George Fernandes
Encyclopedia
George Mathew Fernandes (born 3 June 1930) is an India
n trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha
from Bihar
. He is a key member of the Janata Dal (United)
, and was the founder of the Samata Party
. He has held several ministerial portfolios including communications, industry
, railways, and defence, and was the only Christian
minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
's cabinet.
A native of Mangalore
, Fernandes was sent to Bangalore
in 1946 to be trained as a priest
. He moved to Bombay in 1949, and joined the socialist trade union movement. As a fiery trade union leader, Fernandes organised many strikes and bandh
s in Bombay in the 1950s and 1960s. The most notable agitation he organised was the 1974 Railway strike, when he was President of the All India Railwaymen's Federation. Fernandes went underground during the Emergency era (1975), as he took on then prime minister Indira Gandhi
for imposing a state of emergency, but was arrested in 1976, and tried in the infamous Baroda dynamite case
.
After Emergency was lifted, he won the Muzaffarpur
seat in Bihar in 1977, and was appointed the Union Minister for Industries. During his tenure as union minister, he ordered American multinationals IBM
and Coca Cola to leave the country, due to investment violations. He was the driving force behind the Konkan Railway
project during his tenure as railway minister from 1989 to 1990. He was a defence minister in the National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) Government (1998–2004), when the Kargil War
broke out between India and Pakistan
, and India conducted its nuclear tests at Pokhran
. Though a veteran socialist, Fernandes has been dogged by various controversies like the Barak Missile scandal
, and Tehelka Scandal.
Pinto), in Mangalore
to a Mangalorean Catholic family. The eldest of six children, his siblings are Lawrence, Michael, Paul, Aloysius, and Richard. His mother was a great admirer of King George V (who was also born on June 3), hence she named her first son George. His father was employed by the Peerless Finance group as an insurance executive, and headed their office of South India
for several years. George was fondly called "Gerry" in close family circles. He completed his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) at St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
.
In the orthodox tradition of the family, he, being the eldest son, was sent for religious education to St Peter's Seminary in Bangalore
after his schooling at the age of 16, to be trained as a Roman Catholic priest
from 1946 to 1948. At the age of 19, he left the seminary due to sheer frustration because he was appalled that the rectors ate better food and sat at higher tables than the seminarians. He later confessed that, "I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned." He began work at the age of 19, organising exploited workers in the road transport industry and in the hotels and restaurants in Mangalore.
The pivotal moment that thrust Fernandes into the limelight was his decision to contest the 1967 general elections. He was offered a party ticket for the Bombay South
constituency by the Samyukta Socialist Party
against the politically more popular Sadashiv Kanoji Patil of the Indian National Congress
in Bombay. Sadashiv Kanoji Patil, or S.K. Patil, as he was popularly known, was a seasoned politician, with two decades of experience behind him. Nevertheless, Fernandes won against Patil by garnering 48.5% of the votes, thus earning his nickname, "George the Giantkiller". The shocking defeat ended Patil's political career.
Fernandes emerged as a key leader in the upsurge of strike actions in Bombay during the second half of the 1960s but, by the beginnings of the 1970s, the impetus of his leadership had largely disappeared. In 1969, he was chosen General Secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party, and in 1973 became the Chairman of the Socialist Party. After the 1970s, Fernandes failed to make major inroads in Bombay's growing private-sector industries.
, Bihar
, striking workers and their families squatted on the tracks. More than 10,000 workers of the Integral Coach Factory
in Madras marched to the Southern Railway headquarters to express their solidarity with the striking workers. Similar protests erupted across the country.
The strike, which started on 8 May 1974, at the time of economic crisis, provoked strong government reactions and massive arrests. According to Amnesty International
, 30,000 trade unionists were detained, most held under preventive detention laws. Those arrested included not only members of the strike action committee and trade unionists, but also railwaymen who participated in the strike. The strike was called off unilaterally on 27 May 1974 by the Action Committee. As explained later by Fernandes, "the strike was called off because those conducting the strike had started speaking in different voices." Although large number of prisoners were released, among them Fernandes, thousands remained in detention, charged with specific offences. The strike led to a sense of insecurity and threat that led to Indira Gandhi
’s imposition of the Emergency era in 1975. Previous strikes were aimed at companies or industries, but this stike was aimed at the government, and from its ramifications proved to be the most successful of disastrous industrial actions in Indian history.
, declared a state of emergency
on 25 June 1975 due to internal political disturbances. Accordingly, all fundamental rights enjoyed in the Indian Constitution were suspended. Political dissidents, newspaper reporters, opposition leaders who opposed the emergency were jailed. George Fernandes, along with like-minded leaders, opposed what he saw as a blatant misuse of power. A warrant was issued in Fernandes' name and subsequently he went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. When the police failed to capture him, they arrested and tortured his brother, Lawrence Fernandes, to reveal his brother's whereabouts. Snehalata Reddy, a chronic asthmatic was arrested for being in touch with George Fernandes and, as she was not given adequate care in the prison, died soon after her release.
In July 1975, Fernandes arrived in Baroda. There, he met Kirit Bhatt, who was president of Baroda Union of Journalists, and Vikram Rao, a staff correspondent of The Times of India
at Baroda, both who opposed the Emergency. They used to meet and discuss on what could be done to topple the autocratic Indira Gandhi Government. An industrialist friend, Viren J. Shah
, Managing Director of Mukand Ltd
., helped them find contacts for procuring dynamite, used extensively in quarries around Halol
(near Baroda). They aimed at blowing up toilets in government offices and cause explosions near the venue of public meetings to be addressed by Indira Gandhi. The idea was not to injure anybody, but only create a scare. The explosions were to be carried out either late in the night or hours before the public meeting was to begin to avoid injury. A plan was hatched to blow up a dais four hours before Indira Gandhi was to address a meeting in Varanasi
. The conspiracy later came to be known as the infamous Baroda dynamite case
.
According to Bhatt, there were two more plans that never worked out. Fernandes also wanted to rob a train used to carry weapons from Pimpri (near Poona) to Bombay. The weapons were to be used to blast government offices. Yet another plan was to take the help of other countries by using ham radio.
On 10 June 1976, he was finally arrested in Calcutta on charges of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the imposition of emergency, in what came to be known as the Baroda dynamite case
. After his arrest, Amnesty International
members cabled the Government requesting that he be given immediate access to a lawyer and that his physical protection be guaranteed. Three world leaders from Germany
, Norway
, and Austria
were believed to have cabled Indira Gandhi and cautioned her against harming Fernandes. From Baroda, the accused were shifted to Tihar Jail
. The accused were never chargesheeted.
After the emergency was lifted on 21 March 1977, fresh general elections were held in India. The Congress Party, led by Indira Gandhi, suffered a defeat at the hands of the Janata Party
, a coalition created in 1977 out of several small parties that opposed Gandhi's Emergency era. The Janata Party and its allies came to power, headed by Morarji Desai
, who became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India
. Fernandes won the Muzaffarpur
seat in Bihar by an over 300,000 vote margin in 1977 from jail where he was lodged in the Baroda dynamite case, despite he not even visiting the constituency. He was also appointed the Union Minister for Industries. During his union ministership, he clashed with American multinationals like IBM
and Coca Cola insisting them to implement FERA, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
, which had been passed under Indira Gandhi's government. Under the FERA, foreign investors could not own more than 40 percent of the share capital in Indian enterprises. The two multinationals decided to shut down their Indian operations, when Fernandes pressed ahead with rigid enforcement of FERA.
