George Fernandes: The flame that raged during its time
There was a time when people who fought hard in the movements came into the parliament or assemblies. During the 80s, both houses of the Parliament had names such as S A Dange, A K Gopalan, Ram Manohar Lohia, Bhupesh Gupta, Prof Hiren Mukherjee, Madhu Limaye and other stalwarts. George Fernandes who died on Tuesday was also one such blaze of fire. Having risen out of people's movement to the heights of a union minister, George today is just a fond yet painful memory.
Born in 1930 at Bejai in Mangaluru, George’s parents had decided that their son would be a Pastor. But George created his own path, by becoming an activist in socialist movement, and even as a central minister later in his life. Having come in contact with socialist leader Ammembala Balappa during his days as a student in St Aloysius College in Mangalore, George had great command on Kannada, Konkani, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Malayalam and Urdu. Like most of coastal Kannadigas, George went to Mumbai to earn a living and came in contact with labour activist at ports, Demello. He was inducted into the labour movement by Demello and after that George never looked back.
His initiation into socialism was through Dr Ram Manohar Lohia. George fought Lok Sabha elections and defeated the undefeatable S K Patil in 1967. He organized the railway labourers in 1974 and went on a strike to shake the Indira Gandhi government. The then PM Indira Gandhi imposed emergency in 1975. George went underground then and was subsequently arrested. He was elected to Lok Sabha even when he was jailed. He waged a war against companies like Coca Cola and others when he became the minister for industries in Morarji Desai cabinet in 1977, the first ever non-Congress government in independent India.
The Kannadigas especially those in coastal Karnataka can never forget George Fernandes because he was instrumental in ensuring the Konkan Railway track came into existence. This was a long pending demand of the people of this region. Because before this came into being, people had to travel 48 hours in bus if they had to go to Mumbai. The travel time reduced drastically with this. He was a very pro-people person and a core activist. His last days were rather very painful.
The anti-Congress politics of Ram Manohar Lohia brought George to the doorstep of BJP. The socialist party lost its existence after the emergency and was merged with Janata Party. Socialists lost their base. But the RSS maintained its independent identity and created Bharatiya Janata Party. George remained in the old Janata Party. He then created Samata Party after th split with the Janata Party. But that didn’t have a strong base. Finally, having compromised with his ideals, George entered into a coalition with the BJP. He was forced to defend Modi in the Gujarat massacre in the parliament. His political career was marred with coffin controversy when he was the defence minister.
It’s not easy for a young boy who washed utensils in Mumbai hotels to be elected from the same mega city to represent in Lok Sabha. But his politics lost track later. Leaders such as Lalu, Mulayam and Nitish Kumar entered the scene after Mandal Report was implemented. They didn’t need George amidst them. Being a minority, George didn’t have his own vote bank too. Then the dependency on BJP became inevitable. This clouded his political career which was created with such care and clarity.
It wouldn’t be too inappropriate of one called George a tragic hero of Indian politics. He dreamt of socialism and then took to ideals that was totally contrast to his life. He spent his days in recluse since Alzheimers had taken control of his faculties. No one would even remember George a few years later. A man has both pluses and minuses in his life. George had more pluses. How can anybody forget a hero who rose from nothing and grew to be a towering figure in Indian politics? His departure is truly a loss for the labour movement in India.
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Kerala court sentences man to life imprisonment for murder of doctor at taluk hospital
Kollam (Kerala) (PTI): A teacher convicted in the sensational murder of Dr Vandana Das inside a hospital here was sentenced to life term on Saturday, and the prosecution said it will move an appeal seeking death penalty for the accused. The victim's family also batted for "maximum punishment".
Dr Das was brutally killed inside a taluk hospital in May 2023 by G Sandeep.
The Kollam Additional District and Sessions Court sentenced Sandeep to a total of 30 years for various offences under the then Indian Penal Code (IPC) and said that after he serves that period, his life imprisonment for Das' murder will commence, SPP Prathap G Padickal told reporters.
The detailed judgement is awaited.
The special public prosecutor said that he will recommend to the prosecution to file an appeal seeking enhancement of the life imprisonment to death penalty.
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He said that the prosecution had sought the maximum punishment for Sandeep, "but the court probably felt it was not a rarest-of-rare case" and that is why death penalty was not given.
The victim's father said that the verdict has come as a relief for the family, but he cannot authoritatively say whether his daughter has got justice.
He indicated his dissatisfaction with the punishment, saying that steps will be taken to seek its enhancement after discussions with the public prosecutor.
Dr Das' mother said that the family can only wish for the maximum punishment and it was up to the court to decide what sentence should be given.
She said that the family will go in appeal, but declined to comment on whether her daughter got justice.
She tearfully said that she wants the convict to suffer the same pain that her daughter underwent "as he stabbed her 27 times".
The court on March 17 had convicted Sandeep for various offences under the IPC, including murder, destruction of evidence and wrongful restraint.
It had also held him guilty under the provisions of the Kerala Healthcare Service Persons and Healthcare Service Institutions (Prevention of violence and damage to property) Act 2012.
Sandeep was brought to the taluk hospital by the police for medical treatment during the small hours of May 10, 2023 and he went on a sudden attacking spree using a pair of surgical scissors kept in the room where his leg injury was being dressed.
A school teacher by profession, he had initially attacked the police officers and a private person who had accompanied him to the hospital and then turned on the young Dr Das, who could not escape to safety.
She was stabbed several times and later succumbed to her injuries in a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram where she was rushed following the attack.
Dr Das was a native of the Kaduthuruthy area of Kottayam district and the only child of her parents.
She was a house surgeon at Azeezia Medical College Hospital and was working at the Kottarakkara taluk hospital as part of her training.
Sandeep had called the emergency number 112, claiming that his life was in danger. When local police located him, he was standing close by his home, surrounded by local residents and his relatives, and had a wound on his leg following an alleged quarrel.
He was then taken to the hospital for dressing the wound.
