ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review

Biju Patnaik and the Untold Stories

Anil Dhir

Biju and the Americans : The American Secret Agency CIA had always maintained an extensive dossier on Biju Patnaik. Numerous memoirs of ex-bureau chiefs, diplomats and operatives mention him in their works. During the Nehru heydays, McCarthyism ruled the CIA’s decisions and policy. Senator Joseph McCarthy had started the House Un- American Activities Committee in 1938. Thousands of American citizens were jailed on unfounded accusations of being communist In March 1963, Biju Patnaik, who was supporters. The CIA maintained dossiers on the Chief Minister and Nehru’s defence adviser, leaders and politicians who were anti-communist was sent to Washington. He held discussion with and friendly to the USA. the Pentagon. The two interviews that he had given to the Washington Post and the Baltimore Biju Patnaik’s role in setting up of the Sun caused a stir in the political circles back in Aviation Research Centre at Charbatia and his India. There are reports that he had also secretly visit to the CIA headquarters find ample mention visited the CIA headquarters at Langley. in Conboy and Morrison’s book “The CIA’s On 3rd June 1963, Kennedy met Secret War in Tibet”. President Radhakrishnan at the White House and In the height of the Cold War years, in reiterated the CIA’s wish. April 1963, US Ambassador Galbraith made the After Radhakrishnan’s return, Nehru held first official request to India for a base for the U- a meeting with Biju Patnaik and discussed the 2 spy planes. In spite of intense and almost matter. The Americans had lobbied with Biju, who desperate persuasion by the USA, Nehru turned was keen to have the base at Charbatia. Everything down the CIA proposal to base a detachment of was set for the final go, but Nehru turned down the high-streaking snooper planes. the proposal at the last moment. A dejected

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Galbraith met Biju Patnaik, who by then had Americans had wanted a facility in the North-east. resigned under the Kamaraj Plan. The agreement was that the Americans would be Nehru’s objection was based on the allowed to maintain the facility for some limited advice of the IB Chief B.N. Mullick. Mullick hours, but Indians would control and run the show. asked Nehru to insist on having all the films shot In short, the Americans would be using Indian by the spy planes processed in India and retaining Territory for their propaganda broadcasts, one set of all the photographs. The CIA argued something that was against the spirit of non- that each U-2 sortie brought back hundreds of alignment. miles of film and it was just not possible to set up When news leaked out, the Indian media the technical facility to process and analyse all of and opposition raised a hue and cry. There were them in India.The CIA instead offered to give nay-sayers within Nehru’s Cabinet too. Biju India processed pictures later, but Mullick would Patnaik vehemently supported the project, but in have none of it. Nehru struck to his guns, even the end Nehru cancelled the proposal under the after Biju Patnaik talked to him on the issue. flimsy pretext that the Americans were not agreeing In May 1963, T.T. Krishnamachari, the to it being completely staffed by Indians. powerful Minister in Nehru’s Cabinet visited the Nehru’s flip-flop resulted in America’s US, and the officials there had persuaded him to backing off from the Bokaro Steel Plant. Despite send a long cable to Nehru asking him to change the fact that Kennedy was keen to give financial his mind about the U-2 base. Nehru ticked him support for the steel mill, the U.S. Congress off with a curt “please do not meddle in this”. turned it down. Kennedy was aware that he did A disappointed Galbraith left India in June not have the votes to get the proposal passed 1963. He had lobbied hard with Biju to get the and there would be a major fight if he insisted on U-2 base through, but failed. Galbraith made having his way. The Indians helped Kennedy back nearly half a dozen trips to Bhubaneswar, both out by announcing that the Soviet Union would secret and official, to meet Biju. During one of his set up the plant. trips, he was hosted at the BNR Hotel in Puri. In November 1963, Chester Bowles Galbraith signed the visitor’s book and praised was summoned by Kennedy to Washington. the hotel. Bowles had met Biju Patnaik and the new Chester Bowles, the new Ambassador, Defence Minister Y.B. Chavan. Kennedy had had been briefed about Biju’s proximity to Nehru. agreed to a proposal for arms aid of $ 375 million, Topmost on his agenda were two unfinished spread over five years. In his memoirs, Bowles projects of Galbraith, the setting up of a Voice Of has written that a pleased Kennedy had called America transmitter and the Bokaro Steel Plant. him for a meeting on the 26th Nov, one day before In 1963, eager to bolster its radio transmitting he was to return to India. Kennedy told Bowles capacity against China, Nehru had agreed to locate that he would be approving the aid plan. That a VOA transmitter somewhere in eastern India. meeting between the President and his On Biju’s insistence, Odisha was one of the places Ambassador to India never happened; Kennedy earmarked for the facility, even though the was shot dead on the 22nd November 1963.