(RSS) while being in the ministry in the Janata Party. The leaders of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, among them Atal Bihari Vajpayee
and Lal Krishna Advani
, refused to give up their allegiance with the RSS, leading to a split within the Janata Party. The issue of "dual membership" caused Morarji Desai
to lose the vote of confidence, and his government was reduced to a minority in the Lok Sabha. After the Janata Party started disintegrating in 1979, Charan Singh left it to form the Janata (Secular) Party and with support from the Congress Party, replaced Desai as Prime Minister.
In the seventh general elections
held in 1980, the Janata (Secular) ministry failed to maintain a majority in the Lok Sabha, and Congress once again became the ruling party. Fernandes retained his Parliamentary seat from Muzaffarpur in 1980, and sat in the opposition. He contested for the Lok Sabha
in 1984 from Bangalore North
constituency against future Railway minister
and Congress candidate C. K. Jaffer Sheriff, but lost the election by a margin of 40,000 votes. He then decided to shift his base to Bihar in 1989, when an anti-Congress wave was sweeping the country in the wake of the Bofors scandal
, and won Muzaffarpur in the 1989
and 1991
general elections, He later joined the Janata Dal
, a party which was formed from the Janata Party at Bangalore
in August 1988. His second tenure as Minister of Railways in the V.P. Singh's government from 1989 to 1990, though short-lived, was quite eventful. He was the driving force behind the Konkan Railway
project, connecting Mangalore
with Bombay. The project happened to be the first major development in the history of Indian Railways since independence.
Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party
in 1994, which became a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), a party which is the current form of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh
. BJP formed a short-lived government in the 1996 general elections
along with the Samata Party and other allies. The government survived only for 13 days, since the BJP could not gather enough support from other parties to form a majority. Fernandes later served in the opposition along with BJP during the two United Front
governments (1996–1998) led by Janata Dal
ministers H. D. Deve Gowda
and Inder Kumar Gujral
. After the collapse of the United Front ministry led by Gujral, BJP and its allies won a slender majority in the 1998 general elections
. The government lasted only for 13 few months, due to the non-cooperation of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
(AIADMK) leader Jayalalitha
.
After the collapse of the second BJP-led coalition government, BJP and its allies formed a 24 party alliance called National Democratic Alliance
(NDA), which became the first non-Congress coalition government in post-independence India to survive a full five-year term (1999–2004). Later, Fernandes became the convenor of NDA. On 27 July 1999, the Janata Dal again splitted into two factions, the Janata Dal (United)
and the Janata Dal (Secular)
. In 2003, Fernandes reunited with the Janata Dal (United), and also merged his Samata Party
with it.
in both the second and third National Democratic Alliance
governments (1998–2004). It was during his tenure as the defence minister, when the Kargil war
over Kashmir
broke out between India and Pakistan
in 1999. The war began when heavily armed Pakistan-backed intruders dug themselves in at heights of 16000 feet (4,876.8 m) – 18000 feet (5,486.4 m) on the Indian side of the Line of Control
(LOC) along an 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) stretch north of Kargil
. They began attacking the strategic highway
linking Srinagar
and Leh. As a result, the Indian army
undertook the Operation Vijay
to push back the Pakistani intruders and regain the occupied territories. The inability of the Indian intelligence
and military agencies to detect the infiltration early received criticism, both by the opposition as well as the media. However, Fernandes has refused to acknowledge the failure
of intelligence agencies in detecting infiltration along Kargil sector.
In May 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests at the Pokharan range in Rajasthan
. Earlier a staunch supporter of nuclear disarmament
, Fernandes openly endorsed the NDA Government's decision to test the nuclear bombs. He was also involved in skirmishes with the then Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
, Vishnu Bhagwat
, over promotion of Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Bhagwat was subsequently sacked over the issue. After the Tehelka defence scandal broke out in March 2001, Fernandes quit as defence minister, but was reappointed to the post later. Fernandes has been the only defence minister of a nuclear power who has had a picture of Hiroshima bombing
in his office. He has made 18 visits to the icy heights of the 6600 metres (4.1 mi) Siachen glacier in Kashmir, which holds the record of being "the world's highest battlefield". He was known for overseeing a huge increase in India's defence budget as compared to the allocations made by previous governments.
(UPA) in the 2004 general elections
. Later, political observers alleged that Fernandes was locked in a bitter party rivalry with his one-time friend, Samata Party co-founder, Nitish Kumar
. In the 2009 general elections
, he contested from Muzaffarpur as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the Janata Dal (United) on health grounds, but lost the election. On 30 July 2009, Fernandes filed his nomination as an independent candidate for the mid-term poll being held for the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav
. The Janata Dal (United) did not field any candidate against him, which led to his being elected unopposed. He was sworn in on 4 August 2009.
(LTTE), a separatist organisation which sought to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka
. Before joining the Vajpayee government in 1997, he organised a controversial public convention of pro-LTTE elements in New Delhi
. In July 1998, he reportedly stopped the Indian Navy
from intercepting ships suspected of carrying illegal arms to Tamil guerrilla groups. Fernandes was also a patron of the LTTE-backed Fund Raising Committee, set up to help the 26 accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The Sri Lankan government apparently stated that, "the LTTE's biggest supporter in India is Defence Minister George Fernandes." the Tibetan refugees fighting for freedom against China and Burmese rebels group, fighting against the military government in Myanmar
.
Mr. Fernandes is a very active supporter of many Burmese anti-government movements. Quoted regularly on exiled Burmese radio stations, he often criticises the junta and its members on a wide array of topics. He opposes the current government's drive to root out anti-Burmese insurgents along the Burmese-Indian border. During his tenures in office, gun runners were allowed to do business using Indian territories, often as stop overs en route from Thailand
to Bangladesh
.
He also revealed the infamous "Operation Leech" incident, which resulted in the capture of Arakan Army insurgents on one of India's islands in the Andaman Sea
. He also fights for the welfare and also release of anti-Burmese rebels held by the Indian Government. Once, when the National United Party of Arakan complained to Mr. Fernandes of its members being captured in Indian waters, while carrying arms, he issued orders restricting Indian military movements, and all counter-terror / counter-insurgency operations conducted in the region to be asked for approval from the Central Government.
He also claims that the several islands in the Andaman Sea, including the Coco Islands
, which belong to Myanmar, were gifted by the former Prime Minister of India Nehru to the Burmese, rather than part of the original territory gained at Independence.
in which a group of reporters, armed with hidden cameras, from an investigative journal, Tehelka
, posing as representatives of a fictitious arms company, appeared to bribe the Bharatiya Janata Party
President, Bangaru Laxman
, a senior officer in the Indian Army
and Jaya Jaitley, the General Secretary of the Samata Party
and Fernandes' companion.
