Slogans of “Netaji amar rahein” reverberated in the Saifai village of Western Uttar Pradesh as people from all walks of life thronged socialist leader Mulayam Singh Yadav‘s native village for his last rites on Tuesday. A former Chief Minister of India’s most populous state and former Defense minister of India, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s life is the perfect rag to riches story of Indian politics.
As leaders from different parties, including Chief Ministers of various states, went to Saifai for Mulayam Singh Yadav’s last rites, let us take a look at his life journey from a wrestler to a teacher to a first generation politician, and then ultimately the Netaji of people.
In this article, we are not going to talk about his political achievements, or the elections he won or lost, as you could read that up by one click on google. However, we are going to talk about stories of the leader who came from nowhere and became an apple of the eye of so many people. We are going to talk about how a political leader becomes Netaji of his people, and gets respect from across party lines, a quality that is rare to find in today’s politicians.
Stopped short of slapping policeman
One of the most interesting and most talked about stories of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s life is when he was once about to slap a police inspector on the stage.
The date was June 26 and the year 1960. A Kavi Sammelan (a gathering of peots) was going on at Karhal Jain Inter College in Mainpuri. The famous poet of that time, Damodar Swarup, reached the stage and started reciting the poem ‘Delhi ki Gaddi Savdhaan’. The poem, as the name suggests, was against the central government. Seeing this, a police inspector posted there went to the stage and snatched the mike and refused to allow the poet to read the poem. Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was standing near the stag, must have been 20-21 years old at that time. Mulayam got so angry with the inspector that he climbed on the stage. Mulayam was about to pick the inspector and slam him on the ground when the teachers posted in the school pacified Mulayam and convinced him against doing that. It was then that the matter was settle somehow.
Challenged dacoits
There’s another story narrated by former chairman of the Legislative Council Chaudhary Sukhram Singh Yadav, which defines the courage and conviction of Mulayam Singh Yadav, who did not even flinch in front of dacoits.
Chaudhary Sukhram Singh Yadav says: “I do not remember the year. But, the occasion was for the assembly by-election of Madhogarh (Jalaun) seat. Chaudhary Harmohan Singh, my father and friend of Mulayam Singh, was campaigning there. I was also there. In those days, it was a tradition to visit villages overnight and meet people and ask for votes. We were going from one village to another. It was time of night. The sound of firing was heard in a village near Kuthvan. Netaji told me to take the jeep towards the village. Maybe a robbery was taking place. He also woke up some people from the neighboring village. We all reached near that village. Netaji was at the forefront. Stopping a little before the village, Netaji challenged the dacoits, which led to firing on us from that. But Netaji was completely unshaken by that. Eventually, the dacoits had to flee the village. All the people of the village survived safely.”
As Mulayam Singh Yadav passed away on Monday, visuals of his followers and supporters crying incessantly were seen on TV and social media, which prompted a question in minds of many people: Why did they love Mulayam so much?
People’s Netaji
Many people, who did not have warm clothes, shoes or who were sick in winter, used to come to Mulayam’s house and party offices. There are many such examples that the socialist leader, apart from solving their problems, arranged for them clothes, shoes and even rent. The 2012 assembly elections were going on. Mulayam had to go to the election rally and was heading towards airport. When the police stopped a milkman to keep the traffic orderly near Krishnanagar, his cycle fell and the milk was spilled. Mulayam Singh Yadav stopped the car. He called the milkman, who was scared seeing his cavalcade, and asked how much damage he had done to him. The milkman was given two thousand rupees immediately. Political discussions were going on with Mulayam in the car before, but after this incident, the discussion shifted towards the milkman. When questioned about his act, Mulayam Singh said: “The milkman must have woken up so early in the morning and brought milk from so many houses. What would he answer when he goes home empty-handed?”
Flagbearer of secularism
Mulayam Singh Yadav, along with Lalu Prasad Yadav, is also often credited for trying to stop the Hindu-Muslim communal divide in the North India, when the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was at its peak.
In 1989, Mulayam Singh Yadav became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. During the same period, the battle of Mandal versus Kamandal had started across the country. In such a situation, in 1990, activists of Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal performed karseva for the demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. On 30 October 1990, the crowd of kar sevaks became uncontrollable. The kar sevaks were moving towards the mosque by breaking the police barricading. Taking a tough decision, Mulayam Singh Yadav ordered the administration to shoot at the activists.
As per the orders of Mulayam Singh Yadav, 6 kar sevaks were killed by the bullet fired by the administration. Two days later, on November 2, 1990, thousands of kar sevaks reached near Hanuman Garhi, on the orders of Mulayam, the police had to fire once again, in which about a dozen kar sevaks died. The decision to fire on kar sevaks was used by his opponents to protray Mulayam as anti-Hindu. Opponents even called him ‘Mulla Mulayam’ or ‘Maulana Mulayam’. However, Mulayam had later said that the decision was difficult to take. But, Mulayam also got political mileage out of the act, as the MY combination of Muslims and Yadavs, helped him win several elections.
As Mulayam Singh bids adieu to the world, he will be remembered by his followers for years to come. As he departs from this world, people across the country mourn over his passing. It is fitting that their Netaji gets three day state mourning, as they don’t make politicians like him anymore.
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