Surviving Idi Amin

Idi Amin has carved out his place in history for many wrong reasons, including taking Uganda downhill at a time when the East African community was flourishing. His role proved a setback for Uganda itself in terms of its inclusive and harmonious domestic polity and its coffee-led economy. Libya and others led him to adopt an Islamic identity in the hope of attracting petro-dollars to fund his grandiose schemes. Idi Amin, “President for life for Uganda”, ultimately found that such titles often resulted in nasty, brutish and short regimes.

In India, Idi Amin is mainly remembered for the expulsion of the Asian community, many of whom were not Indian nationals. Significantly, not many African countries condemned the expulsion and only a few like Zambia and Tanzania, under the visionary leadership of Kenneth Kaunda and Julius Nyerere respectively, came out in condemnation once the expulsion also affected Asians who had Ugandan citizenship. Such whimsical acts contributed to a negative impact on the Ugandan economy and uncertainty in several East African countries where Indian communities had successfully integrated themselves.

Madanjeet Singh of the Indian Foreign Service is highly regarded for his cultural sensitivity and knowledge. Culture of the Sepulchre is different from his well-known book on cultural issues and, though the title hints that the book is a biography of Idi Amin, it is actually an account of the period when Singh was high commissioner to Uganda and ambassador to Rwanda and Burundi in 1977-79.

Singh has provided a very useful account of the period when Amin had consolidated his power, had moved towards an Islamic identity, particularly with the help of Libya, and was assertive towards his neighbours. He also held meetings with the Organisation of African Unity and Islamic Development Bank in Kampala. He wrecked the functional East African Community (though the author misses this important aspect), showing the extent to which the policies he enunciated by first expelling the Asians and later taking Uganda beyond its cultural ethos could lead a nation to destruction.

The detailed description of the mayhem caused in Amin’s time through execution of enemies and allies alike, the extermination of inimical tribes and excessive reliance initially on the Soviet bloc and then on the Islamic bloc, particularly Libya, is interesting because such altering friendships have not seen the end of the day even now.

The description of the high commissioner’s residence is so accurate that one can walk into it even today and it will feel familiar. The raid on the office and the manner in which it was looted during those troubled times are described in graphic detail. The author has recorded Indian diplomats’ exemplary courage in trying times to protect Indian interests by refusing to depart from Kampala when the Ugandan rebels led by current President Museveni and Tanzanian forces removed Amin from the scene.

During much of the disturbed period, Singh’s wife had shifted to Nairobi for security reasons and his son studied in India. Singh had a small dog for company. I have found his account of loneliness of an ambassador in difficult times an interesting read and could empathise with it. I can also imagine him driving his own staff car for several months when the local driver could not come to work. He was, thus, being practical rather than abiding by “ministry’s rules”. The existentialist efforts to keep looters away from his house and from some of the public sector units mainly on the strength of his personality and the power of the Indian tricolour are among the attributes that many diplomats have used in messy situations, perhaps without adequate recognition.

Singh has an eye for detail. He remembers a professor from a well-known university who escaped in his car when he was trying to organise a caravan of vehicles to take the remaining Indians into Kenya. He remembers Kamla Treon and her strong approach including returning with him to Kenya from Kampala. He also remembers Surender Singh for the same bravery but in whose case, unfortunately, an accidental shot put an end to a young life.

Even as Singh shows how a country can be destroyed through grandiose showmanship, he demonstrates that the churning that takes place when a rebellion succeeds can be equally devastating.

He has juxtaposed his life and tribulations, both personal and professional, with the ministry of external affairs (MEA) in an interesting way. Two recollections stand out. The first when he preferred to leave New Delhi for Amin’s Uganda because he saw it as a breath of fresh air. Later, while vultures hovered over Uganda, he chose to refer to senior officers in MEA as vultures. His desire to receive a diplomatic bag and to work in disturbed times even without any means of communication is something with which only diplomats of yesteryear can now be associated.

I found this book a welcome addition to the limited writing of Indian diplomats on Africa. Singh has rightly brought out the government’s approach to engage with the diaspora and enhance economic relationships, which the author did successfully, even during Amin’s regime.

The reviewer is a career diplomat with a deep interest in Africa. These views are personal

CULTURE OF THE SEPULCHRE
Idi Amin’s Monster Regime
Madanjeet Singh
Penguin; 237 pages; Rs 499