The scandal caused uproar all over India and Fernandes was forced to resign from his post as a Defence Minister. He was subsequently cleared by the one man commission headed by retired Justice Phukan. The Phukan Committee Report was rejected by the UPA
Government headed by the Congress Party
and a new committee headed by Justice K Venkataswami was appointed. The Committee, after lengthy investigation, also absolved Fernandes in the case.
(CBI) registered a First information report
(FIR) against Fernandes, his associate Jaya Jaitley, and former navy chief Admiral Sushil Kumar for alleged irregularities in purchasing the Barak missile system from Israel
in 2000. Fernandes, however, claimed that the scientific adviser to the Defence Minister in NDA
Government (1998–2004), who later became the President of India
, APJ Abdul Kalam, had cleared the missile deal.
as "India's enemy number one". He later regretted for his statements, saying it was wrongly interpreted by the media. He has also criticised China for providing sophisticated weapons to Pakistan to build its missiles, and has rapped the Chinese for strengthening their military across the Himalayas
in Tibet
.
Fernandes has claimed that he was strip-searched twice at Dulles Airport in the US Capital area, when he was defence minister—once on an official visit to Washington
in early 2002 and another time while en route to Brazil
in mid 2003. The details of the strip-search were mentioned in American foreign policy analyst Strobe Talbott
's book Engaging India - Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb. However, the US embassy in Delhi
issued a formal denial that Fernandes had been strip-searched, and said that, "Fernandes was not strip-searched but a security wand was waved over him when a key in his pocket set off the metal detector." Subsequently, the then United States Deputy Secretary of State
, Richard Armitage
, personally apologised to Fernandes over the incident. He was accused into the 2002 coffin scam, following allegations that 500 poor quality aluminium caskets were bought from the United States
at rates 13 times more than the actual price, to transport the bodies of slain soldiers, after the Kargil War. However, the CBI gave a clean chit to Fernandes in the scam in its 2009 charge sheet.
monthly Konkani Yuvak (Konkani Youth) in 1949. The same year, he was the editor of the Raithavani weekly in Kannada
. The Dockman weekly in English, which had ceased publication, reappeared under the editorship of Fernandes in 1952–53. Though not a prolific writer, Fernandes has penned several books on politics such as What Ails the Socialists (1972), The Kashmir Problem, Railway Strike of 1974, Dignity for All: Essays in Socialism and Democracy (1991), and his autobiography
titled George Fernandes Speaks (1991). He was also the editor of an English monthly, The Other Side, and the Chairman on the editorial board of the Hindi
monthly Pratipaksh. A human rights activist, Fernandes has been a member of the Amnesty International
, People's Union for Civil Liberties
, and the Press Council of India
.
on a flight back to Delhi
from Calcutta. Fernandes, then the general secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party
, was returning from Bangladesh
while Kabir was on her way back from the battlefront where she had gone as an assistant director of the Red Cross. They began dating and were married on 21 July 1971. They have a son, Sean Fernandes, who is an investment banker based in New York
. Fernandes and Kabir separated in the mid-1980s Jaya Jaitly has been Fernandes' companion since 1984.
Fernandes speaks ten languages—Konkani
, English
, Hindi
, Tulu
, Kannada
, Marathi
, Tamil
, Urdu
, Malayalam, and Latin. Konkani is his mother tongue. He learnt Marathi and Urdu in jail, and Latin while he was in the seminary in his early youth. He is extremely fluent in Hindi and English.
Fernandes is suffering from Alzheimer
's and Parkinson
's diseases, and in January 2010 was undergoing treatment at Baba Ramdev
's ashram
at Haridwar
for the diseases at the request of Leila Kabir, who had recently returned to his life. In February 2010, Fernandes' brothers were reported to have been considering a court order for medical treatment and visitation; Kabir and Sean Fernandes are alleged to have forcibly removed Fernandes to an undisclosed location. In July 2010, the Dehli High Court ruled that Fernandes would stay with Kabir and that Fernandes' brothers would be able to visit.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n trade unionist, politician, journalist, agriculturist, and member of Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha
The Rajya Sabha or Council of States is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Rajya means "state," and Sabha means "assembly hall" in Sanskrit. Membership is limited to 250 members, 12 of whom are chosen by the President of India for their expertise in specific fields of art, literature,...
from Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
. He is a key member of the Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
, and was the founder of the Samata Party
Samata Party
The Samata Party is a political party in India. Initially formed as an offshoot of the Janata Dal in 1994 by Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes. The reason given was that the Janata Dal had shifted to casteism...
. He has held several ministerial portfolios including communications, industry
Minister of Commerce and Industry (India)
The Minister of Commerce and Industry is the head of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and one of the cabinet ministers of the Government of India....
, railways, and defence, and was the only Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
minister in Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from...
's cabinet.
A native of Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
, Fernandes was sent to Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
in 1946 to be trained as a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
. He moved to Bombay in 1949, and joined the socialist trade union movement. As a fiery trade union leader, Fernandes organised many strikes and bandh
Bandh
Bandh , originally a Hindi word meaning 'closed', is a form of protest used by political activists in some countries like India and Nepal. During a Bandh, a political party or a community declares a general strike....
s in Bombay in the 1950s and 1960s. The most notable agitation he organised was the 1974 Railway strike, when he was President of the All India Railwaymen's Federation. Fernandes went underground during the Emergency era (1975), as he took on then prime minister Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
for imposing a state of emergency, but was arrested in 1976, and tried in the infamous Baroda dynamite case
Baroda dynamite case
Baroda dynamite case is the term used for the criminal case launched by Indira Gandhi government in India in Indian Emergency against the opposition leader George Fernandes and others....
.
After Emergency was lifted, he won the Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur Town is a town in Muzaffarpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of Muzaffarpur district and Tirhut division....
seat in Bihar in 1977, and was appointed the Union Minister for Industries. During his tenure as union minister, he ordered American multinationals IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Coca Cola to leave the country, due to investment violations. He was the driving force behind the Konkan Railway
Konkan Railway
The Konkan Railway is a railway line which runs along the Konkan coast of India. It was constructed and is operated by the Konkan Railway Corporation...
project during his tenure as railway minister from 1989 to 1990. He was a defence minister in the National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
(NDA) Government (1998–2004), when the Kargil War
Kargil War
The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
broke out between India and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
, and India conducted its nuclear tests at Pokhran
Pokhran-II
Pokharan-II refers to test explosions of five nuclear devices, three on 11 May and two on 13 May 1998, conducted by India at the Pokhran test range. These nuclear tests resulted in a variety of sanctions against India by a number of major states....
. Though a veteran socialist, Fernandes has been dogged by various controversies like the Barak Missile scandal
Barak Missile Scandal
The Barak Missile Scandal is a case of alleged defence corruption relating to the purchase of Barak Missile Systems by India from Israel. The case is currently under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation, and several people including the Samata Party ex-treasurer R.K. Jain have been...
, and Tehelka Scandal.
Early life
George Fernandes was born on 3 June 1930 to John Joseph Fernandes and Alice Martha Fernandes (néeNEE
NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...
