The Forgotten Political Avatar

By Dr. MAHINDER N. GULATI

The author was born Feb 1931 in a remote village of Pakistan. At age twenty he became Army officer and published first article at age 22: FORTY DAYS AMONG THE LUSHAIS, thereafter many more in social anthropology journals.

War experiences: 1962 Sino-Indian War NEFA; 1965 Indo-Pak War Tank Brigade in Lahore- Khemkaran sector where main tank battle was fought in which Indian Centurions defeated America Pattons.

He was member Planning Staff for Bangladesh Operations and was posted at Dacca during mid-December 1971. Cabinet Division of Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh appointed Col Gulati as Member Communication Cell of their government.

An Army Engineer officer generally has to serve in M.E.S. --- the proverbial Money Earning Service wherein he found himself totally unfit. Therefore he sought premature retirement from the Army in 1978 and worked for about 8-10 years in Middle East countries as Project Manager on roads and housing projects including one in his private capacity in the Highway Authority of Government of Yemen Arab Republic.

Green Card holder USA but now back HOME having earned some honest money: Petro-dollars! Col Gulati has authored-published 13 books on military history, biographical and philosophical subjects, besides venturing into the slippery field of politics. He is a prolific writer and has contributed general articles from time to time.

After finishing his foreign contracts he settled down at Dehradun for Ph.D. Has thirteen books to his credit on historical-biographical-philosophical subjects besides one in the slippery field of politics. Did PhD in 2006, age 75

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Sep 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482856781

Dr. MAHINDER N. GULATI

Born in 1931, at the age of twenty, the author became an army officer and has published first article at twenty-two, titled “Forty Days among the Lushais,” thereafter publishing many in social anthropology journals. War experiences: 1962 Sino-Indian War NEFA; 1965 Indo-Pak War Tank Brigade; Planning Staff Bangladesh Operations, posted Dacca mid-December 1971. Government of Bangladesh appointed Colonel Gulati as member Communication Cell.

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Copyright © 2015 by Dr. Mahinder N. Gulati.

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CONTENTS

Preface

1 Parsi Diaspora

Migration to Khorasan

Parsi Migration to Bombay

2 Zoroastrianism

Monotheism: Ahura-Mazdā (Wise Lord)

Sacred Fire Temples (Ātash Bahrām):

Disposal of the Dead

3 The Parsis Beliefs, Traditions & Legacies

Traditions

Beliefs System

Parsis’ Proud Legacy

Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata (03 March 1839-19 May 1904)

4 Feroze Jehangir (Khan)

Love at First Sight

5 The First Indian Field Marshal: A Parsi!

Surrender Ceremony

On the Sidelines

39 Royal Garhwal Rfles

The Peshawar Incident

Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali

6 Civil Disobedience Movement

Dandi March

Salt Satyagraha & American Media

7 Parsi & Non-Parsi Love Affair

Feroze Khan Becomes Gandhi

8 Round Table Conference

Gandhi Irwin Pact

9 Kamala To Switzerland

10 Pandits-Parsis Reconcile

Breakdown in Anand Bhavan

Three Cheers! Feroze has a Job After All

New Delhi Edition of National Herald

11 Sanjay’s Misdeeds Exposed

Maruti Car-Prototype

Maruti Heavy Vehicles

Nehru Parivār in Same Prison!

Cabinet Mission

12 Emergence Of ‘Dynnastocracy’

The Mountbattens

Nehru: Interim Prime Minister

Indira as Congress President

13 Jwaharlal Nehru First Prime Minister

Jwaharlal Nehru died May 27, 1964

14 Conjugal-Filial Emotional Clash

Kashmiri Brahmins

Kissa Kursi Ka

15 Feroze Gandhi: The Parliamentarian

Mundhra Scandal

PSUs Nationalized

Socialistic Pattern of Society

Press Laws

Contemplating Divorce

Stunning Suddenness

Feroze Gandhi Died 8Th September 1960

Feroze: A Totally Forgotten Entity

Telco Episodes

16 British-Indian Military Expedition: Lhasa (1904)

17 1962: India’s National Disaster

Aggressive Indian Forward Policy

Tibetan Diaspora to India

Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s Bold Visit to Assam

18 The Twenty-One-Day War

Tashkent Agreement

Prime Minister Shastri dies in Sleep

Indira Gandhi succeeds as PM

19 Bangladesh War: 1971

Simla Conference (July 1972)

