<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Atal: We made India N-power to reckon with </b>
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Leader of Opposition LK Advani on Sunday said the six-year rule by the BJP-led NDA Government had not only successfully heralded the era of coalition politics in India but also made India a nuclear power.
Releasing a special issue of Rashtradharma magazine which highlighted the contributions of the RSS to the country's growth, Vajpayee said the BJP as well as its predecessor, the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (BJS) had always taken failures as opportunities and marched ahead scripting success one after another.
Elaborating on the contributions of the Jansangh, Vajpayee who is the founder editor of the magazine, said,<b> "If today Kashmir is an inseparable part of India, it is because of us. Also our contribution to nation building can't be demeaned as it is due to our efforts that the society is today free from the 'licence and quota raj'."</b>
Laying emphasis on the need of flexibility in political strategy and taking along all sections of the society, Vajpayee said that BJP was committed to the policies and principles of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh and would take along the entire society to fulfil the unrealised dreams of the parent organisation.
Echoing a similar view, LK Advani said that the BJP had set the example of good governance during NDA's rule, but accused the UPA Government of utter failure on internal security, law and order, and naxalism<b>. "Corruption is another area where the Government has failed abysmally," he said, and added that BJP has successfully raised the issue of internal security and corruption.</b>
Asserting that the BJS and the BJP have always set the agenda of Indian politics, Advani said that the BJP broke the hegemony of Congress in Indian politics. "For decades, there was not a political party that could officially be recognised as the main Opposition party in the country. We broke this hegemony and have made Indian politics bipolar. It is a great contribution of the BJP to the nation," he said.
Advani, who released the magazine's second special issue highlighting BJP's successful completion of 25 years as a political party, said that the BJS and BJP have successfully been deciding the issues of Indian politics. "BJS ensured that the national flag was hoisted in Jammu & Kashmir. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee sacrificed his life for the country's integrity...Since then, BJS-BJP has been deciding the agenda of Indian politics, whether it was the JP movement against corruption or saving democracy in the wake of the Emergency. The Ayodhaya movement brought to the fore the thinking of cultural nationalism," Advani said.
Though NDA convenor and former defence minister George Fernandes could not attend the function held at the BJP headquarters on Sunday, he praised the role of BJS in the nation's development.
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<!--emo&:devil--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/devilsmiley.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='devilsmiley.gif' /><!--endemo--> We sold pumps for Rs 18 cr in Kerala: BJP panel
RAJEEV PIPosted online: Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 0000 hrs Print EmailINTERNAL PROBE REPORT: BJP panel which looked into LS bypoll defeat says party got Rs 2 crore, rest siphoned off by leaders
Pump Scam
The BJP in Kerala made Rs 18 crore by selling petrol pumps while the NDA was in power in New Delhi, but a coterie led by a top RSS nominee in the party pocketed a substantial part of that amount, says the report by a high-level panel which was set up to investigate the partyâs poor performance in a Lok Sabha bypoll. The report says that the money is being used to fund anti-party activities.
According to the probe report, there was even a fixed scale for bribes to allot petrol pumps during the 2003 scam, exposed by The Indian Express which found how BJP leaders had got the pumps allotted to friends and relatives across India.
K Raman Pillai, former state BJP president, explains how the party made money from the pumps and where it went, in his testimony in the probe report: âAbout Rs 18 crore had been collected... (but) accounts of only two crores have been furnished. The balance amount they are keeping and using to help followers for acting against the party. These collections were carried out by P P Mukundan (RSS nominee and BJP organising secretary for Kerala and Tamil Nadu) and Prof Narayanan Nair (BJP state treasurer)....ââ
Pillai goes on to explain that party workers were actually offered a discount on the bribe: âIn the Quilon district committee meeting, Prof Nair demanded Rs 20 lakh from party workers and Rs 25 lakh from others for getting sanction for petrol pumps. This can be seen in the minutes of the meeting....ââ
The state BJPâs official spokesperson, BK Shekhar, backs that in his own testimony : âMoney collected from the petrol pump scam has been lavishly spent among workers for carrying out anti-party activities....ââ
A top state BJP leader told The Indian Express that the Kerala unit had been âallowedââ by the national leadership to âaccept donationsââ in return for allocating petrol pumps. âBut we made the mistake of allowing a party caucus to handle that and keep the money themselves, since we did not want to put it in the partyâs bank accounts. They didnât hand it over and the party obviously canât have any legal recourseââ.