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Biju Patnaik once again took up the How much credence the Americans gave Charbatia base matter with both Mullick and to Biju Patnaik is evident from CIA and the Nehru. A reluctant Nehru, on Biju’s insistence, American Embassy papers released a few years agreed to allow the US to overfly Indian Territory ago. On 14th January 1964, a telegram from the and use Charbatia as a base for refueling the American Embassy at Delhi, sent to the State CIA’s U-2 spy planes. Department, revealed that Nehru had suffered a The CIA resumed its spy missions from coronary thrombosis resulting in partial paralysis. Thailand’s Takhli air base. According to recently The next day Chester Bowles sent a detailed declassified documents on the history of the U-2 report on the rat race that erupted for the office programme obtained under the Freedom of of Prime Minister. He mentioned that the Krishna Information Act by National Security Archives of Menon-Madan Mohan Malaviya group was hell- the USA, it was the secret flights made by these bent on propping up Indira Gandhi as their puppet U-2s aircrafts which informed India about the on a string. While Gulzari Lal Nanda had already nature of Chinese incursions inside Indian territory. begun to chair the Cabinet meetings, Bowles wrote that T.T. Krishnamachari, Morarji Desai and Biju Patnaik finally could persuade Nehru S.K.Patil were the other strong contenders. to allow the U-2 base at Charbatia. He made the Americans agree to set up a plant for processing Chester Bowles wrote: “Biju Patnaik the films that were shot by the spy planes. A huge was a strong possibility for future. Governor complex with 30 air-conditioned flats was built Khosla with whom I spent two days in Orissa for the nearly 60 CIA technicians, who worked recently and who knew Patnaik well in his role as round the clock. The complex still exists, and in Chief Minister said he was in many ways the ablest later years, has been in use for processing pictures man of coming generation in India but he was not brought in by our own reconnaissance aircraft. ready for top job as his perspective has not Today, in this age of satellite technology, the setup clarified. At moment Khosla was inclined to think has become redundant. he would be dangerous, unpredictable and easily swept off his feet. However this tendency might The first mission out of Charbatia took diminish as he gained more experience and it is place on the 24 May 1964. Three days later possible that Patnaik might emerge as constructive Nehru died, and further operations were and effective force.” postponed. The pilots and the U-2 planes left Charbatia for Thailand, but the technicians The other irritant in the Indo-US remained. In December 1964, when Sino-Indian relationship was the American policy towards tensions along the border increased once again, Kashmir. In the 1960s, the USA was seriously Detachment G returned to Charbatia and involved in a bid to settle the dispute at different conducted three highly successful missions. The levels including the UN Security Council. The US role of the American spy planes during the Chinese never subscribed to either a plebiscite solution debacle has never been told. The setting up of to the problem, or the one through an Establishment 22 in Charbatia, comprising the international conference. Rather, they were in Khampa rebels and Biju Patnaik’s role in it is the favour of a dialogue between India and matter of another chapter in this book. Pakistan to resolve the dispute. The USA had

