foreigners are killing them with artilleries and as we all
know who can be the foreigners and when a search team was sent to know whether
he was saying right or not they killed all other than one and captured and
brutally tortured him and as they were not Pakistanis so no GENEVA CONSTITUTION
yeah it was beyond believable horrendous torcher and they even mutilated the
dead bodies of soldiers n sent them back(this is d reson which created
anti-pakistan sentiment in Indians n led BJP won first time ever as Pakistanis
didn't fight like a man n back stabbed and did horrendous torture to our
people).But this also become a blessing for us as our whole military got
enraged and we won a nearly impossible battle(yep all western forces considered
it nearly impossible as at that time we had nothing to fly above 5000 ft n it
was 7000+ N it was impossible without air force).
I loved atal bihari for
his love of literature and cultural understanding he even called up dilip kumar
who has worked for indo pak peace extensively and is respected and loved in both india and Pakistan to act as
a meditator between india and Pakistan . India lost her children’s in the
battle likes of vikram batra , pandey and nair to name a few , I happened to be
in war memorial at Drass last year , we cant even imagine what these chaps go
through and soldier is ready to fight just on order of higher authority I am
anti war and sluggishness of government should be blamed for precious deaths of
soldiers . Atal biharis government though well intentioned didn’t do justice to
the life’s of our soldiers , and then in
2001 parliament attacked happened perpetrated by same terrorist masod azhar ‘s organization
jaish-e-mohammad he was exchanged for passenger’s of kandhar flight . india
paid heavily
Constable Kamlesh Kumari of the Central Reserve Police Force was the first to spot the terrorists and was shot by
them as she raised the alarm. She died on the spot. One gunman's suicide vest exploded when he was shot dead; the other four gunmen were
also killed. Five policemen, a Parliament security guard, and a gardener were
killed and 18 others were injured.The ministers and MPs escaped unhurt.
The total number of deaths was 14 and at least 22 people were injured in the
attack. Meanwhile atal biharis
government carried out Pokhran nuclear test where A.P.J abdul kalam made
significant contribution , atal bihari efficiently handled pressure to sign India becoming party of the CTBT and NPT and even invited Bill Clinton then president
to indian parliament it was act ego massaging Americas ego. No doubt Vajpayee had
tough condition to handle and he sometimes won and sometimes lost but he was
always graceful, then a incident for which I respect atal bihari the most riots
broke in Gujrat and hundreds of Muslims were butchered on the street of Gujrat.
It was On 27
February 2002, a group of people from a Muslim populated area of Godhra had set
fire to a few bogies of a train — the Sabarmati Express — which carried
pilgrims from Ayodhya, a town considered holy by the Hindus. Massive riots
broke out, mostly targeting Muslims, for nearly a week.
All
the killing and pillaging in Gujarat had given Vajpayee a bad name, the more so
because Gujarat had a BJP government in place, with a chief minister who had
reportedly not risen enough to the occasion to rein in the violence. Vajpayee
was blamed for his failure as PM to get rid of Chief Minister Narendra Modi,
who reportedly shouted back at a Muslim leader on the phone for seeking help
after a mob had gathered outside his house. Some hours later, the Muslim leader
was lynched, and Modi is alleged to have asked the police forces to let the
violence continue. At that moment, Modi seemed to be the villain who brought a
lot of shame to the central government.
Modi had also
dared to publicly snub Vajpayee at a press conference where he was seated
alongside the prime minister. The reporter wanted to know Vajpayee’s message
for the chief minister in the wake of the riots. In controlled displeasure,
Vajpayee stated that Modi should ‘follow his Rajdharma’. He explained that Rajdharma
was a meaningful term, and for somebody in a position of power, it meant not
discriminating among the higher and lower classes of society or people of any
religion. In a bid to stop Vajpayee from saying something scathing about him,
Modi turned towards Vajpayee, tried to catch his eye and said with a strong
note of threatening defiance, ‘Hum bhi wahi kar rahe hain, sahib (That is what
we are also doing, sir).’ Vajpayee immediately changed tack and said, ‘I am
sure Narendrabhai is also doing the same.’
Three days before his foreign
tour in April, when Vajpayee visited the Shah Alam camp in Ahmedabad, which
housed 9,000 Muslims displaced by the riots, he was deeply touched when a woman
told him that he alone could save them from the hell that their lives had become.
Now, on the flight to Singapore, Vajpayee was worried he would expose himself
to more humiliation while outside the country. His grouse was: why am I being
paraded abroad at such a time?
Shourie suggested that the
PM speak to Advani, who had by now become the deputy prime
minister, about the possibilities of salvaging the situation — it could even
mean replacing Modi. But even after the ‘pep talk’ with Shourie, Vajpayee
appeared cheerless. He told Shourie that he would speak to Advani about it.
