George Fernandes is one of the best Defence Minister India had. He toured the snow-laden Siachen, the highest battlefield in the world, several times, the remote areas in the North-East and Rajasthan to boost the morale of the soldiers.

Former Defence Minister George Fernandes is one of the foremost political warriors and can face the vengeful attack of Congress president Sonia Gandhi via the CBI. The CBI has chargesheeted him in a case related to irregularities in the purchase of Barak Missile System bought from Israel during NDA rule in 2002.

In a circuitous news story, it was alleged that he took approximately Rs 2 crore to clear the deal. It is a fact that the CBI has been used time and again by the Congress to settle political scores and defame credible personalities. Unfortunately, hardly a dozen politicians today enjoy credibility and integrity across the party line. As far as UPA Government is concerned, one third of its ministers have criminal records and many of them would have been in jail, had they not been in the Council of Ministers. Those who conspired against George Fernandes probably do not know as to what mettle he is made of.

Fernandes' record as Defence Minister has been excellent, to say the least. He was the most popular Defence Minister in the armed forces. One of the golden chapters of his ministerial tenure is his record visits to snow-laden Siachen, the highest battlefield of the world. It is also the most difficult terrain to live in.

Casualties often occur there. The armed forces changed their personnel every three months because of sub-zero temperature. To boost the morale of every new batch of jawans, he himself went there every third month. He was the only Defence Minister to do so. Defence Ministry officials sitting in Delhi did not realise the extreme conditions of climatic cruelty. So he made them visit Siachen.

Earlier they applied brakes to Siachen-related requirements such as the need of snowmobiles. After realisation of conditions, the same officials speeded up the process. Not only Siachen, he visited every difficult terrain in the North-East and deserts of Rajasthan. Looking at his age, it is still more credit worthy. He himself accompanied pilots in the air while on trial in supersonic fighter planes.

His life is like an open book. Anyone could walk into his house at Krishna Menon Marg in Delhi. But he was a thorn in the eyes of the Congress for two reasons. One, he always opposed dynastic Nehru-Gandhi rule for sound reasons. The second reason was purely political. A great labour leader and a socialist who was convener and troubleshooter of the NDA, had to be defamed by the Congress as betrayer of secularism, socialism and what not. He was charged with treason in the Baroda dynamite case.

After his arrest in Kolkata while disguised as a Sikh, he was brought to court handcuffed and shackled. He fought the Lok Sabha elections in 1977 from jail. Posters depicting him handcuffed and shackled in chains rattled the entire country and gave him easy win.

The new phase of the Congress, especially under Sonia Gandhi, is more dictatorial in character and more secretive in its working. During last two years of NDA rule, the Congress and some other parties went after Fernandes. He faced the longest-ever boycott by the Opposition for practically no rhyme or reason. Politics of vendetta has no place in democracy. Let us see what happened in Pakistan. It resulted in hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and exile of Ex-Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Democracy shrinks when there is no space for the opposition. A systematic campaign of character assassination is being carried out against Fernandes and former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly.

Politics of vendetta had attained a higher pitch against the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. One can recall the year 1995 when the then Prime Minister PV Narsimha Rao brought out a CBI chargesheet in the Hawala case and hounded LK Advani along with the non-conforming Congress leaders for no rhyme or reason. Advani fought against these fabricated charges in his own characteristic manner.

He resigned from the Lok Sabha and publically announced he would not fight elections until he was cleared of the charges. He fought the next Lok Sabha election after he was exonerated. With the UPA coming to power, politics of vendetta re-surfaced. It can be testified from the examples of revengeful conduct in the HRD Ministry and Home Ministry, and removal of NDA-appointed Governors from the BJP-ruled States.

Examples can be multiplied. The acts of Buta Singh as Governor of Bihar, the role of Sibte Razi, Governor of Jharkhand and intrusive politicking of Goa Governor SC Jamir speak volumes for themselves. Now it's Fernandes and Jaya Jaitly's turn. Are we moving towards Pakistani model of democracy? No matter what, I can say with full confidence that mud will not stick on Fernandes.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, October 15, 2006