Lessons for communicators on preparing
for disasters
and how to avoid them, too
By S.Narendra
(Former
Information adviser to PM & Principal Information Officer and
Spokesperson
Government of India)
Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao was to
board the special plane on his visit to New York at 10.30 AM on November 2, 1995.
He was to address the United Nations 50th anniversary ceremonial
session, somewhat a non-event. The entire Indian delegation, including myself,
was already at Palam airport, awaiting PM’s arrival.
Since returning from G-20 meeting in
Argentina barely a week earlier, the PM was engaged in hectic parleys with
political parties for holding Assembly elections in J&K that had been under
the President’s rule from 1989. Pakistan had managed to prevent the holding of
elections by assisting J&K separatists and intensifying terror and violence.
The longer India was prevented from holding the, greater was the advantage to
Pakistan internationally.
 |
J&K voters enthusiastic over polls
(Representational pic) |
Islamabad was making out a strong case
before the UN and other international fora for an outside mediation
in the bilateral dispute over J&K between India and Pakistan. It was
propagating that India was deploying massive security forces in J&K for
suppressing the state people’s demand for separation and independence. By holding free
and fair elections in J&K, the prime minister wanted show to the world that
people in the Indian part of Kashmir had a choice to elect their own
government, unlike in the Pakistan occupied part of Pakistan where no elections
had ever been held since its forcible occupation in 1948.
The prime minister, in fact, had been
preparing the ground since 1993 beginning for restoring normalcy in the state
and holding of elections. Around this time, he had taken me and his trusted
political aide, P.V.R.K.Prasad into confidence and instructed us to work for
creating an enabling media environment for the polls.
Yo-Yo
Poll Parleys: Pakistan was not the only one hell
bent on frustrating Rao; there were forces within and outside Rao’s government
itself working behind the scenes to
derail his Mission J&K poll. That
had made Rao redouble his efforts to get everybody on- board. From the early
morning of his day of departure, the prime minister was having a final round of
talks with political leaders, particularly Farookh Abdullah, son of Sheikh Abdullah ,and
president of the National Conference, the state’s dominant party. NC’s
participation in the poll, therefore, was very essential. Normal political
activities by political parties in J&K had come to a total halt due to
violence and death threats held against political leaders. Against this
background, persuading political leaders to resume political activities leading
to elections was not an easy task, despite assuring maximum security cover to
political leaders. An announcement of J&K
 |
| J&K: Pak tries to spoil peace and poll |
elections coinciding with the
UN’s 50th anniversary assumed significance in the context of Indo-
Pak dispute. Pakistan was sure to rake it up in this session. Besides, J&K
people had strongly signalled that they were fed up of militancy and ready for
elections and normal life.
Last
minute Search: During the negotiations, Farookh Abdullah and other
J&K leaders, had put forth a demand
that the prime minister should make an immediate national broadcast reiterating the state’s
special status (under Article 370), including the state Assembly’s right to
accept or reject the application of central laws to the state. Soon after concluding his negotiations,
Rao wanted official documents relating to J&K, in order to base his
broadcast on the commitments made in those documents. He was not satisfied with
the documents supplied by the home and external affairs ministries and called
me at the airport asking me to collect as
much material as was available with me on J&K, particularly the two agreements
reached between J&K’s leader Sheik Abdulla and the government of India. I
requested the PM to give me time to return to my office and home for gathering such papers - that
meant further delay of PM’s departure (we left at 2 pm).
Tricky
Satellite Slot: As the PM was to leave on a foreign
trip that very day, his crucial broadcast on J&K matters could not be made
from the Indian soil. Rao was halting for two days at Ouagadougou, capital of
Burkina Faso in West Africa on the way to New York. It was one of the most
backward countries, with next to nothing in terms of communication.
 |
| Blank recording? PM PV could have been foxed, but for PLan-B |
Any
broadcast of PM had to be relayed
over satellite to Doordarshan in New Delhi
and within the few hours available we managed to book time on a European
satellite for 3
rd and 4
th November. But there was a tricky
issue. This particular satellite would hover over Ouagadougou for just an hour
in a 24 hours cycle and we could not miss it any cost. I had taken with me a
Doordarshan team specifically for the Ouagadougou leg of
the trip, so that they could uplink the recorded address of the PM through the
satellite at the fixed one hour slot.
