In Focus: Bhartiya Janata Party

BJP's comments on the Congress party's Vision Document

2012-01-29T00:12:00.000-08:00

By releasing a ‘Visionless Document’, and not a Vision Document, the Congress party has proved its unworthiness to seek the people’s support in UP polls

The Congress party released its ‘Vision Document 2020’ for Uttar Pradesh with much fanfare yesterday. But even its cursory reading will show that it is a ‘Visionless Document’, and not a ‘Vision Document’. This conclusion will be further reinforced when it is compared with the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Vision Document and Election Manifesto.

Here are some striking points that show the utter poverty of vision in the Congress party’s ‘Vision Document’:

Power crisis in UP: Uttar Pradesh is currently suffering from a terrible power crisis. Daily power cuts for 10-20 hours are quite common in many parts of the state, especially in rural areas where 70 percent of the state’s population lives. All that the Congress party pledges to provide by 2020 — that is, after eight long years — is eight hours of electricity “to farmers in day time and to households at night time”. This means that, if the Congress party gets to rule UP, the state’s kisans, students, workers, artisans, doctors and nurses in hospitals will have to wait until 2050 for getting something as basic as 24x7 electricity supply.

In contrast, the BJP in its manifesto has promised 24x7 power supply in every part of Uttar Pradesh — “Sabko Bijlee, Sasti Bijlee, Chaubees Ghante Bijlee”. This is not an empty promise. The BJP government in Gujarat, under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi, has translated its promise of 24x7 power supply into reality.

There is no mention whatsoever in the Congress party’s document about how it will achieve even the modest target of 8-hour electricity supply. In contrast, we have stated that we shall fulfill our pledge by (a) creating additional generation of 20,000 MW by establishing 10 ultra-mega power plants; (b) realizing the potential of producing at least 6,000 MW through bagasse-based cogeneration units in sugar mills; (c) increasing the Plant Load Factor in the existing thermal power plants from 45 percent to at least 80 percent; (d) vastly reducing transmission and distribution losses and power theft; (e) massively promoting solar energy in a decentralized manner.

‘New Green Revolution’: The Congress has promised ‘New Green Revolution’ in its Vision Document. It has also promised to increase the rate of growth of UP’s GDP to 9-10 percent. We would like to ask Congress leader Shri Rahul Gandhi: aren’t the goals of a ‘New Green Revolution’ and 9-10 percent SGDP laughable, when all that the Congress is promising by 2020 is 8-hour electricity supply?

Employment: The Congress party has promised to create 20 lakh new employment opportunities by 2020. In contrast, the BJP has pledged to create at least 1 crore new employment opportunities in five years. We have also indicated how this pledge will be fulfilled. It seems that the Congress wants the unemployed youth of UP to continue migrating to Mumbai, Delhi and other places in search of livelihood. In contrast, the BJP wants UP to achieve such accelerated, broadbased and employment-oriented development that even non-resident UPites can return to their home state and find gainful livelihood opportunities. Bihar has been witnessing this transformation, thanks to the good governance and development initiatives taken by the JD(U)-BJP coalition government in the state.

Farm credit: The Congress has promised farm credit with an interest rate of 6 percent. The BJP in its manifesto has pledged to provide farm credit with an interest of 1 percent. We believe that, given the enormity of the crisis in agriculture, the kisans of UP need various kinds of governmental support.

Security: The Congress party’s apathy towards threats to national security — and also to the security of UP — is evident from the fact that there isn’t even a word about security in its ‘Vision Document’. It is well known — and the BJP’s Vision Document and Election Manifesto have emphasized this fact — that ISI, SIMI and HuJI have been conducting their anti-national activities in several parts of the state. The entire Nepal border along northern UP has been threatened. Shockingly, whenever our security forces have captured the operatives of these organizations in cases of terrorism, smuggling, production and transportation of fake notes, etc., the leaders of Congress, Samajwadi Party and BSP have given them a clean chit and tried to secure their release.

A laughable claim: The BJP in its Vision Document has mentioned with honour and pride the names of scores of great sons and daughters of Uttar Pradesh, belonging to all faiths, castes, sub-castes and political affiliations, who have contributed to the rich and multi-faceted heritage of the state. In contrast, the only persons eulogised in the Congress party’s Vision Document are those belonging to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Here is a truly laughable claim. The Congress document states that “Rajiv Gandhi had a vision to put a mobile phone in the hands of every citizen.” There were no mobile phones when Rajiv Gandhi (whom we respect) was alive. He died in a terrorist act in 1991. The first mobile telephone service in India started on 15 August 1995 in Delhi.

BJP Has Bungled Over The FDI Issue

2011-12-06T23:07:00.001-08:00

Bhartiya Janata Party has gained nothing from this FDI Fiasco.The youth of this country was taken aback by its stand on this subject .It was perceived that the BJP would not hamper country's growth at any cost.But after the Nuclear Bill ,BJP has again played very negative role .

Congress might have been forced to eat the humble pie once again but the BJP should understand that it has also not endeared to anyone by its act.FDI in retail is considered a good step because nobody expect anything from the government.If the government had held its monopoly over the Telcome Sector then very few of us would have owned a Mobile set.Government is simply incapable of managing anything: be it Hospitals,Schools,Road,Infrastructure.Government Officials are corrupt and in absence of any accountability gobble up all the developmental funds.

Only private players can make the difference.And multinationals will bring huge funds and transform the infrastructure.These are all very open secret yet the BJP took the Anti-FDI stand that is rather perplexing.

Angrej built railways for their very own economic benefits.But that infrastructure erected by them is being used by all of us now .Similarly let the multinationals develop back end infrastructure which would be of tremendous value for all of us.If we remain stubborn then we shall remain where we are now:At the bottom of developmental pyramid.
BJP should not try to con people because they are not as dumb as these Political Parties think about them.If the BJP persists in this way then it will loose its major constituency of young and educated electorates.

ELECTIONS IN INDIA : A FASCINATING STORY

2011-11-28T22:16:00.001-08:00

Viewed from any aspect, political, social or psephological, elections in India, whether at the national or state levels, have invariably been a fascinating story.Politically, these have contributed immensely to national cohesion and the growth of democratic temper. Socially, these have been a great equaliser, offering identical opportunities for exercising choice to the entire electorate - poor or rich, rural or urban, educated or illiterate, skilled or unskilled, male or female. Psephologically, their outcome has mirrored the complexities of the world’s largest democracy and helped to provide the most reliable insight into the voting behaviour of the population and the factors which influence its choice. Administratively, these have posed formidable challenges in sheer organisation and logistics which no other democracy in the world has to contend with. And, above all, news-wise, there is possibly no other single event relating to India which offers greater interest, excitement and thrill.

Independent India is not very old. But, among all the countries newly liberated from the colonial yoke, India alone has earned the singular distinction of not only being the world’s largest functioning, effective democracy but also of setting an example by conducting as many as twelve free and fair elections at the national, and more than 300, at the state level.

Indeed, if one takes into account the numerous by-elections, it can be said that there is hardly a stretch of four to six months in a year during which an election is not being held in some part of the country or the other. Experience garnered at successive elections has honed the election machinery to such a state of refinement that the Election Commission of India claims to be ever ready to conduct a general election - a claim that came to be successfully tested when the Commission was called upon to conduct mid-term polls to the eleventh and the twelfth Lok Sabha at short notice, and is set once again to go through the exercise in less than 18 months after the last time.

More importantly, elections have become a way of life and an exercise of faith for the Indian masses. Successive elections have both enhanced and deepened the people’s commitment to democracy. They have also made the Indian voter fully conscious of the value of his vote and the power of the ballot as the most potent instrument of change. Compared to the simple voter of 1952, when the first general elections were held, the voter of 1999, who will witness the thirteenth, is far more discerning, sophisticated, alert and politically aware. He knows his mind, and he is mindful of his own and the country’s interests.

Each election has also exposed certain inherent weaknesses and inadequacies of the electoral system, thus helping to highlight the imperative of constant systematic reform and refinements through amendments to the People’s Representation Act enacted by Parliament in 1951.

Indian elections are unique in some respects. Some of its unusual features spring from, and reflect the vastness of the country, its seasonal diversities, its geographical complexities and the variations in regional environments. It is not surprising, therefore, that factors such as summer and winter and monsoon, or floods and drought often influence the timing for the conduct of elections. There were occasions in the last five decades when elections were deliberately avoided, or held, on the basis of these factors. However, thanks to the experience of so many elections, their influence is progressively diminishing. It would have been odd, even a couple of decades ago, for elections to be held in the month of May, when the Indian sun is particularly oppressive.

But this happened during the eleventh round of Parliamentary elections. The latest round being held when the monsoon is still active in parts of the country. Maintaining the recent trend of phasing the polls to ensure greater security, the latest round is being held in five phases. Polling this time is spread over a whole month - from September 5 to October 3.

Democratisation of polity

The democratisation of the polity through regular elections was high on the agenda of the Constituent Assembly set up immediately after India’s Independence in 1947. Given the fact that India had meagre experience of elections during the British rule, given the fact also that a majority of its populace was illiterate and probably could not fathom the intricacies of voting, the question arose as to whether the electoral system should be based on adult franchise or on proportional representation as was in vogue in some of the countries whose constitutions were being avidly studied by the Founding Fathers. Adult franchise would overnight boost the strength of a manageable electorate of 35 million to a formidable and perhaps unmanageable 170 to 180 million. Eventually, the Constituent Assembly plumped for adult franchise as an act of faith. Experience has vindicated that faith. The size of the electorate too has risen steadily over the decades. From a massive 173 million in 1952, it now stands at a mind-boggling 620 million.

A remarkable feature of Indian elections is the participation of women. Thanks to the ethos developed during the freedom movement, in which women from all corners of India played a historic part equalling men in courage, sacrifice and spirit, there would have been no question whatsoever of denying women their democratic rights in a free India. The Suffrage Movement, aided by the work of women in the First World War gained British women the right to vote only in 1918. In the United States, women were given the vote by the 19th Amendment in 1920, and women were specifically protected from discrimination in the Civil Rights Act only as recently as in 1964. There are still nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America where women are yet to be emancipated enough to enable them to vote. The Indian woman has been more fortunate.

This apart, the zeal for voting among women has been as strong as among men, and in a large number of constituencies, even stronger, judging from the turn-out. Women voter turn-out increased from 38.8 per cent in the fifties to nearly 60 per cent in the nineties, whereas the increase in the turn-out of men in the same period was only four per cent.

It is not only in the participation in the voting process that the commitment of India’s women to democracy is reflected, but also in the mounting enthusiasm and interest among women to secure representation in the country’s legislatures. Partly, this rising fervour is due to the benefits of education reaching the interior areas of rural India. Partly, it is due to the strengthened sense of self-confidence among women in their capacity to contribute at par with men to nation-building. The 73rd and 74th Constitutional amendments, which reserve 33 per cent of elective seats in Panchayati Raj and Municipal bodies to women, not only brought thousands of women into the democratic process but has also provided a major boost to their self-confidence.

In the 1984 general elections, for instance, as many as 128 seats in 23 states of India were contested by 173 women, of whom 43 got elected to the Lok Sabha (House of the People). The number of women contestants has progressively risen election after election. The figure which remained under 50 in the first two general elections rose to 65 in the third, and to 599 in the eleventh. The number of women in the outgoing Lok Sabha was 43. Legislation to ensure 33 per cent representation for women in Parliament and legislatures figured on the agenda of the eleventh and twelfth Lok Sabhas but the measure could not be passed. Most of the political parties have committed themselves in their respective manifestos to enact the legislation in the 13th Lok Sabha.

While this is no doubt gratifying, the number of women contestants has unfortunately not corresponded to the large female population in India and there surely is the need and scope for a larger number to enter the fray. At the same time, it is sad but true that most political parties have not shown the necessary fair-mindedness in giving adequate number of "tickets" to women candidates, though all of them subscribe to the healthy principle of reserving 33 per cent of seats in all democratic institutions for women. While a large number of men have chosen to contest polls as "independents" (unattached to any political party), there have been very few cases where women have shown similar enterprise.

This is possibly because they feel that they would need considerable infrastructural and organisational backing which only a political party can provide. Interestingly, of the 43 women who were elected to the twelfth Lok Sabha, as many as 20 were returned from the relatively backward states of Uttar Pradesh (9),Bihar (4), Madhya Pradesh (4) and Rajasthan (3), whereas the more urbanised and developed states like Maharashtra in the west and all the four states in the south made only a token contribution of one or two each.

Teenage Voters

Till the parliamentary poll of 1989, which elected the ninth Lok Sabha, the minimum statutory age for casting vote was 21. The minimum statutory age for contesting a seat both at the national and state levels was fixed long ago at 25. Partly because of the increasing participation of students and youth in the elections, either as supporters of political parties or leaders or candidates, and partly because of the manifestation of keen political interest in their own movements in collages and universities, the feeling grew over the years that it was unfair to deny the right to vote to those falling in the 18-21 age group. The demand for enfranchising them was articulated not only by the large body of students all over the country, but also by all political parties. Parliament, through a constitutional amendment in 1989 reduced the minimum voting age from 21 to 18. For the first time, as many as 35.7 million voters in this age group exercised their right to elect representatives in the 1989 elections. Their inclusion in the electoral list raised the strength of the total electorate by 7.71 per cent.

There is, however, no way of assessing whether the induction of the 18-21 age group into the democratic process has significantly or marginally influenced the fates and fortunes of the contestants. One assessment, of course, is that the youth everywhere is basically anti-establishment and is apt to favour parties representing the extremes of the political spectrum. In a secret ballot, it is not possible to ascertain the voting behaviour of particular age or sex groups, although patterns and trends are discernible either region-wise or constituency-wise.

Representation to weaker sections

From the very beginning, a constitutional provision has existed in India for allocation of seats proportionate to their population (as determined by successive census) to some specific weaker sections of society, namely, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. While it is possible for a SC or ST candidate to contest from a "general" seat, only candidates representing those sections can contest from the reserved constituencies.

Of the total 543 elective seats in the House of the People, 423 are in the "general" category, while 79 seats are reserved for the Scheduled Castes and 41 for the Scheduled Tribes. The Constitution also provides that the President may nominate not more than two members of the Anglo-Indian community (a minority community) if this community is not adequately represented in the Lok Sabha. However, by convention, two Anglo-Indian members are nominated to the House after every election. Constitutional provision for the weaker sections and for the Anglo-Indian minority is yet another unique feature of Indian elections.

Indian elections follow a balloting system based on symbols. Given the large extent of illiteracy, the resort to symbols became an electoral necessity, but, the world over, symbols are being used to aid easy identification. Each national party has a symbol reserved exclusively for its candidates throughout India, while state parties have a symbol for exclusive use of its candidates in the respective states. All other candidates have to choose one symbol from a list of "free" symbols. The Election Commission has banned the use of animal symbols following protests from animal lovers but has expanded the list of free symbols by including a large number of inanimate objects of daily use.

The first two General Elections followed a system of balloting in which there were as many ballot boxes as there were candidates. However in the State Elections since the late fifties and since the third General Election of 1962, a marking system on the ballot paper was introduced. The voter uses "x" mark against the name of the candidate of his choice. After this, one box is used into which all votes are dropped. The practice of using indelible ink on the voter’s finger was introduced as a precautionary step to prevent impersonation since the first General Election of 1952. According to an estimate, 18,00,000 ounces of the ink are used in a general election.

The utility of the more sophisticated electronic voting machine (EVM)has been realised in India for sometime. After an initial trial use in the eighties, these instruments were not brought into wider use on account of resistance from major political parties. The voting machines, which retain all the characteristics of voting by ballot papers even as they make the polling process a lot more easier, are expected to replace the ballot papers in a phased manner after both the polling personnel and voters are adequately trained and get used to the device.

While these machines were used in 16 select constituencies during the November 1998 state assembly polls in four states, Goa became the first state where the EVMs were used to conduct the entire polling in the latest assembly elections in June 1999. Encouraged by the response, the Election Commission, which invested several million rupees to procure the EVMs, each costing approximately Rs. 50,000/- (US $ 1,500), decided to deploy them in 46 Parliamentary constituencies in the 1999 general elections. These constituencies together have 64,611 polling stations.

Like many Commonwealth countries, India follows the First-Past-The-Post electoral system (simple majority) in which the candidate securing the largest number of votes is the winner. Needless to say, the system has its advantages and disadvantages. There are also strong supporters in India of the system of proportional representation. However, with all the aberrations inherent in the system, it seems to have stood the test of time.

Proliferation of Political Parties

Splits and/or mergers have become endemic in political parties in India. This phenomenon has been more noticeable in the last two decades, and it has led to the proliferation of parties "registered" and "recognised" by the Election Commission. The more the splits, the larger the number of parties in the fray. However, the Fifty-second Constitution Amendment Act, 1985, seeks to check defections by disqualifying members of Parliament if they defect under certain conditions.

An indirect fall-out of the phenomenon of splits and mergers and re-splits has been the erosion of efforts towards the evolution of a two-party system in India. On the eve of the thirteenth general election, there are 712 political parties in the country. Seven of these are National parties and 49 are State parties, the remaining 656 are Registered Unrecogised parties. While it is a far cry from a two-party system, the forthcoming general election is set to witness a contest between two broad fronts - one led by the Congress and the other led by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The proliferation of regional parties, which has impinged itself on the electoral scene, is another interesting aspect of Indian politics. Some of these parties were born as a direct challenge to the central government and the then party in power: some were born to articulate regional aspirations and assert the demand for greater provincial autonomy. Influence of these parties was once confined to the regions, but they are impacting on the national scene of late, since one or more of them is aligned with some national party or the other and thus an aspirant for a share in power at the Centre. In forging coalition arrangements, they have a meaningful role to play since they constitute the balancing factor.

Statistics concerning Indian elections can be truly mind-boggling. Consider first the size of the electorate, which will be approximately 620 million in the 1999 poll. Beginning with a modest (modest in the context of Indian population) 173.20 million in 1952, it peaked to nearly 500 million in 1989 and to more than 600 million in the last election for the millennium. The number of candidates also increased correspondingly in successive elections, touching an all time high of 13,952 in the eleventh general election. This average of nearly 26 candidates per constituency created innumerable problems to the Election Commission in preparing the ballot papers and more so in finding free symbols for all these candidates. The large number of candidates per constituency was on account of the entry of a large number of "independents" trying their luck, almost always unsuccessfully, at the husting.

In 1989, for instance, Bhiwani constituency in Haryana state recorded the largest number of candidates (122). For the 1996 general election, Nalgonda in Andhra Pradesh crossed all earlier records with 480 candidates in the fray. Belgaum in neighbouring Karnataka was a close second in this regard, with a total of 456 candidates vying for the seat. Contests for assembly polls are even more competitive.

There were an unbelievable 1033 candidates contesting the Modakurachi Assembly seat in Tamil Nadu where elections to the state legislature were held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls. The Commission checked this trend before the last election in 1998 by increasing the security deposit amounts for all candidates. The number of polling stations to be set up is between 7,50,000 to 8,00,000, while not less than 500,000 polling personnel, other staff and a very large number of security staff have to be employed to conduct the polls. Indeed, one of the reasons why Indian parliamentary elections are spread over so many phases is because the security staff have to be deployed at all polling stations and moving them from area to area takes time.

The Election Commission ensures that no area or constituency is denied the opportunity of voting, whether it is isolated by snow or by floods. Howsoever remote and normally inaccessible the constituency or segments within it be, a polling station is always set up. Thus, in order to enable two, yes, just two voters to exercise their franchise in a snow-bound village in the upper reaches of Kashmir, the Commission has been setting up a polling booth election after election, its staff having to trek several kilometres of difficult mountainous terrain to do so.

The figures cited above give only a feeble insight into the gigantic operation that an election in India is. Where human beings interact with one another, where candidates struggle hard for electoral support from the masses, where voters are determined to make free choices, and where caste and communal factors still play a sinister role in electioneering, a certain amount of friction is only to be expected. Even so, India has reason to be gratified that by and large elections have been extraordinarily peaceful, orderly and business like. No doubt, there have been instances where use of money power and muscle power has resulted in unpleasant situations and violence has erupted. Overzealous but misguided anti-social elements have either intimidated voters or captured booths or whisked away ballot boxes and polling personnel. But these have been largely localised instances, and are only exceptions to the rule. Complaints of electoral malpractice are the concomitants of elections everywhere in the world, but considering the small number of election petitions in courts or the sporadic cases of re-polls or countermanding, there is an element of fairness in Indian elections which has not been challenged so far. It is interesting also that electoral malpractices have been regular only in some specific states where local antagonisms and caste-based political rivalries are the normal features.

The other parts of the country are fortunately free of such vitiation in the atmosphere. Relative to the number of polling booths all over the country, incidents of booth capturing and voter intimidation and impersonation have been insignificant. Observers from the world over, who have witnessed Indian elections, have not only been impressed by the popular zeal reflected in the heavy turn-out but also by the high standards of impartiality and fair play on the part of the election staff. The entire poll process takes place under the constant glare of media—national and international. It is an open system in every sense of the term. India goes to the polls for the thirteenth time to elect a new House of the People. Every election is a turning point in a democratic nation’s history.

The current election is invested with an even greater degree of significance. Its outcome may well decide the future patterns of governance and multi-party functioning in the Indian polity, given the fact that no single party could muster a simple majority in the Lok Sabha on its own since 1989. There has only been one government of a single party in the last ten years, and this too was a minority government to begin with. Shri.P.V.Narasimha Rao, who headed this government in the tenth Lok Sabha acquired the majority-status on account of splits in certain opposition parties with one of the breakaway factions joining the ruling party. While the eleventh Lok Sabha witnessed three coalition governments, none of which lasted even an year, the twelfth Lok Sabha, which had a life of 13 months, was also headed by a coalition government.

Even though the Congress has tried to project itself as the party poised to gain majority in the House on its own strength, the general perception is that the election will, once again, throw up a hung Parliament, which in turn would again necessitate a multi-party coalition government. The BJP, which led a coalition formation in the last Lok Sabha, is leading a 24-party front called the NDA, and the Congress, despite its assertions of coming to power on its own, has forged electoral understandings with as many as 22 regional parties. The very fact that as a people, Indians renew their faith in the power of the vote through successive peaceful and fair polls is a testimony to their entrenched belief in the efficacy of the parliamentary system. This is the reason why notwithstanding the huge expenditure involved in the exercise, an expenditure which a poor and developing country like India can ill afford, elections are regarded not a luxury but an essential component of democracy.

VAJPAYEE’S YEARS IN OFFICE

2011-11-28T21:51:00.001-08:00

One has to take one’s mind back to 1998 when Shri Vajpayee assumed office. Three governments at the Centre had been formed and had fallen in less than two years. One of them headed by Shri Vajpayee had to resign in just thirteen days because a political party switched its allegiance at the last minute and in the second instance the government lost the vote of confidence in the Lok Sabha by one vote. Frequent changes and the resultant instability created doubts in the minds of the people about the very utility of democracy for the country. It created doubts in other countries about any decisions that were taken by the Indian government. Both were dangerous because they not only hampered the march for the eradication of poverty and ignorance but threatened the very fabric of the political system as well.

Functioning

The Government of the National Democratic Alliance headed by Shri Vajpayee which came to power in 1998 reversed this dangerous trend of instability. It won the mandate of the people in the elections to the 13th Lok Sabha in 1999. What was more, India began marching ahead because of the ambitious programmes launched by the Government in all spheres of the economy. It becomes difficult at times for a political period which has a majority of its own to push through all the measures that it wants. The task becomes Herculean when an Alliance which has parties of diverse and sometimes divergent political ideologies is in power. It is a tribute to Shri Vajpayee’s leadership that he was able to keep his flock together. As the senior partner in the Alliance, Shri Vajpayee’s Bharatiya Janata Party had to agree to more adjustments than the others. Hardlines within his party have often criticized him for giving up on some contentious issues. But he has so far been able to convince them that like the other parties the BJP has to honour the pledges given in the manifesto of the Alliance.