They reached
Singapore; there were no meetings scheduled for the first day. The next day
there were several engagements, including ceremonial visits to dignitaries,
which included the former ruler Lee Kuan Yew. The Gujarat issue came up in an
interview on the third and final day of their stay in Singapore. The journalist
who interviewed Vajpayee first stated that Singaporeans were wary of communal
disturbances, clearly indicating that he was referring to the recent riots in
Gujarat, under the BJP rule. Then he shot off his question:
‘And in India such disturbances have happened not once, but several times. In
this regard what can Singapore learn from India’s experience and what can you
share?’
Vajpayee paused and rubbed his
forehead... before answering, betraying a level of discomfiture in answering
questions related to the Gujarat riots. Then, weighing his words, he said,
‘Whatever happened in India was very unfortunate. The riots have been brought under
control. If at the Godhra station, the passengers of the Sabarmati Express had
not been burnt alive, then perhaps the Gujarat tragedy could have been averted.
It is clear there was some conspiracy behind this incident. It is also a matter
of concern that there was no prior intelligence available on this conspiracy.
Alertness is essential in a democracy. We have been cautious. And if one does
not ignore even small incidents like one used to in the past, then one will
certainly be successful in fighting terrorism.’ Clearly, he was on the
defensive, and the issue worried him no end.
Eight months earlier, in late
September 2001, amid massive political infighting, it was decided that Modi
would replace Keshubhai Patel as chief minister of Gujarat.
On
1 October, Vajpayee asked Modi to meet him in Delhi, where Modi had lived for
the previous three years. Modi had put on weight from the last time they had
met. Vajpayee joked about too much ‘Punjabi food’ and then got to business.
Modi had to go to Gujarat as CM to prepare the state for the next elections due
in 2002, Vajpayee said. Modi’s immediate answer was a ‘no’.
Vajpayee
insisted, because the Keshubhai Patel administration had incurred public wrath
over not doing enough for the people of the state after the 2001 earthquake.
Some members of the government were in cahoots with unscrupulous builders
indulging in shoddy construction. Some of them enjoyed Patel’s patronage.
Modi told Vajpayee
that since he had been away in Delhi as the general secretary in charge of
several states, he had been out of touch with local politics. Even so, he agreed
to spend ten days a month in the state. However, a short while later, Modi
agreed to accept the CM’s position after being convinced by his mentor Advani
to do so. Advani knew about Modi’s lack of administrative experience, but was
very fond of him. Finally, Modi was sworn in as chief minister of Gujarati on 7
October 2001.
October 2001.
At Panjim in April 2002, the
national executive meet began, and a short while later, Modi took to the dais
and said he would like to step down as chief minister over the riots. Immediately,
people from several sides got up and said there was no need to do so. Whether
it was orchestrated or not, Shourie wasn’t sure. But, according to him,
Vajpayee felt that it was a coup.
Sensing
that things were not going as planned, Shourie got up and described what had
gone on between Advani and Vajpayee on the plane and the agreement they had
reached thereafter. But shouts kept emerging from the delegates: ‘It cannot be
done! Modi cannot be allowed to go!’ Vajpayee immediately understood the situation,
and said, ‘Let’s decide on it later.’ ‘It can’t be decided later, it has to be
decided now,’ somebody shouted. And as if on cue, it became a slogan.
Shourie observed that Advani
hadn’t said anything though he knew very well that Vajpayee wanted Modi out.
Seeing things take a different turn, Vajpayee kept mum, opting against a
confrontational stance. Perhaps, for all his bravery, he was worried about
younger leaders publicly questioning his authority.
He
would never forget that humiliation.
'India's
leader (Vajpayee) takes painkillers for his knees (which were replaced due to
arthritis), has trouble with his bladder, liver and his one remaining kidney,
takes a three-hour snooze every afternoon on doctor's orders and is given to
interminable silences, indecipherable ramblings and, not infrequently, falling
asleep in meetings', the article by Time's India correspondent,
Alex Perry, says.
he further added
He drank
heavily in his prime and still enjoys a nightly whiskey or two at 74. A taste
for fried food and fatty sweets plays havoc with his cholesterol..
Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then, would be an unusual candidate to
control a nuclear arsenal. Alex Perry, being an American working for an American
magazine was concerned about vajpayees trembling finger on the nuclear button
but pressing a button is an act of will , and atal bihari Vajpayee has long ago
lost the will to act ,we should be worried about the prime ministers complete
passivity ,his habit of letting things drift , can nation afford a leader who
asleep at the wheel ?
This article faced much backlash from bjp , they burned his
effigies and even government threaten to sent perry back he was the second
jpjournalist after mark tully (deported by Indra Gandhi for coverage of
Emergency )to face such situation
Never the less Vajpayee had it all what a mass leader should
posses debonair , charm , wit and intellect I remember him for his speech in parliament
in 1999 loksabha where he said
“Political games will continue. Governments will form and
fall, parties will be made and destroyed. But this country must remain and its democracy
must remain.”
RIP
Atal Ji
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