Socialist leader and anti-Emergency crusader George Fernandes who passed away on Tuesday had nurtured inextricable links with the State.
M.M Thomas, the veteran socialist and former Nagaland Governor with whom Mr. Fernandes shared a warm and intimate camaraderie ignoring the traumatising scrutiny of the Emergency regime, was the live link that associated him with the State.
Loktantrik Janata Dal leader Varghese George, also a close associate of Thomas and one of the prominent leaders of the collective Students for Human Rights formed to address the excesses against student leaders and activists on campuses, reminisced the interactions between Thomas and Mr. Fernandes.
“Thomas had an uncanny knack in publishing and circulating cyclostyled pamphlets against Emergency and he used to dexterously cart it to Mr. Fernandes, who was evading arrest and living undercover. The residence of Thomas was a hub of rights activists such as the Clergy for Human Rights, Students for Human Rights, People’s Union of Civil Liberties and such others. Ignoring the threats of the snooping Emergency regime, Thomas and Mr. Fernandes exchanged vital documents against the establishment under the cover of darkness,” says Dr. George citing the book Response to Tyranny . When the World Council of Churches met in Nairobi in 1975 under the tutelage of Thomas and lashed out at Emergency, it had the blessings and backing of Mr. Fernandes. The council had made a fervent call for repealing Emergency, Mr. George said.
Mr. George also recollected a meeting of those who fought against Emergency at the Constitution Club in Delhi on March 30 and 31, 1978 in which Mr. Fernandes and CPI(M) ideologue E.M.S. Namboodiripad and spoke about their resistance against the terror unleashed during the Emergency.
Malabar Cements
Mr. Fernandes’s contribution in setting up the Malabar Cements when he was Industries Minister in the Morarji Desai Cabinet was also lauded by Congress leader A.K. Antony, who was the Chief Minister in post-Emergency Kerala.