He has had often to compromise so as to reach a consensus and win the support of the others for his views. It has, however, to be remembered that the compromise has been on the degree of emphasis and the priority to be given, in the form and not the substance. He has tried to give the maximum concessions to win over the critics. He persuaded the Finance Minister to give in to the demand of the farmers’ lobby and not raise the prices of fertilizers. But it has to be remembered that he has not allowed anyone to hold him to ransom. Whenever any minister has threatened to resign on an issue and the Prime Minister has found it difficult to agree to his demand, Shri Vajpayee has bid him good bye with a smile on the face. What is more, though he has not allowed such a person to stage a come back, he has kept the best personal relations with him.

Style

To work towards a consensus to the maximum extent possible and to meet the challenge when a consensus is impossible has been the hallmark of his approach not only with those in the Alliance but also those in the opposition. It was because of the understanding reached with the opposition parties that the two Houses of Parliament passed 42 bills during the winter session. All of them have received the assent of the President. The Government was able to bring forward several pieces of legislation last year. Out of them 93 bills have been passed. This is the highest number of pieces of legislation enacted in a single year in the last 25 years and the third highest since Independence. This number assumes significance when one remembers that the work of legislatures in the country is often disturbed by members who want to discuss other issues which they consider important. Legislative work, therefore, gets derailed. Viewed in this background, the progress of legislative work last year is indeed remarkable. It was possible because of the rapport established between the ruling Alliance and the Opposition. Even when patently false allegations were made against him, Shri Vajpayee rarely lost his cool and replied to the charges in a dignified manner.

Traditionally, India has had good relations with its neighbours. The only exception is Pakistan. In a bid to normalize relations with it, Shri Vajpayee undertook a bus journey to Lahore after taking over. He also had a summit meeting with President Pervez Musharraf in Agra. But it was soon clear that Pakistan was not interested in friendship with India. Even when Shri Vajpayee was shaking hands with the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Mr. Nawaz Shareef, Gen Musharraf, then the Army Chief, was planning a large scale incursion in the sensitive Kargil area. He used the summit in Agra for a tirade against India. This was understandable because President Musharraf has himself confessed that no ruler of Pakistan can continue in office unless he rakes up anti-India feelings by raising the Kashmir issue. Successive Indian leaders have recognized this compulsion of the Pakistani leadership. Rarely, therefore, have they replied in kind to Pakistan’s vituperations. So has Shri Vajpayee. As he once observed one can choose one’s friends but whether one likes it or not one has to accept one’s neighbours. Hence, his effort to win over Pakistan to the path of peace and friendship. He tolerated the oral diatribe but it was impossible for him or for the people to tolerate the incursion in Kargil intended to cut off Indian troops in Ladakh. More important still, no one could tolerate the proxy war that Pakistan has been waging against India, first in Punjab and now in Kashmir.

This proxy war has now been going on for more than 20 years. Pakistan has been training, arming, equipping and financing terrorists for operations against India. According to one estimate nearly 50,000 people – innocent, men, women and children- have been killed by these terrorists. It is ironic that most of them were Muslims who were killed by men sent by a country which claims to be Islamic. India has been trying to persuade Pakistan to stop this cross-border terrorism but it has had no effect. The terrorists targeted centers of India’s political authority like Parliament House in New Delhi, and the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly building in Srinagar. For a time, India ordered its armed forces to take up positions on the forward line on the border with Pakistan and the line of control in Jammu and Kashmir. The terrorists killed innocent pilgrims in the Akshardham temple in Gandhi Nagar, Raghunath Mandir in Jammu and innocent women and children sleeping in an army camp in Kaluchak near Jammu. It became clear that Pakistan will not stop sending the terrorists to India.

This forced India to take up the stand that till Pakistan stopped this cross border terrorism India will not take part in any talks with it. The Prime Minister, Shri Vajpayee and other leaders have reiterated this stand. This must have been a bitter pill to swallow for someone who made every effort to win over Pakistan to the path of peace and friendship but failed. President Musharraf has since confessed that raking up the Kashmir issue and fanning the flames of hatred against India were essential for any ruler who wanted to continue in power in Pakistan.

Shri Vajpayee has given expression to his disappointment that while the United States talks about ending terrorism everywhere in the world, it does not put enough pressure on Pakistan to end the cross border terrorism against India. Washinton’s reaction to terrorism seems to be selective – it is terrorism only when targets in the United States or its embassies are hit. Otherwise, the US Government would rather turn the blind eye to the menace of terrorism elsewhere.

Development

It is remarkable that while the people of Jammu and Kashmir were fighting the menace of terrorism, elections were held to the State Legislative Assembly last October. By their active participation in the exercise, the people of the State replied to the threat of the bullet fired by Pakistan-trained terrorists with the power of the bullet. There have been protests in many places against the terrorists for the their wanton killing of innocent people. The Central Government is totally committed to working closely with the present government in the State, elected by the people to bring peace, normalcy and economic development. The Prime Minister has announced projects and schemes worth Rs. 6000 crore covering various spheres of development. The thrust will be on providing employment opportunities to the youth, relief to migrants affected by militancy and building the infrastructure. When the State acceded to India in 1947, the railway line stopped at Pathankot, 100 kms from Jammu. The railway line now goes to Udharpur and beyond in Jammu province. A major project costing Rs. 3500 crore is being implemented to extend the railway line to Baramulla in South Kashmir. This will not only help in the development of the area but also act as an integrating force with the rest of the country. The first train is expected to roll into Kashmir Valley before August 15, 2007.

Diplomacy

Since India was fighting the menace of terrorism single handedly, it was only natural for it to take a keen interest in the campaign to oust the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which had usurped the rights of the people and tried to push the country back to the Middle Ages. India’s interest was all the more great because the people of Afghanistan have had great respect for Indian leaders and friendship with its people. The approach was, however, low-key. India gave Afghanistan whatever help it could in fighting the menace of Taliban and continues to do so in its reconstruction.

The Gulf region is of great importance to India. Much of the crude oil that India imports comes from there. India and the countries in the region are major partners in trade and investment. More than 35 lakh Indians work in the Gulf countries. These countries may have differences among themselves but all have friendly ties with India. It is, therefore, only natural that India should be concerned about the unhappy situation concerning Iraq. Iraq has been a staunch friend of India but India cannot ignore the demands of truth. The Prime Minister put the Indian viewpoint succinctly when he told Parliament that whatever action was taken should be taken only under the authority of the United Nations. Any action taken unilaterally by any country will mean the end of the world body. He also stated that no country can impose a government on another and if there has to be a change of government it can be only according to the wishes of the people.

Some members of Parliament wanted that the Government should be more categorical and the country threatening unilateral action should be named. They forget two important facts. Firstly, India is not a member of the Security Council and though it may be interested in the happenings in the area so are many others. Secondly, India can only go thus far in criticizing the world’s only super power. What India wants about everything else is that there should be no war in the region. A war in the Gulf area will push up the price of crude oil, affect supplies, push up prices and once again throw the country back into a recessionary trend from which it is emerging. War may also mean lakhs of refugees fleeing back to the country as they did during the Gulf War in the nineties. India, therefore, does not want a war.

The war in Afghanistan, the threat posed by terrorism, and a severe drought in 14 States of the country cast a shadow on the Indian political and economic scene during the last five years. Also in the background was the persistent threat of a war in the Gulf region. There were genuine fears that all these factors would affect the growth of the Indian economy. Despite the general slowdown of the economy in most countries, the financial year 2002-03, the last of the five year period of Shri Vajpayee’s years in office, was a fairly good year for India. India continued to be rated amongst the world’s fast-growing economies. In the first nine months of the financial year, India’s exports grew by more than 20 per cent to reach 38 billion US dollars, i.e. Rs. 181, 300 crore. The total revenues from excise and customs rose by over 15 per cent during this period. Inflation remained at a moderate level. India’s foreign exchange reserves rose to 73 billion US dollars, i.e. Rs. 348, 429 crore. Though the Centre had to release foodgrains for relief of the people living in areas affected by the drought, the stocks of foodgrains continued to be comfortable and prices continued to be relatively stable.

Economy

After a period of gloom in the first four years, there was a turnaround in the economy last year. Though the country had to make contingency planning in the event of a war in the Gulf, the picture was no longer as gloomy as was once feared. This ray of hope is reflected in the Tenth Five Year Plan approved by the National Development Council. The Plan aims at achieving faster economic growth with a stronger thrust on employment generation and equity. To the surprise of many, the Plan document set a target of an annual rate of growth of 8 per cent in the Gross Domestic Product during the Plan period. What is more important, this growth rate is expected to generate five crore employment and self-employment opportunities.

These targets are certainly ambitious and sceptics have expressed doubts if they can be achieved. But the Document argues the case for these ambitious objectives by pointing out that unlike previous Plans, the Tenth Five Year Plan is not merely a resources plan. It is a Reforms Plan. The area of reforms in the economy is to be widened. State Governments are to be given incentives to carry out reforms. Non-financial barriers in the way of economic growth are to be removed by carrying out reforms in the civil service, judiciary, education but, above all, governance at all levels – the Centre, the States and the Panchayati Raj institutions. This last area of administration is of particular importance for the people living in the countryside. The Plan document does not leave things vague. It gives a detailed list of the legislative and administrative measures needed for transforming the goals and targets into ground realities.

What is envisaged is a total revolution of life at all levels and spheres-agriculture, industry, education and power generation. National security is high on the agenda and so is expansion and strengthening of the infrastructure. In the first 50 years of Independence only 556 kms. of four and six lane highways were constructed in India. At present, five kilometres of such highways are being built every day. The Golden Quadrilateral of world class highways to connect the four metropolitan cities of Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai is progressing ahead of schedule. Besides generating employment and giving a boost to the country’s cement and steel industries, the 6000 kms of highways will also mean an annual saving of Rs. 8000 crore on fuel and vehicle maintenance costs. Side by side with the development of roads, a Rail Vikas Yojana has been launched at a cost of Rs. 15,000 crore to put the country’s premier transport infrastructure on the fast track. The incredible growth of telecom services in India has made the telephone an affordable tool of empowerment for the common man.

What is the guiding spirit behind the efforts of the last five years and the Tenth Five Year Plan? In his address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the last Independence Day, the Prime Minister, had given a call to the people to lift India from the ranks of developing countries to the rank of a developed nation by the year 2020. It is a stupendous task no doubt but the impressive achievements of the past, a proper management but, above all the determination of a hundred crore people will make it possible. President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam has said that the concentration should be on two mantras: effective implementation with people’s participation and effective communication for people’s participation.

Vision

The years since Independence have seen a steep rise in the population of India’s cities. The population of the cities increased from 15.9 crore to 21.8 crore between 1981 and 1991, and has further increased since. People from the villages rush to the cities in search of employment and a better life. The cities are bursting at the seams and are not able to provide basic amenities like houses, health, education, drinking water, or electricity. Slums therefore grow in the cities while villages are impoverished because of the flight of the youth, particularly the educated and skilled youth to the cities. It was at first believed that heavy industry would act as an engine of development and lift the surrounding areas from poverty to prosperity by promoting ancillary industry and other activity. This has not happened to the extent that it should have. In most cases the centers of heavy industry have become pockets of prosperity in a sea of poverty. Disparities have increased, giving rise to social tensions and despair. Successive Plans have tried to solve this problem but have been only partially successful — the countryside continues to be impoverished and the cities continue to grow into large clusters of slums.

The problem has so far defied solution. The answer lies in providing amenities available in the cities to the villages as well where two-thirds of the people live. Nearly 260 million people living there are mostly below the poverty line and want to join the mainstream of national life. They do not want doles or spoon –feeding. They are prepared to work hard to lift themselves from poverty to prosperity. What is needed is a mega mission for their empowerment. Pointing this out, President Abdul Kalam said in his address to the joint session of the two Houses of Parliament in February that the people living in the villages need four critical connectivities. First, they want good roads, transport services and quality power. Secondly, along with this physical connectivity, the people in the villages should have electronic connectivity. They should have reliable communication facilities. Thirdly, most professional institutions and vocational training centers should be opened in the countryside so as to give them knowledge connectivity. Lastly, market connectivity should help them to realize the best value for the products and services of the people and provide them ever-growing employment opportunities. Vision 2020 is an assertion of the confidence of the people of the country and so is the 8 per cent annual growth in the Gross Democratic Product envisaged in the Tenth Five Year Plan document. The determination of the people can make the vision a reality. Both give a concrete shape to the dream that Shri Vajpayee has in mind.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

2011-11-28T21:35:00.001-08:00

With his third swearing as Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee becomes the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three successive mandates. Shri Vajpayee is also the first Prime Minister since Smt. Indira Gandhi to lead his party to victory in successive elections.

Born on December 25, 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Shri Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and Smt. Krishna Devi, Shri Vajpayee brings with him a long parliamentary experience spanning over four decades. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1957. He was elected to the 5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha and again to the 10th, 11th and 12th Lok Sabha and to Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again been elected to Parliament from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh for the fourth time consecutively. He is the only parliamentarian elected from four different States at different times namely - UP, Gujarat, MP and Delhi.

Elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance, which is a pre-election coming together of political parties from different regions of the country and which enjoys a comfortable backing and support of the elected Members of the 13th Lok Sabha, Shri Vajpayee was earlier elected leader of his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary party which has also again emerged as the single largest party in the 13th Lok Sabha as was the case in the 12th Lok Sabha.

Educated at Victoria (now Laxmi Bai) College, Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Vajpayee holds an M.A (Political Science) degree and has many literary, artistic and scientific accomplishments to his credit. He edited Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun. His published works include "Meri Sansadiya Yatra" (in four volumes), "Meri Ikkyavan Kavitayen", "Sankalp Kaal", "Shakti-se-Shanti", "Four Decades in Parliament" (speeches in three volumes), 1957-95, "Lok Sabha mein Atalji" (a collection of speeches); Mrityu Ya Hatya", "Amar Balidan", "Kaidi Kaviraj Ki Kundalian" (a collection of poems written in jail during Emergency); "New Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy" (a collection of speeches delivered as External Affairs Minister during 1977-79); "Jan Sangh Aur Mussalman"; "Sansad Mein Teen Dashak" (Hindi) (speeches in Parliament - 1957-1992 - three volumes; and "Amar Aag Hai" (a collection of poems) 1994.

Shri Vajpayee has participated in various social and cultural activities. He has been a Member of the National Integration Council since 1961. Some of his other associations include - (i) President, All India Station Masters and Assistant Station Masters Association (1965-70); (ii) Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smarak Samiti (1968-84); (iii) Deen Dayal Dham, Farah, Mathura, U.P; and (iv) Janmabhomi Smarak Samiti, 1969 onwards.

Founder-member of the erstwhile Jana Sangh (1951), President, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1968-1973), leader of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party (1955-1977) and a founder-member of the Janata Party (1977-1980), Shri Vajpayee was President, BJP (1980-1986) and the leader of BJP parliamentary party during 1980-1984, 1986 and 1993-1996. He was Leader of the Opposition throughout the term of the 11th Lok Sabha. Earlier, he was India's External Affairs Minister in the Morarji Desai Government from March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979.

Widely respected within the country and abroad as a statesman of the genre of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Shri Vajpayee's 1998-99 stint as Prime Minister has been characterised as 'one year of courage of conviction'. It was during this period that India entered a select group of nations following a series of successful nuclear tests at Pokharan in May 1998. The bus journey to Pakistan in February 1999 was widely acclaimed for starting a new era of negotiations to resolve the outstanding problems of the sub-continent. India's honesty made an impact on the world community. Later, when this gesture of friendship turned out to be a betrayal of faith in Kargil, Shri Vajpayee was also hailed for his successful handling of the situation in repulsing back the intruders from the Indian soil. It was during Shri Vajpayee's 1998-99 tenure that despite a global recession, India achieved 5.8 per cent GDP growth, which was higher than the previous year. Higher agricultural production and increase in foreign exchange reserves during this period were indicative of a forward-looking economy responding to the needs of the people. "We must grow faster. We simply have no other alternative" has been Shri Vajpayee's slogan focussing particularly on economic empowerment of the rural poor. The bold decisions taken by his Government for strengthening rural economy, building a strong infrastructure and revitalising the human development programmes, fully demonstrated his Government's commitment to a strong and self-reliant nation to meet the challenges of the next millennium to make India an economic power in the 21st century. Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 52nd Independence Day, he had said, "I have a vision of India : an India free of hunger and fear, an India free of illiteracy and want."

Shri Vajpayee has served on a number of important Committees of Parliament. He was Chairman, Committee on Government Assurances (1966-67); Chairman, Public Accounts Committee (1967-70); Member, General Purposes Committee (1986); Member, House Committee and Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha (1988-90); Chairman, Committee on Petitions, Rajya Sabha (1990-91); Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Lok Sabha (1991-93); Chairman, Standing Committee on External Affairs (1993-96).

Shri Vajpayee participated in the freedom struggle and went to jail in 1942. He was detained during Emergency in 1975-77.

Widely travelled, Shri Vajpayee has been taking a keen interest in international affairs, upliftment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women and child welfare. Some of his travels abroad include visits such as - Member, Parliamentary Goodwill Mission to East Africa, 1965; Parliamentary Delegation to Australia, 1967; European Parliament, 1983; Canada, 1987; Indian delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meetings held in Canada, 1966 and 1994, Zambia, 1980, Isle of Man 1984, Indian delegation to Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference, Japan, 1974; Sri Lanka, 1975; Switzerland, 1984; Indian Delegation to the UN General Assembly, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994; Leader, Indian Delegation to the Human Rights Commission Conference, Geneva, 1993.

Shri Vajpayee was conferred Padma Vibhushan in 1992 in recognition of his services to the nation. He was also conferred the Lokmanya Tilak Puruskar and the Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Award for the Best Parliamentarian, both in 1994. Earlier, the Kanpur University honoured him with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in 1993.

Well known and respected for his love for poetry and as an eloquent speaker, Shri Vajpayee is known to be a voracious reader. He is fond of Indian music and dance.

Advani should show statesmanship .

2011-11-08T03:34:00.000-08:00

BJP is on the upsurge but L.K.Advani is proving to be a dampener.Advani might be a revered leader for the BJP Cadre but he is not popular amongst the youth of India who constitute now the majority of the electorate.

The age is proving to the stumbling block for Advani and if the BJP wish to attract youth then it should project someone whom today's youth can identify with.

Advani should be content with whatever he has achieved till now.This is the time for him to show statesmanship and clear the way for young brigade.

Varun Gandhi:The Real Gandhi

2011-08-17T22:55:00.000-07:00

Italian wing of Gandhi clan can not claim to be the sole heir of Gandhi Legacy.It was Sanjay Gandhi who would have replaced Indira Gandhi,not Rajiv Gandhi.if he had not died in that unfortunate accident. Menka Gandhi ,the widow of Sanjay Gandhi was thrown out of the family and the Italian wing took control of the situation.

Rahul Gandhi the son of Rajiv-Sonia,is being referred as the crown prince and will occupy the top post of the government whenever he feels to do so.The present government reports to him and even the prime minister takes order from him.

But the Indian wing of Gandhi family,the real Gandhi ,has now decided to plunge into active politics seriously.Varun Gandhi has supported Anna Hazare and this gesture has endeared him to thousands of nationalistic youth of this country.The support will grow steadily and eventually he will occupy the position he deserve.

Sushma Swaraj Defends RSS

2011-08-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

It is fashionable in this country to blame the RSS for all and sundry issues.And these are repeated so many times that young and impressionable mind start believing these propaganda.Media in order to be seen"correct" also pays disproportionate attention to these issue.Additionally several activists funded by some dubious Saudi Arab based organisations are leaving no stone unturned to malign the RSS.The entire exercise is carefully designed to show RSS in poor light.Attempts are being made to project the RSS as the ultra fundamentalist organisation indulged in several cases of terrorism.

You will see the glee on the face Pakistan sympathisers when these kinds of aspersions are hurled.RSS And The BJP have been at the receiving ends for these kinds of verbal volleys for decades now.But as a welcome change Sushma Swaraj has taken on these fellows head-on and forced them to shut their mouth.

RSS should force BJP to support Team Anna

2011-08-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

RSS should force BJP leaders to come out in full support to team Anna and millions and millions of ordinary Indian Citizens.The present posturing of the BJP is very disappointing and it seems that the party is in secret agreement with the Congress and is opposing the arrest of Anna for the sake of opposition.This is the historic moment when it can show the entire nation that it is with the people and absolutely against corruption.

Govt trapped in anti-BJP mode, distracted'

2011-06-30T05:17:00.001-07:00

Uma Bharti rejoins BJP after 6 years

2011-06-30T05:16:00.000-07:00

BJP: Why inaction against Afzal Guru?

2011-06-30T05:14:00.001-07:00

PM never approached us on Lokpal :BJP

2011-06-30T05:12:00.001-07:00

BJP to boycott Lokpal meet

2011-06-30T05:10:00.001-07:00

ManMohan Singh Broke His Silence At Last !

2011-02-16T00:29:00.000-08:00

According to the prime minister of India ,Bhartiya Janata Party is stalling the far reaching economic reform because a minister in the cabinet of Narendra Mody was taken into the custody by the CBI.Manmohan Singh explained this hidden secret to the editors of various Television News Organisations at his residence .Manmohan Singh was asked several pertinent and direct questions but he mostly deflected the issues .He seemed more comfortable with the academic term like Inflation,GDP etc.and tried to steer clear from issues related to the corruption and probity.

His understanding of the real India is questionable to say the least.He took the credit of marinating the growth momentum in this adverse international scenario.But the fact is obvious that the Indian growth story is despite the abysmally poor level of governance.If the country were governed properly then the benefit would have followed to every strata of the society.It would not have stopped to the doorsteps of already obscenely rich individuals like Ambani who does not know how to utilize these windfall and splurge billions on yet another residential tower.

The most unfortunate part of prime ministers interaction was the way he equated spectrum loot with various subsidies.His attitude was that if lacs of crore are drained out in the name of subsidies meant for the poor and the farmers then why should anyone complain for a presumptive loss of mere one lakh seventy six crores.This should be treated as the subsidy given to the fellows like:TATA,RELIANCE,VIDEOCON,RAJA,BALWA,UNITECH,SWAN etc.

Classification of Castes by the Mint Newspaer.

2011-02-12T00:26:00.000-08:00

It is very well known that the Hindustan Times is very close to the Congress,a leading national political party.One of its most senior journalist acts and behave like the spokesperson of the Congress.His endeavour would not be futile and he would be compensated according to his stature.One hopes these kind of people are not rewarded with a Rajya Sabha seat.

Now the symptom seems to have spread to other publications as well.Today Mint carried out an article written by some Akar Patel.This gentleman seems to be expert in writing marketing copy which would be of great use for Radia type ventures.The gentleman does not know the caste systems at all.Yet he has tried to dwell into the subject only for the purpose best known to him.He is entitled to express his views the way he deem fit without offending others.It is the prime responsibility of the publication to take guard against these types of promotional material.If this trend continue Mint too would become the mouthpiece of the Congress and would have no credibility left.

Arun Shouri Vs Kapil Sibbal

2011-02-09T04:25:00.000-08:00

As expected,Arun Shouri defended himself and his party,The BJP and highlighted the design behind the malicious campaign launched by the union minister Kapil Sibbal to extricate Raja from the clutch of Law at any cost.Arun Shouri has thousands of admirers and it was expected of him.An honest person and a man of impeccable integrity like him should fear none.

Kapil Sibbal on the other hand is trying to fill the void of Amar Singh.That is unfortunate because he was among the few ministers who was perceived to be doing his job properly.His work was recognised and he was suitably rewarded also.This sudden status-elevation seems to have gone in his head that was very clear the way he was talking to the journalists including the very dynamic Rajdeep Sardesai.Kapil Sibal seemed very comfortable in the cozy combine of NDTV only otherwise he was bordering on arrogance at most other places.His interaction with Ashutosh was not pleasant either.

The Nation Lost "Zero Revenu:"Kapil Sibal had declared and he had to eat his own words when Raja was arrested.His own credibility has plummeted to zero level,instead.

It is true that he is an eminent lawyer and he is expected to behave not like any sundry politician.Otherwise people will disapprove any politicians like him and treat them as they treat politicians.He is expected to deliver and set example instead of trying to keep his political masters in good humour.He must remember that when ManMohan Singh can not escape media scrutiny then he is still a small fish in the pond.

