BJP : Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, The Man of India's Destiny

Respect for Human Rights is hallmark of Indian ethos

Democracy does not necessarily safeguard Human Rights, but as a sys tem it is the most conducive to allow the individual to live a life of dignity which affords him an opportunity to exercise his Human Rights including economic, social and cultural rights. Effective safeguards against arbitrary behaviour can only be based on respect for rule of law and for human dignity. The very aim of terrorists is to destory the rule of law through calculated violence against both the individual and the State. Terrorism assumes a particularly malevolent form when aided, abetted and sponsored from abroad. We have and are facing the situation of our commitment of democracy, rule of law, our secular fabric and our territorial integrity being challenged by terrorist violence....

In Punjab terrorist violence has taken a toll of about 12,000 lives .... In Jammu & Kashmir about 4000 lives have been taken. This includes more than 2600 Muslims slaughtered by the terrorists. Innocent citizens have been abducted, tortured, raped, killed and brutalised. Political leaders, workers and their relatives have been eliminated to prevent all democratic political activity; government officials have been killed to silence the administration members of the judiciary and the press intimidated to create a breakdown of the legal system and of independent journalism; intellectuals, educationst, journalists and community leaders abducted and killed to silence dissenting opinion against terrorism. The systematic religion based extremism by terrorist elements has resulted in exodus of 250,000 members of other religious communities including Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians from Kashmir valley to other parts of India. Indeed as many as 50,000 Muslims have also felt compelled to flee the Valley to seek safety and succour in other parts of India.... Habeas Corpus, one of the most powerful legal tools of judicial remedy is available to all under the Indian judicial system in all circumstances. Under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA), the accused are required to be produced before a Magistrate within 24 hours. In case detention is confirmed, the accused remains always under judicial custody through the order of a competent court. Under laws relating to Preventive Detention each case of detention has to be confirmed within about 30 days by an advisory board of three Judges. The Chairman is a sitting judge of the High Court and 2 other members are retired judges of the High Court. The opinion of the advisory board is binding on the state....There are also several procedural safeguards and detenues are released by the High Courts and the Supreme Court if these safeguards are breached. To give an example, in the State of Maharashtra, 3873 persons were ordered to be detained under the National Security Act in 1993. Of these, 478 were released after scrutiny by the State. 1332 were released by the Advisory Board. 932 were released by the Court. Only 238 served the full period of detention....The spectre of Terrorism threatens the survival of democratic civil society across the globe. It is imperative to bring massive and consistent pressure of world public opinion against terrorists and subversives. This is where the Special Rapporteurs, Working Groups and members of the Human Rights Commission have a responsibility for there cannot be a situation in which human rights are seen to be the preserve of the practitioners of terrorism while those dealing with the menace courageously, extremely difficult circumstances, are falsely condemned for violations of human rights.... The post Cold War era provides us with an excellent opportunity for the furtherance of cooperation in the field of human rights. The promotion and protection of human rights can best be achieved not through mutual recrimination and much less through violence and resort to terrorism, but through mutual cooperation, understanding and confidence building. Human Rights must not be used for sectarian ends and their genuine promotion can only be achieved if we all work together to create an environment of trust, understanding and friendship. Mr. Chairman, this is no time for fault finding in the name of fact finding. India is committed to Human Rights. This is not a principle Government of India has discovered in the 1990s. The debates preceding the adoption of Constitution of India show India's traditional and time-tested commitment to Human Rights, which goes back to the early years of its independence and was rooted in its freedom struggle. Indeed, respect for human dignity is the very hallmark of our ethos.

( These are excerpts from the statement that Shri Vajpayee, in his capacity as the leader of the Indian delegation, delivered at the 50th session of the Commission on Human Rights at Geneva on February 17, 1994)

The last seven decades...

Atal Bihari Vajpayee's formal induction into politics coincided with the launch of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the first genuine non-Congress party, on the eve of the first general election in 1951. But, in a sense, it was the Quit India movement that fired his nationalist zeal. He was arrested in 1942 for lending his voice to the mounting demand for freedom, little realising that 33 years later, he would make a second journey to prison for the same reason: He was among the stalwarts whom Mrs Indira Gandhi tried to silence, though in vain, during the bleak days of her Emergency.

Had formal politics in the form of the Jana Sangh not intervened, perhaps Mr Vajpayee would have spent his years indulging in his first love: Journalism. The monthly journal, Rashtra Dharma, made waves with young Vajpayee as its editor, as did the weekly Panchjanya. He went on to edit two dailies, Swadesh and Veer Arjun. Old timers still recall those days fondly when Mr Vajpayee would wield a stout pen during the day and spend the evenings with friends, indulging in light banter. Or walk into a cinema in Old Delhi to watch the latest box-office hit!

