BJP Cheif Advaniji's speech at BJP NEC meeting in Ranchi

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>Subject:Advaniji's speech at BJP NEC meeting in Ranchi>Thu, 25 Nov 2004

10:50:04 -0600 >PRESS RELEASES >November 24, 2004

>Meeting of the National Executive

>Ranchi - November 24-26, 2004

>Presidential speech by

>Shri L.K. Advani

>

>Dear Colleagues,

>

>I welcome you all to this meeting of the National Executive here in Ranchi.

>

>This is the first meeting of the National Executive after the National Council

>assembled in New Delhi on October 27 and formally elected me as the Party

>president.

Arrest of Shankaracharya, an assault on Hinduism

>

>Now two more issues have arisen that demand a firm and resolute response from

>the BJP. One has hurt people's pockets and the other has deeply wounded

>people's faith.

>

>The arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Math, His Holiness Jayendra Saraswati

>Swamiji, in a criminal case in Tamil Nadu is unprecedented in the spiritual and

>political annals of India. The manner of his arrest, the manner of his

>incarceration, and the campaign of slander launched against him and the Kanchi

>Math by the two principal parties in the state, joined by the communists and

>all the anti-Hindu forces in this country, have jolted the Hindu society like

>no other event in recent times has.

>

>Two factors have principally contributed to this shocking turn of events. One is

>the politics of vendetta, confrontation, one-upmanship and social divisiveness

>that has marred both the society and polity in Tamil Nadu in recent times. The

>other is the general climate of pseudo-secularism in our country in which

>maligning of the Hindu faith, hurting of Hindu sentiments and denial of

>legitimate Hindu interests have been made the ultimate and sole criterion of

>one's commitment to secularism.

>

>I would like to pose the following questions for the people of India to ponder:

>

>

>Why did the then Congress government at the Centre apologise to a certain Muslim

>seminary in UP when, in 1994, the IB had to conduct a raid on a hostel inside

>the seminary to nab suspected ISI-backed terrorists with links to a terrorist

>act in Jammu & Kashmir? The Central government dispatched two senior ministers

>to the seminary to express regrets for the police action.

>What would happen if a Central minister were to say in a public meeting that he

>is ashamed of being a Muslim or a Christian?

>Why is raising one's voice against fraudulent conversions of poor tribals and

>other indigent people considered a communal act in this country?

>Who has created this bizarre and perverse intellectual atmosphere in this

>country where anything associated with Hinduism, Hindu ethos and Hindu faith is

>considered communal, obscurantist and -- my blood boils when I hear the term --

>"toxic"?

>Preserve the Hindu ethos to strengthen secularism and national unity

>

>Friends, the time has come to proclaim, and proclaim with all the courage of our

>conviction, that India is secular principally because of its Hindu ethos.

>Remove this Hindu ethos, and there will be no India left. Let us make no

>mistake: A section of the Congress party, the Communists and some other

>political forces in this country are conspiring to slowly but systematically

>erase the Hindu ethos of this country and to obfuscate the basic Hindu identity

>of our culture and civilization.

>

>In stating this, I do not in the least deny that India is a multi-faith nation.

>We are proud that our land is home to practically every faith in the world, and

>every faith here is respected. Adherents of every faith have the same rights

>and responsibilities. Discrimination on the grounds of religion is alien to our

>age-old culture and against our Constitution. But let every adversary of ours

>be warned: if anybody tries to take the cover of secularism to indulge in

>anti-Hindu politics and statecraft, the BJP will stand in their path like a

>rock, prepared to make any sacrifices.

>

>Which is why, the BJP, after a lot of inner-party deliberation, decided to

>associate itself as a party with the public outrage against the arrest of

>Kanchi Shankracharya. We have made it clear that the law must take its course

>in the specific case in which allegations of his involvement have been made.

>But this is not an issue concerning one individual. It has far wider

>ramifications.

>

>By launching the relay hunger strike and dharna on November 20, we have begun a

>campaign through which, as in the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, we will powerfully

>counter our ideological and political adversaries, reaffirm the meaning of

>genuine secularism, strengthen national unity, and rededicate ourselves to the

>adoption of life-enriching dharmic values in society, politics and statecraft.