The high-level committee which probed the Lok Sabha poll debacle and allegations of vote transfer in Kerala comprised two state vice-presidents, Mohan Shanker and Manjeri Narayanan, and former state DGP and BJP state human rights cell chief, RPC Nair. The report, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, was being kept under wraps for the last four months â even the state committee members have not been given copies.
The probe was ordered after the partyâs Lok Sabha bypoll defeat in Thiruvananthapuram nine months agoâits former state president CK Padmanabhan polled just 37,000 votes while he was expected to get about a lakh.
The report also reveals how BJP votes are traded to both the political fronts in Kerala â the Congress-led UDF and the CPM-led LDF. Senior BJP leader and former Union minister O Rajagopal is quoted saying in the report that the state BJP is now â...demoralised, growth is at a standstill... no new members will join the party.ââ
But more worrying for the BJP may be the way the probe report says a powerful coterie led by Mukundan, who had made a lateral entry into the BJP as the state organising secretary nominated by the RSS in the late 1980s, has been functioning. According to the report, Mukundan and his men worked overtime to ensure that the BJP candidate lost by transferring votes en-bloc to both the Left and Congress candidates, witholding campaign funds, destroying posters and campaign material and even getting a state vice- president, V N Unni, assaulted besides ransacking the BJP office itself.
Spokesperson Shekhar has reminded the probe committee that top leaders of the both the Left and Congress-led fronts have stated that Mukundan had actually sold them BJP votes. Though Mukundan was stripped of his RSS Pracharak role as well as his Kerala charge and was ordered to keep himself only to Tamil Nadu and Andaman & Nicobar a few months ago, he still holds considerable sway in the Kerala unit.
âWe would like to make it unambiguously clear that the credibility of the party in Kerala is at stake. Unless an impact is created by corrective action, there will be a massive erosion of the ranks and the party will lose its base in Kerala,ââ the report concludes.
Press Trust of India
Posted online: Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 2001 hours IST
Updated: Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 2050 hours IST
Vande Mataram New Delhi, August 31: The BJP, which has announced it will order compulsory singing of Vande Mataram in UP schools if voted to power in the state, remained non-committal on Thursday about mandatory recitation of the national song in states already in its control.
Despite RSS chief K S Sudarshan's remarks yesterday that Vande Mataram should be made compulsory in all schools, party leaders confined themselves to attacking Muslim clerics, but gave no assurance on whether governments in all BJP-ruled states would ensure strict enforcement of the central directive on the national song.
"Singing of the national song is no certificate of patriotism, but its opposition is indeed evidence of separatism," BJP vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said in a statement.
BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar also kept the offensive on against HRD Minister Arjun Singh, who has declared the singing of the national song would be optional on September 7 for schoolchildren in the wake of opposition from Muslim clerics to any move to make its recitation compulsory.
With no legal tools in place that could make singing of Vande Mataram compulsory for everybody, Javadekar dodged questions as to how the BJP governments planned to ensure mandatory compliance of the central directive on September 7 to mark the centenary of the adoption of the national song.
In his comments last evening, the RSS chief advocated compulsory singing of Vande Mataram at all schools. "Why not? It has to be made compulsory everywhere?" Sudarshan told reporters when asked whether the national song should be made mandatory in madrasas as well.