18 February - March - 2017 Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 always viewed the people of Kashmir as a their readiness to participate in elections, India party to the ultimate dialogue and resolution would not ask them to take oath. Both Pakistan of the conflict. America considered all of Kashmir and the Hurriyat denounced Wisner’s pro- to be a disputed territory, on both sides of the elections campaign and many Kashmiris line of control. boycotted the elections. In the early 1990s, Kashmir virtually In early March 1996, while Biju Patnaik became a flashpoint and the valley witnessed mass was in Delhi, casually chatting with some resistance against the Indian forces. Pakistan was journalists in his suite at the Orissa Bhavan, a story repeatedly taking the issue to the international in a local newspaper caught his attention. “Free community.The United States had spelled out its and fair polls in Kashmir necessary- Wisner”, read clear-cut position on the Kashmir conflict. On 6th the headline. An infuriated Biju immediately rang March, 1990 Assistant Secretary of State John up Wisner and ticked him off for “messing around H. Kelly testified before the Asia-Pacific sub- in the internal affairs of our country”. committee of the House of Representatives thus: Wisner was presumably well aware of “United States considers Jammu and Kashmir a Biju’s relationship with the USA. He quietly heard disputed territory”. He urged both the countries Biju out and then invited him over to Roosevelt to settle it according to the Shimla agreement. House -the American ambassador’s residence- Subsequently, US Ambassador to Pakistan for lunch the next day. Biju Patnaik did go over, Robert Oakley asked both the countries to “take but what transpired is not known. into account the needs of the people of Kashmir.” The statement marked the beginning of the USA’s It was Biju’s Plan– not Kamaraj’s shift on the Kashmir issue. The Kamaraj Plan was post-independent Chandrasekhar was the Prime Minister India’s biggest political earthquake. It saw the and Biju Patnaik the Chief Minister. During a visit largest reshuffle, both in government and party, in to Bhubaneswar, the Prime Minister had discussed Indian political history. The ‘Kamaraj Plan’, the Kashmir issue with Biju. Even Narashimha named after K. Kamaraj Nadar, the Chief Rao, the next PM, who got elected from the Minister of Madras, called upon Congress leaders Berhampur Constituency of South Odisha in holding ministerial office at the centre and in the 1992, took Biju Patnaik’s advice in matters states, to relinquish their positions and devote relating to the Americans. themselves to organisational work to revive and In 1996, elections were held in Kashmir. strengthen the party. Strangely enough, US ambassador Frank G. However, in later years, doubts have been Wisner pushed the elections idea and started a raised as to the originator of the plan. In their campaign in its favor. He personally met several memoirs,Radhakrishnan, Morarji Desai, Indira Hurriyat Conference leaders in a bid to convince Gandhi, Jagjivan Ram, S.K.Patil, Atulya Ghosh, them for participation in the elections. When the I.K.Gujral and a horde of biographers have separatist leaders told him about their stand of written that the plan was not Kamaraj’s but not taking the oath to remain loyal to the Indian Nehru’s own, which he had implemented after constitution, he even assured them that in case of consulting Biju Patnaik who was his defence and

