Advaniji at Rediff Chat

Selective Excerpts from Shri Advaniji's today's answers at Rediff Chat that started at 11 AM, IST, are posted here below; with special thanks to Rediff.com.

byebyecongress asked, What is BJP policies to stop terrorism?

L K Advani answered, Byebyecongress,during the six years the NDA was in office, the security agencies including the IB, used to carry on a continuous campaign locating the terrorist module set up by the ISI in the country and smashing them. Most of our advance information about impending terrorist attacks used to be gathered from these raids. There were terrorist attacks, nevertheless, during those years, the more prominent being the attack on Parliament, the attack on Akshardham. In both cases, the terrorists were eliminated and those who plotted the conspiracies apprehended, and punished by courts of law. It is sad that the mastermind behind the attack on Indian Parliament who has been sentenced to death by the trial court, the appellate court and even the Supreme Court, has not been punished despite the lapse of so many years. I am pointing this out only to emphasise that terrorism can be fought only if both government as well as society have an attitude of zero tolerance towards this scourge. At this point I may even emphasise that for the Al Qaeda fundamentalists and outfits that Al Qaeda has created the world over, the most hated enemy is the United States. Why is it that after 9/11, there has not been even a small incident there? I believe that both the government as well as society there have an attitude of zero tolerance. The world over, it has been recognised that the ordinary laws created against crime are inadequate to confront this new menace that is terrorism and so the UN Security Council advised all countries of the world to enact special laws for this. I cannot forget that when the NDA government moved the Prevention of Terrorism Bill, we were able to pass it in the Lok Sabha but the Congress party and its allies who are today in the UPA had a majority in the Rajya Sabha and they defeated it. A provision of the Indian Constitution rarely used had to be invoked, a joint session of Parliament convened and POTA passed. Not only that, but one of the major planks projected by the Congress in the 2004 elections was the promise that if they came to power, the law against terrorism would be scrapped. Only in 2008, almost at the end of its tenure and that too after the horrendous Mumbai incidents, did the Congress party make a total U-turn and said that terrorism cannot be fought by the ordinary laws, special laws are needed, one of them being a special Central agency and the other being an amendment of the Unlawful Activities Act. For five years their adamant stand was that the present laws are adequate. I feel that even the laws now passed do not fully meet the situation. I pointed this out and they said that we will once again reconsider it when Parliament meets in February. On the whole there is no clarity, no consistency, and no real resolve to overcome terrorism.

L K Advani said, Vilas81, If I can attribute one single factor responsible for converting India's single-dominant polity into a bi-polar polity and making Congress and BJP the two principle poles of Indian polity, it is our success in our campaign against pseudo-secularism. For the first four decades of Independence, the debate between the Congress and BJP was perceived by the people as a debate between secularism and communalism. We changed the nature of this debate and transformed it into genuine secularism versus pseudo-secularism emphasising thereby that secularism was adopted by the Constituent Assembly without any dissent because that is part of India's tradition and history which rejects theocracy. So far as UP is concerned, with 80 Lok Sabha seats it is very important in our plans for the Lok Sabha and both the BSP and the SP, our principal rivals in that state, have by their performance in government earned immense displeasure for themselves. We are confident that in the Lok Sabha elections the party would perform very well.

L K Advani said, Sheena,I believe that a person's mental and psychological health has a lot to do with his/her physical health. As I have often said, my satisfaction in life and happiness in life is because of my personal family, as also my ideological family by which I mean the BJP and the RSS. Also, I am a small eater, some friends attribute my physical health to this fact. Jokingly a doctor who met me a couple of months back said to me that he had a thesis in respect of food. When God creates man he lays down the total amount of food he will consume in his lifetime, it depends entirely on him whether he takes 50 years to consume it or 70 years.

L K Advani said, 1000, My appeal of all sections of the people is, think and act as proud Indians. Those who are decision-makers in various fora, should also do likewise and not be influenced by considerations of caste or creed.

L K Advani said, Vijesh, I think that politicians as a class are no better or worse than any other section of society. And to dump them as being selfish etc not fair. Though the perception of the people about politicians as a class is not complimentary, because they are always in the limelight and their shortcomings are talked about much more than the shortcomings of other sections.

L K Advani said, KAYKAY, In 1997 India completed 50 years of its independence. I undertook a 59-day rath yatra to emphasise that Indian backwardness even after five decades of independence is due to the fact that we got swaraj but we could not convert it into su-raaj, good governance. In the UN human development index India ranks 128th. Its our resolve to see that by ensuring good governance, development and security, both at the Centre and in the states, within the next two decades India's human development index enables it to reach the top 10.

L K Advani said, skmagic, For the strongest democratic country of the world Obama becoming the president has been hailed as a historic event only because it is the first time that a black person has become the head of state. I remember that within the first few years of India's independence, Dr Zakir Hussein became the president of India and no one expressed any surprise over it, even though thi is the hard reality that India became independent in 1947 and that independence was accompanied by partition of undivided India on the basis of which part had a Hindu majority and which part had a Muslim majority. The basis of partition was the two-nation theory, or two religions. I believe that this has happened because of the culture of the country embodied as I said earlier in the views of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.

