My Opinion

Memories refuse to fade even as 17 days have passed since the demise of former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. His friends, acquaintances and admirers across the political spectrum remembered the departed leader at a condolence meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recalling Jaitley as “mera chhota dost” (my young friend) said “I miss my young friend each moment…We all have so many memories about Arunji , but think about me who had a long association with him for 30-35 years”.

In an emotional tone, the Prime Minister said, “One should never face a situation, when one has to offer condolences to a friend younger in age.” Modi is 69, and Jaitley passed away at the age of 67.

NCP President Sharad Pawar, aged 78, said: “Today I am unhappy with Arun Ji, because he had no right to go before me.”

Words are inadequate to describe Arun Jaitley’s talent and his multi-faceted personality. He was a gem of an individual – a man who never revealed to others, nor ever worried about his own difficulties. He was always ready to help out others in need. He always thought about how best to work for the society and the nation at large. He used to give sound advice to friends how to come out of tricky situations.

Arun had a huge repository of knowledge, and with his passing away, the world is the loser. The void that his passing away has created may be difficult to fill up.

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The present status of Vikram Lander on the Moon’s surface is ambiguous. News agency PTI quoting an unamed ISRO official reported that the lander was intact, but was slightly tilted in one direction. In the evening, ISRO office sources said that they were not confirming this report.

Chandrayaan-2’s lander Vikram had a hard landing on September 7 and an ISRO official told PTI that the lander was “intact and not broken”. He also said that “it is in a tilted position. Though the lander hit the Moon’s surface hard while landing, it was still very close to the scheduled touchdown site as per the image sent by the orbiter’s onboard camera”.

Whatever may be the status, ISRO scientists are trying to their best to re-establish contact with Vikram lander. Science, after all, is a game of infinite probabilities. It is not necessary that every experiment or mission should succeed or come up to expectations. There is no need to abandon a dream only because of a single failure. There is always a next opportunity.

Our scientists and engineers at ISRO have done a commendable job over the years. In their first attempt (Chandrayaan-1) they sent our spaceship up to a distance of 384,440 kilometres to the Moon, and in the second attempt, the lander was in contact till 2.1 km above the Moon’s sufrace. Vikram, after all, landed on the Moon, though it cannot be called a soft landing.

It is true that we could not fulfill our aim to bring out the rover Pragyan on the lunar surface, due to this last minute glitch, but nevertheless we can say that our path is correct, our technology is reliable and we shall overcome whatever small obstacles that remain, in our next mission.

The entire nation is proud of our ISRO scientists and engineers. They truly deserve our congratulations. We must keep their morale high, and above all, we should trust their capabilities.

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All was well and the nation was awake most of the night watching with anticipation the descent of Chandrayaan2’s lander Vikram towards the Moon. Almost every one, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was waiting for the good news to come.

Vikram was descending with reduced velocity even as the brakes were being applied. When it was 2.1 km away from the Moon’s surface, it slightly veered off its trajectory and then suddenly lost contact with the Earth stations. Initially, there was suspense at the Mission Control Centre, as scientists awaited for the faintest signal from Vikram which never came. The suspense was followed by gloom, and ISRO chairman K. Sivan announced that communication with the lander has snapped, and data are being collected.

So near, yet so far. On Saturday morning, addressing the space scientists and engineers in Bengaluru, the Prime Minister unequivocally said that “our will and determination will not waver despite obstacles”.

Modi said, “Resilience and tenacity are central to Indian ethos. ..This is the reason, why despite so many obstacles, our civilization stands tall…I can proudly say that the effort was worth it and so was our journey.”

The Prime Minister pointed out that the main vehicle Chandrayaan2 was still orbiting the Moon normally and shall continue to do so. He praised ISRO scientists and engineers by saying that they have dedicated major part of their lives towards bringing glory to Mother India.

