Shimla Shenanigans: Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shimla

Shimla
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shimla
City of Hills
ShimlaLocation of Shimla
in Himachal Pradesh and India
Country India
State Himachal Pradesh
District(s) Shimla
Municipal Commissioner A.N.Sharma IPS
Mayor Narendra Kataria
Population
• Density 392,542[1] (2005[update])
• 120 /km2 (311 /sq mi)
Time zone IST (UTC+5:30)
Area
• Elevation 25 km2 (10 sq mi)
• 2,900 m (9,514 ft)
Codes[show]
• Pincode • 171 0xx
• Telephone • +0177
• UN/LOCODE • INSHI
• Vehicle • HP-03, HP-51

Coordinates: 31°06′40″N 77°09′14″E / 31.111°N 77.154°E / 31.111;
77.154
Shimla (Hindi: शिमला [ˈʃɪmlaː] ( listen); Punjabi: ਸ਼ਿਮਲਾ),
originally called Simla, is the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. In
1864, Shimla was declared the summer capital of the British Raj in
India. A popular tourist destination, Shimla is often referred to as
the "Queen of Hills" (a term coined by the British). Located in the
north-west Himalayas at an altitude of 2,128 metres (6,982 ft), the
city of Shimla, draped in forests of pine, rhododendron, and oak,
experiences pleasant summers and cold, snowy winters. The city is
famous for its buildings styled in tudorbethan and neo-gothic
architecture reminiscent of the colonial era. Shimla is also known for
the prestigious Bishop Cotton School, which is one of the oldest
boarding schools in Asia. Shimla is connected to the city of Kalka by
one of the longest narrow gauge railway routes still operating in India
[2], the Kalka-Shimla Railway. Shimla is approximately 115 km (71.4
miles) from Chandigarh, the nearest major city, and 365 km (226.8
miles) from New Delhi, the national capital. The city is named after
the goddess Shyamala Devi, an incarnation of the Hindu Goddess Kali.
[3]


[edit] History
Shimla was annexed by the British in 1819 after the Gurkha War. At
that time it was known for the temple of Hindu Goddess Shyamala Devi.
The Scottish civil servant Charles Pratt Kennedy built the first
British summer home in the town in 1822.

Lord Amherst, the Governor-General of Bengal from 1823 to 1828, set up
a summer camp here in 1827, when there was only one cottage in the
town, and only 'half a dozen' when he left that year. There were more
than a hundred within ten years.[4]

Shimla, or Simla as it was called until recently, caught the eye of
Lord William Bentinck, the Governor-General of Bengal from 1828 (later
of India, when the title was created in 1833) to 1835. In a letter to
Colonel Churchill in 1832 he wrote[5]

“ Simla is only four days march from Loodianah, is easy of access, and
proves a very agreeable refuge from the burning plains of Hindoostaun.
”

One of his successors, Sir John Lawrence, Viceroy of India 1864–1869,
decided to take the trouble of moving the administration twice a year
between Calcutta and a separate centre over 1,000 miles away, despite
the fact that it was difficult to reach.[4] Lord Lytton, Viceroy 1876
-1880 made efforts to plan the town from 1876, when he first stayed in
a rented house Peterhof, but began plans for a Viceregal Lodge, later
built on Observatory Hill. A fire cleared much of the area where the
native Indian population lived (the "Upper Bazaar"), and the planning
of the eastern end to become the centre of the European town forced
these to live in the Middle and Lower Bazaars on the lower terraces
descending the steep slopes from the Ridge. The Upper Bazaar was
cleared for a Town Hall, with many facilities such as library and
theatre, as well as offices - for police and military volunteers as
well as municipal administration.

During the 'Hot Weather', Simla was also the Headquarters of the
Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army and many Departments of the
Government, as well as being the summer capital of the regional
Government of the Punjab. They were joined during the hot weather by
many of the British wives and daughters of the men who remained in the
plains. Together these formed Simla Society, which, according to
Charles Allen,[6] "was as close as British India ever came to having
an upper crust." This may have been helped by the fact that it was
very expensive, having an ideal climate and thus being desirable, as
well as having limited accommodation. British soldiers, merchants, and
civil servants moved here each year to escape from the heat during
summer in the Indo-Gangetic plain. The presence of many bachelors and
unattached men, as well as the many women passing the hot weather
there, gave Simla a reputation for adultery, and at least gossip about
adultery: as Rudyard Kipling said in a letter cited by Allen, it had a
reputation for "frivolity, gossip and intrigue". (See also.[7])


The bridge connecting Shimla with Minor Shimla, erected in 1829 by
Lord Combermere, Shimla, 1850sThe Kalka-Shimla railway line,
constructed in 1906, added to Shimla's accessibility and popularity.
The railway route from Kalka to Shimla has more than 806 Bridges and
103 tunnels was touted as an engineering feat and came to be known as
the "British Jewel of the Orient".[7] . Not only that there was a
significant Muslim population in the region before the partition of
British India In addition, Shimla was also the capital of the
undivided state of Punjab in 1871 and remained so until the
construction of the new city of Chandigarh (the present-day capital of
Punjab). Upon the formation of the state of Himachal Pradesh in 1971,
Shimla was named its capital. Pre-independence structures still dot
Shimla; buildings such as the Viceregal Lodge, Auckland House, Gorton
Castle, Peterhoff house, and Gaiety Theatre are reminders of British
rule in India.[1][8] British Simla extended about a mile and a half
along the ridge between Jakhoo Hill and Prospect Hill. The central
spine was The Mall, which ran along the length of the ridge, with a
Mall Extension southwards, closed to all carriages except those of the
Viceroy and his wife.


[edit] Geography

Passenger train on the Kalka-Shimla Railway routeShimla is located in
the north-western ranges of the Himalayas. At an average altitude of
2397.59 meters (7866.10 ft) above mean sea level, the city is spread
on a ridge and its seven spurs. The city stretches nearly 9.2 km from
east to west.[9] The highest point in Shimla, at 2454 meters (8051
ft), is the Jakhoo hill. Shimla is a Zone IV (High Damage Risk Zone)
per the Earthquake hazard zoning of India. Weak construction
techniques and increasing population pose a serious threat to the
already earthquake prone region.[10][11] There are no bodies of water
near the main city and the closest river, Sutlej, is about 21 km (13
miles) away.[12] Other rivers that flow through the Shimla district,
although further from the city, are Giri, and Pabbar (both are
tributaries of Yamuna). The green belt in Shimla planning area is
spread over 414 hectares (1023 acres).[7] The main forests in and
around the city are that of pine, deodar, oak and rhododendron.[13]
Environmental degradation due to the increasing number of tourists
every year without the infrastructure to support them has resulted in
Shimla losing its popular appeal as an ecotourism spot.[14] Another
rising concern in the region are the frequent number of landslides
that often take place after heavy rains.[10][15]


[edit] Climate
Shimla
Climate chart
J F M A M J J A S O N D
55 92 47 113 59 157 41 1911 56 2314 176 2416 377 2115
335 2015 190 2013 46 1911 14 157 16 124
average max. and min. temperatures in °C
precipitation totals in mm
source: IMD

Imperial conversion[show]
J F M A M J J A S O N D
2.1 4835 1.9 5137 2.3 5944 1.6 6752 2.2 7358 6.9 7560 15
7059 13 6859 7.5 6856 1.8 6651 0.5 5945 0.6 5440
average max. and min. temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches




The climate in Shimla is predominantly cold during winters, and
moderately warm during summers. The temperatures range from 3.95 °C
(39.11 °F) to 32.95 °C (91.31 °F) over the year.[16] The average
temperature during summer is between 14 °C and 20 °C, and between -7
°C and 10 °C in winter. Monthly precipitation varies between 24 mm in
November to 415 mm in July. It is typically around 45 mm per month
during winter and spring and around 115 mm in June as the monsoon
approaches. The average total annual precipitation is 1520 mm (62
inches). Snowfall in the region, which usually took place in the month
of December has lately (over the last fifteen years) been happening in
January or early February every year.[17]


[edit] Economy
Employment is largely driven by the government and tourism.[18] Being
the administrative capital of the state of Himachal Pradesh, the city
houses several central and state government offices. Government jobs
account for almost half (47%) of the working population. Direct
hospitality industry personnel such as tour guides, hotel and
restaurant employees, etc., are few (10%). Individual crafts and small
scale industries, such as tourist souvenir production and
horticultural produce processing, comprise most of the remainder.


Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital at ShimlaIn addition to
being the local hub of transportation and trade, Shimla is the area's
healthcare center, hosting a medical college and four major hospitals:
[19] the Indira Gandhi Hospital (formerly known as Snowdown Hospital,)
Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital (formerly called Ripon Hospital,) Kamala
Nehru Hospital, and Indus Hospital. The city's development plan aims
make Shimla an attractive health tourism spot.[18]


[edit] Civic administration

Town Hall as seen from the RidgeThe administrative responsibilities of
the city of Shimla and the surrounding planning areas of Dhalli, Tutu,
and New Shimla reside with the Shimla Municipal corporation.
Established in 1851, the Shimla municipal corporation is an elected
body comprising 27 councilors 3 of which are nominated by the
government of Himachal Pradesh.[9] The nominations are based on
prominence in the fields of social service, academics and other
activities. 33% seats are reserved for women. The elections take place
every five years and the mayor and deputy mayor are elected by and
amongst the councilors themselves. As of June 2008, the two major
political parties are the Indian National Congress (in Opposition) and
BJP (in power).[20] The administrative head of the corporation is the
commissioner who is appointed by the state government.

The city contributes one seat to the state assembly (Vidhan Sabha),
and one seat to the lower house of parliament (Lok Sabha).[21] Law and
order in the city is collectively maintained by the Police department,
Vigilance Department, Enforcement directorate, Forensics, Fire
department, department of prisons, and Home Guard department. There
are five police stations and three fire stations in Shimla.[22] The
Superintendent of Police, Shimla heads the police department. The
First Armed Police Battalion, one of the four armed police battalions
in the state, is also available for assistance to the local police for
assistance.[23] There are eleven courts in the district including a
fast-track court[24]


[edit] Demographics
Shimla city consists of the Shimla municipal corporation and Shimla
planning areas (SPA). The SPAs are Dhalli, Tutu, and New Shimla urban
agglomerations. As per the 2001 India Census,[25] the city has a
population of 1,42,161 spread over an area of 19.55 km².[9] A floating
population of 75,000 is attributed to service industries such as
tourism.[9] The largest demographic, 55%, is 16–45 years of age. A
further 28% of the population are younger than 15 years. The low sex
ratio - 930 girls for every 1000 boys in 2001[26] - is cause for
concern, even though it is not atypical of the region.

The unemployment rate in the city has come down from 36% in 1992 to
22.6% in 2006. This drop is attributed to recent industrialization,
the growth of service industries, and knowledge development.[27] 84%
of the population of Shimla city is literate, compared to 80% in
Shimla district and 77% in the entire state.[28] The majority of
Shimla's population consists of natives of Himachal Pradesh. A large
minority of Muslims that did not leave during during the partition of
British India .These includes Sahni's of Solan. Hindi, Punjabi and
Pahari are the main languages. The major religion is Hinduism (98%),
followed by small minorities of Sikhism, Christians , Tibetan
Buddhists and then Muslims.


[edit] Culture

A folk celebration in Shimla
Stained Glass windows at St. Michael's Catholic Church (1850)
Shimla.The people of Shimla are informally called Shimlaites. With
largely cosmopolitan crowds, a variety of festivals are celebrated
here. The Shimla Summer Festival, held every year during peak tourist
season,[29] and lasting 3–4 days, is celebrated on the ridge. The
highlights of this event include performances by popular singers from
all over the country.[30] Shimla has a number of places to visit.
Local hangouts like the mall road and ridge are in the heart of the
city. Most of the heritage buildings in the city are preserved in
their original tudorbethan architecture. The Viceregal lodge which
houses the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, and Wildflower hall
that is now a luxury hotel are some of the famous ones. A collection
of paintings, jewellery and textiles of the region can be found at the
State Museum (built in 1974). Further out from the city is the
Naldehra nine-hole golf course, the oldest of its kind in India.[31]
Kufri is a ski resort (winter only) located 19 kilometres (11.8 mi)
from the main city. Lakkar Bazaar, a market extending off the ridge,
is famous for souvenirs and crafts made of wood. Tatta Pani, 55
kilometres (34.2 mi) from the main city, is the name of hot sulphur
springs that are believed to have medicinal value located on the banks
of river Satluj. Shimla is also home to Asia's only natural ice
skating rink.[32] State and national level competitions are often held
at this venue. The Shimla Ice Skating Club, which manages the rink,
hosts a carnival every year in January, which includes a fancy dress
competition and figure skating events. Due to effects of global
warming and increasing urban development in and around Shimla, the
number of sessions on ice every winter have been decreasing in the
past few years.

Shimla has many temples and is often visited by devotees from nearby
towns and cities. The Kali Bari temple, dedicated to the Hindu goddess
Kali is near the mall. Jakhoo Temple, for the Hindu god Hanuman is
located at the highest point in Shimla[citation needed]. Sankat
Mochan, another Hanuman temple, is famous for the numerous monkeys
that are always found in its vicinity. It is located on Shimla-Kalka
Highway about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) from the city. The nearby temple
of Tara Devi is a place for performing rituals and festivals. Other
prominent places of worship include a Gurudwara near the bus terminus
and a Church on the ridge.


[edit] Education

Public library on the RidgeThe city has 14 anganwadis and 63 primary
schools.[9] There are many schools from the British era. Some of the
popular schools in the city are: Bishop Cotton School, Shimla Public
School, St Edwards School, Tara Hall, Hainault Public School, DAV Lkr
Bazaar, DAV New Shimla, Auckland House School, Dayanand Public
School,St.Bedes(girls)and Himalayan Internation School at Chharabra,st
thomas shimla ,Chapslee School.

Kendriya Vidyalaya Shimla Jakhoo is one of the best schools in shimla.
Previously it was known by the name of Harcourt Butler School.

The medical institutes in Shimla are Indira Gandhi Medical College and
Dental college. St. Bedes and Rajkiya Kanya MahaVidayaliya (RKMV) are
girls-only colleges. Government College Sanjauli, and Government
College Chaura Maidan are also located in the city. The Indian
Institute of Advanced Study, housed in the Viceregal Lodge, is a
residential center for research in Humanities, Indian culture,
religion, and social and natural sciences. The Himachal Pradesh
University is also based in Shimla. UIIT (University Institute of
Information Technology), a premier institute to provide technical
education in the state is located here. Shimla has two state libraries
with a collection of over 47,000 old books divided between them. The
one at Gandhi Bhavan in the University has over 40,000 books and the
other library, also a heritage building on the ridge, has 7000.[33]
Other institutes of higher education and research located in Shimla
are the Central Potato Research Institute, a member of Indian Council
of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and [[NAAA[34]|National Academy of
Audit and Accounts]] for training of officers of the Indian Audit and
Accounts services (IA&AS).


[edit] Places Of Interest
The Shivalik Express is a single stop, luxury train connecting Shimla
with Kalka. Local trains also ply the line.


The Shivalik Express compartment
The Shivalik Express engine
A signboard that reads: "Caution: Feeding monkeys and other stray
animals in public places is a punishable offence. Violators may be
fined up to 500 rupees."The Mall: The Mall is the main shopping street
of Shimla. It also has many restaurants, clubs, banks, bars, Post
Offices and tourist offices. The Gaiety Theatre is also situated
there. People walk up and down the Mall slowly, stopping to gossip, as
it is the main meeting place for everyone. The Ridge and Scandal point
are the two main meeting points at the Mall.

Christ Church: Situated on the Ridge, Christ Church is the second
oldest church in Northern India. It has a very majestic appearance and
inside there are stained glass windows which represent faith, hope,
charity, fortitude, patience and humility. Christ Church is a place
all visitors should spend some time in.

Jakhu Hill: 2 km from Shimla, at a height of 8000 ft, Jakhu Hill is
the highest peak and offers a beautiful view of the town and of the
snow-covered Himalayas. At the top of the Hill, is an old temple of
Lord Hanuman, which is also the home of countless playful monkeys
waiting to be fed by all visitors.

Shimla State Museum: The Museum, which was opened in 1974, has tried
to protect hill-out and the cultural wealth of the state. There is a
collection of miniature Pahari paintings, sculptures, bronzes wood-
carvings and also costumes, textiles and jewellery of the region.

Indian Institute of Advanced Study: This institute is housed in the
Viceregal Lodge, built in 1884-88.

Bishop Cotton School: Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, is the one of the
oldest boarding schools in Asia, having been founded on 28 July, 1859,
by Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, son of an Army Captain, who died
leading his Regiment in battle. A scholar of Westminister, and a
graduate of Cambridge, in 1836 he was appointed Assistant Master at
Rugby by Doctor Thomas Arnold, one of the founders of the British
Public School system.

Summer Hill: Situated at a distance of 5 km from the Ridge is the
lovely township of Summer Hill at a height of 6,500 ft on the Shimla-
Kalka railway line. Mahatma Gandhi lived in these quiet surroundings
during his visits to Shimla. Himachal Pradesh University is situated
here.

Annandale: Developed as the playground of Shimla, Annandale is 2–4 km
from the Ridge at a height of 6,117 ft. It is a favourite spot for
cricket, picnics and polo.


The Annandale polo field, It also serves as a helipad when
required.Tara Devi: 11 km from the Shimla bus-stand. Tara Devi hill
has a temple dedicated to the goddess of stars on top of the hill.
There is a military Dairy Town here as well as the headquarters of
Bharat Scouts and Guides.

Sankat Mochan: A Lord Hanuman temple is located here.

Junga: Junga is a Tehsi 26 km from Shimla ; its original name (with
diacritics) is Jūnga and is a former royal retreat of the princely
state of Junga (also known as Keonthal Estate).

Mashobra: 13 km from Shimla, site of the annual Sipi fair in June.

Kufri 16 km from Shimla at a height of 8,600 ft, Kufri is the winter
sports capital and also has a small zoo.


Skiing in Kufri



Deodar TreesChharabra13 km from Shimla on route to Kufri.

Naldehra22 km from Shimla, with a nine-hole Naldehra Golf Club. The
annual Sipi fair in June is held in Naldehra.

TatapaniLocation of sulphur springs which are found near the Tatapani
mandir(holy temple)


Chail Chail was the summer capital of the Maharaja of Patiala before
Independence, known for its cricket pitch, the highest in the world.

Arki (46 km) is the site of an 18th century fort built when Arki was
the capital of the erstwhile hill state of Baghal

Sanjauli: The main suburb of Shimla.


The Shimla Railway StationLocal transport in Shimla is by bus or
private vehicles. Buses ply frequently on the circular road
surrounding the city center. Tourist taxis are also an option for out
of town trips. Locals typically traverse the city on foot. Private
vehicles are prohibited on the mall, ridge, and nearby markets. Due to
narrow roads and steep slopes, the auto rickshaws common in other
Indian cities are largely absent.

Shimla is well-connected by road and rail. The National Highway 22 (NH
22) connects Shimla to the nearest big city of Chandigarh. The scenic
Kalka Shimla Railway, a narrow gauge track, is listed in the Guinness
Book of Records for the steepest rise in altitude in a distance of 96
km.[35] Kalka, the plains rail terminus, has daily departures to major
Indian cities. Flights from the airport at Jubbarhatti (12 km away)
[36] connect Shimla to Delhi.


A beautiful view of Shimla



[edit] See also
Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan on July 3, 1972.
Simla Accord (1913) was a treaty between Britain and Tibet signed in
1914 at the end of a convention held in Shimla. Although its legal
status is disputed, it is currently the effective boundary between
China and India.

[edit] References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Shimla
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^ "Narrow Gauge Routes". IRFCA - The Indian Railways Fan Club.
http://www.irfca.org/docs/ng-routes.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-21.
^ "Shimla Tourism, The Queen of Hills". http://hpshimla.nic.in/sml_tourism.htm.
^ a b Charles Allen, Kipling Sahib, London, Little Brown, 2007
^ Researches and Missionary Labours Among the Jews, Mohammedans, and
Other Sects By Joseph Wolff, published by O. Rogers, 1837
^ Kipling Sahib, London, Little Brown, 2007: p. 134
^ a b c "Heritage of Shimla" (PDF). Town & Country Planning
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^ Adarsh Batra (September 2001). "Himalayan Ecotourism In
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...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://hpshimla.nic.in/sml_heritage.htm#Shimla%20Architecture

Shimla Architecture

The presence of cedar forests has played a major role in the evolution
and development of various architectural forms. The wood extracted
from the cidar tree is full of strength and can be used in
multistoreys, can withstand long periods of weather corrosion, the
wood is insect and termite resistant.

The 'Kathkuni' or 'Kathkundi' style of building is something unique to
this part of the world. A mesh of interlocking horizontal cedar
(locally, deodar) sleepers is created - and in this dressed or raw
stone is packed. A singular characteristic is the absence of vertical
members. With inherent elasticity, the design has an enormous seismic
response - there have been instances when tremors have dislodged the
stones from the frame, and later, have been hammered back into the
intact mesh of wood houses and temples in the style are present in the
districts of Shimla, Kullu & Kinnaur.

Walls of rammed earth are popular all over and in the treeless tracts
of the Trans Himalaya, some stunning architecture has been created on
seemingly insurmountable sites. The quality of dressed or carved stone
has created remarkable temples, forts and residences. Fine slate, or
slabs of quartzite have provided roofing material.
This came to be known as Hill Architecture.With the coming of the
Europeans, Himachal added another dimension to its rich architectural
heritage. It went on changing and the initial simple Swiss-type
cottages/German country houses were outshone by architectural marvels
in Elizabethan style of English renaissance or Gothic or the splendour
of dressed stones and gray slate roof. All this assimilated well with
the character of Shimla. It enhanced, not diminished the beauty of the
hill station.

The state capital has some of the world's finest examples of British
colonial architecture. Inspired by the Renaissance in England, is the
greystone former Viceregal Lodge (now the Indian Institute of Advanced
Study), the neo Gothic structures of the gaiety theatre and the former
imperial Civil Secretariat (now the Accountant General's Office).
There are the Tudor framed Barnes Court (now the Raj Bhawan), and the
distinctive Vidhan Sabha and the secretariat of the government of
Himachal Pradesh. Some of the heritage buildings are :-

Ellerslie : The Himachal Pradesh Secretariat (Ellerslie building) was
designed by Lt. Col. H.E.S. Abbott 100 years back. This beautiful
building was constructed after dismantling an old building of the same
name that housed the Military Department of the Punjab Government till
1886.
Abbot sought permission for construction from the then Secretary of
the Municipal Committee Major W.P. Larson and wrote " you are aware of
the intensions of the Punjab Government to pull down the house
'Ellerslie' and build on the site a new set of offices to accommodate
the whole of Punjab Secretariat." The permission was granted on 28th
June, 1899. The inside of Ellerslie is made of stone quarried from
Sanjauli and Barnes Court (Present Raj Bhawan) and stuck together
using lime mortar. The brickwork too has lime mortar cementing. The
Himachal Pradesh Secretariat occupied it in the summers of 1967. In
July 1972 the "Summit Hall" where the cabinet meetings are held was
spruced up and was given this name as initial summit meeting for
Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan. This building with sub-
basement, basement and three floors, now has 143 rooms and 31 toilets.
It covers and area of about 8663 meters.

The Vice Regal Lodge : On the Observatory Hills is located the
Viceregal Lodge. Also known as Rashtrapati Niwas, it was formerly the
residence of the British Viceroy Lord Dufferin, was the venue for many
important decisions, which changed the fate of the sub-continent. It
is quite befittingly the only building in Shimla that occupies a hill
by itself. This rambling Scottish baronial edifice was designed by
Henry Irvine, architect to the Public Works Department of the colonial
government in India. The south facing entrance portico sees the
visitor into the reception hall. The hall is marked by a grand
staircase which springs from the right and spirals up three full
floors. Facing the main entrance is the grand fireplace. A gallery
with well-appointed teak panelling is the central space of the
building around which the other rooms are arranged. The state drawing
room, ballroom, and the wood-panelled dining room - decorated with
coats of arms of former Governor-Generals and Viceroys - lead to the
gallery at the lower level. Verandas and terraces surround the entire
building at different levels. Those at the lower level link the lodge
to the magnificent grounds while those on other floors provide superb
views of mountains. Way back in 1888 this Lodge had electric light –
when nobody else in Shimla did – and, would you believe it, an indoor
tennis court! The lodge had extensive facilities including huge
kitchens; separate rooms for storing table linen, plates, china and
glass; laundry; an enormous wine cellar; a room for empty cases;
boilers for central heating and running hot and cold water in the
bathrooms. Pretty much as in Delhi’s Viceregal Palace, the Viceroy
hosted lavish parties and entertained the royal princes and nawabs in
style. Several momentous decisions were taken in this building. This
was the venue of the Simla Conference in 1945. In 1947 , the decision
to partition India and carve out the states of Pakistan and East
Pakistan (now Bangladesh) , was also taken here.

After independence, the Lodge remained the summer retreat of the
President of India. In the early 60s the President of India, Dr. S.
Radhakrishnan, a leading philosopher and writer, and the Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru decided to make it a scholars’ den where the
best minds would find an ideal retreat. That’s when the Indian
Institute of Advanced Study moved into the Lodge in 1965.Obviously
enough, some of the interiors had to be changed to accommodate the
needs of the Institute. The state drawing room, ballroom, and dining
room, for example, have been converted into a library; the Viceroy’s
office is now the IIAS Director’s office; and the conference hall is
now a seminar room for research scholars. Without the large contingent
of Viceregal attendants and the resources, the ambience of this large
estate is very different from what it used to be in the days of the
Raj.The institute seems like the perfect setting for lively
intellectual debates and discussions. The list of Fellows of the
Institute includes names the Burmese Nobel peace prize winner Aung San
Sun Kyi, who was a fellow here in 1986.

Christ Church : The most prominent building on the Mall is the yellow
Christ Church, reputed to be the second oldest church in northern
India. The Christ Church is the most important landmark here and is
photographed by tourists. The silhouette of this can be seen on the
skyline for miles around. It was designed by Colonel JT Boileau in
1844, but consecrated only after 1857. The clock was donated by
Colonel Dumbleton in 1860, and the porch added in 1873.

It still has those lovely stained glass windows (five in all) for
which it is so famed. Check out the one that represents the virtues of
Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude, Patience and Humility. According to
Mr. Bazel Dean, the pipe organ is one of the biggest in the country
and was erected in September, 1899. Its tuning was completed on
September 23, 1899, and the dedication and opening recital took place
on September 28, 1899.The beautiful "king of instruments" was built by
Messers Morgan and Smith of Brighten (England) at a cost of Rs 23,000.
It was extensively repaired in 1932.The 155-year-old church first had
an organ which was erected in 1855. The major portion of it cost £ 250
and was subscribed by Lady Gomm wife of the Commander-in-Chief.

In 1875, the organ was replaced by a new instrument which in 1899 was
sold to the Rawalpindi Church to make room for the present organ. The
two most expensive stops were presented by Air Mackworth Young and Sir
James Walker, while the cost of decorating the pipes was defrayed by
the Countess of Elgin to commemorate the marriage of her daughter Lady
Elizabeth Bruce with H. Babington Smith in the church on September 22,
1898. In the winter of 1900 the six bells were hung in the tower. The
actual cost of the church came out to be Rs 89,000.

Gorton Castle : One of the most striking buildings of the British
empire, Gorton Castle is a new-Gothic structure that had the famous
Sir Swinton Jacob as its architect - the Rajasthan jaali work on its
balconies obviously came from his forty five years of experience as
the executive engineer of the princely state of Jaipur, completed in
1904, this was the Civil Secretariat of the Imperial Government of
India and housed the Legislative, Lands, Education, Home Health and
Finance departments. Today, this houses the offices of the Accountant
General of Himachal Pradesh. This three floored building with about
125 small and big rooms became the seat of the Accountant General in
1947. This finest house in Shimla, according to Sir Edward Buck also
has one floor paved with rosewood like timber blocks which were
brought from Andaman Islands by B.Ribbentrop head of forest
department. The site belonged to one Mr. Gorton, ICS in 1840. After
changing hands thrice, it was purchased by a banker, Sir James Walker
for Rs. 80,000. He wished to gift it for construction of Hospital
After much discussion and persuasion the building was acquired for its
officers and Sir Walker was given alternate site where Walker Hospital
was constructed.

The Railway Board Building : Built in 1896-97, this unusual cast iron
and steel structure once held the offices of the Railway Board and the
Department of Commerce. But at a time when safety was a core-
consideration for important buildings throughout the British Empire,
this was designed to be structurally fire fire-resistant, and a
recent blaze has testified to this in Shimla. The building was
originally designated as the 'Public Works Department Secretariat
Offices' and was fabricated by the Bombay based firm of Rishardson and
Cruddas. Above road level, the building has four levels and with one
side exposed, climbing down the hill, it has three basements. On the
10 Feb,2001 a blaze broke out in the top floor and standing testimony
to its construction and to the subsequent restoration, no trace of
this huge fire remains today and its facade is as imposing as ever.
Presently, it houses many of the Central Government Offices.