L K Advani said, AKAA, The problem in Kashmir has its origin in an act of aggression by our neighbour Pakistan. This fact should never be forgotten. No wonder the Indian Parliament has passed a unanimous resolution saying that the portion of Kashmir in Pakistan's occupation is part of India and any solution of the Kashmir issue should never disregard this fact. At the same time I am conscious of the fact that problems which remain unresolved for decades tend to become more and more irresolvable. When Gen Musharraf had come to Agra we had tried to impress on him that the issue of Kashmir cannot be solved either by war or by a proxy war through terrorism. We are willing to discuss the issue as part of a composite dialogue in which all issues would be discussed. But let no one justify terrorism in the name of Kashmir.

L K Advani said, vks, One of the most consistent features of our activities throughout the six decades we have been functioning, first as Jana Sangh and later as BJP, has been our consistent campaign against votebank politics and these votebanks are comprised either of community or of caste. And even though some of our adversaries on that account tried to defeat the BJP as being anti-so and so, anti-a particular a community or caste, we have by our achievements tried to negate all that they have said and done. It is not a minor achievement for a party which had been reduced 25 years back, to a humiliating number of just 2 in the Lok Sabha, in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections, to have become the largest party in the Lok Sabha by 1996 or within the next 12 years. And it continues to be one of the two principal parties in Parliament.

L K Advani said, Rajan., In my interaction with youth during the last year I have again and again been stressing that while there was a time when India's growing population was viewed as a great liability for the country, demographers all over the world, when they find how large is the youth segment in India, they identify India's youth as one of the country's great strengths. It is therefore that the youth wing my party has undertaken a special campaign to ensure that every young boy or girl who has crossed the age of 18 invariably becomes a voter. Special programmes to honour and applaud first-time voters have been organised at several places. It is estimated that in this coming election, there may be 10 crore first-time voters. There are countries in the world like Australia, Italy where voting is compulsory and an elector who fails to vote has to pay a fine. In my proposals for electoral reforms, I have often suggested that this may be seriously considered. But meanwhile, my party units have been advised to carry on a sustained campaign to make the youth realise that strength of a democracy lies in the numbers of citizens who actively participate in the democratic process and so, even though there may be no law mandating that everyone polls, the youth should not consider voting only as a right but a duty as well.

L K Advani said, ANANDRK, In the field of economy we feel agriculture has been neglected. It is a shame that in the last few years tens of thousands of farmers have committed suicide. We believe that not only economy in general, but the country's future depends very much on how much we are able to do for the countryside both in respect of infrastructure as well as employment. The country has been exerting a lot for the spread of literacy and education. During our regime between 1998 and 2004 we launched the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. What is needed now is to extend the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan which covers only literary, to make every citizen in the country, particularly in the countryside, IT-literate. This would radically change the countryside and give the overall economy also a great boost.

L K Advani said, Hemanand, I feel very sad when reports of the Transparency International I find India at a very low point. And therefore it gave me great satisfaction that the NDA government under Vajpayee functioned for six years in a transparently honest manner and there were no allegations made against the government. Then again, what has been achieved in Gujarat under the leadership of Narendra Modi has made this state a model for all others in the country as a corruption-free state. I believe that this would be one of the principal objectives a new NDA government at the Centre would have in mind. The example of people at the helm of affairs, the necessary systemic changes that have to be made, and the setting up of the Lok Pal and Lok Ayukt would be steps taken very early during an NDA regime.

L K Advani said, RNV Jain, your expectation is very right, and you have only to contrast the functioning of the NDA government with that of the UPA government, the functioning of several state governments of ours like those of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Orissa etc with the few Congress-led governments in the country today, and you will see how we have tried to make not only our party but even the governments run by our party different from those of the Congress. Today, one of the major problems before the people has been power. And you have power-cuts in most of the states in the country, and yet the BJP-run states like Gujarat have not only moved rapidly towards eliminating all power-cuts but in Gujarat have guaranteed that every single village is provided electricity round the clock. Numerous developmental schemes and public welfare schemes have been implemented successfully in the NDA-run states, with the result that many foreign investors have been flockin to these states.

PRASHANT asked, WHAT PLANNING @ WAR WITH PAKISTAN ?

L K Advani answered, Prashant, security has naturally to be any nation's first concern. And a sovereign nation has every right to decide on the course of action it needs to take to safeguard itself. What action precisely to take, is a matter in which only a government which is fully posted about all the necessay parameters within which action can be taken, can decide.

tapabrata asked, What are your four priorites if you become prime minister?

L K Advani answered, Tapabrata, I recall the days I was deputy prime minister in Vajpayee's government, which gave thec ountry an excellent leadership between 1998 and 2004. Those were days when the country was beamning with confidence. The world had come to respect India and the general talk began that India would become a great power by the middle of the 21st century. Unfortunately, after the change in government in 2004, the mood has been becoming more and more desperate and these days as 2009 began, there have been more and more magazines with captions like 2008 has been the worst year in Independent India. The first task before an NDA government, if it is voted to power, would be to dispel the gloom and re-create the general climate of optimism and hope that obtained in the six years of Vajpayee's rule. Presently, one of our groups is working on what precise steps need to be taken in the first 100 days to bring about this transformation.

