George Fernandes - Wikipedia

George Fernandes - Wikipedia
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Indian trade unionist and politician (1930–2019)
For the American soccer player, see
George Fernandez
George Fernandes
Fernandes in 2002
Union Minister of Defence
In office
21 October 2001 – 22 May 2004
Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by
Jaswant Singh
Succeeded by
Pranab Mukherjee
In office
19 March 1998 – 16 March 2001
Prime Minister
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Preceded by
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Succeeded by
Jaswant Singh
Union Minister of Railways
In office
2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990
Prime Minister
V. P. Singh
Preceded by
Madhav Rao Scindia
Succeeded by
Janeshwar Mishra
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
In office
4 August 2009 – 7 July 2010
Constituency
Bihar
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office
16 May 2004 — 16 May 2009
Preceded by
Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
Succeeded by
Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
In office
28 November 1989 — 9 May 1996
Preceded by
Laliteshwar Prasad Shahi
Succeeded by
Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
In office
22 March 1977 — 28 December 1984
Preceded by
Nawal Kishore Sinha
Succeeded by
Laliteshwar Prasad Shahi
Constituency
Muzaffarpur, Bihar
In office
10 May 1996 – 16 May 2004
Preceded by
Vijay Kumar Yadav
Succeeded by
Nitish Kumar
Constituency
Nalanda, Bihar
In office
1967–1971
Preceded by
Sadashiv Kanoji Patil
Succeeded by
Kailas Narain Narula Shivnarain
Constituency
Mumbai South, Maharashtra
Personal details
Born
George Mathew Fernandes
1930-06-03
3 June 1930
Mangalore
Madras Presidency
British India
(present-day
Mangaluru
Karnataka
, India)
Died
29 January 2019
(2019-01-29)
(aged 88)
New Delhi
, Delhi, India
Party
Praja Socialist Party
(before 1967)
Samyukta Socialist Party
(1967–73)
Socialist Party
(1973–77)
Janata Party
(1977-79)
Janata Party (S)
(1979–80)
Janata Party
(1980–88)
Janata Dal
(1988–94)
Samata Party
(1994–2003)
Janata Dal (U)
(2003–19)
Other political
affiliations
National Democratic Alliance
Spouse
Leila Kabir
m.
1971)
Children
Awards
Padma Vibhushan
(2020) (posthumously)
Signature
Source:
[1]
George Mathew Fernandes
(3 June 1930 – 29 January 2019) was an Indian politician, trade unionist, statesman,
and journalist,
who served as the
Defence Minister of India
from 1998 until 2004. A veteran socialist, he was a member of the
Lok Sabha
for over 30 years, starting from Bombay (present-day Mumbai) in 1967 till 2009 mostly representing
constituencies
from Bihar.
He was the leader of the
Samyukta Socialist Party
and the
Socialist Party
, a key member of the
Janata Party
, the
Janata Party (Secular)
and the
Janata Dal
, and, finally, the founder of the
Samata Party
Holding several prominent ministerial portfolios during his career, including
communication
industry
railways
, and
defence
he was posthumously awarded the
Padma Vibhushan
, India's second highest civilian award, in 2020.
10
11
12
A native of
Mangalore
, Fernandes was sent to
Bangalore
in 1946 to be trained as a
priest
. In 1949, he moved to
Bombay
, where he joined the socialist trade union movement. Becoming a trade union leader, Fernandes organised many strikes and
bandhs
in Bombay in the 1950s and 1960s while working with the Indian Railways. He defeated S K Patil of the
Indian National Congress
in the 1967 parliamentary elections from the
Bombay South constituency
. As president of the
All India Railwaymen's Federation
, he led the
1974 railways strike
. Fernandes went underground during the
Emergency era
of 1975, while challenging Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
for imposing a state of emergency,
13
but in 1976 he was arrested and tried in the infamous
Baroda dynamite case
In 1977, after the Emergency had been lifted, Fernandes won the
Muzaffarpur
seat in Bihar in absentia. As
industries minister
, he revoked the licences for multinationals
IBM
and
Coca-Cola
to operate in India, due to investment violations. As
railways minister
from 1989 to 1990 he was the driving force behind the
Konkan Railway
project. As
defence minister
in the
Bharatiya Janata Party
-led
second
and
third
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
ministries (1998–2004), he oversaw the outbreak of the
Kargil War
and the implementation of
nuclear tests at Pokhran
. Fernandes has been dogged by various controversies, including the
Barak Missile scandal
and the
Tehelka affair
. George Fernandes won nine Lok Sabha elections from 1967 to 2004.
14
He died on 29 January 2019 at the age of 88.
15
Early life
edit
George Fernandes was born on 3 June 1930 to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha Fernandes (
née
Pinto), in
Mangalore
to a
Mangalorean Catholic
family.
16
The eldest of six children, all sons, his siblings are
Lawrence
Michael
, Paul, Aloysius, and Richard. His mother was a great admirer of King
George V
(who was also born on 3 June), hence she named her first son George. His father was employed by the
Peerless Finance group
as an insurance executive, and headed their office of
South India
for several years. George was fondly called "Gerry" in close family circles. He attended his first few years of schooling at a government school near his house called "Board school", a municipal school and a church school.