Modi said, “the obstacle came at the last step (descent of Vikram), but we will not waver from the march towards our objective….The desire to hug the Moon has increased all the more after today’s obstacle…You came as close as you could.”

Every Indian is today confident that our resilient space scientists will definitely find out ways and means to carry out another lunar mission with spectacular success. Our scientists tried to soft-land Vikram near the South Pole of the Moon, a terrain which no country has reached so far.

I am sure the “new dawn”, which the Prime Minister has spoken about, will soon come, thanks to the untiring efforts of our ISRO scientists.

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Former Finance and Home Minister, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member P. Chidambaram was sent to Tihar jail on Thursday for two weeks by a Special CBI court in connection with the INX Media corruption case. He has been lodged in Jail 7, and on court’s orders, allowed to take his glasses and medicines with him.

Chidambaram and his top lawyers made desperate attempts, both in the Supreme Court and then in the Special Court, to prevent him from being sent to prison, but the Special CBI Judge Ajay Kumar Kuhar declined to free him on bail after completion of 15 days in CBI custody.

The Special CBI judge’s order came after a Supreme Court bench comprising Justice R. Bhanumathi and Justice A. S. Bopanna denied bail to Chidambaram in the INX Media money laundering case being probed by Enforcement Directorate. The apex court said “white-collar crimes are committed with minute planning and deliberate design and in such cases, custodial interrogation is needed and granting bail to an accused before arrest can hamper the probe.”

The Supreme Court said, “Grant of anticipatory bail, particularly in economic offences would definitely hamper effective investigation. Having regard to the materials said to have been collected by ED and considering the stage of the investigation, we are of the view that it is not a fit case to grant anticipatory bail.”

Chidambaram’s lawyers tried another trick by even offering surrender before the ED so that he could at least be placed in their custody instead of being sent to jail, but the ED lawyer said they do not require his custody at this stage.

Chidambaram had been brought to the Special Court on Thursday in a CBI vehicle, and in the evening he was taken away in a jail van to Tihar prison. Pictures of a former Finance and Home Minister sitting alone inside a jail van shall always remain etched in memory.

There was a time when big political leaders, despite facing serious cases, managed to avoid going to prison through legal subterfuge, but the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has changed the very definition of custody.

Chidambaram fielded the country’s top legal eagles like Kapil Sibal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Salman Khurshid, but failed in his bid to avoid going to prison.

The charges levelled against the former Union Minister are serious, and the ED is waiting soon after the CBI is over with its probe. If Chidambaram manages to get bail, after going to prison, the ED is surely going to take him into custody. The coming months are surely going to cause more headache to the Congress leader.

It is an irony of fate that Chidambaram was the Home Minister, when BJP leader Amit Shah was sent to jail. At that time, Chidambaram had remarked that the agencies were working independently, the judicial custody was because of a court order and the government had no role in it.

Now that the roles have been reversed, Chidambaram and his friends are crying political vendetta, though the fact remains that he has been sent to jail on court orders and the same agencies are working independently.

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On Wednesday, the spokesperson of Pakistan Army, Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor called a press conference to declare that his country will fight for Kashmir “until our last soldier, last bullet and last breath”. Clearly, it was an exercise in jingoism to boost the sagging morale of separatists who never expected that peace would descend on the Valley despite revocation of Article 370.

The Pakistani army spokesperson also said: “How can you even consider that we will reach a deal on Kashmir? Any deal on Kashmir will be on our dead bodies….We want to tell India that wars are not only fought with weapons and economy but with patriotism.”

In the last one month since the revocation of Article 370, the statements emanating from the Pakistani’s Prime Minister, his ministers and the army, clearly indicate that there is total confusion both in their army and the civilian government. Nobody in Pakistan knows how to tackle an astute statesman like Prime Minister Narendra Modi who can always spring surprises.

As of now, Pakistan is unsure about what next step to take. The world did not come out in support of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. Most of the countries have clearly told Pakistan that Kashmir situation is an internal issue of India.