Gaiety Theatre : The Gaiety Theatre, and a tradition of amateur
theatrical remains in the stump of the once colossal edifice that was
the Town Hall. The architect Henry Irwin, who built the Viceregal
Lodge, designed the theatre building. In 1911, the upper portions of
the building were dismantled as the structure was found to be unsafe.
It was opened on the 30th of May, 1887, Queen Victoria's Jubilee Year
and its God- Father was lord Bill Beresford, who saved the Simla
A.D.C.(Amateur Dramatic Club) , time and again from financial ruin.
The formal inauguration of the Simla A.D.C. took place in the year
1888 and since then plays have been staged in the Gaiety with
unfalling regularty.The history of ADC goes back to the times when
theatre was looked upon as a major and serious source of entertainment
and, therefore became a cultural necessity for the English elite.
Hence, Shimla became the home of amateur theatre and the Gaiety
Theatre produced the best of the plays performed in London.

Among the leading theatre personalities connected with the Shimla
Amateur Dramatic Club are: Field Marshal Lord Roberts, who remained
president of the Club from 1891-1892 during his tenure as Commander-in-
Chief of India; Major P.H. Dnyer, a distinguished producer and actor
who acted in Loyalties, Interference and Mary Rose; Lord Bill
Beresford, V.C. who was the Military Secretary to Viceroy Lord Lytton,
famous poet and author Rudyard Kipling, Lord Kitchner, Mrs. Deane,
Major General Sir Godfrey Williams, the Chief of Scouts, Colonel Baden-
Powell, and Sir Dennis Fitz Patrick, Lieut-Governor of Punjab during
1895 and many others. Notable film personalities like K.L. Saigal,
Prithvi Raj Kapoor, Shashi Kapoor, Jennifer Kendall, Raj Babbar,
Anupam Kher, Manohar Singh, Nasseerudin Shah, frequently performed on
the stage of the Gaiety theatre.

Wood Ville : Woodville is one of the oldest and finest houses of
Shimla east. It became the honoured residence of the Commander-in-
Chief in the year 1865, and its first occupant was General Sir William
Rose Mansfield. After the year 1881 the Commander-in-Chief deserted it
for Snowdon, near Lakkar Bazaar, which was burnt down some year back
and the site is now taken by Indira Gandhi Medical College and
Hospital, also called Snowdon Hospital. In the year 1881 Woodville
house was bought by Sir James Walker and afterwards passed on to the
Alliance Bank of Simla, which used it as the manager's residence. The
bank collapsed in the year 1923 and not long afterwards the house was
bought over by Raja Rana Sir Bhagat Chand of Jubbal, who tastefully
converted it into his summer Palace. After the Raja's death, the
Palace has been turned into a hotel by one of his grandsons. The house
has lovely surroundings, beautiful wooded walks, clusters of pine and
deodars, and well-groomed lawns, reminiscent of a large German country-
house. Woodville is an ideal refuge for people who really want peace
and quietude, away from the madding crowd. The owner of the Woodville
Palace Hotel lives within the estate.

Shimla File

Annadale Ground : No Other landmark in Simla can revive more pleasant
memories than the famous playground and race-course by the name of
Annadale, located in a deep wide valley in the suburban village of
Kaithu, simla west. This playground rests on a small patch of table-
land about a three-quarters of a mile in circumference. The spur on
which it stood was a sort of valley-flat which was greatly extended
and improved. Now misnamed Annandale, the original name of this place
was Annadale and this name is derived from a small story about it. The
story is that Captain charles pratt Kennedy, one of the first incomers
to this place, was so struck by the beauty of the valley that he saw,
that be named after a young lady to whom he was so deeply attached in
his young boyhood days. Her name was Anna and he combined it with the
word 'dale' meaning a valley, thus calling the valley as Annadale.
this spelling appears in the early lithographs of Simla done about the
year 1840. Annandale, since its inception in the 1830s was the haunt
of Anglo-Indian playful activities, amusements and entertainments. It
was the favourite place for picnic parties, fetes and fancy-fairs,
birthday-balls,flower and dog shows, army tatoos,races and
gymkhanas,polo matches and other tournaments in 1888 which became a
regular annual feature and which still bears his name although the
venue of this tournament is now shifted to Calcutta.

An ambitious improvement scheme was launched by Lord William
Beresford, the Military Secretary to Lord Dufferin, and his keen
interest in the expansion of Annandale ground gave the 'Cricketers a
new pavilion and a polo field for the polo fans.' The cutting of a big
piece of the hill cost nearly Rs 80,000 to which handsome amounts were
contributed by the Indian Rajas. In the old regime there was a general
committee for the maintenance of the ground and funds were derived
from the rents paid by the gymkhana, polo and cricket clubs, race
committee and other voluntary organisations. Presently there are no
more races and the field is utilised as a helipad and for army
exercise and parades, sports and occasionally for other kinds of
assemblages like Dussehra festival celebrations. The very first fancy
fair was held in Annandale in the year 1839.

Scandal Point : Scandal Point is the hub of the town's social life.
Behind this, stands the wide timber-framed Post-Office in Spartan
brick and the building of the Church of Scotland, St. Andrew's.
Arguably the Scandal Point still echoes the sentiments expressed by
Harrop,"The transmitters of gossip are ever at work and savory and
unsavory secrets of our society are flashed to the uttermost limits of
Simla with all the speed of wireless." There used to be a mechanical
equestrian statue here. It was a clever piece of mechanism, which
smiles, salutes and slaps its horse occasionally, when it shows signs
of undue activity and restlessness.

The Road to Shimla : In the early days of Simla settlement the visitor
to Simla required Herculean strength to cope with the hardship of
uncomfortable, cumbersome and exhausting travel. By the 1860's the
East India Railway had come only upto Ambala (Umbllah) from where one
had to proceed by four wheeled 'Dak Garry' or Mail Wagon to Kalka, at
the foot of Simla hills. These Carriages were mainly drawn by horse
but at times bullocks or even elephants were utilised to pull them
across the bridge-less River Ghaggar. From Kalka another eight hours
of gruelling journey by 'Tonga', a two wheeled horse carriage, brought
the visitor to Simla.The tonga was a greater affliction than the Dak
Garry. It was a crude,uncomfortable but strong two-wheeled cart drawn
by one or two Kabul ponies, harnessed in curicle style passengers
sitting back to back, and luggage strapped on to the sides over the
wheels,with the pathan driver at the reins. It accommodated 4 to 6
passengers. The other modes of transport of earlier days were bullock-
carts, mule-trains, camels and horses, 'dandy' (a sedan chair slung on
poles and carried by bearers) and 'jampan' or 'doli' which was a
covered type of curtailed tiny box-like compartment, carried like the
dandy. the janpan was described by one sufferer as 'a jolting, back
aching abomination'

The Combermere Bridge : The Combermere Bridge on the mall is the
oldest British landmark of Shimla. In the words of Captain Mundy,
A.D.C. to lord Combermere (1928),"Lord Combermere amused himself, and
benefitted the public by superintending the formation of a fine,
broad,level road round the mount Jakhu, about three miles in
length...worked entirely by Hill men...and skillfully done..and when
finished, will be a great acquisition to the loungers of Shimla.This
is the present Jakhu round, a favourite woody walk around JakhuHill."
Across a deep ravine, a quarter of mile from the town, his lordship
erected neat 'Sangah', or a mountain bridge of pines; and under it a
capacious stone tank was constructed to obviate the great scarcity of
water." The bridge still bears the name of Combermere and it was the
first step towards the improvement of Simla.Present day bridge was
built in 1971-72. Today Combermere Bridge is a busy spot surrounded by
the lift to cart road, Indira Gandhi Khel Parisar, Fruit vendors and
Pram Wallahas.

Seven Hills : Shimla is surrounded by Seven Hills , These hills offer
a wide variety of trails to visitors to explore. The seven Hills are :

i) Prospect Hill in western Shimla, which has the Kamna Devi temple.

ii) Summer Hill in western Shimla, where the campus of Himachal
Pradesh University is located.

iii) Observatory Hill in western Shimla, where the Indian Institute of
Advanced Study is found.

iv) Inverarm in western Shimla, where the State Museum is located.

v) Bantony in central Shimla, which has the Grand Hotel.

vi) Jakhoo in central Shimla, which is crowned by the temple dedicated
to Lord Hanuman.

vii) Elysium in north-western Shimla, which holds Auckland House and
Longwood and reaches out towards the Bharari spur.

Bhalku and Kalka-Shimla Railway : The 95 kilometer long Kalka-Shimla
Railway track, a unique feat of engineering, was laid under the
guidance of Bhalku Sirmauri. He guided the engineers showing them the
line, the track should take. Legends is that the track was revealed to
him by the Devta. Railway line was laid exactly on the trace shown by
him. It was built under the supervision of H.S. Harington, Chief
Engineer. With the growth in the simla population,permanent and
floating, the M.C.C. (Motor Car Co.) was not found capable enough to
cope with the growth transport of passengers,luggage and the
provisions of everyday consumption which had to be brought in from the
markets in the plains and a necessity was felt to find a better
alternative means of transport.So a Mountain Railway Project was
planned in 1847. The narrow gauge track (2ft. 6 in. gauge) runs
through picturesque mountain scenery ascending from 2800 feet to 7000
feet. From Kalka (at 640 m) the track rises to Simla Railway Station
(2060 m) through 103 tunnels and passes through 800 bridges and 900
curves. Barog tunnel 2.8 Km long is the longest tunnel.

http://www.shimla-travel.com/history_shimla.shtml

History of SHIMLA

Shimla came into existence in 1819, after the Gurkha War, when a
thickly wooded spot, then known for the temple of goddess `Shyamala'
was discovered by the British. Its climate commanded itself to British
officers on leave and remained a summer village of tents for about
three years. It was only in the year 1822 that Captain Kennedy
constructed the first double storey building here known as the Kennedy
House. Lord Amherst, the first Governor General who visited Shimla, in
1827 stayed at the Kennedy House. It was during Lord William
Bentinck's time that Shimla was truly acquired by the Government of
India. The old Dak Bungalow of Shimla was demolished to provide a site
for the Bentinck Castle, which is today the famous Grand Hotel. Soon
Shimla became the summer capital of the British Indian Government.
Lord Bentinck's successor Lord Auckland, chose a residence on the
northern eastern spur of the Shimla range which was known as the
Auckland House. The Auckland House, one of the oldest houses of
Shimla, was a scenario of brilliant balls and theatricals.

The British made Shimla their summer capital in 1864 and it remained
so until 1939. The summer exodus of the officials from the plains,
however, ended after 1947. Shimla continued to serve as a temporary
capital of the east Punjab until the new city of Chandigarh was
completed. It has remained the capital of Himachal Pradesh ever since
1966.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/14214207/State-units-defy-BJP-central-l.html

Posted: Fri, Aug 14 2009. 9:46 PM IST
Economy and Politics

State units defy BJP central leadershipRajasthan MLAs meet party
president Rajnath Singh to protest move to remove Vasundhara Raje; say
they will re-elect herSantosh K. Joy

New Delhi: Even as the country’s main Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) is poised to undertake a crucial brainstorming session
next week to revive its political fortunes, the party continues to be
buffeted by dissidence among several regional units, including
Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

In almost all instances, the central leadership, which has been
struggling to manage dissidence within its ranks after the party’s
outright defeat in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, has been approached
to prevail upon the situation.

On Friday, the latest episode involving Vasundhara Raje, former chief
minister of Rajasthan, spilled over, with 57 of the 78 members of the
legislative assembly (MLAs) in the state reaching Delhi to make a case
for her.

They were responding to an informal communication from the central
leadership signalling that Raje should step down as leader of the
party in the state assembly. After meeting party president Rajnath
Singh, the MLAs approached L.K. Advani, former president and current
leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha. They were, however, denied an
audience.

The core group of the BJP, an informal grouping of the top national
leaders, had decided on 6 August that Raje should step down as the
legislative party leader, assuming responsibility for the defeat in
the assembly election in December and the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
State party chief Om Mathur and organizational secretary Prakash
Sharma had already resigned.

“Decisions in the party are taken unanimously and have to be followed
by everyone,” Singh said after meeting the legislators.

Striking a defiant tone, MLA Rajendra Singh Rathore, who led the Raje
supporters in Delhi, told reporters after meeting Singh that the state
legislature party can re-elect Raje as their new leader “if a
situation like that is thrust upon them”.

While senior leaders agree that any road map ahead could prove a non-
starter in the wake of state-level defiance, the leadership doesn’t
seem interested in any tough action ahead of the organizational
election. Election to the post of party president is due next January
and state leaders and national executive members from respective
states are slated to play a major role in the poll.

“A strong central leadership is a must for any plan to be executed.
The state leaders need to follow the directions, but unfortunately for
the party, it’s not happening as intended,” said party vice-president
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Regional outfits of the BJP have begun to assert themselves ever since
the party suffered its second successive electoral defeat that
triggered infighting among the second rung of its national leadership.
It started with the Uttarakhand state unit sending back the central
envoys, Naqvi and general secretary Thavarchand Gehlot, who had been
sent to scale down the dissidence and ensure the continuation of the
incumbent, chief minister B.C. Khanduri.

The central leadership later capitulated to the demand of the
dissidents and state health minister Ramesh Pokhriyal took over as
chief minister.

Senior party leader Arun Jaitley suffered a similar fate in June when
the Karnataka unit, led by chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, declined
to patch up with the so-called Bellary brothers, state tourism
minister G. Janardhana Reddy and revenue minister G. Karunakara Reddy.
Jaitley was rushed to Bangalore to defuse the problem. Jaitley
declined comment.

The state unit of Punjab also rejected the demand of the central
leadership on the urging of Amritsar member of Parliament Navjot Singh
Sidhu seeking replacement of Rajinder Mohan Cheema as chairman of the
Amritsar Improvement Trust.

Another instance of rebellion came from Madhya Pradesh, when the
party’s state election committee passed a unanimous resolution against
supporting any candidate nominated by the leadership for the state
Rajya Sabha by-polls.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan visited Delhi and met Advani and
Jaitley “to convey the sentiments of the state leadership”. Party
insiders said the BJP’s central leadership wanted either outgoing
Rajya Sabha member Hema Malini or actor Smriti Irani to be elected to
the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh, which was rejected by the state
unit.

The defiance of the central leadership is not limited to Punjab,
Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. A section of
MLAs in Bihar complained several times to the leadership against
deputy chief minister Sushil Modi for being too close to coalition
partner Janata Dal (United) and state chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Eventually, a secret ballot was conducted and Modi was retained.

“These are the side effects rejecting Advani as the leader for the
next five years. The state leaderships are trying to make a
counterpoint as a sign of defiance,” said Bidyut Chakrabarty,
professor in the department of political science at Delhi university.
“Before trying to rein in the state leadership, the BJP needs to first
sort out the central leadership struggle, without which no plan for
the road ahead can work for the party.”

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=HomePage&id=383f7bf4-cf5e-4e41-9b61-f6e1119ef645&Headline=Rajasthan-MLAs-meet-Rajnath-over-Vasundhra-issue

Rajasthan MLAs meet Rajnath over Vasundhra issue

Press Trust Of India

New Delhi, August 14, 2009

First Published: 09:50 IST(14/8/2009)
Last Updated: 19:53 IST(14/8/2009)

A group of 45 Rajasthan BJP MLAs supporting Vasundhara Raje on Friday
met party president Rajnath Singh in a bid to pressurise him against
the high command's decision to remove her from the post of leader of
opposition in the assembly.

The MLAs from the Rajasthan assembly reached the residence of Singh on
Friday morning and sought a meeting with the senior leader. They were
accompanied by some office bearers of the Rajasthan party unit.

These MLAs are understood to have conveyed that majority of the 78
MLAs in the state assembly were with Raje, defying the party
directive.

The former Rajasthan chief minister was asked to step down a few days
back by the BJP and RSS central leadership. The decision to remove her
was taken after she failed to deliver and take party cadre along in
the Vidhan Sabha and the Lok Sabha elections.

BJP got just four Lok Sabha seats this time as compared to 23 in the
2004 elections.

Though Raje has not spoken on the move to oust her, her supporters led
by Bharatpur MLA Vijay Bansal have come out in her support.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/15/stories/2009081550770100.htm

Advani refuses to meet pro-Vasundhara Raje MLAs
Vinay Kumar

They want her retained as Opposition leader in the Assembly

— PHOTO: PTI/Subhav Shukla

Rebellion: BJP MLAs from Rajasthan, protesting against the party’s
decision to remove Vasundhara Raje Scindia as leader of the Opposition
in the Assembly, stage a sit-in outside the residence of party leader
L.K. Advani in New Delhi on Friday.

NEW DELHI: Reeling under the impact of the debacle in the recent Lok
Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday was witness to
an open rebellion by a group of Rajasthan MLAs who were against the
party’s decision to remove the former Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje
Scindia, as leader of the Opposition in the Assembly.

Even as the party was preparing for a brainstorming session next week
in Shimla, the defiant group of about 60 MLAs owing allegiance to Ms.
Raje, descended outside the residence of senior party leader L.K.
Advani here, demanding an audience with him. However, Mr. Advani
refused to meet them and the party high command bluntly told them that
Ms. Raje would have to step down from her post in the Assembly. The
party leadership appears to have taken a serious view of the protest
staged by the pro-Raje MLAs.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, with whom the MLAs were granted an
audience, stood firm on the party decision holding Ms. Raje
accountable for the party’s defeat in the 2008 Assembly elections and
the dismal show in this year’s Lok Sabha polls and asking her to step
down.

“I told the MLAs that this is not the way to express their views. They
should not have come in a group. Two or three could have come,” Mr.
Singh said.

“Change in responsibility is a natural process in any political party.
Policy decisions are taken by the central leadership,” he asserted.

However, the MLAs, who staged a brief sit-in outside the well-
fortified residence of Mr. Advani, maintained that the legislature
party should decide who its leader should be.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Advani and Mr. Singh met. Though Ms. Raje is
believed to be in Mr. Advani’s camp, he stuck to the stand that the
collective decision of the party should be implemented. A meeting with
the rebel MLAs would have sent wrong signals in the party.

But the MLAs appear to be unrelenting. “We, 62 MLAs from Rajasthan,
have come to tell the central leadership that our leader will continue
to be Vasundhara Raje. We want to warn them that without her the
people of Rajasthan and the party unit will be nothing. We do not want
a change in the leadership,” BJP chief whip in the Rajasthan Assembly
Rajendra Singh Rathore said.

Ms. Raje’s supporters claim to have 62 of the 78 party MLAs on their
side.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/jaipur/Raje-loyalists-march-to-Delhi/articleshow/4895316.cms

Raje loyalists march to Delhi
TNN 15 August 2009, 02:39am IST

JAIPUR: After trying to hard to keep their displeasure over the move
to replace Vasundhara Raje under wraps for the past three days, a
majority of
BJP MLAs waged an open war in Delhi on Friday against the party high
command's decision.

Even as more than 50 MLAs were in Delhi to pledge their support to
Raje, the anti-Raje camp preferred to adopt a wait-and-watch policy
and closely monitored the day's proceedings back home.

While her loyalists queued up outside the houses of senior party
leaders in Delhi, Raje has just as many enemies in the party as
friends, if not more. Most of them, including RSS-backed senior MLAs
like Ghanshyam Tiwari and Gulabchand Kataria, are in favour of
replacing Raje.

Though they did not go to Delhi, these MLAs also did not come out in
the open in favour of the party high command's decision. They are
supported by party MP Lalit Kishore Chaturvedi and senior leader
Harishankar Bhabhda, who have openly declared war against her in the
state. This camp is pleased that the agitating MLAs were not given a
decent hearing by the senior party leaders in Delhi.

Parallel to this is the camp owing allegiance to party veteran Bhairon
Singh Shekhawat, which is also closely monitoring the situation. The
former Vice-President and his followers have repeatedly alleged that
Raje ignored him time and again and are upset over her style of
functioning.

Former MLA Mahaveer Prasad Jain, who is believed to be a part of the
anti-Raje camp, said, "The show of strength by the MLAs is a breach of
discipline. No leader is bigger than the party in BJP and the Raje
loyalists seem to have forgotten this.''

Another senior anti-Raje leader hoped that Raje would be made to
resign. "The party high command has already made it clear and Raje's
reaction is over-dramatic, despite the fact that she has no option. We
are already discussing as to who would replace her,'' he claimed.

According to reports, party president Rajnath Singh on Friday had
demanded an explanation from party MLA Rajendra Singh Rathore on his
Delhi trip. Om Birla, one of those present in Delhi, said, "We shared
our opinion with the party president. He told us that BJP is a
national party and the decision are also taken nationally.''

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/city/jaipur/Wholl-have-the-last-laugh/articleshow/4895314.cms

Who'll have the last laugh?
TNN 15 August 2009, 12:58am IST

JAIPUR: Even as the national BJP leadership, including its president
Rajnath Singh is insistent on removing Vasundhara Raje as the Leader
of Opposition in Rajasthan, the party unit in the state is "a
divided" house.

The number of her detractors has gone up after Raje's "autocratic"
ways were termed to be the main reason behind the back-to-back
debacles in the assembly and the Lok Sabha polls. Still her opponents
maintained calm and never allowed the dissension to come out in the in
public. Only Jaswant Singh and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat have been vocal
against Raje and have often ridiculed her way of functioning.

Now the old horses with the tacit support of Sangh Parivar are
reportedly putting pressure on the central leadership to ease out
Raje. Leaders like Jaswant Singh and Shekhawat were already pushing
the anti-Raje group, which now stands strengthened as senior leaders
like Ghanshyam Tiwari and Gulab Chand Kataria have joined the camp.

This, however, doesn't reduce Raje's strength among the elected
legislators and the majority stands with her, which now puts the
central leadership in the typical devil and the deep blue sea'
situation. "We are not going to accept any replacement for Raje. Even
the leaders at the Centre can't make us change our stand," says a
defiant Bhawani Singh Rajawat, MLA from Ladepura. Rajawat said
whatever high command thinks, majority was with Raje and senior
leaders should respect that.

Deegh-Kumher MLA was equally firm in pro-Raje campaign. "Her tenure
has been the best where development of Rajasthan is concerned so you
can't take away the credit just after two losses," he says.

Leaders like Rajendra Singh Rathore, Digambar Singh and Bhawani Singh
have already conveyed that they will not feel comfortable with any
leader other than Raje. This means that the party leadership will have
to once again rope in a leader of national repute from outside the
state.

Earlier also, Rajasthan BJP has seen such steps only to keep the
possible differences at bay. Raje was given the charge of Rajasthan.
Even Om Mathur, who resigned recently as state president, had been
sent to Rajasthan as party had no unanimous choice. Imposing another
leader from some other state as replacement for Raje is the only
option the party leadership is left with.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Is-Vasundhara-Rajes-ego-coming-in-the-way/articleshow/4895443.cms

Is Vasundhara Raje's ego coming in the way?
TNN 15 August 2009, 01:40am IST

JAIPUR: Is it her dedication to Rajasthan or her royal ego that’s
stopping former CM Vasundhara Raje from quitting the post of the
state’s leader of
the Opposition?

With pressure mounting on her from the anti-Raje camp — mainly the RSS
and its votaries in BJP — the ex-CM appears to be running out of
options. An obvious question that even some of Raje’s backers are
asking is why, when she was involved with the BJP on the national
stage until eight years ago, is she now so resistant to the idea of
being brought back to the Centre? Why is she staking years of hard
work as a party worker to take on both the RSS and the party
leadership?

‘‘She seems bent on proving a point to not just the party leadership
but to herself as well. The last assembly election results — as also
BJP’s Lok Sabha stumble in the state early this year — were a blow to
her ego and she wants to prove that she has lost none of her hold over
Rajasthan’s voters or party members,’’ said a close associate. With
Rajasthan BJP chief Om Prakash Mathur resigning on moral grounds and
the party high command removing state organisational secretary Prakash
Chandra, pressure on Raje to quit was steadily mounting. In fact,
according to some sources, this isn’t the first time that BJP chief
Rajnath Singh’s office has demanded her resignation. Soon after the
party’s Lok Sabha debacle when the blame game began, the BJP high
command had hinted that Raje, too, should quit voluntarily.

Raje had managed to convince party chief Rajnath Singh then. But with
infighting continuing to rage within the state unit, the party
leadership is now insistent — an approach that grows stouter even as
she, too, digs in her heels. It’s also learnt that Raje is sceptical
of her political future in the event she is turfed out of Rajasthan.
‘‘She knows she will have limited powers if she becomes part of the
national team. In Rajasthan, she continues to be the leader of the
legislative party,’’ said a senior BJP functionary.

Freedom from fights
The Indian Express

Posted: Saturday , Aug 15, 2009 at 0036 hrs

The BJP must fear that it is the new Congress. Or, more precisely,
that it is the Congress of 10 years ago: victim of successive
electoral defeats, unable to move beyond infighting, apparently
bleeding support in its core areas. News from Rajasthan about the
embattled Vasundhara Raje Scindia will only help that impression gain
ground. Scindia, who lost the Rajasthan elections last year as
incumbent chief minister, was nevertheless retained as head of the BJP
legislative party. Now, however, after the state BJP’s terrible
performance in the Lok Sabha polls — it lost 21 of Rajasthan’s 25
seats — she’s pressured to quit. Scindia clearly doesn’t want to; and
she claims she has the support of most BJP MLAs.

Scindia’s troubles are becoming almost representative of the BJP’s
internal turmoil, and serve as an indicator of the problems that the
party needs to manage to overcome. Why, for instance, was Scindia
permitted to stay in charge after the first defeat? How have those
reasons changed, given the parliamentary results? Discussion of these
issues — or even a simple explanation — would aid the re-imposition of
discipline. After all, Scindia could claim, why should she not
forcefully claim the leadership at the state level when those seeking
to control her at the central level are doing exactly the same in
Delhi?

The BJP, for the first time in its existence, has to deal with a non-
obvious succession. How it handles this — the openness, the
transparency, the integrity with which it is carried out — will
determine the party’s fate for a generation. Its chintan baithak,
which is to open in Shimla next week, has much to think about. It now
also has responses from the grass roots: as this newspaper has
reported, the very analysis the party’s leadership is reading today
shows that its cadre holds infighting responsible for its non-
performance. When a lack of transparency and basic good sense appears
to rule the undisciplined infighting at the top, expecting smooth
operation at the state and district levels is unreasonable.


http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/bjp-firmremoving-vasundhara/367062/


BJP firm on removing Vasundhara
Aasha Khosa / New Delhi August 15, 2009, 0:34 IST

A defiant Vasundhara Raje today paraded 50 legislators, who swore by
her leadership, before senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in
the national capital to stall the party’s moves to shift her out of
Rajasthan as a reprimand for the party’s defeat in two consecutive
elections in the state.

The group of legislators led by Rajendra Singh Rathore, chief whip of
the party, met party president Rajnath Singh. However, they were
snubbed by L K Advani, leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who
is presumed to be in favour of Raje’s continuation, as he refused to
see them.

The angry legislators even staged an impromptu sit-in outside Advani’s
highly guarded residence for nearly an hour.

Raje had earlier ignored the party’s orders that she must quit the
post of Leader of Opposition in the state assembly. Even today she
refused to come to New Delhi for consultations with party chief
Rajnath Singh on the pretext that “she does not travel on a day of
fasting — Janamashtami”.

The legislators’ memorandum to Singh is an assertion by the elected
representatives that they “do not want anyone other than Raje as their
leader”. Rajnath Singh, however, was not amused by the pressure
tactics being used by Raje and is reported to have told her supporters
that “the party was firm on its stand (to shift Raje)”.

The BJP chief is also reported to have told them that it was the
party’s and not his decision to shift the former chief minister.

The legislators gave a memorandum to Rajnath Singh, supporting Raje’s
continuation. Rathore claimed while 57 legislators had come to Delhi,
five others had given their letters of support for her.

Ironically, Raje was sent from Delhi to end the infighting in the
state party. Later in 2003, she was even credited with leading the BJP
to its biggest victory in the state. Now she is sought to be punished
for having failed the party in the state Assembly and later the Lok
Sabha poll this year.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/watch-royal-snub-for-raje-bjp-asks-her-to-step-down/99236-37.html

BJP VS VASUNDHARA RAJE

Watch: Royal snub for Raje, BJP asks her to step down

Sumit Pande / CNN-IBN

Published on Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 23:56,
Updated on Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 00:19

FACING THE HEAT: MLAs loyal Vasundhara Raje were not even given an
audience by LK Advani.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leadership has told former
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje Sindhia that she must quit
state politics and work for the party.

Raje was given the order after she refused to resign as Rajasthan
Opposition leader.