Pinto), in Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
to a Mangalorean Catholic family. The eldest of six children, his siblings are Lawrence, Michael, Paul, Aloysius, and Richard. His mother was a great admirer of King George V (who was also born on June 3), hence she named her first son George. His father was employed by the Peerless Finance group as an insurance executive, and headed their office of South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
for several years. George was fondly called "Gerry" in close family circles. He completed his Secondary School Leaving Certificate (SSLC) at St. Aloysius College, Mangalore
St. Aloysius College (Mangalore)
St. Aloysius College is a Jesuit college in Mangalore, Karnataka, India. It is situated on a campus atop Light House Hill, overlooking the Arabian Sea....
.
In the orthodox tradition of the family, he, being the eldest son, was sent for religious education to St Peter's Seminary in Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
after his schooling at the age of 16, to be trained as a Roman Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
from 1946 to 1948. At the age of 19, he left the seminary due to sheer frustration because he was appalled that the rectors ate better food and sat at higher tables than the seminarians. He later confessed that, "I was disillusioned, because there was a lot of difference between precept and practice where the Church was concerned." He began work at the age of 19, organising exploited workers in the road transport industry and in the hotels and restaurants in Mangalore.
Life in Bombay
After leaving the seminary, Fernandes moved to Bombay in 1949 in search of a job. His life was tough in Bombay, and he had to sleep on the streets, until he got a job as a proofreader for a newspaper. He relates to the beginning of his career by saying, "When I came to Bombay, I used to sleep on the benches of Chowpatty Sands. In the middle of the night policemen used to come and wake me up and ask me to move on." He came into contact with veteran union leader Placid D'Mello, and the socialist Rammanohar Lohia, who were the greatest influences on his life. Later, he joined the socialist trade union movement. He rose to prominence as a trade unionist and fought for the rights of labourers in small scale service industries such as hotels and restaurants. Emerging as a key figure in the Bombay labour movement in the early 1950s, Fernandes was a central figure in the unionisation of sections of Bombay labour in the 1950s. As a labour organiser, he served many prison terms when his workforce engaged in fights with company goons. He served as a member of the Bombay Municipal Corporation from 1961 to 1968. He won in the civic election in 1961 and, until 1968, continuously raised the problems of the exploited workers in the representative body of the metropolis.The pivotal moment that thrust Fernandes into the limelight was his decision to contest the 1967 general elections. He was offered a party ticket for the Bombay South
Mumbai South (Lok Sabha Constituency)
Mumbai South Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 48 Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra state in western India.-Assembly segments:...
constituency by the Samyukta Socialist Party
Samyukta Socialist Party
Samyukta Socialist Party , was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party in 1964. In 1972 SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party....
against the politically more popular Sadashiv Kanoji Patil of the Indian National Congress
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
in Bombay. Sadashiv Kanoji Patil, or S.K. Patil, as he was popularly known, was a seasoned politician, with two decades of experience behind him. Nevertheless, Fernandes won against Patil by garnering 48.5% of the votes, thus earning his nickname, "George the Giantkiller". The shocking defeat ended Patil's political career.
Fernandes emerged as a key leader in the upsurge of strike actions in Bombay during the second half of the 1960s but, by the beginnings of the 1970s, the impetus of his leadership had largely disappeared. In 1969, he was chosen General Secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party, and in 1973 became the Chairman of the Socialist Party. After the 1970s, Fernandes failed to make major inroads in Bombay's growing private-sector industries.
1974 Railway strike
The most notable strike organised by Fernandes, when he was President of the All India Railwaymen's Federation, was the All India Railway strike of 1974, where the entire nation was brought to a halt. The strike was the result of grievances by railway workers that had been built up over two decades before the strike. Though there were three Pay commissions between 1947 to 1974, none of them increased the cost of living of the workers. In February 1974, the National Coordinating Committee for Railwaymen's Struggle (NCRRS) was formed to bring all the railway unions, the central trade unions and political parties in the Opposition together to prepare for the strike to start on 8 May 1974. In Bombay, electricity and transport workers, as well as taxi drivers joined the protests. In GayaGaya, India
Gaya is the second largest city of Bihar, India, and it is also the headquarters of Gaya District.Gaya is 100 kilometers south of Patna, the capital city of Bihar. Situated on the banks of Falgu River , it is a place sanctified by both the Hindu and the Buddhist religions...
, Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, striking workers and their families squatted on the tracks. More than 10,000 workers of the Integral Coach Factory
Integral Coach Factory
Started in 1952, the Integral Coach Factory is located in Chennai, India. Its primary products are rail coaches. Most of the coaches manufactured are supplied to the Indian Railways, but it has also manufactured coaches for railway companies in other countries, including Thailand, Burma, Taiwan,...
in Madras marched to the Southern Railway headquarters to express their solidarity with the striking workers. Similar protests erupted across the country.
The strike, which started on 8 May 1974, at the time of economic crisis, provoked strong government reactions and massive arrests. According to Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, 30,000 trade unionists were detained, most held under preventive detention laws. Those arrested included not only members of the strike action committee and trade unionists, but also railwaymen who participated in the strike. The strike was called off unilaterally on 27 May 1974 by the Action Committee. As explained later by Fernandes, "the strike was called off because those conducting the strike had started speaking in different voices." Although large number of prisoners were released, among them Fernandes, thousands remained in detention, charged with specific offences. The strike led to a sense of insecurity and threat that led to Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
’s imposition of the Emergency era in 1975. Previous strikes were aimed at companies or industries, but this stike was aimed at the government, and from its ramifications proved to be the most successful of disastrous industrial actions in Indian history.
Emergency era and union ministry
The reigning Prime Minister of India, Indira GandhiIndira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
, declared a state of emergency
State of emergency
A state of emergency is a governmental declaration that may suspend some normal functions of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, alert citizens to change their normal behaviours, or order government agencies to implement emergency preparedness plans. It can also be used as a rationale...
on 25 June 1975 due to internal political disturbances. Accordingly, all fundamental rights enjoyed in the Indian Constitution were suspended. Political dissidents, newspaper reporters, opposition leaders who opposed the emergency were jailed. George Fernandes, along with like-minded leaders, opposed what he saw as a blatant misuse of power. A warrant was issued in Fernandes' name and subsequently he went underground to escape arrest and prosecution. When the police failed to capture him, they arrested and tortured his brother, Lawrence Fernandes, to reveal his brother's whereabouts. Snehalata Reddy, a chronic asthmatic was arrested for being in touch with George Fernandes and, as she was not given adequate care in the prison, died soon after her release.
In July 1975, Fernandes arrived in Baroda. There, he met Kirit Bhatt, who was president of Baroda Union of Journalists, and Vikram Rao, a staff correspondent of The Times of India
The Times of India
The Times of India is an Indian English-language daily newspaper. TOI has the largest circulation among all English-language newspaper in the world, across all formats . It is owned and managed by Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd...
at Baroda, both who opposed the Emergency. They used to meet and discuss on what could be done to topple the autocratic Indira Gandhi Government. An industrialist friend, Viren J. Shah
Viren J. Shah
Viren J. Shah is a former Governor of the Indian State of West Bengal. Mr. Shah is a Former Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He was a member of Lok Sabha from 1967 to 1970 and of Rajya Sabha during 1975 -1981 and 1990-1996. Mr. Shah is Chairman Emeritus of Mukand Steel, a steel and...