The importance of being Narendra Modi has entirely a different appeal. The moment Gujarat Chief Minister entered Vande Mataram sabhagar, the venue of the BJP's national executive meeting, thunderous sloganeering of the national song reverberated everywhere. As all the BJP activists wanted to have a look at their hero, the security personnel faced a tough time to tackle them. The media persons too rushed towards him for some comments, but Modi, known for his hard-hitting comments, refused to oblige. Every query from the media he fielded with
folded hands.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Advani raps Sonia, PMÂ </b>
Pioneer.com
<i>Rajeev Ranjan Roy | Dehradun
'Those who cannot defend sacred legacy are unfit to be rulers'</i>
In a scathing attack on Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for skipping the Congress function for singing of Vande Matram, Opposition leader in the Lok Sabha LK on Friday said that <span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>"Those who cannot with conviction defend the sacred legacy of our national movement are unfit to be India's rulers."</span>
<b>"Television viewers say on Thursday many inspiring scenes from all parts of the country showing people enthusiastically singing the national song. However, the nation also noted the conspicuous absence of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh from these Vande Mataram programmes," </b>Advani said in his address to the BJP's national executive meeting.Â
"It just shows how the Congress Party and its Government simply wilted under a completely baseless - indeed dangerous - assault on the national song. Those who cannot with conviction defend the sacred legacy of our national movement are unfit to be India's rulers," Advani said. Asserting that the BJP's spirited protest both inside and outside Parliament won two important victories for India's democracy and national security in recent months, Advani said the BJP played the role of a constructive opposition by advising the Government not to rush with a flawed Office of Profit Bill.
"The UPA Government averted a bigger crisis only by finally doing what the BJP had earlier advised. It has announced setting up of a Joint Parliamentary Committee to consider the comprehensive points made by the President in his advice to the Government," he added.
Referring to the BJP's stand on the Indo-US nuclear deal, Advani said the BJP must continue to be vigilant on this issue. "As you know, the legislative process in the US on this matter is not yet over. We should keep a watch on what happens in the coming months. In no case shall we sit quiet if the ultimate deal in any way compromises India's sovereignty or our strategic defence interests," he added.
"The Prime Minister was forced to make a detailed statement on the Indo-US nuclear deal, which is a substantial comedown from the Government's earlier stand on the matter. He was also forced to address many of the concerns raised by the BJP and the nuclear scientists," he said, adding that the party should bring a booklet containing his articles along with other useful material on the Indo-US deal in different languages for circulation among the workers and the people at large.
Advani, who later addressed a mammoth public rally, called Parivartan Rally, at the city's Parade Ground, said the BJP has done many historical works for the nation. "From saving democracy to fighting against corruption, the BJP has successfully made the nation's unity and integrity the agenda of the country's politics," Advani said.
<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, BJP president Rajnath Singh, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh, Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and a host of senior leaders addressed the rally.
</span>
Taking potshot at the UPA Government in his national executive address for resorting to unconstitutional acts, Advani said: "I do not recall any other Government in the past having invited in such a short time so many severe admonitions from the country's highest judiciary as this Government has done."
<b>"Shortly after assuming office, this Government announced reservations on religious grounds, first in Andhra Pradesh Government and later in the Aligarh Muslim University. The court struck down both the decisions. The constitutionality of the IMDT Act relating to Assam has been challenged. The courts have repeatedly had to intervene in the Government's mismanagement of the affairs of All India Institute of Medical Sciences,"</b> he said.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->And Sonia Gandhi wanted to become the Prime Minister of India <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
She thinks itâs her Right to rule India. Even her kids were missing, who are also dreaming to rule India.
What a garbage they are?
<b>That man from Gujarat</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->All this is without the barrage of hostile attention that a Modi-led BJP will attract from several sources, national and international. Hard Hindutva romantics dismiss all of this as hassles that have to be ignored. But if the BJP has to think of ruling India again, hard Hindutva romanticism is the last thing it needs. It needs a leader. Modi is not that leader.
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IE had not stopped disinformation about Modi.
<b>To stop the spread of Christianity in India the best way is for the Hindu community to spend more money in setting up of and in maintaining educational institutions and medical facilities. They have much more advantage than the Christian organizations in India to operate freely anywhere in the country. However, the realization in the Hindu community has been rather slow and many of the members feel that it is only for the Government to undertake such activates. They are the first to blame the Government whenever any report of religious conversion is reported in the media.</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->However, the realization in the Hindu community has been rather slow and many of the members feel that it is only for the Government to undertake such activates.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Majority of Indian Hindu population became very poor during occupation by Arabs, British and other colonial power. After Independence, small group who had money spend on opening school or hospitals. This current decade is first time when we are seeing wealth in common Hindu. But for Christianâs missionary, they get money from abroad. Indian government knowingly allows them. They had not put proper laws to stop exploitation by foreign funds.