The show of strength staged by her supporters on Friday was given a
royal snub in New Delhi after 57 MLAs loyal to her were not even given
an audience by LK Advani.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.newkerala.com/nkfullnews-1-92903.html

L.K. Advani: loneliness of the long-distance runner

By Amulya Ganguli: L.K. Advani's decision to continue as leader of the
opposition in the Lok Sabha for the next five years underlines
remarkable physical and mental stamina for an octogenarian. It also
shows that he is not daunted by political setbacks.

A less resilient person would have preferred to gradually withdraw
from public life after the kind of reverses the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) suffered in the recent general election. The defeat was
compounded by the shattering of his own ambition to become prime
minister.

But the twin blows seem to have made him more determined to continue
the political battles. He did offer to step down as the opposition
leader soon after the defeat, but that was apparently more for form's
sake than the result of a genuine desire to call it a day. So, when
his party asked him to stay on, he had little hesitation in doing so.

But those who thought that his continuance was only a temporary
measure intended to stave off a damaging succession battle were sorely
mistaken. As Advani has now clarified, he had never done anything
reluctantly. He accepted the party's suggestion to remain at his post
not as a stop-gap measure, but as an arrangement lasting till 2014.

There is little doubt that not everyone in the BJP is pleased. The
reasons are many. First, his continuance means that he will be
thwarting the ambitions of not a few contenders for the coveted post.
They may not say so openly out of respect for Advani's age and long
record of service to the party during which his domination over the
organisation was second only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee's.

But five years are a long time in politics. As it is, the party is
currently in the doldrums. Nor is there any sign that its fortunes
will look up in the near future. As a consequence, those who might
have aspired to replace Advani, such as Jaswant Singh or Sushma
Swaraj, would wonder whether they would still be regarded as worthy
successors in 2014.

Advani himself may not be too worried over the secret hopes nurtured
by his putative successors. He is fully aware that in Vajpayee's
absence due to ill health, he remains the only inspirational leader
who can hold the party together. Even his detractors know it, which is
why he was asked to continue.

All that they can do at the moment is to vent their ire in newspaper
articles, as Arun Shourie has done, and was left out of the party's
forthcoming chintan baithak or introspective session for his pains.

But Advani is probably not worried too much about his critics inside
the party. It is the objections of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh
(RSS), the head of the sangh parivar, which must be of concern to the
rath yatri of 1990.

Ever since he dispensed with his earlier aggressive espousal of the
Hindu cause, Advani has lost favour with the RSS. The reason is that
the latter firmly believes that it is the BJP's retreat from Hindutva
which has cost the party two successive general elections in 2004 and
2009.

For several years now, the RSS has been demanding the withdrawal from
public life of both Vajpayee and Advani because of their preference
for moderate policies. It had a taste of success when it forced Advani
to relinquish his position as the BJP president after his ill-advised
praise of Mohammed Ali Jinnah during a visit to Pakistan in 2005.

But it was a short-lived victory because both the RSS and the BJP
subsequently realized that there was no one else of Advani's stature
who could enable the party to face the general elections with
confidence. Since his rehabilitation, therefore, Advani has been the
virtual No.1 in the party. Now, his latest decision shows that he
intends to remain in the position.

But the question before the BJP is whether he will again be the
party's prime ministerial candidate. It goes without saying that
Advani will dearly love to fulfil his life's ambition by taking
another shot at the post. But his party knows that the gulf of nearly
half a century between his age and that of Rahul Gandhi, who is likely
to be the Congress candidate, will be the mismatch of the century.
Little wonder that a Congress spokesman has said that his party's
victory in 2014 is already assured.

For all the criticism of the Congress's dependence on the Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty, it is undeniable that the party has found a stable core in
the first family round which the organization revolves. This dubious
precedent is followed by several others from the National Conference
in the north to the DMK in the south, and from the Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) in the west to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the
east.

The BJP, in contrast, has always been a two-man party centred on
Vajpayee and Advani. Now that the former prime minister is in virtual
retirement, Advani is carrying the torch all by himself. Yet, his is a
lonely journey because he is facing open opposition from the RSS and a
hidden one from sections within the party.

(15.08.2009-Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached
at ***@mail.com)

--- IANS

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/230317_RSS-chief-says-he-did-not-instruct-Advani-on-succession

RSS chief says he did not instruct Advani on succession

STAFF WRITER 21:11 HRS IST

New Delhi, Aug 14 (PTI) Senior BJP leader L K Advani's rebuttal of
media reports that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had instructed him to
choose a successor was corroborated by the latter today when he said
no such issue came up for discussion during their one-to-one meeting
on Monday.

"I met Advani and several issues were discussed but I never instructed
him for anything...I am truly surprised over the media reports
regarding the discussions between me and Advani," Bhagwat said in an
interview to Star news channel.

Bhagwat and Advani held a closed door meeting without any aides about
the current political situation and the performance of the BJP in the
just-concluded Parliament session.

Earlier, Advani had expressed "surprise" over media reports that
Bhagwat had asked him to choose his successor. He had said he does not
accept any responsibility "reluctantly".

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/rss-chief-says-he-has-issued-no-/directive/-to-advani-to-quit/70892/on

RSS chief says he has issued no 'directive' to Advani to quit

Press Trust of India / Chennai August 15, 2009, 17:13 IST


RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat today said he had not issued any "directive"
to senior BJP leader L K Advani during their recent meeting to step
down as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

"I met Advaniji recently. We were discussing many things. But I have
not issued any directive on that day," Bhagawat told reporters here in
his first comments after Advani dismissed media reports that the RSS
chief had asked him to nominate his successor in their one-to-one
meeting.

Maintaining that RSS had "nothing to do" with BJP, the RSS chief said,
"BJP is a separate organisation and we don't direct or operate them at
any level. It is a political party and it is also capable of taking
its own decision."

Advani had a luncheon meeting with Bhagawat recently, following which
reports said the RSS chief had suggested to him to nominate his
successor in the near future.

The BJP veteran had said discussion with Bhagwat centred around BJP's
performance in the just-concluded budget session of Parliament and the
current political situation. The party's Shimla brainstorming session
did not figure in it.

"On many issues they have identical views like us. But it does not
mean that we have hands on them," Bhagawat said and declined to
comment on queries on the goings-on in BJP.

On BJP's poor showing in Lok Sabha polls, he said RSS need not
necessarily assess BJP's performance as "it will make its own
assessement. A jolt has temporarily destablised them. Slowly they are
regaining their balance. Whatever it is, they have to take care of
themselves."

When asked about infighting in BJP, Bhagawat retorted, "You have to
ask the question to BJP".

In reply to a query, Bhagawat, who is here to attend a "Grand
Reception" being accorded to him by "Citizens of Chennai" tomorrow,
said RSS would help not only BJP "but any political party that comes
and seeks our help. We are always ready to help them."

On the Ram Temple issue, he said the land had to be acquired first and
the court verdict should also be awaited. "The concerned leaders of
Ram Seva Sangh would decide about it. Whatever decision they take RSS
would support it."

Asked about views expressed in a Chinese website calling for
"balkanisation" of India, Bhagawat said, "We must take note of this
and we should also be very cautious. Our unity is very strong and no
one can break it. If some one attempts to do so, it would definitely
fail."

On UPA's rule, he said "a strong approach" was required in the area of
internal security. "On internal security much needs to be done. We
have to tighten our security, especially in border areas of Pakistan
and China."

He also alleged the UPA government lacked transparency in many areas,
especially on the economic front. "The Centre has to come forward and
be transparent about the economic situation. They should tell people
about country's economic progress and come out clearly on the
unemployment situation." On the Sri Lankan Tamils issue, Bhagawat said
there should not be any discrimination to the Tamils in the island
nation. "All displaced Tamils have to rehabilitated. They should be
given full relief materials."

Asked to spell out the RSS stand on Delhi High Court verdict
decriminalising homosexuality, he said the issue had to be studied in
depth before taking any decision. "Since it is related to health and
social traditions, persons concerned should sit together and take a
right decision."

On religious conversions, Bhagawat said, "if someone helps the poor
people, it is unfair to seek some return favour from them."

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://blog.taragana.com/n/lk-advani-loneliness-of-the-long-distance-runner-comment-140271/

L.K. Advani: loneliness of the long-distance runner (Comment)

Amulya Ganguli August 15th, 2009 L.K. Advani’s decision to continue as
leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha for the next five years
underlines remarkable physical and mental stamina for an octogenarian.
It also shows that he is not daunted by political setbacks.


A less resilient person would have preferred to gradually withdraw
from public life after the kind of reverses the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) suffered in the recent general election. The defeat was
compounded by the shattering of his own ambition to become prime
minister.

But the twin blows seem to have made him more determined to continue
the political battles. He did offer to step down as the opposition
leader soon after the defeat, but that was apparently more for form’s
sake than the result of a genuine desire to call it a day. So, when
his party asked him to stay on, he had little hesitation in doing so.

But those who thought that his continuance was only a temporary
measure intended to stave off a damaging succession battle were sorely
mistaken. As Advani has now clarified, he had never done anything
reluctantly. He accepted the party’s suggestion to remain at his post
not as a stop-gap measure, but as an arrangement lasting till 2014.

There is little doubt that not everyone in the BJP is pleased. The
reasons are many. First, his continuance means that he will be
thwarting the ambitions of not a few contenders for the coveted post.
They may not say so openly out of respect for Advani’s age and long
record of service to the party during which his domination over the
organisation was second only to Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s.

But five years are a long time in politics. As it is, the party is
currently in the doldrums. Nor is there any sign that its fortunes
will look up in the near future. As a consequence, those who might
have aspired to replace Advani, such as Jaswant Singh or Sushma
Swaraj, would wonder whether they would still be regarded as worthy
successors in 2014.

Advani himself may not be too worried over the secret hopes nurtured
by his putative successors. He is fully aware that in Vajpayee’s
absence due to ill health, he remains the only inspirational leader
who can hold the party together. Even his detractors know it, which is
why he was asked to continue.

All that they can do at the moment is to vent their ire in newspaper
articles, as Arun Shourie has done, and was left out of the party’s
forthcoming chintan baithak or introspective session for his pains.

But Advani is probably not worried too much about his critics inside
the party. It is the objections of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh
(RSS), the head of the sangh parivar, which must be of concern to the
rath yatri of 1990.

Ever since he dispensed with his earlier aggressive espousal of the
Hindu cause, Advani has lost favour with the RSS. The reason is that
the latter firmly believes that it is the BJP’s retreat from Hindutva
which has cost the party two successive general elections in 2004 and
2009.

For several years now, the RSS has been demanding the withdrawal from
public life of both Vajpayee and Advani because of their preference
for moderate policies. It had a taste of success when it forced Advani
to relinquish his position as the BJP president after his ill-advised
praise of Mohammed Ali Jinnah during a visit to Pakistan in 2005.

But it was a short-lived victory because both the RSS and the BJP
subsequently realized that there was no one else of Advani’s stature
who could enable the party to face the general elections with
confidence. Since his rehabilitation, therefore, Advani has been the
virtual No.1 in the party. Now, his latest decision shows that he
intends to remain in the position.

But the question before the BJP is whether he will again be the
party’s prime ministerial candidate. It goes without saying that
Advani will dearly love to fulfil his life’s ambition by taking
another shot at the post. But his party knows that the gulf of nearly
half a century between his age and that of Rahul Gandhi, who is likely
to be the Congress candidate, will be the mismatch of the century.
Little wonder that a Congress spokesman has said that his party’s
victory in 2014 is already assured.

For all the criticism of the Congress’s dependence on the Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty, it is undeniable that the party has found a stable core in
the first family round which the organization revolves. This dubious
precedent is followed by several others from the National Conference
in the north to the DMK in the south, and from the Nationalist
Congress Party (NCP) in the west to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the
east.

The BJP, in contrast, has always been a two-man party centred on
Vajpayee and Advani. Now that the former prime minister is in virtual
retirement, Advani is carrying the torch all by himself. Yet, his is a
lonely journey because he is facing open opposition from the RSS and a
hidden one from sections within the party.

(15.08.2009-Amulya Ganguli is a political analyst. He can be reached
at ***@mail.com)

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://vinodksharma.blogspot.com/2009/08/will-bjps-drooping-lotus-bloom-again.html

India Retold

Saturday, August 15, 2009
WILL BJP'S DROOPING LOTUS BLOOM AGAIN?

Is the BJP being driven by a strong sense of history to repeat its
past performance in the next general elections? That it is, is not in
doubt. What is in serious doubt is which previous result it wants to
beat. Does it want to better the 183 seats that it won in 1999 or is
it desperate to get less than the two that it did in 1984? All
indications are that the members of caucus that has taken control of
the party have decided that they would rather take the party down than
accept responsibility and take themselves out.

Despite the electoral disaster, the three men who should have
gracefully stepped aside straightaway have actually dug their heels in
hard, to prevent anyone from uprooting them from their positions of
power and authority. LK Advani continues as the supreme leader of the
party, after a perfunctory offer to step down. Rajnath Singh continues
to be party President after completing the formality of saying that he
accepts responsibility for the defeat. Above all, Arun Jaitley, the
master strategist who had never failed to claim credit whenever the
party had done well in any previous election that he was responsible
for, has simply refused to shoulder the blame this time. Conveniently
citing the principal of "collective responsibility", he has actually
got himself a promotion instead!

Although these leaders are telling everyone that there are no full
stops in politics, and Advani wants to go on another rath yatra to
tell party workers that in this defeat is an opportunity , and that he
is just the guy who can see and exploit it, they are making other
heads roll.

The first fall guy that the caucus found a couple of months back was
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, an honest man of outstanding
credentials, who was forced to resign from his job, despite having
done well as CM, ostensibly because the BJP did badly in that state.
To make matters worse, he was replaced by Ramesh Pokhriyal who does
not carry as good an image among the people, to say the least.

The axe has now fallen again. And this time the victim is Vasundhara
Raje, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Rajnath Singh wants her out,
her supporters want her to stay and LK Advani does not know what to
do. 57 MLAs who owe allegiance to her have returned to Jaipur without
being able to meet the BJP supremo. But the battle is not over yet.
The BJP lost the Assembly elections not due to the performance of her
government but because powerful leaders of the BJP itself worked over
time to ensure her and thereby the party's defeat. That momentum,
quite naturally, showed in the results of the Lok Sabha elections too.
Now, the caucus is demanding her head.

Vasundhara Raje is one of the few modern faces of the BJP. Plus she is
a woman who has shown that she has it in her to deliver as CM. How
many BJP leaders can make such a claim? Sushma Swaraj, the other woman
leader who has been promoted after the electoral debacle, has serious
limitations, some of which will not endear her to the vast and growing
Indian middle class. Besides, she is neither a Mayawati nor a Sonia
Gandhi who can deliver votes for the BJP across India, or become PM at
some stage. On the other hand, Vasundhara Raje, whichever way you look
at it, is the one face that the BJP must project as a tall leader, if
it is serious about having any chance in the next general elections.
She is perhaps the only woman leader in the BJP who can blunt the edge
of the two ladies mentioned above, if she is utilised properly over
the next few years.

Is that why she is under attack? Are the few leaders who have hijacked
the BJP out to make sure that there is no threat to their continuance
as the only faces, the only leaders of the party? Is that not why BC
Khanduri has been sidelined? Is not Narendra Modi also in their
sights, to be taken out at the right time, just as it seems Jaswant
Singh was before the elections? Remember how Advani conveniently
washed his hands off the decision of Jaswant Singh to go to Kandahar
to bring the hostages back, and let the Congress and the media tear
into him without any justification whatsoever? Have not Yashwant Sinha
and Arun Shourie been brushed aside for similar reasons?

You would have hardly ever seen Lal Krishna Advani smile freely in
front of the cameras, no matter what the good news. But, a couple of
days back, he just could not stop himself from baring his sparkling
and perfect teeth. And what was the great news that was responsible
for it? It was Sushma Swaraj telling India that Advani would remain
Leader of the Opposition for five years! That picture of the 81 year
old "mazboot neta" of the "nirnayak sarkar" that the people of India
had rejected in May this year, told the sad story of what has
fundamentally gone wrong with the BJP.

Are Advani and the party out of their minds to even think of going in
for the next elections under an 85 year old man?

Whatever may be the inner story to which, like most Indians, I am not
privy, the harsh fact is that the BJP is now appearing to the ordinary
Indian to be a party without an idea, what to talk of ideology and
idealism. In essence, the party looks no more more than a badly
smudged copy of the very Congress that it used to proudly claim it was
"different" from. As a direct result of this debilitating
metamorphosis, the greatest weakness of the Congress - dynastic
succession - has become the USP that is making it look better than the
BJP. The voter at least knows where the power lies now and will in
future, for better or worse. He knows whom he is to vote for or
against. There are no pretenders to confuse him or put him off.

In sharp contrast, the BJP, which could once boast of being a truly
democratic party with many tall leaders of impeccable integrity,
vision and competence, is now hostage to a few small leaders who have
become bigger than the party. Since they have been found out for what
they really are, a war for control of the party has begun. Copying the
strategy that was adopted by Indira Gandhi to become the unquestioned
leader of the Congress, the few who have seized control of the party
have begun to systematically sideline real leaders who can pose a
threat to them in future.

Unfortunately, the BJP does not have a centripetal force towards which
other leaders as well the nation can be successfully drawn. That is
the fatal flaw that will lead to uglier and uglier scenes being played
out over the next few years, if the caucus is not uprooted completely.
The longer it remains in control, the more the damage there will be to
the party. As a result, the Congress, without doing anything at all,
will gain and the supremacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family will start
looking more and more like a blessing rather than the black spot that
it is on India's democracy.

How many self-goals can one of the two leading national parties keep
scoring without getting mauled? As things stand now, paradoxically the
only way things can get any better for the BJP is if the party
performs poorly in the Assembly elections that are due to be held in
the next three years or so. How many fall guys can the caucus keep
finding while remaining Teflon-coated itself? It is not the equivalent
of the Nehru-Gandhi family without which the BJP will lose its
identity.

Removal of the coterie that controls the BJP is vital if the party
wants to have any realistic hope of seeing its Lotus bloom in New
Delhi in 2014 and /or later. The sooner the party and the RSS face up
to this harsh truth, and make way for leaders like Raje, Khanduri,
Modi, Yediurappa etc to take centre stage, the better it is for the
party and perhaps even for India. Will that happen anytime soon?

I don't know why, but images of a very reluctant Bhutto being forcibly
dragged to the gallows are appearing in my mind. No one is going to
give up power easily. He will have to be evicted by force. Unless that
is done, the once magnificient warship called BJP may well find itself
in Alang. Sphere: Related Content

Posted by Vinod_Sharma at 5:33 PM

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/14214207/State-units-defy-BJP-central-l.html

State units defy BJP central leadership

Rajasthan MLAs meet party president Rajnath Singh to protest move to
remove Vasundhara Raje; say they will re-elect her

Rajasthan MLAs meet party president Rajnath Singh to protest move to
remove Vasundhara Raje; say they will re-elect herSantosh K. Joy

New Delhi: Even as the country’s main Opposition, the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) is poised to undertake a crucial brainstorming session
next week to revive its political fortunes, the party continues to be
buffeted by dissidence among several regional units, including
Rajasthan and Uttarakhand.

In almost all instances, the central leadership, which has been
struggling to manage dissidence within its ranks after the party’s
outright defeat in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, has been approached
to prevail upon the situation.



In protest: Rajastan BJP MLAs gather outside party leader L.K.
Advani’s residence in New Delhi on Friday. Subhav Shukla / PTI

On Friday, the latest episode involving Vasundhara Raje, former chief
minister of Rajasthan, spilled over, with 57 of the 78 members of the
legislative assembly (MLAs) in the state reaching Delhi to make a case
for her.

They were responding to an informal communication from the central
leadership signalling that Raje should step down as leader of the
party in the state assembly. After meeting party president Rajnath
Singh, the MLAs approached L.K. Advani, former president and current
leader of the BJP in the Lok Sabha. They were, however, denied an
audience.

The core group of the BJP, an informal grouping of the top national
leaders, had decided on 6 August that Raje should step down as the
legislative party leader, assuming responsibility for the defeat in
the assembly election in December and the Lok Sabha earlier this year.
State party chief Om Mathur and organizational secretary Prakash
Sharma had already resigned.

“Decisions in the party are taken unanimously and have to be followed
by everyone,” Singh said after meeting the legislators.

Striking a defiant tone, MLA Rajendra Singh Rathore, who led the Raje
supporters in Delhi, told reporters after meeting Singh that the state
legislature party can re-elect Raje as their new leader “if a
situation like that is thrust upon them”.

While senior leaders agree that any road map ahead could prove a non-
starter in the wake of state-level defiance, the leadership doesn’t
seem interested in any tough action ahead of the organizational
election. Election to the post of party president is due next January
and state leaders and national executive members from respective
states are slated to play a major role in the poll.

“A strong central leadership is a must for any plan to be executed.
The state leaders need to follow the directions, but unfortunately for
the party, it’s not happening as intended,” said party vice-president
Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Regional outfits of the BJP have begun to assert themselves ever since
the party suffered its second successive electoral defeat that
triggered infighting among the second rung of its national leadership.
It started with the Uttarakhand state unit sending back the central
envoys, Naqvi and general secretary Thavarchand Gehlot, who had been
sent to scale down the dissidence and ensure the continuation of the
incumbent, chief minister B.C. Khanduri.

The central leadership later capitulated to the demand of the
dissidents and state health minister Ramesh Pokhriyal took over as
chief minister.

Senior party leader Arun Jaitley suffered a similar fate in June when
the Karnataka unit, led by chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, declined
to patch up with the so-called Bellary brothers, state tourism
minister G. Janardhana Reddy and revenue minister G. Karunakara Reddy.
Jaitley was rushed to Bangalore to defuse the problem. Jaitley
declined comment.

The state unit of Punjab also rejected the demand of the central
leadership on the urging of Amritsar member of Parliament Navjot Singh
Sidhu seeking replacement of Rajinder Mohan Cheema as chairman of the
Amritsar Improvement Trust.

Another instance of rebellion came from Madhya Pradesh, when the
party’s state election committee passed a unanimous resolution against
supporting any candidate nominated by the leadership for the state
Rajya Sabha by-polls.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan visited Delhi and met Advani and
Jaitley “to convey the sentiments of the state leadership”. Party
insiders said the BJP’s central leadership wanted either outgoing
Rajya Sabha member Hema Malini or actor Smriti Irani to be elected to
the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh, which was rejected by the state
unit.

The defiance of the central leadership is not limited to Punjab,
Karnataka, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. A section of
MLAs in Bihar complained several times to the leadership against
deputy chief minister Sushil Modi for being too close to coalition
partner Janata Dal (United) and state chief minister Nitish Kumar.
Eventually, a secret ballot was conducted and Modi was retained.

“These are the side effects rejecting Advani as the leader for the
next five years. The state leaderships are trying to make a
counterpoint as a sign of defiance,” said Bidyut Chakrabarty,
professor in the department of political science at Delhi university.
“Before trying to rein in the state leadership, the BJP needs to first
sort out the central leadership struggle, without which no plan for
the road ahead can work for the party.”

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/231506_Raje-rules-out-resignation

Raje rules out resignation

STAFF WRITER 20:17 HRS IST

Jaipur, Aug 15 (PTI) A defiant Vasundhara Raje today virtually ruled
out resignation as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly
and turned the tables on the party leadership saying the
responsibility for the poll debacle has to be "fixed from the top".

Raje, who has been defiant on the directive of the BJP high command,
told reporters in an informal chat that she has not not got any such
communication and made it clear that she alone cannot be blamed for
BJP's poor performance.

"I have not received any communication so far. So there should not be
any unnecessary talk about it," she said on being asked about the high
command's decision.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/230940_Vasundhara-Raje-remains-defiant

Raje remains defiant

STAFF WRITER 13:19 HRS IST

Jaipur, Aug 15 (PTI) A defiant Vasundhara Raje today upped her ante
against the BJP leadership, saying the responsibility for the party's
poll debacle in the country has to be "fixed from the top".

Raje, who has refused to step down as Leader of Opposition in the
Rajasthan assembly on the directive of the BJP high command, made it
clear that she alone cannot be blamed for BJP's poor performance.

"As far as the poll debacle of party is concerned, it was not only in
Rajasthan but the setback was suffered all over the country, and the
responsibility should be fixed from top to bottom in the leadership
ladder," Raje told reporters here.

The BJP central leadership holds Raje responsible for the party's loss
in assembly elections last year and Lok Sabha polls this year.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.dailypioneer.com/196088/BJP-gets-into-needless-spat.html

COLUMNIST | Sunday, August 16, 2009

BJP gets into needless spat

Swapan Dasgupta

Till last Thursday, there was a smug and self-serving belief in the
higher echelons of the BJP that the effective interventions in the
Budget session of Parliament demonstrated that the party needs only a
little tweaking to chart the future. The implication was that there
was no real need to rake up the past, unearth the skeletons and
identify blunders. The unstated assumption was that there is nothing
seriously wrong with the BJP which cannot be put right by a quiet
bonding exercise of 22 chosen stalwarts.

Whether it was Rajasthan’s Vasundhara Raje or an organisational
stalwart with an exaggerated sense of machismo who unsettled this cosy
but bogus consensus is a matter of interpretation. However, the
decision of 57 of the 79 BJP MLAs and all the four Lok Sabha MPs from
Rajasthan to show the central leaders that they have a mind of their
own has raised questions that are relevant to the party nationally.

The central leadership’s decision to demand Vasundhara’s resignation
as Leader of Opposition was based on three considerations.

First, Vasundhara was blamed for the party’s poor showing in the Lok
Sabha election. Earlier, in January this year, she was re-elected as
the leader of the BJP legislature party because of the realisation
that, the narrow defeat in the Assembly poll notwithstanding, she was
by far the most popular BJP leader in the State. It was recognised in
the BJP that the party may have regained power had it not been for
internal sabotage and image of disunity. It was an open secret that a
section of the party’s stakeholders wanted the BJP to lose.
Inevitably, the shadow of the Assembly poll defeat fell on the Lok
Sabha election five months later.

Second, Vasundhara has been accused of an imperious style of political
management and of playing the maharani. In the past, she defended
herself with the suggestion that many of the BJP leaders — as opposed
to ordinary villagers — in the State are innately uncomfortable with a
woman in charge. My own impression is that there is some validity to
what Vasundhara has always suggested.

Finally, the removal of Vasundhara seems to be part of a recrimination
game involving a section of the RSS, working in tandem with the party
president. After the Lok Sabha election, the BJP removed Om Prakash
Mathur, a former pracharak who had been installed as State party
president without even the courtesy of informing Vasundhara, then the
Chief Minister. Also removed from the State was the RSS-appointed
organisation secretary Prakash Chandra who was widely perceived to be
a factional player. It is interesting that, apart from Rajasthan,
there has been no similar change in other States. Since Vasundhara’s
insistence was responsible for the removal of the two RSS
apparatchiks, there is a strong suspicion that the latest moves are
part of a tit-for-tat exercise.

There is also the suggestion that the national president has made the
removal of Vasundhara a matter of personal honour. A successful
slaying of Vasundhara will, it is felt by those who have briefed the
media about the president’s “determination” to brook no indiscipline,
enhance his authority prior to the so-called chintan baithak in
Shimla. Vasundhara, it would seem, has become the fall guy.

That politics is never devoid of inter-personal strains is common
knowledge. However, what makes the attempted coup in Rajasthan (and
there is no other fitting description) particularly distasteful is
that it goes against the fundamental tenets of democracy. The central
leadership may want Vasundhara to be replaced by a compliant pygmy but
if the overwhelming majority of MLAs want her as leader, the stalwarts
in Delhi must swallow their pride and accept it.

The BJP is not a private limited company like the Congress and there
are no profound ideological issues involved in Rajasthan. If the views
of the MLAs are wilfully disregarded the party would have lost the
moral right to project itself as a mass political party. It may as
well declare itself a mutt (seminary) and preach to the committed
within four impenetrable walls.

It is important to check a particular rot that has led to severe
distortions in the BJP. Since 2006, there have been four centrally-
sponsored attempts to destabilise State units, not least in places
where the party is in power. In 2006-07, there was the bid to ferment
dissidence against Narendra Modi in Gujarat. Modi has survived because
he has popular endorsement and support of many national leaders. Last
year, there was an attempt to disrupt the BJP-JD(U) coalition in Bihar
by seeking the removal of Sushil Modi as Deputy Chief Minister. The
destabilisers were aided and abetted by those at the helm of the
central party. The revolt fizzled out when a secret ballot of MLAs
showed that Modi had a clear majority. However, despite having a
majority of MLAs on his side, BC Khanduri in Uttarakhand was unable to
cope with the destabilisation that was organised from Delhi. He wasn’t
enough of a politician to put up a fight. Finally, there were the
troubles in Rajasthan.

There are two features of the centrally-endorsed destabilisation of
the States that should be of some concern. First, in all the affected
States, the conspiracies involved only a minority of MLAs and were
detached completely from mass politics. The conspiracies wouldn’t have
got anywhere unless they had central backing. Second, in all cases
where BJP-run Governments were concerned, the real schism was over the
principles of governance. The conspirators were clear that governance
should mean substantial benefits for party loyalists.