17
He studied from fifth grade at the school attached to
St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
, where he completed his
Secondary School Leaving Certificate
(SSLC).
16
In an interview with
ETV
, Fernandes described his decision to stop studies after matriculation despite his father wishing him to study and become a lawyer.
17
His premise was that he did not want to become a lawyer and fight cases for his father who often evicted tenants from a patch of land that they owned on the outskirts of Mangalore. He was instead enrolled in a seminary for studies to become a priest.
17
He went to St Peter's Seminary in Bangalore at the age of 16, to be trained as a
Roman Catholic
priest, studying philosophy for two and a half years from 1946 to 1948.
18
19
At the age of 19, he left the seminary due to sheer frustration because he was appalled that the rectors ate better food and sat at higher tables than the seminarians.
20
He later confessed that, "I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned."
18
Fernandes began work at the age of 19, organising exploited workers in the road transport industry and in the hotels and restaurants in Mangalore.
21
22
For some time, he worked as an insurance agent and also tried wholesale businesses of shaving blades.
23
His first guru was a Mangalorean activist and a freedom fighter
Ammembala Balappa
(1922–2014). Balappa identified and groomed a young Fernandes, who had taken refuge at places surrounding
Nehru Maidan
in Mangalore city, after being thrown out of the house. Initially, with Balappa's mentorship Fernandes gathered hotel workers and other menial labourers in the city. He was associated with
Ram Manohar Lohia
-led
Praja Socialist Party
(PSP) in its Mangalore division. Fernandes and few other union workers led Mangalore's earliest labour strikes on behalf of the workers of Canara Public Conveyance (CPC)in 1949. The strike was cracked down as the police resorted to
lathi charge
. After the strike, Fernandes came in contact with renowned Bombay-based
Trade Union
leader
Placid D'Mello
(1919–1958).
24
Fernandes later left to Bombay in 1950 and faced tremendous hardships. Here again, he became a prodigy of D'Mello, who was handling the arduous Dock unions. After D'Mello's death
25
in 1958, Fernandes succeeded in managing dock Unions and other major labour force unions in the city that included Taximen unions, textile mills and Mazdoor Unions.
Career
edit
Brief history of participating in elections
edit
He first contested Lok Sabha election in 1967 as a socialist, and defeated the Congress stalwart Sa Kaa Patil in Bombay in a famous upset, earning the sobriquet 'George the Giant-killer'. He contested from Muzaffarpur, Bihar in 1977 while still in jail as a Janata Party candidate, and won. He was made minister in the first non-Congress govt in India. In 1979, he resigned from :
Janata Party
, joined Charan Singh's breakaway Janata Party (S), and won again from Muzaffarpur in 1980. In 1984 he fought from Bangalore on Janata Party's ticket but lost to Jaffar Sharif of Congress. He lost a bye-poll from Banka in 1985 and again in 1986. In 1989 and 1991, he shifted back to Bihar and won both times from Muzaffarpur as Janata Dal candidate. In 1994, he left Janata Dal after differences with Lalu Yadav and formed Samata Party which allied with BJP.
In 1996 and 1998 elections, he won from Nalanda as Samata Party candidate. Samata Party merged with Janata Dal (United) and he won again from Nalanda in 1999. In 2004 he won from Muzaffarpur. In 2009 he was denied ticket by his party, contested from Muzaffarpur as an independent and lost. Later he was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2009. In the 2010s he was afflicted for many years with Alzheimer's and died in January 2019.
Bombay : 1967 (Lost in 1971)
Muzaffarpur : 1977, 1980, 1989, 1991, 2004. (Lost in 2009 as rebel)
Bangalore : Lost in 1984
26
Banka : Lost bye-polls in 1985 and 1986.
Nalanda : 1996, 1998, 1999
Rajya Sabha : 2009
Life in Mumbai
edit
After leaving the seminary, Fernandes moved to Bombay in 1949 in search of a job. He went to the office of
Socialist Party
in
Bombay
and met
Madhu Dandavate
to ask him for staying there for some time but was not welcomed.
27
His life was tough in Bombay, and he had to sleep on the streets, until he got a job as a proofreader for
The Times of India
newspaper.
28
29
He relates to the beginning of his career by saying, "When I came to Bombay, I used to sleep on the benches of Chowpatty Sands. In the middle of the night policemen used to come and wake me up and ask me to move on."
30
He came into contact with veteran union leader
Placid D'Mello
, and the socialist
Rammanohar Lohia
, who were the greatest influences on his life.
28
31
Later, he joined the socialist trade union movement.
20
He rose to prominence as a trade unionist and fought for the rights of labourers in small scale service industries such as hotels and restaurants. Emerging as a key figure in the Bombay labour movement in the early 1950s, Fernandes was a central figure in the unionisation of sections of Bombay labour in the 1950s.
32
In 1951, Fernandes joined Bombay Dock Worker's Union and worked to revive the publication of a newsletter
The Dockman.