That is why the leaders in Pakistan are talking in different tunes at different points of time. Sometimes they speak about war, sometimes their Prime Minister speaks about peace and fighting poverty, and sometimes some other person speaks about fighting India ‘to the last bullet and last soldier till the last breath’.

The picture is clear. Both the civilian and military leaderships in Pakistan are now confused, and apprehensive.

Pakistan’s economy presents a dismal picture, and it does not have the wherewithal to fight a long war. The only step it can take, and has been taking, is: push terrorists inside India. Two Pakistani terrorists have been caught by our army in Kashmir recently and they revealed on Wednesday how they were trained in Pak Occupied Kashmir and sent across the Line of Control.

Now that Pakistan has lost the diplomatic battle in the world capitals and at the UN headquarters, it has now asked its spy agency, ISI, to send trouble makers to world capitals like London, New York and other cities to organize violent demonstrations outside Indian embassies.

The Indian High Commission in London was attacked by Pakistani stone pelters twice, and India has asked the British authorities to take action. Such juvenile actions will ultimately be detrimental towards the interests of Pakistan.

The former US Defense Secretary James Mattis, a retired Marine Corps general, has written in his latest book “Call Sign Chaos” that ‘Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the world’.

Mattis has warned: “We can’t have the fastest-growing nuclear arsenal in the world falling into the hands of terrorists breeding in their midst.”

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For the first time since the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday met a delegation of panchs and sarpanches from Jammu & Kashmir and assured them that the government would provide them security and life insurance cover of Rs 2 lakhs.

Amit Shah said, funds will now be given directly to the panchayats for developmental work. He also promised them that “no land will be taken away from people”. Only government land in Kashmir will be used to build hospitals, schools, colleges and industries, Shah added.

During the meeting, the sarpanches made it clear to the Home Minister that they had no objections over revocation of Article 370, but they wanted that communication lines should be reopened at the earliest. Shah promised them that this would be done within the next 20-25 days.

Work has also begun for providing employment to nearly 50,000 youths in government, Shah said. Kashmiri youths are taking part in army recruitment rally in large numbers.

A full month has passed since the revocation of Articles 370 and 35A, and not a single bullet has been fired so far. The situation, by and large, has been peaceful in the valley. India TV reporters spoke to villagers in the interior and most of the villagers said they trusted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sincerity and will in trying to bring prosperity to Jammu & Kashmir.

The people of Kashmir want that promises must be fulfilled at the earliest, jobs must be created and new industries, schools and hospitals must be set up. The common people have high hopes from the Centre and looking at their attitude, it seems that the fulfillment of promises is possible.

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After lots of dilly-dallying and a protracted legal battle before the International Court of Justice, Pakistan was directed by the ICJ to provide consular access to Kulbhushan Jadhav, the Indian national who has been given death sentence by a Pakistani military court.

On Monday, the Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was allowed to meet Jadhav in a ‘sub-jail’ near Islamabad, in the presence of Pakistani officials. “It was clear that Jadhav appeared to be under extreme pressure to parrot a false narrative to bolster Pakistan’s untenable claims”, said our External Affairs Ministry spokesperson.

This was the first meeting with an Indian official since Jadhav was arrested by the Pakistani army in March, 2016. According to our MEA spokesperson, Jadhav looked clearly harried and he repeated the “confession” that he had already made. That confession was clearly made under extreme duress.

In his meeting with his mother and wife in 2017 too, Jadhav had made remarks which were clearly tutored and meant to support Pakistan’s claims that he was an Indian Navy officer sent to carry out terrorist attacks in Balochistan.

After Monday’s consular access, India has said that it would “continue to work towards ensuring that Jadhav receives justice at the earliest and returns safely to India”.