Vasundhara is not perfect. There is ample room for improvement on her
part. However, by standing up to the questionable impulses of central
leaders she is upholding a principle. Without these principles, the
BJP may as well do its own pinda-daan and take sanyas from democratic
politics.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/bhupendrachaubey/213/53748/bjp-the-party-with-indiscipline.html

Politically Correct

Bhupendra Chaubey
Friday , August 14, 2009 at 18 : 36

BJP, the party with indiscipline

It's back to the basics for the BJP. No, we are not talking about
Hindutva here, but that simple thing called " indiscipline". A quick
glance at the recent history of the BJP will convince you that the
very basis of this party is actually indiscipline. Now, what you and I
may call indiscipline might be referred to as a fight against
injustice by some within the party. Right from the seventies when
doyens like Vajpayee and Advani left the Jan Sangh on the question of
dual membership, it was called indiscipline even then by some, but the
Atal-Advani duo then were fighting for a cause. Cut to the present
era, from Uma Bharti who famously strode out of the partyhead quarters
in front of live TV cameras to Vasundhara Raje who is hell bent on
going the Uma Bharti way, the pattern is the same. Party bosses crying
"indiscipline. indiscipline" and the main characters shouting
"injustice, injustice."

So why is the BJP in a state of crisis? I am sure many of you would
have read reams of newsprint giving all sorts of gyan on how the party
is caught in a battle of identity, ideology and what not. I have a
straightforward answer to that. The entire blame of creating this mess
begins and ends with L K Advani. Make no mistake about it and let
there be no illusions about it. In the nineties, L K Advani , the Ram
Bhakt, rode the rath to catapult the BJP to the point where it reached
towards the end of that decade. But in the process he also created a
long-term conflict for the party. It just lost the ability to modify
itself. It got so closely associated with a brand of Hindutva that was
hard, aggressive and convinced the middle classes that they were the
victims and victims of years of so-called appeasement of minorities by
the Congress. Advani successfully managed to manifest the anger,
somewhat justifiable then, into votes for the BJP. But once the anger
went away, the party had no vision in sight. Ask yourself, why is it
that the BJP has done very well in state elections since 2002, but has
lost the Lok Sabha elections? If the party is good for governance at
the state level, what goes wrong at the centre? Herein lies the answer
to the BJP's woes.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee never consciously tried to create a legacy. So he
did manage to leave one behind. Advani is going ballistic in trying to
create one. But only that he is not succeeding. In 2004 it was Advani
who became the face of the development that India had apparently
witnessed. Development that was stock market induced and one that had
no solid fundamentals. So he became the Bharat Uday Yaatri. Advani
failed then too. In 2009, Advani became the mazboot neta, the man who
was capable of bombing Pakistan and ridding India of all its security
concerns. He talked about a muscular foreign policy if the BJP got
voted to power. His friends and guides likes Sudheendra Kulkarni
created such a cocoon around him that the Ram Bhakt turned Uday Yaatri
turned Mazboot Neta forgot what was actually happening on the ground.
He failed this time too. Now once again, he is hell bent on repeating
the same mistakes and creating more trouble for the very party that he
co-founded. Why should LK Advani say that he wants to be the leader of
opposition for five yrs? BJP was considered as the natural party of
opposition once. Is Advani pitching himself as the natural leader of
opposition? At his age of 82 yrs, he could have ensured that he become
a pitamah of sorts. Unlike Vajpayee who is now no more an active
politician, Advani could have become a mentor of sorts for his party.
But perhaps the fear of disappearing into oblivion was too scary for
him. What else can explain his decision of going back on his
retirement plans? Is he worried that if he were to give up his post,
then his party members wont listen to him or give him the credit which
he actually deserves for building the party?

In 2004 when the NDA lost the election, there was a certain vibrancy
that was witnessed in Parliament. The issue of tainted ministers
within the UPA was raised effectively up to a point that someone like
a Shibu Soren was actually sent to jail in a murder case. In 2009
though, it's a totally different story. The oil minister is being
accused of favouring an industrialist, the PM is being charged of
compromising India's strategic concerns, a former commerce minister is
being suspected of having received kickbacks through scams, but the
BJP is busy trying to hit itself in its foot. Almost as if on cue, the
day Parliament session ended, the party was back to its public
squabbles. And once again it all started with Advani getting his
protege Sushma Swaraj to say that he was going nowhere. Politicians
find it difficult to retire! It may be true, Arjun Singh still wanted
to contest elections though he spent the better part of the last year
on bed, Sisram Ola could not even attend office as he was so sick, AR
Antulay could barely manage it through official meetings but they all
wanted to hold on. Advani's case is a little different as he wants to
leave a legacy where he is heralded as the man who built the BJP. Much
like in cinema, where the camera guys lost out in the glamour and
credit race to the stars. Do you all remember who did the camera for
Amitabh Bachchan blockbusters? Advani was always an excellent nuts and
bolts man, the organiser, the cinematographer. It was Vajpayee who was
the performer. From the time Advani started attempting to change that
image, things just started falling apart.

Now as he braces himself for another face off with the RSS, it's again
the legacy question that's haunting him. What will Advani be
remembered for? Creating the BJP? Bringing right wing politics within
an acceptable realm? Or will he go down as a man who was pushed aside
by those who he himself had built up. There in lies the tragedy of
being LK Advani.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://ibnlive.in.com/blogs/bhupendrachaubey/213/53261/from-ram-mandir-to-concrete-jungle.html

Politically Correct

Bhupendra Chaubey

From Ram Mandir to concrete jungle

After a gap of almost two years, I am back in Ayodhya. Once again it's
on the eve of another election. Over the last ten years, I have been
travelling to Ayodhya quite regularly. Everytime I have been there, I
have been struck by the sheer sameness of the place. Almost as if time
has frozen here. Hindu scriptures show Ayodhya to be an "abhishapt", a
"cursed" town. An eerie silence always engulfing the town. This time
though there was a difference.

Suddenly, as you enter Ayodhya, you don't get struck by the sheer
number of security personnel hanging around the town, but students of
Saket Mahavidyala chatting about their academics. Go a little further
towards Hanuman Gadhi, and we meet a group of youngsters just milling
around and having tea. The conversation inevitably veers around
elections. Who is up, who is down? What about Ayodhya I ask, is the
mandir-masjid issue still relevant? I am greeted by a huge round of
laughter. Na mandal, na kamadal, humko chahiye naukri, humko chahiye
library.

In a country, where 70 per cent of the voting population is under the
age of 30, the answer should have been an expected one. But this was
UP, the crucible of caste and regional politics in India. Are we to
believe that the basic principle of cast your vote to vote in your
caste has now changed in this politically crucial state? In quest of
my answers, I went back to the same people who I have been meeting on
successive trips here. Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, the head of the Ram
Janmabhoomi Trust, a little older, still trying to launch a battle for
the construction of a Ram temple here. He wants to take another yatra
out all the way to Delhi to press for his demand. I go and meet Hashim
Ansari, a Muslim cleric who wants to reconstruct the mosque at the
same site where the Babri Masjid was demolished on the December 6,
1992. When I ask both Nritya Gopal Das and Hashim Ansari if they were
fighting a losing battle, given the low level of interest in the
political fraternity and the civil society about their so-called
cause, I get to hear a long lecture on how misplaced my views were.

But how could I be wrong if the mosque destroyer Kalyan Singh and
Mosque protector Mulayam Singh Yadav are having breakfast, lunch and
dinner together? How could I be wrong when the lady who harbours
ambitions of making it to the Prime Minister's chair is busy holding
press conferences in plush Delhi 5-star hotels proclaiming herself to
be PM material, ridiculing the incumbent central government's economic
policies? How could I be wrong if the NDA's PM-in-waiting LK Advani is
lifting weights and busy blogging projecting himself to be young, even
at the age of 81? So what's the issue then that could swing this state
to either of the players involved?

The BSP swept to a landslide victory in the 2007 Assembly polls.
Mayawati was hailed as the great leader who managed to weave a
coalition consisting of forward castes and backward Dalits. Questions
are being raised if that was a fluke. In words of Satish Mishra, her
closest aide, "Mayawati is destined to be the Prime Minister of the
country. Results will speak for themselves". By and large, there is a
consensus that she is going to play a crucial role in government
formation in the Capital. Her decision to align herself with the Third
Front is an attempt to keep all her options open. If comrades Karat
and old war horse Deve Gowda can't swing the parliamentary arithmetic
in her favour, I don't think she will pause for a moment to try and
negotiate a deal with either the Congress or the BJP. See how both the
national parties are maintaining a conspicuous silence on their post-
poll equations with the Dalit supremo.

Then there are two men who are literally facing the battle of their
lives. Maulana Mulayam Singh Yadav and Lal Krishna Advani. Mulayam
cannot afford another spell of being out of power, Advani won't be
around to have another crack at power. Mulayam has too many cases
pending against himself, Advani has Modi breathing down his neck to
claim the top leader's position. The comparison doesn't end there. If
Mulayam is worried about the fallout of his joining hands with Kalyan
Singh, Advani is worried about his party's sheer inability to get
things going in UP. From a high of 37 seats in 2004, Mulayam today is
dependent on getting support from Kalyan Singh, Advani is still not
sure what could be the next trump card post his high of Rath Yatra of
the 90s. Both need their parties to do well here to entertain any hope
of coming to power at the Centre.

Mulayam has asked his cinema-lover general secretary Amar Singh to
pull out all stops. So while Mulayam distributes money during Holi to
his followers in Saifai, Amar Singh has gone to film city in Goregaon
to work out which celebrity can be approached for campaigning for the
Samajwadi Party. His list is a long one this time, from Ajay Devgan to
Preity Zinta to even Shilpa Shetty. Of course he has already netted
Munnabhai and he has the back-up of the Bachchans.

But it's the style of Mayawati which raises the maximum questions.

Is it not possible for her to adopt the kind of working style that
Nitish Kumar has adopted in neighbouring Bihar? Perhaps not. Go
anywhere in Lucknow and you won't miss the distinctly uncomfortable
sight of sandstone dust. Every park which could have been called a
park, is today resembling a concrete jungle of sorts. The famous
Ambedkar Park almost being converted into a prison with huge sandstone
boundary walls being erected all around. As many as 70 concrete
elephant structures are being built here. From Lucknow to Kanpur to
Noida, Mayawati wants to show her love for sandstone by simply
converting a majority of green patch to just that. Sandstone. For a
state which still hasn't managed to come out of the clutches of being
called a bimaru state, hundreds of crores being spent on statues and
smaraks, is not good economics. But then in UP in particular,
economics is always a distant second to politics. Law and order,
education, healthcare be damned. The Dalit supremo wants to see more
of her own statues all across the country.


So brace yourself up for some high-powered electoral battles here.
From film stars to old political warhorses to maybe even sport stars,
you will get a bit of everything in this elections 2009 in UP. What
you will not get is any meaningful idea from any of the main players
in solving any of the problems here.

Posted by Bhupendra Chaubey |8 comments

Total Comments: 8

Posted 2009-04-10 12:46:09 : By abanand

Nice article..Bhupen.

write something on Bihar and Nitish as well... ...Reply

Posted 2009-04-03 17:57:40 : By shailesh2003

As per present Global Financial crisis, only one party will should be
win this election, who should give stable five years government, good
economy policy & safe India & young India. In my opinion Congress is
only party should give healthy economy to India & stable for five
years. No third front & BJP will be stable for 5 YEARS ...Reply

Posted 2009-04-03 16:40:51 : By binodragini

My Dear Mr Chaubey,

It is fashionable to pick up all the negatives of Oppositon Parties
and be on the right side of Ruling Party, particularly by majority of
English media personnel and get the kudos of english speaking socalled
gentlemen.

But ,ask yourself ,does it serve the purpose of building a nation like
ours.

In fact ,any well meaning journalist would pick holes in governance of
last five years ,to put the present Government in dock ; to ensure
that they improve their governance once voted to power ,as is most
likely given the present media thrust.

By belitlling Advaniji like a cogressman or RJD goon does not behove
well for an upcoming journalist as u are. You may be right that he is
81 but he has not undergone three bypass surgeries. Have u undergone
one? ask those who have.

Yes ,Mayavati is crude and blunt because she didnot have the luxury of
choosing her educational avenues as u had. But believe u me, she has
got something u and I donot have despite our sophistications. Yes, she
has gone overboard in erecting her statues. So,be it. Mulayam is in
the same category. They are evolving , give them some time please.
They have not learnt sycophancy which is the domain of
congressmen.Donot copy them.

What has ,Nehru-cleverly adapted Gandhi title ,family done to remove
all ills for last 55 years . All airports ,yojnas,roads of prominence
etc have been named after them as if there is no one else in this
country who has served the nation.

Be honest and give us the answer , is it only Ayodhya town static
since 1992, or there are thousands of such towns in our country since
1947 . Whom should we blame? Cogress or others named by u.

Advani did not write Ramayana! Ayodhaya is important from hindu
sriptures point of view . Donot undermine a religious place. Dare
write about any other!

My worry is that we are losing our focus in building our nation. Media
can do so ; only if they donot have political agenda. Difficult to
survive , I know.
...Reply

Posted 2009-03-21 14:25:05 : By iluvindiafirst

UP is the worst state in term of development n civilization still due
to its maximum number of seat it govern the government. Most of the UP
MP's are gonda or illiterate. Only few member are intellectual. All UP
parties is engaged in dirty politices nothing else. Its reallt like a
Jungle. and when animal goes to city they become wild n mad . ...Reply

Posted 2009-03-21 00:20:34 : By iamnotdheeraj

Thanks for writing such a wonderful article. I hope, the words can be
spread to those who cant see beyond caste based politics. ...Reply

Read More Comments

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...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.indopia.in/India-usa-uk-news/latest-news/651588/National/1/20/1

Rajnath Singh had asked Raje to step down: Rajasthan BJP

Published: August 16,2009

Jaipur , Aug 15 Contrary to former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara
Raje&aposs claim that she has not received any communication from the
BJP central leadership to step down as Leader of Opposition in the
assembly, the state unit today said party chief Rajnath Singh had
conveyed to her to quit.

Party President Rajnath Singh personally spoke to Raje and asked her
to step down, state BJP chief Arun Chaturvedi told PTI.

When asked about Raje denying that she had received any such
communication, he said,"I cannot say anything about it. But I have
been informed of the party president having spoken to her personally
about the matter."

Earlier, Raje during an informal chat with the media said that she had
not received any communique from the leadership to this effect and any
talk over the issue was unnecessary.

The former Rajasthan chief minister also said that the debacale the
BJP suffered was not only in Rajasthan but all over the country and
responsibility should be fixed for it from top to bottom in the
leadership ladder.

Source: PTI

http://www.dnaindia.com/india/column_who-s-afraid-of-a-chintan-baithak_1282693

Who's afraid of a Chintan Baithak?
Arati R JerathSunday, August 16, 2009 0:40 IST

Syndicate

this columnHectic efforts to keep the leadership debate off the table
in Shimla seem to have failed. With the RSS cracking the whip, it
looks like the BJP's chintan baithak will discuss nothing else.
Instead of a tame affair then, the three-day meet could turn
explosive. To prevent media leaks, cell phones have been banned at the
venue, a three-star hotel run by the Himachal Pradesh tourism
department. All the 25 leaders going to Shimla will have to deposit
their instruments at the reception desk on arrival, for collection
only at departure. It's a tough call for a party that loves to wash
its dirty linen in public, in full glare of TV cameras. At the last
baithak several years ago, Pramod Mahajan would emerge every evening
to brief the press. This time, the BJP is being made to observe RSS
rules, which forbid contact with the outside world during chintan. The
team that's going to Shimla is a deeply divided one. There are at
least four camps, some of which are barely on speaking terms. There's
an Advani camp, a Rajnath Singh camp, an RSS camp and a Murli Manohar
Joshi camp. Their forced cohabitation under one roof for three days,
with only each other for company, throws up interesting possibilities.
They could either emerge as great friends or there'll be a fight to
the finish for a final resolution of the leadership issue that's
tearing the BJP apart.

The minister with the heaviest burden in Manmohan Singh's council of
ministers is Prithviraj Chavan. He is heading the department of
science and technology as minister of state with independent charge.
He is also a minister of state in the department of personnel and
training, the Prime Minister's Office and the ministry of
parliamentary affairs. As if this wasn't enough, he remains a Congress
party general secretary in charge of Jammu and Kashmir and Haryana.
And he retains an interest in Maharashtra politics. His detractors
envy his full plate but Chavan is believed to be pressing to lighten
his burden so that he can channel his energies more creatively and
usefully. If anyone in the government is looking forward to a
reshuffle, it's Chavan. The other minister who wants a change of
portfolio is Ghulam Nabi Azad. Health just isn't his cup of tea. And
his swine flu gaffes have only made the brew more bitter.

The difference between 145 and 206 has hit the DMK the hardest. It no
longer has the status of most favoured ally, not after the unexpected
surge in Congress numbers. DMK circles have noted with concern that in
the three months since UPA 2 assumed office, Sonia Gandhi hasn't
telephoned their chief, M Karunanidhi, even once. In the UPA's last
tenure, she had made it a habit to speak to the DMK boss regularly, if
only to say hello. It was part of coalition management. Times have
changed. The allies are beginning to realize that this is not a UPA
government. It's beginning to look and feel more and more like
Congress party rule.

Tailpiece

With the constitution of a group of ministers on drought last week,
the list of GoMs headed by Pranab Mukherjee has grown to 10. It's
still a far cry from the 55 he headed at one stage in the last term
but these are early days yet. In any case, Mukherjee is well prepared.
His staff includes one officer whose only job is to look after
Mukherjee's GoMs and the attendant paperwork.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://newsblaze.com/story/20090814172300jams.nb/topstory.html

Published: August 14,2009

Op-Ed Contributor

BJP Heading for a Vertical Split in Rajasthan
By A.M. Jamsheed Basha

BJP In Rajesthan Facing Vertical Split - Supporters of Raje Would Not
Let Her Go
Misfortune never comes as a single. It is true with the BJP. After a
series of revolts from the top leadership recently, over the party's
debacle led by Jaswanth Singh, Sinha and Shourie, it is time now for
Vasundhara Raje to defy the party President Rajnath's directive to
resign as leader of the opposition in Rajasthan Assembly.

Vasundhara Raje, refused to resign as the leader of the opposition on
the grounds that the party suffered much humiliating defeat in the
parliament poll, for which top leadership did not resign but were
rewarded. Her supporters, 60 MLAs among them, rushed to Delhi to meet
the party President Rajnath Singh, who received instructions from RSS
and directed Raje to resign. But she raised the banner of rebellion
refusing to resign.

Earlier it appeared she was backed by Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun
Jaitely while Jaswanth Singh, Rajnath Singh and Murali Manohar Joshi
were gunning for her. Now Advani too irked by the rebellion in the
party refused to meet the party MLAs from Rajesthan, in a clear snub
to Raje and left the matter to be decided by the party president
Rajnath Singh.

Rajnath Singh told the party MLAs that it was no time and place to
protest as the decision was taken by the core committee group of the
party. She has to resign or face disciplinary proceedings.

Raje was under intense pressure to quit following the party's drubbing
in the recent State Assembly and Lok Sabha poll, where the party fared
badly, winning only 4 out of 25 seats. She has few friends in RSS unit
of Rajasthan, where they joined her critics with a demand for her
ouster. But she refused to give in to their demands.

BJP is the only party in the country known for maintaining intra-party
discipline though it was not free from groupism. But of late, when the
chips are down, there are too many voices of dissent heard, more
particularly from the top leadership. It is a clear indication that
the top leadership is not a cohesive unit. Many senior leaders have
different opinions about the party's agenda and style of functioning.
This is not a good sign for the party which is still to come to terms
with the defeat in the last Lok Sabha elections.

These things are happening ahead of Chinthak Baitek of the party to
take stock of the situation arising out of defeat and UPA's faulty
foreign policies following the Indo-Pak joint statement. Even during
the debate in the Lok Sabha on the Indo-Pak Joint statement, BJP's
performance as a party was far below expectations, as the opposition
fizzled out after the spirited defence by the Prime Minister in his 45
minutes long speech in the Lok Sabha. That settled the issue, leaving
BJP high and dry.

BJP's fault lies elsewhere. Soon after the results were known,
courtesy demands that the top party leadership should have owned up to
the responsibility and stepped down. But they can continue only after
endorsement from the executive committee. Instead, the main architect
of the party's defeat Arun Jaitely, was rewarded with the job of
leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha.

Arun Jaitely, incidentally, was one of the first to raise the banner
of rebellion against the party President over the issue of
electioneering. That was one of the reasons for the party's poor
performance, coupled with handling of Varun Gandhi's hate speeches.
This has irked the senior leaders like Yashwant Sinha and Arun
Shourie, who openly criticised the party and its exclusive agenda.

It is now time for the leadership to instil discipline in the party.
Vaundhara Raje, should be dealt with strictly if she refused to bow to
the wishes of the party president. If she is let off lightly, then
there would be more rebellion in the party from other units. Already
there is a groupism in party leadership in Delhi, as is the case in
state units. Let this not be widened.

Dissension, groupism and rebellion is not new to any political party.
It is not BJP alone that is facing the problem of leadership crisis.
It is prevailent in other parties too. But how well such rebellion is
handled by the leadership to put up a unified show against UPA is very
important. Already BJP has decided to make the Indo-Pak Joint
Statement and Price Rise the main issue against UPA in any elections
in the near future. This could be done only when the party leadership
is united and working as a cohesive unit. But it is not the case
today.

It is surely an internal party matter. But then Raje's rebellion would
send a wrong signal to others. That is the main worry of the party
leadership. Jai Hind.

A.M. Jams Heed Basha is a Chennai-based columnist, who writes at
www.newageislam.org and NewsBlaze.com

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Silent-on-Pak-PM-takes-battle-to-BJP-on-
appeasement/articleshow/4897900.cms

Silent on Pak, PM takes battle to BJP on 'appeasement'

TNN 16 August 2009, 01:42am IST

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a sharp political point
to the Opposition BJP by asserting that UPA’s special programmes for
minorities did not amount to “appeasement” even as he steered clear of
his controversial Sharm el-Sheikh formulation by not even mentioning
Pakistan in his I-Day speech.

Addressing the nation from Red Fort after UPA-II took office in May,
Singh joined a select group of PMs who have done so on returning to
power, the others being Indira Gandhi and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He
used the occasion to touch on a range of issues ranging from the
failed monsoon to his plans to expand secondary education. In the
midst of a sedate speech, in which he outlined the government’s
resolve to tackle drought and swine flu, Singh took a stab at BJP for
criticising the government’s minority initiatives. “We do not
subscribe to the view that to take special care of deprived sections
of society amounts to appeasement...we have started many schemes for
welfare of minorities, these will be taken forward,” he asserted.

The pointed rebuttal of the “appeasement” charge seemed intended to
underline Congress’s determination to work on its minority support,
which it feels has swung its way in the Lok Sabha elections, and do so
in a demonstrative way — something that reflects the assessment that
fears of a majority backlash are misplaced. The 208 LS seats that
Congress netted seem to have convinced the party that it is on the
right track.

Devoting a lengthy 12-line reference to the policies framed after the
Sachar Committee report on Muslims in India, Singh stressed, “Our
government will give full attention to well being of (minority
communities). Funds for special schemes for minority concentration
districts have been enhanced...we have allocated increased funds for
scholarships. A bill to prevent communal violence has been introduced
in Parliament, efforts will be made to convert it into law.”

The somewhat combative note, unusual for the PM, has an element of
dare in it, baiting the saffron camp to respond shrilly. This may well
serve Congress’s purpose as being too high-decibel and “oppositional”
was seen to be a reason why BJP did not do well in projecting itself
as a counter to Congress.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?storyid=23620

Naidu lambasts UPA for signing Indo-Pak joint statement

(Edwin)

Publication Date 15/8/2009 3:53:27 PM(IST)

Vijayawada: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice president M Venkaiah
Naidu today lambasted the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
at the Centre for coming out with a joint statement with Pakistan at
Sharm-el-Sheikh in Egypt last month, which he said was a serious
setback for the country.

Talking to newspersons here, Mr Naidu said when Pakistan was
encouraging terrorism on its soil, besides giving training and
allotting funds to terrorists, what was the need for the Manmohan
Singh Government to have a composite dialogue process with that
country by de-linking action on terrorism.

He said the Pakistan government was also operating the ISI and after
the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, the Centre had vehemently opposed
the India-Pakistan cricket matches and even said there would be no
further talks with that Government.

The senior BJP leader asked the UPA Government to reveal whether it
had got any pressure as the Prime Minister was prepared to have a
dialogue with Pakistan suddenly.

When the Opposition parties were asking the Prime Minister on what
solution could be found by having talks with Pakistan, there was no
reply from him, Mr Naidu added.

He also criticised the Centre for committing a '''monumental blunder''
by including 'Balochistan' in the joint statement, which was the first
time such a reference had been made in any document between the two
countries.

The reference of Balochistan in the joint statement had downgraded the
country's integrity and the Government's reputation, he said, adding,
India had given legitimacy to Pakistan to hold India responsible for
all problems in the Balochistan after signing the statement by Dr
Singh and his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani

http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?passform=enterprisestory&storyid=23554

Rajasthan MLAs begin 'save Vasundhara campaign' in Delhi

(Agencies) Contact Reporter

Publication Date 15/8/2009 3:05:03 PM(IST)

New Delhi: BJP legislators supporting Vasundhara Raje, Leader of
Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly today started their campaign to save
their leader from being changed following the party''s debacle in both
Assembly and Lok Sabha polls. The legislators numbering between 50 to
60 met BJP president Rajnath Singh but their efforts to reach out to
Leader of Opposition L K Advani proved futile as he would not meet
them without a prior appointment, party sources said. Mr Singh is
believed to have conveyed the party's wishes to Mrs Raje that she
should quit the post and come to national politics.

An MLA representing the group said the intention of the delegation was
to apprise the party that its future would be doomed in the state if
leadership change was made. "We want the leadership any changes were
made to realise that the party would be further weakened if Raje is
further humiliated," he said. With the numbers on her side, Mrs Raje,
it appears, is unlikely to oblige the party's dictats meekly, a party
observer felt. Even if she were to be shifted to Delhi, she would want
one of her nominees to be in control in Rajasthan, sources said.

The arrival of the MLAs delegation ahead of the scheduled Chintan
Baithak, the brainstorming session from August 19, 20 and 21 at
Shimla, Himachal Pradesh for preparing the blue print for the party's
future is viewed as a big embarassment for the party.

The party's position would be untenable when at the national level Mr
Advani who was projected as the party's Prime Ministerial candidate in
the Lok Sabha polls has been allowed to continue despite the set back
and party president Rajnath is also continuing in his capacity, a
party leader felt. The defiance on the part of MLAs is having an
impact on the Shimla meeting.

The party which was thinking of limiting its numbers to 25 to 40 is
believed to further prune its numbers attending the meet to around 16

http://www.mynews.in/fullstory.aspx?passform=enterprisestory&storyid=23466

BJP avoids comments on RSS ''advising'' Advani ''to quit''

(Agencies)

Publication Date 14/8/2009 6:09:46 PM(IST)

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party today avoided any comments on
Monday''s meeting between Leader of the Opposition LK Advani and RSS
chief Mohan Bhagwat during which the BJP leader was advised by the
latter to reconsider his apparent ''decision'' to continue on his
post.

''I don't want to make any comment on the meeting,'' BJP Spokesperson
Prakash Javadekar said when asked by reporters about what transpired
between Mr Advani and Mr Bhagwat.

Mr Advani had, a few days back said at a media briefing ''Whatever I
agree to is of my own volition, the kind of political life I have had
and the appreciation I have had from the country. I don't do anything
reluctantly.'' Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma
Swaraj, who was sitting by Mr Advani, had added that Mr Advani had
been elected for full five years.

Mr Advani's and Ms Swaraj's remarks had been interpreted as his desire
to stay on as Leader of the Opposition. According to reports, the RSS
chief is understood to have advised Mr Advani to make way for the next
generation.

Mr Advani, who had immediately after the Lok Sabha elections expressed
his desire to quit active politics, was persuaded to take on the
charge to maintain unity within the party, and after he took charge as
Leader of the Opposition, he had indicated that he would be there only
for a few months and make place for some younger leader.

However, his remarks at the media briefing of the last week, indicated
a change in his thinking, and the meeting between him and the RSS
chief is being seen in this light.

Mr Javadekar, despite persistent queries by reporters, today refused
to divulge the contents of the talks between the two leaders.

When asked about the reports of terrorist threat to Mr Bhagwat, he
said the party was aware of such reports and the Government should
take the needed steps for the security of the persons threatened.

Mr Javadekar also said there was no change in the stand of his party
regarding Jinnah, when asked about senior party leader Jaswant Singh's
yet to be released book on the Pakistani leader in which the latter
had held Nehru and not him responsible for the partition of the
country.

