વાજપેયીને ભારતરત્નનો ઇલકાબ તેમની હયાતી પછી મરણોત્તર આપ્યો હોત તો શું ફરક પડવાનો હતો? વાજપેયીની દયનીય અવસ્થા કૅમેરાનો અને ચર્ચાનો વિષય બને એ ઘટના રોકી શકાતી હતી

અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયી દુશ્મનને પણ વહાલા લાગે એવા ભલા અને મુલાયમ માણસ છે. ૧૯૯૬માં કેન્દ્રમાં પહેલી વાર ૧૩ દિવસ માટે અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયીના નેતૃત્વમાં BJPની સરકાર રચાઈ અને બહુમતીના અભાવમાં સરકારે રાજીનામું આપવું પડ્યું, ત્યારે અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયી માટે જે અનેક લોકોએ દુ:ખ અનુભવ્યું હતું એમાં આ લખનારનો સમાવેશ છે. વિશ્વાસની દરખાસ્ત પરની ચર્ચાનું સમાપન કરતાં વાજપેયીએ જે ભાષણ આપ્યું હતું એ હજુ ય કાનમાં ગુંજે છે. એ દિવસે બે ભાષણો ઐતિહાસિક હતાં એમ એ સમયના સ્પીકર પૂર્ણો સંગમાએ કહ્યું હતું. એક ભાષણ વાજપેયીનું અને બીજું ભાષણ પખવાડિયા પહેલાં વડા પ્રધાનપદેથી નિવૃત્ત થયેલા પી. વી. નરસિંહ રાવનું. વાજપેયીના ભાષણમાં શબ્દે-શબ્દે ખાનદાની જોવા મળતી હતી. સંસદીય લોકશાહીની મર્યાદા અને ગરિમા તેઓ જાણતા હતા એટલે ડંખ કોઈના પરત્વે નહોતો. એ દિવસે તેમણે ભાષણની શરૂઆત જ જવાહરલાલ નેહરુના વારસાને યાદ કરીને કરી હતી.

જમણેરી હિન્દુત્વવાદી પક્ષમાં હોવા છતાં વાજપેયી અંગત રીતે મધ્યમમાર્ગી હતા. સત્તા માટે મર્યાદા ઓળંગવામાં આવે કે એક હદથી વધારે સમાજમાં તિરાડ પેદા કરવામાં આવે એ તેમને ગમતું નહોતું. સંસદીય રાજકારણમાં વિવેક જાળવવાનો પણ તેઓ આગ્રહ રાખતા હતા. લોકસભાના ભૂતપૂર્વ સ્પીકર સોમનાથ ચૅટર્જી‍એ તેમનાં સંસ્મરણોના પુસ્તક ‘કીપિંગ ધ ફેઇથ’માં લખ્યું છે કે રાજકીય જરૂરિયાતના ભાગરૂપે લોકસભામાં વાજપેયીએ કોઈ માટે ક્યારેક આકરાં વેણ ઉચ્ચારવા પડ્યાં હોય તો ગૃહની બેઠક પૂરી થયા પછી તેઓ મળીને કે ફોન કરીને માફી માગી લેતા. પાંચ દાયકા કરતાં લાંબા સંસદીય જીવનમાં વાજપેયીની કોઈ કથની કે કૃતિના કારણે ગૃહમાં પ્રશ્ન ઊઠ્યો હોય કે ઊહાપોહ થયો હોય કે ધમાલ મચી હોય એવું કોઈ દહાડો બન્યું નથી. આજે તો આવાં કરતૂતોને સંસદસભ્ય તરીકેની સક્રિયતા માનવામાં આવે છે. જેના નામે જેટલા વિવાદ વધુ એટલો તે મહાન સંસદસભ્ય.