DAV, Ramdass schools and colleges are started by Hindus. 80% small scale charity hospitals in India are run by Hindus.
Regarding Indian government, especially current government acts are shocking. UPA stop funding govt funding to Ekal Vidyalaya because it is run by Hindus. This project is 100% funded by Hindus. UPA government is trying very hard to stop Sadavi Ritambra asharam, which she opened for aged widows as a shelter. It is funded by Hindus. But there is no restriction on any missionariesâ activities.
Why UPA govt are against any Hindu social organization? Why they tag them with Hindutava (Hinduness)?
Here none of us are related to any group or organization.
Eklya Vidyalaya used to get funding during NDA. It was stopped during UPA, tell me WHY?
Why they arrested Seer on Diwali eve? Can they do for any other religion? Why rapist priest are roaming free or Dayal who openly anti-Hindu is heading lot of board since UPA came into power. Why Indian Embassy invite and host dinners for anti-hindu painter M.F. Hussain? Why not invite Danish cartoonist also? Its shame!! Current government is promoting anti-Hindus.
By the way it was NDA in power not BJP.
When NDA changed book it was called saffornization of education, now it is openly Marxism in text book, but no one is crying. NDA stayed in power for six years with majority of time under sanctions and Kargil war. It was not a so-called peace time. You are expecting to change 50 plus years of disease in six years and give full credits to jokers who are hell bent to destroy India.
The previous govt was coalition NDA govt and not a BJP govt. And it was in power for little less than 6 years (elections called early I believe).
Compare that with Congress which has ruled for about 52 some years (out of 59) since our Independence - and most as absolute majority. The long term damage done over decades can't be wiped off overnight - that too by a coalition govt. IMHO, BJP ever always gun-shy after their two previous terms - one for 13 days and other for 13 months to fully exert it's authority. Every time BJP talked about Uniform Civil Code, shrieks of "hindutava" and "right wing fundamentalists" running out of control were heard from Washington to Delhi. It's doesn't require a mensa level IQ to figure out as to which countries were pumping in money and for which community and who was objecting.
Yes, at times Congress tries to paint lipstick on the pig while trying to hide the vote bank pig. See other threads in in forum on issues like reservations, temple control/distribution, pseudosecularism, politics of history etc which run into several thousand posts.
Added later:
Thanks Mudy for full disclosure.
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Why not invite Danish cartoonist also?<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
You kidding? They cancelled Danish PM's state visit on this issue! They didn't give out Republic Day bravery awards since Saudi head honcho was chief guest. Da Vinci code was banned when even in (90% Christian US per Slobo Raju) US didn't ban it; the icing on cake being an elected official representing 'Minority welfare' putting <i>supari</i> on this cartoonist. They even moved in Triupati temple property for non Hindu religious matters. In other instance Karnataka HC had step in over other temple matters. Haj subsidy has hit new peeks and just this week Supreme Court has voiced concerns regarding Allahabad HC stay. Hindu Seer was picked up on Diwali day while convicted terrorist Madani was let go by special session of state assembly. Dogs weren't allowed to investigate Jama Masjid blasts where people actually died while dogs wandered around freely at Gandhi Samadhi during Bush visit. Inter-caste marriage in W Bengal rewarded with Rs 2000 while same in Gujarat is worth Rs 50,000. Seems like we living in a bizzaro-world.
Sorry for the thread diversion - back to thread topic.
There are certain realities of life which one has to accept. In the case of India we find about 150 million muslims as Citizens of the country. Historically, the Hindu community in the South Asian region had never been a single entity and will neither be one in the years to come. So one cannot put up a United Front and have their sole influence in the decision making process. It is a fact that only those group of political parties come to power in India, who are voted by the majopity of the Hindu voters. Who is going to amend the constitution, it requires a 2/3rd majority in Parliament. So many Hindu MPs are unlikely to come together.