, Managing Director of Mukand Ltd
Mukand Ltd
Mukand Ltd India based manufacturer of stainless steel, alloy steel, stainless steel billets, exporter of hot rolled bars. The company is engaged in general engineering work and manufactures iron & steel products, steel castings, steel structurals, EOT and other cranes, and various types of...
., helped them find contacts for procuring dynamite, used extensively in quarries around Halol
Halol
Halol is a city and a municipality in Panchmahal district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Located in Western india, it has an average elevation of 499 metres .- Industry :...
(near Baroda). They aimed at blowing up toilets in government offices and cause explosions near the venue of public meetings to be addressed by Indira Gandhi. The idea was not to injure anybody, but only create a scare. The explosions were to be carried out either late in the night or hours before the public meeting was to begin to avoid injury. A plan was hatched to blow up a dais four hours before Indira Gandhi was to address a meeting in Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
. The conspiracy later came to be known as the infamous Baroda dynamite case
Baroda dynamite case
Baroda dynamite case is the term used for the criminal case launched by Indira Gandhi government in India in Indian Emergency against the opposition leader George Fernandes and others....
.
According to Bhatt, there were two more plans that never worked out. Fernandes also wanted to rob a train used to carry weapons from Pimpri (near Poona) to Bombay. The weapons were to be used to blast government offices. Yet another plan was to take the help of other countries by using ham radio.
On 10 June 1976, he was finally arrested in Calcutta on charges of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the imposition of emergency, in what came to be known as the Baroda dynamite case
Baroda dynamite case
Baroda dynamite case is the term used for the criminal case launched by Indira Gandhi government in India in Indian Emergency against the opposition leader George Fernandes and others....
. After his arrest, Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
members cabled the Government requesting that he be given immediate access to a lawyer and that his physical protection be guaranteed. Three world leaders from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
were believed to have cabled Indira Gandhi and cautioned her against harming Fernandes. From Baroda, the accused were shifted to Tihar Jail
Tihar Jail
Tihar Prisons , also called Tihar Jail and Tihar Ashram , is the largest complex of prisons in South Asia. It is located at Tihar village, approximately 7 km from Chanakya Puri, to the west of New Delhi, India. The surrounding area is called Hari Nagar.The prison is maintained as a...
. The accused were never chargesheeted.
After the emergency was lifted on 21 March 1977, fresh general elections were held in India. The Congress Party, led by Indira Gandhi, suffered a defeat at the hands of the Janata Party
Janata Party
The Janata Party was an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the state of emergency imposed by the government of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her Indian National Congress...
, a coalition created in 1977 out of several small parties that opposed Gandhi's Emergency era. The Janata Party and its allies came to power, headed by Morarji Desai
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...
, who became the first non-Congress Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister of India
The Prime Minister of India , as addressed to in the Constitution of India — Prime Minister for the Union, is the chief of government, head of the Council of Ministers and the leader of the majority party in parliament...
. Fernandes won the Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur
Muzaffarpur Town is a town in Muzaffarpur district in the Indian state of Bihar. It serves as the headquarters of Muzaffarpur district and Tirhut division....
seat in Bihar by an over 300,000 vote margin in 1977 from jail where he was lodged in the Baroda dynamite case, despite he not even visiting the constituency. He was also appointed the Union Minister for Industries. During his union ministership, he clashed with American multinationals like IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and Coca Cola insisting them to implement FERA, the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
Foreign Exchange Regulation Act
The Foreign Exchange Regulation Act was legislation passed by the Indian Parliament in 1973 by the government of Indira Gandhi and came into force with effect from January 1, 1974...
, which had been passed under Indira Gandhi's government. Under the FERA, foreign investors could not own more than 40 percent of the share capital in Indian enterprises. The two multinationals decided to shut down their Indian operations, when Fernandes pressed ahead with rigid enforcement of FERA.
Party memberships and railway ministry
During his tenure as a minister in the Janata Party, he continued to be uncomfortable with certain elements of the broad-based Janata coalition, especially with the leaders of the erstwhile Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Jan Sangh in the Union Cabinet. In a debate preceding a vote of confidence two years into the government's tenure in 1979, he vehemently spoke out against the practice of permitting members to retain connections to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak SanghRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or National Patriotic Organization), also known the Sangh, is a right-wing Hindu nationalist, paramilitary, volunteer, and allegedly militant organization for Hindu males in India...
(RSS) while being in the ministry in the Janata Party. The leaders of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, among them Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Atal Bihari Vajpayee is an Indian statesman who served as the tenth Prime Minister of India three times – first for a brief term of 13 days in 1996, and then for two terms from 1998 to 2004. After his first brief period as Prime Minister in 1996, Vajpayee headed a coalition government from...
and Lal Krishna Advani
Lal Krishna Advani
Lal Kishanchand Advani known as Lal Krishna Advani is a Veteran Indian politician. A former president of the Bharatiya Janata Party , which is currently the major opposition party in the Indian Parliament. He also served as a Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004...
, refused to give up their allegiance with the RSS, leading to a split within the Janata Party. The issue of "dual membership" caused Morarji Desai
Morarji Desai
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai was an Indian independence activist and the fourth Prime Minister of India from 1977–79. He was the first Indian Prime Minister who did not belong to the Indian National Congress...
to lose the vote of confidence, and his government was reduced to a minority in the Lok Sabha. After the Janata Party started disintegrating in 1979, Charan Singh left it to form the Janata (Secular) Party and with support from the Congress Party, replaced Desai as Prime Minister.
In the seventh general elections
7th Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 7th Lok Sabha, elected December 1979-January 1980. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.- Important members :* Speaker:...
held in 1980, the Janata (Secular) ministry failed to maintain a majority in the Lok Sabha, and Congress once again became the ruling party. Fernandes retained his Parliamentary seat from Muzaffarpur in 1980, and sat in the opposition. He contested for the Lok Sabha
8th Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 8th Lok Sabha, elected December 1984. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.- Important members :* Speaker:...
in 1984 from Bangalore North
Bangalore North (Lok Sabha constituency)
Bangalore North Lok Sabha constituency is one of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka state in southern India.-Assembly segments:...
constituency against future Railway minister
Ministry of Railways (India)
The Ministry of Railways in India is in charge of the Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport in India. Dinesh Trivedi is the current minister responsible for railways....
and Congress candidate C. K. Jaffer Sheriff, but lost the election by a margin of 40,000 votes. He then decided to shift his base to Bihar in 1989, when an anti-Congress wave was sweeping the country in the wake of the Bofors scandal
Bofors scandal
The Bofors scandal was a major corruption scandal in India in the 1980s; the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and several others were accused of receiving kickbacks from Bofors AB for winning a bid to supply India's 155 mm field howitzer...