BJP should be once again project itself as the party with a difference and credible person like Yaswant Sinha,Arun Shouri,Kirti Azad,Navzot Singh Siddhu and many others should be given prominence.People are no fool and a bad apple will spoil the whole basket.

Eminent Politicians Of India

2011-02-09T00:26:00.000-08:00

New accounting terminology to go into effect:

1Crore = 1 Khoka

500Cr = 1 Koda

1000Cr = 1 Radia

10000Cr = 1 Kalmadi

100000Cr = 1Raja

100Raja = 1 Pawar

10000 Pawar

जागो भारत जागो

L.K.Advani is destined to be the Prime Minister of India

2011-01-27T22:25:00.000-08:00

It seems that L.K.Advani is destined to be the Prime Minister of India after the next general election.This situation has come to the fore largely due to the utter confusion prevailing in the Congress camp.The strategy of Digvijaya Singh has angered even the most sober person i know and as per my understanding ,they in utter disgust will lean towards the BJP eventually.A large section of electorates and traditional congress supporters feel unwanted and humiliated.So they will go towards the direction they are being pushed to.How far Congress will benefit from humiliating the majority that only time will tell.But all these pleasant developments have resulted into a potentially huge electoral game for the BJP.

BJP on its part should focus on good governance,employment and development only.They should keep the utter failure of the UPA government at the forefront and bring back people of Integrity like Arun Shouri,Yaswant Sinha,Kirti Azad at the forefront.Kirti Azad and Navzot Singh Siddhu should be made the spokesperson because they are role models of our youth.Petty Politicians should be confined to their respective zone only and people like Sudhindra Kukarni must be not allowed to damage the electoral prospects any further .If the BJP indulge in honest politics from now on,Mr.L.K.Advany will occupy the chair intead of the crown prince Rahul Gandhi.

BJP: A party capable to wrest back the power once again.

2011-01-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

BJP is suddenly looking as a party capable to wrest back the power from the Congress,once again.This situation has emerged due to the arrogance of the Congress and BJP has done nothing in between this period to be an attractive proposition once more.The party however seems to be not cohesive and people of impeccable integrity are not treated with respect whereas some leaders of dubious integrity are seen occupying the high pedestal.
Leaders like Yashwant Sinha,Arun Shouri,Kirti Azad,Navjot Singh"Siddhu" are not being treated well whereas many not-so-deserving are hogging the whole limelight.Mr.Gadkari should take note of these things and make necessary course correction to attract today's enterprising youth.Otherwise it will once again prove to be so near yet so far.

Why BJP lost in Rajnagar,Madhuani ?

2011-01-10T04:13:00.000-08:00

Bhartiya Janata Party,BJP, is on cloud 9 after the spectacular result it received in the recently held
Bihar Legislative Election.All and sundry leaders romped home but the Khajauli MLA, Ramprit Paswan was defeated from the Rajnagar by a very slim margin.He had to suffer defeat because the incumbent BJP MLA,Vinod Narayan Jha, had neglected the constituency as it was declared "reserved" for the forthcoming election.The sitting BJP MLA provided funds for his cousin's benefits but never tried to get the main Koilakh-Rampatti road repaired and motor able.So in spite of the Nitish wave this seat went to the RJD.
BJP,therefore need to introspect and ask its representatives to be a bit sensitive towards people's expectation also.People here were so disgusted with the BJP that they did not find it any different from the LJP-RJD.This spectacular performance of the BJP elsewhere was also due to the goodwill of Nitish Kumar and nothing more.

Why People Are Disenchanted With The BJP In Bihar ?

2010-06-23T01:50:00.000-07:00

Shatrughan Sinha,Rajiv Pratap "Rudi",Ravishankar Prashad,Sahnawaj Hussain are BJP stalwarts from Bihar.They all live outside the state and do their politics through mass media.Non of them visit outside their constituency and try to assess the real situation at the ground level.If they had done so then they would have apprised the party of the disenchantment of the people with the it.But these leaders are themselves hankering for party posts so how could they find time to know the pulse of the people.
These leaders would have ensured that their MLAs behave distinctly from others and they spent some time for development related issues as well.But those constituency which elected BJP candidates are left behind in the developmental drive because the elected representatives have taken their success for granted.Pandaul constituency for example is represented by the State BJP Spokesperson,Vinod Narayan Jha and this constituency has been left behind once again despite the all round development happening in the adjoining constituency.But here a road between Rampatti and Koilakh which is lifeline for thosands of people was not repaired despite several requests to all and sundry.Vinod Narayan Jha could not care less so tens of thousands of people who use this road daily are determined to teach the party a lesson in the forthcoming election.If the BJP repeat the candidate then he is bound to loose.
The party can expect a few seats in Bihar due to its alliance with the JDU otherwise it has lost the ground to the congress.Who is to blame for this?

Congress can gain strong foothold in Bihar

2010-03-28T01:25:00.001-07:00

Congress can gain strong foothold in Bihar once again.Muslims are again attracted towards it and upper castes have also forgiven it for enjoying perks of Lalu-Rabri government while the state suffered from a Jungle raj for more than a decade.
Instead of listening to its own cadre Congress played in the hands of Lalu Yadav and lost all the support it enjoyed further.
Now Rahul Gandhi has generated tremendous enthusiasm and people disenchanted with the BJP are sympathetic towards it.The support of Muslims and upper castes have made it a very potent force in the state once again.
But to transform this support into votes,Congress needs efficient leaders at the helm of affairs.Jagdish Tytler like state in charge will do only harm to the party because he does not understand the social fabric of INDIA.Rahul Gandhi should take the lead and unleash the young and people with clean image into the arena.

in reference to:

"Congress can gain strong foothold in Bihar"
- In Focus:Indian National Congress Party (view on Google Sidewiki)

Disapponted With Nitin Gadkari !

2010-03-28T00:13:00.000-07:00

Nitin Gadkari looked different when he took over as the president of the BJP.But he chose to be conventional while selecting office bearers.He overlooked the performance and went along with conventional caste and regional lines.
Shatrughan Sinha is disgruntled because he was overlooked.Sahnawaz Hussain was demoted.Dr.C.P.Thakur and Yaswant Sinha were overlooked.These are the leaders who enjoy mass support and have won several elections.Yet the party pampered those who does his politics on Television only.
If this was the way then why Mr.Gadkari has been asserting the need of running the party like an NGO.One was impressed when he took over but it seems that everything has settled now and the same routine will be followed.
Bihar Election is round the corner and BJP will be the biggest looser.Its MLA's have been the laggards as far as development works are concerned.Instead of trying to buck up its cadre the Central leadership is trying to reward some few at the cost of honest and hard working workers.

No difference in party on Women's Reservation Bill: BJP

2010-03-11T00:48:00.000-08:00

BJP has denied the news reports that there is difference of opinion within the party on the Women's Reservation Bill. Talking to reporters after a meeting of some party MPs with Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Mrs Sushma Swaraj, party spokesman Prakash Javdekar dispelled the reports as rumors and clarified that there is no fallout.

Newspaper reports quoting BJP Chief Whip Ramesh Bias say that there is strong resentment among the Lok Sabha MPs over the Bill and the leadership is engaged in placating the MPs.

Effect of Economic slowdown on employment in India

2010-03-04T03:37:00.001-08:00

The fifth Quarterly Quick Employment Survey was conducted during October to December, 2009 by Labour Bureau to assess the impact of economic slowdown on employment in India.

In the survey, a fresh sample of units / establishments has been drawn to assess the employment trends. The information has been collected from 2,953 units / establishments by covering 21 centres spread across eleven States and union territory.

The results about effect of economic slowdown on employment in the eight selected sectors namely textiles, metals, leather, automobiles, Gems & Jewellery, Transport, Information Technology/BPO and Handloom / Powerloom are summarized as below:-

>> The overall employment has further improved by about 6.38 lakh (@1.70% per month) during December 2009 over September 2009 due to substantial increase in employment by 5.70 lakh in the IT / BPO sector alone.

in reference to:

"Effect of Economic slowdown on employment in India"
- Employment Mantra (view on Google Sidewiki)

Effect of Economic slowdown on employment in India

2010-03-04T03:36:00.001-08:00

in reference to:

"Effect of Economic slowdown on employment in India"
- Employment Mantra (view on Google Sidewiki)

Differences among political parties over Women's Reservation Bill

2010-03-04T03:28:00.001-08:00

Political parties appear to be divided on the issue of Women's Reservation Bill which is scheduled to come up in the Rajya Sabha on International Women's Day on Monday. Ruling Congress, and the two main Opposition groups BJP and the Left are keen to pass the bill in the present form, the Samajwadi Party, Rashtriya Janta Dal, Janta Dal United are opposing the bill in the present form. Congress President Mrs Sonia Gandhi, while addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting called the Women's Reservation Bill as one of the most important legislations and called for its early passage. Supporting the Bill in its present form, Law Minister MR Veerappa Moily said that any reservation for backward and scheduled classes within the Bill can be introduced only if a similar reservation is brought in general. He also ruled out the charge of the Bill being an attempt to divide the Opposition which was united on price rise issue. The main Opposition, BJP, says it will support the bill in its present form when it comes in the Parliament. Party Leader Venkaiyah Naidu told reporters today that it is for the government to bring about a consensus among political parties.

in reference to:

"Differences among political parties over Women's Reservation Bill"
- Delhi Darpan (view on Google Sidewiki)

Lashkar-e-Taiba,who are dependent on the Pakistan military,were involved in the attacks.

2010-03-02T22:23:00.001-08:00

Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the Mumbai terror attack, was on Tuesday blamed by an Afghan intelligence official for last week's car bomb and suicide attacks that killed 16 people, including 9 Indians, in the heart of the capital.

The Afghan Taliban insurgents already claimed responsibility for the attacks after a car bomb exploded and gunmen wearing suicide vests hidden under burqas stormed residential hotels popular with foreigners. At least 56 people were wounded.

Saeed Ansari, a spokesman for Afghanistan's intelligence service, said that his agency has evidence that Pakistanis, specifically Lashkar-e-Taiba, were involved in the attacks.

"We are very close to the exact proof and evidence that the attack on the Indian guest house ... is not the work of the Afghan Taliban but this attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba network, who are dependent on the Pakistan military," Ansari said in an interview.

He also said one of the attackers was heard speaking Urdu.

in reference to:

"were involved in the attacks."
- Lashkar behind Kabul attack: Afghan official - South Asia - World - The Times of India (view on Google Sidewiki)

Nitin Gadkari:The New Hope For The BJP

2010-02-17T22:49:00.000-08:00

Nitin Gadkari seems to have done his home well and he will perhaps give the Bhartiya Janata Party the much needed face lift which it requires very badly at this juncture.Mr.Gadkari wants to run the BJP as an NGO and has stressed upon the accountability factor.
BJP central leadership is revolving around a few people who have no mass base of any kind.These are media created leaders and their politics ends with media sermons.They never talk about corruption,efficiency in governance and other issues related to the common people.Leaders with impeccable integrity like Yashwant Sinha,Arun Shouri and many others are not given their due and the coterie of L.K.Advani have been awarded with the party plum posts.
In the state unit also,absolutely defunct leaders like Vinod Narayan Jha is made the party spokesman.He is the type of leaders who absolutely hate to do something for their electorate that too when their commission is fixed for every every project and this is an open secret.
If Mr.Gadkari can force his fellow BJP leaders to work for the issues related to the common men at the grass root level than the BJP can regain its lost space quickly.Hopefully Mr.Gadkari will inject this stream of thought among his party office bearers.

The Death Of BJP In Bihar

2010-02-09T21:55:00.000-08:00

Atal Bihari Vajpayee is perhaps the most beloved leader of Mithila.His charisma was instrumental in weaning away upper castes from the Congress.But the absence of Atalji and the dubious integrity of party leaders have made upper castes disenchanted and they are veering towards the Congress,yet again.The clean image of Rahul Gandhi is another big factor.
BJP is the partner in the government but Nitish Kumar is able to garner all the credit.The BJP leaders have ignored their constituency and face the ire of electorate which will result into their defeat in the next election.
The BJP party spokesman of Bihar,Binod Narayan Jha is one example of many.Mr. Jha has done nothing and is the perfect example of ineptitude .Yet his party made him the spokesperson.He is even amongst the contender of BJP state unit president.He is sure to take the BJP into the grave yard along with him.
The Rajnagar Block BJP president is notorious of his dalali activities.Nothing can be done without giving him his share of pie which he considers his birth right.Recently he got sanctioned solar light from T.K.Jha and put that inside his own house of Koilakh village.This type of corruption was unheard of even during the region of Rabri Devi.
Binod Narayan Jha awards those work which fetch him big commission.Otherwise he would have been able to repair some roads of his constituency.He takes credit for the construction of East-West corridor also.But in reality he has been such pathetic that anyone could have been better than him.He has dumped BJP at least in his constituency.
These kind of leaders can switch their loyalty in a minuet.But the party will have to suffer for ever.There is still time for the party to take stock of the work done by its leaders.Otherwise the fate is written clearly on the wall.

Nitin Gadkari has very tough task ahead of him.

2010-02-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

Nitin Gadkari as the BJP president has very tough task ahead of him.The party needs to compete the dynamism of Rahul Gandhi,who seems to have caught the attention of unspoilt mind of today's youth. Mr.Gadkari has started with right note and his views towards Shiv Sena Politics have made him popular in Hindi speaking states where he was unknown earlier.

BJP asks PM to break silence on Oz attacks

2010-01-17T23:15:00.000-08:00

Irked by the recent attempt to burn down the Gurdwara in Melbourne,, including the repeated attacks on Indians, BJP on Thursday, Jan 14, has ordered the Prime Minister to break his silence.

"The Melbourne incident in which a gurdwara was set on fire has shocked the country. Till now, only individuals of Indian origin were the target but now our religion, belief and faith are under attack. Why is the Indian government so helpless?" BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

oneindiain121:http://news.oneindia.in/2010/01/15/bjp-orders-pm-to-break-silence-on-oz-attacks.htmlBuzz up!Stating that the attack on the Gurdwara took place when the Akhand Path (prayers) was on, Prasad that BJP was 'amused' at the silence of the government over the attacks.

Echoing Prasad's accusation, Rajiv Pratap Rudy questioned the prime minister Manmohan Singh's lack of reaction, despite the series of attacks on Indians in Australia.

"More than 100 Indians living in Australia have been attacked but not a single response has come from the prime minister. Time has come for highest intervention from the government. We want to ask why the PM is maintaining silence," Rudy said.

Rudy said that the statements of minister of external affairs have failed to make an impact.

He alleged that the government was attempting to gag the media by preventing them from reporting the incidents on the grounds that 'it would affect our relationship with Australia'.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee

2009-12-17T01:59:00.000-08:00

Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Prime Minister of India from May 16-31, 1996 and a second time from March 19, 1998 to May 13, 2004. With his swearing-in as Prime Minister, he has been the only Prime Minister since Jawaharlal Nehru to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of India through three successive mandates. Shri Vajpayee has also been the first Prime Minister since Smt. Indira Gandhi to lead his party to victory in successive elections.

Born on December 25, 1924 at Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh to Shri Krishna Bihari Vajpayee and Smt. Krishna Devi, Shri Vajpayee brings with him a long parliamentary experience spanning over four decades. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1957. He was elected to the 5th, 6th and 7th Lok Sabha and again to the 10th, 11th 12th and 13th Lok Sabha and to Rajya Sabha in 1962 and 1986. He has again been elected to Parliament from Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh for the fifth time consecutively. He is the only parliamentarian elected from four different States at different times namely - UP, Gujarat, MP and Delhi.

Elected leader of the National Democratic Alliance, which is a pre-election coming together of political parties from different regions of the country and which enjoyed a comfortable backing and support of the elected Members of the 13th Lok Sabha, Shri Vajpayee was earlier elected leader of his own Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) parliamentary party which has also again emerged as the single largest party in the 13th Lok Sabha as was the case in the 12th Lok Sabha.

Educated at Victoria (now Laxmi Bai) College, Gwalior and DAV College, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, Shri Vajpayee holds an M.A (Political Science) degree and has many literary, artistic and scientific accomplishments to his credit. He edited Rashtradharma (a Hindi monthly), Panchjanya (a Hindi weekly) and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun. His published works include "Meri Sansadiya Yatra" (in four volumes), "Meri Ikkyavan Kavitayen", "Sankalp Kaal", "Shakti-se-Shanti", "Four Decades in Parliament" (speeches in three volumes), 1957-95, "Lok Sabha mein Atalji" (a collection of speeches); Mrityu Ya Hatya", "Amar Balidan", "Kaidi Kaviraj Ki Kundalian" (a collection of poems written in jail during Emergency); "New Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy" (a collection of speeches delivered as External Affairs Minister during 1977-79); "Jan Sangh Aur Mussalman"; "Sansad Mein Teen Dashak" (Hindi) (speeches in Parliament - 1957-1992 - three volumes; and "Amar Aag Hai" (a collection of poems) 1994.

Shri Vajpayee has participated in various social and cultural activities. He has been a Member of the National Integration Council since 1961. Some of his other associations include - (i) President, All India Station Masters and Assistant Station Masters Association (1965-70); (ii) Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Smarak Samiti (1968-84); (iii) Deen Dayal Dham, Farah, Mathura, U.P; and (iv) Janmabhomi Smarak Samiti, 1969 onwards.

Founder-member of the erstwhile Jana Sangh (1951), President, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (1968-1973), leader of the Jana Sangh parliamentary party (1955-1977) and a founder-member of the Janata Party (1977-1980), Shri Vajpayee was President, BJP (1980-1986) and the leader of BJP parliamentary party during 1980-1984, 1986 and 1993-1996. He was Leader of the Opposition throughout the term of the 11th Lok Sabha. Earlier, he was India's External Affairs Minister in the Morarji Desai Government from March 24, 1977 to July 28, 1979.

Widely respected within the country and abroad as a statesman of the genre of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Shri Vajpayee's 1998-99 stint as Prime Minister has been characterised as 'one year of courage of conviction'. It was during this period that India entered a select group of nations following a series of successful nuclear tests at Pokharan in May 1998. The bus journey to Pakistan in February 1999 was widely acclaimed for starting a new era of negotiations to resolve the outstanding problems of the sub-continent. India's honesty made an impact on the world community. Later, when this gesture of friendship turned out to be a betrayal of faith in Kargil, Shri Vajpayee was also hailed for his successful handling of the situation in repulsing back the intruders from the Indian soil. It was during Shri Vajpayee's 1998-99 tenure that despite a global recession, India achieved 5.8 per cent GDP growth, which was higher than the previous year. Higher agricultural production and increase in foreign exchange reserves during this period were indicative of a forward-looking economy responding to the needs of the people. "We must grow faster. We simply have no other alternative" has been Shri Vajpayee's slogan focussing particularly on economic empowerment of the rural poor. The bold decisions taken by his Government for strengthening rural economy, building a strong infrastructure and revitalising the human development programmes, fully demonstrated his Government's commitment to a strong and self-reliant nation to meet the challenges of the next millennium to make India an economic power in the 21st century. Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of 52nd Independence Day, he had said, "I have a vision of India : an India free of hunger and fear, an India free of illiteracy and want."

Shri Vajpayee has served on a number of important Committees of Parliament. He was Chairman, Committee on Government Assurances (1966-67); Chairman, Public Accounts Committee (1967-70); Member, General Purposes Committee (1986); Member, House Committee and Member, Business Advisory Committee, Rajya Sabha (1988-90); Chairman, Committee on Petitions, Rajya Sabha (1990-91); Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Lok Sabha (1991-93); Chairman, Standing Committee on External Affairs (1993-96).

Shri Vajpayee participated in the freedom struggle and went to jail in 1942. He was detained during Emergency in 1975-77.

Widely travelled, Shri Vajpayee has been taking a keen interest in international affairs, upliftment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, women and child welfare. Some of his travels abroad include visits such as - Member, Parliamentary Goodwill Mission to East Africa, 1965; Parliamentary Delegation to Australia, 1967; European Parliament, 1983; Canada, 1987; Indian delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meetings held in Canada, 1966 and 1994, Zambia, 1980, Isle of Man 1984, Indian delegation to Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference, Japan, 1974; Sri Lanka, 1975; Switzerland, 1984; Indian Delegation to the UN General Assembly, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994; Leader, Indian Delegation to the Human Rights Commission Conference, Geneva, 1993.

Shri Vajpayee was conferred Padma Vibhushan in 1992 in recognition of his services to the nation. He was also conferred the Lokmanya Tilak Puruskar and the Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Award for the Best Parliamentarian, both in 1994. Earlier, the Kanpur University honoured him with an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy in 1993.

Well known and respected for his love for poetry and as an eloquent speaker, Shri Vajpayee is known to be a voracious reader. He is fond of Indian music and dance.