He said the party had a few years back issued a statement over Jinnah
and it still stood by the view taken then.

In the statement issued in the aftermath of Mr Advani's visit to
Karachi and his controversial remarks on Jinnah that was interpreted
as declaring the Pakistani leader as ''secular'', the party had
reiterated that it did not consider Jinnah as secular and found him
instrumental in the partition of the country.

© 2008 mynews.in

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=PM%E2%80%99s+silence+irks+Advani&artid=Vvy|6U5/fcE=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SEO=Prime+Minister+Manmohan+Singh&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=

PM’s silence irks Advani

Anita SalujaFirst Published : 16 Aug 2009 12:27:00 AM ISTLast
Updated : 16 Aug 2009 01:10:02 AM IST

NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition L K Advani on Saturday wondered why
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was silent on the Indo- Pakistan joint
statement of Sharm-el- Sheikh. The Indo-Pakistan joint statement had
triggered a political storm for its reference to Balochistan and
delinking terror from the composite dialogue.

Reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s address to the nation from
the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of the Independence Day,
Advani said, “It is surprising that the Prime Minister did not mention
the Indo-Pakistan joint statement in his speech. The Prime Minister’s
silence shows that he realises that it is a wrong step.” Balochistan
was mentioned in the joint statement in a manner as if India is also
using terrorism to create problems for Pakistan.

Advani’s remarks assume significance in the backdrop of the BJP
decision to make the Indo-Pakistan joint statement a poll plank in the
upcoming round of Assembly elections in Maharashtra, Haryana and
Jharkhand. The BJP had succeeded in putting the Congress-led UPA
government in the dock during the just-concluded Budget session of the
Parliament over the issue of Indo-Pakistan joint statement.

In both Houses of the Parliament there was a debate over the issue. In
Rajya Sabha, it figured under the debate on the Ministry of External
Affairs and in the Lok Sabha, the issue was raised in a structured
debate under Rule 193.

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/19842/rss-uniform-change-not-now.html

RSS uniform change not now
Chennai, pti:

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), known for the khaki shorts,
white shirts and black cap worn by its activists, has no plans to
change the trademark uniform for now but does not rule out switching
over to a more trendy outfit in future.

“Currently, we do not have plans to change our uniform. However, if
situation arises we might,” RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat told reporters
here.

Mohan Bhagawat was responding to questions whether the organisation
would switch over to jeans and T-shirt in order to attract the younger
generation.

“The current uniform is convenient and there is no need for a change,”
he said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://vinodksharma.blogspot.com/2009/08/will-bjps-drooping-lotus-bloom-again.html

Saturday, August 15, 2009
WILL BJP'S DROOPING LOTUS BLOOM AGAIN?

Is the BJP being driven by a strong sense of history to repeat its
past performance in the next general elections? That it is, is not in
doubt. What is in serious doubt is which previous result it wants to
beat. Does it want to better the 183 seats that it won in 1999 or is
it desperate to get less than the two that it did in 1984? All
indications are that the members of caucus that has taken control of
the party have decided that they would rather take the party down than
accept responsibility and take themselves out.

Despite the electoral disaster, the three men who should have
gracefully stepped aside straightaway have actually dug their heels in
hard, to prevent anyone from uprooting them from their positions of
power and authority. LK Advani continues as the supreme leader of the
party, after a perfunctory offer to step down. Rajnath Singh continues
to be party President after completing the formality of saying that he
accepts responsibility for the defeat. Above all, Arun Jaitley, the
master strategist who had never failed to claim credit whenever the
party had done well in any previous election that he was responsible
for, has simply refused to shoulder the blame this time. Conveniently
citing the principal of "collective responsibility", he has actually
got himself a promotion instead!

Although these leaders are telling everyone that there are no full
stops in politics, and Advani wants to go on another rath yatra to
tell party workers that in this defeat is an opportunity , and that he
is just the guy who can see and exploit it, they are making other
heads roll.

The first fall guy that the caucus found a couple of months back was
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri, an honest man of outstanding
credentials, who was forced to resign from his job, despite having
done well as CM, ostensibly because the BJP did badly in that state.
To make matters worse, he was replaced by Ramesh Pokhriyal who does
not carry as good an image among the people, to say the least.

The axe has now fallen again. And this time the victim is Vasundhara
Raje, former Chief Minister of Rajasthan. Rajnath Singh wants her out,
her supporters want her to stay and LK Advani does not know what to
do. 57 MLAs who owe allegiance to her have returned to Jaipur without
being able to meet the BJP supremo. But the battle is not over yet.
The BJP lost the Assembly elections not due to the performance of her
government but because powerful leaders of the BJP itself worked over
time to ensure her and thereby the party's defeat. That momentum,
quite naturally, showed in the results of the Lok Sabha elections too.
Now, the caucus is demanding her head.

Vasundhara Raje is one of the few modern faces of the BJP. Plus she is
a woman who has shown that she has it in her to deliver as CM. How
many BJP leaders can make such a claim? Sushma Swaraj, the other woman
leader who has been promoted after the electoral debacle, has serious
limitations, some of which will not endear her to the vast and growing
Indian middle class. Besides, she is neither a Mayawati nor a Sonia
Gandhi who can deliver votes for the BJP across India, or become PM at
some stage. On the other hand, Vasundhara Raje, whichever way you look
at it, is the one face that the BJP must project as a tall leader, if
it is serious about having any chance in the next general elections.
She is perhaps the only woman leader in the BJP who can blunt the edge
of the two ladies mentioned above, if she is utilised properly over
the next few years.

Is that why she is under attack? Are the few leaders who have hijacked
the BJP out to make sure that there is no threat to their continuance
as the only faces, the only leaders of the party? Is that not why BC
Khanduri has been sidelined? Is not Narendra Modi also in their
sights, to be taken out at the right time, just as it seems Jaswant
Singh was before the elections? Remember how Advani conveniently
washed his hands off the decision of Jaswant Singh to go to Kandahar
to bring the hostages back, and let the Congress and the media tear
into him without any justification whatsoever? Have not Yashwant Sinha
and Arun Shourie been brushed aside for similar reasons?

You would have hardly ever seen Lal Krishna Advani smile freely in
front of the cameras, no matter what the good news. But, a couple of
days back, he just could not stop himself from baring his sparkling
and perfect teeth. And what was the great news that was responsible
for it? It was Sushma Swaraj telling India that Advani would remain
Leader of the Opposition for five years! That picture of the 81 year
old "mazboot neta" of the "nirnayak sarkar" that the people of India
had rejected in May this year, told the sad story of what has
fundamentally gone wrong with the BJP.

Are Advani and the party out of their minds to even think of going in
for the next elections under an 85 year old man?

Whatever may be the inner story to which, like most Indians, I am not
privy, the harsh fact is that the BJP is now appearing to the ordinary
Indian to be a party without an idea, what to talk of ideology and
idealism. In essence, the party looks no more more than a badly
smudged copy of the very Congress that it used to proudly claim it was
"different" from. As a direct result of this debilitating
metamorphosis, the greatest weakness of the Congress - dynastic
succession - has become the USP that is making it look better than the
BJP. The voter at least knows where the power lies now and will in
future, for better or worse. He knows whom he is to vote for or
against. There are no pretenders to confuse him or put him off.

In sharp contrast, the BJP, which could once boast of being a truly
democratic party with many tall leaders of impeccable integrity,
vision and competence, is now hostage to a few small leaders who have
become bigger than the party. Since they have been found out for what
they really are, a war for control of the party has begun. Copying the
strategy that was adopted by Indira Gandhi to become the unquestioned
leader of the Congress, the few who have seized control of the party
have begun to systematically sideline real leaders who can pose a
threat to them in future.

Unfortunately, the BJP does not have a centripetal force towards which
other leaders as well the nation can be successfully drawn. That is
the fatal flaw that will lead to uglier and uglier scenes being played
out over the next few years, if the caucus is not uprooted completely.
The longer it remains in control, the more the damage there will be to
the party. As a result, the Congress, without doing anything at all,
will gain and the supremacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family will start
looking more and more like a blessing rather than the black spot that
it is on India's democracy.

How many self-goals can one of the two leading national parties keep
scoring without getting mauled? As things stand now, paradoxically the
only way things can get any better for the BJP is if the party
performs poorly in the Assembly elections that are due to be held in
the next three years or so. How many fall guys can the caucus keep
finding while remaining Teflon-coated itself? It is not the equivalent
of the Nehru-Gandhi family without which the BJP will lose its
identity.

Removal of the coterie that controls the BJP is vital if the party
wants to have any realistic hope of seeing its Lotus bloom in New
Delhi in 2014 and/or later. The sooner the party and the RSS face up
to this harsh truth, and make way for leaders like Raje, Khanduri,
Modi, Yediurappa etc to take centre stage, the better it is for the
party and perhaps even for India. Will that happen anytime soon?

I don't know why, but images of a very reluctant Bhutto being forcibly
dragged to the gallows are appearing in my mind. No one is going to
give up power easily. He will have to be evicted by force. Unless that
is done, the once magnificient warship called BJP may well find itself
in Alang.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/231600_Rajnath-had-asked-Raje-to-step-down--Rajasthan-BJP

Rajnath had asked Raje to step down: Rajasthan BJP

STAFF WRITER 0:51 HRS IST

Jaipur, Aug 15 (PTI) Contrary to former Rajasthan chief minister
Vasundhara Raje's claim that she has not received any communication
from the BJP central leadership to step down as Leader of Opposition
in the assembly, the state unit today said party chief Rajnath Singh
had conveyed to her to quit.

Party President Rajnath Singh personally spoke to Raje and asked her
to step down, state BJP chief Arun Chaturvedi told PTI.

When asked about Raje denying that she had received any such
communication, he said, "I cannot say anything about it.

But I have been informed of the party president having spoken to her
personally about the matter."

Earlier, Raje during an informal chat with the media said that she had
not received any communique from the leadership to this effect and any
talk over the issue was unnecessary.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Defiant-Raje-skips-I-Day-function-at-state-BJP-HQ/502556

Defiant Raje skips I-Day function at state BJP HQ
Express News Service

Posted: Sunday , Aug 16, 2009 at 0349 hrs

Jaipur:

Former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje chose to skip the
Independence Day celebrations at the state BJP headquarters in Jaipur
in the wake of the the BJP high command demanding her resignation as
Rajasthan Leader of Opposition.

In a clear show of defiance, Raje chose to hoist the flag at a
ceremony in Badi Chaupar in Jaipur’s walled city. She maintained that
she had received no demand for her resignation even as state BJP
president Arun Chaturvedi confirmed that such a directive had been
issued.

“This is true. The BJP high command has asked for her resignation on
moral grounds following the defeats in the state and then
parliamentary elections. A senior BJP leader also stated that
Chaturvedi had conveyed this message to all the party’s MLAs and MPs
in the state and that Raje had no authority to call a meeting of
legislators. “The party will take stern action against those who
attend such meetings,” he said.

According to Chaturvedi, a change of guard was a natural process.
“There is nothing vindictive about this, it is a natural process,”
Chaturvedi said. Chaturvedi clarified that Raje had been invited to
the BJP flag hoisting ceremony. “I do not know why she did not attend
the function,” he said.

BJP treasurer Ramdas Agarwal asserted that the high command had asked
for her resignation and that there was no way around it. “She will
have to resign now, the only question is when it will come about,”
Agarwal said. Asked about Raje’s attempted show of strength in
despatching more than 50 MLAs to Delhi to speak to the high command,
Agarwal said that it was a rash decision, “They should not have acted
this aggressively. This only served to strengthen the high command’s
resolve on her resignation,” he said.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/16/stories/2009081660390100.htm

Stalemate persists on Vasundhara issue

Sunny Sebastian

Rajasthan BJP MLAs hold discussions at her residence

JAIPUR: The stand-off between former Rajasthan Chief Minister
Vasundhara Raje and the BJP leadership over her being asked to quit as
Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly continued on Saturday
even as it appeared that both sides have further hardened their
positions.

The 60-odd MLAs who returned from Delhi after informing party
president Rajnath Singh that they wanted the leadership to retain Ms.
Raje as Opposition leader continued to hold consultations among
themselves at her Civil Lines residence here. The BJP State
leadership, till now tight-lipped on the party directive to Ms. Raje
to step down, started speaking out, apparently on instructions from
Mr. Singh.

The newly appointed State party president Arun Chaturvedi was
categorical when he said the party leadership had asked Ms. Raje to
step down as early as on August 10, the day after she had heated
exchanges with senior partymen at a high-level meeting.

Denial mode

However, Ms. Raje continued in denial mode, refusing to acknowledge
any kind of directive from the party asking her to quit.

At the same time, Ms. Raje gave enough hints that she could go to any
extent if need be.

“I have the support of more than 60 MLAs. I enjoy the majority
support,” she said. “No question of her resigning,” said a close
ally.

Some of the MLAs have even started talking about a split.

But the veiled threats of Ms. Raje walking away with a chunk of MLAs
do not appear to bother the faction opposed to her.

At the flag-hoisting function in the party office on Independence Day,
former Deputy Chief Minister Harishanker Bhabhra was heard saying: “We
all know what had befallen Uma Bharti, Kalyan Singh and Madan Lal
Khurana after they left the BJP. If she dares, she would be doing so
at her peril.”

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/The-Sunday-ET/Dateline-India/Defiant-Raje-challenges-Rajnath/articleshow/4898143.cms

Defiant Raje challenges Rajnath

16 Aug 2009, 0519 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: Vasundhara Raje, who has so far refused to follow the
party’s central leadership’s diktat to resign from the Rajasthan
opposition
leader’s post owing moral responsibility for general election debacle
in the state, on Saturday threw a direct challenge at BJP president
Rajnath Singh’s authority, asking him to lead by example.

A defiant Ms Raje, who has so far refrained from doing anything beyond
showing her numbers, ratcheted her attack on the party’s central
leadership on Saturday by questioning Mr Singh’s authority, and
seeking the application of similar yardsticks while fixing
responsibility for the party’s defeat in the general election. She
made it clear that she alone could not be held responsible for the
BJP’s performance.

“As far as the poll debacle of party is concerned, it was not only in
Rajasthan but the setback was suffered all over the country, and the
responsibility should be fixed from top to bottom in the leadership
ladder,” Ms Raje told newspersons in Jaipur, a day after she showed
her clout by parading 57 of 78 Rajasthan BJP MLAs before Mr Singh in
the Capital. Besides these 57 MLAs, the group enjoys the backing of
five more legislators.

Even though she did not take the BJP president’s name, the former
Rajasthan chief minister left no one in doubt about the target of her
attack. Rather than taking full responsibility for the party’s
humiliating performance in the Lok Sabha polls, Mr Singh has been
making a concerted bid to shift the blame on his party colleagues.

Ms Raje also clarified that no one had till now called her up to
resign from the opposition leader’s post. “I have not received any
communique so far, so there should not be any unnecessary talk about
it,” she said on being asked about the high command’s purported
decision, and added that she had full support of the party MLAs, who
will decide on who should be the Leader of the Opposition in the
Rajasthan assembly.

Ms Raje’s refusal to resign from her post is being as considered as a
direct attack on the BJP president’s authority, and amplifies the
divide within the party. Mr Singh claims that his decision to seek Ms
Raje’s decision was part of the exercise to overhaul the party’s
organizational structure in Rajasthan, and that it had the sanction of
the core group.

But the core group, it is learnt, had, beyond emphasizing the need to
shake up the set-up in the state, had not taken any such decision.
Moreover, BJP vice-president M A Naqvi and Rajya Sabha member Kaptan
Singh Solanki, who had been sent as observers to Jaipur last month by
the central leadership to find out the factors behind the party’s poor
performance in the state, had cited infighting within the unit, lack
of focussed campaign and proper coordination with the central
leadership, as the primary reasons.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/The-Sunday-ET/Dateline-India/No-RSS-directive-for-Advani-to-quit/articleshow/4898144.cms

No RSS directive for Advani to quit
16 Aug 2009, 0520 hrs IST, PTI

CHENNAI: RSS chief Mohan Bhagawat today said he had not issued any
“directive” to senior BJP leader L K Advani during their recent
meeting to step down as Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

“I met Advaniji recently. We were discussing many things. But I have
not issued any directive on that day,” Bhagawat told reporters here in
his first comments after Advani dismissed media reports that the RSS
chief had asked him to nominate his successor in their one-to-one
meeting. Maintaining that RSS had “nothing to do” with BJP, the RSS
chief said, “BJP is a separate organisation and we don’t direct or
operate them at any level. It is a political party and it is also
capable of taking its own decision.”

Advani had a luncheon meeting with Bhagawat recently, following which
reports said the RSS chief had suggested to him to nominate his
successor in the near future. The BJP veteran had said discussion with
Bhagwat centred around BJP’s performance in the just-concluded budget
session of Parliament and the current political situation. The party’s
Shimla brainstorming session did not figure in it.

“On many issues they have identical views like us. But it does not
mean that we have hands on them,” Bhagawat said and declined to
comment on queries on the goings-on in BJP. On BJP’s poor showing in
Lok Sabha polls, he said RSS need not necessarily assess BJP’s
performance as “it will make its own assessement. A jolt has
temporarily destablised them. Slowly they are regaining their balance.
Whatever it is, they have to take care of themselves.”

When asked about infighting in BJP, Bhagawat retorted, “You have to
ask the question to BJP”. In reply to a query, Bhagawat, who is here
to attend a “Grand Reception” being accorded to him by “Citizens of
Chennai” tomorrow, said RSS would help not only BJP “but any political
party that comes and seeks our help. We are always ready to help
them.”
On the Ram Temple issue, he said the land had to be acquired first and
the court

verdict should also be awaited. “The concerned leaders of Ram Seva
Sangh would decide about it. Whatever decision they take RSS would
support it.”

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=Defensive+Raje+says+no+to+floating+own+party&artid=NLkC3paxCow=&SectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&MainSectionID=b7ziAYMenjw=&SectionName=pWehHe7IsSU=&SEO=VASUNDHARA,%20RAJNATH,%20SINGH,%20RAJASTHAN

Defensive Raje says no to floating own party

PTI First Published : 16 Aug 2009 05:29:31 PM IST
Last Updated : 16 Aug 2009 05:58:11 PM IST

JAIPUR: With her fate hanging in balance, Vasundhara Raje, who has
been defying a party direction to resign as Leader of Opposition in
Rajasthan Assembly, today said she never thought of floating a
separate party and invoked the contribution of her mother Vijaya Raje
to BJP.


"I have neither made any adverse comments nor any statement against
BJP or its leader or thought of floating any party," the former chief
minister said, adding she was hurt by the "untrue" statements being
attributed to her against the BJP, which was nurtured by "blood and
sweat" of her mother.

In a statement issued after a three-hour meeting with six MLAs at her
residence, Raje said, "The party whose founder was my mother, the
party which was nurtured by her blood and sweat to strengthen it and
her life's every moment was spent for party's interest and ideological
thought, for that mother-like BJP, manipulated and untrue statements
are being attributed to me. I am hurt by it".

"In politics I have my mother as my ideal...I have reached to this
height after sharing public grievances in last 20 years," she was
quoted as saying in the statement signed by her media advisor Mahendra
Bhardwaj.

Accusing TV news channel of distorting facts, Raje said, "It is
surprising and disappointing that some electronic media channels were
showing news that are baseless and beyond truth.

"Without talking to me or taking even a byte...the way some electronic
media aired news, is not believable."

"A section of electronic media is misleading public by tarnishing my
image," she alleged.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Rajnath-confident-Raje-will-obey-partys-decision/articleshow/4898906.cms

Rajnath confident Raje will obey party's decision
PTI 16 August 2009, 07:01pm IST

JAIPUR: BJP President Rajnath Singh has said party leader Vasundhara
Raje has given a very positive message which shows that she will
resign as the
Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly.

Earlier, in an apparent climbdown, Vasundhara Raje, who has defied the
BJP high command diktat to quit as Leader of the Opposition in the
Rajasthan Assembly, today decided to accept the verdict of the party
parliamentary board which is likely to meet in New Delhi, a key aide
said.

Raje took the decision at a closed-door meeting with six MLAs, Alwar
legislator Gyan Deo Ahuja, who was also present, told reporters
outside her residence after the meeting.

"Whatever the BJP Parliamentary board decides, it will be acceptable
to the BJP legislature party" led by her, he said. The board is likely
to meet in New Delhi in the evening.

"So far, there has been no official communication seeking Raje's
resignation," he said, maintaining that all 60 MLAs, who had gone to
Delhi to meet the party leadership, were with the former chief
minister. "Their number may increase," Ahuja, who was flanked by
Ganganagar MLA Radhey Shyam, claimed.

Raje told reporters on Saturday that she alone could not be blamed for
BJP's poor performance in assembly and Lok Sabha elections in the
state.

"As far as the poll debacle of party is concerned, it was not only in
Rajasthan but the setback was suffered all over the country, and the
responsibility should be fixed from top to bottom in the leadership
ladder," she had said.

BJP Chief Whip in Assembly Rajendra Singh Rathore said there was no
plan to float a separate party by Raje's supporters if she was removed
as Leader of Opposition.

"There is no tension in the legislative wing... no deadlock... there
is no plan to float any party or to defect from BJP," Rathore, who
described the meeting with Raje as a courtesy call, said.

"We have communicated our feeling to the party highcommand that all
party 61 MLAs (out of 78)and four MPS are unanimously supporting Raje
as Leader of Opposition.

"Highcommand has been apprised... we all want that she should be our
leader," Rathore said and expressed the hope that the parliamentary
board would not go "against the feelings" of the MLAs.

"We have full faith in the parliamentary board.... We hope the
parliamentary board meeting would do justice with us and would not go
against the feelings of MLAs", he added.

He asserted that there has so far been "no official, unofficial or any
telephone communication" directly to Raje by the party highcommand
seeking her resignation.

"Vasundharaji is our leader of opposition and would remain...if there
is any move to remove or replace her...we will look into it," he
said.

When asked whether Raje was called to attend the party's parliamentary
board meeting, he said, "Not so far".

"We went to Delhi based on media reports to justify MLAs' feelings to
party highcommand...L K Advani was busy with his schedule...hence
could not meet him, otherwise Rajnathji (BJP president)heard our
voice," Rathore said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/232298_BJP-Parl-Board-likely-to-meet-over-Raje-s-issue

BJP Parl Board likely to meet over Raje's issue
STAFF WRITER 16:48 HRS IST

New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) The BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) Parliamentary
Board is likely to meet Sunday over the issue of Vasundhara Raje's
refusal to step down as leader of opposition in the Rajasthan
Assembly, party sources said.

Earlier in the day, party president Rajnath Singh convened a meeting
of the BJP Central Election Committee (CEC) to discuss and finalise
candidates for Arunachal Pradesh and some assembly by-elections in
other states.

In view of Raje's refusal to follow the high commands order to step
down, party top brass is likely to hold a meeting of its Parliamentary
Board here in the evening.

The Parliamentary Board is the highest decision-making body of the
saffron party and most of the BJP leaders who are members of the CEC
are also members of the Board.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.indianexpress.com/comments/rajes-positive-message-shows-she-will-quit-rajnath/502657/

Raje's ‘positive message’ shows she will quit: Rajnath

Posted: Sunday , Aug 16, 2009 at 2105 hrs

New Delhi/Jaipur:

If Raje is loyal to the party, she must follow the order without
making any delay said Bhabhra.Most Read Articles

The crisis in BJP over a defiant Vasundhara Raje's refusal to resign
as Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan assembly appeared to be showing
signs of easing after she made a conciliatory statement but the party
insisted she should quit, for which no deadline was set.

After a meeting of the BJP Parliamentary Board at its headquarters,
party president Rajnath Singh said Raje's statement earlier in the day
that she will abide by the party's decision is a "positive message".

"BJP Parliamentary Board is confident that the message conveyed by me
to her (to step down) will be followed by her," Singh said.

He confirmed for the first time on record that it was conveyed to her
that the former chief minister should step down as Leader of the
Opposition. He said this decision was taken by the Core Group of the
party.

"No time-frame has been set (for her stepping down) so I cannot say
that party's authority has been undermined," he said in reply to a
question on whether a deadline has been set and her refusal undermined
the party's authority.

After three days of defiance, when Raje sent her supporting MLAs to
Delhi to convey to the party high command that she will not quit, she
issued a statement in Jaipur in the morning that she had never thought
of floating a separate party. The MLAs were snubbed when senior party
leader L K Advani refused to meet them.

"Whatever the BJP Parliamentary Board decides, it will be acceptable
to the BJP legislature party" led by her, Raje's close aide Gyan Dev
Ahuja said in Jaipur before the meeting.

After the parliamentary board meet, Raje and her supporting MLAs met
briefly in Jaipur. Ahuja said a final decision would be taken only
after getting a formal communication from the board.

CommentsPost comment6 Comments |

Routing Raje

By: J.M.Manchanda | Sunday , 16 Aug '09 20:58:08 PM

Raje is being made a scapegoat. She rightly argues that the party did
not suffer only in Rajasthan. The first to go should have been Rajnath
Singh under whose presidentship th e party fared badly. Next should be
Advani since the poll was reduced to his bid for Primeministership
(Remember 'Advani for PM' slogan on all websites). Jaitley was the
chief campaigner who devised and carried out a viciously negative
campaign, which put off the masses. What about Modi and his virulent
"budiya, gudiya" level oratory? It is clear that the party is still
not grappling with real issues.If it has to make a real bid for power
in next elections, it must cleanse itself and resore inner-party
democracy.

Remove Rajnath first

By: Rohit | Sunday , 16 Aug '09 19:20:46 PM

He is the Man who is destroying all the possible leaders Generation
next, I dont know how he is still in post, if at all he is elected, I
will never vote BJP again..Hope he will not get second term..

down fall of BJP

By: babu.paate | Sunday , 16 Aug '09 18:44:01 PM

The downfall of BJP has already started, rebellion of Raje is the last
nail of BJP Coffin, a party cannt stand longer with hate/communalism/
hypocricy with sole objective to divide society in the name of
Religion and fool common man.

Double Standards

By: veer sain | Sunday , 16 Aug '09 18:10:25 PM

After the debacle in polls, Rajnath Singh Ji and Advani Ji did not
resign because it was claimed that in BJP, it is collective
responsibility and no individuals can be singled out. Now the party
officials are being sacked holding them responsible for party's
performance. Why the concept of collective responsibility is not
applied to them also. It is amazing that the central leadership who is
responsible for the debacle at national level is sitting in the
judgement. Double standards???????

Bird flu Janta Party (BJP)

By: Ajantar Kumar | Sunday , 16 Aug '09 17:09:47 PM

Brainless politicians and brainless party of BJP (Birdflu Janta
Party).

Rajnath Singh does not have moral right to remove Vasundara when he
himself failed

By: Anand | Sunday , 16 Aug '09 16:48:26 PM

THe only solution for the present crisis with in BJP is to remove its
president Mr.Rajnath Singh as he has prooved to be the most
incompetent leader in the party.He cannot win single handedly even one
Lok Sabha seat in his own state UP and he does not have any moral
right to ask Vasundara Raje to resign taking moral responsibility for
the party debacle in Rajsathan.BJP leadership should be taken over by
some one with leadership skill and taking decisive action against all
odds.Only people like Narendra Modi or Arun Jaitley are competent to
take up such challenge.Party should immediately dump passive people
like Rajnath or Venkiah Naidu and instead bring up vibrant leaders who
delivers.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.hindu.com/2009/08/17/stories/2009081759980100.htm

Vasundhara statement ‘positive,’ no action

Aarti Dhar

BJP Parliamentary Board believes she will quit legislature party post
as directed

— Photo: Shanker Chakravarty

BJP leader L.K. Advani, party president Rajnath Singh, senior leaders
Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley and Jaswant Singh at the BJP election
committee meeting held at the party headquarters in New Delhi on
Sunday.


NEW DELHI: A crucial meeting of the BJP Central Parliamentary Board on
Sunday decided not to take disciplinary action against the former
Rajasthan Chief Minister, Vasundhara Raje, for defying party orders,
and instead allowed her to step down as Leader of the Opposition. For,
it “believed that she would obey the party decision.”

The party is said to have taken into consideration Ms. Raje’s
statement, earlier in the day, that she had not made any adverse
comment about any party leader or thought of floating a separate
party.

Briefing journalists, BJP president Rajnath Singh said Ms. Raje’s
statement was “positive” and the board members believed that she would
resign as directed by the party, though no time frame had been set for
her to put in her papers. Sources in the party said Ms. Raje would
quit the post before the BJP’s Chintan Baitak began in Shimla on
August 19.

In her statement issued in Jaipur, Ms. Raje said: “I have neither made
any adverse comments nor any statement against the BJP or its leader
or thought of floating a party.” She was hurt by the “untrue”
statements attributed to her against the BJP, which was nurtured by
the “blood and sweat” of her mother.

Accusing TV news channels of distorting facts, Ms. Raje said, “It is
surprising and disappointing that some electronic media channels were
showing news that are baseless and beyond truth.”