, and won Muzaffarpur in the 1989
9th Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 9th Lok Sabha, elected May-June 1989. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.- Important members :* Speaker:...
and 1991
10th Lok Sabha
List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, elected during Indian general election, 1991 held during May-June 1991. The Lok Sabha is the lower house in the Parliament of India.-Important members:* Speaker:...
general elections, He later joined the Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
, a party which was formed from the Janata Party at Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
in August 1988. His second tenure as Minister of Railways in the V.P. Singh's government from 1989 to 1990, though short-lived, was quite eventful. He was the driving force behind the Konkan Railway
Konkan Railway
The Konkan Railway is a railway line which runs along the Konkan coast of India. It was constructed and is operated by the Konkan Railway Corporation...
project, connecting Mangalore
Mangalore
Mangalore is the chief port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located about west of the state capital, Bangalore. Mangalore lies between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghat mountain ranges, and is the administrative headquarters of the Dakshina Kannada district in south western...
with Bombay. The project happened to be the first major development in the history of Indian Railways since independence.
Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party
Samata Party
The Samata Party is a political party in India. Initially formed as an offshoot of the Janata Dal in 1994 by Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes. The reason given was that the Janata Dal had shifted to casteism...
in 1994, which became a key ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
(BJP), a party which is the current form of the erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh
Bharatiya Jana Sangh
The Bharatiya Jana Sangh existed from 1951 to 1980, whereupon it was succeeded by the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of India's largest political parties...
. BJP formed a short-lived government in the 1996 general elections
Indian general election, 1996
General elections were held in India in 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force the country back to the polls in 1998. The United Front, was created and got support from 332...
along with the Samata Party and other allies. The government survived only for 13 days, since the BJP could not gather enough support from other parties to form a majority. Fernandes later served in the opposition along with BJP during the two United Front
United Front (India)
The United Front was a coalition government of 13 political parties formed in India after the 1996 general elections. The coalition formed two governments in India between 1996 and 1998. The government was headed by two Prime Ministers from Janata Dal - H. D. Deve Gowda, and I. K. Gujral...
governments (1996–1998) led by Janata Dal
Janata Dal
Janata Dal is an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Congress, and the Jan Morcha led by V. P...
ministers H. D. Deve Gowda
H. D. Deve Gowda
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda was the 11th Prime Minister of India and the 14th chief minister of the state of Karnataka ....
and Inder Kumar Gujral
Inder Kumar Gujral
Inder Kumar Gujral served as the 12th Prime Minister of India. Gujral was the first PM to govern exclusively from the Rajya Sabha; , only he and Manmohan Singh have done so.-Early life:...
. After the collapse of the United Front ministry led by Gujral, BJP and its allies won a slender majority in the 1998 general elections
Indian general election, 1998
General elections were held in India in 1998, after the government elected in 1996 collapsed and the 12th Lok Sabha was convened. New elections were called when Indian National Congress left the United Front government led by I.K...
. The government lasted only for 13 few months, due to the non-cooperation of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam is a state political party in the states of Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry, India. The party was founded by M. G. Ramachandran and is now headed by J. Jayalalithaa. The party headquarters is in Royapettah, Chennai, and was gifted to the party in 1986 by its...
(AIADMK) leader Jayalalitha
J. Jayalalithaa
Jayalalithaa Jayaram ; born 24 February 1948) commonly referred to as J. Jayalalitha, is the Chief Minister of the state of Tamil Nadu, India. She is the incumbent general secretary of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam , a Dravidian party. She is called Amma and Puratchi Thalaivi by her...
.
After the collapse of the second BJP-led coalition government, BJP and its allies formed a 24 party alliance called National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
(NDA), which became the first non-Congress coalition government in post-independence India to survive a full five-year term (1999–2004). Later, Fernandes became the convenor of NDA. On 27 July 1999, the Janata Dal again splitted into two factions, the Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal (United)
Janata Dal is a political party in India with political presence mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand. Janta Dal party mentor and patron is "Veteran Socialist leader" George Fernandes; George Fernandes broke away from the erstwhile Janata Dal and formed the Samata Party in 1994. Presently it is led...
and the Janata Dal (Secular)
Janata Dal (Secular)
The Janata Dal is a Centre-left ಕನ್ನಡ: ಜನತಾ ದಳIndian political party led by former Prime Minister of India H.D. Deve Gowda.The party recognized as state party in the states of Karnataka and Kerala . It was formed in July 1999 by the split of Janata Dal party. It has political presence mainly in...
. In 2003, Fernandes reunited with the Janata Dal (United), and also merged his Samata Party
Samata Party
The Samata Party is a political party in India. Initially formed as an offshoot of the Janata Dal in 1994 by Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes. The reason given was that the Janata Dal had shifted to casteism...
with it.
Defence ministry
Fernandes served as the Defence Minister of IndiaDefence Minister of India
The Ministry of Defence is India's federal department allocated the largest level of budgetary resources and charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and the Indian armed forces.The Indian Armed Forces ; the...
in both the second and third National Democratic Alliance
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
governments (1998–2004). It was during his tenure as the defence minister, when the Kargil war
Kargil War
The Kargil War ,, also known as the Kargil conflict, was an armed conflict between India and Pakistan that took place between May and July 1999 in the Kargil district of Kashmir and elsewhere along the Line of Control...
over Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
broke out between India and Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
in 1999. The war began when heavily armed Pakistan-backed intruders dug themselves in at heights of 16000 feet (4,876.8 m) – 18000 feet (5,486.4 m) on the Indian side of the Line of Control
Line of Control
The term Line of Control refers to the military control line between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir—a line which, to this day, does not constitute a legally recognized international boundary but is the de facto border...
(LOC) along an 80 kilometres (49.7 mi) stretch north of Kargil
Kargil District
Kargil is a district of Ladakh, Kashmir, India. Kargil lies near the Line of Control facing Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's Baltistan to the west, and Kashmir valley to the south. Zanskar is part of Kargil district along with Suru, Wakha and Dras valleys...
. They began attacking the strategic highway
National Highway 1D (India)
National Highway 1D , also known as Srinagar-Leh Highway, is a National Highway entirely within the state of Jammu & Kashmir in North India that connects Srinagar to Leh in Ladakh. It is one of the only two roads that connect Ladakh with the rest of India, the other being Leh-Manali Highway...
linking Srinagar
Srinagar
Srinagar is the summer seasonal capital of Jammu and Kashmir. It is situated in Kashmir Valley and lies on the banks of the Jhelum River, a tributary of the Indus. It is one of the largest cities in India not to have a Hindu majority. The city is famous for its gardens, lakes and houseboats...
and Leh. As a result, the Indian army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
undertook the Operation Vijay
Operation Vijay (1999)
In the 1999 Kargil Conflict between India and Pakistan, Operation Vijay was the name of the successful Indian operation to push back the infiltrators from the Kargil Sector...
to push back the Pakistani intruders and regain the occupied territories. The inability of the Indian intelligence
Intelligence Bureau (India)
The Intelligence Bureau also known as IB is India's internal intelligence agency and reputedly the world's oldest intelligence agency. It was recast as the Central Intelligence Bureau in 1947 under the Ministry of Home Affairs...
and military agencies to detect the infiltration early received criticism, both by the opposition as well as the media. However, Fernandes has refused to acknowledge the failure
Intelligence Failure
Intelligence Failure is the eighth studio album of the actor Viggo Mortensen and seventh with the avant-garde guitarist Buckethead, released on 2005. The album combines traditional and original compositions, as well as clips of public speeches, most notably of George W. Bush and members of his...
of intelligence agencies in detecting infiltration along Kargil sector.