In response to a query as to why India accepted Pakistan’s offer after having earlier rejected it because of pre-conditions, the spokesperson said that the meeting was important to gauge the health and well-being of Jadhav. There is a possibility that India may ask again for consular access. This time, Pakistan had cited jail manual to deny permission to the Indian diplomatic to speak to Jadhav in private.

Until and unless Jadhav can speak fearlessly to Indian officials about the circumstances in which he was arrested and then allegedly tortured to give a “confession”, any such consular access with be nothing less than a sham. The International Court of Justice should take note of this in the light of the Vienna Convention.

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On Friday, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan led the nation to observe, what he called ‘Kashmir Hour’, asking common people to stop work for half an hour and express solidarity on Kashmir issue. Television visuals from Pakistani media clearly showed that very few people participated. At some places, police had put barricades on roads to stop plying of vehicles, forcing the common Pakistanis to stand up and express ‘solidarity’.

In a freak incident, the Pakistani Railway Minister Sheikh Rasheed got a mild electric shock while holding a mike. He was roundly criticizing Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he got an electric shock. The minister soon finished his speech and left.

In an op-ed piece in New York Times, Imran Khan threatened the world with the spectre of a nuclear war. He wrote: “If the world does nothing …(on Kashmir) …..there will be consequences for the whole world as two nuclear-armed states get even closer to a direct military confrontation.”

In the article, he also laid down conditions for resumption of talks, saying “dialogue can start only when Indian reverses its … annexation of Kashmir, ends the curfew and lock down, and withdraws its troops to the barracks.”

Clearly, a desperate Pakistan seems to be on the defensive. It has not received any widespread support from Islamic countries and the western powers. It cried wolf over the possibility of massive violence and bloodshed in the Valley, but in reality, not a single bullet was fired, and there is peace throughout Kashmir valley in the last three weeks.

In order to pep up his domestic voters in Pakistan, Imran Khan first talked about the possibility of a war and then spoke about the threat of a nuclear conflagration, but the common Pakistani on the street is not buying his lame arguments. The common Pakistani is more worried about spiralling price rise of essential commodities and pathetic non-performance of the Imran Khan government.

The Pakistani PM hoped that ‘jihadi’ terrorists would carry out a spectacular strike in the valley, but that did not happen due to the vigil of our security forces. Clearly, Imran Khan now finds himself in a blind alley. He wants a way out of the mess, and this is the reason why he is raising the spectre of a nuclear war between India and Pakistan, so that the world can sit up and take notice.

Meanwhile, in Kashmir, the Centre has embarked on a massive programme to provide employment to youths in security forces and government departments, and has plans to improve road infrastructure and build schools and colleges, so that the handful of misguided youths return to the mainstream and the people of Jammu & Kashmir can work to usher in an era of peace and prosperity.

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The Gujarat sea coast has been put on high alert following intelligence reports that ‘commandos’ trained by Pakistani army may try to enter the Gulf of Kutch through Harami Nala (Sir Creek) area. India TV in its prime time show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Thursday night showed a security circular issued by the Kandla port authorities cautioning stakeholders to be on the watchout against any suspicious boat or person travelling in the area, and report to police immediately.

Kandla port, renamed Deendayal Port, is the largest and busiest seaport of India and handles more than 106 million tonnes of cargo. It is 303 nautical miles from Karachi port. Indian Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh had said three days ago that the Jaish-e-Mohammed has set up a ‘maritime wing’ of trained terrorists with underwater strike capabilities.

Meanwhile, Pakistani army and ISI have activated all the terrorist camps and launching pads in Pak Occupied Kashmir across the Line of Control in a desperate bid to push Border Action Teams to carry out sabotage and terror attacks.

