On 16 August, 2018 the nation lost a statesman of independent India. An iconic leader on the world stage, Atal Bihari Vajpayee led India with great wisdom, foresight and love for the country.

Former prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee was admitted to the hospital on June 11 with a kidney tract infection, urinary tract infection, low urine output and chest congestion. He was battling for life and is on advanced life support at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was more than the towering personality in Indian politics. He was a poet, a writer, and admirer of fine things in arts and music. His life might have been an open book, but there are a few things that were forgotten as the time moved on and Vajpayee retired from active politics.

Here’s a look at five things that you did not know about the Bharatiya Janata Party patriarch which Jammu & Kashmir will never forget:

1. The Vajpayee doctrine on Kashmir first coined the slogan ‘Insaniyat, Jamhuriyat, Kashmiriyat’, which meant humanity, peace, and keeping the sanctity of the people of Kashmir. His doctrine aimed at achieving peace, progress and prosperity in the Valley.
2. Bilateral talks with Pakistan: A big part of Vajpayee’s efforts to resolve the conflict in Kashmir, was to initiate bilateral dialogue with Pakistan. He aimed to keep third-party interventions out of the India-Pakistan equation.  Vajpayee forwarded a hand of friendship based on reciprocity and mutual trust. He believed a collective fight against poverty and terrorism in the subcontinent would help to strengthen bonds between the two neighbours.
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3. Katra and other rail line projects in the Kashmir Valley: It was like a dream some tried to sell. But the person, who really filled color in the dreams was none other but Atal Bihari Vajpayee who declared it as a national project in 2003 and today the results are before us. The project has been divided into three parts – 41 km long Udhampur to Katra, 130 km long Katra to Qazigund and the 119 km Qazigund to Baramulla.
4. It was due to the timely intervention of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee that the Dogri language was included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.Dogri and three other languages — Bodo, Maithali and Santhali — were included in the 8th Schedule on December 22, 2003.
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5. In 2003, at that time much-awaited mobile phone services in the state of Jammu and Kashmir were launched by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee receiving the first call from the state then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed .