a fair reckoning
Biographers tend to be unduly sympathetic towards their subject. But Congress politician and former Union minister, Jairam Ramesh, in his avatar as a chronicler, cannot be found guilty of donning hagiographic bifocals while unravelling the jigsaw puzzle called V.K. Krishna Menon. As he notes in the introduction of A Chequered Brilliance: The Many Lives of V.K. Krishna Menon, the subject of his biography was a multi-layered character much admired and equally despised. The sum of all the parts that made this rather controversial individual is what Ramesh captures through his book.
Given the luxury of 725 pages by his publishers, the author has had the space to explore Menon’s life in considerable detail. And in this exercise Ramesh has been helped by archival material including copious notes and documents preserved in Delhi’s Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Also, the several letters exchanged between Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna Menon before and after Independence was a valuable resource in exploring the latter’s role in the freedom struggle as well as in the nascent Indian government.
As Ramesh points out at the outset, those who disliked Menon and his dismissive and abrasive ways had rather uncharitable things to say about him. He was variously referred to as “Rasputin, Mephistopheles, Lucifer, Svengali, Evil Genius… the World’s Most hated Diplomat and Sombre Porcupine”. But for those who knew the other Krishna Menon he was Jawaharlal Nehru’s intellectual “soulmate and sounding board” between 1935 and 1964. He also campaigned vigorously for India’s Independence in the West, particularly in Britain, where he mobilised opinion against the Raj among political parties, parliamentarians, trade unions, literary figures and the media. And this he did doggedly for almost three decades.
After India’s Independence, Menon continued to be in the headlines for both the right and wrong reasons. Thus, he had a key role in the Korean armistice of
1953 and for defusing tensions between US and China in 1955. His record-breaking speech in the UN in 1957 — lasting eight hours — elucidating India’s position on Kashmir is often remembered as Menon’s crowning diplomatic achievement.
However, brickbats followed soon after the accolades. He was humiliated and disgraced for his role as defence minister between April
1957 and his eventual resignation on October 31, 1962. The debacle in the Sino-Indian conflict that happened during his charge is often attributed to Menon’s inept and insensitive handling of the defence ministry as well as the armed forces.
The turn of events that led up to the Chinese war reveals the low morale within the armed forces at that time. Indeed, the era was marked by much bad blood in the higher echelons of the three services over appointment of favourites of the defence minister to top posts. Matters finally came to a head when then Army Chief, General K.S. Thimayya, submitted his resignation in 1959 but was persuaded by Nehru to stay on till his term concluded in 1961.
However, issues raised in Thimayya’s resignation letter pertaining to Krishan Menon’s conduct were scooped by the Statesman’s “political correspondent”. The sensational story not only created a furore in Parliament but led to MPs demanding Menon’s resignation from the cabinet. Interestingly, opposition to the defence minister also came from within his own Congress Party.
But how did the Army Chief’s letter addressed to the Prime Minister leak to the media within hours of it being delivered? Ramesh’s book offers this information: “For over five years the Statesman had a military correspondent who wrote on defence matters from time to time. This correspondent was no journalist really. He was none other than J.N. Chaudhuri, a top Army officer whose articles would appear occasionally under the byline ‘By Our Military Correspondent’… My conclusion is that Chaudhuri was in the loop on Thimayya’s resignation and instead of writing the story himself, passed it on to the paper’s political correspondent.”
The damage was done. From then on Krishna Menon became the target of persistent political attack. Indeed, such were the misgivings about the armed forces that in January 1961 there were rumours that a disgruntled army led by Thimayya may well stage a coup leading to a military takeover. According to then principal defence secretary S.S. Khera, this “news” even reached Nehru and home minister Govind Ballabh Pant. Speculation was rife that January 30 — the anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination — was the day when the Army would strike. Thimayya’s order to move a division from Ambala to Delhi had apparently fuelled the rumours.
This and other nuggets find their way into Ramesh’s work which is not wanting in detail. One delightful aspect that is recorded in depth is the intellectual bonding and ideological camaraderie that existed between Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna Menon. In fact, the latter, despite his brilliance, would not have flourished but for the trust reposed in him by the former.
As for Menon, not many would know that he was regarded as “brilliant” when he attended the London School of Economics by none other than Professor Harold Laski, noted economist and political theorist who went on to serve as the chairman of the British Labour Party. Neither is it widely known that Menon was among the three who launched Penguin Books in 1936, and that he was the first editor of its non-fiction imprint, Pelican. Among the books published under his editorship was Bernard Shaw’s The Intelligent Woman’s Guide to Socialism, Capitalism, Sovietism & Fascism and Sigmund Freud’s Totem and Taboo.
More than anything else, Jairam Ramesh’s discovery of V.K. Krishna Menon (1896-1974) is not only a delightful look at the latter’s chequered journey from Calicut to London but also a study of the personalities and movements in England that helped India in its struggle for Independence.
Ramesh’s discovery of V.K. Krishna Menon (1896-1974) is not only a delightful look at the latter's chequered journey from Calicut to London but also a study of the personalities and movements in England that helped India in its struggle for Independence
The writer is a Delhi-based author and journalist