મધ્યમાર્ગી વાજપેયી અયોધ્યાના રામજન્મભૂમિ આંદોલન વખતે દૂર જતા રહ્યા હતા. જો કે સાચી વાત એ છે કે લાલ કૃષ્ણ અડવાણીએ અને રાષ્ટ્રીય સ્વયંસેવક સંઘે તેમને દૂર હડસેલી દીધા હતા. વાજપેયીના મધ્યમમાર્ગી અભિગમ, ઉદારમતવાદી ચહેરો અને ખાનદાની એ સમયે સંઘ પરિવારને પરવડે એમ નહોતાં. જાએં તો જાએ કહાં એ સમયે લખાયેલું અને જાણીતું બનેલું તેમનું કાવ્ય છે. વાજપેયીના એ પ્રચંડ મૂંઝારાના દિવસો હતા. એ પછી રાજકીય જરૂરિયાત એવી ઊભી થઈ કે બાજુએ ધકેલી દેવામાં આવેલા વાજપેયીને પાછા લાવવા પડ્યા હતા એટલું જ નહીં, વડા પ્રધાનપદના ઉમેદવાર જાહેર કરવા પડ્યા હતા અને બનાવવા પણ પડ્યા હતા. જો કે સંઘપરિવાર વાજપેયીને પસંદ નહોતો કરતો. મૂંઝારો પરસ્પર હતો. વાજપેયી વિના ચાલે એમ પણ નહોતું અને વાજપેયી ગમતા પણ નહોતા.

એટલે તો અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયીને સંઘપરિવારની અંદર આવી ચડેલા કૉન્ગ્રેસી તરીકે ઓળખાવવામાં આવે છે. ઉમા ભારતીએ તો પક્ષની બેઠકમાં વાજપેયીની હાજરીમાં તેમને કૉન્ગ્રેસી તરીકે ઓળખાવ્યા હતા અને કહ્યું હતું કે જો સત્તામાં આવ્યા પછી કૉન્ગ્રેસના જ માર્ગે ચાલવું હતું તો આટલાં વર્ષ હિન્દુત્વવાદી પક્ષમાં રહ્યા શા માટે? સંઘના આઇડિયોલૉગ ગોવિંદાચાર્યે વાજપેયીને મહોરા તરીકે ઓળખાવ્યા છે. અમેરિકન રાજદૂતોના પ્રતિનિધિમંડળને તેમણે કહ્યું હતું કે વાજપેયી તો ઉદારમતવાદી મહોરું છે, બાકી પાછળ રહીને સરકાર અડવાણી ચલાવવાના છે. અડવાણીના એક સમયના હનુમાન વેન્કૈયા નાયડુએ અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયીની વડા પ્રધાન તરીકેની મુદ્દતના છેલ્લા વર્ષમાં વડા પ્રધાનપદેથી ખસી જવાનો ઇશારો કર્યો હતો. મજેદાર વાત એ છે કે વાજપેયી તેમના વિરોધીઓમાં જેટલાં સન્માનીય હતા એટલા તેમના પોતાના પક્ષમાં નહોતા. તેમની લોકપ્રિયતાને કારણે તેમની ઉપેક્ષા નહોતી થઈ શકતી એ મજબૂરી હતી. ઇતિહાસ તપાસી જુઓ; વાજપેયીને સૌથી વધુ ખંજર તેમના જ પક્ષમાંથી ભોંકાયા છે જ્યારે સંઘના અને BJPના વિરોધીઓ વાજપેયીને ખોટી જગ્યાએ ભરાઈ પડેલા સજ્જન તરીકે આદર આપતા હતા.

અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયીને ભારતરત્નનો ઇલકાબ આપવાની જાહેરાત થઈ ત્યારે વિના અપવાદ સર્વત્ર એનું સ્વાગત થયું હતું. આવા અજાતશત્રુ માણસની કદર કરવામાં આવી એ રાજી થવાનો પ્રસંગ છે. અત્યાર સુધીની રસમ એવી છે કે ભારત સરકારના નાગરિક ઇલકાબો લેવા રાષ્ટ્રપતિભવન જવું પડતું હોય છે. જો પોતે ન જઈ શકે તો તેમના વતી જે કોઈને મોકલવામાં આવ્યા હોય તેને ઇલકાબ આપવામાં આવે છે અને ઇલકાબ લેવા પ્રતિનિધિને પણ મોકલવામાં ન આવ્યો હોય તો પોસ્ટથી મોકલવામાં આવે છે. વિનોબા ભાવેને અને સુભાષચંદ્ર બોઝને આ રીતે પોસ્ટ દ્વારા ઇલકાબ મોકલવામાં આવ્યા હતા જેનો અનુક્રમે વિનોબાના અન્તેવાસીઓએ અને સુભાષબાબુના પરિવારે સ્વીકાર નહોતો કર્યો.

