Every home minister of the country has had to live literally in the shadow of the first occupant of the post. In the stairway of North Block leading to the home minister’s office, there is a lifesize portrait of Sardar Patel. He has been eulogised in textbooks as the ‘Iron Man of India’ and is probably the only Congress leader of the freedom movement who still enjoys widespread endorsement across the political class (don’t forget Mayawati has spoken out against the Mahatma). Which is perhaps why SushilKumar Shinde is finding life in the chair once occupied by the mighty Sardar a little too hot to handle.
From court constable to sub-inspector to two time Maharashtra chief
minister to a state governor to Lok Sabha leader and home minister,
Shinde is a shining emblem of upward mobility in politics. Being a dalit
in an age of caste assertion has been a big advantage, although to be
fair to the man from Solapur, he has never worn his caste on his sleeve.
His ever-smiling, non-confrontational persona has also been an asset in
a coalition era where ministers are expected not to rock the boat. And
yet, the home minister’s office is neither a Raj Bhavan-like sinecure
nor can it be reduced to a reward for unswerving ‘loyalty’.
Unfortunately, that is precisely what the UPA government appears to
have done. Historically, the home minister was the de facto number two
in government. Sardar was deputy prime minister and home minister. So
was LK Advani, who interestingly even sought to borrow the ‘
Lauh Purush’
brand from the original macho politician. Through the 60s and 70s, the
home minister of the country was seen to be a near-parallel authority to
the prime minister: giants like Raja
ji, YB Chavan, Lal Bahadur
Shastri, Indira Gandhi (who was both home minister and PM between 1970
and 73), and Charan Singh were appointed home ministers in recognition
of their political stature.
The transformation in the role of the home minister began with Indira
Gandhi appointing Giani Zail Singh to the post in 1980. Zail Singh’s
two years as home minister were a disaster, a period in which the idea
of Sikh separatism was incubated, the north-east was pushed to the brink
and Kashmir began to simmer. Rather than being held accountable, Zail
Singh was rewarded with the Presidency in 1982. Giani
ji almost
rewrote the concept of political sycophancy by commenting, “If my leader
had said to pick up a broom and be a sweeper, I would have done that!”
The parallels between Zail Singh and Shinde are uncanny. Both are
Dalits, both were chief ministers with a limited political base, and
both are seen as archetypal Gandhi family ‘retainers’. In fact, in his
first interview after becoming home minister, I had asked Mr Shinde for
his response to the charge that he was made home minister only because
he would do the bidding of 10 Janpath. “ Whatever I am is because of
Sonia
ji’s blessings and I am grateful to her. I will do whatever she wants me to.” It almost sounded like Giani
ji all over again.
If Punjab was the wound which Giani
ji inflicted on the
nation, Shinde too threatens to open fresh sores and re-ingite old
flames. First it was his rather loose ‘Hindu terror’ remark at the
Congress C
hintan Shivir in Jaipur. For a moment, Shinde
appeared to forget that he was the home minister of the country and not
the political agent of the Congress party. By directly accusing the BJP
and RSS of running terror camps, he has created a new antagonism which
has only further damaged relations between the government and
opposition. Worse, he has given an opportunity to terror merchants
across the border to exploit the situation to their advantage. Right
wing terror does exist, but it must be tackled with hard evidence and
independent prosecution, not by making partisan accusations from party
platforms.
Ironically, within weeks of his ‘Hindu terror’ remark controversy, Mr
Shinde’s handling of the Afzal Guru hanging raises even more grave
doubts of his ability to handle sensitive national security issues. It
is possible that Mr Shinde was only following orders, or the advise of
senior government officials, when he chose to treat the hanging like a
bureaucratic exercise that did not deserve even basic human dignity .
But the sight of a home minister with a glint in the eye and a smirk on
the lips announcing that Afzal had been hanged and his family had been
‘informed’ via speedpost will go down as one of the more unfortunate
examples of the Indian state’s rapidly declining moral fibre, a country
where a Gandhian-like conscience has now been replaced by a carnivorous
desire for revenge. If after a year of sustained peace, angry Kashmiris
have found a new symbol to channelise their sense of victimhood and
alienation, then Shinde and his advisers must take prime responsibility.
Wouldn’t a more civilised system at least have provided one chance for
the family to see Afzal before he was hanged?
Kashmir’s festering problem has a long and troubled legacy which no
home minister has been able to conquer. But what of Telangana? After
boldly stating that he would be announcing a decision on Telangana’s
future in a month, Mr Shinde has now chosen to waffle once again on the
contentious issue. His procrastination has further damaged the
government’s credibility and could cost the Congress party dearly in the
next general elections where Andhra Pradesh still holds the key. It
maybe too late for him to change now, but Shinde will just have to learn
that as home minister, you just cant smile your way through a crisis.
Post-script: Mr Shinde was shifted from the power
ministry to North Block on the very day the country witnessed one of its
worst ever blackouts. Clearly, at times in Congress politics, nothing
succeeds like failure!
By
Rajdeep Sardesai