February - March - 2017 19 ISSN 0970-8669 Odisha Review political adviser. Many of them attribute the plan was widespread that the government had bungled to be Biju Patnaik’s, which was put in place by badly. Even President Radhakrishnan, after a visit Nehru. to the front, publicly acknowledged the The Kamaraj Plan was a Machiavellian government’s ‘credulity and negligence’. The device which Nehru used to eliminate all those country was uneasy, angry. who had dreams of succeeding him. He used the The unilateral ceasefire called by the camouflage of the Kamaraj Plan to eliminate all Chinese in November after they had wrestled those who were against him. There were many 23,200 sq.km of Indian Territory saw Nehru stalwarts of the Congress party whom Nehru become a broken man. As the blame game started, could not have touched otherwise; the Kamaraj heads started to roll. The army chief and the chief Plan was an effective tool to take care of them. of staff were both fired. Although Nehru Soon after being sworn in for the third maintained a stoic silence, he could not continue time in March 1962, Nehru suffered his first to ignore demands for Menon’s resignation. serious illness- a kidney affliction known as Amidst growing public restiveness, Lal Bahadur pyelonephritis. He recovered quickly but his body Shastri told him, ‘Panditji, jab chhotiahutinahin acquired a slight stoop, and he was forced by di jaati, tab badiahutideni par jaatihai’(When doctors to cut down his long working days. When a small sacrifice is withheld, a bigger one gets to the Chinese strike came in October, the Indian be demanded). Menon was replaced by Chavan, response revealed an utter lack of planning and a even though Biju Patnaik had been the front- failure of leadership. As the Chinese over-ran the runner. Himalayan frontier, precipitating a full-scale Even though Menon was blamed for the confrontation, the Indian army suffered a virtual defeat, critics attributed India’s defeat to Nehru’s rout in both Ladakh and the north-east sectors. policy of non-alignment and his failure to take a In the course of the conflict, the Indian casualty realistic stance towards China. Congress party figure reached 7,000, with nearly 1,400 dead. stalwarts closed ranks on Nehru and said bluntly: Indian counter-defence was catastrophic. ‘It is Menon today. Tomorrow will be your turn.’ Unaccustomed to the altitude and the terrain, the Through these turbulent months, Nehru kept his Indians faced over 10,000 well-provisioned nerve. Even in the gloomiest moments, he did not Chinese soldiers. The Gurkhas and Rajput units seek scapegoats. in Ladakh had just cotton uniforms, canvas shoes When the Congress party lost three critical and one blanket per man. The ill-equipped, ill- parliamentary by-elections in April 1963, political rationed and unacclimatised soldiers fought undercurrents within the party came out into the desperately across the snow-capped mountains. open. The by-elections resulted in the entry of In the spirit of national unity, criticism was three of Nehru’s most trenchant critics- J.B. initially muted, but the conduct of the Indian Kripalani, Ram Manohar Lohia and Minoo operation badly damaged Nehru’s standing. The Masani to Parliament “to pour scorn on an ageing nation enveloped itself in patriotic sentimentalism. and disillusioned Prime Minister”. In Parliament’s Citizens’ rallies and defence fund collection drives monsoon session, Kripalani moved a motion of were organised across the country. The perception no confidence, the first challenge that Nehru faced

20 February - March - 2017 Odisha Review ISSN 0970-8669 to his leadership since 1947. Although defeated, Apart from Nehru’s personal angle of the the motion was deeply symbolic of the rising Kamaraj plan, it checked the rising obsession for political disaffection with the government. power and strengthened the organisation of the There were anxious stirrings within the Congress Party. It was a step in true Gandhian Congress party too. Over 80 members of its tradition, a call to Congressmen not only to give national committee petitioned for a special session up their jobs but to move away from wrongdoing. to discuss the slide in the party’s political fortunes. In later years, Morarji Desai commented Held on August 9th and 10th, 1963, the special that Nehru had removed through the Kamaraj Congress began innocuously with the party Plan all possible successors from the path of his delegates deliberating ways to revive the daughter Indira. Nehru was trying to do Indira in organisation. Behind the scenes, however, a far- 1963, what his father Motilal had done for him in reaching purge was being conceived by the party 1929, passing on to him the highest office then chiefs to refurbish its image and to reinforce open to an Indian nationalist, the Congress Nehru’s standing. Presidency. The Working Committee of the AICC had Biju’s role both as an originator and an accepted Kamaraj’s scheme with one proviso, ally in the plan was well known, even during its exempting Nehru from its application. Nehru soon implementation. Few in the Congress believed that had the resignations of all the Ministers in his a docile person like Kamaraj, who knew neither hand.Now it was for him to choose which of them Hindi nor English, and was confined to South should be accepted. He used the opportunity to Indian politics, could have formulated such a Plan drop many of his erstwhile colleagues known to and convinced Nehru. In fact, whenever he had be inefficient, rumoured to be corrupt, or tend to met Nehru, there had always been an interpreter disagree with him on basic policies. Among the at hand. departing ministers at the Centre was Shastri, known for his personal loyalty to Nehru, his Nehru frequently denied that he had honesty and capacity to get along with everybody. inspired the Kamaraj Plan. There were reasons But he and Biju were in a sense decoys. They led to disbelieve him, the truth remains that the scheme out the others whom Nehru wished to exclude. certainly suited Nehru at all levels. The “Kamarajed” leaders were not In fact Indira Gandhi, in her book “My selected by chance. Indeed there is ample Truth” (page 95) has written about Biju’s role in evidence that multiple perspectives influenced the the plan. She writes “It seems Mr. Kamaraj and Centre and in the States in which the Congress Sanjiva Reddy met at Tirupati and talked about ruled. Geographical equity was apparent. Morarji it. Biju Patnaik just happened to be there. He was from Gujarat, Jagjivan Ram from Bihar, overheard all of this and dashed to Pahalgam Shastri from Uttar Pradesh, Patil from where I was holidaying with Rajiv and Sanjay. Maharashtra, Gopala Reddy from Andhra As my father was resting after lunch, I went to Pradesh, Sreemali from Rajasthan and Biju the garden and sat with Mr. Patnaik who put this Patnaik from Orissa. proposal to me.”