Last week, the core group of the Central Parliamentary Board asked Ms.
Raje to step down in the wake of the party’s poll debacle in the
State, but she refused to oblige and even tried to put pressure on the
central leadership to revoke the decision by sending over 60 MLAs to
Delhi. However, the senior party leader, L.K. Advani, refused to meet
them. Sunday’s meeting was convened to decide on her fate for
“indiscipline.” But Ms. Raje’s statement came just before the
session.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=1&theme=&usrsess=1&id=264835

Raje strikes a conciliatory note

JAIPUR/NEW DELHI, 16 AUG: Former Rajasthan chief minister Mrs
Vasundara Raje showed indications of backing down in her stand-off
with the BJP central leadership, issuing a conciliatory statement
today, even as the party insisted that she must quit as Leader of the
Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly, for which however no deadline
was set.

The BJP legislators from the Raje faction are also showing signs of
reconciliation with the Central leadership and have partially agreed
to toe the high command line.

The Raje camp went on the defensive after BJP national president Mr
Rajnath Singh remained adamant on his decision to seek Vasundara
Raje’s resignation in the parliamentary board meeting of the party
convened in New Delhi this evening.
Speaking to reporters after the BJP parliamentary board at its
headquarters, Mr Singh said Mrs Raje’s statement in the day that she
will abide by the party’s decision is a “positive message”. “The BJP
Parliamentary Board is confident that the message conveyed by me to
her (to step down) will be followed by her,” Mr Singh said.

Confirming for the first time on record that she had been asked to
step down as Leader of the Opposition, he said this decision was taken
by the core group of the party. “No time-frame has been set (for her
stepping down),” he said.
In Jaipur, Mr Rajendra Singh Rathore, MLA from Taranagar and a close
aide of Mrs Vasundara Raje said they are yet to receive any
information from the parliamentary board and they would react
afterwards.

Earlier in the day, after three days of defiance, Mrs Raje released a
statement through her press advisor, citing her commitment and
loyality to the BJP and its ideals. She also claimed that a section of
the media was attempting to tarnish her political image and strongly
denied reports of her floating a new regional political outfit in the
state. ;SNS

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Raje-given-free-hand-to-decide-succe

Raje given free hand to decide successor

17 Aug 2009, 0133 hrs IST, ET Bureau


NEW DELHI: Rajnath Singh’s position as the BJP president took another
knock here on Sunday when the party’s central parliamentary board
decided that Vasundhara Raje would step down from the post of the
leader of the Opposition in Rajasthan, but its timing would be decided
by her, and that her successor would be elected by the MLAs
themselves, and not foisted on them by the high command.

The parliamentary board met here against the backdrop of the
confrontation building up between the BJP president and Ms Raje, who
had refused to abide by his diktat to step down from Rajasthan
Opposition leader’s post. As such, the first priority of the members
was to defuse the tension that had flared up within the party and
threatened to consume the ‘chintan baithak’.

But in the war of nerves that has been played out between the BJP
president and the former Rajasthan chief minister in the past few
days, it’s clear that the latter has emerged victorious. She’ll not
only decide the timing of her departure from state politics, but will
also have a decisive say in finalising her successor. There are
indications that she may decide to step down from the opposition
leader’s post after the BJP’s chintan baithak, which begins in Shimla
on August 19, after which is likely to be accommodated in the team of
central officebearers.

Mr Singh, while speaking to newspersons after the central
parliamentary board meeting, said that he was confident that Ms Raje
would abide by the BJP central leadership’s decision, but insisted at
the same time that “no time-frame’’ has been set for her resignation.

With Ms Raje, who continues to enjoy the backing of over 50 BJP MLAs
in the states, persisting with her defiance, the party’s central
leadership was faced with a serious credibility crisis. With his
authority under a severe threat, the party president earlier this
morning sent the BJP’s treasurer, Mr Ramdas Agarwal, and former state
president Om Mathur to meet her in Jaipur in an attempt to extract a
face-saver.

Ms Raje, while agreeing to step down from the opposition leader’s
post, made it clear that the timing of her decision should left to
her, and that her successor would be elected by the party MLAs. In the
200-member assembly, BJP has a strength of 78, and she enjoys the
clear backing of a majority of the party legislators. She had, in
fact, demonstrated her clout on Thursday when she had paraded 57 MLAs
before the party president in the Capital on Thursday. The group also
claimed to have the support of five more MLAs.

The former Rajasthan chief minister, on her part, also agreed to make
a conciliatory gesture. In a statement issued by her later in the day,
she, while invoking her mother, the late Vijayaraje Scindia’s name,
clarified that she had never thought of floating a separate party. The
Rajmata was one of the founder-members of the BJP, and continues to be
held in high esteem by the entire Sangh parivar.

“I have neither made any adverse comments nor any statement against
BJP or its leader or thought of floating any party,” the former chief
minister said, adding she was hurt by the “untrue” statements being
attributed to her against the BJP, which had been nurtured by “blood
and sweat” of her mother.

In a statement issued after a three-hour meeting with her loyalists at
her residence, Ms Raje said, ``The party whose founder was my mother,
the party which was nurtured by her blood and sweat to strengthen it
and her life's every moment was spent for party's interest and
ideological thought, for that mother-like BJP, manipulated and untrue
statements are being attributed to me. I am hurt by it". "In politics
I have my mother as my ideal...I have reached to this height after
sharing public grievances in last 20 years,’’ she was quoted as saying
in the statement signed by her media advisor Mahendra Bhardwaj.

The central parliamentary board’s decision give a lifeline to Ms Raje
marks a major setback of the BJP president’s attempts to clip the
wings of the party’s regional satraps. He has in the past tried to
instigate rebellions against Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi,
Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and Uttarakhand chief
minister B C Khanduri.

While his attempts were rebuffed resoundingly in the first two states,
he could only partially succeed in Uttarakhand. Mr Khanduri did step
down from the chief minister’s post eventually, but ensured that the
baton was handed over to his nominee, Mr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/raje-party-leadership-compromiserajasthan/367194/e,
party leadership compromise on Rajasthan

AASHA KHOSA / New Delhi August 17, 2009, 1:01 IST

Will quit a little later and compensated in Delhi.

The crisis faced by the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan
seemed to have blown over today, with both senior party leaders in
Delhi and Vasundhara Raje in the state relenting on their respective
hardline positions on the issue of the latter’s quitting as head of
the party in the state assembly.

The compromise, it appeared, was that Raje would be allowed to take a
month in resigning from Jaipur and her being given an appropriately
senior position in Delhi.

Her rebellion against the party leadership’s decision appeared to have
fizzled a few hours before the BJP’s senior leaders were to hold a
meeting of the party’s Parliamentary Board on the issue.

While Raje had tried to browbeat the central leaders by sending a
large contingent of MLAs supporting her to stage a show of strength,
rumours were also floated that she could start a separate party.
However, the party gave enough hints that it meant business and would
not tolerate disobedience.

Probably taking the cue, Raje said in Jaipur that she “considers the
BJP like my mother” and she would “go by the party’s orders, come what
may”. It helped sooth frayed nerves in Delhi, as the party leaders led
by Rajnath Singh, president, and L K Advani, leader of the opposition
in the Lok Sabha, were about to start a discussion on the Rajasthan
crisis.

Singh told media persons that as Vasundhara Raje had made positive
statements in Jaipur, the Parliamentary

Board had decided against taking any action against her. Nor had the
party not given any ultimatum for her to tender her resignation. “I
had conveyed the decision to Vasundharaji that the party wants her to
quit,” Singh said, for the first time. He said the decision to replace
her was taken by the party’s core group and not by him, as was being
alleged by some.

According to sources, while the BJP was firm on Raje’s resignation, it
had decided to accept the twin conditions placed by the former chief
minister for doing so. Raje wanted a month’s time for resigning and
had also asked for a suitable position in Delhi.

Raje was asked to resign in view of the BJP’s downfall in the state.
After having led the party to its dramatic victory in the state in
2003, she is now being squarely blamed for the party’s losing two
elections in a row this year.


...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/bjp-men-flock-to-trinamool-blame-passive-leadership/502948/

BJP men flock to Trinamool, blame passive leadership
Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay

Posted: Aug 17, 2009 at 0505 hrs IST

Kolkata With the fledgling BJP unit in West Bengal affected by
infighting, several BJP leaders are switching allegiance to the
Trinamool, the party which was their partner in the NDA government.

Leading among the leaders switching over to the Trinamool is Nabyendu
Nahal, former state secretary, who was the party candidate from
Jhargram in the LS polls. Nahal, along with hundreds of his supporters
joined Trinamool last week.

Even before him, many district unit presidents and hordes of party
members from districts like Bankura, Birbhum, Nadia, North and South
24-Parganas have flocked to the Trinamool. Over the last two years the
number of party members in the state has dwindled from 3.21 to 1.75
lakh.

With two groups of the state unit at logger-heads, one faction is led
by Satyabrata Mukherjee, former Union minister and the present state
unit president, who is accused of passivity and lack of leadership
qualities.

The other is headed by Tapan Sikder, another former Union minister and
former state unit president, who is now keen to regain his hold in the
party.

The election for the party president’s post will take place in
December.

Sikder rejoined the party last year, three years after he left in
2005.

“The present leadership is lying idle. The party rank and file is
looking for direction after the Lok Sabha debacle but there is none
from the top,” a party leader said.

“There is no programme, and only press conferences are held at the
Kolkata party office. If this goes on it will become just a signboard
party in near future,” the leader added.

Party general secretary Rahul Sinha admitted that hordes of party rank
and file are joining the Trinamool and said only unprincipled persons
are indulging in such practices.

“There are always such people who do not have principles. It is they
who have left our party,” Sinha said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[tendertiger.india]

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[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=Cricket&id=9a465a05-4dd6-4a2e-8efd-d629d52167d4&Headline=Raje-to-remain-opposition-leader-in-Rajasthan-decide-her-loyalists

Raje to remain opposition leader in Rajasthan: Loyalists
Agencies

New Delhi, August 17, 2009

First Published: 13:50 IST(17/8/2009)
Last Updated: 14:10 IST(17/8/2009)

A meeting of the Rajasthan BJP MLAs on Monday decided to retain
Vasundhara Raje as the leader of the opposition till the next Assembly
elections.

Raje’s supporters insisted that she will continue to hold the post of
the opposition leader till the next assembly elections.

It is now for Vasundhara Raje to announce her final decision regarding
retaining or quitting the opposition leader's job in the Rajasthan
assembly.

In an apparent climb down, Raje had on Sunday agreed to “abide” by any
decision of the BJP’s highest decision-making body, the parliamentary
board, and quit the job of opposition leader.

In turn, BJP President Rajnath Singh had agreed not to press for her
resignation with immediate effect.

Instead, he accepted the board’s view that she be allowed to exit with
“honour” without any deadline or tag that she must own up for the
party’s poor showing in the elections.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/RSS-disapproves-of-Jaswant-Singh-s-views-on-Jinnah/503076

RSS disapproves of Jaswant Singh’s views on Jinnah

Don’t have capability or intention to match China force for force:
Navy chief

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Monday expressed disapproval
of the views of former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh on
Pakistan’s founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Reacting to Singh’s statement
RSS National Executive Committee member Ram Madhav said, the Sangh did
not agree with his views. Madhav, also said he has not gone through
the book, and added that it is premature to make any comments on the
views expressed by Singh.

In an interview to a private news channel on Saturday Singh said
“Jinnah was demonized by India while it was actually India''s first
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's belief in a centralized polity that
led to partition.”

Singh who has penned a Jinnah’s biography titled, “Jinnah India,
Partition Independence” is scheduled to be released on Monday evening.
In the interview Singh also categorically made it clear that the views
on Jinnah are his own.

Singh strongly contested the popular Indian view that Jinnah was the
man responsible for the country’s partition, and said there was a need
to correct this distortion of history. "I think we have misunderstood
Jinnah because we needed to create a demon. We needed a demon because
in the 20th century the most telling event in the subcontinent was the
partition of the country," Singh said.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/233784_RSS--BJP-disagree-Jaswant-s-contention-on-Jinnah

RSS, BJP disagree Jaswant's contention on Jinnah

STAFF WRITER 17:59 HRS IST

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) RSS today disapproved of senior BJP leader
Jaswant Singh's praise of Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
while his own party appeared to distance itself from the remarks made
in his new book.

Though RSS and BJP leaders have reserved a structured response to
Singh's book, 'Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence', they have
voiced their differences with many opinions expressed by the senior
leader in his book.

When asked if RSS agreed with Singh's view that Jinnah has been
"demonised" in India, RSS leader Ram Madhav said, "I have only read
excerpts of the book. But I am constrained to say that it is far from
the truth to state that Jinnah was not responsible for partition.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Raje-not-to-quit-for-now-/articleshow/4903142.cms

Raje not to quit for "now"
PTI 17 August 2009, 06:40pm IST

JAIPUR/NEW DELHI: Exploiting the lack of deadline set for her
resignation, BJP leader Vasundhara Raje's supporters on Monday
indicated that she may
not not be quitting her position as Leader of the Opposition in
Rajasthan Assembly immediately.

The party, however, said in Delhi that there was no no crisis in
Rajasthan and Raje has accepted the party's decision that she should
step down. "She will take the appropriate decision at an appropriate
time," BJP spokesman Prakash Javdekar told reporters.

A day after the BJP Parliament Board met and endorsed the Core Group
decision asking her to quit her post in the Assembly following defeat
in the Assembly and Parliament elections but without setting any
deadline, 16 leaders, including 6 MLAs, supporting her met at Raje's
residence.

"Since the BJP President Rajnath Singh has himself not given any time
limit for Raje to abide by his direction (to resign), the Leader of
Opposition is not resigning for now, and would call BJP Legislative
Party Meeting between August 19 and August 26," Gyandeo Ahuja told
reporters today after the meeting.

He said the party was preparing for cooperative bodies polls in
Rajasthan slated for August 19 and an upcoming brief session of
Assembly.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a72654.html

Government's policy on terror, Pakistan lacks clarity: BJP

New Delhi, Aug 17

The government's policies on dealing with Pakistan on the issue of
terrorism lacked clarity, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said here
Monday.

"This government's stand has not been clear on dealing with Pakistan
on the issue of terrorism. We need to have a clear and tough policy in
dealing with this issue,” BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told
IANS.

Naqvi was reacting to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement Monday
that said the government had credible information about terror groups
in Pakistan planning fresh attacks against India.

"Coming to specific challenges, cross-border terrorism remains a most
pervasive threat. We have put in place additional measures after the
Mumbai terrorist attack in November last year. But there is need for
continued vigilance," Manmohan Singh said at a chief ministers'
meeting on internal security.

"There is credible information of ongoing plans of terrorist groups in
Pakistan to carry out fresh attacks. The area of operation of these
terrorists today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu and Kashmir
and covers all parts of our country," the prime minister added.

Naqvi said his party favoured good relations with Pakistan but not at
the cost of India's security.

Targetting the prime minister for the India-Pakistan joint declaration
at Sharm el-Sheikh in July, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said:
“If Prime Minister Manmohan Singh says what he means (at the chief
ministers' conference), then a serious question arises over the entire
joint declaration”.

Last updated on Aug 17th, 2009 at 18:17 pm IST--

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.sindhtoday.net/news/1/42350.htm

We have to change the image of ugly Indian politician: Advani
August 17th, 2009 SindhToday

Chandigarh, Aug 17 (IANS) Leader of the opposition and senior
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader L.K. Advani Monday strongly
emphasised on the need to change the image of Indian politicians.

“The image of a politician in the eyes of common person is not good.
People are afraid of their leaders and do not want to approach them.
Now we have to take the responsibility a change the image of ugly
Indian politician,” Advani said after releasing a book here Monday
evening.

He added: “There is a sharp decline in the principles of youth joining
politics. All of them want an instant rise but lack values of
dedication and selfless service. In fact, every field of society has
seen a downfall in the values but, unfortunately, people raise fingers
only towards politics.”

Advani was in Chandigarh Monday evening to release the biography of
former Punjab minister and senior BJP leader Balramji Dass Tandon.

Advani, who is heading to Shimla Tuesday for the three-day ‘Chintan
Baithak’ of the BJP being held there, refused to answer any media
querries on the internal rumblings within the party.

“Standards of our teachers, doctors and even journalists have degraded
in the past few years. During the elections, a political party can
easily buy a space in a newspaper or in electronic media,” stated
Advani.

“You just need to pay few lakhs of rupees and newspaper will publish a
whole page describing your achievements. On the next day, the rival
party will buy a page to counter it. This is a serious problem that
our present politics and journalism are facing,” said Advani.

“I often tell youngsters who join our party to maintain a clean image
and to bring in the ethics of dedication and hard work. If our
politicians are corrupt, then it would certainly have adverse affects
on our society.”
[LM1]

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/234291_Raje-episode-affecting-BJP-s-image--Sumitra-Mahajan

Raje episode affecting BJP's image: Sumitra Mahajan

STAFF WRITER 20:30 HRS IST

Indore, Aug 17 (PTI) Senior BJP leader Sumitra Mahajan today came out
in support of beleaguered party colleague Vasundhara Raje, who has
been asked to quit as Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assebly
following the poll debacle, saying decisions should not be forced upon
an elected leader.

"In democracy it is absolutely wrong to thrust a decision on an
elected leader. She is the same Vasundhara (former Chief Minister of
Rajasthan) who had once ensured party's spectacular victory in
Rajasthan," she said, adding the issue was affecting the party's image
among the people which was a matter of concern.

Mahajan, who was also a former Union Minister, stressed that before
ordering Raje to quit from the post, the party should have taken into
confidence the Rajasthan BJP MLAs.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://videosfromindia.smashits.com/view/9073/vasundhara-issue-to-solve-soon-rajnath

Vasundhara issue to solve soon: Rajnath

Runtime: 1m 50s | Views: 53

Video Infomation

Rating (0 Votes) Not yet rated Added on: 08/17/2009

New Delhi/ Jaipur, August 17 (ANI): Chief of India's main opposition
Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajnath Singh on Sunday expressed confidence
that the party leadership row in Rajasthan would soon be resolved. BJP
ran into trouble after Vasundhara Raje refused to step down from the
post of opposition leader in Rajasthan. Rajnath said that he had
advised Raje to step down but set no timeframe.
Channels: Default

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090818/jsp/opinion/story_11370496.jsp

PEOPLE FIRST

The fuss over Vasundhara Raje’s resignation as the leader of the
Opposition in the Rajasthan assembly reveals a fundamental flaw in the
functioning of Indian democracy. Reports suggest that Ms Raje’s fate
and future will be decided by the central leadership of the Bharatiya
Janata Party in Delhi. The BJP leadership wants her to step down from
her position. The fact of the matter is that she is an elected
representative of the people of Rajasthan. Her position as a leader
can only be discussed in, and decided by, the BJP’s legislative party
in Rajastan. The latter is a recognized body, whereas the central
leadership of the BJP has no constitutional locus standi. Yet Ms Raje
has to act not according to the wishes of her peers in the Rajasthan
assembly, but according to the diktats of her party’s central
leadership. What this shows is that in India, the legislative wing of
a political party — that is, the elected representatives of the people
— are invariably subject to what a party’s central leadership decides.
This can only be interpreted as a violation of simple democratic
norms.

Ms Raje’s predicament is only a particular case of a general
phenomenon. Each leading political party in India has its central
leadership — it may be given various names — that decides on all
critical matters from policy to discipline. Such a body is often
manned by persons who have never faced an electorate or secured a
popular mandate. The legislative wing of a party, which is always
constituted of people who have won an election, is made subservient to
the central leadership. This means that, in theory and in practice,
politicians not elected by the people have powers over people who are
the elected representatives of the people. What can be more anomalous
than this in a functioning democracy? Who is to be the leader of the
Opposition — Ms Raje in Rajasthan or L.K. Advani in the Lok Sabha —
should be decided by the legislative parties to which they belong. No
other body should have a say in this.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/235267_BJP-brainstorming-session-from-tomorrow

BJP brainstorming session from tomorrow

STAFF WRITER 15:31 HRS IST

Shimla, Aug 18 (PTI) Top leaders of BJP will assemble here tomorrow
for a three-day brainstorming conclave aimed at chalking out future
course of action for the party, taking lessons from the severe
drubbing suffered in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

At the closed-door 'Chintan Baithak' (introspection meeting), the
party leadership is expected to look into the reasons for the poll
debacle on the basis of the report prepared by the three-member Bal
Apte committee.

The meeting, to be attended by about 25 top BJP leaders including L K
Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, is taking place
in the shadow of the controversy surrounding senior leader Jaswant
Singh's book on M A Jinnah in which the former External Affairs
Minister has praised the Pakistan founder.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/236101_BJP-suspends-two-Raje-loyalist-MLAs


18 Aug 2009, 21:21 HRS IST
BJP suspends two Raje loyalist MLAs

STAFF WRITER 20:2 HRS IST

Jaipur/New Delhi, Aug 18 (PTI) In an apparent message to former
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje to fall in line and quit as
Leader of the Opposition, BJP today cracked the whip suspending two
MLAs close to her on the charge of anti-party activities.

Newly-appointed Rajasthan BJP unit chief Arun Chaturvedi suspended
Gyan Dev Ahuja and Rajender Singh Rathore, who have been spearheading
Raje's campaign against the party high command, for anti-party
activities. He also sought an explanation from the two within seven
days, a party spokesman said in Jaipur.

The decision to suspend the two MLAs came ahead of the party's three-
day 'chitan baithak' (brainstorming session) beginning in Shimla
tomorrow to discuss the state of affairs after the Lok Sabha poll
debacle.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/235836_Special-dishes-to-spice-up-BJP-s-Chintan-Baithak

Special dishes to spice up BJP's Chintan Baithak

STAFF WRITER 18:39 HRS IST

Shimla, Aug 18 (PTI) BJP top brass may have a lot many 'unsavoury'
developments to discuss during the party's three-day brain storming
session beginning here tomorrow, but when it comes to food there is a
bevy of gastronomical delights in store.

Mouthwatering specials like Seppu Bari will be among local delicacies
that host Himachal Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (HPTDC) has
lined up in the menu.

While Seppu Bari, Rajma Madra, Khatti Dal, Amla Kadu and Khatti Dal
would be part of lunch and dinner, breakfast would be a mix of south
Indian cuisine of Dosa and Idly with north Indian 'Channe Bhature'.

The participants would be served pure vegetarian food during the
session, sources in HPTDC-run hotel Peterhoff, the venue of the meet,
said today.

The catering arrangement is being taken care of by the HPTDC, owner of
Peterhoff hotel.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Clarify-stand-on-joint-statement--BJP-asks-Govt/503540

Clarify stand on joint statement, BJP asks Govt

Posted: Tuesday , Aug 18, 2009 at 1759 hrs

New Delhi:

BJP tried to put the government on the back foot once again on Indo-
Pak joint statement asking it to clarify its stand on the issue in
wake of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's comments on possible terror
strikes by Pakistan.

"Yesterday at the Chief Minister's conference, the Prime minister said
that Pakistani terrorists may strike again. What is their stand now on
the joint statement that Manmohan Singh made with the Pakistani Prime
Minister where he talked about de-linking of action against terror
from the composite dialogue," BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu told
reporters in New Delhi.

Claiming that the government seems to toeing the line of "Pakistan may
strike again, we may talk again", Naidu said "does the statement mean
anything now? Is the government willing to accept that it had
committed a mistake. We now want to know about Government's response
on the issue."

Accusing the UPA government of politicising the national security
issues, he said, "When the Government could accept Maharashtra's MCOCA
(anti-terror act), what is the problem with GUJCO (Gujarat's proposed
anti-terror law) except that Maharashtra has a Congress government and
Gujarat is a BJP-ruled state."

On the alleged corruption charges against Assam Governor Syed Sibtey
Razi, Naidu said, "Razi should immediately step down and the Prime
Minister should take steps to see that he resigns immediately."

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.livemint.com/2009/08/18225840/BJP-looks-to-cool-off-in-Shiml.html?h=B

BJP looks to cool off in Shimla as book controversy heats up

Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar latest party leaders to criticize
Jaswant Singh; Shimla meet starts today

Santosh K. Joy

New Delhi: Fresh trouble surfaced in the country’s main opposition,
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Tuesday, with former party
president Murli Manohar Joshi and general secretary Vinay Katiyar
demanding action against senior leader Jaswant Singh for his views on
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

In his book Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence, Singh says Jinnah
was “demonized” by India while it was the belief of Jawaharlal Nehru,
the country’s first prime minister and Congress leader, in a
centralized system that had led to Partition. The book was launched on
Monday.

The new bout of discord within the BJP comes ahead of a three-day
introspection meeting for its top leadership in picturesque Shimla,
following weeks of infighting and defiance from its state units.

Road ahead: BJP leader L.K. Advani arrives in Shimla for the party’s
‘chintan baithak’. PTI

Joshi and Katiyar, speaking separately to reporters before leaving for
Shimla, said Singh’s views were against the party’s stand on Jinnah
and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country’s first home minister, and
called for action against those who do not follow the party line.

BJP president Rajnath Singh has also stated “complete disassociation”
of the party from the views expressed in Jaswant Singh’s book.

This is not the first time the BJP has taken on its top leaders over
Jinnah: L.K. Advani, the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the
just-concluded general election, had to resign under pressure from the
post of party president after he called Jinnah a secular leader during
his tour of Pakistan in 2005.

But the recent spate of infighting and criticism against a top BJP
leader is only the latest since the party’s debacle at the general
election in April-May. The exercise in introspection also comes soon
after Vasundhara Raje declined to resign as legislative leader of the
party in Rajasthan.


The party claims its introspection meet, or chintan baitakh, in the
capital of BJP-ruled Himachal Pradesh will help chalk out its future
course. Party vice-president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi says the meet will
focus on three main issues: the party’s expansion into new
territories, organizational revamp and ways to face future political
challenges.

Also Read Will the BJP reconnect to its original spirit?

Analysts say the conclave may prove counterproductive to the party.

“More dirty linen would be washed and more infighting would surface in
the public eye during the meet. It could do more harm than good for an
organization like (the) BJP,” says Prafull Goradia, political analyst
and former member of Parliament from the party. “The immediate
challenge for the party is to rein in the state units and clearly
define its future course rather than waste time in conclaves.”

Many BJP leaders, too, are privately of the view that the exercise
could prove futile as the “road ahead” document chartered in a
brainstorming exercise after the 2004 Lok Sabha defeat hasn’t been
implemented.

The conclave is to be attended by senior leaders including Advani,
Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh, Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj, Arun
Jaitley and state chief ministers from the party, but excludes
Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie, who have been vocal in the media,
demanding the party look within after its defeat in the Lok Sabha
elections.

Party members, who didn’t want to be identified in the story, said the
leadership has cut the number of participants for the meet to less
than 20 from a planned 25. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS,
the BJP’s parent organization, would be represented by party general
secretary (organization) Ramlal Agarwal.

Advani said recently that the meeting would not be an analysis of the
poll defeat, but would discuss the road ahead for the party.

The party members said there would not be a detailed discussion on the
causes of the defeat. But the Bal Apte committee, set up after demands
from within the BJP for identifying causes for its poor poll
performance, was likely to present its report during the conclave.

One session during the meet would be dedicated to the party’s strategy
for the coming assembly polls, including in Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in an interview to news channel
Times Now on Tuesday said that a generational change was imperative
for the BJP, but the modalities had to be decided by the party itself.
Election to the post of BJP president is due in January.

The Shimla meet, originally planned to be held in Mumbai, had to be
shifted on the request from Maharashtra, which wanted to “avoid
distraction” while preparing for the assembly elections.

Amid all the gloom, a silver lining for the BJP may lie in the venue
of the meet: Hotel Peterhoff. That venue had proved lucky for its
rival Congress, which had held a brainstorming session there in 2003
and stormed backed to power a year later.

Graphics by Sandeep Bhatnagar / Mint

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.asianetindia.com/news/bjp-younger-successor-advani-rss_71229.html

Last updated: August 18, 2009 21:11 [IST]

BJP must look for younger successor to Advani: RSS

New Delhi, Tuesday 18 August 2009: Dropping a bomb on BJP veteran LK
Advani, RSS today threw open the leadership question within the party,
by calling upon it to appoint a younger successor to Advani.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat broke his silence in an exclusive and wide-
ranging interview to a news channel.

Bhagwat expressed his distress at the infighting and factionalism
within the BJP.

More than this, Bhagwat has thrown open the leadership question within
the party, by calling upon it to look at the future and appoint a
younger successor to LK Advani.

Bhagwat has also said that the BJP must affect the transition soon,
though ultimately the timing is the party’s prerogative.

Bhagwat’s comments have been received cautiously in the BJP, sources
say.

The party sources said though BJP respected RSS views, the final
decision on leadership would be based on a consensus.

