7/27/2019 Lal Bahadur Shastris death in Tashkent still raises questions _ PART 2

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Saga of India-Russia

diplomatic ties

Remembering Nehrus first

ever visit to the USSR

Lal Bahadur Shastris death in Tashkent still raisesquestionsToday is the 109th birth anniversary of Lal Bahadur Shastri, a man who was considered the epitomeof honesty, openness and integrity in the world of politics. The second Indian prime minister died inTashkent in 1966 and mystery still surrounds his death.

Memories of head waiter Ahmed Sattarov

In January 1966, a meeting was held in Tashkent between the heads of the governments of India and Pakistan,

where they discussed ending the conflict between the warring countries. I was among the special group of head

waiters from the Kremlin that was sent to work in Tashkent. Preparation took about a month. One of the things that

we practiced was how to comply with the rules of etiquette. In this case, it was not easy, as European protocol is

very different from Muslim and Hindu. An expensive, elegant set of dishes was made ready, that even included dining

sets of the Emir of Bukhara that had been found in the vaults of the Ministry of Commerce of Uzbekistan.

After the pact was signed, a buffet-style banquet was held. After it was finished, the

entire exhausted staff was called together, thanked, and awarded certificates. They

promised me and some other head waiters to give us state awards in Moscow for all ofour service. We went back to the hotel very happy.

Early in the morning I was woken by an officer of the Ninth Directorate of the KGB

(who guarded members of the Politburo and the government), from whom I learned

about the death of Lal Bahadur Shastri. The officer said that they suspected the Indian

prime minister had been poisoned. They handcuffed me and three other head waiters,

of which I was senior, and loaded us into a Chaika automobile. We four had served the

most senior officials, and so we immediately came under suspicion.

They brought us to a small town called Bulmen, which is about thirty kilometres from the city, locked us in the

basement of a three-story mansion, and stationed a guard. After a while, they brought the Indian chef who had

cooked the Indian dishes for the banquet. We thought that it must have been that man who poisoned Shastri. We

were so nervous that the hair on the temple of one of my colleagues turned gray before our eyes, and ever since I

stutter.

We spent six hours in the basement; they seemed like an eternity. And finally, the door opened and a delegation led

by Kosygin entered. He apologized to us, and said that we were free to go. A medical examination had shown that

Shastri died a natural death from his fourth heart attack. Nevertheless, the foreign press dubbed us the Poisoners

of the Prime Minister of India. Only our country's newspapers showed restraint.

Sattarov, who has rarely been interviewed since the incident, also answered a couple of questions.

The Ninth Directorate probably tightly controlled the whole banquet, includingthe quality of the food. Was there really an opportunity for such an attempt?

I think not. The food could not get onto the banquet table or into the refrigerators of the

apartments of the heads of state without undergoing a complete laboratory analysis.

Every movement of the staff was under the supervision of the KGB and other

intelligence agencies.

Did you change your attitude toward the Kremlin after the incident?

Yes, for the better. Kosygin remembered me, said hello on occasion and even shook

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my hand. My boss also treated me well. But the changes took place in my heart. At that time I had been taking

correspondence courses at Moscow State University. The six hours I spent in the basement at Bulmen in handcuffs

made me promise myself that when I finished my studies, I would quit my job as head waiter. Soon I found work in a

small newspaper. Later I published several books of poetry and essays. When the confidentiality term expired, I

even wrote a memoir called Notes of a Kremlin Maitre d'.