When in August 1951,
Placid D'Mello
was arrested, he organised foot march of around two-hundred dock workers from
Bombay
to
Poona
to meet Chief Minister
Morarji Desai
for the release of D'Mello.
33
As a labour organiser, he served many prison terms when his workforce engaged in fights with company goons.
34
He served as a member of the
Bombay Municipal Corporation
from 1961 to 1968. He won in the civic election in 1961 and, until 1968, continuously raised the problems of the exploited workers in the representative body of the metropolis.
35
On his first day at
Bombay Municipal Corporation
, 10 April 1961, he requested that the proceedings to be conducted in
Marathi
instead of
English language
36
On 4 April 1963, George was arrested along with Sardar Parsbag Singh and Janardhan Upadhyay under
Defence of India act
because of their demand to change the taxi fair structure. He was jailed at Nasik Central Jail. On 9 August 1963,
Madhu Limaye
along with other trade union leaders organised a big rally in
Bombay
for his release. On 13 December 1963, he was released from Nagpur Central Jail.
37
38
The moment that thrust Fernandes into the limelight was his decision to contest the
1967 general election
. He was offered a party ticket for the
Bombay South
constituency by the
Samyukta Socialist Party
against the more wellknown
S. K. Patil
of the
Indian National Congress
in Bombay. Patil was a seasoned politician, with two decades of experience. Nevertheless, Fernandes won by garnering 48.5 per cent of the votes, thus earning his nickname, "George the Giantkiller". The shocking defeat ended Patil's political career.
39
Fernandes emerged as a key leader in the upsurge of strike actions in Bombay during the second half of the 1960s but, by the beginnings of the 1970s, the impetus of his leadership had largely disappeared.
32
In 1969, he was chosen General Secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party, and in 1973 became the chairman of the Socialist Party.
35
After the 1970s, Fernandes failed to make major inroads in Bombay's growing private-sector industries.
32
1974 railway strike
edit
The most notable strike organised by Fernandes, when he was President of the
All India Railwaymen's Federation
, was the All India Railway strike of 1974, where the entire nation was brought to a halt. The strike was the result of grievances by railway workers that had been built up over two decades before the strike. Though there were three Pay commissions between 1947 and 1974, none of them increased the standard of living of the workers.
40
In February 1974, the National Coordinating Committee for Railwaymen's Struggle (NCCRS) was formed to bring all the railway unions, the central trade unions and political parties in the Opposition together to prepare for the strike to start on 8 May 1974.
41
In Bombay, electricity and transport workers, as well as taxi drivers joined the protests. In
Gaya
, Bihar, striking workers and their families squatted on the tracks.
41
More than 10,000 workers of the
Integral Coach Factory
in
Madras
marched to the Southern Railway headquarters to express their solidarity with the striking workers. Similar protests erupted across the country.
41
The strike, which started on 8 May 1974, at the time of economic crisis, provoked strong government reactions and massive arrests.
42
According to
Amnesty International
, 30,000 trade unionists were detained, most held under preventive detention laws. Those arrested included not only members of the strike action committee and trade unionists, but also railwaymen who participated in the strike.
43
The strike was called off unilaterally on 27 May 1974 by the Action Committee. As explained later by Fernandes, "the strike was called off because those conducting the strike had started speaking in different voices."
44
Although large number of prisoners were released, among them Fernandes, thousands remained in detention, charged with specific offences.
43
The strike led to a sense of insecurity and threat that led to
Indira Gandhi
's imposition of the Emergency era in 1975. Previous strikes were aimed at companies or industries, but this strike was aimed at the government and from its ramifications proved to be the most successful of disastrous industrial actions in Indian history.
42
Emergency era and union ministry
edit
Main articles:
The Emergency (India)
and
Baroda dynamite case
George Fernandes arrested in the
Baroda dynamite case
The reigning Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi, declared a
state of emergency
on 25 June 1975 due to internal political disturbances. Accordingly, all fundamental rights enjoyed in the
Indian Constitution
were suspended. Political dissidents, newspaper reporters, opposition leaders who opposed the emergency were jailed. George Fernandes, along with like-minded leaders, opposed what he saw as a blatant misuse of power.
A day before the emergency George Fernandes had arrived in
Berhampur City
in Odisha (on 24 June 1975) and was staying at his father-in-law Humayun Kabir's house on
Gopalpur-On-Sea
beach near
Berhampur City
, Odisha. Humayun Kabir was the education minister in former prime minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet.
George Fernandes' 25 June schedule in Berhampur city was packed. He attended a meeting of the
Berhampur University
Employees Association, a meeting with socialist leaders and workers and a gathering of intellectuals in the evening. He was scheduled to attend a meeting of the
Railways Workers Association of Odisha
on 26 June in
Berhampur City
but before that he hid himself there secretly.
A warrant was issued in Fernandes' name and subsequently he went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. When the police failed to capture him, they arrested and tortured his brother,
Lawrence Fernandes
, to reveal his brother's whereabouts.
Snehalata Reddy
, a chronic asthmatic was arrested for being in touch with George Fernandes and, as she was not given adequate care in the prison, died soon after her release.