અટલ બિહારી વાજપેયીની શારીરિક-માનસિક સ્થિતિ એવી છે કે તેઓ રાષ્ટ્રપતિભવન જઈ શકે એમ નથી. તેમને એ વાતની પણ જાણ નથી કે તેમને ભારતરત્નનો પુરસ્કાર આપવામાં આવ્યો છે. આ સ્થિતિમાં રાષ્ટ્રપતિ પ્રણવ મુખર્જી‍એ તેમના કોઈ પ્રતિનિધિને રાષ્ટ્રપતિભવન બોલાવવાની જગ્યાએ તેઓ પોતે પુરસ્કાર આપવા વાજપેયીના ઘરે ગયા હતા. વાજપેયી માણસ જ એવા છે કે રાષ્ટ્રપતિએ પ્રોટોકૉલ તોડીને આટલું સૌજન્ય બતાવ્યું છે.

અહીં એક મુદ્દે ઊહાપોહ કરવાની જરૂર છે. વાજપેયીને ભારતરત્નનો ઇલકાબ તેમની હયાતી પછી મરણોત્તર આપ્યો હોત તો શું ફરક પડવાનો હતો? આમ પણ વાજપેયીને ક્યાં ખબર છે કે તેમને કોઈ પુરસ્કાર આપવામાં આવ્યો છે? વાજપેયી માટે તો પુરસ્કાર નથી મરણોત્તર કે નથી જીવનપ્રાપ્ત. વાજપેયીની દયનીય અવસ્થા કૅમેરાનો અને ચર્ચાનો વિષય બને એ ઘટના રોકી શકાતી હતી.

સૌજન્ય : ‘કારણ-તારણ’ નામક લેખકની કટાર, “ગુજરાતી મિડ-ડે”, 29 માર્ચ 2015

http://www.gujaratimidday.com/features/columns/atal-bihari-vajpayee-bharat-ratna

Might Atal Behari Vajpyaee be the best Congressman we never had? Given the company he has kept all his political life, he remains amazingly untainted by the vices of the family from which he has emerged – the Sangh Parivar. It was Govindacharya who chanced on this revelation when he called him a 'mukhauta'. Although it was Vajpayee who had coined the notorious equivalence between 'Hindutva' and 'Bharatiyata', it is hard to find in his words or action any extremism of the RSS kind. He seems to have instinctively learned that the exclusivism of his peers ill-suited an aspirant for the office of Prime Minister. He, therefore, kept away from Advani's Rath Yatra and the movement to demolish the Babri Masjid.

Indeed, he was the only BJP leader of eminence to stay well out of Ayodhya that Black Sunday of 6 December 1992 when the three gumbaz of the Masjid were brought down one after the other. It was perhaps the finest moment of his political life, to be a BJP leader and yet not be part of the "Ek dhakka aur do/ Babri Masjid thod do" crowd. I do not recall his having leant his voice to the hypocrisy of the claim that Mir Baqi's structure was a not a place of worship, but a "vivadhit dhancha".

He was also much more a socialist than his peers. It was at his instance that the economic philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party at its foundation was described as "Gandhian Socialism", a phrase they have since abandoned. They switched to the free market only after Dr. Manmohan Singh's reforms began to get reflected in higher GDP growth figures.