Father's Name	Shri Krishna Bihari Vajpayee
Date of Birth	25 December 1924
Place of Birth	Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh)
Marital Status	Unmarried
Educational Qualifications	M.A. (Political Science) Educated at Victoria (now Laxmibai) College, Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) and D.A.V. College, Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh)
Profession	Journalist and Social Worker
Permanent Address	A-302, Laplaz, Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) Tel. (0522) 220909
Present Address	6-A, Krishna Menon Marg, New Delhi-110011

Positions Held
1951	Founder-Member, Bharatiya Jana Sangh (B.J.S)
1957	Elected to 2nd Lok Sabha
1957-77	Leader, Bharatiya Jana Sangh Parliamentary Party
1962	Member, Rajya Sabha
1966-67	Chairman, Committee on Government Assurances
1967	Re-elected to 4th Lok Sabha (2nd term)
1967-70	Chairman, Public Accounts Committee
1968-73	President, B.J.S.
1971	Re-elected to 5th Lok Sabha (3rd term)
1977	Re-elected to 6th Lok Sabha (4th term)
1977-79	Union Cabinet Minister, External Affairs
1977-80	Founder- Member, Janata Party
1980	Re-elected to 7th Lok Sabha (5th term)
1980-86	President, Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.)
1980-84, 1986 and 1993-96	Leader, B.J.P. Parliamentary Party
1986	Member, Rajya Sabha Member, General Purposes Committee
1988-90	Member, House Committee Member, Business Advisory Committee
1990-91	Chairman, Committee on Petitions
1991	Re-elected to 10th Lok Sabha (6th term)
1991-93	Chairman, Public Accounts Committee
1993-96	Chairman, Committee on External Affairs Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
1996	Re-elected to 11th Lok Sabha (7th term)
16 May 1996 -31 May 1996	Prime Minister of India; Minister of External Affairs and also incharge of Ministries/Departments of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Civil Supplies, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution, Coal, Commerce, Communications, Environment and Forests, Food Processing Industries, Human Resource Development, Labour, Mines, Non-Conventional Energy Sources, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Planning and Programme Implementation, Power, Railways, Rural Areas and Employment, Science and Technology, Steel, Surface Transport, Textiles, Water Resources,Atomic Energy, Electronics, Jammu & Kashmir Affairs, Ocean Development, Space and other subjects not allocated to any other Cabinet Minister
1996-97	Leader of Opposition, Lok Sabha
1997-98	Chairman, Committee on External Affairs
1998	Re-elected to 12th Lok Sabha (8th term)
1998-99	Prime Minister of India; Minister of External Affairs; and also incharge of Ministries/Department not specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister
1999	Re-elected to 13th Lok Sabha (9th term)
13 Oct.1999 to 13 May 2004	Prime Minister of India and also in charge ofthe Ministries/Departments not specifically allocated to the charge of any Minister

Books Published

Lok Sabha Mein Atalji (a collection of speeches); Mrityu Ya Hatya, Amar Balidan, Kaidi Kavirai Ki Kundalian (a collection of poems written in jail during Emergency); New Dimensions of India's Foreign Policy (a collection of speeches delivered as External Affairs Minister during 1977-79); Jana Sangh Aur Musalman; Three Decades in Parliament (Speeches in three volumes); Amar Aag Hai(a collection of poems) 1994; Meri Ekyavan Kavitayen; Four Decades in Parliament (English)-4 Volumes of Speeches in Parliament, 1957-95

Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments

Editor, (i) Rashtra-Dharma-monthly (ii) Panchajanya-weekly;
Swadesh and Veer Arjun, both dailies

Social and Cultural Activities

Member, National Integration Council since 1961; President (i) All India Station Masters and Assistant Station Masters Association, 1965-70; (ii) Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Samarak Samiti, 1968-84; (iii) Deendayal Dham, Farah, Mathura, U.P.; and (iv) Janmabhoomi Smarak Samiti, 1969 onwards

Special Interests

International affairs; uplift of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; and woman and child welfare

Favourite Pastime and Recreation

Reading, writing, travelling and cooking

Countries Visited

Widely travelled; Member, (i)Parliamentary Goodwill Mission to East Africa, 1965;(ii)Parliamentary Delegation to Australia, 1967; European Parliament, 1983; Canada, 1987;(iii) Indian Delegation to Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meetings held in Canada, 1966 and 1994, Zambia 1980, Isle of Man 1984; (iv)Indian Delegation to Inter-Parliamentary Union Conference, Japan, 1974; Sri Lanka, 1975; Switzerland, 1984; (v) Indian Delegation to the UN - General Assembly, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996; and (vi) Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Bulgaria, 1997; Leader, Indian Delegation to Human Rights Commission Meeting, Geneva, 1993; and Delegation of Standing Committees of External Affairs to Gulf countries- Bahrain, Oman and Kuwait

Other Information

Participated in Freedom Struggle and went to jail in 1942; detained during Emergency in 1975-77; was awarded Padma Vibhushan by President of India in recognition of his services to the Nation; Conferred, (i)Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy by Kanpur University,1993; (ii) Lok Manya Tilak Puruskar, 1994; (iii) Bharat Ratna Pt. Govind Ballabh Pant Award for Best Parliamentarian, 1994

Ravi Shankar Prasad

2009-12-09T02:27:00.000-08:00

Name	Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad
Father's Name	Late Shri Thakur Prasad
Mother's Name	Shrimati Bimla Prasad
Date of Birth	1954-08-30
Birth Place	Patna (Bihar)
Maritial Status	Married On 3 February 1982
Spouse Name	Dr. (Shrimati) Maya Shankar
No. of Children	one daughtersOne Sons
State Name	Bihar
Party Name	Bharatiya Janata Party
Permanent Address	42, Nageshwar Colony, Ward No.4, P.S.- Budha Colony, P.O. GPO, Patna 800001 Telephone : {0612} 2531635
Present Address	21,Willingdon Crescent, New Dellhi 110011 Telephone : 23793228, 23793691, Mobile 9868181730
Email id	ravis@sansad.nic.in
Educational Qualifications	B.A.Hons., M.A. (Pol.Science), LL.B. Educated at Patna University
Profession	Senior Advocate, Patna High Court
Positions Held	1991-95 National Vice President, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (B.J.Y.M.), the Youth Wing of B.J.P. for two terms 1995 onwards Member, National Executive, Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.) April 2000 Elected to Rajya Sabha May 2000-2001 Member, Committee on Petroleum and Chemicals Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance 1 Sept. 2001-29 Jan. 2003 Minister of State in the Ministry of Coal and Mines 1 July 2002-29 Jan. 2003 Minister of State in the Ministry of Law and Justice (Additional charge) 29 Jan. 2003-May 2004 Minister of State (Independent charge) of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting May 2000 - Aug. 2001 and Member, Committee on Rules July 2004 - Aug. 2006 Aug. 2004 - 2006 Member, Committee on Human Resource Development Sept. 2004 - April 2006 Member, Committee on Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (Rajya Sabha) Oct. 2004 -2006 Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Finance Nov. 2004 onwards Member, Sub-Committee on University and Higher Education of the Committee on Human Resource Development March 2006 onwards National Spokesperson, B.J.P. April 2006 Re-elected to Rajya Sabha Aug. 2006 onwards Member, Committee on Information Technology Sept. 2006 onwards Member, Committee of Privileges Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of External Affairs
Freedom Fighter	No
Books Published	Has written many articles on contemporary legal and constitutional issues, which have been published in leading newspapers like The Times of India, Hindustan Times, The Statesman, The Pioneer, Hindustan and Dainik Jagran, etc.
Social and Cultural Activities, Literary, Artistic and Scientific Accomplishments and other Special Interests	Has been a civil liberty and human rights activist; a keen debator both in Hindi and English in College and University days and achieved regular distinction in debating competitions at the state and the national level
Sports, Clubs, Favourite Pastimes and Recreation	Played table tennis in university level tournaments; Member, (i) Bankipur Club, (ii) Patna Golf Club and (iii) Delhi Golf Club; keen interest in classical Indian music, travelling and reading historical, biographical and legal literature
Countries Visited	U.S.A. and Europe in the Group Study Exchange Programme of the Rotary International; South Africa, Morocco and France for cooperation in the mining and coal sectors; represented India in the Commonwealth Law Ministers Conference in St. Vincent, West Indies in 2002; Durban (South Africa), as leader of the Indian Delegation in the Non-aligned Meet in April, 2002 and Ramallah (Israel) to meet the Palestinian leader, late Shri Yasser Arafat, as Indian representative of the NAM Ministerial delegation to express solidarity with him; Cannes (France); Venice (Italy) to deliver Key Note Address in the Film Festivals; Bangkok (Thailand) to deliver Key Note Address on Broadcasting Media; Yugoslavia as an Observer to oversee the elections there; Canada to attend Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference in 2004 and Pakistan to attend South Asia Free Media Association Parliamentary Conference in 2005; New York, U.S.A. as member of Indian delegation to attend the 61st U.N.General Assembly in October 2006

BJP: fading out gradually?

2009-12-03T00:32:00.000-08:00

Bhartiya Janata Party,BJP, seems to be fading out gradually from the political horizon of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.Nitish Kumar in Bihar has so overpowering influence that everything revolves around him and the people will vote for/against him;not for The BJP or the JDU.Analysts believe that it was the BJP which failed to keep upper castes in good humour and they seem to have switched over to the congress now.BJP leaders like Pramod Narayan Jha and Tara Kant Jha have been disaster as they have done absolutely nothing to improve the image of the party.
The situation in Uttar Pradesh is even worse.The same old leaders narrating the same old sentences can not impress anyone.People want dynamism and BJP seems to lack in this respect as far as state leadership is concerned.

Ram Temple still a relevant issue?

2009-11-28T00:23:00.000-08:00

Liberhan report leaked to divide Opposition: BJP

2009-11-28T00:19:00.000-08:00

Downhill Journey Of The Bhartiya Janata Party.

2009-11-18T00:23:00.000-08:00

Bhartiya Janata Party,BJP,seems to be fading out gradually from the Political scene of India.The decline which started with the expulsion of Uma Bharti and tragic demise of Pramod Mahajan has got momentum lately.Rajnath Singh has not been able to keep the party a cohesive unit and many leaders are feeling alienated and marginalised.
Yashwant Sinha is probably only Indian leader who believes in grass root politics and have braved police atrocities while protesting on numerous occasion.But those for whom politics is just a television debate are not allowing him to come to the centre stage of the Party.As a consequence the party is eroding its base.

Tune into "Vande Mataram"

2008-02-19T06:50:00.000-08:00

Sujalam , Sufalam, Malayj Sheetalam,Sasyashyamalam, Mataram !Shubhrajyotsna Pulakitayaminim,Pullakusumita Drumadal Shobhinim,Suhasinim, Sumadhur Bhashinim,Sukhadam, Vardam, Mataram !

(Composed by Bankim Chandra Chtopadhyaya and Chatterjee)
I bow to thee, Mother,richly-watered, richly-fruited, cool with the winds of the south,dark with the crops of the harvests, the Mother! Her nights rejoicing in the glory of themoonlight, her lands clothed beautifully with her trees in flowering bloom,sweet of laughter, sweet of speech, the Mother, giver of boons, giver of bliss.
(The English translation of the stanza rendered by Sri Aurobindo)
Tune into "Vande Mataram"

Past BJP President from 1980 to 2005

2008-02-19T06:15:00.000-08:00

Chronological List of Bharatiya Janata Party Presidents

Name
Year
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
1980
Shri Lal Krishna Advani
1986
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi
1990
Shri Lal Krishna Advani
1992
Late Shri Kushabhau Thakre
1998
Shri Bangaru Laxman
2000
Late Shri K. Jana Krishnamurthy
2001
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu
2002 to 2004
Shri Lal Krishna Advani
27th Oct. 2004 to 31st Dec. 2005

BJP Philosophy : Hindutva (Cultural Nationalism)

2008-02-19T06:13:00.000-08:00

Hindutva or Cultural Nationalism presents the BJP's conception of Indian nationhood, as explained in the following set of articles. It must be noted that Hindutva is a nationalist, and not a religious or theocratic, concept."Hinduism and Hindutva: What the Supreme Court Says ?" by Jagmohan

Hindutva: The Great Nationalist Ideology
"Give us this day our sense of Mission" by M.V. Kamath
REVIEW : 'Klaus Klostermaier - On the Ethos and the Future of Hinduism' by Shri Ashok Chowgule
"The Hindutva Judgements: The Distance that Remains" by Arun Shourie
The Eternal Religion's defining movement in time
ESSAY : "Semitic Monotheism -The Root Of Intolerance In India by S. Gurumurthy
Subhas Chandra Bose as a mascot of Hindutva

BJP PHILOSOPHY : Integral Humanism

2008-02-19T06:04:00.000-08:00

Integral Humanism, the guiding philosophy of the Bharatiya Janata Party, was first presented by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya in the form of four lectures delivered in Bombay on April 22-25, 1965.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born on Sept. 25, 1916, in a village Nagla Chandrabhan, Near Mathur in Uttar Pradesh. He passed his Matriculation standing first class, first in the Ajmer Board Examinations, winning two gold medals. He again won two gold medals in Intermediate examination securing first rank. He did his B.A. in mathematics in first class.
Panditji joined the RSS in 1937 as one of the first few Swayamsevaks and rose to be its Joint Provincial Pracharak.
He joined the Jana Sangh in 1952 and was appointed its General Secretary, which post he retained till he became the President of the Party in 1967. After the death of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookherji he shouldered the responsibility of building up the party and he achieved a remarkable success in this onerous task.
Pandit Upadhyaya edited PANCHJANYA (Weekly) and SWADESH (Daily) from Lucknow. He has also written a drama CHANDRAGUPTA MAURYA in Hindi, and later wrote a Hindi biography of SHANKARACHARYA. He translated Marathi biography of Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of RSS.
His death in tragic circumstances on Feb. 11, 1968 is an irreplaceable loss to the country.

I am asked to present my thoughts on the subject of "Integral Humanism" in a series of talks beginning this evening. Last January at Vijayavada, Bharatiya Jana Sangh adopted the statement of "Principles & Policies" in which 'Integral Humanism' has also been accepted. There has been scattered discussions here and there on the subject. It is necessary that we consider Integral Humanism in all its aspects. So long as the country was under the yoke of the British rule, all the movements and policies in the country had one principal 'aim to drive out the foreign rulers and to achieve independence'. But what would be the face of the new Bharat after independence? In which direction were we to advance? These questions were precisely thought out. It would not be correct to say that no thought was devoted to these aspects. There were people who even at that time had considered these questions. Gandhiji himself had set out his idea of the independent Bharat in his book "Hind Swaraj". Prior to this Lokmanya Tilak discussed the philosophical basis of the rejuvenation of Bharat in his book 'Gita Rahasya'. He gave a comparative discussion of various schools of thought current all over the world at that time.
Apart from these, the Congress and other political parties adopted various resolutions from time to time which contain references to this subject. However the subject requires much more serious study than was devoted to it at that time. It did not attract serious attention at that time because every one believed it was more important to think of ways to drive out the British and the other things could be discussed later on. It did not seem right to waste time in internal discussions while the foreign rule continued. Hence even if there might have been difference in views, they were shelved for the time being.
As a result, even those who held the view that socialism should be the basis of the future Bharat, worked inside the Congress as a socialist group. They did attempt to form as a separate party as such.
The revolutionaries too, were working independence in their own way. All were agreed, however, that the foremost task was to gain independence.
Having attained. Independence, the question naturally ought to have occurred to us, "Now that we independent, what shall be the direction of our progress?". But is amazing that serious thought has not been to this question and today even after seventeen years independence we cannot say that a definite direction been decided upon.
Whither Bharat
From time to time, Congressmen. or others have declared Welfare State, Socialism, Liberalism etc. as their aims. Slogans have been raised. But this ideology slogans attached little significance to the philosophies, apart from the slogans. I am saying this on the basis of personal discussions. A leading gentleman once suggested during a conversation that a joint front should be for against Congress, whereby a good fight can be given. Now a days political parties adopt this strategy. So, it was surprising to put forward this suggestion. However, naturally, I asked, "What programme shall we adopt? If such a joint front is formed some idea of the programme essential. What will be out economic policy? What will our foreign policy? These questions should also be broadly tackled."
"Do not worry about it. Whatever you like you can adopt. We are ready to support, anything from extreme Marxist to downright capitalist program." The reply came as if this was natural. He had no difficulty in adopting any programme. The only object was somehow Congress should be defeated. Even now some declare that Congress must be defeated even with the cooperation of communists and all the rest.
Recently elections were held in Kerala. During t elections, Communists, Muslim League, Swatantra Party, S.S.P. Rebel Congress known as Kerala Congress, Revolutionary Socialist Party etc. entered into a variety of bilateral of multiple alliances. As. a result, it was difficult to imagine that any of these parties had a definite. ideology, principles and aims. This is the situation as far as principles are concerned.
Congress too, is in a similar state. Even though the Congress has proclaimed democratic socialism as its goal, the behavior of various Congress leaders shows one thing clearly that there are no definite , principles, no single direction in Congress. There are staunch communists in Congress fold. There are also those who have faith in, Capitalism and oppose communism to the teeth. All brands of people are arrayed on Congress platform. If there can be a magic box which contains a cobra and a mangoose living together, it is Congress.
We must ponder whether we can progress under such conditions. If we stop to analyze the reasons for the problems facing the country we will find that the confusion about our goal and the direction is mainly responsible for the chaos. I realize that all the. 450 million people of Bharat cannot agree on all or even on a single question. That is not possible in any country. Yet there is generally, what is called a more or less common desire of the people of any nation. If this popular longing is made the basis of our aims, the common man feels that the nation is moving in a proper direction, and that his own aspiration is reflected in the efforts of the nation. This also generates the greatest possible feeling of unity. The truth of the statement is borne out by the response of the people during the Chinese Invasion of October/November 1962. A wave of enthusiasm swept across the country. Action and sacrifice. both obtained in abundance. There was no barrier between the government and the public or between various political parties. How did this happen?. The external threat made us recognize ourselves. The government adopted that policy which reflected the widespread feeling in the people and which enhanced their sense of self-respect with a call for sacrifice. The result was, we stood united.
The Root of Our Problems-Neglect Of Self
It is essential that we think about our national identity. Without this identity there is no meaning. Of independence, nor can independence become the instrument of progress and happiness. As long as we are unaware of out national identity, we cannot recognize develop all our potentialities. Under alien rule this identity is suppressed. That is why nations wish to remain independent so that they can progress according to their natural bent and can experience happiness in their endeavor. Nature is powerful. An attempt to go against nature or to disregard her leads to troubles. The natural instincts cannot be disregarded but it is possible to elevate this nature to the level of culture. Psychology informs us how by suppression of various natural instincts different mental disorders ensue. Such a person remains restless and dejected. His abilities slowly deteriorate and become perverted. The Nation too like the individual becomes a prey to numerous ills when its natural instincts are disregarded. The basic cause of the problems facing Bharat is the neglect of its national identity.
Opportunism Has Shaken The Confidence Of People in Politics
A majority of those who lead the nation today as well as those who take active interest in the affairs of the country are not sufficiently aware of this root cause. Consequently opportunists with no principles reign in politics of our country. Parties and politicians have neither principles nor aims nor a standard code of conduct. A person feels nothing wrong in leaving one party and Joining another. Even alliances and mergers of parties or their bifurcations are dictated not by agreement or by differences in principles by purely by gains in elections or in positions of power. In 1939 Shri Hafiz Mohammed Ibrahim was elected Muslim League ticket. Later when he joined Congress, in accordance with healthy principles of public conduct he resigned and sought re-election on Congress ticket and was once again elected. In 1948 when socialists left Congress and founded Socialist Party, all those who were members of legislature resigned and fought elections on socialist tickets. But thereafter this healthy tradition was forgotten. Now there is complete license in politics. As result, in public mind there is distrust for every one. There is hardly any reason whose Integrity is beyond doubt in the public mind. This situation must be changed. Otherwise, unity and discipline cannot
What Should Be Our Direction?
The nation is at crossroads. Some people suggest that we must start from where we have left off one thousand years ago, when foreign invaders disrupted our life. But nation is not an inanimate object like a cloth so that weaving can be taken. up after a gap in time. Besides it would not be rational to say that the thousand year old alien rule has interrupted the current of our national life so completely that from that time to this day we remained stationary and inactive. The nation has certainly put her genius to work, in the changing circumstances to meet the challenges thrown at her. We have struggled to continue our life forward and to wrest independence from the aliens. The current of our national life was not interrupted but has gone on ceaselessly. The task of turning the waters of Ganga back to. some previous point would not be wise Ganga at Banaras may not be crystal clear as at Haridwar. But still it is the same holy Ganga. It has absorbed numerous rivulets with all their refuse. However, these have no separate existence but have become Ganga. The current Ganga must inevitably glow onwards. If this was all that happened it would still not be a big problem. But there are other nations in the world. They have made phenomenal progress in the past one thousand years. Our entire attention was engaged in fighting for independence or staving off new hordes of invaders. We have not been able to contribute to the world progress. Now when we are free, is it not paramount that we fill this deficiency at the earliest and stand shoulder to shoulder with other advanced nations of the world?
Up to this point there is no room for difference of opinion. The difficulty arises when we fail to discern the reasons of the spectacular advance of the West, its effects, real and, apparent. This is further complicated by the fact that Britishers a representative of the West, ruled this country for a century and, during this period adopted such measures whereby in the minds of our people a contempt for things Bharatiya and respect for everything Western were subtly created. Along with the scientific advance, their way of life, manners and food habits etc. came to this country. Not only material sciences but also their social, economic and political doctrines became our standards. Today the educated in this country clearly display this effect. We shall have to decide whether this effect is good or bad for us. We had taken pride in resisting things British while they ruled us, but strangely enough, now that the Britishers have left, westernisation has become synonymous with progress. It is true that a narrow sense of nationalism should not be allowed to obstruct the progress of the nation. However western science and the western way of life are two different things. Whereas western science is universal and must be absorbed by us if we wish to go forward, the same is not true about the western way of life and values. In fact thoughtless imitation of the West must be scrupulously discarded. There are those who consider economic and political doctrines of the West as epitome of progress and desire to transplant the same in our country. Therefore when we are trying to decide where wish to take our country and how, we must also take into consideration the basis of various economic and political doctrines of the west and their present position.
The Rise Of European Nations
Among various Isms that affected the West, the principal ones are Nationalism, Democracy and Socialism. At the same time there have been some who cherish world unity and world peace and have made some efforts in that direction.
Among these, nationalism is the oldest and the strongest. After the fall of the Roman Empire and decline in the influence of the Catholic Church Europe witnessed rise of several nations. History of Europe in the past on thousand years is the history of the rise of and conflict among various nations. These nations extended their expires beyond the European continent and subjugate other independent countries. Nationalism brought nation and state together resulting in nation states. At the same time the decline in the influence of the Roman Catholic Church gave rise either to national churches or to complete disappearance of religious influence on politics. Anyway the concept of secular state arose out of this situation
Birth Of Democracy In Europe
A revolutionary concept which made a deep impact on the political life of Europe is Democracy. In the beginning, every nation had a king as its head but there was gradual awakening in the minds of people against the autocracy of the royalty. The industrial revolution and the international trade resulted in the rise of a business community in all nations. Naturally there ensued a conflict between these new centres of power and the established kings and feudal lords. This conflict, adopted 'democracy' as its philosophical basis. The origin of democracy was sought in the Greek city republics. The common man was attracted by the lofty ideals of equality, fraternity and liberty of every citizen. France witnessed a bloody revolution. In England too, there were periodic movements. The idea of democracy gained foothold in the mind of common man. The royalty was either liquidated or their powers were drastically' curbed and constitutional governments were established. Today democracy has been already accepted in Europe. Even those who have suppressed democracy do not denounce it. The dictators like Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin too paid lipservice to democracy.
Individual Was Exploited
Every individual got a vote in the democratic setup. But real power stayed with those who had led the revolution. Industrial revolution had generated faith in the new methods of production. Instead of working in the freedom of home, workers had started working in the factories taking orders from the factory owners, The worker migrated from his home town to dwell in crowded cities. There was no provision of proper housing. There were hardly any rules in the factory to protect the worker. He was economically weak and not yet organized. He became a victim of exploitation, injustice and harassment. Those in whom political power was vested were members of the same group who exploited the workers. Hence there was no hope of redress from the state.
A number of persons led movements in protest against this injustice with the desire to improve the lot of workers. They called themselves socialists. Karl Marx was one of them. In an effort to lead the movement against t injustice, he studied the entire history and structure presented his analysis of the situation. He claimed to have given a scientific basis to his theories. All the subsequent socialists might not have agreed with Marx but they all considerably influenced by his ideas.
Dictatorship Of The Proletariat
According to Marx analysis-dialectic materialism the root cause of exploitation lies in the private owners of the means of production. If these means are made the property of the society (for. the Marxist, the Society synonymous with the State) then there will be no further exploitation. But before this. the state should be redeemed from the hands of the exploiters and ensured against their influence in future. Towards this end, dictatorship of proletariat must be established. In order that people tolerate this dictatorship, it was held as an ideal that when the exploiter class has been finally liquidated, and possibility of its resurgence exists, the state will replaced by a classless, stateless society. Marx also attempted to show that capitalism contains seeds of own destruction and that socialism is inevitable.
In some countries of Europe there was social revolution. Even where, socialism was not accepted, politicians had to accept the rights of workers. "Welfare State" was accepted as an ideal. Nationalism, democracy, socialism or equality (equality is there at the root of socialism; equality is different from equability), these three doctrines have dominated European social political thinking. Every now and then apart from these ideals of world peace and world unity also cropped up. All these are good ideas. They reflect the higher aspirations mankind. But by itself each of these doctrines is incomplete. Not only that, each stands opposed to the rest in practice. Nationalism poses a threat to world peace. Democracy and capitalism join hands to give a free reign exploitation. Socialism replaced capitalism and brought with it an to democracy and individual freedom. Hence the West is present faced with the task of reconciling these good ideals. They have not succeeded to this day, in this task. They have tried combinations and permutations, by emphasis on one or the other ideal. England emphasized nationalism and democracy and developed her politico-social institutions along those lines, whereas France could not adopt the same. There, democracy resulted in political instability. The British Labor party wanted to reconcile socialism with democracy but people have raised doubts whether democracy will survive if socialism gains strength. Hence the labor party no longer supports socialism so strongly as the Marxist doctrines advocate. If socialism has been diluted considerably, Hitler and Mussolini adopted nationalist cum socialism and buried democracy. In the end socialism also became a tool for their nationalism which posed a great threat to world peace and unity. We may indeed seek some guidance from the western world but the fact is, it has no concrete suggestions to offer. It is itself at crossroads unable to decide what is good. Under such circumstances we cannot expect guidance from the West. On the contrary we must consider whether in this present state of the world, we can contribute something to resolve its dilemma. Having taken note of the progress of the world, can we add to the common store of Knowledge? As a member of the world community , we must discharge our responsibilities. If we possess some thing that may prove helpful to world progress we should not hesitate in imparting it to the world. In this era of adulteration, instead of adulterating ideas we must on the contrary scrutinize and improve upon them wherever possible before accepting them. Rather than being a burden on the world, we must attempt to resolve if possible the problems facing the world.
We must also consider what contribution our tradition and civilization make to the world culture. We shall consider this tomorrow evening.
22nd April 1965

