Respected Shri Dada Vaswaniji, Dr. S.B. Majumdar, Shri Madandas ji Devi, Shri Gopinath Munde, Shri Dilip Majgaonkar, ladies and gentlemen,

Today is yet another happy day in my life.

It is exactly 16 months ago that My Country My Life was released in New Delhi by former President, Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. Thereafter, in rather quick succession, the Hindi, Telugu, Kannada and Tamil editions of the book were released. As a matter of fact, the Marathi edition was also ready for release. But the programme had to be postponed since the Lok Sabha elections intervened. Today my autobiography is available to Marathi readers.

My sincere thanks to Shri Majgaonkar and all his colleagues ― Shri Anand Hardikar, Smt. Sujata Deshmukh and others ― at  Rajhans Publications for their admirable work. The publisher’s keen eye on quality can be seen in every aspect of the book ― from translation to design, and from printing to overall presentation. Even the title of the book in Marathi is innovative, while being faithful to the original.

Pune has a well-deserved reputation all over India as a great centre of education and culture. It is a reputation built from the time of eminent freedom fighters and social reformers in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Lokmanya Tilak and Gopal Ganesh Agarakar, Jyotiba Phule and his wife Savitribai Phule, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Maharshi Dr. Dhondo Keshav Karve and many others erected here an edifice of modern education that was closely aligned to the goals of India’s independence and social renaissance.

But Pune is not a city that is content to rest on its past glory. In the post-independence era, many new educational institutions of high repute have been established in this city and these have further spread Pune’s fame both nationally and internationally. One such institute is the Symbiois Institute of Business Management, founded by Dr. S.B. Majumdar. I am happy that my book is being released by an eminent educationist like him.

Shri Madandasji Devi, who is the chief guest at today’s function, is a senior and widely respected leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He has devoted his entire life for the cause of the Sangh ― in other words, for the cause of the Nation. While his faith in the ideology and ideals of the RSS is unshakeable, all those who know him know that he is one of the most soft-spoken and gentle persons around. I thank him for gracing this occasion.

I am, above all, overwhelmed by the presence of Param Poojya Dada Vaswani. He is over 90 years old. But he retains the smile of a nine-year-old. He is a spiritual giant, but he can interact with everybody at his or her own level. Nobody who comes to him goes without being touched by his kindness and without receiving his blessings. I must confess that my wife and I, and all the members of my family, have been fortunate in being recipients of his special love.

Remembering Karachi 5th August 1947

I consider the presence of Dada Vaswani and Madandasji Devi at this function to be highly appropriate and significant. It makes me nostalgic about my formative years in Karachi and kindles the memory of an unforgettable incident in my life, which I have described in my autobiography. Let me recall it briefly.

I joined the RSS in Hyderabad (Sindh) at the age of 14. Soon I returned to Karachi, where I was born, and where I had had my schooling.  Those days there was no antagonism between the RSS and the Congress in Sindh. Hindus, who formed a majority of the population in Karachi and in all the other cities in the province, believed that both were working for the cause of India’s independence from British rule. I knew many Congress families that encouraged their young boys to join the RSS. The best example was that of the late K.R. Malkani, who later became the editor of Organiser and a senior functionary of the BJP.

His elder brother Prof. N.R. Malkani was a widely respected Congress leader, but his advice to K.R. Malkani was: “Join the RSS. It’s a good organisation which teaches patriotism and discipline to young men.”

It was also the time when the dark clouds of partition were gathering the sky. Sindh was generally peaceful in the initial years. But news of a bloodbath in neighbouring Punjab, and the mass-migration of Hindus and Muslims in reverse directions had been reaching the people in Sindh. There was panic among the Hindus, which intensified as the day of India’s partition and creation of Pakistan drew nearer. The Hindus were disappointed with the Congress since its assurances on their safety and security were proving to be hollow. The only organization they trusted to protect them, and to speak for undivided India, was the RSS.