On the Sideline

Indira Gandhi Alone Mattered

20 Operation Blue Star

Anti-Sikh Riots

Giani Zail Singh Ignores Constitutional Proprieties

21 India’s First Politico-Military Misadventure

Rajiv Gandhi Assassinated

22 Jaffna Sector

Capture of Jaffna Town

A Shameful Episode

De-induction of IPKF

Corruption-Scam in Food-Supplies

23 Major Financial Scandals

Bofors Scandal

Jeep Scandal

24 Nationalization Leads To Psus

In Defence of Indian Railways

25 Missed Opportunities

Indo-Pak War 1947-48

Divine Right to Rule

Internal Emergency

After Thoughts

Bibliography

LIST OF BOOKS

Authored by Col (Dr.) M.N. Gulati (Retd)

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ABOUT THE BOOK

During my younger years we youngsters were thrilled to join processions and shout slogans. Listening to Mahatma Gandhi was an inspiration. Then came Partition – preceded and succeeded by carnage on a scale unheard of in the annals of civilization, a brutal conflict between Muslims and non-Muslims.

The romantic love story of a Parsee young man of Zoroastrian faith who, strictly speaking was a Muslim, and a Kashmiri Pandit Brahmin young beautiful charming girl belonging to an extremely wealthy anglicized family: these are seeds for this Book. Of necessity, that love-story can be told only in conjunction with the personalities and related politico-military developments.

The Parsis’ are an infinitely small close-knit endogamous community proud of their unique identity and culture. Notwithstanding their size, they have created a remarkable niche for themselves. Above all else, our first Field Marshal was a Parsi. In a nutshell, Iran’s loss turned out to be India’s gain.

After hob-knobbing with British Imperialism, they formed an intimate part of Gandhi-Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty which has continued to rule the country as a ‘Dynastocracy’– good, bad or indifferent is a matter of personal perception.

MNG

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PREFACE

During my younger years in the period of struggle for independence we youngsters were thrilled with the idea of shouting slogans, joining processions, demonstrations, et al. During early 1940’s listening to Mahatma Gandhi was an inspiration by itself. Then came Partition preceded and succeeded by carnage on a scale unknown in the history of civilization – mass murders, rapes, abductions, arsons, and of course transmigration of populations on a scale as never before in history. Cross border trains between East and West Punjab with some live, many dead and maimed plied up and down. There was equal retaliation, tit for tat. It was all between Muslims and non-Muslims that gave birth to Pakistan. When I look back on those events, the personalities of the time that made history come back to life. The romantic love story of a Parsee young man who strictly speaking was a Muslim and a Kashmiri Pandit Brahmin young beautiful charming girl belonging to an extremely wealthy anglicized family kindled fresh interest in the events-episodes of those heady days: the seeds for this Book.

Of necessity, that love-story can be told only in conjunction with the personalities and related politico-military developments of the time. The Author was closely connected with military matters and operations right from 1950’s onwards and also played active role in 1962-Sino-Indian War, 1965-Second Indo Pak War, and last but not the least, the 1971-Bangladesh War. He has therefore briefly dwelt in this Book on those events in recent Indian history.

The Parsis trace their ancestry and religious identity to pre-Islamic Zoroastrianism, the first major religion of Iran. Like the Vedic Dharma it was the first living faith in the ancient world. After Alexander the Great defeated the Persian Empire, Muslim hordes spread all over Iran reducing the original Zoroastrians to small enclaves. Religious intolerance, severe persecution by Islamic zealots, forced conversions, et al, left the Zoroastrians no option but to seek self-exile in order to preserve their religious and ethnic identity. Their eastward Diaspora from Iran commenced in the eighth century C.E. ultimately ending in Gujarat on the west coast of India. Their subsequent mass movement down the west coast in search of better prospects ended in the mid seventeenth century in a collection of fishing villages spread over seven unconnected islands surrounded by swamps. That is what our great Bombay of today really used to be. The van guard of exodus appreciated the intrinsic value of the area which in course of time they transformed into India’s financial and business capital, the glittering city of Bombay.

The Parsis’ are an infinitely small close-knit endogamous community proud of their unique identity and culture which they jealousy guard, all the time conscious of maintaining their identity, ethnic purity, culture and religious institutions. Notwithstanding their size, their political contribution to struggle for freedom, to development, wealth and prosperity of their adopted country has proved phenomenal. Their expertise in industry and business is unrivalled. They created a remarkable niche for themselves in other fields too. Our first Field Marshal was a Parsi. In a nutshell, Iran’s loss turned out to be India’s gain.