In May 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests at the Pokharan range in Rajasthan
Rajasthan
Rājasthān the land of Rajasthanis, , is the largest state of the Republic of India by area. It is located in the northwest of India. It encompasses most of the area of the large, inhospitable Great Indian Desert , which has an edge paralleling the Sutlej-Indus river valley along its border with...
. Earlier a staunch supporter of nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
, Fernandes openly endorsed the NDA Government's decision to test the nuclear bombs. He was also involved in skirmishes with the then Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
The Chief of the Naval Staff is the commander and typically the highest-ranking officer in the Indian Navy. The position is abbreviated CNS in Indian Navy cables and communication...
, Vishnu Bhagwat
Vishnu Bhagwat
Vishnu Bhagwat is a former Chief of the Naval Staff of India. He is the first and only chief of naval staff who was sacked while still serving. It was for the first time in the history of independent India that a service headquarter had refused to implement the order of an incumbent government.-...
, over promotion of Vice-Admiral Harinder Singh as Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff. Bhagwat was subsequently sacked over the issue. After the Tehelka defence scandal broke out in March 2001, Fernandes quit as defence minister, but was reappointed to the post later. Fernandes has been the only defence minister of a nuclear power who has had a picture of Hiroshima bombing
Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
During the final stages of World War II in 1945, the United States conducted two atomic bombings against the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, the first on August 6, 1945, and the second on August 9, 1945. These two events are the only use of nuclear weapons in war to date.For six months...
in his office. He has made 18 visits to the icy heights of the 6600 metres (4.1 mi) Siachen glacier in Kashmir, which holds the record of being "the world's highest battlefield". He was known for overseeing a huge increase in India's defence budget as compared to the allocations made by previous governments.
Post defence ministership
The NDA Government lost power to the Congress-led United Progressive AllianceUnited Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
(UPA) in the 2004 general elections
Indian general election, 2004
Legislative elections were held in India in four phases between April 20 and May 10, 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha...
. Later, political observers alleged that Fernandes was locked in a bitter party rivalry with his one-time friend, Samata Party co-founder, Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumār is an Indian politician currently serving as Chief Minister of Bihar, an eastern state of India. He leads the Janata Dal party...
. In the 2009 general elections
Indian general election, 2004
Legislative elections were held in India in four phases between April 20 and May 10, 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha...
, he contested from Muzaffarpur as an independent candidate after being denied a ticket by the Janata Dal (United) on health grounds, but lost the election. On 30 July 2009, Fernandes filed his nomination as an independent candidate for the mid-term poll being held for the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav
Sharad Yadav
Sharad Yadav, a politician from the Janata Dal party, is currently a Member of the Parliament of India representing the Madhepura constituency of Bihar in the Lok Sabha...
. The Janata Dal (United) did not field any candidate against him, which led to his being elected unopposed. He was sworn in on 4 August 2009.
Support to Secessionist Groups
Fernandes has supported and endorsed many secessionist movements and groups. He has been a long time supporter of The Liberation Tigers of Tamil EelamLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
(LTTE), a separatist organisation which sought to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. Before joining the Vajpayee government in 1997, he organised a controversial public convention of pro-LTTE elements in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. In July 1998, he reportedly stopped the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
from intercepting ships suspected of carrying illegal arms to Tamil guerrilla groups. Fernandes was also a patron of the LTTE-backed Fund Raising Committee, set up to help the 26 accused in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. The Sri Lankan government apparently stated that, "the LTTE's biggest supporter in India is Defence Minister George Fernandes." the Tibetan refugees fighting for freedom against China and Burmese rebels group, fighting against the military government in Myanmar
Myanmar
Burma , officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar , is a country in Southeast Asia. Burma is bordered by China on the northeast, Laos on the east, Thailand on the southeast, Bangladesh on the west, India on the northwest, the Bay of Bengal to the southwest, and the Andaman Sea on the south....
.
Mr. Fernandes is a very active supporter of many Burmese anti-government movements. Quoted regularly on exiled Burmese radio stations, he often criticises the junta and its members on a wide array of topics. He opposes the current government's drive to root out anti-Burmese insurgents along the Burmese-Indian border. During his tenures in office, gun runners were allowed to do business using Indian territories, often as stop overs en route from Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
to Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
.
He also revealed the infamous "Operation Leech" incident, which resulted in the capture of Arakan Army insurgents on one of India's islands in the Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....
. He also fights for the welfare and also release of anti-Burmese rebels held by the Indian Government. Once, when the National United Party of Arakan complained to Mr. Fernandes of its members being captured in Indian waters, while carrying arms, he issued orders restricting Indian military movements, and all counter-terror / counter-insurgency operations conducted in the region to be asked for approval from the Central Government.
He also claims that the several islands in the Andaman Sea, including the Coco Islands
Coco Islands
Coco Islands are a pair of strategically important islands located in the eastern Indian Ocean, politically administered by Burma under Yangon Division. They are allegedly leased to the People's Republic of China since 1994...
, which belong to Myanmar, were gifted by the former Prime Minister of India Nehru to the Burmese, rather than part of the original territory gained at Independence.
Tehelka Scandal
Fernandes' name figured prominently in Operation West End, a sting operationSting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person committing a crime. A typical sting will have a law-enforcement officer or cooperative member of the public play a role as criminal partner or potential victim and go along with a suspect's actions to gather...
in which a group of reporters, armed with hidden cameras, from an investigative journal, Tehelka
Tehelka
Tehelka is an Indian weekly political magazine under the editorship of Tarun Tejpal known for its undercover exposé style of journalism. Its cover price is Rs 20 per issue. The publication began in 2000 as a news website, Tehelka.com...
, posing as representatives of a fictitious arms company, appeared to bribe the Bharatiya Janata Party
Bharatiya Janata Party
The Bharatiya Janata Party ,; translation: Indian People's Party) is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Indian National Congress. Established in 1980, it is India's second largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament...
President, Bangaru Laxman
Bangaru Laxman
Bangaru Laxman is an Indian politician. He was a minister of state for railways in Government of India from 1999 to 2000. Later he became President of Bharatiya Janata Party but resigned soon after Tehelka corruption case.-Early life:...
, a senior officer in the Indian Army
Indian Army
The Indian Army is the land based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. With about 1,100,000 soldiers in active service and about 1,150,000 reserve troops, the Indian Army is the world's largest standing volunteer army...
and Jaya Jaitley, the General Secretary of the Samata Party
Samata Party
The Samata Party is a political party in India. Initially formed as an offshoot of the Janata Dal in 1994 by Nitish Kumar and George Fernandes. The reason given was that the Janata Dal had shifted to casteism...
and Fernandes' companion.
The scandal caused uproar all over India and Fernandes was forced to resign from his post as a Defence Minister. He was subsequently cleared by the one man commission headed by retired Justice Phukan. The Phukan Committee Report was rejected by the UPA
United Progressive Alliance
The United Progressive Alliance is a ruling coalition of center-left political parties heading the government of India. The coalition is led by the Indian National Congress , which is currently the single largest political party in the Lok Sabha...
Government headed by the Congress Party
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress is one of the two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. It is the largest and one of the oldest democratic political parties in the world. The party's modern liberal platform is largely considered center-left in the Indian...
and a new committee headed by Justice K Venkataswami was appointed. The Committee, after lengthy investigation, also absolved Fernandes in the case.