Unlike his disruptionist followers, Vajpayee loved the cut and thrust of Parliamentary debate – and, indeed, was a master of the dialectics of democracy. I remember attending a function to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the inauguration of the Lok Sabha (2002) when he bemoaned that while, in the past, MPs would walk out when they wanted to show their opposition, now the Opposition was walking in the opposite direction – right into the Well of the House. The irony is that when a couple of years later, the BJP found itself in Opposition, it made the invasion of the Well its primary instrument of politics. Had Vajpayee continued to lead the BJP in Parliament, there might have been occasional disruptions but not the forcible closing of Parliament for days on end as we witnessed in the worst period of the BJP's Rajya Sabha chief whip, S.S. Ahluwalia, who would repeatedly lead his 'shouting brigade' right up to the Chairman's elevated height.

Illness has now muted Vajpayee's extraordinarily powerful voice but evidence of his outstanding Parliamentary abilities is available to anyone who cares to look into the parliamentary records – preferably not in English translation but in the original Hindi. He spoke impeccable Hindi, almost never using an English word. His style of delivery was peculiarly his own – jocular but with rapier trusts, never offensive but always telling. I spent hours in the Lok Sabha just listening to him speaking, fascinated by the long pauses, usually followed by a punch line. Not only did he command attention when he spoke, he was also an excellent listener, allowing the argument from the other side to flow over him without betraying anger or annoyance, without disruption. He also did me the great kindness of taking particular care to take his seat when I was on my feet.

On one occasion, when I was commenting on the Narashimha Rao government's decision to accord full diplomatic recognition to Israel, I thundered that we must not allow the Israelis to dictate to us the religion of the person we should be sending as our first Ambassador to Tel Aviv. I heard Vajpayee asking his neighbour in a loud sage whisper, "Yeh kiski ki baat kar rahein hain?" Pat came the reply "Unke dost, Hamid Ansari ki". Hamid, then our Ministry's most accomplished West Asia expert, is now the Vice President, and as such, the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Entering Parliament in 1957 at the age of 31, he quickly became the leader of his tiny Parliamentary party, but notwithstanding his party's minuscule numbers, had a voice that was listened to with much anticipation every time he rose to speak. His high moment came in October 1962 when, at the peak of the Chinese invasion, he led a four-member delegation to see Nehru to persuade him to convene the Rajya Sabha. Nehru agreed, and Vajpayee launched into a scathing attack on Nehru's foreign and defence policies. He was given his full head without interruption. It is a pity, therefore, that when the Opposition was calling for a debate on the Kargil invasion, Vajpayee ducked it, failing pathetically to rise to Nehru's stature.

His other notable passage of arms was with C.N. Annadurai over the role of Hindi in national affairs. Both were orators par excellence in their respective mother tongues. Vajpayee had the advantage of speaking in Parliament in his mother tongue, Hindi. 'Anna' responded in faultless, free-flowing English. They kept the nation riveted until Indira Gandhi's three-language formula quieted the dispute for a while.

When in 1979, the Janata government of Morarji Desai appointed Vajpayee as Foreign Minister, my first reaction was one of alarm. Why were they appointing a right-wing, anti-Islamist to this vital portfolio? Vajpayee fooled everyone. Taking to his assignment like a duck to water, Vajpayee became the first Foreign Minister since Swaran Singh to visit Islamabad. There, he delivered his banquet speech in flawless Urdu, much to the chagrin of his Madras-born counterpart, Aga Shahi, whose Urdu was non-existent. He then quickly rushed through a programme of normalization of relations, including the reciprocal opening of Consulates-General in Karachi and Mumbai. I heard the news over the radio in Baghdad where I had completed only two of my three-year posting and would, therefore, not even be considered for the assignment. To my immense delight, a few days later, a telegram arrived transferring me to Karachi. Vajpayee, who did not know me at the time, knew nothing of why I had been selected, but in later years in Parliament he did me the great honour of waiting in the chamber, or returning to it, to hear me out on Pakistan. 