After hob-knobbing with British Imperialism, they formed an intimate part of Gandhi-Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty which has continued to rule the country as a ‘Dynastocracy’– good, bad or indifferent is a matter of personal perception.

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1

PARSI DIASPORA

The legend has it that Muslim hordes conquered most of Greater Iran reducing the Zoroastrian territories to Islamic enclaves. One group of die-hards fled from Greater Khorasan to west coast of India to preserve their religious identity and customs. The refugees founded the settlement of Sanjan, about 30 km south of Udvada. These refugees had carried ashes of the sacred fire which was used to consecrate bed of the Sanjan fire. Sometime during 14th century Sanjan was overrun by troops of Muhammad bin Tughluq forcing the Zoroastrian community to seek safety in the caves of Barhot hills.

The holiest place for them is the village of Udvada in Gujarat, renowned for its Zoroastrian sacred ‘Fire Temple’, Atash Bahrām, about 200 km north of Mumbai. In course of time Udvada has come to occupy a place of pride as pilgrimage center for Zoroastrians the world over. In local dialect Udvada means ‘grazing ground of camels’ — and that is what it was before becoming a fishing village and then sacred Fire Temple, the most sacred Zoroastrian fire Parsi Parsis’ temple in India and the oldest continuously burning fire-temple fire in the world later shifted to Navasari.

With dwindling population it is becoming more and more difficult to find a ‘Mobed’ (Priest) to perform various rituals spanning from birth to death, as well as keep the holy flame burning at the fire temples. However, marriages and religious confirmation ceremony called Navjote are not necessarily performed in fire-temples. On the other hand celebration of their most important festival, Parsi New Year Navroz, begins with a visit to the Fire Temple in the morning and rounded off with a lavish meal in the evening. The Parsi-Gujarati play, Pateti, on the final day marks the end of the outgoing year and the beginning of the new one.

Migration to Khorasan

Around 500 BCE the Greek cities in Asia Minor revolted against their Persian overlords. Alexander the Great defeated the Persians in various battles and in due course he gained control of entire Persian Empire before embarking on his worldwide conquests and Islamization. The legend has it that Muslim hordes conquered most of Greater Iran reducing the Zoroastrian territories to Islamic enclaves. Following their defeat at the hands of Muslim Arabs, the Zoroastrians first migrated to Khorasan, a historical region lying in the northeast of Persia. During Islamic times the vast and ill-defined region of Khorasan was assumed to include the region extending almost up to Indus Valley on the periphery of Indian sub-continent al-Hind (Sind). During that Islamic period Persian Iraq and Khorasan were the two important territories.

Greater KHORASAN

Here the migrants lived for barely one hundred years before migrating to the Strait of Hormuz, a fifty-four km wide, at its narrowest, stretch of strategically important blue-water. Once again this was also to be another temporary abode, this time for barely fifteen years during which they made preparations for a sea voyage towards India following the then prevalent known trade route. A very intelligent assessment of geography of the region!

The peripatetic wanderings of Zoroastrian refugees’ next landing was on the island of Diu, later part of the Portuguese Territories in India, off the coast of Gujarat. The Persian refugees camped on the island for nineteen years before finally making land-hall on the west coast of India on the soil of Gujarat.

This group of die-hards had fled from Greater Khorasan in order to preserve their distinct religious identity, culture and customs. Loss of political and social power in fundamentalist Islamic society besides persecution by Islamic zealots and conversions, et al, were the primary causes for the dangerous exodus. Here the Persian refugees founded the settlement of Sanjan, about 30 km south of Udvada. These refugees had carried ashes of the sacred fire and ritual objects specifically brought from Iran signifying the spiritual and physical ties to the sacred fires of their original homeland, Iran. These were used to consecrate bed of the Sanjan-fire. Unfortunately, Sanjan was destroyed by Muslims invaders in 1478 AD. The Ātash Behrām was thereafter transferred to Navsari in 1492. In 1765 the second Ātash Behrām of the Parsis was consecrated at Navsari to replace the sacred fire that the Sanjan priests had removed to Udvada. In course of time, Navasari-Udvada has come to occupy a place of pride as pilgrimage center for Zoroastrians the world over. In local dialect Udvada means ‘grazing ground of camels’ — and that is what it was before becoming a fishing village and thereafter the site of sacred Fire Temple, Ātash Behrām, the most sacred Zoroastrian fire temple in India and the oldest continuously burning ‘fire-temple’ fire in the world. Indeed, Parsis do accord a special place of pride to their fire temples and celebrate events connected with history of the temples in a very elaborate manner. For instance: while the Zoroastrian community in Calcutta comprises of barely 600 souls, they conducted the centenary celebrations of the only fire temple in the city with great gusto extending over a period of one year. What the community lacks in numbers they make up through their enthusiasm! On the final day they congregated in their colorful best to watch the traditional play, ‘Ghar Ghunghro Ne Ghotalo’, put up by the Surat based Karanjia Group, all paid for by the minuscule community of Calcutta¹.

