Indian P.M.’s drinking habits under fire

Press, 23 June 1978, Page 6

Indian P.M.’s drinking habits under fire

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi’ ■ The urine-drii king habits ‘of the 83-vear-old Indian Pnme Minister (Mr Morarji) Desai) have attracted some witty and cri ical comments m Indian newspapers. Mr Desai became the centre of attention earlier this year when he attended the Commonwealth Heads of Government regional meet-, ling in Sydney. It was not so jmuch his actual attendance that brought him notice as) Ulis admission that he drank l a glass of his urine every! i morning for health reasons. 1 i It got wide coverage in! I newspaper columns. ) Now his frugal style of! I living — following what the; Indians call the Gandhian; style (after Mahatma Gandhi) 1 — has been the subject of 'etters to papers. One such appeared this; week in the “Statesman”’ newspaper published in Cal-! cutta and Delhi. It said that the arrogance! of Mr Desai, a "Gandhian,” l knew no bounds. “Today he is forcing his! eating habits down the throats of those attending l his official banquets.” (Local observers say Mr; .Desai insists on his own! 1

i | frugality being the norm at . official functions). N The letter continued: “Toll morrow, God forbid, it could ,|be his drinking habits. ') “The mind boggles at the ’ very thought of pistachios .land piss.” ' Another paper, the “Momfling Echo,” recently took Mr Desai to task in an editorial. It began: “It’s time some'lbody went up to him and J told him without fear, to ; stop this poppycock of i i health at 83, of urine therapy and of prohibition." (Mr Desai recently instituted a plan for complete 'prohibition of alcohol in ,I India within four years). It continued: “The world) '■he is currently touring is not) i going to be taken in by the! '■image of a Prime Minister; las a man of queer habits) /and firm ideas.” At the time of the edi-l torial, Mr Desai ms on an ’overseas tour and, the paper; .says, went -n television in l the United States, spending- | half his time commending l urine therapy. The same editorial warned that Mr Desai’s kind of national management would 1 , j not last too long, and!] added: “It will not, and the 1

day his management ceases | to be, his urine therapy and’ |scare of liquor drinking will! fade from the people’s; I memory." ) It said also: “Isn’t it |rather shameful to be so! healthy at 83 in a country! I where people start looking; old at 30. ; “Not because they don’t! ■practise urine therapy, Mr; Prime Minister, but because they don’t have enough to 1 eat and you as the head of I I the country’ have no time to) think of it jjnCe you are too 1 I busy keeping yourself healthy,”