Yesterday we had seen that even after 17 years of independence, we have still to decide what direction we should adopt to realize our cherished dream of all round development in the lives of our countrymen. Normally people are not prepared to seriously consider this question. They think only of the problems which they face from time to time. Sometimes economic problems are viewed with concern and an attempt is made to resolve them, and at other times social or political problems come to the forefront claiming attention. Not knowing fundamentally the direction in which we to go al these efforts are not accompanied by sufficient enthusiasm not do they give a feeling of satisfaction to the people engaged in these efforts. These efforts produce only a fraction of the results which they ought to have produced.
Modern versus Ancient
Those who advocates some define direction, include two distinct groups of people. There are some who suggest that we must go back to the position when we lost our independence and proceed from there. On the other hand there are people who would like to discard all that has originated here in Bharat and are not ready to think about it. They seem to think that western life and thoughts are the last word in progress and all of it should be imported here if we are to develop. Both these lines of thought are incorrect, thought they do represent partials truths and it will not be proper to discard them altogether.
Those who advocate starting from where we left off a thousand years ago, forget that whether it may or may not be desirable. It is definitely impossible. The flow of time can not be reversed.
The Past Cannot be Disowned
In the past one thousand years whatever we assimilated whether it was forced on us or we took with willingness cannot be discarded now. Besides, we too have created originality not a little. In the life of our society, We did not remain always mere passive witness to whatever new challenging situations arose; nor did we merely react to every alien action. We too have attempted to reshape our life as required to face the new situations. Therefore, it will not do, simply to close our eyes to all that has happened in the past one thousand years.
Foreign Ideologies Are Not Universal
Similarly those who would like to make western ideologies the basis of our progress forget that these ideologies have arisen in certain special situations and time. These are not necessarily universal. They cannot be free from the limitations of the particular people and their culture, which gave birth to these Isms. Besides many of these ideas are already out of date. The principles of Marx have changed both with the changing times as well as with varying conditions to the extent that parrot like repetition of Marxism for problems facing our country would amount to a reactionary attitude rather than a scientific and pragmatic one. It is indeed surprising that those who claim to reform the society by removing dead traditions, themselves fall prey to some outdated foreign traditions.
Our country: Our problems
Every country has its own peculiar historical. social and economic situations and its leaders decide the remedies to the ills that beset the country from time to time taking into consideration its background. It is illogical to believe that remedies which the leaders of one country decided to try for their problems are likely to be applicable as such to all other peoples. A simple illustration will suffice. Even though the basic organic activity is the same in all human beings the drugs which may be helpful in England may not prove equally helpful in India. Diseases depend also upon climate, water, dietary habits and heredity. Even though the external symptoms may be apparently similar the same drug does not necessarily cure all persons. Those who apply a single penacea to all diseases must be considered quacks rather than doctors. Therefore Ayurveda states i.e. for the disease in each place remedy suitable to that place must be found. Therefore, it is neither possible nor wise to adopt foreign Isms in our country in the original from in toto. It will not be helpful in achieving happiness and prosperity.
Human Knowledge Is Common Property
On the other hand it needs, to be realized that not all the thoughts and principles that have sprung up elsewhere are necessarily local in space and time. The response of human beings in a particular place time and social atmosphere may, and does, in many cases have relation and use to other human beings elsewhere and at other times. Therefore to ignore altogether the developments in other societies, past or present is certainly unwise. Whatever truths these developments contains must be taken not of and accepted. The rest must be scrupulously avoided. While absorbing the wisdom of other societies it is only proper that we avoid their mistakes or perversities. Even their wisdom should be adapted to our particular circumstances. In brief, we must absorb the knowledge and gains of the entire humanity so far as eternal principles and truths are concerned. Of these the ones that originated in our midst have to be clarified and adapted to changed times and those that we take from other societies have to be adapted to our conditions.
The Conflicting Ideas
The western political thought has accepted Nationalism, Democracy and Socialism or equality as ideals. Besides now and then, there have been attempts directed at world unity which took the shape of the "League of Nations" and after the second world war, the "United Nation Organizations". For a variety of reasons those have not succeeded. However, those definitely were attempts in that direction.
All these ideals have in practice proved to be incomplete and mutually opposing.
Nationalism led to conflict between nations and in turn to global conflict, whereas if status-quo is regarded as synonymous with world peace the aspirations of many small nations to be independent would have never been fulfilled. World unity and Nationalism conflict with each other. Some advocate suppression of Nationalism for world unity whereas other regard world unity as an utopian ideal and emphasize national interest to the utmost.
Similar difficulty arises in reconciling Socialism and Democracy. Democracy grants individual liberty but the same is used by capitalist system for exploitation and monopoly. Socialism was brought in to end exploitation but it eliminated the freedom and dignity of the individual.
Mankind stands confused. unable to decide what is the correct path for future progress. The West is not in a position to say with confidence that "this alone and no other" is the right path. It is itself groping. Therefore simply to follow the West would be an instance of a blind being led by another blind.
In this situation our attention is claimed by the Bharatiya culture. Is possible that our culture can point the direction to the world?
From the national stand point we shall have to consider our culture because that is our very nature. Independence is intimately related to one's own culture. If culture does not form the basis of independence then the political movement for independence would reduce simply to a scramble by selfish and power seeking persons independence can be meaningful only if it becomes instrument for the expression of our culture. Such expression will not only contribute to our progress but the effort required will also give us the experience of joy. Therefore, both from the national as well as human standpoint it has become essential that we think of the principles of the Bharatiya culture. If with its help we can reconcile the various ideals of the western political though then it will be an added advantages for us. These western principles are a product of revolution in human thought, and social conflict. They represent one or the other aspiration of mankind. It is not proper to ignore them.
Bharatiya Culture Is Integrated
The first characteristic of Bharatiya culture is that it looks upon life as an integrated whole. It has an integrated view point. To think of parts may be proper for a specialist but it is not useful from the practical standpoint. The confusion in the West arises primarily from its tendency to think of life in sections and then to attempt to put them together by patch work. We do admit that there is diversity and plurality in life but we have always attempted to discover the unity behind them. This attempt is thoroughly scientific. The scientists always attempt to discover order in the apparent disorder in the universe, to find out the principles governing the universe and frame practical rules on the basis of these principles. Chemists discovered that a few elements comprise the entire physical world. Physicists went one step further and showed that even these elements consist only of energy. Today we know that the entire universe is only a form of energy.
Philosophers are also basically scientists. The western philosophers reached tip to the principle of duality; Hegel put forward the principle of thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis; Karl Marx used this principle as a basis and presented his analysis of history and economics.. Darwin considered the principle of survival of the fittest as the sole basis of life. But we in this country saw the basic unity of all life. Even the dualists have believed the nature and spirit to be complementary to each other than conflicting. The diversity in life is merely an expression of the internal unity. There is complementary underlying the diversity. The unit of seed finds expression in various form - - the roots. the trunk, the branches the leaves, the flowers and the fruits of the tree. All these have different forms and colors and even to some extent different properties. Still we recognize their relation of unity with each other through seed.
Mutual Conflict - Sign of Cultural Regression Unity in diversity and the expression of unity in various forms has remained the central thought of Bharatiya culture. If this truth is wholeheartedly accepted then there will not exist any cause for conflict among various powers. Conflict is not a sign of culture of nature: rather it is a symptom of their degradation. The law of the jungle, "Survival of the Fittest" which the West discovered in recent years was known to our philosophers.
We have recognized desire, anger etc. among the six lower tendencies of human nature, but we did not use them as the foundation or the basis of civilized life or culture. There are thieves and robbers in the society. It is essential to save ourselves and the society from these elements. We cannot consider them as our ideals or standards for human behavior. Survival of the fittest is the law of the jungle. The civilizations have developed not on the basis of this law but by consideration of how the operation of this law will be the least in human life. If we wish to progress, we have to keep this history of civilization before our minds.
Mutual Co-operation
Co-operation also obtains in abundance just as conflict and competition in this world. Vegetation and animal life keep each other alive. We get our oxygen supply with the help of vegetation whereas we provide carbondioxide so essential for the growth of vegetable life. This mutual co-operation sustains life on this earth.
The recognition of this element of mutual sustenance among different forms of life and taking that as the basis of an effort to make human life mutually sustaining is the prime characteristic of civilization. To mold the nature to achieve the social goals is culture but when this nature leads to social conflict it is perversion. Culture does not disregard or deny nature. Rather it enhances those elements in nature which are helpful in sustaining life in this universe and making it fuller richer, and curbs others which obstruct or destroy life. Let us take a simple illustration. The relationship such as brother, sister, mother and son, father and son are natural. These are same both in man as well as among animals. Just as two brothers are sons of one mother so also two calves have a single mother cow. Where lies the difference?? In animals by lack of memory the relation is short-lived. They cannot build up an edifice of civilization on these relations. But men use this natural relation as a basis to construct a more harmonious order in life, to establish other relationships flowing from these basic relationships so as to knit the whole society in single unit of co-operation. Thus various values and traditions are built. Standards of good and bad are constructed accordingly. In society we find instances of both affection as well as enmity between brothers. But we consider affection good and aim at enchanting affectionate brotherly relations. The opposite tendency is disapproved. If conflict and enmity is made the basis of human relationships and if on this basis history is analyzed, then it would be futile to dream of world peace to result out of such a course of action.
A mother brings up her children. Mother's love is held up as the highest love. On such a basis alone we can devise the rules regulating the life of mankind. Sometimes there are examples of selfishness and cruelty of a mother toward her child. Among some species of animals mother devise her progeny to satisfy the hunger. On the other hand among monkeys mother carries her child long after its death. Both types of behavior are found among living things. Which of these two principles of nature can be made the basis of civilized life? We cannot but conclude that alone which helps to sustain life can be chosen, the contrary cannot lead to civilized life. Human nature has both tendencies, anger, and greed on the one hand and love, sacrifice on the other. All these are present in our nature. Anger etc. are natural to man and beasts. For the reason if we make anger a standard in our life and arrange our efforts accordingly then the result will be a lack of harmony in our. life. Therefore the exhortation, "do not yield to anger". Even. when the anger arises in one's mind one can exercise control over it and one should do so. Thus control becomes a standard of our life and not anger.
Such laws are known as the principles of ethics. These principles are not framed by anyone. They are discovered. A suitable analogy is that of the law of gravitation, that if we throw a stone it falls on the ground. This law of gravitation is not framed by Newton. He discovered it. When he saw an apple falling to the ground from the branch, he realized there must exist such a law. Thus he discovered this law, he did not frame it. Similarly there are certain principles of human relations such as, if one feels anger it is on the whole beneficial to mankind that one must control anger. These principles of ethics are then discovered.
"Do not tell lies to one another, say what you know to be true". This is a principle. Its usefulness becomes apparent at every step in life. We appreciates truthful person. If we speak lie, we ourselves feels unhappy; life cannot go on; there will be great confusion.
Modern versus Ancient
These Principles Constitute Our Dharma
A child does not speak lie by nature. Often Parents, teach their child to speak untruths. When the child desires something, if parents do not wish that child should have it, they conceal the object and tell the child that the desired object has disappeared. The child may be fooled a couple of times but soon knows the real situation and learns to speak untruth. This fact that by nature a person is truthful is a law that is discovered. Many other principles of ethics are similarly discovered. They are not arbitrarily framed by someone. In Bharat these principles are termed "Dharma", laws of life. All those principles which bring about harmony, peace and progress in the life of mankind are included In this "Dharma". On the sound basis of "Dharma". then, we must proceed with the analysis of life as an integral whole.
When Nature is channeled according to the principles of Dharma. we have culture and civilization. It is indeed this culture which will enable us to sustain and sublimate the life of mankind. "Dharma" is translated here as law. The English word 'religion' is not the correct word for 'Dharma'.
As pointed out earlier an integrated life is the foundation and the principle underlying this culture as well as its aims and ideals. We have thought of life as Integrated not only in the case of collective or social life but also in the individual life. Normally an individual is thought of in the physical bodily forms. Physical comfort and luxury is considered happiness. But we know that mental worry destroys bodily happiness. Everyone desires physical comfort. But if a person is imprisoned and there he is given finest of food etc., will he be happy? A person does not experience joy on getting nice food if it is also accompanied by a few abuses. There is a well-known incident in Mahabharata. When Lord Krishna went to Hastinapur as an emissary of Pandavas, Duryodhan invited him to enjoy his hospitality. Lord Krishna declined his Invitation and went instead to Vidura's home. Overjoyed by the visit of this much revered guest, Vidura's wife served the banana skins while throwing away the pulp. But Lord Krishna enjoyed even the meal of banana skin. That is why it is said, "Even a modest meal served with dignity and affection tastes better than the best delicacies served with disrespect". It is necessary therefore to take not of the mental happiness.
Similarly there is an intellectual happiness which too must be considered. Even after a person gets comforts for the body, and importance, affection. etc. Which please the mind. if he is involved in some intellectual confusion he is reduced to a state almost similar to madness. And what is madness itself? A lunatic may have all physical comforts, he may be perfectly healthy and properly cared for by his relatives; but he does not posses intellectual happiness. Intellectual peace is also essential and important. We will have to take all these things into consideration.
Modern versus Ancient
The Political Aspirations of Man
Body, mind, intelligence and the soul.-these four make up an individual. But these are integrated. We cannot think of each part separately. The confusion that has arisen in the West is due to the fact that they have treated each of the above aspects of human being separately and without any relation to the rest. When there was movement for democratic structure, they proclaimed "man is a political animal" and therefore his political aspirations must be attended to. Why only one person should be the king and others his subjects'? Let everyone rule! In Order to satisfy this political man they gave him the right to vote. Now he did get the right to a vote, but at the same time other rights diminished. Then the questions arose. "The voting right is nice but what about food? What if there is nothing to eat ?"
They wondered, "Now that you have voting right, you are the king. Why need you worry?" But man replied, "What shall I do with the state if I do not get any food? I have no use of this voting right. I want bread first. Then came Karl Marx and said, " Yes, bread is the most important thing. The state belongs to the 'haves'. So let us fight for bread. He saw man as primarily made up of body, wanting bread. But hose who followed the path shown by Karl Marx came to realize that they had neither bread not voting-right.
At the opposite end there is USA. There is both bread as well as voting right. Even so there is lack of peace and happiness. USA has highest list in number of suicides, number of mental patients and number of persons using tranquilizers to get sleep. People are puzzled as to the cause of this new situation. Man obtained bread, he got his voting right, still three is no peace, no happiness. Now they want back their peaceful sleep. Sound and undisturbed sleep is a scarce commodity in the present day America. Those who think realize that there is a basic mistake some where, whereby even after acquiring all good things of life, they are not happy.
The reason is that they have not thought of the integrated human being. In our country we have thoroughly considered this matter. That is why we have stated that progress of man means progress of the body, mind, intellect and soul of man, all together. Often it has been propagated that Bharatiya culture thinks only salvation of the soul. It does not bother about the rest. This is wrong. We do not think of the soul but it is not true that we do not consider body, mind and intellect of much importance. Other gave importance of body alone. Therefore our attention to the soul is unique. With time this created and impression that we are concerned only with the soul and not with other aspects of human being. A young unmarried boy cares for his mother, but after marriage he cares both for his wife as well as his mother, and discharges his responsibilities towards both of them. Now if anyone says that this man has no loves for his mother, it would be untrue. A wife also loves only her husband at first, but after the birth of child, she loves both her husband and child. Sometimes an unthoughtful husband feels that his wife neglects him, after the birth of their child. But this is generally not correct. If that is true then the wife has certainly slipped in her duty.
Similarly, while we recognize the need to pay attention to the soul, we do not neglect the body. Upanishads declare in unambiguous words i.e. weakling cannot realize the self. Again Body is truly the primary instrument to discharge the responsibilities that dharma in joins. The fundamental difference between our position and that of the west is that. whereas they have regarded body and satisfaction of its desires as the aim, we regard the body as an instrument for achieving our aims. We have recognized the importance of the body only in this light. The satisfaction of our bodily needs is necessary, but we don't consider this to be the sole aim of all our efforts. Here in Bharat, we have placed before ourselves the ideal of the four fold responsibilities, of catering for the needs of body, mind, intellect and soul with a view of achieve the integrated progress of man. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha are the four kinds of human effort. Purushartha means efforts which befit a man. The longings for Dharma, Artha Kama and Moksha, are inborn in man, and satisfaction. Of these four efforts too, we have thought in an integrated way. Even though Moksha has been considered the highest of these purusharthas, efforts for Moksha alone are not considered to give benefit to the soul. On the other hand, a person who engages in action, while remaining unattached to its fruits, is said to achieve Moksha inevitably and earlier.
Artha includes what is known as political and economic policies. According to the ancients, it used to include the justice and punishment also. Kama relates to the satisfaction of various natural desires. "Dharma" defines a set of rules to regulate the social activity. Artha and Kama, so as to progress in an integral and harmonious way, and attain not only Kama and Artha but also Moksha eventually.
Thus even though Dharma regulates Artha and Kama. all the three are interrelated and mutually complementary. Dharma helps achieve Artha. Even in business, one requires honesty, restraint, truthfulness etc. which are the attributes of Dharma. Without these qualities one cannot earn money. It must be admitted that Dharma is instrumental in attaining Artha and Kama. Americans proclaimed, "Honesty is the best business policy". In Europe they said, "Honesty is the best policy". We go one step forward and assert "Honesty is not a policy but a principle" i.e. we believe in dharma not just because it is instrumental in acquiring Artha but because it is a fundamental principle of civilized life.
Kama too can be attained only through Dharma. Having produced the material things such as nice food. when, where, how and in what measure it will be used can be determined only by Dharma. If a sick person eats food meant for a healthy one and vice-versa, both of them will be at a disadvantage. Dharma helps in restraining the natural tendencies of man, whereby he is able to determine what is beneficial to him apart from what is pleasurable. Hence Dharma is given the foremost place in our culture.
Dharma is of primary importance, but we should not forget that it is not possible to practice Dharma in the absence of Artha. There is a saying "What sin will not be committed by one who is starving? Those who have lost everything become ruthless." Even a rishi like Vishwamitra driven by hunger broke into the home of a hunter and ate the flesh of a dog. Therefore we are enjoined to see that there is enough wealth created continuously, since wealth. also strengthen Dharma. Similarly the government has maintain law and order and prevent chaos, which definitely destroys Dharma. At the time of Chaos, law of the jungle prevails where the strong feed upon the weak. Therefore stability in the state is also essential for the prevalence of Dharma.
In order to do this, education, character building, spread of idealism, and suitable economic structures are all necessary. Governments also fall inside the realm of Artha. Excessive power of state is also harmful of Dharma. It was said that a king should be neither too harsh nor too soft with his people. Heavy reliance on harsh measures produces a feeling of revolt in people. When state usurps the rightful position of Dharma, then there is this evil of preponderance of power of the state. Dharma suffers thereby. This is the reason of the decline of Dharma in ruthless states.
When the state-acquires all powers, both political and economic, the result is a decline of Dharma. In this way if the state has unlimited powers, the whole society looks towards the state, for everything. Officers of the government neglect their duties and acquire vested interests. These are all signs of the preponderance of the powers of state.
Dharma staffers a setback. Hence Artha should no be allowed to acquire hod in either of these two ways.
Karma too has been considered on the same lines. I the physical needs are neglected, and desires entirely suppressed, Dharma does not grow. Dharma cannot be observed if one has no food to eat. If the fine arts which satisfy the mind, are altogether stopped, then the civilizing influence on people will not be present. Mind will become perverse and Dharma neglected. On the other hand, if greediness of the gluttons of Rome or sensuousness of Yayati prevails, then the duties will be forgotten. Hence Kama too must be pursued consistent with Dharma. We have thus considered the life of an individual in a through and integrated manner. We have set the aim of developing body, mind intellect as well as soul in a balance way. We have tried to satisfy the manifold aspirations man taking care that efforts to satisfy two different aspirations are not mutually conflicting. This is the integrated picture of all the fourfold aspirations of and individual. This concept of a complete human being, integrate individual, is both our goal as well as our path. What should be the relation of this integrated human being with the society and how the interests of the society should be enhanced will be discussed tomorrow.
23rd April 1965

