By Florine Roche
Mangaluru, Jan 30: Brilliant, energetic, maverick, rebel with a cause, crusader, trendsetter, trade unionist, journalist, fearless orator, forthright, farsighted activist, a folk hero and the one who represented a few among the best of India’s political leadership are some of the eulogies heaped on George Fernandes who passed away today, January 29, 2019. Yet all these epithets don’t portray the real dynamic personality of George Mathew Fernandes whose voice fell silent in the last few years and now fell silent forever following his demise. It is even implausible to imagine that all these qualities can be found in one human being. That is what sets George Fernandes apart from the rest of the ilk. As a man of actions his countenance, body language and accomplishments were in perfect sync with the personality that he represented in his multiple avatars. Can we imagine imagine, this Mangalorean born wanted to be a Roman Catholic priest and had even joined the St Peters’s Seminary in Bangalore where he spent nearly two and half years of his adolescent life studying philosophy but finally ended up as a rebel risking his own life in the process.
In a way, the so called discrimination which George experienced at the Seminary (between priests and seminarians) disquieted a young George and proved to be the turning point of his life as well as that of the working class in India. It made way for the emergence of a bellwether in Indian politics in George Fernandes and also gave a new momentum for trade union movement. This incident is a many ways demonstrates the rebellious nature of his personality. That his father wanted him to be a lawyer and George did not oblige him because he was greatly perturbed by the plight of the tenants whom his father evicted from a small property they owned in the outskirts of Mangalore, gives further credence to the rebellious streak in him.
George who left the seminary before he was twenty directed his pent up anger for just cause once he was out. He went to Mumbai in search of employment and as a new entrant into the city of dreams he spent nights on the beaches of Chowpatty. Greatly inspired by the Socialist party leader Ram Manohar Lohia, who just like him was unconventional and outspoken, George Fernandes had arrived on the scene Indian trade union scene with a bang from where he never looked back.
As a fearless and firebrand leader George Fernandes fought many crusades taking up cudgels on behalf of the oppressed. 1950’s saw George’s emergence as the undisputed prince of Taxi Drivers Union and was jailed several times for leading agitations and bands. The bespectacled George with his simple kurta- pyjama, ordinary chappals/slippers and disheveled appearance found acceptance among ordinary prols who identified him as one theirs own. If the middle class considered him as a nuisance for disrupting their routine life with his constant bandhs and strikes the working class perceived him as a fiery activist and savior who fought on their behalf.
Having found a firm footing in Mumbai as a trade union activist George Fernandes took a political plunge in 1967 contesting from Bombay South Parliamentary constituency. George who was pitted against veteran Congress stalwart S K Patil created political ripple by defeating his heavyweight political opponent and earned the sobriquet “George the giant killer”.
Even after making his political debut George continued his trade union movement and led the great railway strike of 1974 totally derailing the railways which is India’s transport life line. Indira Gandhi who was at the peak of power then, crushed the strike with brutality and 30,000 employees including George Fernandes were jailed. Indira Gandhi feared the crusader spirit of George Fernandes and that speaks of the trials and tribulations George faced during emergency.
If George’s exploits as a trade union activists had made him a household name among the downtrodden it was emergency that made George Fernandes a great hero. His family and he had to pay a huge prize in terms of sufferings and torture inflicted on them during emergency. When emergency was imposed George had gone underground and was even involved in an act that wanted to blow up railway tracks. He was later caught and charged with sedition and the photographs of a defiant George with his hands in chains in jail with had made him a national and international hero. The real incident of George Gernandes disguising as a Sikh with long beard and turban to escape arrests moving from place to place during emergency is the stuff usually we read in mythological stories. That is why he is considered an enigma of Indian politics.
When the police failed to trace him the police turned their ire against George’s brother and his other accomplices. His brother Lawrence Fernandes and accomplice Snehalata Reddy, a reputed Kannada theatre and film and theatre personality were the victims of the police brutality. Both Lawrence and Snehalatha were tortured by the police as a result Snehalata who was a chronic asthmatic died soon after her release and Lawrence was incapacitated for long due to these brutalities. With such history behind him even after four and half decades when we talk about emergency and its brutality the name of George Fernandes inescapably comes to mind.
During the 1977 elections the opposition was able to dethrone Indira Gandhi and Fernandes who had contested from Muzzaffarpur in Bihar even as he was in jail, had won the elections by a huge margin. When the opposition formed the government at the centre under Morarji Desai he was made the Industries minister and Fernandes is still remembered for driving the multinational Cola companies from the country.
Under V P Sing he became the Railway Minister and credit goes to him for making Konkan Railway a grand reality, a dream come true for the people from the coastal region. It made it his mission to start the new railway route through one of the most difficult terrains ever faced in the history of railway construction and got it completed in a record time of 7 years. A grateful nation will certainly remember his contribution to the country.
Known for his independent thinking George founded Samata Party in 1994 and allied with the BJP and that enabled him to get the key portfolio as Defence Minister. He merged his Samata Party with the Janata Dal (United) in 2003 and today Nitish Kumar who was his colleague for several years in Janata Dal, is the President of Janata Dal (U). As a tribute to the departed leader Bihar government has announced two-day state mourning.
As Defence Minister under Vajpayee led NDA government George Fernandes has many firsts to his credit. When the Vajpayee government carried out the Pokhran nuclear test Fernandes was the Defence Minister and oversaw the important test. As Defence Minister between 1998-2004, George Fernandes had visited the world’s highest battle Siachen Glacier a record 32 times to get the first-hand feel of being at Siachen and to boost the morale of Indian soldiers.
As for his personal life, Fernandes had married Leila Kabir daughter of Humayun Kabir, a former Union Minister and also a socialist in 1971. The couple had a son, Sean Fernandes, a US based investment banker. The couple was separated in the 1980’s. Later politican Jaya Jaitely became his companion and there was the ugly fight between Jaya and Fernandes’s family.
With his passing away India has lost its fearless and firebrand son who played the activist-politician role with aplomb. He has left behind a rich legacy as a rebel with a cause, a legacy that will remain in the annals of Indian history.