45
In July 1975, Fernandes arrived in
Baroda
. There, he met Kirit Bhatt, who was president of Baroda Union of Journalists, and Vikram Rao, a staff correspondent of
The Times of India
at Baroda, both who opposed the Emergency. They used to meet and discuss on what could be done to topple the autocratic Indira Gandhi Government. An industrialist friend,
Viren J. Shah
, managing director of
Mukand Ltd
., helped them find contacts for procuring dynamite, used extensively in quarries around
Halol
(near Baroda). They aimed at blowing up toilets in government offices and cause explosions near the venue of public meetings to be addressed by Indira Gandhi. The idea was not to injure anybody, but only create a scare. The explosions were to be carried out either late in the night or hours before the public meeting was to begin to avoid injury. A plan was hatched to blow up a dais four hours before Indira Gandhi was to address a meeting in
Varanasi
. The conspiracy later came to be known as the infamous
Baroda dynamite case
46
47
According to Bhatt, there were two more plans that never worked out. Fernandes also wanted to rob a train used to carry weapons from
Pimpri
(near
Poona
) to Bombay. The weapons were to be used to blast government offices. Yet another plan was to take the help of other countries by using
ham radio
46
On 10 June 1976, he was finally arrested in
Calcutta
on charges of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the imposition of emergency, in what came to be known as the Baroda dynamite case.
48
After his arrest, Amnesty International members cabled the Government requesting that he be given immediate access to a lawyer and that his physical protection be guaranteed.
49
Three world leaders from Germany, Norway and Austria were believed to have cabled Indira Gandhi and cautioned her against harming Fernandes.
16
From Baroda, the accused were shifted to
Tihar Jail
. The accused were never chargesheeted.
46
Union Minister and Muzaffarpur MP post-1977
edit
After the emergency was lifted, elections were held in India from 16 to 20 March 1977. The Congress Party, led by Indira Gandhi, suffered a defeat at the hands of the
Janata Party
, a coalition created in 1977 out of several small parties that opposed Gandhi's Emergency era.
50
51
The Janata Party and its allies came to power, headed by
Morarji Desai
, who became the first non-Congress
Prime Minister of India
52
Fernandes won the
Muzaffarpur
seat in Bihar by an over 300,000 vote margin in 1977 from jail where he was lodged in the Baroda dynamite case,
53
despite his not even visiting the constituency.
31
54
On 28 March 1977, he was appointed Minister of Post and Telegraph.
55
In his speech, on 31 March 1977, in
Lok Sabha
, he emphasised on expanding postal services to rural areas.
56
55
On 7 July 1977, he was appointed the Union Minister for Industries.
57
58
59
During his union ministership, he clashed with American multinationals
IBM
and
Coca-Cola
insisting they implement FERA, the
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
, which had been passed under Indira Gandhi's government. Under the FERA, foreign investors could not own more than 40 per cent of the share capital in Indian enterprises. The two multinationals decided to shut down their Indian operations, when Fernandes pressed ahead with rigid enforcement of FERA.
60
On 1 May 1978, he launched District Industrial Centre to provide employment in rural areas.
61
62
During his first tenure as MP, Fernandes set up a
Doordarshan
Kendra (1978),
Kanti Thermal Power Station
(1978) and the
Lijjat papad
factory to generate employment in
Muzaffarpur
63
64
Fernandes also insisted on women's empowerment. In November 2014, Kanti Thermal Power Station was renamed as George Fernandes Thermal Power Station (GFTPS).
65
66
In November 1978, he sent his resignation letter to Desai to work for the organization of
Janata Party
, which was rejected.
67
On 12 July 1979, speaking on
Motion of no confidence
brought by
Yashwantrao Chavan
, George Fernandes defended
Morarji Desai
's government.
68
69
But on 15 July 1979, George along with other ministers like
Biju Patnaik
Purushottam Kaushik
Bhanu Pratap Singh
resigned from Desai's cabinet.
70
71
69
Party memberships and railway ministry
edit
Fernandes (
left
) with Russian president
Vladimir Putin
in 2000
During his tenure as a minister in the Janata Party, he continued to be uncomfortable with certain elements of the broad-based Janata coalition, especially with the leaders of the erstwhile
Hindu nationalist
Bharatiya Jan Sangh
in the
Union Cabinet
. In a debate preceding a
vote of confidence
two years into the government's tenure in 1979, he vehemently spoke out against the practice of permitting members to retain connections to the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
(RSS) while being in the ministry in the Janata Party. The leaders of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, among them
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and
Lal Krishna Advani
, refused to give up their allegiance with the RSS, leading to a split within the Janata Party. The issue of "dual membership" caused
Morarji Desai
to lose the vote of confidence, and his government was reduced to a minority in the
Lok Sabha
72
After the Janata Party started disintegrating in 1979,
Charan Singh
left it to form the Janata (Secular) Party and with support from the Congress Party, replaced Desai as prime minister.
73
In the
seventh general elections
held in 1980, the Janata (Secular) ministry failed to maintain a majority in the
Lok Sabha
, and Congress once again became the ruling party.