Yesterday we considered man as an individual. There are different aspects of an individual personality, different levels of needs of an individual. In order to develop complete personality, to satisfy the needs progressively but simultaneously at all levels, certain specific kinds of effort's are needed. These, too, were considered. But man does not exist merely as an individual. The individual comprising of body, mind, intellect and soul as not limited to singular "I" but is also inseparably related to the plural "We". Therefore we must also think of the group or the society. It is a simple truth treat society is a group of men. But how did society come into being? Many views have been put forward by philosophers. Those propounded in the West and on which the western socio-political structure is based can be broadly summarized as "society is a group of individuals brought into being by the individuals by an agreement among themselves." This view is known as "Social Contract Theory". Individual is given greater importance in. this view. If there are any differences in different western views, these pertain only to the questions, namely, "If the individual produced a society. then in whom the residual power remains vested, in the society or in the individual? Does the individual have the right to change the society? Can the society impose a variety or regulations on the individual and claim a right to the allegiance of the individual to itself? Or the individual is free as regards these questions?"
Individual Versus society There is a controversy in the West on this question. Some have opted for the society as supreme and from this a conflict has arisen. The truth is that the view that individuals have brought society into being, is fundamentally incorrect. It is true that the society is composed of a number of individuals. Yet it is not made by people, nor does it come into being by mere coming together of a number of individuals.
In our view society is self-born. Like an individual, society comes into existence in an organic way. People do not produce society. It is not a sort of club, or some joint stock company, or a registered co-operative society. In reality, society is an entity with its own "SELF", its own life; it is a sovereign being like an individual; it is an organic entity. We have not accepted the view that society is some arbitrary association. It has its own life. Society too has its body, mind, intellect and soul. Some western psychologists are beginning to accept this truth. McDougal has produced a new branch of psychology called group mind. He has accepted that the group has its own mind, its own psychology, its own methods of thinking and action.
Group has its feelings too. These are not exactly similar to the individual's feelings. Group feelings cannot be considered a mere arithmetic addition of individual feelings. Group strength too is not a mere sum of individuals strength. The intellect, emotions and energies, strength of a group, are fundamentally different from those of an individual. Therefore, at times it is experienced that even weakling, despite his individual weak physique turns out to be a heroic member of the society. Sometimes an individual may be ready to put up with an affront to his person, but is unwilling to tolerate an insult to his society. A person may be ready to forgive and forget a personal abuse to him, but the same man loses his temper if you abuse his society. It is possible that a person who is of a high character in his personal life, is unscrupulous as a member of the society. Similarly an individual can be good in society but not so in his individual life. This is a very important point.
Let me give you an illustration. Once during a conversation between Shri Vinobaji and the Sar Sanghachalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Shri Guruji, a question arose as to where the modes of thinking of Hindus and Muslims differ. Guruji said to Vinobaji that there are good and bad people in every society. There can be found honest and good people in Hindus as well as in Muslims. Similarly rascals can be seen in both the societies. No particular society has a monopoly of goodness. However, it is observed that Hindus even if they are rascals individual life, when they come together in a group, they always think of good things. On the other hand when two Muslims come together, they propose and approve of things which they themselves in their individual capacity would not even think of. They start thinking in an altogether different way. This is an everyday experience. Vinobaji admitted that there was truth in this observation but had no reasons to explain it.
If we analyze this situation. we shall discover that the modes of thinking of an individual and of a society are always different. These two do not bear an arithmetic relation. If a thousand good men gather together it cannot be said for certain that they will think similarly of good things. An average Indian student at present, is a mild and meek young man. Compared to an average student of twenty years ago, he is weaker and milder in every way. But when a score of such students get together, the situation becomes difficult. Then they indulge in all sorts of irresponsible actions. Thus a single student appears disciplined but a group of students become undisciplined. We shall have to consider why this change comes about. This is known as mob-mentality as distinct from individual mentality. This mob-mentality is a small aspect of mind. When a group of persons collect for a short time, the collective mentality obtained in that group is known as mob-mentality. But society and social mentality evolves over a much longer period. There is a thesis is that when a group of people live together for a long time, by historical tradition and association, by continued intercourse. they begin to think similarly and have similar customs. It is true that some uniformity is brought about by staying together. Friendship arises between two persons of similar inclination. However a nation or a society does not spring up from mere co-habitation.
Why Mighty Nations Of Antiquity Perished ? It is known that some ancient nations disappeared. The ancient Greek nation came to end. Egyptian civilization similarly disappeared. Babylonian and Syrian civilizations are a matter of history. Cynthia's perished. Was there ever a time when the citizens of those nations stopped living together? It was only the fact that there were wide differences among people that let to the downfall of these nations. The Greece in the past produced Alexander and Heredotes. Ulysis and Aristotle, Socrates and Plato and the present day Greece is inhabited by people of the same hereditary stock. There was no interruption in their heredity, because there never was a time when the whole of Greece was devoid of human population and when a new race inhabited that country. Such a thing never happened. Father and son tradition of old Greece was never interrupted. It is possible to trace the ancestry of present day Greeks to the old Greeks, some 250 to 500 generation back. Despite all the old Greek Nation is non-existent. So also the old Egyptian Nation Is no longer there. New nations have arisen in those places. How did this happen? This simple fact is indisputable, that nations do not come into existence by a mere co habitation. There was never a time in the lives of the citizens of these decadent nations, when they stopped living in a group. On the other hand Israeli Jews lived for centuries with other peoples scattered far and wide, yet they did not get annihilated in the societies in which they lived because of cohabitation. It is clear therefore that the source of national feeling is not in staying on a particular piece of land, but is in something etc.
What Is A Nation? That source is in the goal which is put before the people. When a group of persons lives with a goal, and ideal. A mission , and looks upon a particular place of land as motherland, this group constitutes a nation. If either of the two-an ideal and a motherland-is not there, then there is no nation. There is a "Self" in the body, the essence of the individual; upon the severance of its relation with the body, a person is said to die. Similarly there is this idea, ideal, or fundamental principle of a nation, its soul. Although it is believed that man take birth again and again, yet the reborn person is a different individual. They are treated as two separate beings. The same soul leaves one body and enters another, but the previous and the latter are two different individuals. The end of a person is nothing but the departure of his soul from his body. The other components of the body also undergo change. From childhood to old age, there is a drastic change! The biologists tell us that in course of a few years, every cell of our body is replaced by a new one. A variety of changes takes place. Because the soul resides in the body without interruption, the body continues its existence, such a relation is known as "the law of identity" in logic. It is due to this identity that we admit the continued existence of any entity. In this connection a nice illustration of a barber's razor is sometimes advanced.
Once while shaving a customer, a barber, prided in his razor being 60 years old. His father too had worked with the same razor. The customer was surprised especially because the handle was quite shiny and new In appearance. "Why the handle is quite shiny? How have your preserved the brightness for sixty years?" He asked. Barber too was amused with this. Is it possible to preserve the handle in a brand new appearance for sixty years? It has been replaced only six months ago". He replied naturally. The customer was curious and asked and how old is the steel? Three years was the reply. In brief. the handle was replaced. the steel was also replaced, but the razor remained old! Its identity was intact. Similarly a nation too has a soul. There is a technique name for it. In the "Principles arid Policies" adopted by the Jana Sangh, this name is mentioned. The word is Chiti. According to McDougal, it is the innate nature of a group. Every group of persons has an innate nature. Similarly every society has an innate nature, which is inborn. and is not the result of historical circumstances.
A human being is born with a soul. Human personality, Soul and character are all distinct from one another.. Personality results from a cumulative effect of all the actions, thoughts and impressions of an individual. But Soul is unaffected by this history, Similarly national culture is continuously modified and enlarged by the historic reasons and circumstances. Culture does include all those things which by the association, endeavors and the history of the society, have come to be held up as good and commendable. but these are not added on to Chiti. Chiti is fundamental and is central to the nation from its very beginning. Chiti determines the direction in which the nation is to advance culturally. Whatever is in accordance with Chiti, is included in culture.
Chiti, Cullture, Dharma By way of an illustration consider the story of Mahabharat. Kauravas were defeated, and Pandavas won. Why did we hold up the conduct of Pandavas as Dharma? Or why this battle was not considered just a battle for a kingdom? The praise for Yudhistir and the dishonor heaped on Duryodhana are not a result of political causes Krishna killed his uncle Kansa, the established king of the times. Instead of branding this as a revolt. we consider Krishna as an Avatar of God, and Kansa as an Asura.
Rama was assisted in his invasion of Lanka by Vibhishana, brother of Ravana. Such conduct of Vibhishana instead of being branded as treason, is considered good and exemplary. He betrayed his brother and his king even as Jaichand had one later on. He might be branded as a "quisling". But Vibhishana is not called "quisling' by any one. On the contrary he is highly praised for his conduct, and Ravana actions are disapproved. Why so? The reason behind this is not political.
If there is any standard for determining the merits and demerits of particular action, it is this Chiti; from nature whatever is in accordance with 'Chiti', is approved and added on to culture. These things are to be cultivated. Whatever is against 'Chiti,' is discarded as perversion, undesirable, is to be avoided. Chiti is the touchstone on which each action, each attitude is tested, and determined to be acceptable or otherwise. 'Chitti' is the soul of the nation. On the strength of this 'Chiti', a nation arises, strong and virile if it is this 'Chiti' that is demonstrated in the actions of every great man of a nation.
An individual is also in instrument in bringing forth the soul of the nation "Chiti". Thus apart from his own self, an individual also represents his nation. Not only that, but he also mans the various institutions that are created for the fulfillment of the national goal. Therefore he represents these too. The groups larger than nation such as "mankind" are also represented by him. In short, an individual has a multitude of aspect, but they are not conflicting; there is co-operation. unity and harmony in them. A system based on the recognition of this mutuality complementary nature of the different ideals of mankind, their essential harmony, a system which devises laws, which removes the disharmony and enhances these mutual usefulness and co-operation, alone can bring peace and happiness to mankind; can ensure steady development.
"Institution"- A Means To Fulfill National Needs According to Darwin's theory, living beings develop various organs as per the requirements dedicated by the circumstances. In our shastras, it was stated slightly differently, that the soul constructs, using the strength of "Prana'", various organs as the need is felt, for the purpose of continuing life. Just as the soul produced these different organs in the body, so also in the nation many different organs are produced as instruments to achieve national goals. Like various departments in a factory, building, machinery, sales, production, maintenance etc. nations also produce different departments, which are called institutions. These institutions are created to fulfill the needs of a nation. Family, castes, guilds, (which are now known as trade unions)etc., are such institutions. Property, marriage are also institution. Formerly there were no marriages. Later on some Rishi established this practice of marriage. He produced the institution of marriage. Similarly Gurukul and Rishkul were institutions. In the same way, the state is also an institution. The Nation creates it. A lot of trouble in the West is due to the fact that they confused the state with the nation, they considered the state synonymous with the nation. Truly speaking, nation and state are not the same. In our country, the state was produced as per social contract theory. Formerly there was no king. Mahabharat describes that in Krityuga, there was no state or king. Society was sustained and protected mutually by practicing Dharma.
Later on interruption and disorganization came into existence. Greed and anger dominated. Dharma was on the decline and the rule "might is right" prevailed. The Rishis were perturbed over the developments. They all went to Brahma to seek counsel, Brahma gave them a treatise on "Law and the Functions of the State", which he had himself writer. At the same time, he asked Manu to become the first King. Manu declined saying that a king will have to punish other persons, put them in jail and so on; he was not prepared to commit all these sins. There upon Brahma said, your actions in the capacity of king will not constitute sin, a long as they are aimed at securing conditions under which the society can live peacefully and according to Dharma. This will be your duty, your Dharma. Not only that but You will also have a share of the Karma of your subjects, whereby you will gain Dharma considerably if your subjects maintain conduct according to Dharma. Although it is not explicitly stated here, but I believe that if the society under any king committed sin, a part of that too must automatically go to the account of the king. It is not proper if only good things are shared by the king and not the bad ones; both must be shared in the same proportion. Thus state came into existence as a contract. This contract theory can be applied to the state but not to the nation. In the West, it was exactly opposite. Society as a nation, according to them. was a contract, but the king claimed a divine right and proclaimed himself the sole representative of God. This is wrong. In our Country, the king may have been first recognized in antiquity but the society as a nation is considered self-born. State is only an institution.
Similarly other institutions, like the state, are created from time to time as the need is felt. Every individual is a limb of one or more of these institutions. A person is a member of his family, as well as his community; he may also be a member of some association of his fellow professionals, if he pursues a profession. Above all he is a member of the nation and society. If we consider even larger sphere he is a member of the whole mankind, and then the entire universe, Truly speaking an individual is not merely a single entity but a plural entity. He is a part of not just one, but a member of many institutions. He lives a variety of lives. The most important aspect, is that despite this multiple personality, he can and should behave in a way which does not bring different aspects of his life into mutual conflict but which is mutually sustaining, complementary and unifying. This quality is inherent in man. A person who uses this quality properly, becomes happy and on the other hand one who does not do so, reaps unhappiness. Such a person will not have balanced development in the life. As an illustration, a man is son of his another, husband of his wife, brother of his sister and father of his son. A single individual is a father and is also a son, he is brother and also husband. he has to maintain all these relation with intelligence, understanding and tact. Where a person fails to do so, there is conflict. If he sides with one party the other feels wronged. The conflicts between his wife and his sisters, his wife and mother result from his inability to behave properly. There upon some of his relations are strained. He is pained because his duties towards his mother and towards his wife clash. When he can resolve this conflict, and fulfill all his obligations properly, it can be said that his development will be integrated.
Society And Individual not conflicting We do not accept the view that there is any permanent inevitable conflict among the multifarious personality of an individual, and different institutions of the society. If a conflict does exist, it is a sign of decadence perversion and not of nature or culture. The error in western thinking lies in that some people there believe that human progress is a result of this fundamental conflict. Therefore they consider the conflict between the individual and the state as a natural occurrence, on the same basis they also theorized on the class conflict.
Classes do exist in a society. Here too, there were castes, but we had never accepted, conflict between one caste and another as fundamental concept behind it. In our concept of four castes, they are thought of as analogous to the different limbs of Virat-purusha. It was suggested that from the head of the Virat-Purusha Bhrahmins were created, Kshatriyas from hands, Vaishyas from his abdomen and Shudras from legs. If we analyze this concept we are faced with the question whether there can arise any conflict among the head, arms. stomach and legs of the same Virat Purusha. If conflict is fundamental, the body cannot be maintained. There cannot be any conflict in the different parts of the same body. On the contrary "one man" prevails. These limbs are not only complementary to one another, but even further, there is individual unity. There is a complete identity of interest identity of belonging. The origin of the caste system was on the above basis. If this idea is not kept alive; the castes, instead of being complementary, can produce conflict. But then this is distortion. It is not a systematic arrangement, rather it is absence of any plan, any arrangement. This is indeed the present condition of our society.
This process of deterioration can set in the various institutions of a society due to a variety of reasons. If the soul of the society weakens, then all the different limbs of the society will grow feeble and ineffective. Any particular institution may be tendered useless or even harmful. Besides the need and the usefulness of any particular institution may change with time, place and circumstances. While examining the present state of an institution we ought at the same time, to think of what it should be like; mutual complementary and a sense of unity, alone can be the standards of proper conduct. Family, Community, Trade Union, Gram Panchayat, Janapada, State and such other institutions are various limbs of the nation and even of mankind. The are interdependent, initially complementary. There should be a sense of unity through all of them. For this very reason, there should be a tendency toward mutual accommodation in them instead of conflict or opposition.
State is one of the several institutions, an important one, but it is not above all other. One of the major reasons for the problems of the present day world is that almost everyone thinks of the state to be synonymous with the society. At least in practice. they consider the state as the sole representative of the society. Other institutions leave declined in their effectiveness while the state has become dominant to such an extent that all the powers are gradually being centralized in the state.
We had not considered the state to be the sole representative of the nation. Our national life continued uninterruptedly even after the state went in the hands of foreigners. The Persian nation came to an end with their loss of independence. In our country, there were foreign rules now and then in various parts of the country. At the some time the pathans seized the throne of Delhi, and then the Turks; the Mughals and the British too established their rules. Despite all this, our national life went on, because the state was not its centre. If we had considered state as the centre, we would have been finished as a nation long time ago. In some tale for children, it is described that an evil spirit resided in some parrot and to kill the evil spirit one had to kill that parrot. Those nations whose life centred in the state, were finished with the end of the state. On the other hand, where state was not believed central to its life, the nation survived the transfer of political power.
This had its had effects also. Late Dr. Ambedkar had said that our Gram Panchayats were so strong that we neglected the throne of Delhi. We did not remain alert as regards the state. as much as we ought to have done, thinking that nation's life did not depend on the state. We forgot that, though it may not be central. the state is definitely an important institution serving some needs of the nation, just as a limb of the body. It is possible to pluck a hair without much harm but along with the hair, if some skin is also removed, and a little further, if the head too is cut off, then there will be great loss for the body. Therefore the body must be protected. Although the various limbs of the body are not absolutely indispensable yet each of them serves an important purpose. From the same standpoint, state, too, should have been deemed important in the life of a nation. There were persons who attended to this aspect. It was for this reason that the great teacher of Shivaji, Samarth Ramdas Swami, directed him to establish his kingdom. Dharma wields its own power. Dharma is important in life. Shri Ramdas would as well have preached to Shivaji to become a mendicant and spread Dharma following his own example. But on the contrary, he inspired Shivaji to extend his rule, because state too, is an important institution of the society. However, to consider something important is different from saying that it is supreme. The state is not supreme. The question arises, then, that if the state is not of fundamental importance, what is a that is absolutely important. Let us consider this question.
Dharma Sustains The Society We shall have to examine the reasons why the state was established. No one will dispute that the state must have sosme specific aim, some ideal. Then this aim or ideal must be consider of highest importance rather then the state which is created to fulfill this ideal. A watchman is not deemed greater than the treasure he supposed to protect, nor is a treasure. The state is brought into existence to protect the nation: produce and maintain conditions in which the ideals of the nation can be translated into reality. The ideals of the nation constitute "Chiti", which is analogous to the soul of an individual. It requires some effort to comprehend Chiti. The laws that help manifest and maintain Chiti of a Nation are termed Dharma of that nation. Hence it is this "Dharma" that is supreme. Dharma is the repository of the nation's soul. If Dharma is destroyed. the Nation perishes. Anyone who abandons Dharma betrays the nation.
Dharma is not confined to temples or mosques. Worship of God is only a part of Dharma. Dharma is much wider. In the past, temples have served as effective medium to educate people in their Dharma. However just as schools themselves do not constitute knowledge, so also temples do not constitute Dharma. A child may attend school regularly and yet may remain uneducated. So also, it is possible that a person may visit temple or mosque without break and yet he may not know his Dharma. To attend temple or mosque constitutes a part of religion, sect. creed, but not necessarily "Dharma". Many misconceptions that originated from faulty English translations, include this most harmful confusion of Dharma with religion.
Dharma And Religion Are Different On the one hand we used the word religion as synonymous with "Dharma" and on the other hand increasing ignorance, neglect of our society and Dharma, and greater acceptance of European life, became the outstanding features of our education. As a result all the characteristics of a narrow religion, especially as practiced in the West were attributed automatically to the concept of Dharma also. Since in the West, injustice atrocities, were perpetrated, bitter conflicts and battles were fought in the name of religion, all these were enblock listed on the debit side of "Dharma" also. We felt that in the name of Dharma also battles were fought. However battles of religion and battles for Dharma are two different things. Religion means a creed or a sect; it does not mean Dharma. Dharma is very wide concept. It is concerned with all aspects of life. It sustains the society. Even further, it sustains the whole world. That which sustains is "Dharma".
The fundamental principles of Dharma are eternal and universal. Yet. their implementation may differ according to time, place and circumstances. It is a fact that a human being requires food for maintaining his body. However, what a particular person should eat in, how much quantity, at what intervals is all decided according to circumstances. It is possible at times that even fasting is advisable. If a typhoid patient is given normal food, the consequences may be disastrous. For such a person, keeping away from food is necessary, similarly the principles of Dharma have to be adapted to changing times and pace.
Some rules are temporary and others are valid for longer periods. There are some rules regulating our conduct at this meeting. One of the rules is that I speak and you listen with attention. If an contravention of this rule, you start conversing with one another or addressing the gathering at the same time, than there will be disorder; our work will not progress: the meeting will not be sustained. It can be said that you have not observed your Dharma. Thus it is our Dharma that we observed your Dharma. Thus it is our Dharma that we observed the rules by winch the meeting proceeds smoothly. But this rule is applicable only as long as this meeting lasts. If after the meeting is over, even when you reach home, you continue to observe this rule and do not speak, a different problem will arise. Your family might have to call in a doctor. At home, the rules suitable there will have to be observed. The complete treatise on the rules in general, and their philosophical basis is the meaning of Dharma. These rules cannot be arbitrary. They should be such as to sustain and further existence and progress of the entity which they serve. At the same time they should be in agreement with and supplementary to the larger framework of Dharma of which they form a part. For instance. when we form a registered society, we have the right to frame the rules and regulations, but these cannot be contradictory to the constitution of the society. The constitution itself cannot violate the Societies Registration Act. The act has to be within the provision of the constitution of the country. In other words, the constitution of the country is a fundamental document which governs the formulation of all acts in the country. In Germany the constitution is known as the "Basic Law".
Is the constitution too, not subject to some principles of more fundamental nature? Or is it a product of any arbitrary decisions of the constituent assembly? On serious consideration, it will be clear that even the constitution has to follow certain basic principles of Nature. Constitution is for sustaining the nation. If instead it is instrumental in its deterioration, then it must be pronounced improper. It must be amended. The amendment is also not solely dependent on majority opinion. Now-a-days the majority is much talked of. Is the majority capable of doing anything and everything? Is the action of the majority always just and proper? No. In the West, the king used to be the sovereign. There after when royalty was deprived of its so-called divine rights, sovereignty was proclaimed to be with the people. Here in Our country neither the kings, nor the people, nor the parliament have had absolute sovereignty. Parliament cannot legislate arbitrarily.
It is said about the British parliament that it is sovereign and can do anything. They say that "British Parliament can do everything except making a woman a man and vice versa." But is it possible for the parliament to legislate that every Englishman must walk on his head? It is not possible. Can they pass an act that everyone in England must present himself before the local authority once everyday? They cannot. England has no written constitution. They regard tradition highly. But their traditions too have undergone change. What is the basis for making changes in their traditions? Whichever tradition proved an obstacle in the progress of England, was discarded. Those which were helpful in the progress were consolidated.
The traditions are respected everywhere, just as in England. We have written constitution, but even this written constitutions cannot go contrary to the traditions of this country. In as much as it does go contrary to our traditions, it is not fulfilling Dharma. That constitution which sustains the nation is in tune with Dharma. Dharma sustains the nation. Hence we have always given primary importance to Dharma, which is considered sovereign. All other entities, institutions or authorities derive their power from Dharma and are subordinate to it.
If we examine our constitution from the point of view of the growth of the nation, we find that our constitution needs amendment. We are one nation, one society. That is why we did not entertain any special rights on the basis of language, province, caste, religion, etc. but gave every one equal citizenship. There are separate states. There is no separate citizenship of state and of Union. We are all citizens of Bharat. By the same token, we have denied the right to secede to individual state. Not only that the power to demarcate the boundaries of state and to choose their names, is vested in the parliament, and not in assemblies. This is as it should be; in tune with the nationalism and tradition of Bharat. However, despite all this, we made our constitution federal, whereby what we have adopted in practice, we have rejected in principle. In a federation constituent units have their own sovereignty. These voluntarily relinquish their sovereignty to the federation, by an agreement. It may be that they surrender all their rights and thereby the centre requires sovereignty. But these powers are given to the Union. It has no power of its own. Thus the federal constitution considers the individual states as fundamental power, and the centre as merely a federation of states. This is contrary to the truth. It runs counter to the unity and indivisibility of Bharat. There is no recognition of the idea of Bharatmata, Our sacred motherland, as enshrined in the hearts of our people.
According to the first para of the Constitution, "India that is Bharat will be a federation of States", i.e. Bihar Mata, Banga Mata, Punjab Mata, Kannada Mata, Tamil Mata, all put together make Bharat Mata. This is ridiculous. We have thought of the provinces as limbs of Bharat Mata and not as individual mother. Therefore our constitution should be unitary instead of federal.
A unitary State does not mean concentration of all powers in the Centre; just as the head of the family does not have all the powers with him even though all the transactions are carried out in his name. Others also share the executive power. In our body also, does the soul possess all powers? Thus a unitary State does not mean a highly autocratic centre nor does it entail the elimination of provinces. The provinces will have various executive powers. Even the various entities below the provincial level, such as the Jana Padas, will also have suitable powers. The Panchayats too should have powers. Traditional, the Panchayats had a very important position. No body could dissolve Panchayats. today, however. our constitution does not have any place for these Panchayats. There are no powers to these Panchayats in their own right. They exist at the mercy of the states only as delegated authorities. It is necessary that their powers be considered fundamental. In this way, the decentralization of power will be accomplished. The authority will be distributed to the lowest level, and will be fully decentralized. At the same time, all these entities of power will be centred around the unitary State. This arrangement will embody Dharma.
If we carry this concept of Dharma even further, not only the State and the nation but the nature of the entire mankind will have to be considered. In other words, the constitution of a nation cannot be contrary to the natural law. There are a number of norms of behavior which are not found in any statute book, yet they do exist. At times they are even stronger and more binding than any statutory law. The precept that one should respect one's parents is not written in any law. The present day governments which are turning out variety of laws, day in and day out, have not passed a law to this effect. Still, people respect their parents. Those who do not are criticized. If tomorrow there arises a discussion, even in a court. it will be generally accepted that as long as a person does not attain majority, he should accept his parent's decisions and should respect them.
Thus the fundamental law of human nature us the standard for deciding the propriety of behavior in various situations. We have termed this very law as' Dharma'. The nearest equivalent English term for Dharma can be "Innate law", which, however, does not express the full meaning of Dharma, Since 'Dharma' is supreme, our ideal of the state has been "Dharma Rajya". The king is supposed to protect Dharma. In olden times at the coronation ceremony the king used to recite three times. "There is no authority which can punish me". (Similar claim was made by kings in the western countries. i.e., it was said, "King can do no wrong", and hence there too, nobody could punish the king). Upon this, the Purohit used to strike the king on his back with a staff saying. "No, you are subject to the rule of Dharma. You are not sovereign". The king used to run around the sacred fire and the Purohit would follow him striking him with the Staff. Thus after completing three rounds, the ceremony would came to an end thereby the king was unambiguously told that he was not an unpunishable sovereign. Dharma was above him, that even he was subject to Dharma. Can the people do whatever they please? It may be contended that democracy means just that. The people can do what they please. But in our country, even in people wish, they are not free to act contrary to Dharma. Once a priest was asked: "If the God is omnipotent, can he act contrary to Dharma. If he does, then he is not omnipotent". This was a dilemma. Can God practice Adharma or is lie not omnipotent? Actually God cannot act contrary to Dharma. If he does, then he is not omnipotent. Adharma is a characteristic of weakness, not of strength. If fire instead of emitting heat, dies out it is no longer strong. Strength lies not in unrestrained behavior, but in well regulated action. Therefore God who is omnipotent is also self- regulated and consequently fully in tune with Dharma. God descends in human body to destroy Adharma and re-establish Dharma, not to act on passing whims and fancies. Hence even God can do everything but cannot act contrary to Dharma. But for the risk of being misunderstood, one can say that Dharma is even greater than God. The universe is sustained because he acts according to Dharma. The king was supposed to be a symbol of Vishnu, in as much as he was the chief protector of Dharma Rajya.
Dharma Rajya does not mean a theocratic state. Let us be very clear on this point, Where a particular sect and its prophet or Guru, rule supreme, that is a theocratic state. All the rights are enjoyed by the followers of this particular sect. Others either cannot live in that country or at best enjoy a slave-like, secondary citizen's status. Holy Roman empire had this basis. The same concept was existing behind "Khilafat". The Muslim kings world over used to rule in the name of Khalifa. After the first world war, this came to an end. Now efforts are afoot to revive it. Pakistanis the most recent theocratic state. They call themselves an Islamic State. There, apart from Muslims all the rest are second class citizens. Apart from this difference there is no other sign of Islam in Pakistan's administration. Quran, Masjid, Roja. Id, Namaz etc. are same both in Bharat as well as in Pakistan. There is no need to the state and religion. By such a tie-up, there is no increase in an individual's capacity to worship God. The only result is that the state slips in its duty. This does not happen in a Dharma Rajya. Rather there is freedom to worship according to one's religion. In a theocratic state one religion has all the rights and advantages, and there are direct or indirect restrictions on all other religions. Dharma Rajya accepts the importance of religion in the peace, happiness and progress of an individual. Therefore the state has the responsibility to maintain an atmosphere in which every individual can follow the religion of his choice and live in peace. The freedom has its inherent limits. I have the freedom to swing my hand, but as soon as there is conflict between my hand and someone else's nose, my freedom has to be restricted. I have no freedom to swing my hand so as to hit another person's nose. Where other person's freedom is likely to be encroached upon, my freedom ends. The freedom of both parties has to be ensured. Similarly every religion has the freedom to exist. But this freedom extends only as far as it does riot encroach upon the religion of others. If such encroachment is carries on, it will have to be condemned as misuse of freedom and will have to be ended. Such limitations will be required in all aspects of life. Dharma Rajya ensures religious freedom and is not theocratic state.
Now-a-days the word "secular state" is being uses as opposed to theocratic state. The adoption of this work is mere imitation of the western thought pattern. We had no need to import it. We called it a secular state to contrast it with Pakistan. There is some misunderstanding arising out of this. Religion was equated with Dharma and then secular state was meant to be a state without Dharma. Some said ours is a state (without Dharma ), whereas others trying to find a better sounding word, called it Dharmanikshepa (indifferent to Dharma state). But all these words are fundamentally erroneous. For a state can neither be without Dharma nor can it be indifferent dharma just as fire cannot be without hear. If fire loses heat, it does not remain fire any longer. State which exists fundamentally to maintain Dharma to maintain law and order, can neither be needharma nor Dharmanipeksha. If it is Needharma it will be lawless state, and where there is lawlessness, where is the question of the existence of any state? In other words Dharma and State are self-contradictory. State can only be Dharma Rajya (rule of Dharma) nothing else. Any other definition will conflict with the reason of its very existence.
In a Dharma Rajya, the state is not absolutely powerful. It is subject Dharma. We have always vested sovereignty in Dharma. Presently there has arisen a controversy. Parliament is sovereign or the Supreme Court? Legislature is higher or judiciary? This quarrel is like a quarrel whether left hand is more important or right hand? Both are limbs of the state, the Legislature is well as Judiciary. Both have distinct functions to perform in their individual sphere each is supreme. To consider either one above the other would be mistake. Yet the legislators say, "we are higher", On the other hand members of the Judiciary assert that they have a higher authority, since they interpret the laws which the legislature makes. The Legislature claims to have given powers to the Judiciary. If necessary, legislature can change the constitution. Hence it claims sovereignty. Now since powers are bestowed by constitution, they are talking of amendment to the constitution. But I believe that even if by a majority the constitution is amended, it will be against Dharma. In 'reality' both the Legislature and the Judiciary are on an equal plane. Neither the Legislature is higher nor the Judiciary. Dharma is higher than both. The Legislature will have to act according to Dharma and the Judiciary will have to act according to Dharma. Dharma will specify limits of both. The Legislature, the Judiciary or the people, none of these is supreme, Some will say, "Why ! People are sovereign. They elect", But even the people are not sovereign because people too have no right to act against Dharma. If an elected government allows people to go against Dharma and does not punish. then that government is in reality a government of thieves. Even the general will cannot go against Dharma. Imagine the situation if by some manoeurving, thieves gain a majority in the government and send one of their ranks as an executive ! What will be the duty of the minority if the majority is of thieves and elects a thief to rule. The duty clearly will be to remove the representative elected by the majority.
During the second world war then Hitler attacked France, the French army could not stall the onward march of Nazi troops. The then Prime Minister of France. Marshall Petain decided to surrender. The French public supported the decision, but De Gaulle escaped to London where he declared that he did not accept the surrender. France is independent and will remain so. From London, he formed a Government of France in Exile and eventually liberated France. Now if the majority rule is to be considered supreme, then De Gaulle's action will have to be condemned. He had no right to fight in the name of independence. De Gaulle derived his right from the fact that the French nation was above the majority public opinion. The national Dharma is above all. Independence is Dharma of every nation. To preserve independence, and to strive for regaining it when lost is the duty of every citizens.
Even in our country a majority had not risen against the Britishers; only a few had. Some revolutionaries arose, some brave people arose and fought. Lokmanya declared "Freedom is my Birth right". He did not declare this birthright with the support of a majority or by a referendum from the public. Now a days people advocate that the merger of Goa should be decided by referendum, that there should be plebiscite in Kashmir etc., etc. This is wrong. National unity is our Dharma. Decision concerning this cannot be made by plebiscite. This type of a decision has already been taken by the nature. Elections and majority can decide as to who will form the government. The truth cannot be decided by the majority. What the government will do will be decided by Dharma.
You all know that in the USA where they swear by democracy, at one time Lincoln did not accept wrong public opinion. On the question of the abolition of slavery when the southern states declared their intention to secede. Lincoln stood firm and told them: "You have no right to secede even in a democracy". He fought against this and did not allow them to secede. Nor did he tolerate slavery. He did not show readiness for a compromise whereby there may continue partial slavery to accommodate southern states. He did not accept the principle of meeting halfway. He categorically declared that the system of slavery was against tradition, the Dharma, the principle which were at the basis of American nation. Therefore the system of slavery had to be abolished. When the Southerners decided to secede he told them "You cannot secede". On this point there was a civil war and Lincoln did not compromise with Adharma.
Here in our country the situation in this regard is very much like old Hindu marriages where a married couple could not divorce even if both the parties wished. The principle was that their behavior should be regulated not by their sweet will but by Dharma. The same is case with the nation. If the four million people of Kashmir say that they want to secede, if the people of Goa say they want to secede, some say they want the Portuguese to return, all this is against Dharma. Of the 45 million people of India. even if 449,999,999 opt for something which is against Dharma, even then this does not become truth. On the other hand, even if a person stands for something which is according to Dharma, that constitutes truth because truth resides with Dharma. It is the duty of this one person that he tread the path of truth and change people. It is from this basis that persons drives the right to proceed according to Dharma.
Let us understand very clearly that Dharma is not necessarily with the majority or with the people. Dharma is eternal. Therefore. in the definition of democracy to say that it is a government of the people. It is not enough, it has to be for the good of the people. What constitutes the good of the people. Dharma alone can decide. Therefore, a democratic Government "Jana Rajya" must also be rooted in Dharma i.e. a "Dharma Rajya". In the definition of 'Democracy' viz. "government of the people, by the people and for the people", of stands for independence, 'by' stands for democracy and 'for' Indicates Dharma. Therefore, the true democracy is only where there is freedom as well as Dharma encompasses all these concepts.
24rd April 1965