Intelligence reports say that a brigadier level officer of Pakistani army has taken charge of Alpha-3 command centre for planning all operations from terror launching pads in Hajira and Kalighat of Pak Occupied Kashmir. Terrorists from Jaish-e-Mohammed, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizbul Mujahideen are being prepared for infiltration. Among them is Ibrahim, brother of Jaish chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

There are roughly 300 Pakistan-trained terrorists deployed in POK ready to cross over. They have been kept in four terror camps in Mansehra, Muzaffarabad, Kotli and Bahawalpur. They have been divided into sub-groups. Four infiltration attempts have been foiled so far by Indian security forces. Three training centres are active in Mansehra camp, five in Muzaffarabad, four in Kotli and one training centre is active in Bahawalpur.

According to military intelligence inputs, several infantry divisions of Pakistani army have been put on alert across LoC and troops have been directed to give cover fire to allow terrorists to sneak into Indian territory. To counter this, Indian army has put in place a three-layered security grid, and deployment of troops near International Border and Line Of Control has been beefed up. Anti-tank guided missiles, field guns, Bofors guns and surveillance equipments are in place to stop infiltrators.

Army, CRPF, J&K police and Special Operation Group squads are raiding secret hideouts of terrorists inside the Valley. Intelligence reports say, 115 foreign terrorists and 165 local terrorists are supposed to be hiding in the Valley. Intelligence operatives are zeroing in on Pulwama, Pampore, Bijbehera, Tral and Awantipora as most of the youths are being recruited by terrorists from these areas.

Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan and the Pakistani army, desperate after being snubbed diplomatically by Western and Arab countries, are trying to raise the decibel level over Kashmir, as they fear that the people of Kashmir, after the abrogation of Article 370 may opt for peace in the Valley. The Pakistani army is trying hard to escalate violence in the Valley, and terror groups are being used to carry out big strikes. Imran Khan and the Pakistani army chief Gen. Qamar Javed Bajwa know this very well that it would be difficult to convince the common Pakistanis, if their diplomatic and military manoeuvres fail. The only way out for them is to prod the terror groups to carry out a strike, by hook or by crook.

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Pakistan on Wednesday night carried out a night time launch test of its ballistic missile ‘Ghaznavi’, capable of delivering multiple types of warheads up to 290 kms. Three aviation routes in the Karachi air space have been closed till August 31 for such missile tests. Though there is nothing spectacular about this short-range missile, the video was immediately shared by the Pakistani army on social media to create a media hype.

This also clearly shows that a desperate Pakistan, after being snubbed diplomatically, is now resorting to jingoism and warmongering in order to attract world attention to the Kashmir issue.

In my show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ on Wednesday night, I had revealed how Pakistani army is busy deploying its troops in Pak Occupied Kashmir. Three army brigades have been deployed in Kotli area near the Line of Control. Pakistani troops have also been deployed in Sunderbani, Batalla, Nowshera and Rajouri sectors.

The Cabinet Committee on Security met on Wednesday to evaluate the situation across the LoC. It has been decided that Pakistan will be given a strong response if it dares to carry out any adventurist plan. There are intelligence reports of Pakistani army preparing to infiltrate nearly 300 trained terrorists at launch pads near the LoC.

India, on its part, will be getting next month nearly 100 Spice 2000 air-to-ground guided bombs from Israel to counter the enemy threat. This is an advanced version compared to the Spice 2000 bombs used by IAF during its Balakot air strike.

Clearly, the Pakistani civilian and army establishment is desperate. After failing to secure support from world powers over the Kashmir issue, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan is now resorting to jingoism and has warned about a nuclear conflagration. Imran Khan’s Railway Minister Sheikh Rashid, in an alarmist response, has even predicted a fifth Indo-Pak war.

Sheikh Rashid’s words cannot be ignored and taken lightly. He has clearly predicted that a war will take place in October-November and there was no use going to the UN to highlight Kashmir issue. He has also given a call to all Muslims to rise in ‘jihad’ war against India. He criticized Arab countries saying though there were Islamic, they were more busy selling crude oil.