AK asked, Hello Advani Ji, Don't you think India needs a Younger PM at this time when there is a need to understand Global Situation and who can think of a Modern India.

L K Advani answered, AK, The question you have asked, I think the important part of it is that you need to understand the global situation, and who can think of a modern India. These are the two essential attributes you rightly think are necessary to lead the country. I can humbly claim that it is possible for me to do so.

Relevants of importance,

Shri L K Advani on the Rediff Chat:

'Our approach will be if they come, with them, if they do not, without them, if they oppose us, in spite of them'

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From The Oldest To The Largest::A Historic Address::Obama Thrusts on HOPE over Fear

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'Time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit'

Text of Obama's speech for his inauguration as 44th president

My fellow citizens,

I stand here today humbled by the task before us, grateful for the trust you have bestowed, mindful of the sacrifices borne by our ancestors. I thank President Bush for his service to our nation, as well as the generosity and cooperation he has shown throughout this transition.

Forty-four Americans have now taken the presidential oath. The words have been spoken during rising tides of prosperity and the still waters of peace. Yet, every so often the oath is taken amidst gathering clouds and raging storms. At these moments, America has carried on not simply because of the skill or vision of those in high office, but because We the People have remained faithful to the ideals of our forbearers, and true to our founding documents.

So it has been. So it must be with this generation of Americans.

That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood. Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred. Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered. Our health care is too costly; our schools fail too many; and each day brings further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet.

These are the indicators of crisis, subject to data and statistics. Less measurable but no less profound is a sapping of confidence across our land — a nagging fear that America's decline is inevitable, and that the next generation must lower its sights.

Today I say to you that the challenges we face are real. They are serious and they are many. They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America — they will be met.

On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.

On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted — for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things — some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom.

For us, they packed up their few worldly possessions and traveled across oceans in search of a new life.

For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth.

For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.

Time and again these men and women struggled and sacrificed and worked till their hands were raw so that we might live a better life. They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions; greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction.

This is the journey we continue today. We remain the most prosperous, powerful nation on Earth. Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions — that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Now, there are some who question the scale of our ambitions — who suggest that our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. For they have forgotten what this country has already done; what free men and women can achieve when imagination is joined to common purpose, and necessity to courage.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them— that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control — and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on the ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart — not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience's sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

We are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort — even greater cooperation and understanding between nations. We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people, and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan. With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat, and roll back the specter of a warming planet. We will not apologize for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defense, and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.

For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus — and non-believers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.

To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect. To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society's ills on the West — know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.

To the people of poor nations, we pledge to work alongside you to make your farms flourish and let clean waters flow; to nourish starved bodies and feed hungry minds. And to those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world's resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

As we consider the road that unfolds before us, we remember with humble gratitude those brave Americans who, at this very hour, patrol far-off deserts and distant mountains. They have something to tell us, just as the fallen heroes who lie in Arlington whisper through the ages. We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.

For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies. It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job which sees us through our darkest hours. It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate.

Our challenges may be new. The instruments with which we meet them may be new. But those values upon which our success depends — honesty and hard work, courage and fair play, tolerance and curiosity, loyalty and patriotism — these things are old. These things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is demanded then is a return to these truths. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.

This is the price and the promise of citizenship.

This is the source of our confidence— the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny.

This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.

So let us mark this day with remembrance, of who we are and how far we have traveled. In the year of America's birth, in the coldest of months, a small band of patriots huddled by dying campfires on the shores of an icy river. The capital was abandoned. The enemy was advancing. The snow was stained with blood. At a moment when the outcome of our revolution was most in doubt, the father of our nation ordered these words be read to the people:

"Let it be told to the future world...that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive ... that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet [it]."

America. In the face of our common dangers, in this winter of our hardship, let us remember these timeless words. With hope and virtue, let us brave once more the icy currents, and endure what storms may come. Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations.

Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.

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Personal perception

Being the largest democracy, as the earlier US President Bill Clinton said, "We are natural Allies", for India and we Indians, with every change in the Globe, be it as insignificant as it may seem, we must be prepared to and be significant with our role to play that the change demands, with ofcourse, India's strong will for the fulfillment of her True Global Vision and act decissively there unto.

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AN ADDENDUM [Thursday, the 22nd Jan, 12:20 PM]

Quoting below with thanks, as retrieved from Rediff Chat at 12:10 PM of 22nd Jan 2009 and as being said by Advaniji,

When Mr Obama was elected president of the United States, I had addressed him a letter, greeting him on the occasion and one of the paragraphs of my letter said, I quote,

For us in India your victory is a matter of special joy for two reasons. Firstly it reaffirms the close bond between India, which is the largest democracy in the world, and the United States of America which is the most powerful democratic nation in the world. Secondly, by reposing their faith in the ideals of equality, freedom and racial non discrimination the people of your great country have signalled the triumph of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. So far as change of policy etc are concerned, it is for the new president to decide what his government would like to do, but I do think that the new president's attitude towards terrorism would be uncompromising.

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