I have described in my book the visit to Sindh of Shri Guruji, Shri M.S.  Golwalkar, the Sarsanghchalak of the RSS, in the first week of August 1947. On 5th August — just ten days before Partition — Shri Guruji addressed what turned out to be the last, but also the largest ever, gathering of Hindus in the history of Karachi. Being the city secretary of the RSS, I was in charge of the pre-rally march of swayamsevaks through the streets of the city. It turned out to be the largest march in the history of the RSS in Sindh, with over 10,000 uniformed swayamsevaks marching in unison.

The rally was presided over by Sadhu T.L. Vaswani, the revered uncle of Dada Vaswani, who said that history would record the Sindhi Hindu community’s eternal gratitude to the RSS for standing by it in its hour of misery and trial.

The speech that Shri Guruji delivered on that occasion contained a message that deserves to be remembered by all those who seriously want to bring peace and normalcy in India-Pakistan relations. He said:

“A calamity has befallen our Motherland. The Partition of India is the culmination of the British policy of divide-and-rule. The Muslim League has secured Pakistan through coercion and violence, before which the Congress leadership has surrendered. Muslims have been misled into thinking that they are a separate nation only because they profess Islam. Their culture and civilisation is Indian, and not Arabic. Unfortunately, they have been made to believe that what existed before the advent of Islam is not theirs. It is unthinkable that Sindh, through which flows the sacred Sindhu River, is being severed from India.…”

My purpose of recalling this incident is two-fold. Firstly, it is to show how the presence of Dada Vaswani and Madandasji Devi at this function provides a link, a certain vital continuity to that important event in my life 62 years ago. Dada Vaswani is a worthy successor to Sadhu T.L. Vaswani. And Madandasji represents the organization, RSS, that has shaped my own personality in a most decisive way and made me what I am today in public life.

Concern about neighbourhood

Those who have read my book know that the “Pakistan Question” forms a running theme in it ― right from the tragedy of 1947 to the challenge of cross-border terrorism that is continuing even now. What the NDA government did, what I as the Home Minister in that government did, and my pursuit of the goal of Indo-Pak normalization when I visited Pakistan in 2005 ― all this and more is described in the book.

Our concerns are not only over Pakistan but also Bangladesh. The hopes of a peaceful and problem-free neighbourhood in the east, which prevailed in India in 1971, have been largely belied. The massive and unchecked infiltration from Bangladesh is a threat to India’s unity, integrity and security. It is unfortunate that votebank considerations have prevented the Congress and many other parties in India from seeing this looming threat.
 
How do we move ahead in the direction of peaceful, goodneighbourly and cooperative relations? Today I wish to put forward three ideas:

1. The idea that a community becomes a separate nation just because it professes a different faith goes against the essence and ethos of the Indian civilization. In 1965, our leader Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya and Socialist leader Dr. Lohia made a historic statement advocating a Confederation of India  and Pakistan.  Bangladesh had not been formed yet. Otherwise, that country too would have found mention in the statement
   
   
2. However, for any movement forward in this direction, the biggest stumbling block is the anti-India and anti-Hindu attitude in a section of the society and polity in Pakistan and Bangladesh. This anti-India and anti-Hindu attitude manifests itself in many spheres – from school curricula to military strategy. So long as Pakistan and Bangladesh define themselves in anti-India terms, there can be no real solution and no lasting peace.
   
   
3. The most barbaric manifestation of the anti-India attitude is cross-border terrorism, fueled by religious extremism.  Pakistan has aided, abetted and exported terrorism into India, even though it has itself had to pay a heavy price on this score. Its hostility towards India has made it play with fire. However, one thing must be clear: there can be, and there must be, no compromise with terrorism.

My party has been the most spirited advocate of this policy of “zero-tolerance” towards terrorism. We have not taken this stand to gain any narrow political advantage. We do so because we know that the threat that India faces is grave. The 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai last year has demonstrated its gravity yet again. But let us not be lulled into thinking that it was the last such attack.

PM’s diplomatic surrender

It distresses me to note that national consensus to fight terrorism has been undermined by the UPA government itself, which, as recent developments have shown, has even disregarded the national mood in this matter. As I speak here today, there is intense disquiet and concern among all thinking Indians, including a section of the Congress party itself, over the latest India-Pakistan Joint Statement issued on 16 July 2009 following talks between Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr. Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani, who met in Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt on the sidelines of the NAM summit. It marks a major diplomatic surrender on India’s part.

