Anil Shastri filled out the government employment form, noting “Government Employee” as his father’s occupation. During the subsequent job interview, the interviewer inquired, “Your father’s name is Lal Bahadur Shastri, and our country’s Prime Minister shares the same name. Could you provide some insights into his political activities?”
Anil Shastri initially offered a few remarks and finally stated, “Sir, what I’ve shared is common knowledge from reading the newspapers. My father never discusses politics at home.”
The interviewer frowned and probed further, asking, “What do you mean?”
Anil Shastri clarified, “Sir, my father Lal Bahadur Shastri and the Prime Minister of our country, Lal Bahadur Shastri, are one and the same.”
The interviewer was taken aback by this revelation.
During his tenure as Minister of State (MoS), the family resided in a two-bedroom house in Allahabad. When his father assumed the role of Railway Minister in Delhi, they lived in a government residence. Anil Shastri used to commute to school in a tanga rickshaw, and his mother, Lalita Devi, managed the household single-handedly. They had no official cook, servant, or ardali; Lalita Devi handled all the chores herself. Despite being an educated and politically astute woman, she remained a humble and veiled peasant. She even found time to practice music, and some of her songs were featured in Hindi films with Lata Mangeshkar’s voice.
On one occasion, a railway accident resulted in numerous casualties. During a press conference, Lal Bahadur Shastri stated, “Although I bear no direct responsibility for the incident, as the highest authority in the Railway Department, I cannot evade responsibility.” Consequently, he resigned as Railway Minister.
Upon becoming Prime Minister, the Shastri family gained popularity, with media and people surrounding them wherever they went. However, Lal Bahadur Shastri did not allow his wife and children to use his official car. He himself refrained from using it during non-working hours. Interestingly, his bodyguards used expensive cars for their duties. One day, Shastriji’s younger son insisted, “Father, why not have a car for our security?”
En route to the Prime Minister’s office, Shastriji asked his bodyguard, “Well, Singhji, what’s the name of the car you use for duty?”
Singhji replied, “Sir, it’s a Premier Padmini.”
Shastriji inquired, “Is it expensive?”
Singhji admitted, “Yes, sir. It’s a costly car, but it’s not mine. My father bought it on loan, and I occasionally drive it.”
Shastriji then asked his personal secretary, V.S. Venkataraman, if he could arrange a loan of five thousand rupees from the bank. Venkataraman, despite being addressed as “Sir,” assisted Shastriji in applying for a loan from the Punjab National Bank. The loan was approved, but sadly, Lal Bahadur Shastri passed away shortly afterwards.
Following his death, the bank authorities sent a loan repayment notice to Lalita Devi, Shastri’s wife. She repaid the loan through instalments from her family’s pension. The 1964 model Fiat car is now displayed at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial at No. 1 Motilal Nehru Marg in the capital.
In the absence of the internet, common people would write letters directly to the Prime Minister’s office. After a long day at work, Shastri would return home with a stack of letters, carefully reading each one and taking appropriate action. He even personally responded to some letters in his own handwriting. If colleagues were invited to a family event, he would attend in person and ensure their invitation was protected. On one occasion, after a meeting in Kolkata, he rushed to Delhi airport and hired a car to attend an office employee’s wedding.
Lal Bahadur Shastri served as India’s second Prime Minister and a prominent Congress leader. Following the death of the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, Shastri assumed the role of Prime Minister. Leaders recognized his brilliance hidden behind his quiet demeanour since the days of the independence movement. He played a constructive role in the governance of the country after the Congress government was formed. His responsibilities ranged from Parliamentary Secretary in Uttar Pradesh to the Home Department in the Union Cabinet. He successively handled various departments, including Railways, Transport and Communications, Industry and Commerce, and Home Affairs. On June 9, 1964, he took office as Prime Minister amidst a severe food shortage and a Pakistani attack on India. Shastriji’s rallying cry of “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” stirred the nation, and under his leadership, the Indian army defeated the 1965 Pakistani invasion, securing victory for India.
The entire nation erupted with Josh as the indomitable Indian army, under the capable leadership of Shastriji, crushed the Pakistani invasion of 1965, resulting in India’s victory.
In the second week of January 1966, Shastriji travelled to Tashkent in the Soviet Union to sign a post-war peace agreement. Despite the successful signing of the agreement on January 10th, he did not return to India. The agreement was finalized by midnight, after which Shastriji returned to his designated residence. In the evening, he was having a light meal and resting. While the Soviet government residence had its own staff, the cook for the day was Khansama Jan Mohammad, who served as the personal cook of the Indian ambassador T.N. Kaul. On that fateful night, Shastriji’s personal attendant Ramnath was not allowed to approach him or handle the cooking duties.