Barak Missile scandal
On 10 October 2006, the Central Bureau of InvestigationCentral Bureau of Investigation
The Central Bureau of Investigation is a government agency of India that serves as a criminal investigation body, national security agency and intelligence agency. It was established on 1 April 1963 and evolved from the Special Police Establishment founded in 1941...
(CBI) registered a First information report
First Information Report
A First Information Report or FIR is a written document prepared by the police in India, Pakistan and Japan when they receive information about the commission of a cognizable offence. It is a report of information that reaches the police first in point of time and that is why it is called the First...
(FIR) against Fernandes, his associate Jaya Jaitley, and former navy chief Admiral Sushil Kumar for alleged irregularities in purchasing the Barak missile system from Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 2000. Fernandes, however, claimed that the scientific adviser to the Defence Minister in NDA
National Democratic Alliance (India)
The National Democratic Alliance is a centre-right coalition of political parties in India. At the time of its formation in 1998, it was led by the Bharatiya Janata Party and had thirteen constituent parties. Its convenor is Sharad Yadav, and its honorary chairman is former prime minister Atal...
Government (1998–2004), who later became the President of India
President of India
The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...
, APJ Abdul Kalam, had cleared the missile deal.
As defence minister
Following the Pokhran nuclear tests in 1998, he openly branded ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
as "India's enemy number one". He later regretted for his statements, saying it was wrongly interpreted by the media. He has also criticised China for providing sophisticated weapons to Pakistan to build its missiles, and has rapped the Chinese for strengthening their military across the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
in Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
.
Fernandes has claimed that he was strip-searched twice at Dulles Airport in the US Capital area, when he was defence minister—once on an official visit to Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
in early 2002 and another time while en route to Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
in mid 2003. The details of the strip-search were mentioned in American foreign policy analyst Strobe Talbott
Strobe Talbott
Nelson Strobridge "Strobe" Talbott III is an American foreign policy analyst associated with Yale University and the Brookings Institution, a former journalist associated with Time magazine and diplomat who served as the Deputy Secretary of State from 1994 to 2001.-Early life:Born in Dayton, Ohio...
's book Engaging India - Diplomacy, Democracy and the Bomb. However, the US embassy in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
issued a formal denial that Fernandes had been strip-searched, and said that, "Fernandes was not strip-searched but a security wand was waved over him when a key in his pocket set off the metal detector." Subsequently, the then United States Deputy Secretary of State
United States Deputy Secretary of State
The Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the chief assistant to the Secretary of State. If the Secretary of State resigns or dies, the Deputy Secretary of State becomes Acting Secretary of State until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was...
, Richard Armitage
Richard Armitage (politician)
Richard Lee Armitage, GCMG AC CNZM was the 13th United States Deputy Secretary of State, the second-in-command at the State Department, serving from 2001 to 2005.-Early life and military career:...
, personally apologised to Fernandes over the incident. He was accused into the 2002 coffin scam, following allegations that 500 poor quality aluminium caskets were bought from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at rates 13 times more than the actual price, to transport the bodies of slain soldiers, after the Kargil War. However, the CBI gave a clean chit to Fernandes in the scam in its 2009 charge sheet.
Writings, journalism, and other work
Fernandes liked writing and journalism even during his student days. He was the editor of a Konkani languageKonkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
monthly Konkani Yuvak (Konkani Youth) in 1949. The same year, he was the editor of the Raithavani weekly in Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
. The Dockman weekly in English, which had ceased publication, reappeared under the editorship of Fernandes in 1952–53. Though not a prolific writer, Fernandes has penned several books on politics such as What Ails the Socialists (1972), The Kashmir Problem, Railway Strike of 1974, Dignity for All: Essays in Socialism and Democracy (1991), and his autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
titled George Fernandes Speaks (1991). He was also the editor of an English monthly, The Other Side, and the Chairman on the editorial board of the Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
monthly Pratipaksh. A human rights activist, Fernandes has been a member of the Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
, People's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties
People's Union for Civil Liberties is a human rights body formed in India in 1976 by socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan, as the People's Union for Civil Liberties and Democratic Rights .-The indian emergency:...
, and the Press Council of India
Press Council of India
The Press Council Of India is a statutory body in India that governs the conduct of the print media. It is one of the most important bodies that sustain democracy, as it has supreme power in regards to the media to ensure that freedom of speech is maintained. However, it is also empowered to hold...
.
Family and personal life
Fernandes met Leila Kabir, the daughter of educationist and former Union minister Humayun KabirHumayun Kabir
Humayun Zahiruddin Amir-i Kabir or Humayun Kabir was an Indian educationist, politician, writer and philosopher.-Ancestry and early life:...
on a flight back to Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
from Calcutta. Fernandes, then the general secretary of the Samyukta Socialist Party
Samyukta Socialist Party
Samyukta Socialist Party , was a political party in India from 1964 to 1972. SSP was formed through a split in the Praja Socialist Party in 1964. In 1972 SSP was reunited with PSP, forming the Socialist Party....
, was returning from Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
while Kabir was on her way back from the battlefront where she had gone as an assistant director of the Red Cross. They began dating and were married on 21 July 1971. They have a son, Sean Fernandes, who is an investment banker based in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Fernandes and Kabir separated in the mid-1980s Jaya Jaitly has been Fernandes' companion since 1984.
Fernandes speaks ten languages—Konkani
Konkani language
KonkaniKonkani is a name given to a group of several cognate dialects spoken along the narrow strip of land called Konkan, on the west coast of India. This is, however, somewhat an over-generalisation. Geographically, Konkan is defined roughly as the area between the river Damanganga to the north...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Tulu
Tulu language
The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
, Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
, Marathi
Marathi language
Marathi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people of western and central India. It is the official language of the state of Maharashtra. There are over 68 million fluent speakers worldwide. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India and is the fifteenth most...
, Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
, Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, Malayalam, and Latin. Konkani is his mother tongue. He learnt Marathi and Urdu in jail, and Latin while he was in the seminary in his early youth. He is extremely fluent in Hindi and English.
Fernandes is suffering from Alzheimer
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...
's and Parkinson
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
's diseases, and in January 2010 was undergoing treatment at Baba Ramdev
Swami Ramdev
Swami Ramdev is popularly known as Baba Ramdev. This young monk has attained immence popularity in a very short span of time. His yog-camps are attended by a large number of people in India and abroad...
's ashram
Ashram
Traditionally, an ashram is a spiritual hermitage. Additionally, today the term ashram often denotes a locus of Indian cultural activity such as yoga, music study or religious instruction, the moral equivalent of a studio or dojo....
at Haridwar
Haridwar
Haridwar is an important pilgrimage city and municipality in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India...
for the diseases at the request of Leila Kabir, who had recently returned to his life. In February 2010, Fernandes' brothers were reported to have been considering a court order for medical treatment and visitation; Kabir and Sean Fernandes are alleged to have forcibly removed Fernandes to an undisclosed location. In July 2010, the Dehli High Court ruled that Fernandes would stay with Kabir and that Fernandes' brothers would be able to visit.
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