Captain and the Yogi: So far so good

K. Natwar Singh

CAPTAIN Amarinder Singh has opened his innings as Chief Minister in a manner that is eminently impressive and sound. Doing away with red beacons has produced joy in the hearts of the people throughout the state. This so-called VVIP culture is a shaming assault on the common man. Such actions do matter in a democracy. 

Next came slashing of the security of a number of fat cats. Who use these symbols to throw their weight about? Who would waste a bullet on anyone of them?

The psychological impact of these decisions has been immense. The Chief Minister has other, more important priorities. These, I have little doubt, he will announce sooner rather than later. The financial condition of Punjab is a dismal legacy of the previous government. The central government must come to the rescue of Punjab. Punjab is among the smaller states of the Indian Union. Strategically it is our most crucial frontline state.

One of the results of the assembly elections was the electoral disaster of a former governor and former Chief of the Army Staff. He was opposing Amarinder Singh on his home turf. The former chief was convinced that he would defeat Amarinder by a large margin. The former Army Chief lost his deposit. On the counting day, he created an unseemly scene in the room where votes were being counted. Where is the General now? No one knows. No one cares…

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OUR Pakistan friends keep harping on Kashmir. Have they nothing better to do? Their tiresome verbalising is in fact counterproductive. No Indian government can give an inch of Indian territory to Pakistan. I am all for cordial and good neighbourly relations with our northern neighbour. In diplomacy reciprocity is an essential component. This is not forthcoming from Pakistan. Harping on ‘Kashmir is the core issue’ is not realistic diplomacy or foreign policy. In any case no one bothers at the UN.

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YOGI Adityanath has so far not set a foot wrong. He is head of the largest, most populous state in the country. It is also the most problem-ridden. Take population: it is almost as much as that of the UK, France and Germany combined.

The judiciary and health need immediate remedies in UP. Patients in our hospitals lie in the verandas. The cases pending in UP courts run into tens of thousands. As for paan and gutkha, Yogi-ji has rendered great service to the walls of the UP Secretariat. 

I have little doubt the both chief ministers will be only too aware of the adamantine fact that political honeymoons are short-lived.

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THE Congress has deprived itself of one of its tallest, senior-most leaders. I have known SM Krishna for decades. He is a soft-spoken gentleman-politician — a diminishing tribe. The BJP has acquired a rare asset. His entry into that party will make it almost impossible for Congress to retain Karnataka. SM Krishna is an influential Vokkaliga who make up 12-14 percent of the population of Karnataka. He has been an External Affairs Minister and Chief Minister more than once. The Congress seems to have a death wish. 

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I have recently read the biography of Faiz Ahmed Faiz by his grandson, Ali Madeeh Hashmi. It is a splendid book. On the back cover is reproduced the most famous lines written by Faiz, who was one of the three greatest Urdu poets of the 20th century. Iqbal was a class by himself. No equals. The third was Josh Malihabadi. 

Ye daagh daagh ujala, ye shab gazeeda seher

Wo intezaar tha jiska, ye wo seher tau nahi,

Ye wo seher tau nahin, jis ki arzu le kar,

Chaley thay yaar ke mil jaye gi kahin na kahin,

Falak ke dasht mein tarron ki aakhri manzil,

Kahin tau hoga shab-e-sust mauj ka saahil,

Kahin tau ja ke rukega safeena-e-gham-e dil.

(This stained light, this night-bitten dawn;

This is not that long-awaited daybreak;

This is not the dawn in whose longing,

We set our believing we would find, somewhere,

In heaven’s wide void,

The stars’ final resting place;

Somewhere the shore of night’s slow-washing tide;

Somewhere, an anchor for the ship of heartache).

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THE other day a friend asked me to name three outstanding autobiographies and three biographies by Indians. The three autobiographies chose themselves. The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi. Autobiography by Jawaharlal Nehru, The Autobiography of an Unknown Indian by Nirad C Choudhury. 

Choosing biographies was not easy. Kalam Ka Sipahi — the biography of his father Munshi Prem Chand by his son, Amrit Rai. Next one I opted for was Mohandas by Rajmohan Gandhi, the Mahatma’s grandson, in my view, the best book on Gandhi. The third in my list is Ambedkar by Narendra Jadhav.