73
Fernandes retained his Parliamentary seat from Muzaffarpur in 1980, and sat in the opposition.
74
He contested for the
Lok Sabha
in 1984 from
Bangalore North
constituency against future
Railway minister
and Congress candidate
C. K. Jaffer Sheriff
, but lost the election by a margin of 40,000 votes.
75
He then decided to shift his base to Bihar in 1989, when an anti-Congress wave was sweeping the country in the wake of the
Bofors scandal
53
and won Muzaffarpur in the
1989
and
1991
general elections,
74
He later joined the
Janata Dal
, a party which was formed from the Janata Party at
Bangalore
in August 1988.
76
His second tenure as Minister of Railways in the
V. P. Singh
's government from 1989 to 1990, though short-lived, was quite eventful.
He was one of the driving forces behind the
Konkan Railway
project, the first major development in the
Rail transport in India#History
since independence.
77
Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the
Samata Party
in 1994,
78
which became a key ally of the
Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP).
79
BJP formed a short-lived government in the
1996 general elections
along with the Samata Party and other allies. The government survived only for 13 days, since the BJP could not gather enough support from other parties to form a majority.
80
81
Fernandes later served in the opposition along with BJP during the two
United Front
governments (1996–1998) led by
Janata Dal
ministers
H. D. Deve Gowda
and
Inder Kumar Gujral
81
After the collapse of the United Front ministry led by Gujral, BJP and its allies won a slender majority in the
1998 general elections
. The government lasted only for 13 months, due to the non-co-operation of
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) leader
Jayalalithaa
82
After the collapse of the second BJP-led coalition government, BJP and its allies formed a 24 party alliance called
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA), which became the first non-Congress coalition government in post-independence India to survive a full five-year term (1999–2004).
83
Later, Fernandes became the convenor of NDA.
84
On 27 July 1999, the Janata Dal again split into two factions, the
Janata Dal (United)
and the
Janata Dal (Secular)
85
In 2003, Fernandes reunited with the Janata Dal (United), and also merged his
Samata Party
with it.
78
86
Defence minister
edit
Main articles:
Kargil War
and
Pokhran-II
Fernandes (
left
) with
US Secretary of Defense
Donald Rumsfeld
in 2002
Fernandes served as the
Defence Minister of India
in both the first and second
National Democratic Alliance
governments (1998–2004). During his tenure as the defence minister, the
Kargil war
over
Kashmir
broke out between India and Pakistan in 1999. The war began when heavily armed Pakistan-backed intruders dug themselves in at heights of 16,000 feet (4,900 m) – 18,000 feet (5,500 m) on the Indian side of the
Line of Control
(LOC) along an 80 kilometres (50 mi) stretch north of
Kargil
. They began attacking the
strategic highway
linking
Srinagar
and
Leh
. As a result, the
Indian army
undertook the
Operation Vijay
to push back the Pakistani intruders and regain the occupied territories.
87
The inability of the
Indian intelligence
and military agencies to detect the infiltration early received criticism, both by the opposition as well as the media. However, Fernandes refused to acknowledge the
failure
of intelligence agencies in detecting infiltration along Kargil sector.
88
In May 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests at the
Pokharan
range in
Rajasthan
89
Earlier a staunch supporter of
nuclear disarmament
, Fernandes openly endorsed the NDA government's decision to test the nuclear bombs.
90
91
He was also involved in skirmishes with the then
Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
Vishnu Bhagwat
, over promotion of Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Bhagwat was subsequently sacked over the issue.
92
After the
Tehelka defence scandal
broke out in March 2001, Fernandes quit as defence minister, but was reappointed to the post later.
93
Fernandes is the only defence minister of a nuclear power who had a picture of
Hiroshima bombing
in his office. He made 18 visits to the icy heights of the 6,600 metres (4.1 mi)
Siachen
glacier in Kashmir, which holds the record of being "the world's highest battlefield".
94
95
He was known for overseeing a huge increase in India's defence budget as compared to the allocations made by previous governments.
After the defence ministership
edit
The NDA Government lost power to the Congress-led
United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) in the
2004 general elections
96
Later, political observers alleged that Fernandes was locked in a bitter party rivalry with his one-time friend, Samata Party co-founder,
Nitish Kumar
97
In the
2009 general elections
, he contested from Muzaffarpur as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the Janata Dal (United) on health grounds,
98
but he lost the election.
99
On 30 July 2009, Fernandes filed his nomination as an independent candidate for the mid-term poll being held for the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Janata Dal (United) president
Sharad Yadav
100
The Janata Dal (United) did not field any candidate against him, which led to his being elected unopposed. He was sworn in on 4 August 2009.
101
Reception
edit
Support to secessionist groups in Sri Lanka
edit
Fernandes supported and endorsed many secessionist movements and groups. He was a long time supporter of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE), an organisation which sought to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka.
102
Before 1997, he organised a controversial public convention of pro-LTTE delegates in New Delhi.
102
In July 1998, he reportedly prevented the
Indian Navy
from intercepting ships that were suspected of carrying illegal weapons to Tamil guerrilla groups.
