We in India owe a debt of gratitude to Margaret Thatcher, who passed away a few days ago. Till she came to power in the United Kingdom in 1979, that country was known for its "bolshy" union ethos. The coal miners, under Arthur Scargill, represented the worst among them. Britain was highly dependent on coal, its main fuel for power generation. Under Scargill's leadership, the miners' unions held that country to ransom by going on strike whenever their demands were not met. Most of the preceding prime ministers had succumbed to such threats.
When she took over as PM Margaret Thatcher decided to stand up to Scargill. It became a real fight. There were blackouts - trains were stranded midway, hospitals went without essential facilities, etc. Most people in Britain and abroad thought that Thatcher had no alternative but to give in. But she stood firm, and ordered the armed forces to man the power generation stations and to guard the supply lines. It was a tense period; but she won that battle, and it was a turning point in the fortunes of Britain.
For us in India, Thatcher's tenure was a period of constructive collaboration with the UK because she and Indira Gandhi were able to establish a mutually respectful relationship - despite the fact that Thatcher was dismissive of the leftist model for economic development which Gandhi had adopted. Deep down, Indira Gandhi also was a pro-private sector person, although for domestic political reasons she had to appear to be on the left of centre in a country where the majority of the people were poor. Her trusted advisors P N Haksar and P N Dhar were both individuals who believed in the efficacy of private capital combined with a measure of government controls and public sector ownership of a few strategic industries, especially those related to defence supplies. This approach was very much aligned with the policy of Thatcher in the UK - not as rigid on government ownership as in the Soviet Union and not as liberal about private ownership as in the United States. Privatisation of airlines, telecom services, banking services and so on followed in India, and our economy became more dynamic as had happened in Thatcher's UK.
Thatcher also played a very important role in global affairs. She was the one who, after her interaction with Mikhail Gorbachev, told her friend President Reagan of the US that she felt that Gorbachev was a man she could do business with. It was her urging that led to the first meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev, and the thawing of the relationship between the Soviet bloc and the West. It was a historic transformation that benefited the whole world including us in India. And Thatcher was the architect of that change.
I had the privilege of meeting Thatcher along with her husband Denis on an unscheduled occasion. He was a member of a club in St James Square in Central London where I stay whenever I visit London. One day, when I was having lunch with a friend in the dining room, Margaret Thatcher - who was, by then, out of power - came in with her husband and they sat at the table next to ours. I was really taken by surprise because in India even minor politicians after their retirement are surrounded by a retinue of security guards and other hangers-on. Here was a lady who was the scourge of trade unions and the Irish Republican Army, coming in to have lunch in a place where anyone could force entry and kill her.
When I recovered from my surprise I went up to the couple and wished them and told Margaret Thatcher that I was an admirer of hers for what she had done for Britain - privatisation and standing up to militant labour - all of which became a model for my country. She smiled graciously and thanked me. By that time she had lost the combative spirit she had shown in parliamentary debates. What I saw was a much mellowed Thatcher being solicitously looked after by her devoted Denis. That is what I will always remember of that great lady.
The writer headed Hindustan Unilever and served on the board of Unilever plc
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