History tells us how, in the Indo-Pak wars in 1965 and 1971, the then Congress governments gave away on the diplomatic front the gains India had made on the battlefront. Both Lal Bahadur Shastri and Indira Gandhi at least had India’s proud military victories to their credit. In contrast, Dr. Manmohan Singh is the first Indian Prime Minister who has squandered India’s diplomatic advantage over Pakistan even before the battle against Pak-sponsored terrorism is far from over.

I find the latest India-Pakistan Joint Statement to be totally unacceptable for three reasons.

1. Firstly, it marks a big retreat by the Indian government from its  own  oft-stated  position  on talks  with Pakistan  when  it states in the Joint Statement: “ Action on terrorism  should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed”.
   
   Prime Minister Singh said that India was ready to discuss all issues with Pakistan, including “all outstanding issues.” Whatever  Dr. Singh  may  have  said subsequently by way of clarification, he has agreed, in black and white, that “India was ready  to  discuss  all  issues  with  Pakistan,  including  all outstanding issues”  such  as  Kashmir  ―  indeed, this is what constitutes the so-called Composite Dialogue ― and that that such dialogue will not be linked to “action on terrorism”.
   
   
2. India’s insistence thus far has been that Pakistan must bring the Pak-based masterminds of the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai to book before any meaningful talks with Islamabad can begin. How does government reconcile this affirmation with the latest statement?
   
   
3. The Sharm-el-Sheikh statement only says “Action on terrorism” and does not explicitly state “Pakistan’s action on terrorism”. This is ominous because, in the very preceding sentence, it states: “Prime Minister Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Baluchistan and other areas.”

For the first time in the history of India’s diplomatic engagement with Pakistan, the Indian side has allowed Pakistan to mention Baluchistan, in a formal India-Pakistan statement, and that too in such a way that India is made to look like the sponsor of terrorism in “Baluchistan” and also “in other areas” !

In other words, the perpetrator of terrorism, which is what Pakistan really is, has succeeded, with the Indian government’s help, to project itself as a victim of India-sponsored terrorism.

In view of the Prime Minister’s diplomatic capitulation before Pakistan, I am constrained to make the following three demands:

•    India must suspend all official talks with Islamabad, including secretary-level talks, until we get credible proof that the government of Pakistan has taken necessary action against the masterminds of the terror attack on Mumbai. Recent reports that the chief of Lashkar-e-Toiba was released by the high court due to poor handling of the case by the prosecution, and no appeal has been filed in the Supreme Court until now, are indeed ominous.

•    India must seek the extradition of all those involved in all the cross-border terrorist activities in India, such as Dawood Ibrahim, who have been given shelter in Pakistan.

•    India must insist on timebound dismantling of the entire anti-India terrorist infrastructure based on Pakistani soil. In this, we have admission from no less a person than Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, who stated two weeks ago that terrorists were “created and nurtured” in his country in order to achieve “some short-term tactical objectives”. He also said that “terrorists of today were the heroes of past until Mumbai terror attacks in India on 26 November 2008.”
 
Friends, this is the Marathi edition of my memoirs.  Since after the publication of the English book in March 2008, the most important political event has been the General Election to the 15th Lok Sabha.  My party and our alliance did not achieve the success we expected.

I have taken the outcome of the parliamentary elections in my stride and moved on. I believe that it calls for introspection and corrective action. The mantra that Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya ― one of the two persons who had the greatest influence on me, the other being Rajpalji Puri, the RSS prant pracharak in Sindh ― taught us was : Charaiveti, Charaiveti.  It means: “Keep walking, keep walking”. In all circumstances, against all odds, in success as well as in failure.

The other principle that we have learnt in our political life is this: While walking on this slippery path of politics, keep the Nation ahead of the Party, and the Party ahead of yourself.

In my long political life, these are the two principles that I have tried to follow, as sincerely as I can and facing every adversity along the way. And my autobiography is an honest account of my journey.

Once again, my thanks to Rajhans for publishing the Marathi edition of this book and all those who have worked for the successful organisation of this function.