A staunch nationalist...
Old news, but a reminder to the thread that India is serious about stamping out terrorism. The reinstatement of Fernandes was not popular in Pakistan.
in.news.yahoo.com
Monday October 15, 4:40 PM
India's Fernandes no stranger to controversy
NEW DELHI, Oct 15 (AFP) -
George Fernandes, reinstated as India's defence minister Monday, seven months after he resigned over an arms bribery scandal, is popular among the military rank and file but his outspoken character has often caused ripples within the government.
The former trade union leader with a chequered political career had to quit office in March after an Internet news site broadcast video showing a top army general, officials of his ministry and leaders of his Samata Party accepting bribes from journalists posing as arms dealers.
A staunch nationalist, Fernandes, 70, has time and again raised the banner of stiff socialist opposition against multi-national companies trying to enter India.
In the 1970s, he shot to fame for briefly forcing Coca-Cola to withdraw its operations from the country.
Fernandes came to prominence in 1975 when he took on then prime minister Indira Gandhi for imposing a state of emergency.
He was once detained on charges, later dropped, of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the state of emergency.
His first term as defence minister was in 1998 when India conducted its shock nuclear tests.
Following the tests, Fernandes caused a diplomatic rift with China, which he described as India's "enemy number one." He later denied the statement, saying it was wrongly interpreted.
A year later, he was thrust back in the limelight when India and Pakistan engaged in a bitter border conflict in Kashmir which was triggered when Pakistan-backed forces occupied key heights in the Kargil sector.
Fernandes took a degree of flak for his handling of the 10-week Kargil conflict, especially over the failure of defence intelligence agencies to detect the initial incursions.
As a minister, however, he was a morale booster for the armed forces, and was particularly popular among soldiers on the front.
He made 18 visits to the icy heights of the Siachen glacier, "the world's highest battlefield" where Indian and Pakistani troops guard their respective stretches of the glacier through the year.
His interaction with the forces at all levels from officers to the soldiers helped him gain the confidence of the troops, and he was also known for overseeing a huge increase in India's defence budget.
But controversy accompanied him. In 1999 when he held a convention of organisations supporting Sri Lanka's Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelamon the lawns of his official residence.
Fernandes openly supported the LTTE's struggle for a separate state in northern Sri Lanka.
The same year he had a highly public spat with then navy chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, who he sacked for alleged insubordination.
Bhagwat responded by accusing Fernandes of riding roughshod over the wishes of his service chiefs and accused the minister of handing out dodgy contracts.
He is also a high-profile supporter of the Myanmar pro-democracy movement.
In his official bungalow, Fernandes has a huge portrait of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and Myanmar students and underground leaders are frequent visitors.
Born in 1930, Fernandes was first elected to parliament in 1967 and founded the Samata party in 1994.
He is the only Christian minister in Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's cabinet.
Throughout his career he has held several ministerial portfolios including communications, industry, railways and defence. |