09-23-2006, 08:00 PM (This post was last modified: 09-23-2006, 08:04 PM by Bharatvarsh.)
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Historically, the Hindu community in the South Asian region had never been a single entity and will neither be one in the years to come. So one cannot put up a United Front and have their sole influence in the decision making process. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
There is no "South Asian" region either, I am not South Asian, as for Hindus never being a single entity in the years to come, how do you know, maybe they will get sick of what is happening and decide to unite, no one can predict the future for sure, these so called 150 million citizen's should have logically gone to Pakistan if they can't even sing Vande Mataram and make a big fuss about it every few years.
By the way Ravish, why don't you tell me why the present gov't expressed concern about Jews converting the so called lost tribe in Mizoram to Judaism from Christianity, if it's a secular gov't then how come it get's especially concerned when Christians convert, how can Hindus be blamed if they think the gov't is in cahoots with missionaries when it displays such open partisanship.
Let's not criticize ourselves too much. Shia-Sunni are murdering each other. Pakistani ethnic/ caste groups routine bomb and kill each other. The west is divided and have fought bitterly and killed each other for years. We are 900 million people, that's a lot of people to unite easily.
200 million Arabs live in like 20-30 countries.
The Chinese also BTW are a lot more divided than people think. It's not 90% Han like the Govt. propaganda says. They have numerous ethnic groups and language dialects so different that they can't understand each other.
In other words, we can do more to unite, but the rest of world isnt' so united either.
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 23 2006, 11:09 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 23 2006, 11:09 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->They do have a lot of time for their religion. Just that they don't want to wear it on their sleeve 24x7 like other communities.
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<!--emo&:ind--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/india.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='india.gif' /><!--endemo--> Who is terrorising Pak?â
Shekhar Iyer
New Delhi, September 23, 2006
BJP Leader AB Vajpayee has termed the Indo-Pakistan joint statement in Havana a âconspiracyâ against the country. âWhatever took place is not right. This joint statement is a conspiracy against India. Its implementation will jeopardise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir,â he writes in the RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya.
In what appears to be a timed response to coincide with the Congress conclave in Nanital, where national security is one of the major issues being discussed, Vajpayee says Pakistan will take advantage of the joint statement by taking âfurther stepsâ in keeping with its âevil designsâ. He demands that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reveal what happened behind the scenes during his meeting with Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf on the sidelines of the NAM summit.
Reiterating the BJPâs apprehension, as expressed earlier by party leader Yashwant Sinha, party spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad on Saturday said the joint mechanism to monitor terrorism might lead to joint control of Jammu and Kashmir. He said Pakistan Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri had publicly confirmed that the Prime Minister had given Pakistan a ânon-paperâ listing possible solution to Kashmir. âThe BJP demands that this non-paper and other sets of proposals on Jammu and Kashmir be made public and the entire nation be taken into confidence. We would like to know the options being discussed,â he asked.
âIs the Line of Control being made redundant? Do we propose to revert to the pre-1953 status on self-rule as has been reported by various Pakistan media? The more important question is whether the unanimous resolution of Indian Parliament has been borne in mind,â he added.
The BJP also wanted to know whether the Prime Minister took the various security forces into confidence before making the claim that many terrorist outfits were working in an autonomous manner and Pakistan was also a victim of terror. âWe would like Dr Manmohan Singh to make his knowledge public as to which terrorist groups are terrorising Pakistan and whether he has shared it with President Musharraf. Let us not ignore the almost vice-like grip of the ISI on the entire terror machine in Pakistan.â
<!--QuoteBegin-Viren+Sep 23 2006, 11:09 PM-->QUOTE(Viren @ Sep 23 2006, 11:09 PM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->They do have a lot of time for their religion. Just that they don't want to wear it on their sleeve 24x7 like other communities.
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This is not a criticism of Hindus. In fact it is a compliment , denying the averment of an earlier writer that the Hindus have little or no time for their own religion.
