Pranab My Father: FREE READ | Birth of a Controversy
In Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers, Sharmistha offers a fascinating glimpse into the illustrious life of Pranab Mukherjee.
Birth of a Controversy
‘I am alive today, I may not be there tomorrow […] I shall continue to serve until my last breath and when I die, I can say that everydrop of my blood will invigorate India and strengthen it […]’
These were Indira Gandhi’s words during her last rally in Odisha, a day before her assassination. Many believed that she had a premonition about her death. Indira had a sense, premonition or not, that her life was at risk and was quite aware of the possibility of her assassination.
From the beginning of the 1980s, the movement for greater autonomy for the state of Punjab became increasingly virulent and calls for a separate state of Khalistan (seceding from India) seriously challenged the unity, territorial integrity and security of the nation.
Punjab was rocked by violence; attacks and counter-attacks; assassinations and disruptions of normal life. The government had intelligence reports that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale—the secessionist leader of the Khalistan movement—and his followers had taken control of the Golden Temple, the holiest of Sikh shrines, and were residing in it. The holy precinct was being used by the militant group to hoard arms and as a base for conducting militant activities. A decision was taken to flush out the militants by army action. The decision to launch Operation Blue Star was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, which comprised the PM, Narasimha Rao, R. Venkataraman, P. Shiv Shankar and Pranab Mukherjee.
Pranab later reminisced, ‘I still vividly recall Mrs Gandhi telling me, “Pranab, I know of the consequences.” She understood the situation well and was clear that there was no other option. While being aware that her own life was at risk, she still took a conscious decision to go ahead in the best interest of the nation. In between Operation Blue Star and Indira Gandhi’s assassination, there was a happy occasion in our family. My elder brother, Abhijit, got married on 14 July 1984. Indira and Rajiv attended the wedding reception at my father’s official residence, 2 Jantar Mantar Road. I remember Indira ji telling my mother that she would like to come over for dinner one evening for Bengali food. To the eternal regret of my parents, that could never happen. I had just passed out of school that year. I had been seriously pursuing dance since my childhood. Indira ji knew about it.
On that evening, she said to Baba, ‘As your daughter is culturally inclined, you should send her to Sorbonne. Paris is the best place for her.’ My father didn’t take that advice. I went to St Stephen’s College in Delhi instead. No regrets! On 31 October 1984, I was in the college library when a friend informed me of an assassination attempt on Indira and advised me to return home without delay. Normally, I would take the youth special buses to commute to Delhi
University and back. But that day, my friend insisted that we should take an auto, and he accompanied me till home. While travelling, we could feel the unmistakable tension in the air and could see small crowds gathering at places.
What followed was one of the most shameful chapters in the history of post-Independence India. Hundreds of innocent Sikhs were murdered, their houses burned, their shops looted in the capital city right under the watch of the Delhi Police. At home, Ma was crying inconsolably! Pranab did not come home that night, but instead returned the following morning. When we saw him, my mother’s tears finally dried. We couldn’t bring ourselves to look at his face. He was devastated.
Pranab was addressing a rally in West Bengal with Rajiv Gandhi when the news of the attack on Indira reached them. They decided to cancel all the meetings and rush back to Delhi. From the venue of the meeting at Kanthi, they drove to Kolaghat. The two-hour drive to Kolaghat seemed exceedingly long. Rajiv wanted to drive but Pranab persuaded him not to do so. Rajiv sat in front of the car, while Pranab, Ghani Khan and Rajiv’s PSO (personal security officer) sat at the back. While travelling in the car, they tuned in to the BBC station on the radio. They received news from there that Indira had been targeted with a total of 16 bullets. Rajiv asked his PSO how potent these bullets were. When informed that these were very powerful, Rajiv turned to Pranab and others and asked, ‘Did she deserve all these bullets?’
On reaching Kolaghat, a chopper took them to Kolkata, and from there they flew back to Delhi on a special Indian Airlines plane. At Kolkata, they were joined by Balram Jakhar, Shyamlal Yadav, Uma Shankar Dikshit, Sheila Dikshit, two secretaries of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and a few other officers. Immediately after take-off, Rajiv went to the cockpit. After a while, he came back and announced, ‘She is dead.’
Later, Pranab wrote in his book, ‘There was absolute silence. Tears started rolling down my
face, and I wept inconsolably, managing to compose myself only after some time and with great effort.’ What transpired in the aircraft has been the subject of much conjecture since then. It was generally believed that Pranab, by virtue of his position as number two in Indira’s Cabinet, had staked claim to be the interim prime minister. Since then, his relationship with the Gandhi family was seen through the prism of this speculation. Supposedly, that was the reason why the Gandhis never trusted him again. According to the media, in 2004 and again in 2009 when Sonia chose Dr Manmohan Singh over Pranab as the PM in UPA-I and UPA-II governments, the ‘trust deficit’ was brought in by what purportedly happened in the aircraft back in 1984. There was perhaps some trust deficit on Rajiv’s part, and later on with Sonia too, but it was definitely not due to Pranab’s alleged desire to become the PM.
It was factually incorrect and Rajiv (and presumably Sonia) knew it too. Among his papers, I found some handwritten notes, dating back to 1985, in which Pranab gave a detailed account of the events that unfolded on the airplane and his personal assessment of the ‘trust deficit’. These notes also shed light on why he was subsequently dropped from the Rajiv Gandhi government that was sworn in on 31 December 1984. Pranab wrote that after Rajiv announced that Indira was no more, Pranab broke down.
It took him some time to regain his composure. Rajiv returned to the cockpit. There was pin drop silence in the plane. The silence was broken by Balram Jakhar who inquired about the criteria used to choose Gulzarilal Nanda as the interim PM on two previous instances. He questioned whether it was because Nanda held the position of home minister. Pranab pointed out that the criterion was not the portfolio that he held, but rather his position in the Cabinet as number two. Uma Shankar also agreed with Pranab. Then Jakhar, Dikshit and Ghani Khan went to the rear of the plane.
Pranab kept sitting. Despite the burden of sorrow weighing on his heart and mind, he pondered over the next course of action, contemplating how to ensure smooth transfer of power. He wrote in his notes, ‘I thought that Indira ji wanted Rajiv to be PM and it is my duty to ensure Rajiv to be installed as PM.’ He also thought that if Rajiv took over immediately, no one in the party would have any objection. Given the circumstances and the gravity of the situation, there was no scope of any squabble within the party.
As he was pondering over these thoughts, Jakhar asked him to join the discussion and enquired about his opinion on Rajiv taking over immediately. Pranab readily endorsed this suggestion. Ghani Khan suggested returning to Delhi to discuss and make a decision. He questioned whether an ‘outsider’ (a person outside the Cabinet) could be made PM, as Rajiv was not a minister at that time.
Read more in Pranab My Father by Sharmistha Mukherjee.
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