Parsi Migration to Bombay

It was extreme persecution by Iranian Muslims that led to Parsi Diaspora which continued southward along India’s west coast towards Bombay in search of better prospects.

Parsis generally speak Gujarati. Their holy language is Avesta spoken in Iran. Migrating down the west coast of Gujarat the vanguard of Parsi refugees arrived in an area that was a little more than a collection of fishing villages spread over seven unconnected islands surrounded by swamps.² Meanwhile, the Portuguese pompously named this low lying swamp as BOMBAY and, in their generosity, presented this as part of the dowry of the Infanta Catherine of Braganza to Charles II in 1662. The English Royals were disappointed. The so called Bombay was then transferred in 1668 from the Crown to the East India Company on payment of a fee. The Parsi refugees were amongst the first early inhabitants of the coastal belt. They gleaned the potential of the deserted area better, for their own benefit of course, and brought some order to the geographical environment about three years before the physical take over by the British Crown in February 1665³. In fact, the Parsi Kharshedji Pochaji Panday had provided the Portuguese with materials for construction of initial fortifications for Bombay while it was still in their possession⁴.

It would therefore be no exaggeration to say that credit for

whatever Bombay is today goes largely to the Parsi community.

It is the pride of Maharashtra through joint efforts of an amalgam of different cultures, races, religions and languages over a period of centuries.

Some of the early Parsi migrants were founders of renowned families closely connected with development of not only the Parsi community but also of their habitat, Bombay. They were honored by the British with titles and wealth. This provided further impetus to Parsi Diaspora down the coast to Bombay. It is noteworthy that early leaders of Parsis were Priests who ruled the roost in Gujarat as they were used to do in Iran, but the later waves produced leaders of quality, wealth and enterprise who added to the prosperity and all round development of Bombay.

The name of Dorabjee Nanabhai stands out as one of those who successfully adopted themselves to transition from Portuguese rule to the British. He was appointed by the British to collect ‘body tax’ on the locals in which he was eminently successful without any untoward incident. His son Rustamji Dorabji (1667-1763) carried on the job after his father’s death. When the 1692-cholera epidemic had decimated the British garrison of Bombay, the Muslim Sidi invaders of Janjira found it opportune to attack the town. Rustamji rallied the Koli fishermen and other residents of Bombay and successfully defended the town. In recognition of his services, the British honored Rustamji with the hereditary title of Patel (Chief) and allowed him to collect taxes from the residents of Bombay.⁵ The Patel family was joined by Banaji and Modi families who were the first prominent Parsi families of Bombay in the late 17th Century. However, the general population of the town remained largely migratory till the second half of the eighteenth century when majority of Parsis settled in the enclosed area known as the Fort, the nucleus of the present city of Bombay.

In 1811 the Parsi population was recorded as 10,042 which increased to 13,156 next year due to rush of fresh migrants. In course of time generations of wealthy Parsi families established their residences in the Fort area and they came to be referred to as the setts, sort of elite of the town, rich wealthy and enterprising. Bulk of Parsi land holdings were in the nature of hereditary grants from the British for services rendered to the Crown. That is how the Patel family established a Parsi colony at Thana. And the Wadias (Pestonjee Bomanjee Wadia: 1758-1816), ‘the China trader’, accumulated vast palatial estates at Mazagon, Parel, Beach Candy, et al. The grounds at his residence at Parel, named ‘Lal Baug’, covered 100,000 sq yards! In the 1814 report on land tenures in Bombay it was noted that Pestonjee owned the largest land area of 15,598 sq yards in the Fort, making him the largest urban-commercial land owner in Bombay. These wealthy families of Wadias, Banajis, Cowasji, et al, alongside their British neighbors established a sort of exclusive social urban elite. However, there was one conspicuous exception: the