On the war cry from across the border, Pakistan should remember that India has defeated its neighbour at least four times in the past. As for the ‘jihad’ call to Muslims, the Pakistani leaders should realize that the Muslims of India have always been valiant and patriotic in all wars that India has so far fought against Pakistan.

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It has been five days since the passing away of Arun Jaitley, and I am still unable to believe that his mortal remains have been consigned to flames and the ashes immersed in the Holy Ganga river in Haridwar. On Tuesday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his return from foreign visit, visited Jaitley’s house and met his grieving family members.

Modi stood silently with folded hands in front of Jaitley’s picture, and his eyes were moist. I do not know how he would have held back his tears, but I do know that Narendra Modi and Arun Jaitley were close friends. They always used to be together during moments of joy and sorrow. Their relationship was never that of a minister and a prime minister. It was a relationship bonded in brotherhood and affection.

I remember Arun Jaitley lying on his hospital bed watching news on TV about Modi meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping. Arun’s eyes were bright and he told me, “Look, how my friend has risen due to sheer hard work. Modi Ji is today among the four top leaders of the world.” Arun’s eyes brimmed with pride on seeing his friend Modi achieving the pinnacle of glory. And, on Tuesday, Modi looked sad watching his friend’s picture on a lifeless portrait.

Modi Ji is an emotional man and he gives the highest importance to personal relationship. Few people can fathom the depth of his pain after the loss of a friend, but being a ‘karmayogi’, he, like Arun Jaitley, believes in carrying on with his duty. I know that Prime Minister Modi will surely miss the absence of Jaitley both in his personal and public life.

All of us, in our own way, are trying to carry forward the legacy of Arun Jaitley, and as a symbolic gesture, in my capacity as president of Delhi and District Cricket Association, I announced that the stadium at Ferozeshah Kotla, will be renamed as Arun Jaitley stadium. Arun was DDCA president for 13 years at a stretch, and during this period, he got the entire stadium renovated. The capacity of the stadium was increased and the dressing room and players’ room got a new look. The Ferozeshah Kotla cricket ground will continue with the old name.

It was because of Arun Jaitley’s encouragement and guidance that players of the calibre of Virat Kohli, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Ashish Nehra, Ishaant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rishabh Pant came on the national stage.

The renaming of the stadium will be done on September 12 in the presence of Team India captain Virat Kohli and his players. Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be the chief guest, and cricket players of repute will attend the event.

