Remembering former prime minister Morarji Desai on his 120th birth anniversary
(Picture courtesy: Huffpost India)
A stubborn man with a stern demeanor, a man who stuck to his ideas and principles regardless of the situation and a man of obstinacy and discipline that lived almost a century. This is how history remembers Morarji Desai.
But should it be just that?
This year we remember Bapuji, as we call him at home, on his 120th birth anniversary. Though he had only 25 birthdays since he was born on the 29thof February, he lived up to the ripe old age of 99. To put things into perspective, he was around during the World War I and II, was a freedom fighter in the Indian Independence struggle and the Nav Nirman movement and also lived long enough to see his finance secretary, Dr. Manmohan Singh liberalize the country’s economy.
It was supposedly common knowledge that once Morarjibhai had made up his mind, it was impossible to change it. Right or wrong he stuck by it regardless of the situation. History will cite many situations to prove the same. But this was quickly dismissed by Shanti Bhushan, the law minister in his cabinet and practicing senior advocate at the Supreme Court of India, in his conversation with me, “When a cabinet minister had a view which differed from Morarjibhai’s, he didn’t impose his views and dismiss it. If logic and reasoning was shown then he would go with the opinion of the minister and not his own.”
What was confused for being adamant was his deep-rooted belief in what was right and wrong. Good and bad. Bapuji always stuck by his core principles. They weren’t founded on a whim; they grew from the struggles through his life at a very young age, his mentoring and inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and his devotion to God. In fact, he knew the Bhagavat Gita verbatim and always turned to it when in doubt.
Reputed journalist, Karan Thapar in one of his columns once called Morarji Desai the most hated man in Doon School when he came to visit in 1968 as the chief guest. Why? Because he insisted on delivering his speech in Hindi and criticized the boys for shaking his hand instead of the traditional ‘Namaste’
As a nationalist, Bapuji insisted that we as a nation should not lose our ethnic culture. It was his firm belief that our culture set us apart as ‘a people’. He travelled extensively and would boast of our rich heritage and culture every chance he got. He led by example, by wearing Khadi he spun himself, speaking only in Gujarati at home and eating simple vegetarian food besides praying, practicing yoga and reciting the Gita everyday. However he never imposed his personal belief on his family members, and for generations we have been allowed to attend English medium schools and be children of our respective times. At the same time, Bapuji would make his opinions known and felt, like he did in Doon school. Hated or not, it wasn’t his concern. However something that he thought was not in the best interest of the nation, was his concern.
Ask anyone close to Morarji Desai and the one thing that made him stand apart from mere mortals was his undying will power.
Bapuji went on a fast four times in his life; every time was a fast unto death for a cause that was worth dying for. 1974 was one such incident when the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi refused to dissolve the Gujarat assembly which had lead to a non-political student agitations and continuous, wide spread violence all over Gujarat. On the fourth day of his fast, the advisor to the Governor, Shri Sarin came to communicate to Morarjibhai that the assembly would be dissolved. Bapuji was elated, he walked down from his room in the Gujarat Vidhyapith guesthouse to address the overwhelming crowd that had come to see him. He spoke to them and conveyed the good news, the crowd was ecstatic, but right after his speech, some students in the crowd found out that Shri Sarin was in Bapuji’s room and started shouting continuously “We want Sarin, we want Sarin.” Bapuji was afraid that if the crowd got to him, he would be hurt. So he stood at the entrance of the guesthouse, blocking their way – 25, 000 people beating down on his seventy eight year old body that had fasted for four days, but he did not let anyone pass. When they managed to push him aside, he ran to the bottom of the stairwell and held the crowd from there. He did this for more than half and hour and only when it was communicated to him that Shri Sarin had escaped from the back door, did he let go.
He attributed this great personal feat to the will of God.
For Morarji Desai, freedom of democracy and freedom that our Constitution guarantees the people was paramount. During the dark days of Emergency, Morarji Desai was kept under house arrest. After being kept in a government house for over a year, Indira Gandhi sent one of her followers to make him an offer that she thought he would not refuse – an offer to set the political prisoners free as long as they adhered to everything she had to say. After all which man wouldn’t want his own freedom before anything else? He sent the follower back to the Prime minister with a message, “Keep your offers. I will outlive you anyway.” He did. He strongly believed that, “Material and physical comfort without human freedom is sufficient only for well-fed domestic animals and birds. It is not so for men.”
In the year 1978, the Prime ministers plane crashed in the forests of Assam. The pilots died on the spot, my grandfather – Kantibhai’s leg was hanging by a few ligaments. After being rescued, he addressed the nation, attended parliament and continued his work. About a week after the crash, my grandmother, Padmaben while attending to him saw that the left side of his chest was black and blue, his pen had pressed against his chest and cracked three ribs during the crash, he had told no one. He was 82, and still continued his work – unfazed. The media reported, “Morarji unhurt.”
These are interesting stories of Bapuji that shed new light on his life. But what makes him relevant today is what he achieved over thirty years ago.
