Journalism of Courage
Former Union minister George Fernandes passed away Tuesday morning at the age of 88. Born in 1930 in Mangalore, his first stint in politics was with the Janata Party after Emergency. He was elected to Parliament from Muzaffarpur in Bihar in 1977. In picture: George Fernandes is seen addressing a public meeting at KC College in 1998. Express photo by Neeraj Priyadarshi
Educated at Victoria College (now Laxmibai College), Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Vajpayee holds an M.A (Political Science) degree and has many literary, artistic and scientific accomplishments to his credit. In pic: BJP leaders and his party supporters come out after meeting with then president K R Narayanan at Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi. L to R - A B Vajpayee, Jaswant Sinha, George Fernandes, L K Advani. (Express archive photo by Arvind Yadav)
Fernandes served as defence minister for two terms from 1998-2001 and then from 2001-2004. His term was eventful as it witnessed the Kargil war and Pokhran test. He stepped down as Defence Minister in 2004 after the ‘coffin gate’ broke out. In picture: Fernandes waves at the media before flying MiG-21 aircraft from Airbase in Ambala. Express photo by Swadesh Talwar.
Atal Bihari Vajpyee , George Fernandes ,Abdul kalam, pramod Mahajan, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and other enior sceintists and army officials at the site where india''s second nuclear test was conducted in Pokharan, Rajasthan. Express photo by Ravi Batra.
George Fernandes , while addressing a rally on July 13, 1995. Express photo by Vinayaka Prabhu.
NDA convenor George Fernandes at Parliament house after meeting with then prime minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi in 2007 Express photo by Ravi Batra.
Fernandes, along with like-minded leaders, opposed Emergency, what he saw as a blatant misuse of power. On June 10,1976, he was arrested in Calcutta on charges of smuggling dynamite to blow up government establishments in protest against the imposition of emergency, in what came to be known as the Baroda dynamite case. Source: Express Photo.
Fernandes also took on American multinational companies like IBM and Coca-Cola. In an interview with The Indian Express in 1998, Fernandes iterated that he was not anti-MNC but pro-Swadeshi. He said: “People keep saying that I threw out Coke but I was well within law to ask them about the formula they were so secretive about.” In picture: Fernandes is seen during bye election at Chikmangalur in 1978. Source: Express Photo .
Fernandes had been bedridden for the past few years. In this picture from 2009, he is seen with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama at Dharmashala. He was undergoing Tibetan treatment for a clot in the brain. Source: PTI
In this picture from 2010, Jaya Jaitley is seen wishing former Defence Minister George Fernandes on his 80th birthday at his Panchsheel residence in New Delhi on thursday. Express Photograph by Ravi Kanojia.
