Politician Sushilkumar Shinde belongs to the Dhor caste, one of India’s so-called lowest castes. Their traditional work was to cure the skin of dead cattle to make leather goods. Shinde’s ancestors lived in the Osmanabad district of Marathwada. But his grandfather migrated to Solapur to better his economic prospects. He made leather bags and became affluent after setting up a business.
Shinde’s father Sambhajirao continued with the business and prospered. Interestingly, Sambhajirao married three times in his desire to have a son. Finally, the third wife, Krishnabai, asked Sambhajirao to marry her younger sister Sakhubai. The first three children died in early birth. But on September 4, 1941, Sushilkumar was born. But tragedy struck the family when Sushilkumar’s father died on July 15, 1947.
In his memoir, this is how Shinde describes what happened. “My father died, leaving behind a family unused to the ways of the world. Friends vanished, the business collapsed, and a day came when there was no one to support my mother and stepmother. Used to affluence and material comforts, my family turned poor overnight. Relatives and acquaintances offered their sympathies, but no one offered a helping hand.”
As for Shinde, his life took another direction. He became a thief. With a group of friends, they stole stuff from pavement dwellers. “Eating sweets and watching movies with the ill-gotten money was our favourite pastime,” writes Shinde.
Of course, one day he got caught. His mother urged him to give up this life, albeit with a slap. And Shinde did. He did odd jobs, like being a roadside vendor, working in a toffee factory, a printing press, and at the Wadia Hospital in Solapur.
All this is recounted in the book, Five Decades in Politics, as told to journalist Rasheed Kidwai.
As Shinde grew older, he experienced caste discrimination as a Dalit. Once when he asked for water from a man, the latter asked about his caste. “His demeanour shifted upon hearing my answer,” writes Shinde. “He offered me water in an aluminium utensil, tilting it towards me from an angle so my lips wouldn’t touch the container.” That night, Shinde wept and wondered how people could allow pets to wander everywhere in their houses, but not human beings.
On another occasion, he visited his cousin in Dhotri, ten miles from Solapur. Because it was so hot, he took a dip in the local pond. After he reached the house, people came and protested that a Dalit had defiled the pond. After heated arguments, a priest was called to purify it. “I emerged physically unscathed, but the experience left a permanent scar on my psyche about the obnoxious caste system,” says Shinde.
It was only at the age of 20 that Shinde passed his Class 10 exams. Eventually, he got an arts degree from Dayanand College, Solapur, and an LLB from ILS Law College and New Law College at the University of Bombay.
A friend, Subhash Vilekar, submitted an application form on behalf of Shinde for the job of sub-inspector with Mumbai Police. And to Shinde’s surprise, he got the job. Later, while working as a policeman, Shinde met a young and rising politician, Sharad Pawar, who persuaded him to join politics. So Shinde resigned from the police and went into active politics. Thereafter, Shinde tells the story of how step-by-step, through hard work, and having a pleasant personality, he ascended to top positions in the government.
Sushilkumar Shinde regarded July 31, 2012, as a red-letter day. That was the day when Sonia Gandhi, chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, told him, “You have to take charge of the home ministry.”
Shinde immediately realised that her decision was a testament to the opportunities the country provides to people from humble backgrounds. “Having started my career as a police sub-inspector many years earlier, my appointment as the home minister of the country was a fitting tribute to our vibrant democracy,” writes Shinde.
He describes the various crises that he dealt with. These included the hanging of convicts Afzal Guru and Ajmal Kasab. And he was the first to articulate about “saffron terror”. He met Kashmiri leaders, as well as those agitating for Gorkhaland in Bengal, and talked to Maoists without preconditions.
Shinde quotes a statement by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh because it summarised the role of a Home Minister perfectly. “India is unique and a land of contradictions,” said Singh. “These contradictions often interact and give rise to factors that contribute to internal security problems. What are these problems?”
Singh mentions poverty, unemployment, inequitable growth, resource distribution, corruption, the nexus between criminals, police and politicians in organised crime, lack of development, prolonged judicial process, poor conviction rates, caste, communal discord and hostile neighbours. “The order is random and each of these issues can have an impact on the country,” said Singh.
Shinde writes that the government had strengthened the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act in 2012. However, he added, “I feel sad to see how it has been misused to curb civil rights and legitimate political dissent. That was never our intention.”
He also speaks about another red letter day in his career. On January 18, 2003, he became Maharashtra’s first Dalit chief minister. The Congress was in an alliance with Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress party. Just before Shinde took his oath, he saw India’s first Dalit President, KR Narayanan, sitting in the front row. “Words cannot describe what I felt,” wrote Shinde.
And in his first state Budget, Shinde came up with a novel idea: to provide financial help to bright students from socially and economically poor backgrounds so they could study in foreign universities. In the first year, six boys and four girls went abroad.
Shinde also focused on how, when the Assembly elections in Maharashtra in 2004 resulted in a fractured mandate, the Congress Party decided to promote a Maratha leader to the post of chief minister. Thus, Vilasrao Deshmukh became the chief minister. As a result, Shinde lost his job. But Shinde mentioned that he and Deshmukh had been close friends for a long time. So, he did not get upset or humiliated.
Subsequently, Shinde became the governor of Andhra Pradesh. And he has made a telling observation about governors today. “I feel that the Office of the Governor should never be politicised,” he said. “Unfortunately, this is very much the trend now, and this is harmful to our polity. The only solution for this is that all governors should try to stick to what the Constitution says, and maintain their freedom from party influences as the Constitution expects them to.”
In a section called “Mentors and Leaders”, Shinde writes about how Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar played a decisive role in his career, especially in the early years. “I am indebted to him in more ways than I can ever acknowledge,” writes Shinde. He also writes about his admiration for former Chief Minister YB Chavan. Other leading politicians Shinde wrote about briefly include Bal Thackeray, Vasantdada Patil, VP Naik, VN Gadgil and AR Antulay. And there is a brief chapter on his relations with former Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi.
In the chapters covering his government career, Shinde has skimmed over the details, perhaps for reasons of national security. But the refreshing aspect is that Shinde does not indulge in scoring political points or attacking people. It is a book without malice towards anybody.
Asked about why he is inoffensive, Shinde writes, “A leader must combine a soft tongue and be tough at the same time, without hurting anyone. That is an approach I have always taken, and it has seldom let me down.”
In the foreword, Sharad Pawar writes, ‘Sushilkumar Shinde embodies Lord Krishna’s mantra on how to address a challenging circumstance: ‘He who responds to every situation with a smile and never reacts with anger is the one who wins.”’
Now and then, Shinde gives us points of philosophy that can hold us in good stead as we tackle the setbacks in our lives.
Shinde quotes the late English singer Amy Winehouse. “Life is short…Anything could happen and it usually does, so there is no point in sitting around and thinking about all the ifs, and buts.”
Here is another one. “I decided not to bear grudges against anyone,” Shinde wries. “Rather than wasting time and energy on negative thinking, I felt that I should make the best use of the situation.”
After reading the book, you realise you can go from the bottom to the top, provided you have the will, the determination, and a positive attitude. Of course, you should be lucky enough to meet the right people at the right time. But that happens in almost everybody’s life. The point is, how many take advantage of these breaks? Shinde did.
Five Decades in Politics, Sushilkumar Shinde and Rasheed Kidwai, HarperCollins India.