The chinar leaves : a political memoir

266 Pages·2015·3.31 MB·English

by  Fotedar

This book is dedicated to the memory of my leader
Smt. Indira Gandhi
CONTENTS

Title Page
Acknowledgements
Preface
1. Early Years in Kashmir
2. My Political Beginnings
3. The Delhi Agreement
4. Political Education
5. Sheikh Abdullah: Release and Rearrest
6. The Politics of Loyalty
7. Moi-Muquddas
8. The Passing of a Giant
9. Operation Gibraltar
10. A Test of Power
11. Political Messaging
12. 1971—The Creation of Bangladesh
13. The Kashmir Accord
14. The Emergency and After
15. Return to Power
16. 1979—Rae Bareli
17. Back to Kashmir
18. Political Secretary, 1980–87
19. Party Affairs
20. Turmoil in Punjab
21. The Chinar Leaves
22. Rajiv Gandhi Takes Over: The Beginning of a New Era
23. Peace Initiatives
24. The 1985 Centenary Session
25. The Presidential Election of 1987
26. Operation Brasstacks
27. In the Union Cabinet
28. Visit to China and the USSR
29. The 1989 Lok Sabha Elections—The Politics of Mandal and Kamandal
30. The Rao Years
31. The Demolition of Babri Masjid
32. Congress Tiwari
33. Sonia Gandhi
Annexure 1: The Last Page of Indira Gandhi’s Will
Annexure 2: My Letter to Rajiv Gandhi
Annexure 3: My Letter to P.V. Narasimha Rao
Annexure 4: My Letter to Sonia Gandhi
Photographs
About the Author
About the Book
Talk To Us
Copyright
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book is the story of my journey that started from a small town in Jammu
and Kashmir. This journey was made possible by the affection and support of a
large number of friends, well-wishers, family members, party colleagues and
workers. I am grateful to all of them for helping me and making invaluable
contributions along this eventful journey.
I thank my family, especially my wife Uma Ratan Rani, for their unflinching
support. Uma worked silently behind the scenes her whole life. While I spent my
time and energy doing party work, she took care of everything else. She has been
a storehouse of strength and support for me. My journey has been made possible
by her sacrifices.
To write this memoir, I had to select events and memories of a lifetime and
organize them in the form of a book. In this process, many people played a part
and I am thankful to all of them. I would like to specifically express my deep
gratitude to Shri Pankaj Vohra, well-known columnist and journalist, and Shri
S.S. Soni, secretary to former President of India Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma,
who helped me collate my thoughts and notes. Once the manuscript was ready,
there was the tedious job of proofreading and checking and re-checking names,
dates and historical facts. For this I must thank my son Arun and his friend
Mahendra Ranga. With their hard work, research, thoughtful inputs and insights,
they have tried to make the narrative an enjoyable read.
Krishan Chopra, publisher and chief editor at HarperCollins, Siddhesh
Inamdar and Rajinder Ganju worked very hard on the book, diligently going
through each revised version. I am short of words to thank them for their sincere
efforts. A special word of thanks to Bonita Vaz-Shimray for the beautiful cover
design and for patiently trawling through a vast collection of photographs to help
me make the final selection for this book. I am also indebted to Sanjoy Narayan
and Sanjay Malik of HT Media for providing some memorable pictures from
their archives.
My son Arun worked closely with me during the writing of this book. He
painstakingly shuffled through my large collection of notes and documents, took
down dictations from me and typed them out. He also helped me research,
collect and verify background information and coordinate with the publishing
team. My sincere appreciation for his dedication.
PREFACE

Since 1952, I have had personal experience, through first-hand observation, of
many fascinating elements that have gone into the making of our recent political
history. These include the leadership of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mrs Indira
Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Mrs Sonia Gandhi; the trends in the thinking of the
people and the nature of their urges and aspirations; the dynamics of party
politics; the instruments and processes of governance; various emotive issues,
events and challenges; the absorbing drama of triumphs and tragedies; trust and
treachery and the unfolding of India’s future amidst a complex interplay of
international factors.
Now, after more than six decades in public life, I feel a sense of obligation
and duty to provide an account of some of the events of contemporary history
that I was witness to. I feel this would be one way of sharing the privilege that I
had of gaining insights into events, processes and personalities. In some
important respects this may enable the reader to get a clearer idea of the thinking
that was behind certain decisions, by various personalities of the time, which had
a bearing on the life of the people.
Of course, all this is presented as seen from my viewpoint. I therefore
thought it appropriate and necessary to acquaint the reader with some
information about the region and place I hail from, my family history, my
upbringing and education, so that this memoir is seen for what it is: the story told
by an individual from an ancient and remote village in the Vale of Kashmir,
whom destiny decreed to be associated with some legendary figures in our
history for a not inconsiderable period.
1
EARLY YEARS IN KASHMIR

