One may not agree with Lord
Birkenhead’s view that ‘India is a land of mobs’ (1930, Turning Points
in History), but it is a land of inconsistencies. However, he might not
have been far off the mark when he said that ‘more than any [other] country in
the world, single individuals of outstanding personality have been able
temporarily to impose their will upon its destiny’. A Prime Minister might be
ranked third in India’s official order of precedence but a Sonia Gandhi took
precedence over the Prime Minister for ten years of its recent history. Her
son-in-law did not need any official order of precedence to be
treated as a ‘more equal’ citizen at airports and for Chief Ministers to kowtow
before him.
In the official order of
precedence, No. 5A was inserted to accommodate the Deputy Prime
Minister (probably after Vallabhbhai Patel became the first Deputy
Prime Minister in 1950) and No. 7A after the institution of the Bharat
Ratna in 1954. Article 18 (1) of the Indian Constitution prohibits
the use of Bharat Ratna as a title and therefore, it cannot be
used to prefix names, despite its general misuse. Its recipients
are known as laureates.
As an aside it might be
mentioned that Article 18 (2) prohibits Indian citizens from receiving ‘any
title from any foreign state’. This precluded Sunil Gavaskar from accepting
a British Knighthood but it did not prevent Sonia Gandhi from
accepting the Belgian title, Order of Leopold.
However, Bharat Ratna,
which officially, cannot be flaunted as a title, accords its
recipients precedence over Ambassadors, Chief Ministers and Governors of states
who are, in that order ranked at No. 8.
Indians generally rue the
omission of Mahatma Gandhi from the Nobel roster but there
have been several notable omissions from the list of Bharat Ratna laureates.
One of them was Sathya Sai Baba who was passed over, presumably because he was
a Hindu god-man. One can say without any exaggeration, that
Sathya Sai Baba’s service to humanity was (and is) unparalleled anywhere in the
world. He established world-class schools, colleges, universities and hospitals
all of which provide free services to the poor. Thousands of devotees who flock
to his ashram daily are provided free food.
Under the ‘Sri Sathya Sai
Drinking Water Supply Projects’ he constructed a drinking water project at a
cost of US$ 63 million to supply drinking water to 1.2 million people in 750
villages of the arid Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh. Similar projects
supply drinking water to drought-prone villages in Mahabubanagar and Medak
districts in Telangana, and Chennai. His super-specialty hospitals in
Puttaparthi and Bengaluru conducted 24,473 open-heart surgeries between
November 1991 and October 2014, without charging a dime. They were all free.
They continue to do so.
The other notable exception is
that of former Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao. In order to understand the
magnitude of his contribution to national revival, the circumstances that
prevailed when he became Prime Minister should be viewed in perspective. In
point of fact, the year 1991 marks the beginning of a new epoch in independent
India’s history. Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination brought to the nation’s helm a
man who was preparing to quietly walking away into the sunset. Narasimha Rao
had been in politics since independence and served as Chief Minister, Union
Home Minister, Foreign Minister and Defence Minister.
The economic crisis that came to
a head that year was looming large on the horizon for years, fuelled by
bureaucratic sloth, economic profligacy and political myopia. The economy was
floundering on account of a depreciating rupee, billowing external debt and the
resultant balance of payments crisis. The last straw on the proverbial camel’s
back was the dramatically rising oil prices caused by the 1990-91 Gulf War. In
order to cope with the crisis, the Chandra Sekhar government had to first sell
twenty tons of gold (on which India had a repurchase option for six months) to
raise $400 million in May that year and the successor government had to pledge
a further forty-seven tons in July to raise a further $200 million loan. It was
a national shame for a culture that treats gold as goddess Lakshmi,
to part with family gold for daily necessities. Dr. Manmohan Singh who became
the finance minister in the successor government did not have the heart to use
words like ‘sell’ or ‘pledge’ when he informed the parliament about the
transactions in November 1991. Instead, he said ‘sent abroad’ and ‘export’!
