‘Not faishonable in 1970, as it is now, to be anti-Muslim…’: Mani Shankar Aiyar at book launch

NEW DELHI: Noting that the Indian Army and the political leadership, led by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, were on the same page on the action in the wake of inflow of East Bengali refugees, former Union minister Mani Shankar Aiyar talked of the characters involved in the Nagarwala scandal that shook the nation in May 1971 and said “it was not fashionable in 1970, as it is now, to be anti-Muslim”.

Aiyar, who was the chief guest at the launch of the book ‘The Scam That Shook a Nation: The Nagarwala Scandal’, on Monday evening, also briefly spoke about the role of opposition parties in the run-up to the 1971 war with Pakistan that led to creation of Bangladesh.

Aiyar spoke of Nagarwala scandal and about Rustam Sohrab Nagarwala, a retired Indian Army captain whose actions orchestrated the scandal. He also spoke about Ved Prakash Malhotra, the then head cashier at the State Bank of India’s Parliament Street branch, who believed that he got a telephone call from the Prime Minister’s secretariat to hand over Rs 60 lakh to a courier for some secret use in the mission related to the liberation struggle in East Pakistan.

#WATCH | Speaking at the launch event of the book – ‘The Scam That Shook a Nation: The Nagarwala Scandal’, Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar says, “Ved Prakash Malhotra was a refugee from West Pakistan and he was fired with this patriotic zeal which was largely expressed, as it… pic.twitter.com/w7SsGHf8lK

— ANI (@ANI) July 15, 2024

Aiyar, who is no stranger to controversies, said that everyone in India was charged up due to the actions of Pakistan Army in the then East Pakistan. The Congress leader said he too felt at that time that India should have intervened militarily in the month of April. The military confrontation between India and Pakistan occurred during the war for liberation of Bangladesh from December 3 to 16, 1971.

The war began with pre-emptive aerial strikes by Pakistan Air Force on Indian assets. This led to the commencement of hostilities with Indian entry into the War of Independence of Bangladesh in support of Bengali nationalist forces. Pakistan forces were convincingly defeated in the war.

“What was happening at that time, everyone in India was charged up. I personally believed that we should have intervened militarily in the month of April. The reason for that was that the Pakistan High Commissioner in Delhi had told the minister for whom I was working at that time, I was his private secretary…Dinesh Singh, ‘ki saamp toh nikal gaya, ab sothi lagakar kya fayda’ (snake has gone now, what is use of force)”, Aiyar said.

“So the feeling in India, in many circles, was that we had missed a great opportunity of putting the Pakistanis in their place. But as subsequent writing has shown, it was a very wise, intelligent move, largely made by PN Haksar and Indira Gandhi. And concurring with them was General, later Field Marshal, Manekshaw”, he added.

The Congress leader said the Army and the Indian political establishment were on the same wavelength but the opposition was desperate to somehow “undermine Indira Gandhi by saying that the intervention should have taken place now, you missed your great opportunity”.

“It was in these circumstances that Nagarwala acted. Now, who is Nagarwala? Unfortunately, in the organization of this book, you don’t get to know who Nagarwala is until you’ve been well past half the book. But when you get there, you discover that this guy was a professional prankster…He never succeeded in holding down a job. And when he did get a job, which was in the army in 1940-41, as a junior commissioned officer, and then in 1943, he got into the Indian Military Academy and became an officer,” Aiyar said.

Referring to the incident, Aiyar alleged that patriotic zeal, “is being expressed today, by being anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan, particularly anti-Pakistan, because it was not fashionable in 1970, as it is now, to be anti-Muslim”.

“…And as an officer, he (Nagarwala) was posted on the India-Pakistan border at a place called Harbanspur. And he witnessed with his own eyes the horrors that had been inflicted on the 15 million people who were exchanged between Pakistan and India and India and Pakistan, taken together.

“Now, Ved Prakash Malhotra was a refugee from West Pakistan. And he was fired with this patriotic zeal, which was largely expressed, as it is being expressed today, by being anti-Muslim and anti-Pakistan, particularly anti-Pakistan, because it was not fashionable in 1970, as it is now, to be anti-Muslim. And he, therefore, was desperate to somehow make his contribution at this great national crisis that had come to our country. That is what accounted for his naivete. That when he was in the normal course, I do not think somebody with Ved Prakash’s background….”, Aiyar added.

He said Malhotra was regarded universally as an extremely good and honest officer. “He was very conscientious. He did what he had to do. But here is a wonderful incident recounted here where they decided to go on a strike in the State Bank of India and they called on the Finance Minister. And the Finance Minister said I do not want you in the national interest to go on strike at this stage when the country is in such a crisis”, Aiyar said.

“And the trade Union insisted going on strike. So Ved Prakash Malhotra, who was the vice-president of the trade Union, preferred losing his post to disobeying the government. So the man was a creature of his times. And he, therefore, wanted to do something. And got his great opportunity…”

The book has been written by journalists Prakash Patra and Rasheed Kidwai. (ANI)