India’s relations with Pakistan have always been strained, especially during the 1970’s after the liberation of East Pakistan, so the events that unfurled at the state funeral of Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, was bewildering to say the least – The President of Pakistan and the Prime Minister India sat down to have peace talks. At this historic meeting, Morarji Desai told the Pakistani President Zia ul -Haq, “There should be give and take. If we act in the interests of both our countries, there will be no conflict. We should act like brothers. I am your elder brother. I have nothing to take from you, I have everything to give.” Bapuji built a relation of trust and faith with Pakistan. Both countries had a history suspicion that had to be broken – something that Bapuji understood and nurtured.
“But if anything happens, you will be held responsible. I am not someone who simply talks. I take action.” The words of a politician are rarely binding, but this was not the case with Bapuji and the Pakistani head of state understood and respected him for it.
Though building relations between the neighbour states was important, Morarji Desai was a true nationalist and would not accept any sort of compromise on the sovereignty and integrity of his nation. In fact, his relations with Pakistan were truly understood by the world in the December of 2010 when a wiki leaks cable stated that when Morarji Desai spoke to an American official, he said, “If Pakistan has nuclear bombs, we will smash them!” and he truly meant it. Cordial relations between otherwise sparring neighbors did not mean Morarji Desai was a soft Prime Minister, he was tough and everyone knew it. Years after Morarji Desai retired form politics, the people of Pakistan honored the first Indian with the Nishan E Pakistan, Pakistan’s highest civilian award.
In today’s context, most people who lived in late 70’s India will remember Morarjibhai’s days as prime minster, with fond memories of affordable prices for essential. In 1977, India wasn’t growing at 8% we did not have billions of dollars in reserves, But we managed to feed our people, without burning a hole through their pockets. During his premiership, the prices of essential food commodities were successfully maintained, so that they were affordable by the common man especially the price of sugar and oil that were the cheapest. People remember him as the “person that made ration shops irrelevant.” Unbelievable, The price of sugar and oil at the market and the ration shops were the same.
These were some of his contributions as prime minister over the course of 2 and a half years, leading the countries first coalition government.
True to his Gandhian roots Bapuji insisted on being among to the people even while holding the highest political office in the country.
Once, while Bapuji was walking out of his residence, a young boy of 10 managed to squeeze through security, because he wanted to greet Morarjibhai. The police officer on duty apologized to Bapuji after quickly removing the boy, the police officer that did so was reprimanded. Bapuji insisted on meeting everyone that wanted to meet him, he made no exceptions; While he occupied the office of Prime Minister, he continued spending ten days in the Gujarat Vidhyapith, where he was the Chancellor. During his stay in Ahmedabad, he would address the public, first orating and interpreting the Gita, and then allowing for questions to be asked – of any nature, he answered everyone from farmers to teachers all of whom had come to attend the discourse, not just journalists. Once back in Delhi, he replied by hand to postcards that he received as Prime Minister.
Bapuji believed in giving due credit where it was deserved, the driver of Bapuji’s car, Kishwari had served him since the very beginning of his political career. One day when he returned from the Parliament, he removed his Nehru cap and jacket and left the compound, no one, including his security knew where he was going – which was quite often the case. He was heading to the servants quarters where the drivers mother lived. He visited their house, sat next to her on a plastic chair for 5 minutes and appreciated her for raising a boy with such fine values.
The people of India had given the Janata Party a clear mandate in the 1977 elections. He holds the distinction of being India’s first non-congress Prime minister and this obviously entailed a lot of in fighting, as a coalition government was unprecedented. He resigned just two and half years later on grounds that he would not hold on to power by ‘any means necessary’ by wooing defectors and resorting to undemocratic means. His office as the Prime minister of India did not matter, how best he could serve the country was more important to him. And holding on to a seat of power for dear life was against the democratic principles, that he stood for.
Retirement from active politics did not signal the end of the line for Bapuji. He strove to push himself, he never stopped learning or studying, like he always had and continued even up to the age of 99. At home, there would always be three newspapers in front of him and he would meet people in the evenings, to keep himself updated. Making sure he did not stay disconnected from his surroundings.
After serving as India’s first non- congress Prime minister, Deputy Prime minister, longest serving finance minister and chief minister of Bombay state, he donated all his earthly belongings, including India’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna and the Nishan E Pakistan along with the Rs. One lakh that he made over the years to the Gujarat Vidhyapith, where they are still preserved so that they would be appreciated by the people he had worked for and not for his family to hold on to as trophies.
Bapuji never compromised on his principles and integrity. At a time when no one thought it could be done, he brought disciple and credibility to the highest office of this democracy. He lived his entire life in service to a people of whom he was always one.
In my eyes, his relevance in the evolution of Indian polity has become increasingly significant today. The values and principles, he strived to uphold all his live, in face of utmost adversities are the crying needs of our times.
For me, Morarji Desai was more than just the Prime Minister of India.
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