Following the crisis, the
Narasimha Rao government initiated a series of steps to redeem the economy. The
steps were a radical departure from the pernicious ‘Nehruvian socialism’ and
set the nation on a track of progress. Those who do not want to credit the
progress to Narasimha Rao, ascribe the economic policy to Manmohan Singh’s
genius. Yes, the policy framework could be designed only by an economist with
vision but it required Narasimha Rao’s sagacity to give political cover for its
implementation. Second, he needed the boldness first to sell the reforms to his
own party which considered any departure from Nehru’s policies a sacrilege, and
then to the nation. The validity of the argument could be seen when we notice
Manmohan Singh could not continue with his reform policy when
he himself was the Prime Minister for ten years.
While Narasimha Rao’s economic
policies are willy-nilly acknowledged there are two other areas of governance
in which he left an indelible stamp on the history of the nation.
The first was defeating
the Khalistani movement, which ‘had consumed 21,469 lives
before it was comprehensively defeated in 1993’. The principal protagonists of
the operation were K. P. S. Gill who as Counter-terrorism Chief of Punjab
mercilessly and relentlessly executed it and, Beant Singh, who as Chief
Minister of Punjab and Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister gave him political
cover. Citing Julio Rebeiro, former Director General of Police, Punjab, Gill
has this to say of the genesis of the problem:
“I
regard Operation Bluestar and the November 1984 massacres as the two most
important victories for the cause of ‘Khalistan’ […] not won by the militants,
but inflicted […] upon the nation by its own government […] These two events,
in combination, gave a new lease of life to a movement which could easily have
been contained in 1984 itself.” (Gill, K.P.S. “Endgame in Punjab
1988-1993”. South Asia Terrorism Portal. Accessible from http://goo.gl/83qUhW
By the by, the political
authors of Operation Bluestar and the 1984 Sikh genocide had both
received the Bharat Ratna! Gill elaborates why stern
counter-terrorism measures were needed to eradicate the scourge:
“The
defeat of terrorism in Punjab, and I have said this before, was unambiguously
the result of the counter-terrorist measures implemented in the state by the
security forces. Moreover, the use of this coercive force was (and is) not just
a necessary expedient, but a fundamental obligation and duty of constitutional
government, and its neglect inflicts great and avoidable suffering on the
innocent and law abiding.” (Ibid.)
Lest anyone had any doubt about
the political processes (pursued by the aforesaid political
authors of Operation Bluestar and the 1984 Sikh genocide) having
achieved the objective of annihilating terrorism in Punjab, Gill clarifies:
“One
of the dominant myths that these propagandists have tirelessly, and in some
measure successfully, circulated is the idea that terrorism in Punjab was
defeated not because, but in spite of the use of armed force against the
militants. No evidence is ascribed to shore up this claim, but a variety of
nebulous theories—essentially populist and politically correct slogans—are
propounded regarding a ‘people’s victory’ or a ‘political solution’ that
brought peace to the strife-torn province.” (Ibid.)
Had the political master not had
the vision to support the stern measures to put down terrorism with an iron
hand we would have had another festering wound in the west in addition to the
ones in the north and the east, the existence of which is undoubtedly owing to
another Bharat Ratna! Who knows, had Narasimha Rao had another shot
at power, he would have had some out of the box ideas to contain them!
Another bold step Narasimha Rao
took was in the area of foreign affairs by establishing full diplomatic
relations with Israel. Although India recognized Israel in September 1950 (a
little over two years after its formation), it was not until February 1992 that
full diplomatic relations were established. Considering the benefits a
bilateral relationship with Israel could provide in the areas of agriculture,
defence and counterterrorism, this was inexplicable. The overt reason for India
not establishing full diplomatic relations with Israel was that it would
displease her Arab neighbours, but the unstated reason was to placate the
Muslim vote bank in India. As by the time India established full diplomatic
relations with Israel, the Narasimha Rao government was in office for just over
eight months, the decision must be said to have been taken very quickly.
Excerpted from ‘Twisting Facts
To Suit Theories’ And Other Selections From Voxindica. (2016). Authors Press.
New Delhi. pp. 429–434