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Normally my show ‘Aaj Ki Baat’ is not aired on weekends on India TV, but Saturday (August 24) was a special day. Today I want to share my sorrow and grief with my viewers, because my best friend Arun Jaitley is no more.
Arun used to tell me that difficulties do come in life, crisis do occur and illness does takes place, but the show must go on. Heeding to his advice, I have come before my viewers to share my grief.
Arun was a nice individual, a good leader, but personally I have lost my best friend who, being elder to me, was also my guardian. Today I really feel the sorrow of losing an elder in the family. He guided me in the best of times and the worst of times.
For me, Arun is not merely a name, he is the incarnate of all those values whom I hold dear in my life. Our relationship was not 10 to 15 years old, it spanned 45 years that strengthened with the march of time. Normally the relationship between a journalist and a politician more or less remains professional, but we knew each other when he was not a leader nor was I in journalism.
I personally witnessed the gradual rise of Arun in politics, and on his part, he helped me in becoming a good journalist. Today, as I recollect those 45 years of friendship with him, I can remember each and every moment. The imagery of those moments appear as flashbacks at the back of my mind.
For the last 15 days, whenever I used to leave my office after Aaj Ki Baat show, I used to reach AIIMS hoping to hear some good news. Even the doctors were optimistic when Jaitley was in a stable condition. On Saturday noon, when I got the terrible news, I was crestfallen. I felt as if some thing snapped inside me and I had lost every thing. I could never acknowledge that Arun would ever lose a battle, but has any body won against God’s will?
Arun used to speak a lot, whenever I went to meet him. Occasionally, he used to tell me, Panditji, at least say something. Today when I saw him lying in deep slumber in AIIMS, my inner voice cried out, Arun, at least say something, but my friend had gone to sleep, for eternity. Has any body woken up from eternal sleep?
Our first meeting
I first met Arun Jaitley in 1973 at Shriram College of Commerce. I hailed from a poor family of 10 members living in a single room house in Old Delhi. I had gone to pay my admission fees at the counter, and the clerk was annoyed because I had taken currencies of small denominations that our family had saved over the years. The clerk became angry when he found that I was three rupees short.
At that time, Arun was a student leader of ABVP. He put a hand over my shoulder, asked my name, and asked me how much money I needed. When I mumbled the amount, he took out a five rupee note, and the admission fee was paid. The hand of friendship that Jaitley had extended to me in 1973 continued over the years till Saturday noon, when Fate snapped off our friendship.
Our days in DU
Jaitley rose from being an ordinary ABVP worker to the exalted position of Minister of Finance, Defence, and Leader of Opposition but there was never a single stain of corruption on him in his long political career. Moral probity and honesty were the hallmarks of his illustrious political life. It is difficult to find such honest men in public life. I had been his co-traveller in his early political life.
By 1973, Jaitley had already made his mark in student politics. He was then studying B.Com. Those were the days when Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan launched his nationwide anti-corruption movement, and he appointed Jaitley as the national convenor of Chhatra Sangharsh Samiti. The next year, in 1974, Jaitley contested and won the post of president of Delhi University Students Union.
As an ABVP worker, I used to work for Jaitley’s poll campaign. Since I could not drive, I used to ride on the pillion of Vijay Goel’s scooter to stick posters throughout the city and then we used to sit together for a late night dinner. Those were our days in student politics. I recently saw an old photograph of 1974 in which Jaitley was treating me and other ABVP workers to ice cream.
Arun loved street food, and he considered himself a gourmet expert. He knew where to get the best kebab, the best rogan josh or the best chicken wings in town. In short, he was a foodie and he loved entertaining friends and acquaintances with delectable cuisines. A few months ago, I had gone for a working lunch with Arun at his office, and he suddenly asked me, Panditji, do you know where one can get the best rogan josh in town? I replied, Well, I am a vegetarian, how do I know. Arun said: The best at Moti Mahal, and better than the best, at your own home.