>I wish to sincerely thank the former President, Shri R. Venkatraman, former

>Prime Minister Shri Chandrashekhar, NDA Convenor Shri George Fernandes, and

>several respected sadhus and sants for having joined our Party colleagues in

>this protest action.

>

>It is taking place in the aftermath of two state assembly elections and before

>three upcoming state assembly elections.

>

>Outcome of recent assembly elections

>

>The results of the assembly polls in Maharashtra were truly disappointing to all

>of us. On the basis of performance, the Congress-NCP combine least deserved a

>renewed mandate, just as, judged by the criterion of performance, the NDA

>certainly deserved to win a fresh mandate. We thus see a certain disconnect

>between performance in government and performance in elections. I am not saying

>that such disconnect exists in every election. Nevertheless, it is a phenomenon

>that deserves a serious study.

>

>It appears that lack of proper and sustained coordination between the BJP and

>the Shiv Sena, our alliance partner in Maharashtra, at various levels was one

>of the principal reasons for our defeat in the elections. We should learn the

>right lessons from this in evolving our strategy for the forthcoming elections.

>

>

>I wish to congratulate our unit in Arunachal Pradesh for their impressive

>performance in the recent elections. Contesting on our own, we won 9 seats in

>the Assembly. We had also won both the Lok Sabha seats in the state. This shows

>the keen desire of the people of the North-East to see that the BJP emerges as

>a major political force in the region, to serve as a resolute defender of

>national unity and as a champion of peace, development and social harmony.

>

>Three crucial elections ahead

>

>In the months to come, we will face three crucial elections in Bihar, Jharkhand

>and Haryana. Our objective in these elections is clear.

>

>Jharkhand: In Jharkhand, we must strive to win a fresh mandate. Despite all the

>odds, our government here has performed fairly well. Indeed, many of the

>difficulties it faced were a legacy of bad governance that the RJD government

>in undivided Bihar had left behind. The people of Jharkhand also know that the

>BJP is the only party that is both firmly committed to, and is fully capable

>of, harmonising the interests of both tribals and non-tribals in the state. We

>should impress upon the people that the difficult work of repairing the damage

>done by the previous government needs five more years of BJP rule to yield the

>desired results. We should especially caution them that a mandate to our

>adversaries would be an invitation to a reign of terror, social strife,

>criminalization of governance and unlimited corruption.

>

>Liberate Bihar from the reign of Asuri (evil) forces

>

>I would like to dwell at some length on Bihar, where the battle lines are

>clearly drawn and the bugle will be sounded at a massive rally in Patna on

>December 2.

>

>This battle is not only for unseating an incumbent government that belongs to an

>opposition party. It is actually for emancipating Bihar from 15 years of jungle

>raj, the kind of which no state in the country has ever seen. The Rashtriya

>Janata Dal, which now has the Congress as its partner, has impoverished the

>state, criminalised politics and governance, and made corruption its creed. In

>a bizarre act of perversion, its leader has sowed the poisonous seeds of

>casteism and communalism while masquerading himself as a defender of secularism

>and social justice. The strangest part of it all is that he is the darling of

>the entire pseudo-secular brigade.

>

>I charge the Congress party, the communists and all those who support the RJD

>with being willing partners in the crime of pauperising Bihar, of reducing this

>rich and cultured state to such a helpless condition that no section of Bihari

>population -- poor, rich, students, teachers, industrial and agricultural

>workers, traders, professionals -- see any hope of a bright future for

>themselves in their own state. Worse, they do not even feel safe in their own

>state, such being the reign of terror, crime and lawlessness unleashed by the

>RJD. As a result, the largest stream of internal migration in India today is

>that of the proud but helpless people of Bihar.

>

>The BJP charges the RJD and all its supporters of being assaulters on Bihari

>Pride, a pride that is rooted in the state's hoary past, in the glorious role

>it played in the Freedom Movement, in its having been one of the best managed

>and most richly endowed states in the initial decades of Independence, and in

>the contribution that its idealistic youth and students made to the defence of

>democracy under the inspiring leadership of JP.

