An apostle of peace

A 28-year-old dhoti-kurta clad young man was jostling to push his blanket-wrapped baggage into an unreserved compartment of a passenger train at Delhi Railway station on May 8, 1953.

The scene was a send-off to Dr Shyama Prasad Moookerjee, founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (predecessor of the present day Bharatiya Janata Party), on a mission to enter Jammu & Kashmir, defying the entry-permit order of the government & demanding full integration of the state into the Indian Union.

On the call of duty was a journalist-turned hitherto unfamiliar political secretary to Dr Mookerjee and his name was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Dr Mookerjee was arrested on May 10, 1953, on the J&K border while entering the state refusing to obtain an entry-permit and was taken to Srinagar jail.

He sent his aide Vajpayee back to Delhi with a message for the party rank and file to continue the agitation against what he then termed as: “Ek desh mein Do Vidhan, Do Pradhan, and Do Nishan Nahin Chalenge “(in one country there can’t be two constitutions, two prime ministers & two flags).

Dr Mookerjee died under mysterious circumstances while in custody in Srinagar on June 23, 1953. And young Vajpayee, with his oratorical eloquence relentlessly went on to spread his political mentor’s message across the country and made an indelible mark as a debutant on the political scene of independent India.

Atalji entered the Lok Sabha from Balrampur in UP in the second general elections in 1957 and his maiden speech earned him laurels from many contemporary veteran parliamentarians, including the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who, while introducing Vajpayee to a visiting foreign dignitary once said “this young man one day will become the country’s Prime Minister.”

Vajpayee remained a Member of Parliament for 47 years, eleven times elected to the Lok Sabha, and twice to the Rajya Sabha. But the issue of Jammu & Kashmir always remained foremost in his mind. He was a staunch critic of Nehru’s Jammu & Kashmir policy. He was elected to the Lok Sabha from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh for six consecutive terms.

A poet by heart, Atalji inherited this talent from his father Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and practised poetry writing and recitation since childhood by accompanying him at Kavi Sammelans in the erstwhile princely state of Gwalior where he was born in a middle class family of a school teacher.

As External Affairs Minister in the 1977 Janata Party government, Vajpayee pursued the policy of friendly relations with India’s neighbours, including Pakistan, on the principle of peaceful co-existence & mutual respect. His famous quote “you can change friends but not your neighbours” went on to become a dictum in the Indian foreign office establishment.

Resolving all the outstanding issues with Pakistan, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir issue in a peaceful manner through bilateral dialogue without any third party intervention was Vajpayee’s Mantra when he became the Prime Minister, first for 13 days in 1996, then for 13 months in 1998 and again for a full five-year term in 1999.

The successful nuclear test “Operation Shakti” in Pokhran on May 13, 1998, was Atalji’s strategic masterstroke which he defended as a “deterrent” rather than a weapon of mass destruction. He carried his message of peace to Pakistan during a bus journey to Lahore on February 19, 1999. He made it a point to visit to Minar-e-Pakistan where he re-affirmed India’s commitment to the existence of Pakistan. He also signed a Lahore Declaration with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on February 21, 1999, wherein Pakistan agreed to resolve all bilateral issues between the two countries, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir in a peaceful manner and through dialogue and to promote people to people contact.

The Delhi–Lahore Bus Service Sada-e-Sarhad (Call of the Frontier) was launched as a symbol of the efforts of the Vajpayee government to promote peaceful and friendly relations with Pakistan on the basis of reciprocity.

Atal Ji’s doctrine of peace, progress and prosperity in Jammu & Kashmir in the spirit of Insaniyat (Humanity) , Jamhuriyat (Democracy) and Kashmiriyat (Identity of the people of Kashmir) was universally acclaimed by all segments across political spectrum in the state.

The media reports that Prime Minister Modi will be announcing Bharat Ratna for Atalji on his birthday have been welcomed by political leaders across the party lines. Perhaps, it has been long overdue.

By: Ashok Tandon