Emergency days
Arun Jaitley was very good in oratory. He used to blend facts with logic to create an impact in the minds of his audience. As DUSU president, he always used to smile and never expressed his anger.
On June 25, 1975 at midnight the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi got Emergency proclaimed in India and almost all the top opposition leaders were arrested. The Delhi Police went to Jaitley’s house to arrest him.
When Arun’s dad, an eminent lawyer, kept the police busy in arguments, Arun slipped out from the back door. The next morning, he led a procession inside Delhi University campus, shouted anti-government slogans, stood on a table inside the DU canteen and in a speech denounced dictatorship. Police picked him up immediately.
Arun spent several months in Ambala jail, and from there he was later shifted to Tihar jail. In all, he spent the entire 19 months of Emergency in jail.
By that time, I and other ABVP workers had also been arrested and lodged in Tihar jail. Our wards were different. Jaitley was lodged with eminent leaders and senior journalists, who later became his lifelong friends. It was in jail that I realized the extent of Arun’s courage and political will.
Janata Party days
The Janata Party swept the Lok Sabha polls in 1977. Arun could not contest because he was yet to attain the minimum age of 25 years for contesting parliamentary elections.
I cannot forget the day when the Janata Party chief Chandrashekhar formed the national executive that consisted of political titans like Morarji Desai, Charan Singh, L. K. Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Nanaji Deshmukh, and the name of Arun Jaitley, who was yet to become 25 figured in the list. Later, Jaitley had to resign after RSS leaders instructed him to come out of the national executive. Arun never hankered for any plum posts.
In 1977, Arun had completed his graduation and had joined LLB course. He wanted me to become more active in student politics. I contested for DUSU secretary post that year and won.
The new office bearers sought Jaitley’s advice on whom to invite for the new DUSU inauguration ceremony. He suggested that the Prime Minister Morarji Desai should be invited. Desai attended the function which was presided over by Arun Jaitley. Since then, I had always wanted Arun to preside whichever event I used to organize.
As a lawyer-cum-politician
During the Seventies, Arun started training with his lawyer dad after completing LLB course. He was also functioning as president of Delhi ABVP and as the national ABVP secretary.
When the BJP was formed in 1980, Jaitley was appointed secretary of Delhi BJP. Since then he had been doing organisational work for the party for 22 years at a stretch, drafting resolutions, preparing strategies and briefing the media. He never sought tickets to contest Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha elections. His legal practice flourished during this time, as Arun revelled in multi-tasking.
Arun first became an advocate in Delhi High Court and also practised in Supreme Court. He was appointed Additional Solicitor General at the age of 37 during Prime Minister V P Singh’s tenure. He set the record of becoming the youngest Additional Solicitor General.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee formed his first government at the Centre for 13 days, then for 13 months and later for five years. Vajpayee used to trust Arun Jaitley, who became a Union Minister at the age of 47 in 1999. He was given portfolio of Information & Broadcasting, and later Law and Company Affairs. Vajpayee once told me that it was difficult to run the government without Arun Jaitley, but the latter was insisting on doing party work. Arun left the government in 2003 to do party work, but had to rejoin later.
Multi-tasking
Arun was good at multi-tasking. He was equally proficient in courtrooms and politics, he was also a cricket administrator, he loved watching films and listening to old gems by Sahir Ludhianvi and Shakeel Badayuni. He used to discuss odd things like food, cricket and other gossips with clients, while poring over legal files, and after he finished examining the files, he used to fire questions on minute details, which only an avid reader could grasp.
For Arun, it was not law, but politics which he liked best. For him, politics was a passion. He stopped doing legal practice, when he was appointed Leader of Opposition. He returned his legal licence to devote his time to politics.
Personal friendship
During the 45 years that we were friends, Arun always stood by me through thick and thin. It was due to Arun that I came closer to the then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and his family.
Arun Jaitley sat in the dock of my show ‘Aap Ki Adalat’ five times. Though we were close personal friends, he never expected me to be soft towards him while grilling.
I remember once when I grilled Arun hard soon after demonetization, I was later told by our common friends that I was unduly harsh towards him. I met Arun and asked him whether he was unhappy. Arun told me that I was only doing my job as a journalist and he was doing his, and he said, this grilling had added more value to the show.
Similarly, after GST was implemented, Arun came as a guest my show and explained how much essential it was for India to switch over to a digitalized economy in order to become an economic superpower.
The last interview was soon after the IAF air strike on Balakot in Pakistan. The Opposition, particularly Congress leader Kapil Sibal, was seeking proof of bodies of terrorists killed in the strike. When I posed this question, Arun was at his acerbic best. He said, even a superpower like the United States was yet to give details about the Navy SEAL commando action that led to the killing of dreaded Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden and his mortal remains were thrown at sea.
My last conversation
My last conversation with Arun was when he was getting ready to be taken to AIIMS. My friend appeared to be in deep thoughts. He told me, Pandit ji, I have got every thing that I sought from life. I wanted to become a student leader, I reached the top, I wanted to make my mark in legal practice, I reached the top, I entered politics, became the Leader of Opposition and Union Minister, my children are now well settled, you are also in a good position now, I do not have any more wish to fulfill. If I come through (this phase of treatment), I would like to quit politics, and only read books and write books.
Today as I sat near my friend’s body, I had a simple complaint to make to God: Why were you in such a hurry to take away an honest person whose only remaining wish was to write books in peace?

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