>

>Friends, the RJD leadership is spreading the self-serving myth that their party

>is unassailable and is going to win Bihar for another five years. Its

>calculation is that, in the conditions of mafia-induced fear that prevails in

>the state, spreading such a myth would prompt the people not to vote for the

>BJP-JD(U) alliance. We shall puncture this balloon of the RJD's invincibility

>right at the outset of our campaign. We'll tell the people of Bihar:

>

>"Have no fear. Our alliance is the real and the only alternative, which it is

>capable of liberating Bihar from the Asuri Shakti (evil force) that has

>captured your state. Our alliance is also capable of building a New and Proud

>Bihar in which every citizen belonging to every caste and community will feel

>justice done to them, and in which Bihar will be brought back to the track of

>rapid and all-round development, to occupy its rightful place in the march of a

>prosperous and strong India."

>

>Haryana: In Haryana, our Party has decided to contest the elections on its own.

>The incumbent government and the ruling party have done little, either by way

>of performance or by their relations with the BJP, to create a conducive

>atmosphere for a united contest against the Congress party. In Haryana our

>primary objective will be to increase our own strength in the new Assembly to

>the maximum possible extent, so that we emerge as an effective alternative to

>the discredited Congress party.

>

>Politics of mass mobilization and agitation

>

>Friends, my long experience in politics tells me that a political party

>heightens its strength and brightens its public profile through three types of

>activities, and I'll mention them in the order of their effectiveness. Of

>course, the first and the most effective means is one's performance in an

>election - be it a parliamentary election, assembly election or a local body

>election. The second is the path of mass mobilization in struggles intended to

>champion people's causes and to defend the interests of our nation. The third

>is holding of political rallies.

>

>Due to a combination of factors -- the foremost of which was the fact that we

>were ourselves in government for six long years - our Party has not organized

>any large-scale nationwide protest action in recent times. Our mass

>mobilization on the Ayodhya issue in the late '80s and early '90s was the last

>such effort. However, I am surprised that within six months of the Congress-led

>UPA government at the Centre, one issue after another is knocking at our doors

>to be picked up for mass mobilization and mass protest.

>

>Recently, the BJP demonstrated its mass mobilization capabilities by taking up

>two issues that touched the hearts and minds of every patriot in this country -

>namely, the insult meted out by the UPA government and the Congress-Communist

>combine to a national hero, Veer Savarkar, and to a national icon, the

>Tricolour.

>

>Arrest of Shankaracharya, an assault on Hinduism

>

>Now two more issues have arisen that demand a firm and resolute response from

>the BJP. One has hurt people's pockets and the other has deeply wounded

>people's faith.

>

>The arrest of the Shankaracharya of Kanchi Math, His Holiness Jayendra Saraswati

>Swamiji, in a criminal case in Tamil Nadu is unprecedented in the spiritual and

>political annals of India. The manner of his arrest, the manner of his

>incarceration, and the campaign of slander launched against him and the Kanchi

>Math by the two principal parties in the state, joined by the communists and

>all the anti-Hindu forces in this country, have jolted the Hindu society like

>no other event in recent times has.

>

>Two factors have principally contributed to this shocking turn of events. One is

>the politics of vendetta, confrontation, one-upmanship and social divisiveness

>that has marred both the society and polity in Tamil Nadu in recent times. The

>other is the general climate of pseudo-secularism in our country in which

>maligning of the Hindu faith, hurting of Hindu sentiments and denial of

>legitimate Hindu interests have been made the ultimate and sole criterion of

>one's commitment to secularism.

>

>I would like to pose the following questions for the people of India to ponder:

>

>

>Why did the then Congress government at the Centre apologise to a certain Muslim

>seminary in UP when, in 1994, the IB had to conduct a raid on a hostel inside

>the seminary to nab suspected ISI-backed terrorists with links to a terrorist

>act in Jammu & Kashmir? The Central government dispatched two senior ministers

>to the seminary to express regrets for the police action.

>What would happen if a Central minister were to say in a public meeting that he

>is ashamed of being a Muslim or a Christian?

>Why is raising one's voice against fraudulent conversions of poor tribals and

>other indigent people considered a communal act in this country?

>Who has created this bizarre and perverse intellectual atmosphere in this

>country where anything associated with Hinduism, Hindu ethos and Hindu faith is

>considered communal, obscurantist and -- my blood boils when I hear the term --

>"toxic"?

>Preserve the Hindu ethos to strengthen secularism and national unity

>

>Friends, the time has come to proclaim, and proclaim with all the courage of our

>conviction, that India is secular principally because of its Hindu ethos.