Mr L.K. Advani, whose association with Mr Vajpayee dates back to those early days when the Jana Sangh was still groping for a toehold in Indian politics, recalls a Delhi Corporation by-election in which the party candidate lost his deposit. "We waited for the result to be announced. Naturally, we were feeling dejected. I suggested to Atalji, `Chaliye, picture dekhte hain.' We walked into Imperial cinema in Old Delhi and watched a film called, `Phir Subeh Hogi'."

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It has been a long and arduous journey from those days of living in the hope that tomorrow would be a better day. As Mr Vajpayee recalls, "It was the year 1957 and the second general election was in the offing. The benign presence of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was no longer there. The Jana Sangh had neither a distinguished leadership nor a wide mass base. Unlike today when scores of people vie for the party's ticket for a constituency, in those days candidates were difficult to find. Nobody wanted to spend his own money and face forfeiture of his deposit!"

By then, Mr Vajpayee had begun to make a name for himself as an orator. He had also contested (and lost) an earlier by-election to the Lok Sabha from Lucknow constituency. Recognised by Dr Mookerjee as the party's rising star, Mr Vajpayee was fielded as the Jana Sangh candidate from three constituencies in the 1957 election Lucknow, Mathura and Balrampur. He was defeated in Lucknow, forfeited his deposit in Mathura and won in Balrampur, making him one of the four Jana Sangh MPs whowere elected to the Lok Sabha that year.

In spite of the obvious handicap caused by the negligible presence of the JanaSangh in Parliament "At times we got three to four minutes during a debate. On one occasion we staged walked out in protest against being given a chance to speak" Mr Vajpayee made his presence felt both inside and outside Parliament, making optimum use of his and the party's sole assets: Passionate espousal of nationalism through effective oratory. The young MP representing a little-known constituency soon became a star attraction, in later years taking his party from strength to strength in State legislative assemblies as well as Parliament.

There were moments of anguish in those days of anonymity. "The newly elected four Jana Sangh MPs were being introduced to the then President, S. Radhakrishnan. "I remember Radhakrishnan's caustic remark, `Bharatiya Jana Sangh? I did not know there was a party by this name!' We did not let this deflate our enthusiasm or our eagerness to participate in parliamentary proceedings. Today, the BJP occupies the largest number of seats in Parliament. There is nobody who has not heard of the BJP," recalls Mr Vajpayee.

The break came after the 1977 general election when the Janata Party, of which the Jana Sangh was a component, swept the polls and formed the first non-Congress Government at the Centre. Morarji Desai made Mr Vajpayee his Foreign Minister. His tenure in South Block, though short-lived due to internal squabbles that led to the collapse of the Janata experiment, was marked by several historic firsts. For the first time India's Foreign Minister addressed the UN General Assembly in India's national language, Hindi, and fetched universal applause. For the first time India's relations with Pakistan were firmly placed in the right perspective and showed a degree of improvement never seen since then. It was his stint as India's Foreign Minister that saw the emergence of Vajpayee the statesman.

"Since my college days, I have been interested in foreign affairs. During my first term as an MP, I took an active interest in foreign policy and here I must note that Nehru, despite all his shortcomings, was a democrat at heart," Mr Vajpayee says, adding, "Once I spoke at length on the floor of the House, castigating the Government's foreign policy. I spoke in Hindi from the Opposition backbenches. When it was the Prime Minister's turn to reply to the debate, I was pleasantly surprised to note that he had listened attentively to all the points raised by me. In fact, although he spoke in English, he replied to my points in Hindi. A second point I would like to make is Nehru's large-heartedness. Although we berated the Government day after day and did not have the numerical strength to make a difference, Nehru made it a point to introduce me to foreign visitors at official dinners."

History takes curious twists and turns. Today, foreign dignitaries seek appointments to meet Mr Vajpayee.

* * * * *

Forty years after his foray into parliamentary politics, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh is now known as the Bharatiya Janata Party, the most potent political force in the country. And Mr Vajpayee, founder-president of the BJP, is one of the architects of this success. From the obscurity of Lok Sabha's backbenches, he has travelled a long distance to emerge as a person widely perceived as India's tallest politician, a national leader who commands respect across party lines and has a mass appeal that few politicians have ever enjoyed in India, given the quicksand nature of Indian politics.

This image received a boost after his short stint as India's Prime Minister in May 1996, a job that was given to him as leader of the largest single party in the Lok Sabha since no party had a majority of its own. India's parliamentary history is replete with instances of minority governments securing majority support through means that have brought Indian politics into disrepute. Mr Vajpayee sought support for his minority Government on the strength of its agenda. When it was denied to him, he set a new standard by resigning from office rather than stooping to stay put.