102
Fernandes was also a patron of the Fund Raising Committee backed by the LTTE, with an objective to help the 26 accused in the
Rajiv Gandhi assassination case
102
The
Sri Lankan government
stated that, "the LTTE's biggest supporter in India is Defence Minister George Fernandes."
102
He also expressed support for Tibetan refugees fighting for freedom against China, and Burmese pro-democratic rebel groups fighting against the military government in
Myanmar
103
He revealed the infamous "
Operation Leech
" incident, which resulted in the capture of Arakan Army insurgents in the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands
. He also fought for the welfare and release of anti-Burmese rebels held by the Indian Government.
104
CIA funding
edit
Main article:
Kissinger cables
During the Emergency, as chairman of the
Socialist Party of India
, he faced prosecution for alleged conspiracy against the government of Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi
105
He allegedly sought to obtain funding from the US
Central Intelligence Agency
and the
French government
to organise underground sabotage activities. US diplomatic cables said that after an initial request to seek funding from the French government was turned down, he was "prepared to accept money from the
CIA
".
105
Tehelka scandal
edit
Main article:
Operation West End
Fernandes' name figured prominently in
Operation West End
, a
sting operation
in which journalist
Mathew Samuel
, armed with hidden cameras, from a controversial investigative journal,
Tehelka
, posing as representatives of a fictitious arms company, appeared to bribe the
Bharatiya Janata Party
President,
Bangaru Laxman
, a senior officer in the
Indian Army
and
Jaya Jaitly
, the General Secretary of the
Samata Party
and Fernandes' companion.
106
The scandal caused uproar all over India and Fernandes was forced to resign from his post as Defence Minister. He was subsequently cleared by the one man commission headed by retired Justice Phukan. The Phukan Committee Report was rejected by the
United Progressive Alliance
(UPA) Government headed by the
Congress Party
and a new committee headed by Justice K Venkataswami was appointed. The Committee investigated the case in detail, but Justice Venkataswami resigned before submitting the report in the case.
107
Barak Missile scandal
edit
Main article:
Barak Missile scandal
On 10 October 2006, the
Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) registered a
First information report
(FIR) against Fernandes, his associate Jaya Jaitly, and former navy chief
Admiral Sushil Kumar
for alleged irregularities in purchasing the
7 billion
(US$83 million)
Barak 1
system from Israel in 2000.
108
Fernandes, however, said that the scientific adviser to the Defence Minister in
National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) Government (1998–2004), who later became the
president of India
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
, had cleared the missile deal.
108
As defence minister
edit
Following the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, he openly branded China as "India's enemy number one".
109
He later expressed regret for his statements, saying it was wrongly interpreted by the media.
95
He has also criticised China for providing sophisticated weapons to Pakistan to build its missiles, and has rapped the Chinese for strengthening their military across the
Himalayas
in Tibet.
95
Fernandes has claimed that he was
strip searched
twice at
Dulles Airport
in the US Capital area, when he was defence minister—once on an official visit to
Washington
in early 2002 and another time while en route to Brazil in mid-2003. The details of the strip-search were mentioned in American foreign policy analyst
Strobe Talbott
's book
Engaging India – Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb
110
However, the
US embassy
in
Delhi
issued a formal denial that Fernandes had been strip-searched,
111
and said that, "Fernandes was not strip-searched but a
security wand
was waved over him when a key in his pocket set off the metal detector."
112
Subsequently, the then
United States Deputy Secretary of State
Richard Armitage
, personally apologised to Fernandes over the matter.
112
This was one in a series of incidents involving the
detention and search of Indian VIPs at US airports
that marred Indian–US relations post 9/11.
113
He was accused in the 2002 coffin scam, following allegations that 500 poor quality aluminium caskets were bought from the United States at rates 13 times more than the actual price, to transport the bodies of slain soldiers, after the Kargil War.
114
However, the CBI gave a clean sheet to Fernandes in the scam in its 2009 charge sheet.
115
Positions held
edit
Positions held
Position
Duration
Member, Standing
Committee
on
Rural Development
5 Aug. 2007
Member,
Committee
on
External Affairs
Member, 14th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 2004 (9th term)
Union Cabinet Minister, Defence
15 Oct. 2001 – May 2004
Member, General Purposes
Committee
Union Cabinet Minister, Defence
13 Oct. 1999 – 16 March 2001
Leader, Janata Dal (U), Parliamentary Party, Lok Sabha
Member, 13th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1999 (8th term)
Member, General Purposes
Committee
Union Cabinet Minister, Defence
1998–1999
Member, 12th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1998 (7th term)
Member, Consultative
Committee
Ministry of Human Resource Development
Member,
Committee
on
External Affairs
1996–1997
Member, 11th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1996 (6th term)
President, Samata Party
1994 onwards
Member, Consultative
Committee
Ministry of Home Affairs
Member,
Committee
on
Finance
1993–1996
Member, 10th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1991 (5th term)
Member, Railway Convention
Committee
1990–1991
Minister of Kashmir Affairs (Additional charge)
March–May 1990
Union Cabinet Minister, Railways
1989–1990
Member, 9th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1989 (4th term)
Member, 7th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1980 (3rd term)
Union Cabinet Minister, Industry
1977–1979
Union Cabinet Minister, Communications
March–July 1977
Member, 6th Lok Sabha
Re-elected in 1977 (2nd term)
President, All India Railwaymen's Federation
Chairman, Socialist Party
1973–1977
General Secretary, Samyukta Socialist Party
1969–1973
Member,
Committee
on Petitions
1967–1970
Member, 4th Lok Sabha
Elected in 1967
Writings, journalism and other contributions
edit
Further information on the biographical book:
The Life and Times of George Fernandes
Fernandes liked writing and journalism in his student days. He was the editor of a
Konkani language
monthly
Konkani Yuvak
(Konkani Youth) in 1949. The same year, he was the editor of the
Raithavani
weekly in
Kannada
116
The
Dockman
weekly in English, which had ceased publication, reappeared under the editorship of Fernandes in 1952–53.