>Remove this Hindu ethos, and there will be no India left. Let us make no

>mistake: A section of the Congress party, the Communists and some other

>political forces in this country are conspiring to slowly but systematically

>erase the Hindu ethos of this country and to obfuscate the basic Hindu identity

>of our culture and civilization.

>

>In stating this, I do not in the least deny that India is a multi-faith nation.

>We are proud that our land is home to practically every faith in the world, and

>every faith here is respected. Adherents of every faith have the same rights

>and responsibilities. Discrimination on the grounds of religion is alien to our

>age-old culture and against our Constitution. But let every adversary of ours

>be warned: if anybody tries to take the cover of secularism to indulge in

>anti-Hindu politics and statecraft, the BJP will stand in their path like a

>rock, prepared to make any sacrifices.

>

>Which is why, the BJP, after a lot of inner-party deliberation, decided to

>associate itself as a party with the public outrage against the arrest of

>Kanchi Shankracharya. We have made it clear that the law must take its course

>in the specific case in which allegations of his involvement have been made.

>But this is not an issue concerning one individual. It has far wider

>ramifications.

>

>By launching the relay hunger strike and dharna on November 20, we have begun a

>campaign through which, as in the Ram Janmabhoomi issue, we will powerfully

>counter our ideological and political adversaries, reaffirm the meaning of

>genuine secularism, strengthen national unity, and rededicate ourselves to the

>adoption of life-enriching dharmic values in society, politics and statecraft.

>I wish to sincerely thank the former President, Shri R. Venkatraman, former

>Prime Minister Shri Chandrashekhar, NDA Convenor Shri George Fernandes, and

>several respected sadhus and sants for having joined our Party colleagues in

>this protest action.

>

>Agitation against price rise

>

>The other issue on which the Party has launched a programme of mass agitation,

>culminating in a massive protest demonstration in front of Parliament on

>December 1, is the back-breaking price rise within six months of the UPA

>government. The Congress party went to the polls tomtomming its slogan:

>"Congress ka haath, Aam aadmi ke saath". The truth has turned out be: "Congress

>ka ghaath, Aam aadmi ke saath". This betrayal is acutely felt every time a

>common man goes to the market to buy items of daily need, every time a

>housewife brings a new cylinder of cooking gas, and every time a kisan

>purchases diesel to run his pump.

>

>I call upon our Party workers to conduct a sustained campaign to educate the

>people about this betrayal and also contrast it with the success of the

>Vajpayee government in keeping inflation and the prices of essential

>commodities firmly under check for six long years.

>

>Vigorously expose the failures of the UPA government

>

>We should also vigorously expose the ruinous consequences of the UPA

>government's failures on the internal security front. Nothing illustrates this

>failure more glaringly than the manner in which the government has completely

>messed up the handling of the naxal menace. Naxal extremism is spreading its

>tentacles to newer and hitherto unaffected places. This became frighteningly

>evident when naxalites killed 17 cops near Banaras in UP in a landmine

>explosion last week. The NDA government, after sustained consultations with the

>governments of all the affected states, had evolved a coordinated and

>multi-pronged strategy to overcome this grave threat to India's internal

>security. The Congress party lost no time in dismantling this strategy by

>lifting the ban against the PWG in Andhra Pradesh and inviting naxalites for

>talks without first insisting that they give their arms.

>

>As a highly respected retired police officer from Punjab recently bemoaned, "It

>is indeed strange that, on the one hand the Indian government is assisting

>Nepal to overcome the challenge posed by Maoists; on the other hand, the same

>government has legitimized Maoists by inviting them for talks on almost equal

>footing."

>

>Similarly, BJP workers everywhere should expose the UPA government's neglect of

>the plight of kisans, artisans, workers in the informal sector and its blind

>eye towards the unemployed youth. We should tell the people how the

>much-publicised Food-for-Work programme, launched recently by the Prime

>Minister, is a badly repackaged version of a similar programme started by the

>NDA government, with little additional resources allocated to it. In any case,

>it is a far cry from the promise of providing guaranteed employment for 150

>days a year to every able-bodied person in rural areas and urban slums.

>

>The visible slowdown in the implementation of major infrastructure projects,

>initiated by the NDA government, is a matter of deep concern. Little is being

>heard of the ambitious National Highway Development Project, the Pradhan Mantri

>Gram Sadak Yojana, the National Rail Vikas Yojana or the Valmiki-Ambedkar Awaas

>Yojana - not to speak about the River Linking Project.

