George took the blow of the police lathi on his palm in attempt to save my back from receiving the third blow. At the same time he also shouted at the policeman, “Aare bhai, he is a paperwala and not my supporter.” The incident is of 1963 at what was then known as Parel Circle in Mumbai and George Fernandese, as the Socialist Labour Union leader was leading the sit down demonstrations in support of striking Mill workers. I had moved closer to him to get two words more than what other paperwala, as journalists were known or were called then, had got. My paper was to come out at noon next day. Others had got their copy for their next morning editions.
George came over to me at the KEM hospital after his wounds were attended to before his arrest and removal to the police custody and gently asked, are you much hurt? My reply brought a smile on his face. “What different can you expect in your company?” he had a hearty smile but that cemented the bond between us to envy of others. His preferential treatment to me at press conferences at the Bristol Grill on Phirozsha Road was the cause of envy of all other journalist, more so after George decided to depend on me as his political agent for the first major political battle of his life in the election for the Lok Sabha in 1967. He had dared to contest against the uncrowned prince of Mumbai Sadoba Kanhoji Patil or better known as SK Patil known for his success in getting food aid from America under PL480. He readily accepted my suggestion that water for residents of the South Bombay constituency as the main issue. He trounced the uncrowned prince to catapult himself into a big name.
My sadness over parting with him as he was moving to the national political scene did not last even a month. I got the proposal to work for Janmahoomi, prestigious Gujarati paper of Bombay due to its immense contribution to political movement during the freedom struggle. The owner supported by other leaders in the Bombay Pradesh Congress had not offered the job in recognition of my ability but to remove their discomfort from Mumbai, they had extended the offer. I was earning double the sum than what this job offered for I was working as the bureau chief of Ahmadabad with additional work of Special Sunday edition for Bombay only with night work for All India Radio news section for external news section but also in Gujarati plays on Saturday nights and two shows on Sundays. Without hesitation I accepted the offer to tell George I am also coming.
Only in few weeks I realized that George had reached much higher where he needed wider circle of coverage. I represented merely a Gujarati paper that caused no political ripples in Delhi. No decision makers and event creators read any language paper. Language press published in t states suffered from two drawbacks, first its impact was limited to a single province and second it made no difference in response as widely read and spread English papers did first thing in the morning. Activities of politicians were shaped by what they read in morning papers that were in their hand with the dawn. Bad or good news for them published in the provincial papers caused ripples in the state and they got to know over the phone though not always immediately as phone facilities in 1967 were the most difficult sphere to get access to. Hence my efforts were locked in additional struggle to score over journalists working for the national media as the English language mediums were wrongly named or believed to be. It demanded greater attention away from George Fernandese who was reduced o a small role like other men and women on the opposition bench.
It did not mean he had allowed his energies to be belittled. On the contrary it induced him to think in terms of better ways to catch national attention even on trivial issues. His objective was to ensure a mention in body of report even if he missed a place in headlines. It was a different role than one he had in Mumbai for five years before he came to Parliament. He had dominated over the Mumbai life for five years and no paper could miss in giving him prominent space on the front page. In Delhi his name often was missed from Delhi papers despite brilliant performance on the floor of the Lok Sabha. Many from Bombay were already concluding that the real tiger of Bombay was turned into a paper tiger in the vast hemisphere of national politics. It was not true. A vast empire of a soft drink against whom George was relentlessly campaigning for two years contacted me through their middleman with a lucrative offer for Fernandese to step down from high pedestal. My immediate response was to tell them that they were running after elusive creature that would not be tempted with personal benefit offers in kind, cash or any other kind of reward.
George had a hearty laughter after I told him of offer and my response. He told me to tell the middle man if again approached that George was willing o compromise and come to the Mumbai docks when they are departing with their bags and baggage with their soft drink plants from India. Only compromise possible. His entry into national politics and my journey to overcome hurdles that stood in my path of achieving excellence in national media had driven use to different path especially as our contacts of each other had ended. The drift was even more pronounced after he became minister in the Morarji Desai government. Morarji Desai had a different opinion of George Fernandese. He never considered him to be more than a trade union wala who would push and or even fight for his way. His opinion underwent a sea change after both worked in the same council of ministers. Morarji trusted Fernandese more to hand him over the communication as well to handle after the first communication minister had to be removed for petty kind of corruption.
His contest of the Lok Sabha lection from a constituency in Bihar in 1977 was chosen for him as he was still behind the bars for his suspected role in the Dynamite scandal during the emergency. He certainly was and perhaps I latter stage also an extremist in his views and actions also but I can never belief that he would indulge in any action, political or otherwise that had even slightest risk element of endangering any life. He has courage to abort his mission than cause injury to any human being. I will not and cannot put him in category of super brains like Isaac Newton who gave theory of gravity or Albert Einstein who devised theory of Quantum Physics but he certainly is above average common man whose heart burns at a notion of suffering of anyone.