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Atulya Ghosh has written that the For her epochal book “Panditji: A Portrait Kamaraj Plan had been hatched at Pahalgam by of Jawaharlal Nehru”, Marie Seton had referred Nehru, Indira, Biju and Ghulam Bakshi, the then to the personal papers of Nehru. This was one of Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. In fact he the first books published after his death. Seton wrote that “the sole motive of the plan was to get wrote on the Kamaraj Plan (page 365) “No rid of Morarji Desai, Jagjivan Ram and C.B.Gupta sooner had the plan been whisked into the (the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh). Some limelight, than it was suggested that this blueprint others were added later to give it a credible facia”. was the work of more than one man: that the In the book “Chandra Bhanu Gupta: A originator could not have been Kamaraj alone, profile in courage”, his biographer L. N. Sarin that the dynamic Chief Minister of Orissa, Biju quotes Gupta. He writes “at this stage Biju Patnaik, had a hand in it…….” Patnaik, the Chief Minister of Orissa, took the S.K.Patil, the Maharashtra Chief Minister idea of “Party before Post” to Kamaraj who who had resigned under the Plan wrote of Biju’s approved it. Patnaik discussed it with three other involvement in his book “My Years with the Chief Ministers and then went to Kashmir to meet Congress”. Patil wrote (page 89) “…….Nehru Nehru who was holidaying there at Pahalgam. He was not prepared to do. He went to Kashmir to met Nehru at Pahalgam and apprised him of the think matters over. His daughter and Biju Patnaik scheme”. accompanied him. They must have done a lot of In his autobiography “The Story of My thinking there.” Life” Morarji Desai (Vol II, page 199) wrote in How much the Kamaraj Plan revived a bare words, “Jawaharlalji went to Kashmir in May dispirited party, polity and nation remains open or June 1963 after the Lok Sabha had been to debate. But Nehru, the consummate politician, adjourned and Shri Biju Patnaik met him there. had succeeded in regaining his authority over party Shri Patnaik later told me about the talk he had and government. Shastri was taken back, but with Jawaharlalji and said that he had suggested before Biju Patnaik could be reinstated, Nehru to him a plan that was very much like what was died. Because of the Kamaraj Plan, or rather the later known as the Kamaraj Plan.” Biju Plan, the old fox of Odisha had to undergo a Benjamin Zachariah’s book, “Nehru” political hibernation of nearly thirteen years. clearly mentions on page 255, “the Kamaraj Plan named after quiet and soft spoken congressman K.Kamaraj Nadar was attributed to Biju Patnaik the Orissa Chief Minister. Kamaraj and Nehru Anil Dhir, 112, Vaishno Villa, Satyanagar, Bhubaneswar himself admitted that it originated with Patnaik”. 751007 [email protected]

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