The single most severe challenge to his championship of higher values in politics came in the wake of the Gujarat pogrom. After Home Minister Advani had visited the state and given Modi a clean chit, Vajpayee went to Ahmadabad. At his press conference, he said,  "I have just one message for the Chief Minister. He must adhere to 'rajdharma'. For the King or the ruler cannot discriminate between people, whether on the basis of birth, caste or religion." So stinging was the public rebuke that Modi butted in, "Hum bhi wahi kar rahe hain, sahib." Vajpayee did not respond. It is now learnt that he intended to dismiss Modi. (I am indebted to Manoj Mitta's The Fiction of Fact-finding: Modi & Godhra for these details)

That was the moment Vajpayee could have been considered for the Bharat Ratna. But, after having privately complained, "Is kalank ko mere moonh par laga diya", Vajpayee back-tracked – and the same Modi who had never visited a Muslim refugee camp in the aftermath of Godhra except when, for protocol reasons, he accompanied the Prime Minister to the Shah Alam camp, found his road opened to becoming Vajpayee's BJP successor in Race Course Road. That lapse makes it clear that while Vajpayee might be deserving of a high Padma award, giving him the Bharat Ratna is really going too far over the top.

(Mani Shankar Aiyar is a Congress MP in the Rajya Sabha)

http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/vajpayee-the-best-congressman-we-never-had-750117?pfrom=home-cheatsheet

Who has been the most admired among the 15 Prime Ministers India has had so far? The answer is a no-brainer. It was Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. As a towering leader of India's freedom movement, and later as the principal architect of modern India, Nehru scaled a height in the hearts of Indians that remains unequalled till today. Notwithstanding the hate-Nehru campaign unleased by some supporters of the Sangh Parivar in recent times, and notwithstanding the mistakes committed by Nehru himself, the mass adulation he commanded in his time is incontestable.

His daughter Indira Gandhi was also widely admired as a strong-willed leader. But that admiration was tinged with fear. Moreover, some of her actions made her the target of strong opposition. Rajiv Gandhi became immensely popular when he became Prime Minister, riding a sympathy wave, in the wake of his mother's tragic assassination. However, he, a good-hearted man and a guileless politician, lost much of his popularity in the wake of the Bofors scandal. His lack of maturity cost him dearly.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, on whom the Bharat Ratna is conferred today by President Pranab Mukherjee, comes after Nehru as India's most admired Prime Minister. However, his place among former Prime Ministers is unique in many ways. Unlike India and Rajiv, he did not have the advantage of belonging to a "dynasty". His rise in Indian politics was entirely due to his own innate talent, striving, struggle and sacrifice. He became the first genuinely non-Congress leader to win the people's mandate to lead India.

The party he belonged to before the Emergency – Bharatiya Jana Sangh – had only a marginal presence in India, both numerically and geographically. Yet, Vajpayee as the leader of the Jana Sangh was even then a widely admired national leader. In terms of the power of oratory, no other Prime Minister, not even Nehru, comes anywhere close to him. His meetings used to attract huge crowds even in non-Hindi areas. The fact that he is also a top-notch poet contributed to people's adulation for him. He had the rare ability to command the respect of even his political opponents. For example, Anna Durai, who led a powerful anti-Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu, once said that he would welcome Hindi if the language was as charming as the one spoken by "my friend Vajpayee".

Vajpayee was one of the heroes of the anti-Emergency struggle (1975-77) that restored democracy in India. His short stint as India's External Affairs Minister during the Janata Party's rule was outstanding. The sincere efforts he made to normalize India's relations with Pakistan and China laid the foundation for the subsequent steps in this direction by successive governments. In particular, his move to ease visa restrictions for Indians wanting to travel to Pakistan, and vice versa, endeared him to Indian Muslims and also to many people in Pakistan. This is not what they had expected from a leader who had belonged to what was widely perceived as a "Hindu" party.

These days it has become the favourite pastime of a section of supporters of the Bharatiya Janata Party to malign secularism and to emphasise the "Hindu" identity and agenda of their party. How completely antithetical this is to the worldview of Vajpayee who founded the party in 1980! The disintegration of the Janata Party – partly due to in-fighting by certain power-hungry leaders and partly due to the continued Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliation of erstwhile Jana Sangh members of the Janata Party – had convinced Vajpayee that both he and his newly founded party, BJP, had to move away from the "Hindu-only" image of the Jana Sangh.