No
out of Turn Word: The political negotiations had stipulated that
soon after the PM’s broadcast (from abroad), the union cabinet presided over by
the home minister, S.B. Chavan (in PM’s absence) was required to pass a resolution announcing the decision to
hold J&K Assembly elections. Both the PM’s broadcast and the cabinet
decision were to be publicly welcomed by the J&K leaders,
indicating their willingness to participate in the elections.
Such announcements were to be followed by a formal election notification by the
election commission. The purpose of such an arrangement was to send out a loud
and clear message of national consensus. There was to be no out of turn word.
And
the gaffe: The prime
minister of a big country like India visiting a far off small African country
was a rare event and the President of Burkina Faso ,had fully filled up PM’s the two -day visit with
engagements. We officials were entrusted with the job of drafting the PM’s broadcast
address could hardly get a few minutes for consultation with PM in-between his
crowded diplomatic engagements. When it came to preparing his speeches, Rao was
his own draftsman and very demanding when it came to researching
facts. We had managed to put together a final draft and I took the PM to an
improvised recoding room for recording the broadcast. The Doordarshan camera
person switched on his camera and gave the go-ahead signal. The PM spent about half an hour for recording the
speech and left the room after ascertaining that the recording was okay. Only a
few minutes were left for our departure for the airport when the Doordarshan cameraman
came trembling and blurted out: ‘Sir, PM’s broadcast... there was no tape in
the camera’. You can imagine the gravity of this carelessness by a small link
in the chain and its profound consequences.
Luckily, breaking the official procedure
that required only Doordarshan to record official broadcasts, I had asked the
cameraman of the Asian News International (who was in the
accompanying media party), Surinder Singh, also to be present while recording Narasimha
Rao’s broadcast. And, Surinder's tape saved the day, and a historic
broadcast of the prime minister managed to catch the elusive satellite uplink. Another
Disaster Averted. Lesson: Always keep plan B. I can never forget Surinder's big help! God bless him wherever he is is!
When PM’s goes abroad, a team of
telecommunication experts travel in advance and rig up a ‘hot line’
communication connection with the PMO in New Delhi. Normally, senior officials
accompanying the PM have access to it. I was using this
facility to be in touch with my office. During one of my calls, my deputy
informed me that he had been asked by the union home secretary to
arrange a press conference for him, a few hours before the PM’s broadcast. This
was not part of the political arrangements set before PM’s departure from India
and no one in the government was supposed to speak on the J&K matters until
after the PM’s broadcast.
My deputy had duly followed the home
secretary’s instructions and had not cared to inform me. As Narasimha Rao was
closeted with his Burkina Faso president, I could not consult him about the
home secretary’s press conference.
 |
The author
(sunarendra@gmail.com) |
The then home secretary was also
concurrently secretary in the department of J&K affairs, of which the PM
was in charge. And, the home secretary was known to have his own mind and speak
out of turn. I feared that his media interaction was very likely to stray into
J&K elections that hung in the balance. Using the PM’s hot line, I spoke to the home
secretary, enquiring about the subject matter of his press conference and how
he planned to respond to questions about J&K issues.
Pulling his rank, the home secretary asked
me ‘Do I need the PIO’s permission to meet the Press’? I responded: ’sir, you
are very senior and trusted by the government. You are free to address the
press conference. Since some delicate political issues are there, the media would
not be interested in any other subject you may like to brief them. They could
trip you and put words into your mouth. I think you are slated for higher positions,
and as a well wisher I am calling to caution you. You are free to address the
press conference. But I will bring this to PM’s notice’. The home secretary’s
response was “Thank you Narendra, I will take your advice’. He cancelled the
press conference.
Hearty Welcome to PRCI family!