Sources said, that the party had ‘high regard’ for the views of the
RSS, and that a need for internal democracy was ‘undeniable’. However,
they pointed out that the final decision would depend on the party
consensus and that the BJP would decide on the timing and choice of
leadership transition.
(Agency

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/opinion/edit-page/Comment-Find-That-Compass/articleshow/4907509.cms

Comment: Find That Compass
19 August 2009, 12:00am IST

The BJP increasingly resembles a ship without a compass. The captain
seems to have lost control and the crew is restless. Decisions taken
by party president Rajnath Singh are openly flouted. The rebellion in
the Rajasthan unit is symbolic of the party's inability to come to
terms with its electoral losses and gain acceptance for its new
leadership.

Given that Rajnath doesn't have the stature of a Vajpayee or an Advani
to enforce his decisions within the party, his best bet was to adopt a
consensual approach and present a collective leadership. That doesn't
seem to be his style, which has backfired on the party. Vasundhara
Raje's supporters have threatened to split the BJP and float a
separate party if she is asked to resign as the leader of opposition
in the Rajasthan assembly. Raje has since clarified that she's not
exploring such options, but the BJP has a history of ambitious state
leaders taking on the central leadership and splitting the party.
Stalwarts like Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharati couldn't make a mark as
independent leaders, but their rebellion hurt the party in their
strongholds.

The crisis in the BJP has turned serious because of the leadership's
failure to fix accountability for the electoral loss. When senior
leaders like Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie raised the issue, the
central leadership avoided a debate. Not surprisingly, Rajnath's
attempt to ask Raje to account for the party's losses in the assembly
elections and the Lok Sabha poll was rebuffed. Accountability has to
be enforced all round, not in selected quarters. If senior leaders are
unwilling to take responsibility for their acts, it is even more
difficult for the leadership to crack down on middle-rung
functionaries and cadres.

The task of the leadership may have become even more difficult with
Jaswant Singh's endorsement of Muhammad Ali Jinnah's secular
credentials. The party had adopted a resolution in 2005 that blamed
Jinnah for India's Partition after Advani spoke favourably of the
Pakistani leader. Advani was also made to step down as party president
after his remarks. How the party leadership will deal with Jaswant's
echo of Advani's summation of Jinnah's politics will be a test of the
party's managerial skills. It is not an easy challenge to balance the
liberalism of some of its leaders with the party's conservative
ideology. A collective effort from its leaders is necessary if the BJP
has to survive this critical phase. There's plenty for the party to
debate as they begin the Shimla baithak this week.

...and I am Sid harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.dailypioneer.com/196756/BJP-gets-tough-on-chintan-baithak-eve.html

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

BJP gets tough on chintan baithak eve

Lokpal Sethi | Jaipur

Suspends two Raje loyalists; top brass heads for Shimla

Ahead of the three-day chintan baithak beginning at Shimla on
Wednesday, the BJP central leadership on Tuesday cracked the whip on
rebel MLAs backing Vasundhara Raje. The party suspended two of them
from the primary membership of the party and indicated more of them
would face disciplinary action if they did not fall in line.

Clearly indicating that the party was not ready to put up with Raje’s
time-consuming antics anymore, State BJP president Arun Chaturvedi
cracked the whip on two of her staunch supporters — Rajender Singh
Rathore and Gyandev Ahuja.

The decision was taken after a meeting of senior party leaders and
consultations with party high command in Delhi, according to party
sources. Both the MLAs have been served notices to explain their
conduct within seven days.

The Rajasthan development is seen by the party leadership as clear
case of breach of party’s discipline and the matter is expected to
come up for detailed discussion at the chintan baithak. Sources said
the party leadership wants to send a clear message to all levels of
leaders that refusal to abide by the party’s directive will not be
tolerated at all.

At the closed-door brainstorming session, the party leadership is also
expected to look into the reasons for the poll debacle on the basis of
the report prepared by the three-member Bal Apte committee. The
meeting is to be attended by about 25 top BJP leaders, including LK
Advani, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley.

The action of the party against the supporters of Raje, who is
dragging her feet on resigning as leader of the party in the Assembly
despite clear directive by Central Parliamentary Board, has shocked
her camp. Source said her supporter MLAs were going to meet shortly at
her residence to decide their next course of action.

It is understood that the action against the two MLAs was taken
following the move by Raje camp to start a signature campaign in her
favour. Her supporter MLAs were also planning to visit Delhi to meet
the central leaders and submit a memorandum signed by these MLAs.
Supporters of Raje are maintaining that they have the support of 63 of
the total 78 MLAs.

The senior leaders of the party were also annoyed with the Raje camp’s
move to convene a meeting of the legislature party to finalise the
party’s strategy in the coming brief session of the Assembly, likely
be convened by the end of this month.

They felt that the real purpose of the meeting of party MLAs is
nothing but a show of strength in favour of Raje. All the senior
leaders, including Arun Chaturvedi, former state party presidents
Harishankar Bhabhara and Om Mathur, met at the residence of Ramdas
Aggrawal, national treasurer of the party, and decided to act against
the supporters of Raje.

It is learnt that Sushma Swaraj, deputy leader of the party in the Lok
Sabha, talked to Raje over phone on Monday evening and got the
impression that Raje was not in a reconciliatory mood. She reported
this to party president Rajnath Singh, who had assigned her the task
to solve the Rajasthan tangle.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sisters-in-arms/503146/0

Sisters in arms
Suman K Jha

Posted: Tuesday , Aug 18, 2009 at 0033 hrs
New Delhi:

Their mother, late Vijayaraje Scindia, was one of the founding members
of the BJP. Today, however, both Vasundhara Raje and Yashodhara Raje
face difficult times in the party.

With BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday declaring that the Leader
of Opposition in Rajasthan, former CM Vasundhara Raje, would have to
go after the party core group took a decision to this effect, her
supporting MLAs in Jaipur on Monday sounded defiant. They argued that
“Vasundhara would remain BJP Legislative Party leader till the next
Assembly elections”.

If the mood in Rajasthan was one of defiance, in Madhya Pradesh, it
was one of resignation with Vasundhara’s younger sister Yashodhara
Raje — who represents Gwalior in the Lok Sabha —said to be “completely
disillusioned with the state leadership” and according to some local
reports, was said to be “contemplating renunciation”.

First elected to the Rajasthan Assembly in 1985, the BJP again
projected Vasundhara as its chief ministerial candidate in the last
Assembly polls — something that neatly fell into its scheme of having
strong regional satraps, who would hold the central leadership
together by way of a federal arrangement. In her poll speeches,
Vasundhara, taking a cue from Narendra Modi, stressed on “Rajasthan’s
pride” and “development”.

Her highly independent way of functioning, however, didn’t go down
well with the local RSS and myriad factions in a deeply divided BJP in
the state, who considered her more as a lone ranger (even if she
commanded the majority support among party MLAs). With two successive
defeats — first in state Assembly polls and then recent Lok Sabha
elections — the party’s core group decided upon a change in leadership
in the BJP Legislature Party in the state, offering her a key role in
the organisation at the centre, something that was seen as a slight.

On the other hand, while her reported talk of “renunciation” may be
exaggerated, Yashodhara was reported to be “extremely unhappy” with
the MP BJP, especially its president Narendra Singh Tomar, for
“creating obstacles for her” ever since a Congress candidate won in
her stronghold, Shivpuri, in the last Assembly polls. While Yashodhara
found Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to be supportive, the
growing interference of Tomar and a couple of others in Gwalior didn’t
go down well with her. Tomar, however, said that she should talk to
the central leadership if she felt he was creating obstacles for her.

The two sisters are known to share a special bond. Not surprisingly,
they were in touch through this entire period. Both invoked their
mother when faced with hostility from within the organisation. “Who
helped the party to get so far? It was our mother who gave everything
to nurture the party and carry it forward. When we, the two sisters,
used to have vacations from our boarding school in Kodaikanal, we
didn’t spend time with our mother in solitude. Instead, we accompanied
her on political programmes. We were like loyal lambs who devoted our
lives for the party, and this is what is being given in return,”
Yashodhara said.

When faced with threats of disciplinary action for some of her
reported utterances on the party’s central leadership, Vasundhara,
too, invoked her late mother. “My mother’s entire life was in service
of the party. How can I ever think of breaking away or floating any
other political party,” she said in a statement that was cited by
Rajnath Singh in his press conference, saying that “it was a positive
message”.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://in.news.yahoo.com/43/20090818/818/tnl-shimla-set-for-bjp-s-introspection-m.html

Shimla set for BJP's 'introspection' meet
Tue, Aug 18 11:39 AM

Shimla, Aug 18 (IANS) An entire hotel has been booked, tight security
is in place and there are issues galore to be discussed -- this
Himachal Pradesh capital is all set to host the Bharatiya Janata
Party's (BJP) three-day 'Chintan Baithak' or introspection meet
starting Wednesday.

The venue for the brainstorming session, which would be attended by
top party leaders like L.K. Advani, Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh and
Sushma Swaraj, is Hotel Peterhoff of the Himachal Pradesh Tourism
Development Corporation.

BJP state unit chief Khimi Ram told IANS Tuesday that all preparations
had been made to welcome the central party leaders for the session.

While Advani, Rajnath Singh, Jaswant Singh and Narendra Modi would
reach here Tuesday evening, others are expected to reach by Wednesday
morning, he said.

Refusing to divulge the issues to be discussed during the meet, Khimi
Ram said: 'I really don't have any information in this regard. Our
duty is just to make arrangements for the success of the session.'

He said the meeting venue was ideal as it is located in the hub of the
city and close to the state assembly building.

'Earlier, the party had decided to hold the session at the Himachal
Institute of Public Administration (HIPA) on the outskirts of the
town. Later we realised that it is difficult to provide logistic
support there and some of the party leaders might face problems while
climbing the many stairs at HIPA. So the venue was shifted to
Peterhoff,' the BJP state chief said.

Said Vijay Sharma, senior manager of Peterhoff: 'We are fully ready to
welcome the guests. The entire hotel has been booked for party leaders
and other officials accompanying them. The online booking has
suspended for the time being.'

Shimla Superintendent of Police R.M. Sharma said most of the leaders
are scheduled to land at the Jubbarhatti airport from where they would
drive straight to the meeting venue.

'We have made special security arrangements during the visit of the
VVIPs in the town,' he said.

A senior party leader said the meeting would look into the causes that
led to the party's recent defeat in the parliamentary elections and
its strategy for the forthcoming assembly elections, including those
in Haryana, Maharashtra and West Bengal. The defiance shown by
Vasundhara Raje over her resignation could also echo at the session.

Over 25 senior party leaders -- including members of the parliamentary
board and chief ministers Narendra Modi (Gujarat), Raman Singh
(Chhattisgarh), Ramesh Pokhriyal (Uttarakhand) and B.S. Yeddyurappa
(Karnataka) -- will participate in the three-day introspection
exercise.

The party's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj has already
indicated in New Delhi that former foreign minister Jaswant Singh's
views on Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah would certainly be the
subject of a detailed discussion during the Shimla session.

BJP sources said Advani has invited all party legislators from
Himachal Pradesh to dinner Tuesday.

Indo Asian News Service

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://in.news.yahoo.com/48/20090816/1241/top-requiem-for-bjp-s-dream.html

Requiem for BJP's dream

Tavleen Singh

Sun, Aug 16 06:02 AM

This is a requiem for the failed ideology of Hindutva and for the
party that made it fashionable. The Bharatiya Janata Party is not
fully dead yet but is providing us with the astonishing spectacle of a
major political party committing slow suicide in full public view. Its
leaders appear to know that something bad is happening, or they would
not be convening yet another Chintan Baithak (worry session), but they
seem incapable of stopping the terminal decline. Reasons why are not
far too seek.

The single most important reason for the sad state that our major
opposition party finds itself in is a very old man who cannot believe
that he has lost his last chance to become Prime Minister of India. So
obsessed has Shri Lal Krishna Advani been with this impossible dream
that after the BJP lost power in 2004, he seems to have done nothing
more than sit at home, surrounded by fawning friends and family, and
dream of 7 Racecourse Road. The BJP did not lose badly in the 2004
general election. It was defeated on account of choosing the wrong
allies and because nobody expected Chandrababu Naidu to do so badly in
Andhra. If Shri Advani had not been so self-absorbed, he would have
spent the five years between that general election and the one just
gone by building up the party and finding the right issues to take to
the people.

Manmohan Singh's first government provided enough ammunition. Jihadi
terrorism and the Government of India's namby-pamby response should
have been enough to propel aggressive Hindutva back to the forefront.
Then, there was the international credit crunch and its effect on the
Indian economy, but Mr Advani appears to have been too self-absorbed
to tackle these issues in a manner that would appeal to the average
voter. And, everything depended on him since the BJP President, Shri
Rajnath Singh, has never grown into a national leader. If he has
opinions on national issues, nobody cares to hear them.

Victory in the last election was in the hands of Shri Advani and his
small coterie of advisers and they failed hopelessly. They gauged
neither the mood of the people nor the party's organisational
weaknesses, of which the most obvious was the manner in which the RSS
cadres had changed. Instead of helping BJP candidates win as they had
in the past, the RSS became more interested in positioning its own
men, many of whom were corrupt and unelectable.

In any case the BJP lost and Advani's chances of becoming Prime
Minister are now forever gone. But, after hanging on to his old job as
Leader of the Opposition, he now seems determined to destroy the party
completely before he retires. So instead of accountability and
introspection at the top, there have been constant attempts to find
scapegoats. Vasundhara Raje became last week's scapegoat but refused
to go without a fight, so we had the spectacle of BJP MLAs travelling
to Delhi to prove that the former chief minister still had their
support. Isn't it up to them to elect their leader in the Assembly? Or
has the BJP stopped believing in democracy? If the BJP wants to
prevent its certain demise, it should concentrate on becoming more
democratic, not less. One way is to hold primaries, in the American
way, so that if there are worthy men hidden in its lower rungs, they
can come to the top. At the moment the party seems to have been
hijacked by people who would find it hard to get elected themselves,
leave alone win a state.

Meanwhile, the RSS finds itself bereft of ideology and direction now
that the average Indian voter has lost interest in Hindutva. The RSS
should go back to being the 'cultural organisation' it professes to
be, but its record shows that it has always mixed culture up with
religion and this will get it nowhere because nobody is interested in
building that temple to Rama in Ayodhya. Does the RSS have anything
else to offer? Not in the area of 'culture' but much by way of hatred
and violence through the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the even more
repellent Bajrang Dal.

The BJP, if it wants to reinvent itself, will have to distance itself
from organisations of this kind. It will have to find itself some
credible leaders who are under the age of 60 and it will have to come
up with ideas and policies that are different from those that the
Congress Party offers. Can this happen before the next general
election? Not if its present leaders remain in place and not if all
they can come up with is yet another Chintan Baithak to which not a
single dissident has been invited. Now that really is something to
worry about.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-split-wide-open-but-a-stitch-in-time-can-save-it/99489-37.html

FACE THE NATION | BJP'S BLUES

BJP split wide open but a stitch in time can save it

CNN-IBN

Published on Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 07:29,
Updated on Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 07:56 in Politics section

THE FIGHT WITHIN: Many senior BJP leaders have defied the party's writ
in recent times.

Wednesday through Saturday, 24 of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP)
top leaders will meet in the cool climes of Shimla to douse the fire
within the party and introspect on the mistakes of the past and hopes
for the future.

Being called the chintan baithak, the meet couldn't have come at a
more apt time for a party that's coming apart at seams because of
indiscipline, infighting and dissent.

While party leader Jaswant Singh timed the launch of his book that
showers praises on Mohammad Ali Jinnah, former Rajasthan chief
minister Vasundhara Raje has boldly defied party orders, refusing to
quit her post, leading to the suspension of two of her loyal MLAs.

That's not all. Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie have openly questioned
the party high command in letters – that got leaked into the press -
and newspaper articles.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has also hinted that
younger leaders must take charge of the party. Can this meeting help
the party bounce back?

Shadow-boxing: BJP fights itself, indiscipline

CNN-IBN debated the issue with BJP MP Chandan Mitra; Editor of Outlook
Vinod Mehta and roving editor of The Telegraph Sankarshan Thakur.

Befittingly, Chandan Mitra began the debate by defending the party. He
said there was nothing earth-shakingly wrong with the BJP and that the
party was dealing with all the issues constructively at a national
level and will also debate them at the chintan baithak.

"In the aftermath of second successive election defeat, it's natural
that there will be people who would be critical. They have every right
as far as it's done within the party forum," he said.

A series of wrongs

But many would say that Mitra was only trying to douse fire because
what has happened to the party for the past two months usually doesn't
happen with a party of that stature.

Senior leaders like Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie have shown – by their
public dissent - how factionalism within the party has reached
disturbing levels.

MLAs from Rajasthan sat outside Advani's house but the leader refused
to meet them. But Mitra refused to call them disturbing and said media
was hyping these issues, which were common to all major political
parties.

That's precisely what some would say the party's problem is – the
issues which must be discussed at the party level somehow make their
way into the media and are dissected there instead.

Vinod Mehta explained what perhaps was going wrong with the BJP. "The
election defeat seems to have unhinged the party. So instead of
discussing the reasons for defeat, everyone is trying to run away. If
they don't, accountability will have to be fixed," he said, adding
Raje was made the scapegoat of this lack of accountability. "Everyone
is fighting their own battle," he said.

Mitra agreed that while BJP was not being able to present an image of
being cohesive, it was precisely what the is all about. "The BJP is a
democratic party and decisions are taken in consultations," he said,
adding the party's discussions haven't made it to the media and that
sit should remain so.

So if the BJP has had these discussions, is it not unfair for the
party high-ups like Advani and Rajnath Singh to make way for a future
when in Rajasthan, Raje is pressured to step down and submit to the
diktats?

Sankarshan Thakur said it would be unfair to compare BJP's present
condition with Congress' at any stage. "What about the decision making
process now? The party president who wants to get Raje removed is
saying he wrote a letter to her expressing the same. Just shows there
is not centralised authority in the party today and it is very
evident," he said.

BJP, victim of too much democracy?

So while Congress may be called a dictatorial party – no one can defy
Sonia Gandhi's diktats and directives – BJP is being seen as a victim
of too much internal democracy.

Another trouble for party is the second generation, rather a lack of
it. The RSS on Tuesday urged the party to make way for the next-Gen
leaders (Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj etc). But they too seem to have
been caught out.

So is there a third generation?

Thakur said he was thankful the RSS was coming out its denial and
owning up to a role it has to fulfill towards the BJP, which seemed
stuck in a time warp since its defeat in the 2004 General Elections.
"BJP needs to get over its 2004 defeat. It still cannot understand
what went wrong with India Shining and still staggering," he said,
adding Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Raman Singh were the only two other
partymen who could be considered as being leaders.

Speaking of which, analysts also say Advani seems to enjoy power and
is not quitting the post of the leader of Opposition despite several
demands being made to the effect.

But Mehta raised a completely different point. He said India should
not be too happy to see BJP crumble. "We should not revel in the
disintegration of the BJP. It is very important to have a strong
opposition. One hopes BJP comes out of it. It's not a crime to lose
elections but the party has to sit together and arrive at a
consensus," he said.

So what do we make out of the crisis? Many would say the BJP missing a
pitamah-like figure, Atal behari Vajpayee did that for some time, may
be Advani has not been able to do it.

Mitra, however, did not agree. "BJP is slowly evolving a collective
leadership. Advani is the senior-most leader of the party and the buck
finally does stop with him. But just that he doesn't want to intervene
in day-to-day matters of the party," he concluded.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/shadowboxing-bjp-fights-itself-indiscipline/99477-37.html

SIS IN SAFFRON PARTY

Shadow-boxing: BJP fights itself, indiscipline

CNN-IBN

Published on Wed, Aug 19, 2009 at 01:37 in Politics section

TALKING HEADS: Rajnath, Advani need to do some serious thinking to get
the party back to its feet.

New Delhi: It has been three months since the BJP's crushing defeat in
the Lok Sabha elections but the party is still struggling to keep
dissent at bay.

First off the block were senior partymen Jaswant Singh and Yashwant
Sinha. Just days after L K Advani retained his leader of the
Opposition status, both Singh and Sinha shot off letters to party
president Rajnath Singh, complaining that the party was putting a
premium on failure.

“I would like a probe on how the letter I wrote reached the media. The
impression created is that I leaked it to the media,” Sinha said.

Not to be left behind, Arun Shourie - in a series of newspaper
articles – alleged the party had been virtually taken over by "certain
leaders and their henchmen".

Many saw it as an attack on Arun Jaitley. While Shourie and Sinha will
not be part of the Shimla meet, Jaswant Singh is scheduled to attend.

His lavish praise of Mohammad Ali Jinnah however, has further
embarrassed the party.

If that wasn't enough pain for the BJP and the RSS, there's been an
open revolt in Rajasthan after Vasundhara Raje was asked to step down
as the state's Opposition leader by Rajnath Singh.

“The message that I had given to Vasundhara Raje will be adhered to by
her,” said Singh.

Amidst all this confusion, what about the future of 81-year-old L K
Advani? Well, soon after the election defeat, he stepped down as the
leader of the Opposition, then agreed to stay on for six months and
now wants to stay on indefinitely.

Indiscipline has almost become like a habit within the BJP and if the
party doesn’t tighten its belt, it may well spell much trouble in
times to come.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

LOTS IN A NAME

Many critics of the Bharatiya Janata Party argue that it suffers from
an identity crisis. It cannot decide whether it is a Hindu party or an
Indian party. This issue will continue to be debated. What, however,
is undeniable is that the BJP is afflicted by a problem relating to
its very name. What does the J in the BJP stand for. The BJP may like
to claim that it stands for janata, the people, but this does not
stand the test of scrutiny.

The issue that in recent memory caused turmoil within the BJP,
threatening, in fact, to split it has nothing to do with the people.
It has to do with Mohammad Ali Jinnah. It would be no exaggeration to
suggest that the J in the party’s name stands for Jinnah. This may not
be as facetious as it sounds like if one considers the evidence. In
the summer of 2005, L.K. Advani, on a visit to Pakistan, made so bold
as to suggest that Jinnah was possibly a secular man and hailed
Jinnah’s opening speech to the Pakistan constituent assembly. Within
the BJP, there was an enormous furore over it.

There was the cry that Mr Advani had betrayed the cause and a clamour
that disciplinary action should be taken against him. Mr Advani hung
on and recovered ground. A similar situation has cropped up again,
this time to haunt Jaswant Singh who has authored a book on Jinnah.
The entire top brass of the BJP stayed away from the release function
of the book. It will not be an error to guess that this boycott was
rooted in the disapproval of Mr Singh’s choice of subject.

It will remain a mystery why the name of Jinnah creates rifts within
the BJP. If the BJP is committed to looking ahead, then Jinnah should
be irrelevant to its politics and even to its ideology. Perhaps the
BJP sees in Jinnah its mirror image. Jinnah believed that Hindus and
Muslims could not co-exist in India, as does the BJP. Thus the party’s
problem with its own name may not be unconnected with its identity
crisis.

The BJP sees itself still as a Hindu party and hence its loathing of
Jinnah. It cringes from its own mirror image. This, in a way, is as it
should be, since a name is an integral part of an identity, and both
identity and a name are linked to parentage. The BJP is a direct
descendant of the Hindu Mahasabha, and that gene rebels every time a
BJP leader invokes the name of Jinnah. What ensues from that genetic
disorder is risible and revealing of the immaturity of the BJP and its
loyalists.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090819/jsp/opinion/story_11375977.jsp

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Start-packing-up-RSS-tells-Advani/articleshow/4909111.cms

Start packing up, RSS tells Advani

19 Aug 2009, 0503 hrs IST, ET Bureau

NEW DELHI: In a clear signal to LK Advani, the RSS on Tuesday came out
in support of handing over the reins of power within the BJP to a
younger crop of leaders in time for the next general election.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, in an interview to Times Now, favoured a
generational shift in the BJP. “It’s a universal rule that the younger
generation must replace the older one. But when and where this should
take place is for them to decide.

Today, you say that the top-level of the BJP is in the age-group of
75-85. But 30 years ago, the situation was different. The generation,
after working for 35 years, has now become old. So now they have to
think of promoting younger leaders. When, where and how is their
decision. This transition is taking place everywhere. In the RSS too,
we’ll have to think of promoting a new set after 10-15 years,” Mr
Bhagwat remarked.

The RSS chief’s observations are being interpreted as a clear signal
to the BJP to bring a younger set of leaders at the helm. The party
has to start preparing itself for a life beyond the Atal-Advani era,
which has shepherded its affairs for the past four decades.

Mr Bhagwat’s remarks are also being seen as a hint to the 81-year-old
Mr Advani to groom a younger colleague for the post of Leader of the
Opposition in the Lok Sabha. The senior BJP leader had expressed his
desire to step down from the post after the party’s second consecutive
defeat in the general election, but was persuaded to stay on as there
were fears that a bitter succession war would ravage the party after
his departure.

Contrary to initial reports, Mr Advani has now made it clear that he
would lead the party in the Lok Sabha for the entire term, and that he
would not be leading a stop-gap arrangement.

Responding to a specific query, the RSS chief suggested that the
average age of a leader at every level in the party hierarchy should
be within the 55-60 bracket. That would eliminate the chances of
leaders like Murli Manohar Joshi and Jaswant Singh taking over after
Mr Rajnath Singh steps down in January next.

The RSS chief, in the interview, also expressed serious concern at the
never-ending factional feuds and the growing indiscipline within the
BJP, and wanted its leaders to do a sincere stock-taking of the
party’s shortcomings at the chintan baithak, which kicks off in Shimla
on Wednesday.

“Yes, it must stop immediately. It is now a bit too much,” was Mr
Bhagwat’s reply to a query on the infighting that has gripped the BJP.
“All this is because of some lack of balance, procedure, methods, all
of which should be restored. The party leaders, in our meetings,
express their angst over the developments. They are keen to restore
the balance, but they must do so quickly,” he said.

The RSS chief conceded that the verdict of the 2009 general election
was shocking for the BJP. “I believe that it has received a jolt
unexpectedly. They lost their balance in the process. They have to
regain it fast. Whatever happened was not very good. All the BJP
leaders feel bad about it and have to make amends fast. How it
happened? What were the mistakes? They should give thought to all
these during the chintan baithak,” he said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/bjp-over-reacted-to-ls-poll-results-khanduri/503947/0

BJP over reacted to LS poll results: Khanduri

Posted: Wednesday, Aug 19, 2009 at 1421 hrs

Dehradun:

Expressing his dismay at the state of affairs in the BJP, former
Uttarakhand Chief Minister BC Khanduri has said that the loss in the
Lok Sabha polls has generated a reaction that should not have been
there.

Talking to The Indian Express Khanduri said, "I am sad at the
developments in the party. After the Lok Sabha elections there has
been a certain reaction that should not have been there. Getting
lesser number of seats than expected and I would not call it losing
the elections, has upset us more than it should have. I hope things
will improve and the party would retain its old glory.”

He said that he had come into the party fold as an idealist. “The
picture we perceived was that of a party that is serious, nationalist
in approach and where there is no corruption. I do feel sad as things
have changed. But then the society and the world are changing. I feel
I was living in an ideal world.”

Having spent about two month in hibernation after being replaced as
the Chief Minister despite his having the support of his party
legislators and despite his having led the party to every electoral
victory apart from the Lok Sabha polls where the party fared badly
across the states, Khanduri is now raring to go back amongst the
people.

“I have been spending my time thinking about the state - how things
were dreamt to be, how they are and where they are going. I have been
reading books that include religious texts, the thoughts of
Narayanmurti of Infosys etc. It’s the ongoing rains that are stopping
me from travelling and meeting people of my state,” he disclosed.

Barring a brief two day break at Dhanaulti, Khanduri has been
receiving a large number of visitors on daily basis.

When asked about his future plans, he is candid in saying that he
wants to be associated with his native state and work for the
development of its people. Whether he would take up responsibilities
like heading the party or government again if asked by the party, he
said,”

For Uttarakhand and its future, anytime and anywhere I would do
whatever the party asks me to but on specific duty I would talk to
them first. I would like to be here trying to use my experience and
capabilities for betterment of Uttarakhand.”

Replying to a query on the performance of the government succeeding
him, he said that it is too early to evaluate and pointed that it is
the projects and schemes started during his tenure that have started
bearing fruit now. “The new projects have a gestation period of at
least six to eight months. The new government will be coming up with
new ideas and projects,” he said.

On his tenure, he says that he had started various schemes aiming that
they would be implemented, have given results and would be corrected
midway if required. “Having been hampered continuously by repeated
implementation of the electoral Model Code of Conduct, it is now that
I would have got the time to implement the schemes and projects as
there are no more polls scheduled till 2012,” he rues.

When pointed at his unceremonious exit from the office, he pointed out
that besides other factors, a major thing at work was, "My shyness for
getting publicity and improper media management."

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.timesnow.tv/RSS-Chief-breaks-his-silence/articleshow/4325123.cms

RSS Chief breaks his silence
18 Aug 2009, 2101 hrs IST

Arnab Goswami : When you took over as the head of the RSS, you
emphasised change. You said that no organisation can change as quickly
as we do and we can even change our leaders. Do you feel that the
election results this year emphasised that need for change not only in
the BJP but also in the RSS?