>

>I am mentioning these only to highlight how the focus and the priority of the

>UPA government have shifted from governance and development to relentless

>vendetta towards the opposition and daily infighting within the ruling

>coalition.

>

>Kashmir issue: Compromise of national interests will not be tolerated

>

>Friends, recent months have seen considerable activity, at least in terms of

>statements and counter-statements, between the governments of India and

>Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. The BJP has made it clear on more than one

>occasion that the process of normalization of relations between our two

>countries, which had been initiated by Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, should

>continue. However, we are concerned that some of the pronouncements and actions

>of the UPA government reflect a troubling dilution of clarity and commitment on

>how to safeguard India's national interests. First came the joint statement

>issued after the September meeting between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh

>and Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf in New York, in which India

>failed to secure a reiteration of Pakistan's commitment to renounce

>cross-border terrorism as an instrument of its Kashmir policy. Such a

>commitment was explicitly made in the joint statement issued after the

>Vajpayee-Musharraf meeting in Islamabad in January this year.

>

>Cross-border terrorism in J&K is still alive and kicking. A loud and rude

>reminder of this came when terrorists struck in Srinagar, just 200 meters from

>the venue of the Prime Minster's public meeting on November 17.

>

>Then came, Dr. Manmohan Singh's statement that "all options are open" to resolve

>the Kashmir issue. On his part, Gen. Musharraf floated the idea of dividing

>Jammu & Kashmir in seven parts on religious and regional lines. The Minister of

>External Affairs responded to this by saying that India was willing to consider

>this proposal if it was presented in a formal manner.

>

>The Prime Minister has stated in Srinagar that "no new lines can be drawn on the

>map of the subcontinent". At the same time, there is talk of some lines being

>"erased" as a part of a "package solution".

>

>The BJP flays this kind of kite-flying and ad-hocism on the part of the UPA

>government on a vital issue like Kashmir. The Party also demands that the

>government take both the people and Parliament of India fully into confidence

>on how it wishes to deal with Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

>

>Growing consensus on the Ayodhya issue

>

>Friends, an important development during the period between the meetings of the

>National Council and the National Executive was the meeting of the leaders of

>the constituent parties of the National Democratic Alliance on November 10. You

>will recall my remarks on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue in my speech at the

>National Council. While reaffirming our party's unwavering commitment to the

>construction of a Ram Temple at Ram Janmasthan in Ayodhya, I had said that, out

>of two options for resolving the issue - judicial verdict or a negotiated

>settlement through dialogue between representatives of the Hindu and Muslim

>communities --, the BJP prefers the latter. Unfortunately, there was a lot of

>needless speculation, intended to manufacture a controversy, that our NDA

>allies were unhappy over my remarks.

>

>I am happy to state that the NDA meeting put paid to attempts to create a rift

>between the BJP and our allies. In the resolution adopted at the meeting, the

>NDA formally stated its preference for a negotiated settlement, arrived at

>through a process of dialogue in an atmosphere of mutual understanding,

>goodwill and peace. I do not think that any right-thinking person can object to

>this stand.

>

>I am saying this to drive home a larger point. There is a growing body of

>opinion in the country that there should be no further delay in resolving a

>sensitive issue like this one. It is significant that, on the Ayodhya issue,

>the 2004 manifestos of the NDA and the Congress party were saying similar

>things. Now, the NDA has gone a step further in declaring its preference for

>the process of dialogue yielding an amicable settlement. Today, from this

>meeting of the National Executive, I urge the Congress party and all other

>parties to see the compelling logic and the undeniable desirability of a

>negotiated settlement, and contribute to the firming up of a national consensus

>on how to resolve the Ayodhya issue soon.

>

>Dear Colleagues, before concluding I would like to remind all of you about an

>important task that we have recently set for ourselves. It is implementation of

>the decision to begin a Party-wide discussion, right from the central level

>down to the mandal level, on the 'TASKS AHEAD' document. It has identified a

>wide range of duties for strengthening the Party ideologically, politically and

>organizationally. Considering the importance of implementing this decision, I

>have decided to entrust this responsibility to Shri Venkaiah Naidu.

>

>I look forward to fruitful deliberations during the course of our three-day

>meeting.

>

>Thank you

>

>Vande mataram!

>

>

>

>

>

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