His stock immediately shot up. Indeed, during the brief period that he was Prime Minister of India, he so endeared himself to the masses and raised the expectations of a people otherwise cynical to politics and politicians, that his popularity ratings soared as it had never before for any other Prime Minister. When he demitted office, it was as if the entire nation went into mourning.

And his popularity remained at that high ever since. In a recent opinion poll conducted by the weekly magazine Outlook, a whopping 49 per cent of the respondents voted him as the next Prime Minister of India. Similarly, a poll conducted by MARG for India's leading news magazine, India Today, shows that a staggering 49 per cent of the people feel Mr Vajpayee is "the Prime Minister that India awaits". His opponents are way behind in the race for popular support; so much so, the opinion poll showed more supporters of the Congress, the main political opponent of the BJP, think that Mr Vajpayee "will be a better Prime Minister than their own party president".This support is not limited to the realm of politics alone. Another opinion poll, conducted by MODE among the top CEOs of the country, shows 55 per cent support for the BJP with Mr Vajpayee being rated as an "A+" Prime Minister. Corporate India has rated him and the party higher than others on wide-ranging issues such as handling the economy responsibly, controlling inflation, handling foreign policy, projecting strategic interests with Pakistan, getting India a bigger say at the UN and relations with China.

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Born on December 25, 1926, in the former princely state of Gwalior (now a part of the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh), Mr Vajpayee has a post-graduate degree in political science. For a while he studied law, but midstream he chose to become a journalist. This choice was largely influenced by the fact that as a student he had been an activist in India's struggle for freedom. Soon after his imprisonment in 1942, he came in contact with he Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Mr Vajpayee's stint as editor of the monthly journal Rashtra Dharma, the weekly magazine Panchjanya and the dailies Swadesh and Veer Arjun was distinguished by his passionate espousal of intense nationalism laced with literary excellence. It was during these years that he made a name for himself as a poet, a talent which he has nourished through the rough and tumble of politics. Numerous volumes of his poetry have been published and some of them have become collectors' items.

As a founder-member of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, he served as the party's president and took it to new heights. In 1975 he was arrested, along with a host of other political leaders, and kept in custody during the entire span of Mrs Indira Gandhi's Emergency. But prison did not break his indomitable spirit and he emerged as one of the stalwarts who forged the Opposition unity that defeated the Congress for the first time in 1977. The collapse of India's first non-Congress experiment saw Mr Vajpayee launching, along with his old associates, the Bharatiya Janata Party which is the inheritor of the political legacy of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He served as the BJP's president for the first five years of its existence, laying the foundation for the party's awesome growth in the last one decade.

As a parliamentarian, he has been a member of both the Lok Sabha as well as the Rajya Sabha he has been elected to the Lok Sabha seven times and to the Rajya Sabha twice, a record by itself. During the Janata Party's tenure in Government, he served as Foreign Minister from 1977 to 1979. Today, there are many in Pakistan who believe that relations between the two neighbours can improve only when Mr Vajpayee becomes Prime Minister of India.

Mr Vajpayee has served as Chairman on various parliamentary committees, including the Public Accounts Committee that scrutinises the Executive's spending. He was the Leader of Opposition in the 11th Lok Sabha, an office which he held in the 10th Lok Sabha, too. He is also Chairman of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs which guides India's foreign policy and oversees the work of the Ministry of External Affairs. Since 1961 he has been a member of the National Integration Council.

Mr Vajpayee has represented India at several crucial international meetings. He has twice led the Indian delegation to the UN and has been a member of India's UN General Assembly delegation in 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996. As leader of the Indian delegation to the 1993 Human Rights Commission Meeting in Geneva, Mr Vajpayee scored a diplomatic victory, retrieving the situation from what was seen as a foregone defeat for India. After pulling off the spectacular coup in Geneva, at home he was hailed as a hero who came to his country's aid at a moment of crisis; abroad he was acknowledged as a master tactician in the fine art of diplomacy and multilateral negotiations.

In recognition of his self-less dedication to his first and only love, India, and his more than half-a-century of service to society and the nation, the President of India conferred upon him the exalted Padma Vibhushan. In 1994, he was named the Best Parliamentarian. The citation read: "True to his name, Atalji is an eminent national leader, an erudite politician, self-less social worker, forceful orator, poet and litterateur, journalist and indeed a multi-faceted personality... Atalji articulates the aspirations of the masses... his words ever echo total commitment to nationalism."

The citation could not have been more appropriate. As it said, "Broad-minded as he is, the whole nation is his family. All national leaders respect him for his conciliatory approach and innate behaviour." As India's foremost national leader, Mr Vajpayee enjoys the unique distinction of fulfilling a role that carries with it the authority of public approval.

He is The Man of India's Destiny.