It is instructive in this context to remind today's BJP leaders and supporters that Vajpayee wrote a courageous article titled "All responsible for the Janata crisis" in Indian Express on August 2, 1979. Even though he did not hold the RSS responsible for the crisis in the Janata Party, his words of advice for RSS leaders are highly relevant in today's context when a new equation of uncertainty and tension is emerging between RSS and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"… the RSS, claiming to be a social and cultural organisation, should have taken greater pains to demonstrate that they did not seek a political role. Patronising a press that takes sides in the sordid politics of power, involvement in youth bodies that interact with political parties, participating in trade union rivalries such as the one which recently brought enormous misery to the people of Delhi by callously cutting off the water supply – these do not help the RSS to establish its apolitical credentials.

It is possible that some people genuinely feel apprehensive about the RSS. A certain onus accordingly devolved on the RSS, an onus that has not been discharged effectively by the RSS. Its repudiation of the theocratic form of the state was welcome, yet the question could legitimately be asked – why does it not open its doors to non-Hindus?

The other course of action open to the RSS could be to function only as a Hindu religion-cum-social-cultural organisation wedded to the task of eradicating the evils, revitalising it to face the challenges of modern times. The kind of selfless service that the RSS has rendered in times of natural calamities has endeared it even to its critics and has established beyond doubt its capacity for constructive work for ameliorating the suffering of those who are in need of help. Such an organisation will draw support and sustenance from members of various political parties as has been the case with institutions like the Arya Samaj." (Emphasis added.)

At the BJP's founding conference in Mumbai in 1980, the person Vajpayee invited as the chief guest was a Muslim – Mohammed Currim Chagla, the widely respected former justice of the Supreme Court. Chagla predicted in his speech that Vajpayee would someday become India's Prime Minister.

Vajpayee's misgivings about the Ram Janmabhoomi movement launched by the BJP, in close cooperation with other RSS-affiliated organisations, are well known. His brief 13-day stint as Prime Minister in 1996 further convinced him that the BJP needed to mainstream itself as a party wedded to secularism. The result was the formation of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). His performance as a two-term Prime Minister heading the NDA government between 1998 and 2004 helped India become stronger in more ways than one.

According to me, the crowning glory of his Prime Ministership was not that he made India a nuclear weapons power. Nor was it the many landmark development projects he initiated. Rather, it was the sincerity and persistence with which he tried to normalise the situation in Jammu & Kashmir and to normalise India's relations with Pakistan. Despite Pakistan's betrayal in Kargil, he continued in his mission to establish peaceful and good neighbourly ties with Pakistan. He also established a framework for resolution of the border dispute with China. That framework, which has been carried forward by the governments of Dr Manmohan Singh and Modi, promises to yield a fruitful result.

I have no doubt that India's dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir would have been resolved had Vajpayee won a renewed mandate in 2004. The two principal reasons for the BJP's defeat in 2004 were: the communal conflagration in Gujarat in 2002 (which led to Muslim consolidation against the ruling party), and the disillusionment of the hardliners in the Sangh Parivar with Vajpayee.

Paradoxically, neither the BJP's defeat in 2004, and again in 2009, nor the fact that Vajpayee has been completely away from limelight due to his prolonged ill health, has diminished people's admiration for Vajpayee. The reason for this is the fact that here was a leader who always strove to rise above partisan politics, and also above the barriers in India's diverse society, for the larger good of the nation. Here was a leader of honesty and integrity who tried his best to bridge the inevitable contradictions in politics, always remaining faithful to the cause he believed in – the cause that had motivated him to leave the comforts of home in his teens and plunge into the uncertainties of public life.

In the highly, and increasingly competitive and confrontationist arena of Indian democracy, very few leaders have earned the Sanskrit epithet 'Ajaatashatru' – one who has only friends and no foes. Vajpayee is one of them. No wonder the entire nation has applauded the belated conferment of the highest civilian award on him.

Truly, the Bharat Ratna has been given to a Jewel of India.

(The writer was an aide to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.)

http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/what-made-bharat-ratna-vajpayee-an-extraordinary-leader-750011?pfrom=home-cheatsheet