Shastri may have died of heart attack: Kuldip Nayyar

Noted columnist Kuldip Nayyar on Friday said former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri may have indeed died of a heart attack at Tashkent in Russia but he was still 'not too sure of that.'

Delivering a lecture at Shastri's birth centenary celebration function organised by the Karnataka government in Bangalore, Nayyar, who had served the former Prime Minister for a couple of years, handling information matters, and was among those present at Tashkent when his end came, said he had a premonition of the imminent death when he heard a knock at his door that night. "There was a Russian saying your Prime Minister is dying," he recalled.

Nayyar, who immediately rushed to the place a few blocks away, recounted how he was conveyed the news of the former Prime Minister's death. "He had suffered a heart attack, but I am still not too sure of that."

Also read: Why has history forgotten this giant?

"He had been under tremendous pressure during the process of the Tashkent agreement and had been keeping late nights and eating his meals late at night," he said. Shastri had brushed aside objections about his late eating, he recounted.

Nayyar also recalled that Shastri did not have a buzzer in his room to summon anyone and had to walk for help.

Recounting the historic Tashkent agreement, he said Shastri, despite spearheading India to victory in the 1965 Indo-Pakistan war, was 'adamant' that the agreement included a reference that whatever the nature of dispute between India and Pakistan there should be no 'resorting to arms or violence.'

Nayyar said a determined Shastri had sent out a message that there would be no repetition of the `Rann of Kutch experience' and that the same could not be construed as a rehearsal for a larger warfare.

His determination had won him admiration even from the then Pakistani leader Ayub Khan who admitted that Shastri had been one person keen on good Indo-Pak relations.

"The victory of 1965 war had turned him into a hero," and his ascent as Prime Minister had made every common man believe that this was possible in a democracy, Nayyar said.

His short stature belied the strength within. "He was the shortest Indian Prime Minister that took the tallest decision," Nayyar said, quoting a noteworthy quote of the time relating to India's decision to open a second front in 1965.

Nayyar also recounted Nehru's faith in Shastri's ability to quell stormy waters like when the loss of relic of a Muslim saint had raised trouble or resolve knotty linguistic issues.

Once when the leaders asked Nehru to send Shastri again to a troubled area, he said, "I have just one Shastri."

His `Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan' slogan best reflected his concern for the farmers and soldiers on the front.