Atal Bihari Vajpayee: A Man for All Seasons

by Kingshuk Nag

‘you can change friends but not your neighbours’,

Old timers still remember how, in November 2000, Atal declared a unilateral cease fire against Islamic militants in Kashmir in a prelude to peace talks. This cease fire was extended and Pervez Musharraf was invited to talks. Atal took such measures in the face of tough opposition even by a section of his party men. They argued that Pakistan could not be trusted because of its track record of starting the Kargil war just after the Lahore declaration a year earlier. However, Atal was unconvinced by these arguments.

‘He can be called eclectic akin to ancient philosophers who selected doctrines from various schools of thought. Thus he had imbibed and projected a catholicity of views,’ says Supriyo Banerjee, an academic from Kolkata.

Atal was described as ‘The Smiling Buddha’ by India Today in its 12 January 2004 issue while declaring him as its Man of the Year for 2003. The cover story by S. Prasannarajan described Atal as the ‘Oriental face of reason and resolution, of peace and restraint. Vajpayee is the eldest statesman of the East.’ The story also noted that Atal ‘handles power with a kind of sagely detachment. He uses renunciation as a means of reaffirmation’. Further Atal was described as ‘larger than the political size of his party. He is in it and above it, keeping his moral system beyond the grasp of real politik even beyond the demands of his own party. He has changed the grammar of leadership. His wisdom does not claim copyright over mass conscience. He is the balmy benefactor’. It was quite clear that his long experience of public affairs had made Atal a wise old man; only this accounts for the profuse praise heaped on him by India Today.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

He admitted in a mock trial in the Aap ki Adalat programme of Rajat Sharma that in his belief system, both Satyartha Prakash and Karl Marx could coexist and so could Churchill and Chamberlain. Incidentally, Satyartha Prakash (literally the light of truth) is an 1875 book written by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, which is the cornerstone of the philosophy of the Arya Samaj that is based on the concept of ‘Back to the Vedas’.

A liberal beyond expectation

If the history of the Indian republic over its sixty-five years of existence, can be likened to a football or hockey match, then Atal roughly played in the position of linkman. He was the man who linked the now-past Nehruvian era to the now-upon-us Modi era. He was the link between the first republic that was and the second republic that is in the works. Without someone like him straddling the two eras, the Indian republic would not be what it is now. This in a way is the ultimate tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the true mark of his statesmanship.

Adieu India's tallest leader