Kashmir has always been vivid in India’s consciousness, as a region of great
natural beauty and spiritualism. The exquisitely picturesque image of snowy
mountains, rich green forests and meadows, the noble Chinar being caressed by
the soft, cool breeze from the mountains, sparkling rivers and serene lakes
captivates the minds of all who know Kashmir.
Kashmir has other, and perhaps more significant, blessings. It has a rich
history of social and religious harmony and a heritage of ethnic diversity and
plurality of social ethos. These are woven into Kashmir’s rich culture of arts and
craft, costume and cuisine, language, literature, architecture, music and dance.
Kashmir is home to sacred shrines and holy places of great antiquity which are
revered by all religions. Diverse philosophies and religious traditions have
flourished and co-existed harmoniously for centuries, nay, millennia.
According to mythology and legend, the region of the Kashmir valley was a
huge lake—called Satisar—and the Rishi Kashyap drained the water of the lake
and reclaimed the land, which was then called Kashyap-Mar, and later, Kashmir.
The ancient Greeks referred to it too—as Kaspeiria, Kaspatyror, Kaspapyros,
and so on. The great Chinese scholar-traveller Hiuen Tsang, who visited
Kashmir in 631 AD and stayed for two years engrossed in his scholarly and
religious studies, refers to Kashmir as Kia-she-mi-io. It remained part of the
Mughal Empire as the summer residence. The famous gardens of Shalimar and
Nishat owe their existence to the Mughals. After the Mughals, Kashmir passed
on to the Pathans led by Ahmed Shah Abdali. He held it for sixty-seven years
through his governors. Kashmir became part of the empire of Maharaja Ranjit
Singh in 1819. His death in 1839 proved to be very significant for us. After the
close of the first Anglo-Sikh war, Raja Gulab Singh was asked by the British to
pay Rs 1 crore as war indemnity. Initially he expressed his inability to do so but
later agreed to pay the sum on the condition that he was given a title to the
territories. However, he did not take the Chamba area. An abatement of Rs 25
lakh was granted to him for the exclusion, and he ended up paying Rs 75 lakh to
the British. The history of the present state of Jammu and Kashmir can be traced
back to 1846, when Maharaja Gulab Singh got it leased to him. Gulab Singh was
later succeeded by Maharaja Ranbir Singh and Maharaja Pratap Singh. Maharaja
Hari Singh ascended the throne in 1925, a few years before I was born.
My family hails from the Valley of Kashmir. It is said that our ancestors
shifted to the Kashmir Valley in Rainawari after leaving their settlements on the
bank of the legendary Saraswati river. The surname Fotedar came to be acquired
because one of our forefathers was the custodian of the state’s treasury— ‘fot’ is
Persian for ‘treasury’, and ‘dar’ for ‘charge’.
There is a charming story as to how my forefathers settled in Mattan in
Anantnag district. It is said that displaced by some political or other
developments, our forefathers were migrating from Rainawari in Srinagar to a
safer place. When they reached the village of Wanpuh, now on the Srinagar–
Jammu National Highway, 3 km from Anantnag, further movement was blocked
because heavy snowfall had closed down the Banihal Pass. This meant an
enforced halt for several months before the pass reopened. While they waited,
members of the party were enthralled by the surrounding environment. They
found clear warm-water springs, and in the nearby village of Mattan, the
beautiful Lidder river flowing by.
Mattan was also a sacred place. It was the only place where Surya—the Sun
God—was worshipped in the whole of north and central India. It was equally
revered for its being at the confluence of the waters of Sheshnag and Mattan
Nag. It was called Matsya Bhavan—sacred place of fish—and later Machha
Bhavan. The fish of the springs are eaten neither by Hindus nor Muslims. Mattan
was important for its Vijay Saptami celebrations as well as for the performance
of the Shraddh ceremony at the ancient Martand temple. This temple, dedicated
to Surya, was built during the 8th century by King Lalitaditya. Even today
tourists on the way to Pahalgam and pilgrims going for the Holy Amarnath Yatra
pay obeisance at this temple.
I was born on 5 March 1931 at Mattan. I was the youngest among four
brothers and two sisters. My father Pandit Narayan Jee Fotedar passed away
when I was about nine years old. I was brought up by my mother and my elder
brother. My mother Shrimati Lakshmi Devi was a very pious lady and a regular
visitor to temples. I remember sadhus and fakirs visiting our house and being
offered hospitality by her regularly. She had a strong sense of community
service, a quality I inherited from her. She used to urge us to remain
compassionate towards one and all.
The year 1931 holds a special importance in Indian history. It was the year
the Round Table Conference to tackle the growing demand for self-rule in India