The first Indian Prime Minister of Punjabi origin

1919-2012

Inder Kumar Gujral, who has died aged 92, was the first Prime Minister of India of Punjabi origin.

Gujral, who migrated from Lahore to Delhi after partition, rose to become the Prime Minister with a big slice of luck after he came up through the ranks - starting as vice-president in New Delhi Municipal Committee in the 1950s later to become a Union minister and then India's ambassador to the USSR.

Gujral’s ancestral house in Shumali mohalla Jhelum close to the river. 2009

photo by Amarjit Chandan

Born in Jhelum, he was educated at DAV College, Haily College of Commerce and Forman Christian College, Lahore. He took active part in student politics leading the Lahore Students Union a front organisation of the Indian communist party. His contemporary comrades in the LSU were Mahmood, Mazhar & Tahira Ali Khan, Romesh Chander, Jagjit Singh Anand, Daniyal Latifi, Rajbans, Subhadra Joshi and Satya Pal Dang.

His father Avtar Narain and mother Pushpa were Congress activists in the freedom struggle. Both of them were jailed a few times. Their home in Jhelum was a citadel on which patriots converged in time of need. The family had played host to the tallest among them including Jawahar Lal Nehru. The Gujrals’ house in Shumali Mohalla Jhelum was like Anand Bhawan in Allahabad. Avtar Narain was an eminent lawyer. He sacrificed his thriving practice and courted imprisonment several times. When Pakistan’s constituent assembly met, Inder helped his father in framing Pakistan’s Constitution. Avtar Narain was a member of the assembly as all MLAs of undivided Punjab were automatically members of Pakistan’s constituent assembly. He one of the 19 Hindus who signed the pledge of allegiance to Pakistan. He made Jalandhar his second home after partition.

The Sikhs would miss Gujral the most. He was a gentleman in politics. He had rivals but no enemy. His humility was his greatest asset

Braving heavy odds with his perseverance, resilience and never-say-die attitude, Gujral first became vice-president of the New Delhi Municipal Committee in 1958. He formally joined Congress and six years later. Indira Gandhi, to whom he said he “owed everything”, gave him a ticket with which he entered Rajya Sabha in April 1964.

This was the beginning of a long innings, both in the national politics and diplomacy.

He was part of the 'coterie' that helped Indira Gandhi become Prime Minister in 1966. In Gandhi's government, he held several portfolios as Union minister for Communications, parliamentary affairs and housing.

He was the information and broadcasting minister when Emergency was imposed in June 1975, which brought in arbitrary press censorship.

Since he refused to kowtow to the powers-that-be, he was taken out of the ministry and sent by Indira Gandhi as ambassador to Moscow, a post he handled with tact and finesse. He continued even during the tenures of her two successors, Morarji Desai and Charan Singh.

He left the Congress after his stint in Moscow, later joining the Janata Dal. He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 1989 from Jalandhar in East Punjab, re-elected in 1998 when he was interim prime minister but he decided not to contest the 1999 elections, choosing to retire from electoral politics.

Talking about his brief prime ministerial stint, Gujrat said: “...my main task had been to ward off attacks from various factional leaders so that I could keep my chin up. But I really did not feel a sense of achievement that I did during my tenure as minister of external affairs.”

He spent his last decade writing and speaking mostly in chaste Punjabi largely on foreign policy issues and was much sought after in intellectual and academic circles. He also published Matters of Discretion: An Autobiography (Hay House, 2011). He was an ardent admirer of Faiz and his poetry.

Kuldip Nayar, journalist and ex-diplomat, writes: “Those were the days [1980s - the period of Sikh and Indian state terrorism] when the Sikhs felt alienated. Gujral constituted a Punjab Group, which was able to narrow the distance between the Congress government and the Akalis. The Punjab Group persuaded the Akalis to give up their anti-Centre stance but the Congress was far from convinced. Gujral was the most dejected person but he did not give up his work towards conciliation. The effort was frustrating but rewarding as it was from Gujral’s heart. The Sikhs would miss him the most. …Gujral was a gentleman in politics. He had rivals but no enemy. His humility was his greatest asset. When Jyoti Basu offered him the position of prime ministership on behalf of the giant front of different political parties, he said there were better persons than him. Basu replied that in their opinion he was the best choice.”

Gujral’s wife Sheila predeceased him in 2011. His brother Satish the painter and two sons survive him. One of them Naresh is a member of Rajya Sabha the upper house of Indian parliament.

Inder Kumar Gujral, politician and statesman, born December 4 1919 Jhelum, Punjab; died November 30 2012 Gurgaon