THE MAVERICKS

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Mohammed Fazal can’t understand what the fuss is all about. Gracy Singh — last seen cavorting with Aamir Khan in Lagaan — did the Garba at the Raj Bhavan. So?

The 82-year-old governor mulls over all this at his official residence at the tip of the northern end of the Queen’s Necklace or Marine Drive in south Mumbai. The newspapers have gone to town about Fazal’s decision to open the gates of Raj Bhavan for the launch of three Hindi films, and Fazal doesn’t quite know why. “The role of the governor is not to be detrimental to the state’s good governance or be unnecessarily obstructive,” he says. “But I am not dumb.”

What he is, is active. The governor — appointed by the NDA government two years ago — has been in the news because he is not a man who’ll be happy just cutting ribbons. So, on an average, he shoots off one letter in two days to the government.

The Maharashtra government, it has to be said, is not greatly happy with Fazal. For at least on three occasions, the governor has stepped in, forcing the government to take uncomfortable decisions.

It was Fazal who compelled the Maharashtra government to refer the multi-crore Telgi case to the CBI. Then, when political representatives had passed a controversial bill to bring the cash-rich Shirdi Sai Baba Temple Trust under the government, Fazal cleared his gubernatorial throat. He asked for clarifications, even though the bill had been passed by the legislature. And after senior officials questioned the alleged interference of politicians in police transfers, Fazal set up a committee to monitor and regulate all moves.

And if all that wasn’t enough, he is now spearheading a campaign for legalising sex work. But Fazal argues that he is only advocating regulating the red-light districts in the state and ensuring six-monthly medical check-ups to prevent the spread of diseases such as AIDS.

After a relatively quiet first year in Maharashtra, Fazal, who was earlier Goa governor, launched a population control drive inside the Raj Bhavan and convinced his personal staff to undergo non-scalpel vasectomy. “The truth is people want these measures but basic facilities are absent,” he says.

The truth, actually, is that Fazal — who graduated from Allahabad University before joining the London School of Economics — can’t stay in the backroom for long. His plan to construct a 14-storeyed residential building near the Raj Bhavan for housing its Class IV employees at the cost of Rs 11 crore has earned some flak. He also set up a recreational club inside the Raj Bhavan for employees. Fazal argues that all that he wants to do is create a “classless society”. The government believes that all that it ends up in is squandering money.

The governor — born in a zemindar family from Allahabad — is clearly something of a maverick. Though he survived when the new UPA government axed governors perceived to be close to the NDA, he has not made any bones about his friendship with saffron flag-bearer Murli Manohar Joshi. Last year, at a felicitation for Joshi, Fazal praised his initiatives in education. “I feel very sorry to see a section of our people always targetting him without understanding his thoughts. But I have no doubt in my mind that Dr Joshi will succeed in implementing his refreshingly original ideas in the field of education at all levels in the interest of our great country,” he said.

As far as the governor is concerned, he has done no wrong. And what’s the problem with inviting Bollywood over? “If they are such bad people, why should they be honoured with Padma Bhushans and Bharat Ratnas?”

That Fazal was a kindred spirit for Joshi and company became evident when it was known that he was among the pilgrims who had gone for the Kumbh Mela. “I am from Allahabad and I have been visiting the Kumbh Mela for years now. What’s so special about my visit?” retorts Fazal.

Fazal is leaving on a tour and tired of having to reply to a stream of questions being posed from all corners. “If I can’t call a spade a spade, I would rather not speak at all,” he says. His detractors are hoping that somebody would soon call an axe an axe.