Yesterday we had discussed the functions of State in a Nation. According to the Bharatiya traditions. a nation is an organic living entity which has come into existence on its own and has not been made up or created by any group of persons. A nation brings forth a variety of institutions to fulfill its needs, as well as to give concrete shape to its inner fundamental nature. The State is one of these institutions which though being an important institution, is not supreme. In our literature where the duties of a king are referred to, his importance is definitely recognized. This is so, perhaps, to make him realize his immense responsibility. He exercised tremendous influence on the lives and character of the people. Hence he had to give due attention to his own behavior. Bhishma has said the same thing, in Mahabharat when he was asked whether circumstances make a king or a king makes the circumstances. He categorically stated that the king shapes the circumstances. Now some persons interpret this to mean that the considered the king above all. But this is not true. He did not suggest that the king was above Dharma. It is true that the king wielded a great deal of influence. and that he was the protector of Dharma in society, but the king could not decide what constitutes Dharma. He only saw to it that people led their lives according to Dharma. In a way he was equivalent to present day executive.
In the present State, the executive has the responsibility to execute the laws properly, but does not enact laws. When the executive does not function with honesty and efficiency, the laws are entirely disregarded, as we see very well around us. We can well say today "Executive is responsible for the present evils to a great extent." After all why has prohibition failed? Who is responsible for the failure?? When those very persons who have been entrusted with the task of implementing prohibition. Start taking monthly allowances from the bootleggers, how is the prohibition policy to succeed? The executive is, therefore, responsible for the proper enforcement of law. This is the meaning of Bhishma's statement. It would be a mistake to interpret it as acceptance of approved supremacy of a monthly allowances from the bootleggers, how is the prohibition policy to succeed? The executive is therefore, responsible for the proper enforcement of law. This is the meaning of Bhisma statement. It would be a mistake to interpret it as acceptance of approved supremacy of a king. If this were so, how was it that the tyrant king Venu was removed by the Rishis and Prithu was enthroned? This action by the Rishis was never condemned by any one in history. On the contrary it was hailed by everyone. When the supremacy of Dharma is accepted as a principle, then, though the authority of Dharma, the Rishis derive a right to remove a king who defaults in his duty. Otherwise, it would have been absolutely illegal to remove a king from his throne. Thus if a King does not act according to Dharma, it becomes the duty of everyone to remove him.
In Western countries, either a King was removed by some other king or people rejected the sovereignty of king altogether. There king was a representative of God and could under no circumstances be removed at least in principle.
In our socio-political set-up, the king and the State were never considered supreme. Not only that, there were other important institutions, (besides the State, which was only one of them) to regulate and to help carry on the social life. Those institutions had been organized both on horizontal and vertical level, i.e. on original and occupation basis. We have evolved Panchayats and Janapada Sabhas. The mightiest of the king did not ever disturb the Panchayats. Similarly there were associations on the basis of trade. These two were never disturbed by the State; on the contrary their autonomy was recognized. They devised their own rules and regulations in their fields. The Panchayats of different communities, shrines, nigams, Village Panchayats, Janapada Sabhas and such other Organization used to set- up regulations. The function of the state was mostly to see that these rules are observed by the persons concerned. The State never interfered with the affairs of these associations. Thus the State was concerned only with some aspects of life of the Society.
Similarly, in the economic field many institutions are created. We have to think what should be the nature of our economic structure. We must have such an economic system which helps in the developments of our humane qualities, or civilization and enables us to attain a still higher level of all round perfection. We should have a system which does not overwhelm our humane quality; which does not make us slaves of its own grinding wheels. According to our concept, man attains God like perfection as a result of development. What structure. what regulation should be specified in our economic system if we wish to achieve this goal? Let us, consider this point.
Economic system must achieve the production of all the basic things essential for the maintenance and development of people as well as the protection and development of the Nation. Having satisfied the basic minimum requirements, the question naturally arises, whether there should be more production for greater property and happiness. The Western societies consider it most essential and even desirable to go on continuously and systematically increasing the desires and needs of man. There is no upper limit in the context. Normally desire precedes the efforts at producing the things desired. But now the position is reverse. People are induced to desire and use the things that have been and are being produced. Instead of producing to meet the demand, the search is on the markets for the goods already produced; if the demand does not exist, systematic efforts are made to create demand. This has become the chief characteristic of the western economic movement. Earlier, production followed the demand, now demand allows the production. Consider the use of tea for example. Tea was produced because people desired and wanted it. But Tea was produced and we were induced to develop taste for tea. Now tea is a common man's drink. It has become a part of our life. Similar is the case of vegetable ghee. Did anyone ever want to use it? It was first produced and then we were taught to use it. If whatever is manufactured is not consumed, there will be depression. Some of us many remember the great depression of 1930-32. There was abundance of goods at that time but there was no demand. Therefore factories had to be closed down. Bankruptcy and unemployment were widespread. Thus now-a-days it is most important that what is being produced must be consumed.
The Editor of "Organiser", an English Weekly, had gone to USA for a visit sometime ago. Upon his return, he related an interested instance.
There is a factory producing "Potato-peelers", a device for peeling potatoes. The production of this factory outstripped the demand for the device. The management of the firm faced the problem of finding some way by which people may be induced to buy more potato peelers. They called a meeting of all the salesmen of the firm. Among the suggestions put forward, one was to make the color of the handle similar to that of potato peel. so that along with the peel. the peeler may also be dumped in the garbage, often by mistake. Thus there may be greater demand. Also, the product was offered in a more attractive packing. Now this economic structure is not merely consumption oriented but is clearly leading to destruction. Throw away the old one and buy a new one! Rather than satisfying the need and demand from people. to create fresh demand has become the aim of modern economics. Supposing that we need not worry about the limited supply of natural resources, there is yet the question of balance in Nature. There is a relationship in different parts of Nature. If from the three sticks standing with mutual support, one is removed, the other two will automatically fall. The present economic system and system of production are fast disturbing this equilibrium of nature. As a result on the one hand new products are manufactured for satisfying ever increasing desires, on the other hand new problem arise every day, threatening the very existence of the entire humanity and civilization.
It is essential, therefore, to use up that portion of the available natural resources which the nature will be able to recoup easily. When the fruits are taken, the fruit tree is not injured: it may even be helpful to the tree. However, in the effort to take a greater harvest from the land chemical fertilizers are used which in a few years time render the land altogether infertile. Lakhs of acres of land lie barren in America due to this factor. How long this dance of destruction can go on ?
The destruction provides for depreciation fund to replace the machines when worn out. Then how can we neglect the depreciation fund for nature. From this point of view, it must be realized that the object of our economic system should be, not extravagant use of available resources, but a well regulated use. The physical objects necessary for a purposeful, happy and progressive life must be obtained. The Almighty has provided as much. It will not be wise, however, to engage into a blind rat-race of consumption and production as if man is created for the sole purpose of consumption. Engine needs coal for its proper working, but it has not been produced merely to consume coal. On the contrary it is only proper always to see that with the minimum coal-consumption, maximum energy is produced. This is the economic view point. Keeping in view the aim of human life, we must endeavor to see how with the minimum of fuel, man proceeds to his goal with the maximum speed. Such a system alone can be called civilization. This system will not think of merely a single aspect of human life but of all its aspects including the ultimate aim. This system will not thrive on the exploitation of nature but will sustain nature and will in turn itself be nourished. Milking rather than exploitation should be our aim. The system should be such that overflow from nature is used to sustain our lives.
If such human angle inspires the economic system than our thinking on the economic question will undergo through transformation. In the Western economics, whether it is capitalist or socialist, value has the most important and central position. All economic theories centre around value. It may be that the analysis of value is very important from the point of view of the economist but, those social philosophers which are based entirely on value are for incomplete, inhuman and to some extent unethical take. For example, the slogan commonly heard now-a-days "one must earn his bread". Normally communists use this slogan but even the capitalists are not fundamentally in disagreement with it. If there is any difference between !hem, it is only as regards who earns and how much. The capitalists consider capital and enterprise as important components of production and hence if they take a major share of profits. they think it is their due. On the other hand, communists believe only labor to be the main factor in production. Therefore they concede major share of production to the laborers. Neither of these ideas is correct. Really speaking. our slogan should be that the one who earns will feed and every person will have enough to eat.. The right to food is a birthright. The ability to earn is a result of education and training. In a society even those who do not earn must have food. The children and the old, the diseased and the invalids, all must be eared for by the society. Even society generally fulfills this responsibility. The social and cultural progress of mankind ties in the readiness to fulfill this responsibility. The economic system must provide for this task. Economics as a science does not account for this responsibility. A man works not merely for bread alone, but also to shoulder this responsibility. Otherwise those who have had their meals would no longer work.
Any economic system must provide for the minimum basic necessities of human life to everyone. Food, clothing and shelter constitute, broadly speaking these basic necessities. Similarly, the society must enable the individual to carry out his obligations to the society by properly educating him. Lastly, in the event of an individual falling a prey to any disease. society must arrange for his treatment and maintenance. If a government provides these minimum requirements, then only it is a rule of Dharma. Otherwise, it is a rule of Adharma. Describing the King Dilip, Kalidas has said in Raghuvansha "Being responsible for the maintenance. protection and education of his subjects, he was their true farther. Others were merely instrumental in giving them their birth". The description of king Bharat after whom our country has been named Bharat, also runs similarly, i.e. "by maintaining and protecting his subjects he was called Bharat." This is his country, Bharat, if in this country maintenance and protection are not guaranteed, then the name Bharat is meaningless.
Education - A Social Responsibility
To educate a child is in the interest of the Society itself. By birth a child is an animal. He becomes a responsible member of the society only by education and culture. To charge fees for something which is in the interest of the society itself a rather odd. If due to the inability to pay the fees, children are left without education, will the society endure the situation for long? We do not charge fee from trees for sowing the seed and caring for the supplying. On the contrary we invest our money and efforts. We know that when the tree grows, we shall reap fruits.
Education is a similar investment. An educated individual will indeed serve the society. On the other hand it will not be surprising if people grow indifferent to the society which leave them to fend for themselves. Before 1947, in all the princely states In India, no fees were charged for education. The highest education was free. In the Gurukulas, even food and lodging were arranged with out any charge. The student used to go to the society for "Bhiksha". No householder would refuse the Bhiksha to the student. In other words, society used to bear the burden of education.
Similarly, it is rather surprising that medical treatment must be paid for. In fact, medical treatment also should be free as it was in this country in the past. Now-a-days one has to pay even to gain entrance to a temple. In Tirupathi, to enter the Balaji temple, there is a charge of 0.25 paise. However, at noon for one hour, there is Dharma Darshan, which means, during that time, no ticket is needed, as if at other times there is Adharma Darshan. The society should guarantee to all members minimum requirements for maintenance and progress of every individual. Now the question arises that if everyone is to be guaranteed the minimum necessities, where will the resources for all this come from?
Guarantee of Work
It is clear that the resources must be produced by our own efforts. Therefore. where a right to a guaranteed minimum is recognized, any individual who does not share in the efforts to produce is a burden to the society. Similarly any system which obstructs the production activity of the people is self destructive. Such a system will not enable the individuals to fulfill their responsibility. Not only that, but even if the requirements of an individual are met, while he does not share in the efforts, his personality will not develop fully, his progress as a human being will be distorted and lop-sided. Man has stomach as well is hands. If he has no work for his hands, he will not get happiness even if he gets food to satisfy his hunger. His progress will be obstructed. Just as a barren woman experiences emptiness in life and consequent dissatisfaction, so does a man without work.
The guarantee of work to every able bodied member of the society, should be the aim of our economic system. Today we witness a very strange situation. On the one hand, a ten-year-old child and seventy-year-old man are toiling and on the other hand youth of twenty five is driven to suicide for want of work. We shall have to remove this mismanagement. God has given hands to every man but by themselves hands have a limited capacity to produce. They need assistance of capital in the form of machines. Labor and capital bear the same relation to each other as that between man and nature. The world is a creation of these two. Neither of them can be neglected.
Capital Formation For capital formation it is essential that a part of production be saved from immediate consumption and be used for further production, in future. Thus capital can be formed only by restraint on consumption. This is the basis of capital formation to which Karl Marx refers to as "surplus value" in his treatise. In the capitalist system the industrialist creates capital with the help of this surplus value. In a socialist system, the state undertakes this task. In both the systems, the entire production is not distributed among the workers. If production is carried on through centralized large-scale industries, the sacrifice on the part of the worker in creating the capital is not given due recognition. The advantage in decentralization is in the fact that the workers has a sense of direct participation in the management of this surplus value or capital. Machine is the most common from of capital. Machine was created in order to reduce the content of physical labor in production and to increase the productivity of the worker. Machine, therefore, is an assistant of the worker and not his competitor. However, where the human labor came to be considered as a commodity to be purchased with money, the machine became the competitor of the human being. The principal drawback of the capitalist view point in the fact that by making the machine a competitor of human labor and thereby displacing and competitor of human labor and thereby displacing and subjecting human being to privations the very purpose of creating machine has been defied. Machine cannot be blamed for this. It is the fault of the economic and social system which cannot distinguish between the object and the instrument. We shall have to take into account the limitations on usefulness of machines and decide on its field of application. From this point of view to import the machinery from Western countries, where shortage of manpower was the guiding factor in the design of machines would be a serious mistake. The merits of machine are, not independent of time and place. Machines are a product of the modern science but not its representatives. Scientific knowledge is not a monopoly of any particular country. But its application has to take into account the particular condition of each country and its requirements. Our machines must not only, by tailored for our specific economic means, but also must, at least, avoid conflict with our socio-political and cultural objectives, if not support them.
Professor Vishvesaraya has said in one of his books, that while considering the system of production one must take into account the seven 'M's. These are man, material, money, management, motive power, market and machine. The skill and ability of the workers or those who should be provided with work must be considered. Easy availability of the required raw material. and the quality and properties of the raw materials available cannot be ignored. We must also think of how much money is available as capital. How this capital can be increased and at what rate? How best it can be utilized for maximum production? How much of it should be put in the fixed assets and how much should be kept in the liquid form? We must also pay attention to the form of power available in the country in addition to the human and animal labor. Wind, water, steam oil, gas, electricity and atomic power can supply the motive power. Of these, which form of power can be obtained in what quantity and without being uneconomic must be thought of while deciding upon our methods of production. In the same way managerial skills are also important and deserve the attention. If the ability to co-ordinate the efforts of a dozen workers is wanting, all of them will remain unemployed. It is also necessary to think of the usefulness of the goods produced to the society. This means that production of any particular commodity cannot be justified economically without the consideration of the market it commands. Taking into consideration all these factors we should design suitable machines. Instead, we find now-a-days that we install the machines first and try to coordinate all other factors afterwards. Other countries of the world did not progress in this fashion. Otherwise new machines would not have been invested. We are importing the machines and hence, we have little knowledge. We shall have to develop a Bharatiya technology.
None of the seven factors is unchangeable. In fact each one keeps constantly changing. Those who are entrusted with the task of planning must think of how the change is directed towards progress, how physical hardship is reduced, and waste of energy is minimized. As an illustration let us take the low productivity of our worker. It can be increased by using machines, and it is necessary to do so. But if the machine is such that requires only a few men to run it, then the rest of the people will be thrown out of employment. If the machine has to be imported from other countries at such a heavy cost that the additional production it causes will be insufficient to make it economic, then such a machine is not suitable to our requirements. Just as to let a part of the installed capacity of a factory remain unutilised is a losing proposition, so also to let the people of this country remain unemployed is a losing proposition. May, this is even worse. Whereas a machine ties up only the capital invested in it in past, the unemployed people have to be fed, which is continuous and unending drain on resources, consumed at double the speed. Therefore instead of the usual exhortation "Every worker must get food", we must think of "Everyone who eats must get work", as the basis of our economy. No doubt charakha has to be replaced by machines but not necessarily automatic machines everywhere. Full employment must be a primary consideration and then the rest of the six factors suit this.
Man's Place In The Economy
The use of manpower and the employment question will have to be thought of in the context of the human being as a whole, as an integral being. The economic theories of the past few centuries and the structure of society based on these theories, have resulted in a thorough devaluation of the human being. His personality is altogether irrelevant to the economic set up. Capitalist economy recognizes only an "economic man", whose all decisions are based entirely on calculations of gain and loss, in terms of material wealth. For this economic man, five rupees are always more than four rupees. He works solely to gain more wealth, and execs to get the maximum gain. For him, just like other commodities, human labor is a commodity to be brought and sold In the market. This is free enterprise. It holds all other restriction and regulations unjust, save the brake of competition. In the race no one is prepared to stop and give a helping land to the weak who is left behind; elimination of the weak is considered just and natural. He is uneconomic, marginal unit, not fit to exist. This is what it advocates. By the elimination of such marginal units, the economic power accumulates in the hands of a few. This is considered normal and natural is capitalist system. But when monopoly is a established, even the check of competition ceases to operates. In such a. situation the incentive resulting from competition is no longer available. Prices are arbitrarily fixed and quality of products deteriorates.
Even as regards the consumer's needs, the capitalist is guided not by the necessities and desires of the consumer. but by his purchasing power. The needs of the wealthy and the well fed are attended to rather than those of the poor and the hungry. As a result where countless varieties of goods are produced for he needs of the wealthy, even the basic necessities of life for the poor become scarce. The centralization and monopolization of reduction totally undermine the influence of the consumer. The markets are so organized that the consumer has to go by standard products. This standardization is on the increase at such a pace that individual preference of the consumer is ignored. Like the books in the library, even human beings are allotted numbers as consumers. The system which boasts of giving highest importance to the individual has ironically destroyed all individuality. Clearly, the capitalist system is incapable of helping the development of an integral human being
Socialist System Is A Reaction Socialism arose as a reason to capitalism. But even socialism failed to establish the importance of the human being. Socialists contented themselves by merely transferring the ownership of capital in the hands of the State. But the State is even more of an impersonal institution. All the business of the State is conducted by rigid rules and regulations. Generally, there is no place for individual discretion and even where such discretion is allowed, the slightest laxity in the sense of duty and social responsibility on the part of the administrators results in corruption and favoritism. The capitalistic system thought merely of the economic man, but left him free in other fields where the could exercise his individuality. The socialist system went much further thinking only of the abstract man. After that, there was no scope for the development of the individual personality based on diverse tastes and abilities. The needs and preferences of individuals have as much importance in the socialist system as in a prison manual. There is no such thing as individual freedom in the socialist system.
State's Claims on Individual
There is no private property in a socialist society. This removes the problems attendants to the institution of private property. However. the incentive for production and conservation of resources and economy in utilization accompany the institution of private property. There has been no alternative arrangement to preserve these. The State is made supreme and sole authority in all matters. Individual citizen is reduced to mere cog in this giant wheel. There is no provisions to inspire the individual to fulfill his role. As Djilas states, the class of old fashioned exploiters has been eliminated, but a new class of bureaucratic exploiter has come into existence. Karl Marx put forward, in his analysis of history, that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction. and that communism is a natural and inevitable successor to capitalism.
This concept may be helpful in fostering faith in the communist about their ultimate victory but certainly such a determinist view destroys the urge for reforms and dynamism in man. He is no longer the creator of a new order; he is merely incidental to a predetermined historic process. His task is only to accelerate the process. Therefore, even as he tries to organize workers, he cares little for their welfare, but uses them as mere tools for the revolution. The dialectic materialism of Marx, too, operates only so long as state is note established as supreme after destroying the capitalists. Thereafter, the state puts a stop to the operation of the principle of dialectic materialism. In the name of crushing and counter revolutionaries, the state becomes more and more totalitarian. The day when the state is to wither away yielding place to a stateless society remains a mere dream. In fact according to the Marxist view, to obstruct the process of these antithesis, is itself reactionary. Marx is thus falsified by his own standards.
Both these systems, capitalist as well as communist, have failed to take account of the Integral Man, his true and complete personality and his aspirations. One considers him a mere selfish being lingering after money, having only one law, the law of fierce competition, in essence the law of the jungle; whereas the other has viewed him as a feeble lifeless cog in the whole scheme of things, regulated by rigid rules, and incapable of any good unless directed. The centralization of power, economic and political, is implied in both. Both, therefore, result in dehumanization of man.
Man. the highest creation of God. is losing his own identity. We must re-establish him in his rightful position, being him the realization of his greatness, reawaken his abilities and encourage him to exert for attaining divine heights of his latest personality. This is possible only through a decentralized economy.
We want neither capitalism nor socialism. We aim at the progress and happiness of "Man", the Integral Man.
The protagonists of the two systems fight with 'Man' on the state. Both of them do not understand man, nor do they care for his interests.
Our Economic System
The Objectives of our Economy should be
1.
An assurance of minimum standard of living to every individual and preparedness for the defense of the nation.
2.
Further increase above this minimum standard of living whereby the individual and the nation acquires the means to contribute to the world progress on the basis of its own 'Chiti'.
3.
To provide meanings employment to every able bodies citizens by which the above two objectives can be realized and to avoid waste and extravagance in utilizing natural resources.
4.
To develop suitable machines for Bharatiya conditions (Bharatiya Technology) taking note of the availability and nature of the various factors of production (Seven 'M's).
5.
This system must help and not disregard the human being, the individual. It must protect the cultural and other values of life. This is requirement which cannot be violated except at a risk of great peril.
6.
The ownership, state, private or any other form of various industries must be decided on a pragmatic and practical basis. These are a few general directions which we must bear in mind while developing our economy. "Swadeshi" and "Decentralization" are the two words which can briefly summarize the economic policy suitable for the present circumstances. Centralization and monopolization have been the order of the day for all these years, knowingly or unknowingly. The planners have become prisoners of a belief that only large-scale centralized industry is economic and hence without worrying about its ill-effects, or knowingly but helplessly, they have continued in that direction. The same has been the fate of "Swadeshi". The concept of "Swadeshi" is ridiculed as old fashioned and reactionary. We proudly use foreign articles. We have grown over independent upon foreign aid in everything from thinking, management, capital, methods of production, technology, etc. to even the standards and forms of consumption. This is not the road to progress and development. We shall forget our individuality and become virtual slaves once again. The positive content of "Swadeshi" should be used as the cornerstone of reconstruction of our economy.
For want of time, I have not touched the natural aspects of economic structure. But one thing is clear that many old institutions will yield place to new ones. This will adversely affect those who have vested interests in the old institutions. Some others who are by nature averse to change will also suffer by efforts of reconstruction. But disease must be treated with medicine. Strength can be gained only from exercise and hard work. Therefore, we still have to discard the status-quo mentality and usher in a new era. Indeed our efforts at reconstruction need not be clouded by prejudice or disregard for all that is inherited from our past. On the other hand, there is no need to cling to past institutions and traditions which have outlived their utility. We have considered what the direction of change should be.
We have in the last four days thought over the integrated from of Humanism. On the basis we shall be able to reconcile nationalism, democracy, socialism and world peace with the traditional values of Bharatiya Culture and think of all these ideals in an integrated form. The mutual conflict among these ideals can be removed and they can supplement mutually. Thereby the "Man can gain his lost status and attain the aims of his life".
We have here discussed the philosophy. But the members of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh are not mere philosophers or academicians. We have set out with the determination to make this nation strong, happy and prosperous through the medium of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Therefore, we must carry on practical programs for the nationalist reconstruction on this foundation. We have taken due note of our ancient culture. But we are no archeologists. We have to intention of becoming the custodians of a vast archeological museum. Our goal is not merely to protect the culture but to revitalize it so as to make it dynamic and in tune with the times. We must ensure that our nation stands firm on this foundation and our society is enabled to live a healthy, progressive and purposeful life. We shall have to end a number of traditions and set in reforms which are helpful in the development of values and of national unity in our society. We shall remove those traditions which obstruct this process. Whereas one need not mourn the limitations of the human body, one must undergo the required social operation if any part of the body has cancerous growth. There is no need to to amputee healthy limbs. If today, the society is gripped with evils like untouchability which lead men to treat other human beings as lower than themselves and thereby threaten the national unity, we shall have to end s such evils.
We shall be required to produce such institutions as will kindle the spirit of action in us, which will replace the self-centredness and selfishness by a desire to serve the nation, which will produce not only sympathy towards our brethren, but a sense of affection and oneness with them. Such institutions can truly reflect our 'Chiti'.
'Chiti' is a nation's soul. The strength and energy activating the nation is called "Virat" and channeled by 'Chiti'. The place of 'Virat" in the life of nation is similar to that of Prana in the body. Just as 'Prana' infuses strength in various organs of the body, refreshed the intellect and keeps body and soul together; so also in a nation, with a strong 'Virat' alone can democracy succeed and the government be effective. Then the diversity of our nation does not prove an obstacle to our national unity. The difference of languages. occupations, etc. are present everywhere. However, when the 'Virat' is awake, diversity does not lead to conflicts and people co-operates with each other like the various limbs of the human body or like the members of a family.
We have to Undertake the task of awakening our nation's 'Virat'. Let us go forward in this task with a sense of pride for our heritage, with a realistic assessment of the present and a great ambition for the future. We wish neither to make this country a shadow of some distant past nor an imitation of Russia or America.
With the support of Universal knowledge and our heritage, we shall create a Bharat which will excel all its past glories, and will enable every citizen in its fold to steadily progress in the development of his manifold latent possibilities and to achieve through a sense of unity with the entire creation, a state even higher than that of a complete human being; to become Narayan from 'Nar'. This is the external divine from of our culture. This is our message to humanity to cross roads. May God give us strength to succeed in this task.
! BHARAT MATA KI JAI !
25th April 1965
:-By Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya

