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Unsung... hero all the same
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It is not everyday that a paean is composed to Lal Bahadur Shastri, a relatively unsung leader of a nation keen on foisting new icons. ANUJ KUMAR writes about one such attempt by J.S. Jasra, who has just penned together some memorable e pisodes of the life of the great son of India... .
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SIZE DOES matter. But a person had belied this oft-repeated phrase, perhaps even before it was coined - Lal Bahadur Shastri the man who rose from the banks of Ganges to Bharat Ratna, not the award that the Government of India confers, which ironically, he got after his demise, through his sheer dint of character and dedication. That he was also a Prime Minister of India is just a matter of record as he is etched as the symbol of simplicity, integrity and selfless service in the hearts of Indian masses. Now, 37 years after his death, J.S. Jasra has come up with a biography of the grassroots crusader - "Memorable Episodes of The Great Little Son of India". "He is perhaps the least written but the most loved leader in India. And today, when corruption has invaded every nook and corner of our polity and every person with a shady past has a future, the book is an attempt to inspire the young generation that such an honest politician walked on this land in flesh and blood, says Jasra, Vice President Appu Ghar.
The book is a well-researched compilation of events that marked the life of Shastri. The mass response to his appeal to keep fast on Monday to dispense with the charity that was being received from the U.S. and Canada and his act of himself ploughing his garden - a precursor to Green Revolution proves that wonders can be achieved if the leader leads by example. One is amazed by the contemporary relevance of some of his quotes: "...the choice before the country is the production of the atom bomb or the battle against starvation, soaring prices and unemployment. I do not consider the atom bomb a weapon of war. It is a device for the destruction of humanity... " and "I should like to mention here that the concept Muslims constitute a minority in India and Hindus a majority is totally outmoded and it should now be firmly rejected... "
However, Shastri's greatest contribution is said to be his deft handling of Pakistan's belligerence in 1965 just three years after the humiliating defeat against China. But critics say his greatest achievement led him to commit his greatest folly as Indian forces, which were at Sialkot and Lahore had to give up even the strategic points in the Uri-Poonch, Tithwal and Kargil sectors after the Tashkent declaration.
The author tries to make us believe that there was no other way as there was a joint resolution from both the U.S. and the erstwhile USSR, and China was breathing down our neck. One, however, feels it were the Gandhian principles in his blood that proved his undoing in politics based on self-interest.
The author is, surprisingly, silent on the mysterious death of the leader in Tashkent. He informs that he was an eyewitness to the moment when his body was brought back home and everybody was shocked to see blue patches on his face but this is all he has to share.
Besides some minor factual errors as the official time of his death is mentioned as 1p.m. instead of 1 a.m., the book is a great attempt to ink the tale of an ordinary man, who toiled his way to the top proving another phrase: nothing is impossible, right.
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