His major drawback in the Indian political arena was his preference always for a play with all open cards. He hates hide and seek games even in personal life. Even as defence minister he had kept his house open for all and any to walk in. he had even rammed down the front gate of his residence when the security guards insisted on its closure and posting of a gun man at the gate when the prime Minister and his circus were passing through. He intensely disliked the very foundation of the need for such security arrangements. He would immediately ask a counter question to security officials, why be in public life with such a dread for personal safety persists? He has a point but it is not acceptable to a vast majority in public life. No one would buy his argument to shun public life and stay at home if you fear for life so much. An attitude of open politics and public life without props of gun men walking behind was his idea that made him to reject the security arrangements for him as the former minister.
His dislike for the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was based on his belief that he wanted to deliver socialism to the country while riding the Rolls Royce car and it was intense for Indira Gandhi as she stepped on heads of colleagues to bury them politically even though they had lent their shoulders to raise her to that high level. He questioned the method of only preaching without actions to follow. Socialism cannot be delivered by words alone was what he said in private. He found faults even with Deep of the Jan Sangh and then of the Bharatiya Janata party as it was merely seeking to bring light to the middle class homes and shun hovels of poor. Yet he trusted Atal Behari Vajpayee to join his cabinet as he found him to be differing with basic philosophy of the Sangh Parivar.
The former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar had once described George Fernandese as mass leader and his party colleague Madhu Limaye as the office leader. It was perhaps also reason for him to prefer the Janata Party in January 1983 but he had carried the bad rotting luggage with him in Devi Lal. But then George Fernandese was atoning for the first and major blunder of his life. He always described his decision to resign from the Morarji Desai government in June 1979 on advice of his party colleague Madhu Limaye after brilliantly defending the performance of the Desai government in the Lok Sabha.” It is my life’s biggest blunder, he told me while we were waiting for Chandra Shekhar, Janata Party president on padyatra then from the Gandhi Mandap in Kanya Kumari to Rajghat in Delhi o arrive and announce their joining the Janata Party, he had broken his herculean mission to welcome back George Fernandese But others found discomfort in working with him.
George always remained a restless soul even when he was working as trade union leader in Mumbai and as defence minister of India. He could not find in others what he was looking for though he was willing to forgive them. He has a heart large enough to ignore the injustice done to him in organized scheme of the sting operation while he was holding a high office of the defence minister in the Vajpayee government. He was considered to be the natural successor to Vajpayee whose health was becoming indifferent. Only way to dethrone him was o operate the secretive mission to splash his image with suspicions of corruption as direct accusation did not seem to be possible. He escaped the network operation but it left him disillusioned person. A brilliant politician had lost his game because others had fixed the game.
In heart of George, first place or priority in his consideration was always people. Political, economic, social and cultural policy frame work is essentially drawn up for people. He considered parliament as merely a forum but it needed popular sanction to come in and be in existence. Without popular sanction, it could be turned into futile battle ground. Yet he respected parliament for it was the only symbol of hope for masses. He often admitted that the opposition is and will always remain out numbered and necessity of survival will not allow men and women on either side to speak from their conscience. Yet he was and till the last day in parliament remained a steadfast believer that the numbers cannot be defeated but they can be outwitted despite unequal strength.
He attempted very boldly in 1973 to outwit the Congress party over the Tul Mohan Ram scandal that had been converted into a perennial head ache for the Indira Gandhi government. Tul Mohan Ram had got recommendations from 21 members of parliament submitted to the director of the foreign trade for issue of import licenses. Tul Mohan Ram a member from reserved constituency in Bihar could not have ventured without the encouragement from higher ups. Hence suspicion was mounted that he had acted at the behest of the commerce minister. Knowing the debate in the Lok Sabha, despite all parliamentarian skills at command of few opposition members, will end in favour of the ruling party, George in association with Madhu Limaye and Piloo Mody of the Swatantra Party a rightist outfit wedded to causes of farmers and industries, a kid of capitalism, devised strategy to outwit the Indira Gandhi that had refused parliamentary committee for probe into scandal.
George Fernandese wrote a scathing piece in his fortnightly under his pen name to take up responsibility for what he said even though he was also editor and publisher. Piloo Mody sought to move a privilege motion against Fernandese for his scathing article. Idea was to get the parliamentary probe. If it could not be done directly it could be or should be achieved indirectly by seeking investigations in the Privileges Committee of Parliament. But Indira Gandhi proved sufficiently alert to frustrate their move.
Otherwise George Fernandese had natural flair for oratory though his could not add same tinge to his address that Piloo Mody, Atal Behari Vajpayee or Prakash veer Shastri could. Lack of refined words and witty anecdotes was always made up with more substance to add fiery elements to his contributions. His addressed gave substance to media persons to make their copy at the end of the day. It was different matter that news editors cut the copies to small size to keep their owners happy. George knew also that it was beyond corrective measures but it did not deter him in his spirit. He continued to fight till the end of his presence in parliament.