Disciplinary Committee

2008-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

Disciplinary Committee

1.
Shri Ram Naik
President
2.
Shri Indra Moni Bora
Member
3.
Smt. Mridula Sinha
Member
4.
Shri O. Rajagopal
Member
5.
Shri Ram Nath Kovind
Member

Parliamentary Board and Central Election Committee

2008-02-19T06:02:00.000-08:00

Parliamentary Board

1.
Shri Rajnath Singh
President
2.
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

3.
Shri L.K. Advani

4.
Shri Jaswant Singh

5.
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi

6.
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu

7.
Smt. Sushma Swaraj

8.
Shri Arun Jaitley
Secretary
9.
Prof. Balasaheb Apte

10.
Shri Ananth Kumar

11.
Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot

Central Election Committee
1.
Shri Rajnath Singh
President
2.
Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

3.
Shri L.K. Advani

4.
Shri Jaswant Singh

5.
Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi

6.
Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu

7.
Smt. Sushma Swaraj

8.
Shri Arun Jaitley

9.
Prof. Balasaheb Apte

10.
Shri Ananth Kumar
Secretary
11.
Shri Thawar Chand Gehlot

12.
Shri Kalyan Singh

13.
Shri Gopinath Munde

14.
Shri Jual Oram

15
Shri Vinay Katiyar

16.
Shri Om Mathur

17.
Prof. Vijay Kumar Malhotra

18.
Shri Sayed Shahnawaz Hussain

19.
Shri Ram Lal

Cells Name Address and Telephone Numbers

2008-02-19T06:01:00.001-08:00

Cells Name Address and Telephone Numbers
1
Aajiwan Sahyog Nidhi
Shri Mange Ram Garg
011-27464492
Convenor,
9310054238
Aajiwan Sahyog Nidhi
9811154238
B-1/64, Ashok Vihar Phase-II
New Delhi-110052
Shri Padmanabha Acharya
022-6390228
Co- Convenor,
022-6366224
Aajiwan Sahyog Nidhi
9833278210
‘Shiv Parvati’, 101 1st Floor,
Vallabhai Patel Nagar,
Near Versova Tel. Exchange
Andheri (W), Mumbai-53
Shri Ajay Maroo
011-23357408
Co- Convenor,
Fax: 011-23320806
Aajiwan Sahyog Nidhi
9811650500
703, Brahamputra Apartments,
Dr. B.D. Marg,
New Delhi-110001
2
Chartered Accountants
Shri Gopal Agarwal
011-23358677/78
Convenor
9810019753
Chartered Accountants Cell
104, Arunachal
19, Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110001
3
Commerce Cell
Shri Arun Jain
011-23271169
Convenor,
20050452 (M)
Commerce Cell

4378/4-B, Prakash Bhawan, Darya Ganj,
Ansari Road,
New Delhi-110002
Shri Dinesh Gupta
9811093656
Co-Convenor,
011-233516326/27
Commerce Cell
38, Ranijhansi Road,
New Delhi-110055
Shri Anup Agarwal
9820069525
Co-Convenor,
22852736
Commerce Cell
55, Amita 11th Floor,
Gen. Bhosale Marg,
Opp. Y.V. Chauvhan Centre
Nariman Point, Mumbai-400021
Shri M.M. Chakravarthi
9444046715
Co-Convenor,
Commerce Cell
1, Kathetrel Road,
Chennai-86
4
Constructive Work & NGO Cell
Shri Chetan Kashyap
9818840123
Convenor
Constructive Work & NGO Cell
B-501, Gauri Sadan,
5, Hailey Road,
New Delhi
Shri Prashant Kumar Arora
9999979409
Co-Convenor
Constructive Work & NGO Cell
7, Vidhan Sabha Marg
(BJP Office)
Lucknow
Shri Sudhir Aggarwal
011-22047379
Co-Convenor
011-23812344
Constructive Work & NGO Cell
101/32-B, Sri Ganesh Complex
Veer Savarkar Block,
9811092050
Shakarpur,
Delhi-110092
E-mail : sudhirkunal@yahoo.com
5
Co-operative Cell
Shri Haribhau Bagade
0240-2331130
Convenor
0240-2362220
Co-operative Cell
Fax: 2362221
Kirshiyog, Guru Govind Singh Pura
Aurgngabad-431005

Shri Dhananjay Kumar Singh
9450871280
Co-Convenor
Co-operative Cell
S-52/82, Sahkari Bhawan,
Nadesar,
Varansi-221002 (UP)
Shri Bhavarsingh Shekhawat
9425053100
Co-Convenor
Co-operative Cell
E-36, HIG, Neelgiri
Indore (Madhya Pradesh)
6
Cow & Development Cell
Shri Radheyshyam Gupta
0522-2763885
Convenor
9415062474
Cow & Development Cell
C-54, Sector-J, Aliganj,
Lucknow-226024 (UP)
Shri Jaiprakash Garg
011-27308356
Co-Convenor
9968413097
Cow & Development Cell
11-B, DDA Flats
Ashok Vihar Phase-III
Delhi-110052
7
Cultural Cell
Shri D.P. Sinha
Convenor
95120-3254013
Cultural Cell
3954013
B-255, Sector-26,
011-23073761
Noida-201301(UP)
9891510230
Shri Gajendra Chauhan
022-26744795 (R)
Co-Convenor
Cultural Cell
022-26390373(O)
A-2, Evertop, Sahakar Nagar,
9820063678
J.P. Road
Andheri (W), Mumbai-400 053
Shri Sai Kumar
9391012336 (M)
Co-Convenor,
Cultural Cell
C/o Raviteja Enterprises,
Devrajan Bus Terminal
Kantirava Studio Road,
Yashwatpura,
Bangalore-560022
Shri Gajender Solanki
9868236823
Co-Convenor,
9811137873
Cultural Cell
29, 1st Floor, D.D.A. Market,
V.P. Block, Maurya Enclave
Pitampura,
Delhi
8
Defence Cell
Lt. Gen. N.S. Malik (Retd.)
95120-2431234
Convenor,
95120-4313232
Defence Cell,
9313746000
1382, Sector-37,
Arun Vihar, Noida-201303 (UP)
E-mail: gen_malikeairtelbroadband. in
Capt. Vijay Vir
Co-Convenor,
Defence Cell,
9 .
Doctor Cell
Dr. S.S. Agarwal
0141-2575215-R
Convenor
0141-2573935-O
Doctor Cell
0141-2576205-Fax
Swasthya Kalyan,
9414071676
5449, K.G.B. Ka Rasta
Johari Bazar,
Jaipur -302003
Email- Swasthya_jp1@sanchar.net.in
Dr.Rajni Sarin
05692-225464/224950-R
Co- Convenor
05692-225611-O
Doctor Cell
9415147376
8-D08, New Friends Colony,
New Delhi
945147377
Email- drrajnisarin@hotmail.com
Dr. N.S. Tyagi
0122-2310432 (R)
Co- Convenor
0122-2337212 (clinic)
Doctors Cell,
09412219437 (M)
169, Shrinagar Rly. Road, Hapur
0122-2318111 (F)
Distt. Ghaziabad-245101 (UP)
10
Economic Cell
Dr. Jagdish Shettigar
9868225595
Convenor
011-26514118
Economic Cell
K-26/B, Saket,
New Delhi-110062
11
Election Cell
Shri R. Ramakrishna, IAS (Retd.)
Convenor
011-295345130
Election Cell
9899338889
90, Anupam Apartments
M.B. Road, New Delhi-110068
Shri R.B. Sharma
95120-2573952
Co- Convenor
Election Cell
1177/37,
NOIDA-201303
12
Ex-Servicemen's Cell
Brig. B.D. Mishra (Retd.)
95120-2430646
Convenor,
-2430939
Ex-Servicemen's Cell
9810210074
414, Sector-37,
Noida-201303 (UP)
13
External Affairs Cell
Shri S.K. Arora, IFS
95120-4334230
Convenor,
0 9810014695
External Affairs Cell

House No.13, Sector-15-A
Noida-201301 (UP)
14
Fishermen's Cell
Shri Pon Radhakrishnan,
9443144684
Convenor
Fishermen's Cell
257, Sagotharer St.
Ramavaram Puram, Nagarcoil ,
Kanyakumari-629001
Col. N.P. Shanmukham (Retd.)
0495-2355228
Co-Convenor
9387513054
Fishermen's Cell,
No. 10, Field view Colony,
P.O. Chevayur
Calicut-673017 Kerala
15
I.T. Cell
Shri Prodyut Bora
9868544477
Convenor
0124-4272366
I.T. Cell
W-158, Regency Park-II
D.L.F. Phase-IV,
Gurgaon
16
Intellectual Cell
Shri Amitabh Sinha
011-22713258
Convenor
9810167180
Intellectual Cell
A-2/604, Glaxo Apartments,
Mayur Vihar Phase-1
Delhi-110091
17
Investor's Cell
Shri Arun Singh,
011-22718999
Convenor
9899297198
Investors Cell
A-57, Parvana Apartments
Mayur Vihar Phase-I
Delhi-91
Shri Arun Singh
9450322578
Convenor
Investors Cell
Village- Baidha
Post. Pipra
Dist. Mirzapur (UP)
18
Labour Cell
Shri Rudranarayana Pani,
9868181122
Convenor
011-23092455
Labour Cell
138, North Avenue,
New Delhi
Shri K. Satyanarana, Ex-MLA
9849310151
Co-Convenor
080-23440382
Labour Cell
House No. S-269
Patancheru-502319
Karnataka
19
Legal & Legislative Cell
Ms. Pinky Anand
9810046775
Convenor
41640960
Legal & Legislative Cell
Fax: 41740656
A-126, Niti Bagh,
New Delhi-110049
E-mail: pinkyanand@gmail.com
Shri Ramachandra Rao
040-2700 3364
Co-Convenor
098480 42564
Legal & Legislative Cell
12-13-336/1, Street No. 12, Lane No.-6
House NO.10, Behind Sandhi College,
Tarnaka,
Secunderabad-500 017
20
Literature & Publication Cell
Shri Ambhacharan Vashistha
9873884844
Convenor
Literature & Publication Cell
11-A, Ashok Road,
New Delhi-110001
21
Media Cell
Shri Nalin S. Kohli
011-29218304
Convenor
9811043492
Media Cell
S-18, Greater Kailash Part-II
New Delhi-110048
Shri Srikant Sharma
9868182066
Co-Convenor
Media Cell,
D-113, East of Kailash,
New Delhi
Shri Balasubramanyam Kamarsu

Co-Convenor
9899331113
Media Cell, BJP
11, Ashok Road, New Delhi-110001
Shri Sanjay Mayukh
9431025809
Co-Convenor
Media Cell,
11-A, Ashok Road,
New Delhi-110001
22
Overseas Friends of BJP
Shri Kedar Nath Sahani
011-65427165
Convenor
Overseas Friends of BJP
G-12, N.D.S.E. Part-2
New Delhi-110049
Shri Vijay Jolly, MLA
011-29534455 (R)
Co-Convenor
011-2953-4747(O)
Overseas Friends of BJP
9810100325
C/o East-West Export
Fax: 011-2953-5454
Corporation

Khasra No.322, Neb Sarai,
Near IGNOU,
New Delhi-110068
Email: ewec@del.3.vsnl.net.in
23
Panchayat Raj Cell
Shri Mohan Singh Rawat Gaonwasi
Convenor
9412004622
Panchayat Raj Cell
01368-222589
Jhalimali Devi Ashram,
Kiyunkaleshwar, Pauri
Pauri Garhwal, Uttaranchal
Shri Bharat Gazipara
0285-2634997/2622772
Co-Convenor,
9426205997
Panchayat Raj Cell
Sanskrit BIS S.T. Depot
2, Shrinath Nagar
Junagarh-362 001
Shri M. Dharamarao
9866011550
Co-Convenor,
Panchayat Raj Cell
2-4-549, Hastinapur Colony,
Hanumkonda-506001 (Andhra Pradesh)
Shri Vinay Kumar Ruhela
9312180478
Co- Convenor
9935317204
Panchayat Raj Cell
Mohalla Gujran Ambetaper
Saharanpur (U.P.)
24
Pashupalak Cell
Shri Prakash Shendge, MLC
022-24924267
Convenor
011-24943450
Pashupalak Cell
9821324652
803, Godavari Building,
9821424242
Sarpochakhanwala Road,
Worli, C- Phase,
Mumbai-400025
Shri Satish Pal,
9451016565
Co-Convenor
094150 50257
Pashupalak Cell
0512-2200150
30-D/5, Subzi Mandi
Chedi Ka Poorva, Barara,
Kanpur (UP)
25
Sahyog Cell
Shri Ashwini Kumar, Ex-MP
011-23720331
Convenor,
9899107291
Sahyog Cell
302, V.P. House, Rafi Marg ,
New Delhi-110001
26
Slum Dwellers Cell
Shri Arun Deo
9820707223
Convenor
Slum Dwellers Cell
138, Geeta Estate, J.P. Road,
Andheri West,
Mumbai-58
27
Sports Cell
Shri Kirti Azad
011-23073234
Convenor
Sports Cell,
25, Caning Lane,
New Delhi
28
Trade & Industries Cell
Shri Gautam Morarka
011-26858774
Convenor
981071111
Trade & Industries Cell
B-104, Gulmohar Park,
New Delhi-110049
Shri Vijay Bansal
9811082305
Co-Convenor
9412091144
Trade & Industries Cell
C-2/4, Prashant Vihar
011-27557744
Rohini
011-27555544
Delhi-110085
Dr. C.P. Radhakrishan,
044-28235959
Co-Convenor
9412091144
Trade & Industries Cell
6, Nawab Habibulla Avenue,
Fax: 044-28236061
1st Street, Nungambakkam,
Chennai-600 035
Shri Arun Gupta
9831029120
Co-Convenor
033-22132525
Trade & Industries Cell
Fax: 033-22132444
2, Ganesh Chandra Avenue,
9871929120
Commerce House,
033-24024020
7th Floor Room 3-A,
Kolkata-700013
29
Traders Cell
Shri Shyambihari Mishra
0512-2521221
Convenor
9415431364
Traders Cell
9958028035
87/349, Acharya Nagar,
0512-2529010-Fax
Kanpur,
Uttar Pradesh
30
Urban Local Bodies Cell
Shri Uma Shankar Gupta
0755-2431011
Convenor
9425004811
Urban Local Bodies Cell
E-22, 45, Bungalow,
Bhopal-462003
Shri Ashok Parmani
Co-Convenor
Urban Local Bodies Cell
Mayor Jaipur
Rajasthan
31
Weavers Cell
Shri Vannala Shriramlu
9866283546
Convenor
Weavers Cell
1-7-1209, Advocates Colony
Hanamkonda,
Dist. Warangal
Andhra Pradesh
32
Workers Training Cell
Shri Vinay Sahastrabuddhe
022-25835659
Convenor
022–25837997
Workers Training Cell
-24136966(R)
Flat No. 103, Surbhi Aprtements,
022-24852305 (F)
Green Road, Above Parsik Bank,
Louis Wadi Thane West
Mumbai-400604
E-mail: vinayana@60m5.vsnl.net.in
Shri Rampyare Pandey,
9871253434
Co-Convenor
Workers Training Cell
11-A, Ashok Road,
New Delhi-110001

Morcha Prabharies

2008-02-19T05:59:00.000-08:00

Mahila Morcha
Smt. Sumitra Mahajan
2
Kisan Morcha
Shri Indrasen Reddy
3
S.C. Morcha
Shri Kailash Meghwal
4
S.T. Morcha
Shri Devdas Apte (Bapu)
5
Minority Morcha
Smt. Najma Heptullah