Gobind Thukral

IT was summer of 1982, Punjab was on the boil.  There was daily run of killings, kidnappings and sleazy politics was to the fore. At the same time there were all sorts of attempts to diffuse the situating from getting worse. Mrs. Indira Gandhi was under tremendous pressure to initiate talks with the agitating Akalis and the band led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhinderanwale. Many secret and not so secret talks had failed and reputation of many leaders sullied. Mrs. Gandhi then persuaded one of the most sober, intelligent public men, Mr. Swaran Singh to the fore. The idea was to break the impasse and talk to all factions of the Akalis. An astute politician of the standing of Mr. Swaran Singh could do this delicate yet tough e job. For this  tall and wiry former foreign  minister who had held the fort for 23 long years as a cabinet minister of three prime ministers, it was at one level a chance to prove his mettle as a meaningful negotiator and also to save  his home state, Punjab from a n utter destruction.

How would this astute diplomat move was subject of animated discussion in the country.  I met him to understand his moves at his jalandhar residence and had some fair idea of his commitment and sincerity. He was asking more questions from a journalist than answering. On the appointed day, I along with another colleague was with Bhinderanwale at the parapet of the Guru Nanak Niwas, in the precincts of the Golden Temple, the fortified bastion of the maverick Sant. Mr. Swaran Singh came to the adjacent building of Teja Singh Samndri Hall, dressed in his usual white chudirdar pajama and kurta. He aligned from a car, there was just one more person and the driver. No caravan and no publicity tamasha. He went straight to meet Sant Harchand Singh Longowal.

At the parapet, Bhinderanwale disused with us how he should treat the guest about to visit him. He offered no one a chair. Either you could stand and talk to him as he sat crossed legged at a huge bed or you could sit on the carpet spread on the floor. It was suggested that the gentleman who was about to visit him on an important mission was one of the tallest of Punjab leaders and should be treated appropriately.  He readily agreed and a sewadar was asked to bring in a chair. No one was to be on the parapet including his armed guards.  When Mr. Swaran Singh had finished with Sant Longowal, he crossed over to the next building and went up the stairs. As he crossed me, he just smiled and went straight. Here was diplomacy at its best. The Sant insisted that he take the chair and the former foreign minister quietly said that ordinary folks should not sit at an equal place before holy men and sat on the floor. What followed was that the Sant had lost his usual bluff and bluster and listened patiently to what the visitor told him.

The impasse was broken   and effort for peace took wings, It is another matter that two other quarrelling yet powerful senior Congress leaders, Giani Zail Singh and Mr Darbara Singh played as  spoilers and Mrs. Gandhi helplessly  watched the situation drift to  violence, Operation Blue Star and massacre of Sikhs in Delhi and Mrs. Gandhi’s own gruesome killing.

No doubt as a , he was India’s longest serving cabinet minister. He entered the cabinet of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, in 1952 and remained in successive governments until he resigned in November 1975.

He served as India's foreign minister from 1964 to 1966, and again from 1970 to 1974. He also served as the Indian defense minister from 1966 to 1970, and again from 1974 to 1975. He was also President of the National Congress in 1977, and from 1978 to 1979. He was one of the main architects of the Tashkent Agreement, Shimla Agreement and Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan.  His competent handling of the Indus waters resulted in Ravi waters coming to the share of India.

He came to the notice of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru as part of the negotiating team of Indus waters. Prime Minister’s office misplaced the file on the subject and the Indian team on its visit to Pakistan, Found itself in a quandary. He had  read the file once and he argued India’s ease Para by Para from his memory.

His greatest, achievement was the turnaround of world opinion when he got United Nations to support India on Kashmir at the end of a marathon session. His Conference, organizational skills, diplomacy and great integrity were hall-marks of his long stint in the union cabinet.

Sardar Swaran Singh was chairperson of the committee entrusted with the responsibility of studying the Constitution of India in 1976 during the national emergency. Soon after the declaration of the Emergency, Mrs. Gandhi constituted a committee under his chairmanship to study the question of amending the constitution in the light of past experiences. Based on its recommendations, the government incorporated several changes to the Constitution including the Preamble, through the Forty-second amendment (passed in 1976 and came into effect on January 3, 1977).

Born in village Shankar in the Doaba  of Punjab in the house of jamadar Partap Singh, he showed early promise. He got a first class degree in M.Sc Physics in Panjab University and stood first in the State. He did Law from Panjab University and started law practice. He was married in 1925 to Charan Kaur and had four daughters. He entered politics in 1946, when he was elected a member of the Punjab legislative assembly.He was awarded Padma Vibhushan award in 1992.

A portrait of late Sardar Swaran Singh, is scheduled to the unveiled in the Central Hall of Parliament by Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh on  22nd of December.

BACK