117
Though not a prolific writer, Fernandes wrote several books on politics including
What Ails the Socialists
(1972),
118
Socialist Communist Interaction in India
119
In the year of the disabled: India's disabled government
(1981),
120
Dignity for All: Essays in Socialism and Democracy
(1991),
121
and his autobiography titled
George Fernandes Speaks
(1991).
122
He was the editor of an English monthly,
The Other Side
, and the chairman of the editorial board of the
Hindi
monthly
Pratipaksh
A human rights activist, Fernandes had been a member of
Amnesty International
, the
People's Union for Civil Liberties
and the
Press Council of India
123
In the year 2022, a Canada-based Mangalorean origin writer
Chris Emmanuel Dsouza
124
published a book titled
Bandh Samrat – Tales of eternal rebel
125
that chronicled George Fernandes's early days of
Trade union
activism in his hometown of
Mangalore
, his early slog in his adopted city of
Bombay
and his association with stellar
socialist
figures of Mangalore like the noted
Ammembala Balappa
and
Placid D’Mello
126
Family and personal life
edit
Fernandes met Leila Kabir, the daughter of former Union minister
Humayun Kabir
, on a flight back to
Delhi
from
Calcutta
. Fernandes, then the general secretary of the
Samyukta Socialist Party
, was returning from Bangladesh while Kabir was on her way back from the battlefront where she had gone as an assistant director of the
Red Cross
. They began dating and were married on 22 July 1971.
127
They had a son, Sean Fernandes, who is an investment banker based in New York.
128
Fernandes and Kabir separated in the mid-1980s.
128
Jaya Jaitly
was Fernandes' companion from 1984.
128
Fernandes spoke ten languages—Konkani, English, Hindi,
Tulu
Kannada
Marathi
Tamil
, Urdu,
Malayalam
, and Latin. Konkani was his mother tongue. He learnt Marathi and Urdu in jail, and Latin while he was in the seminary in his early youth. He was fluent in Hindi and English.
129
Fernandes was reported to be suffering from
Alzheimer
's and
Parkinson
's diseases, and in January 2010 was undergoing treatment at
Baba Ramdev
's
ashram
at
Haridwar
130
for the diseases at the request of Leila Kabir, who had recently returned to his life.
131
In February 2010, Fernandes' brothers were reported to have been considering a court order for medical treatment and visitation; Kabir and Sean Fernandes are alleged to have forcibly removed Fernandes to an undisclosed location.
132
In July 2010, the Delhi High Court ruled that Fernandes would stay with Kabir and that Fernandes' brothers would be able to visit.
133
In August 2012 the
Supreme Court of India
granted permission to Jaya Jaitly, a former aide, to visit him, a move which was opposed by his wife on the grounds of her
locus standi
134
He died at the age of 88 on 29 January 2019, in Delhi following a
swine flu
infection.
15
135
136
See also
edit
National Democratic Alliance (India)
Freethought
References
edit
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. 13 April 2012.
Archived
from the original on 19 December 2013
. Retrieved
12 March
2016
"CBI files chargesheet in Kargil coffin scam"
The Times of India
. 22 August 2009. Archived from
the original
on 1 March 2012
. Retrieved
12 September
2010
Chakrabarti, Sumon (22 August 2009).
"Fernandes gets clean chit in Kargil coffin scam"
CNN-IBN
. Archived from
the original
on 11 March 2012
. Retrieved
12 September
2010
Śarmā 1978
, p. 131
Bogaert 1970
, p. 37
Fernandes, George (1972).
What Ails the Socialists
. New Society Publications; distributors: Sindhu Publications
. Retrieved
29 January
2019
Madhu, Limaye; Fernandes, George (1991).
Socialist Communist Interaction in India
. Ajanta Publications (India).
ISBN
9788120203198
Fernandes, George (1981).
In the year of the disabled: India's disabled government
. Prati Paksha Prakashan.
Dignity for all : essays in socialism and democracy
. Ajanta Publications (India). 1991.
ISBN
978-8120203181
Fernandes, George (1991).
George Fernandes Speaks
. Ajanta Publications (India).