Around 11:25 PM, Khan Mohammad brought a glass of milk for Shastriji, who was engaged in a phone conversation with his daughter Smt. Suman Singh. Suman’s husband, Vijay Nath Singh, was travelling to Cairo, and Shastriji asked him to take a newspaper along. Suman suggested, “Father, you should get some rest now.”
Shastriji responded, “He has brought milk, I will sleep after drinking it.” The phone call abruptly ended.
At approximately 1:25 AM, Shastriji woke up with a severe cough and chest pain. He pressed the alarm on the side of his bed, but it did not ring. He tried to pick up the phone, but it disconnected. In great discomfort, he made his way to the door but found no one there. He almost crawled into the adjacent room and summoned the sleeping guards. They quickly sought medical assistance. Shastriji’s personal physician, Dr. RN Chough, who was the Director of Medicine at Delhi’s Safardarjung Hospital, was initially kept at a distance. When he arrived, it was nearly too late. Dr. Chough lamented, “Babuji, you didn’t even give me time, Babuji!”
The Soviet government was shaken by these events. Suspecting foul play, the KGB’s Ninth Directorate, responsible for VIP security, immediately launched an investigation. The chief attendant of the residence, Ahmed Satrov, along with three assistants, was brought in for questioning. According to Satrov, the intense scrutiny left them with hair turned white within hours. Soviet intelligence had one burning question: “Who had tampered with the food?” Jan Muhammad eventually joined the interrogation. Interestingly, Jan Muhammad never returned to India after that incident, relocating to Pakistan and receiving an Indian government pension throughout his life, courtesy of the Gandhi family.
Shastriji’s body was repatriated to India on January 11th. Efforts were made in Tashkent to ensure that the body was not mutilated. However, according to close relatives and eyewitness accounts, Shastriji’s face bore bluish patches and large blisters, with two deep wounds on his stomach and the back of his neck. It was evident that the assailants had poisoned him. The slender sixty-two-year-old leader had been brutally assaulted in the sub-zero temperatures of Tashkent. The neck wound was still bleeding, and the bed was soaked with blood. Despite requests, access to the body was denied, and demands for a post-mortem examination were also turned down. Suman inquired tearfully, “Why is there so much blood?” To which someone replied, “The stretcher’s edge caused the body to be cut during lowering.” When Anil Sunil questioned why a post-mortem was not conducted, there was no response. Silence prevailed. The Prime Minister’s mortal remains were hastily cremated without a parade or public ceremony. Lalita, his wife, remained in profound mourning, and Ashitipar’s mother was consumed by grief.
Indira, Nehru’s daughter, assumed office as the next Prime Minister. Some public representatives in Parliament repeatedly called for an investigation to unravel the mystery surrounding Shastriji’s death, but the government remained unresponsive. After the declaration of the emergency, the Janata government established a parliamentary inquiry committee to investigate Shastriji’s death. Dr Chowgh and Ramnath, Shastriji’s personal attendants, were asked to testify in Parliament. Dr. Chowgh and his family were tragically involved in a fatal accident on their way to testify, and Ramnath faced a separate accident that left him severely injured. These incidents remained shrouded in coincidence, and the parliamentary committee’s findings disappeared, with the Information Act being invoked to claim that the relevant files were lost or documents destroyed when inquiries were made.
It is essential to consider the contemporaneous mystery surrounding Shastriji’s death, as well as the death of the Indian scientist, Homi Jahangir Bhabha. The so-called plane crash involving Bhabha occurred just two weeks after Shastriji’s passing. Bhabha was a renowned atomic scientist, and Lal Bahadur Shastri was dedicated to advancing India’s nuclear capabilities. There is little doubt that the deaths of Dr. Bhabha and Shastriji are interconnected, forming part of a broader scheme, linked by the same underlying theme. Shastriji’s demise is as enigmatic as the disappearance of Netaji.
Honesty ran deep in Shastriji’s character; he was not driven by the need to showcase or prove his integrity. Integrity was ingrained in his spirit and reflected in his actions. His life was a testament to his unwavering commitment to his principles. Shastriji was, in every sense, a “Mahatma.”
~ Jai Jawan Jai Kisan