ISBN
9788120203174
. Retrieved
29 January
2019
Fernandes, George.
"Members : Lok Sabha"
Parliament of India
. Lok Sabha
. Retrieved
29 January
2019
"Book on Iconic Socialist Leader George Fernandes to be Launched in City Soon"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 August 2022
. Retrieved
11 August
2022
"Book chronicling George Fernandes' public life out"
. Retrieved
11 August
2022
dead link
"Book allows insight into George Fernandes's life"
. Retrieved
10 August
2022
Kabir, Leila (31 January 2010).
"I came back to give my son a father but the father never showed up"
The Telegraph
. Calcutta, India. Archived from
the original
on 19 March 2012
. Retrieved
7 August
2010
Mohan, Archis (4 June 2010).
"Catfight on birthday – Ladies clash over George"
The Telegraph
. Calcutta, India. Archived from
the original
on 22 May 2012
. Retrieved
7 August
2010
Rajamani, R. C. (15 August 2004).
"George Fernandes, Socialist Who Speaks Many Tongues"
Asian Tribune
. Archived from
the original
on 31 March 2012
. Retrieved
7 August
2010
"George Fernandes being treated by Swami Ramdev"
. 19 January 2010.
Archived
from the original on 29 July 2013
. Retrieved
19 January
2010
"George Fernandes being treated for Alzheimer's by Yoga Guru Ramdev"
DNA
. 19 January 2010. Archived from
the original
on 21 January 2012
. Retrieved
19 January
2010
Satish, D. P. (20 February 2010).
"Ex-defence minister George Fernandes goes missing"
CNN-IBN
. Archived from
the original
on 30 March 2010
. Retrieved
7 September
2010
"George to stay with wife: Court"
The Economic Times
. 6 July 2010. Archived from
the original
on 16 October 2012.
"Supreme Court allows Jaya Jaitly to visit George Fernandes"
The Times of India
. 31 August 2012. Archived from
the original
on 2 December 2013
. Retrieved
8 May
2013
"George Fernandes, Former Defence Minister, Dies At 88 After Long Illness"
. NDTV.com. 29 January 2019. Archived from
the original
on 9 February 2019
. Retrieved
29 January
2019
He contested the 1977 election from jail and won the Muzaffarpur constituency in Bihar by a landslide. George Fernandes became a hero of the Emergency. He was made minister when the Janata Party came to power in 1977 with Morarji Desai as Prime Minister. One of his prominent acts at the time was to force the exit of Coca Cola and IBM, which had refused to dilute their stake in their Indian associates. Coke left India and returned only two decades later. As Atal Bihari Vajpayee's Defence Minister, Mr Fernandes oversaw the Pokhran nuclear tests of 1998 and the Kargil war.
"George Fernandes, Former Defence Minister, Dies At 88: Updates"
NDTV.com
. Archived from
the original
on 3 February 2019
. Retrieved
13 February
2019
George Fernandes was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which had forced him out of the public eye for last many years, and had recently contracted swine flu, she said, adding that he died at his home in Delhi. George Fernandes was one of the most prominent leaders of the socialist movement in the 1970s.
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External links
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
George Fernandes
Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
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Archived
15 February 2022 at the
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Ongoing news coverage
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from
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vpradeepkumar.com story on George Fernandes
Lok Sabha
Preceded by
Sadashiv Kanoji Patil
Member of Parliament
for
Mumbai South
1967–1971
Succeeded by
Kailas Narain Narula Shivnarain
Preceded by
Nawal Kishore Sinha
Member of Parliament
for
Muzaffarpur
1977–1984
Succeeded by
Laliteshwar Prasad Shahi
Preceded by
Laliteshwar Prasad Shahi
Member of Parliament
for
Muzaffarpur
1989–1996
Succeeded by
Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
Preceded by
Vijay Kumar Yadav
Member of Parliament
for
Nalanda
1996–2004
Succeeded by
Nitish Kumar
Preceded by
Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
Member of Parliament
for
Muzaffarpur
2004–2009
Succeeded by
Jai Narain Prasad Nishad
Political offices
Preceded by
Madhav Rao Scindia
Minister of Railways
1989–1990
Succeeded by
Janeshwar Mishra
Preceded by
Mulayam Singh Yadav
Minister of Defence
1998–2001
Succeeded by
Jaswant Singh
Preceded by
Jaswant Singh
Minister of Defence
2001–2004
Succeeded by
Pranab Mukherjee
Railway ministers of India
John Matthai
N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar
Lal Bahadur Shastri
Jagjivan Ram
Swaran Singh
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Madhu Dandavate
Kedar Pandey
Prakash Chandra Sethi
A. B. A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury
Bansi Lal
Mohsina Kidwai
Madhavrao Scindia
George Fernandes
Janeshwar Mishra
C. K. Jaffer Sheriff
Ram Vilas Paswan
Nitish Kumar
Ram Naik
Mamata Banerjee
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Dinesh Trivedi
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Mallikarjun Kharge
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George Fernandes
Jaswant Singh
Pranab Mukherjee
A. K. Antony
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