Mohan Bhagwat : Change is the character of RSS. So we keep on
changing. We changed our prarthana in 1939, but there was this comment
that RSS is not changing, which I answered. We are the most ready
organisation for change. There are some things which cannot change,
like the roots. In RSS, we can change everything excepting that
Hindustan is Hindu Rashtra. But we have a particular method. We create
consensus first and when that consensus is achieved, we change
immediately.

Arnab Goswami : For example the 2004 elections, the RSS explained the
loss of the BJP, by saying it was because of the dilution of the
Hindutva ideology. Vajpayee had sited Gujarat riots as one of the
reasons why the party did not do well. Hasn’t that brand of political
Hindutva been rejected once again by the people of this country?

Mohan Bhagwat : That is to be thought by the political party. Our
Hindutva is no brand. Our Hindutva is a set of values like unity in
diversity, gratitude, austerity, simplicity. Such values are the
Hindutva . It is not concerned with politics but everything in your
life. It is not a particular religion or creed.

Arnab Goswami : Would you not admit that Hindutva essentially today
largely in the country is understood in a political context. You say
it is way of life but without life but do you think Hindutva as a
political slogan works?

Mohan Bhagwat : As a political slogan, what works and what does not
work depends on so many factors. How you put the slogan and what is
the situation prevalent then makes a difference. Sometimes it works
and sometimes it doesn’t work. But reasons are various. But we don’t
look to Hindutva as a political slogan or political ideology. It is
the nature of Bharat, entity of Bharat - unity in diversity. One
manifested in everything and that is the best.

Arnab Goswami : But it has been projected and interpreted fanatically
by large part of the BJP. Hindutva is seen today in its political
interpretation and application as a form of political intolerance.
Would you not deny that Hindutva is being used politically by the
BJP.

Mohan Bhagwat : I have said that BJP has to think about it. During the
course of our work, we straight away approach the society. We never
experience that kind of perception. The other day one Muslim scholar
from Nagpur came and met me. We had a good exchange of views. There
was no misconception of Hindutva in his mind. So this is a particular
thing that should be given thought to by a political party.

Arnab Goswami : Would you conceive that there is a possibility that
the BJP has conceited the Hindutva . Because Hindutva today seems to
be synonyms with themes like the Ram Mandir issue for example. Would
you agree that that interpretation of Hindutva is perhaps not that
valid and is perhaps does not have that much relevance for the people
of this country today?

Mohan Bhagwat : All these issues for example the Article 370 issue.
This is not concerned with Hindutva . It is concerned with the
integrity of our land, our country. We are all one. Therefore a set of
rules are different. In case of Ram Janma Bhoomi issue, the temple was
demolished by foreign aggressors. We are now independent, so we should
restore the emblems of our national pride. It has nothing to do with
Hindus, Muslims etc. It is our national. That is why I say, the set of
values is particular to Bharat which is Muslims of Bharat, Christians
of Bharat and so called Hindus of Bharat. All our inheritors of that
particular culture.

Arnab Goswami : But it is precisely this kind of take, which people
say is the reason why the BJP is trapped in a dogma of its own making.
Which is why people say that other parties have moved forward, whereas
for the BJP is caught in a time war. The general view of the election
was that if the BJP needs to move forward, it needs to change.

Mohan Bhagwat : BJP has to think about that. You are asking me about
BJP. I am the chief of RSS. It is for BJP itself to think about how to
interpret Hindutva .

Arnab Goswami : The day after the election results, you along with
other 2 top RSS leaders met LK Advani at his residence. Did you ask LK
Advani to carry on?

Mohan Bhagwat : I was not there for your information. I was on tour
for my works. You can have a look at my itinerary. Advani I had
resigned and that is when three people went to meet him. He is not
only a BJP leader so they went to him.

Arnab Goswami : Did the RSS leadership tell Mr Advani not to resign?

Mohan Bhagwat : No. We did not tell anything to Advani at that time.
He himself said that this is his own decision.

Arnab Goswami : You are saying that this is Advani’s own decision. It
was not that the RSS leaders met Advani and asked him to stay on.
That’s the way it was reported.

Mohan Bhagwat : Both of his decisions were his own.

Arnab Goswami : There is criticism about the way BJP handled it’s
election campaign. In RSS mouthpieces it was said that the politics is
fought at the grassroots and not inair-conditioned rooms. Advaniji was
alleged of fighting urban ways of fighting elections. Do you stand by
that criticism?

Mohan Bhagwat : Many persons express their views in the RSS
publications. Official statements are put forth only by the
Sarsanghachalak, the Sarkaryavah and 6 other spokespersons nominated
to speak with the press. But, our swayamsevak s are free and hold many
views.

Arnab Goswami : So, what is your explanation?

Mohan Bhagwat : I’m not an expert of politics. Our swayamsevaks are
there in politics and in the BJP. They should think about this and if
they find any reality in these criticisms, then must make comments.

Arnab Goswami : Mr. Bhagwat, you are constantly distancing yourself
from the BJP, whereas there is link between the RSS and the BJP is an
open fact.

Mohan Bhagwat : There are many swayamsevaks in the BJP and we don’t
deny this fact. Yes, BJP had our swayamsevaks at very high places in
their party, but as a party BJP is a separate political organization.

Arnab Goswami : Do you see for another 5 years?

Mohan Bhagwat : That they will have to decide. If they come and ask
for our suggestions, then we will give it to them.

Arnab Goswami: What would be your suggestions?

Mohan Bhagwat: I don’t give any suggestions unless I’m asked by them.
I have never done it.

Arnab Goswami : You are the youngest RSS chief if I’m not mistaken
after Hedgewar. So, are you happy with where the first tier of the BJP
varies from age between 70-85 and the second tier between 60-75.

Mohan Bhagwat : BJP has to decide about it. This is not a question of
what we think. They have to manage their party. It is a universal rule
that the young generation must replace the older one. But when and
where is something that the BJP will have to decide. Currently the top
leadership has old people, but 30 years back the situation was exactly
reverse. That generation has now become old. They will have to decide
upon the involvement of youth in their party. The modus operandi of
the BJP is there in place.

Arnab Goswami : But, the transition is necessary?

Mohan Bhagwat : Yes. Everywhere, not only in BJP.

Arnab Goswami : Do you think that the transition can wait until the
next general elections?

Mohan Bhagwat : That the BJP will have to judge.

Arnab Goswami : But, you are of the opinion that transition is
necessary. So, you admit that the BJP will need younger leadership in
the next general elections?

Mohan Bhagwat : Yes. But, when and how to do it is their privilege.

Arnab Goswami : And that is what you have communicated to Mr. Advani?

Mohan Bhagwat : I have been saying this since 2003. Whenever they ask
us how our party should be, we say that you have sufficient number of
young workers. Slowly bring them forward.

Arnab Goswami : Only at the top level of the party or across all
levels?

Mohan Bhagwat : Transition is at all levels. There is an average age
group at every level. That average group must be maintained.

Arnab Goswami : What is that average age group?

Mohan Bhagwat : I don’t know about politics, but in Sangh, at my
level, we say 55-60 should be average age group.

Arnab Goswami : So, in your view, a new leadership on BJP should be
worked out between the age of 55-60.

Mohan Bhagwat : I’m not a political worker. The ideal age group in
political parties has to be decided by them. I am no one to judge
that.

Arnab Goswami : You have been saying that the BJP is a separate
entity, but Mr. Bhagwat you have had long links with the BJP and the
BJP has said that it is proud of it’s association with the RSS. You
involved in the politics with the BJP in an advisory role. How do you
view what has been happening in BJP?

Mohan Bhagwat : I have been frank with you. Unexpectedly, I think BJP
has received a nasty jolt. So, it was a bit destabilized. Whatever
happened in the BJP was not very good. Not only I am saying this, but
an ample expression of this has come out in the National Executive
Committee. I know that all the leaders in BJP feel bad about it. They
have to get that balance back quickly. How it happened, what was the
mistake, the BJP should give thought to it in their Chintan baithak
and they will do it, I’m sure.

Arnab Goswami : But, now this factionalism in the BJP must stop?

Mohan Bhagwat : Yes, not it’s too much.

Arnab Goswami : There are internal conflicts within the party in
Bihar, now in Rajasthan.

Mohan Bhagwat : This is because of some imbalance and lack of
procedures. All that should be restored. I meet them regularly and
they express their concern about this. So, they are keen to restore
it, but they should do it quickly.

Arnab Goswami : Are you talking about the particular leaders in the
BJP or the general leadership?

Mohan Bhagwat : I mean the general leadership.

Arnab Goswami : Which, out of three situations, is the most important?
There are three situations. There is no inner party democracy. Weak
top leadership and there is factionalism at the top leadership in the
BJP.

Mohan Bhagwat : I have not given thought to the internal situations of
the BJP because that is not my job. I tell them to sit together and
sort the things out. Their party has a mission. That mission is to be
kept in fight and they should think about where they went wrong. I
don’t know the actual day-to-day working of politics. They are the
best to judge themselves.

Arnab Goswami : What do you think of Rajnath Singh's leadership in the
BJP? You have seen many BJP leaders. You have also seen the highs and
lows of BJP. Thee has been never open factionalism as there has been
before and after this General Election. Should the top leaders not
take responsibilities?

Mohan Bhagwat : Instead of attributing all this to a particular
person, attention should be paid to the general condition of the party
by all the leaders. I don't see this as a result of Rajnathji being
there, Advaniji being there, or this man being there or that man being
there. General ability of the party is affected and they have to
restore that.

Arnab Goswami : There is a level of infighting among the top leaders.

Mohan Bhagwat : They have to think about the party. No leader can
afford to think about himself only because party is supreme.

Arnab Goswami : You had a meeting with Advani. Did you ask Advani to
resign in that meeting?

Mohan Bhagwat : I did not ask Advani. He came to me. He wanted to meet
me. I was not in Nagpur on that day. I said I was travelling in Delhi.
He said it is ok and wanted just an hour from me. It was lunch time
and we had lunch. He described all these things. I told him to think
as to how this situation arose. I told him to resolve the differences
and also asked him to implement methods as to how to restore the image
of the party since BJP was a disciplined party. I told him that all of
them should sit and do an interpretation. Personal considerations must
be kept away. He was personally sad about and said that such situation
was not there before. I told Advani to form some way of bringing that
back in the party.

Arnab Goswami : Do you see some role for him. What role do you see for
Advani in the BJP - as a mentor, as a person who guides the change?

Mohan Bhagwat : He is a well respected person. If he asks the working
committee, he should surely be obeyed.

Arnab Goswami : The RSS wants to see changes in the BJP at all levels.
Some people in the BJP are a little worried about it. You want to
bring in talent at different levels - at the state level, at district
level and national level. You can have your influence in this
principal Oppositon party. What would your role be in this process of
change?

Mohan Bhagwat : We can ask our swayamsevaks in the BJP five things.
One should be reasonably sound and articulate about the ideology.
Secondly, you should have a correct work manner. You should have
dialogue with many other well-wishers where swayamsevaks will be
working. You should also interact with many who are not swayamsevaks
but those who agree with the BJP. They should have a system of
continuous dialogue with them. There should not be any disconnection.
Importantly, they should be a party with a difference regarding
character. Lastly, they should bring the young generation forward.
These are the five things I have been asking the swayamsevaks in the
BJP. BJP as a party has to do this. BJP as a party is not run by the
RSS. They have to find a way. Either they have to agree to this or
disagree to this - they are free. But our swayamsevaks always belong
to us. We are telling them this.

Arnab Goswami : Do you think there will be resistance from the BJP if
the RSS is more politically involved?

Mohan Bhagwat : That won't happen. I don't think it will happen in the
future also. We have good relation with non- swayamsevaks in the BJP
also.

Arnab Goswami : Let me take this opportunity of asking you some direct
questions. 50 per cent of the people of this country are below the age
of 35. And I think a much higher number of people are below the age of
40. Do you think this population identifies with what Varun Gandhi
says. Do you think young India associates with the kind of speeches of
Varun Gandhi?

Mohan Bhagwat : We go to the youth with our Hinduvta, patriotism and
service. These are the highest abilities in the young generation and
we get very good response. What actually Varun Gandhi said and
intended I have not studied. I know only two or three sentences. I
don't know about the reference. But, I don't agree to those one or two
sentences. I don't know if there is any Varun Gandhi brand.

Arnab Goswami : Who is the next BJP president?

Mohan Bhagwat : Why should I decide?

Arnab Goswami : Next BJP president is limited to four - Arun Jaitley,
Venkaiah Naidu, Sushma Swaraj and Narendra Modi. Can there be a fifth
or sixth or seventh of eigth?

Mohan Bhagwat : It depends on BJP. If BJP can look beyond these four,
I don't think they lack able people. If they want to choose from these
four, it can by any one of them.

Arnab Goswami : Is talent limited to the four?

Mohan Bhagwat : Even 75 to 80 people are there who are also able to
become leaders.

Arnab Goswami : It has been a pleasure talking to you and you have
spoken very frankly.

Mohan Bhagwat : Thanks you.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.zeenews.com/news556484.html

LK sealed the fate of Jaswant ahead of 'chintan baithak' Updated on
Wednesday, August 19, 2009, 19:13 IST

Zeenews Bureau

"Expel Jaswant Singh from primary membership of the party". With these
words, LK Advani sealed the fate of the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) leader as the party's parliamentary board sat on Wednesday ahead
of the 'chintan baithak' to decide on his alleged ideological
transgressions.

When some party leaders wondered aloud at the closed-door session if
it was indeed the right course of action to take against someone who
had been with the party since its inception and if the decision would
not haunt him later ("Aap pe to yeh chipkega"), Advani said with
finality that he was not worried, according to a party leader present
at the fateful meeting.

This was in spite of the fact that the two leaders were known to be
close and Jaswant Singh always had high personal regard for Advani,
addressed him always by his first name "Lalji" and supported his prime
ministerial bid before the elections.

The two seem to have had a fallout after Jaswant Singh joined Yashwant
Sinha and Arun Shourie in seeking an internal debate to find out
reasons for the poll debacle, fix responsibility and chart out the
party's future ideological direction.

Earlier, the BJP in its chintan baithak (introspection meeting) today
expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh from the party for praising
Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah in his new book, "Jinnah - India,
Partition, Independence".

BJP president Rajnath Singh told reporters here that the party's
parliamentary board decided to expel the former external affairs
minister from the primary membership of the party.

"I had issued a statement yesterday that the party fully dissociates
itself from the contents of the book. Today I put up the matter before
the parliamentary board which decided to end his primary membership,”
Rajnath said.

"So he has been expelled. From now onwards he will not be a member of
any body of the party or be an office bearer," he stated further on
the expulsion of the 71-year-old party veteran.

Rajnath said he had yesterday told Jaswant Singh not to come to Shimla
for participating in the 'chintan baithak'. Rajnath added that since
Jaswant Singh had already left for Shimla, he called him up today
again asking him not to attend the opening session of the three-day
meeting, which began here today.

Rajnath had yesterday distanced the BJP from Jaswant Singh’s remarks
on Jinnah in his new book, "Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence",
saying that his views were against party’s ideology.

Stating that the book did not represent the views of the party,
Rajnath said Jinnah’s role in partition was well known and “we cannot
wish way this painful part of our history”.

Rajnath also took exception to Jaswant’s comments on Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel and said that he played an important role in the
unification of India.

In his book, Jaswant recalls the events leading to partition as well
as the "epic journey of Jinnah from being the ambassador of Hindu-
Muslim unity, the liberal constitutionalist and Indian nationalist to
the Quaid-e-Azam of Pakistan”.

In the book, Jaswant remarked that Jinnah did not win Pakistan as
Congress leaders Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
"conceded" Pakistan to the Quaid-e-Azam with the British acting as an
ever helpful midwife.

When asked if RSS agreed with Singh's view that Jinnah has been
"demonised" in India, RSS leader Ram Madhav said, "I have only read
excerpts of the book. But I am constrained to say that it is far from
the truth to state that Jinnah was not responsible for partition."

Jaswant Singh had however said that his book was purely an academic
exercise and not an attempt to malign or glorify anyone.

Jaswant Singh has been having an uneasy relationship with the party
leadership ever since the Lok Sabha elections on which he had
circulated a note demanding thorough discussion on the debacle.

Jaswant Singh, who had held the posts of Finance, Defence and External
Affairs under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was virtually declared a persona
non grata when the entire BJP top brass and other leaders kept away
from the function on Monday in the capital for the release of his
book.

Singh, who had served with the Territorial Army, was elected to Lok
Sabha from Darjeeling in West Bengal with the support of Gorkhaland
outfit.

That things were not well with Jaswant Singh was clear this morning
when he did not stir out of his hotel even after the brainstorming
session began in Peterhof, the venue of the session. His aides kept
saying that he was not well and was resting.

The party was averse to Jinnah and even LK Advani had to backtrack on
his comments about the founder of Pakistan after a visit to that
country in 2005.

He was made to step down as BJP president and the party adopted a
resolution condemning Jinnah's role in the Partition.

In the aftermath of the Lok Sabha debacle, Jaswant Singh had
criticised Advani's appointment of parliamentary office bearers and
called for a link between "performance and rewards". He was then
considered to be a dissident along with leaders like Yashwant Sinha
and Arun Shourie.

However, the party sought to delink him from the other dissidents by
nominating him the chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts
Committee of Parliament.

IANS inputs

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.zeenews.com/news556484.html

Your comment(s) on this article

Now Jaswantji can`t take a U-turn. The traffic policeman in Advani had
used the chintan bhaitak to seal the political future of Shri.
Jaswantji.Your sins are unpardonable, not like mine, is this the
message Advaniji wants to convey? Let all the ``dissidents`` of BJP
come forward and form a party-free form to weed out major issues of
the common man in todays India. Your political lineage couldn`t save
you as you all were selfish so far. Shed the politics and come forward
to address the real problems of the masses. You can win the hearts of
the Indian rural mass with your heart attached to their genuine
problems! Be unselfish and provide with your wide experience and
expertise. Your past associations with the party be severed openly to
work for the rural upliftment. Good Luck! -Thomson Mathai - Rajkot

Truth is always bitter but one should accept it. There is no doubt
about the Greatness of our Leader Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.He
had strong character and determination. is india in real a democratic
country where a leader can be kicked off just praising for some one. -
zille - lahore

Totally baseless news. why advani will take this decision, even he can
not imagine to support such action. dont forget that in the supporters
of Jinnah advani is also included. we are unable to understand that
similar thing done by advani in 2005 could not make hime out of party
but jaswant became scapegoat asof. It is advani to whome jaswant
supported by writing this book. regarding Jinnah advani stand is no
regreateble as jaswant is saying after membership termination. IN his
autobiography advani reiterate that he has no regreats on jannah`s
related statement given in pakistan in june,2005, so the statement is
of jaswant. why the bjp is not taking action against advani who
instigated this all episode? This decision has been taken in pressure
of anti advani camp, led by Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay Katiyar, Ashok
Singhal and others sangh pariwar constituent. dont write false desk
report as it is being read by all persons, in which decision makers
are also included. -gyan - New Delhi

We Indians comes to conclusion without knowing the reasons and the
facts. Media and politicians is always looking for masala news to be
in limelight and we as fools follow them.Please concentrate on other
important issues instead of this. -Atul Kedia - Mumbai

The truth is always bitter. who suffered most due to partition - it is
the MUSLIMS. It is the SANGHPARIVAR who never participated (rather
collaborated with the British) in the Independece of India reafed the
benefit. Demonising the Muslims (forget JINNAH) and still holding the
Muslims as responsible the BJP even rose to power in Delhi. The
Sanghparviar cant digest the truth. Atleast Jasvant on the eve of 63rd
anniversary dare to speak - Muslims paid enough price for no wrong
committed by them. Sanghparviar knows very well that their strength
lies in DIVIDING INDIANS on the basis of religion & cast. Congress
doing it covertly and BJP openly. Muslims support congress because
there is no other alternative left. -Bharatisuta - bangalore

Truth is truth, Pakistan is the result of honourable Jinnah and and
muslims but the India is just Sub Continent - Pakistan =India -Bilal -
Islamabad

It is unfortunate that Jaswantji is expelled from Party. The core
issue is not been discussed in the Chintan baithak this means. BJP
open your Eyes, Ears discuss the core issues because of which you lost
the election. Jinnaha is no important to you. Appresiating him or not
really doesnt matter. So who so much hype o be created in media about
it. Congress is happy with all this. They may win 2014 as well if such
things keep happening in BJP. -Nakul - Pune
why we indians give weightage to these things, we should not allow
polticians like jaswant singh to win any election as they don`t have
any vision for future and every time they talk about past for cheap
publicity -vikas - mumbai

It is unfortunate that BJP is not concentrating the issues which led
to Lok sabha debacle. Jaswantji is a Sr. leader and should not be
expelled. Learn from mistakes. BJP needs leaders. If you keep
expelling leaders for no issues, you will have no one in Party. Save
yourself. Concentrate on issues. Drought, Swine flu, Dearness are the
issues not Jinnaha -Nakul - Pune

Jaswant singh is a pakistani agent who has been told by his masters in
pakistan to destabilise BJP -Sankar - Bangalore

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/Jaswant-Singh-was-key-BJP-man-though-not-mass-leader/articleshow/4912001.cms

Jaswant Singh was key BJP man though not mass leader

19 Aug 2009, 2006 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: Jaswant Singh, a central figure in the governments of prime
minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was summarily expelled by the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Wednesday, was a key member of the
party's core decision-making group though never a mass leader.

During his six-year stint in the government, he experienced both highs
and lows. The acme of his achievement was his exhaustive rounds of a
dialogue that he as external affairs minister minister held with
Strobe Talbott, his counterpart in the US administration, following
the 1998 Indian nuclear test.

They met as many as 14 times in seven countries between June 1998 and
September 2000. These talks have been widely acknowledged by present
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as having laid the groundwork
for the eventual transformation of Indo-US ties.

The low point in his ministerial career was when he led Pakistani
terrorists to freedom in Kandahar in Afghanistan in December 1999
after the hijack of flight IC-814 by Islamists.

Between 1980, when he first became a Rajya Sabha member, and now, as a
Lok Sabha MP from Darjeeling, he has been the defence, the finance and
the external affairs minister- very few have handled all three
portfolios- besides being on many committees of parliament.

He was also conferred the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 2001.

His trademark epaulettes and his customary evening drink were the only
vestiges of his army background that he carried with him after joining
politics.

The man who joined the BJP at its inception in 1980 was never
identified with any camp in the BJP; nor was he close to the party's
ideological parent the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Jaswant Singh, a liberal democrat who was all for economic reforms
when he was the finance minister during the BJP-led government between
1999 and 2004, is a prolific writer who has authored ten books.

The latest, 'Jinnah- India, Partition, Independence,' cost him his
membership of the BJP.

The 1938 born Singh hails from Rajasthan and is an alumnus of Mayo
College and the National Defence Academy in Khadakvasla near Pune.

Singh spent much of his career as an MP in the Rajya Sabha. But he was
elected to the Lok Sabha twice. This time, he won from Darjeeling with
the support of Gorkha Janmukti Morcha whom the BJP promised a separate
Gorkhaland if it came to power.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Opinion/Leader-at-odds-with-ideology/articleshow/4908689.cms

Leader at odds with ideology

19 Aug 2009, 0255 hrs IST, ET Bureau

BJP leader and former foreign minister Jaswant Singh’s book on Jinnah
and the Partition may be more irksome for the saffron party than for
Indian history. Indeed, if anything, as a stated view of a senior
leader that can have political implications, Jaswant Singh’s book —
reportedly praising Jinnah and blaming Nehru for the Partition — may
not even quite match the import of L K Advani’s scribbled remarks in a
visitor’s notebook at Jinnah’s mausoleum.

The latter, if anything, could have been possibly read as a change of
heart, or a sage attempt at statesmanship, on the part of a stridently
right-wing political party in India. But that some deeper historical
revisionism wasn’t at work was proved by the consequent furore within
the BJP/RSS. Of course, the reaction was predictably more intense in
Advani’s case, given his importance, and he was virtually forced to
step down as party president.

Jaswant Singh, in comparison, is already part of the section of BJP
leaders who are at loggerheads with the party high command after the
election defeat. Hence, it has been relatively easier for the BJP to
distance itself from the contents of the book. Both instances,
nonetheless, also highlight the hold of the RSS over the party — an
influence which has been much discussed in connection with the
direction the BJP can take in the future and its consequent political
fortunes.

It goes without saying that south Asian history is a zone of
contestation. And figures like Jinnah have evoked fierce debates.
Indeed, there have been recent academic attempts to present a
‘balanced’ view of the apparent paradox that Jinnah was. Neither have
eminent historians not noted the historical failings and mistakes of
the Congress party. For that matter, even the exclusions and problems
within the Indian nationalist project, right at its inception, occupy
volumes of serious research. And Partition is a veritable academic
discipline (and industry, we can add) in itself.

We could also posit that apart from some academic research, political
agendas play a role in such political and historical narratives. It is
a moot point just where Jaswant Singh’s reported views can be located.
But a senior leader with apparently conflicting views with the stated
party ideology is unique. Then again, causing a stir is also good
publicity.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/quickieslist/4909035.cms

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Jinnah-a-bugbear-for-the-Bharatiya-Janata-Party/articleshow/4911076.cms

Jinnah, a bugbear for the Bharatiya Janata Party?

19 Aug 2009, 1633 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: For the second time in five years, Pakistan founder
Mohammed Ali Jinnah has come to haunt the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP), the party which espouses the cause of Hindus. Invoking of his
name first nearly claimed the job of party president LK Advani and now
has scalped Jaswant Singh, senior party leader.

In 2005, then BJP chief Advani got into trouble when, during a six-day
visit to Pakistan, he spoke of Jinnah's "forceful espousal of a
secular state in which every citizen would be free to practice his own
religion".

The remarks stirred a hornet's nest in the party that dissociated
itself with his views. Such was the groundswell of opinion against his
remarks -- seen to be heretical to the party's long-held views that
Jinnah was a Muslim communalist and the villain behind the partition
of the subcontinent -- that Advani was forced to offer to step down as
party president.

"I have not said or done anything in Pakistan which I need to retract
or review," he said then and described the founder of Pakistan as one
of the "very few who actually created history".

History repeated four years later with his party colleague Jaswant
Singh falling victim to the Jinnah syndrome when, after five years of
research, he came out with his book "Jinnah -- India, Partition,
Independence".

In his book, Jaswant Singh maintained that Jinnah was "demonised" for
no reason and that it was Jawaharlal Nehru's "highly centralised
polity" that led to the Partition of India. Singh also blamed Sardar
Patel, India's first home minister.

"Jinnah did not win Pakistan, as the Congress leaders Nehru and Patel
finally conceded Pakistan to Jinnah, with the British acting as an
ever helpful midwife," Singh has said in an interview to a TV
channel.

However, with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological
fountainhead of the BJP, strongly disagreeing with Jaswant Singh's
views, the party leadership had little option.

Speaking about the man to whom he has devoted a tome, Singh said he
admired Jinnah's character.

"I admire certain aspects of his personality. His determination and
the will to rise. He was a self-made man. Mahatma Gandhi was the son
of a Diwan. All these (people), Nehru and others, were born to wealth
and position. Jinnah created for himself a position. He carved in
Bombay, a metropolitan city, a position for himself," he said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Key-excerpts-from-Jaswant-Singhs-book-/articleshow/4911874.cms

Key excerpts from Jaswant Singh's book

IANS 19 August 2009, 07:17pm IST

NEW DELHI: Excerpts from "Jinnah: India-Partition-Independence" by
Jaswant Singh, the veteran Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader whose
views on the Pakistan founder led to his expulsion from the party
Wednesday:

"The basic and structural fault in Jinnah's notion remains a rejection
of his origins; of being an Indian, having been shaped by the soil of
India, tempered in the heat of Indian experience. Muslims in India
were no doubt subscribers to a different faith but that is all; they
were not any different stock or of alien origin."
- & -
"It is in this, a false 'minority syndrome' that the dry rot of
partition first set in, and then unstoppably it afflicted the entire
structure, the magnificent edifice of an united India. The answer
(cure?), Jinnah asserted, lay only in parting, and Nehru and Patel and
others of the Congress also finally agreed. Thus was born Pakistan".
- & -
"His opposition was not against the Hindus or Hinduism, it was the
Congress that he considered as the true political rival of the Muslim
League, and the League he considered as being just an 'extension of
himself'. He, of course, made much of the Hindu-Muslim riots (1946;
Bengal, Bihar, etc.) to 'prove the incapacity of Congress Governments
to protect Muslims; and also expressed fear of "Hindu raj" to frighten
Muslims into joining the League, but during innumerable conversations
with him I can rarely recall him attacking Hindus or Hinduism as such.
His opposition, which later developed into almost hatred, remained
focused upon the Congress leadership' (M.R.A. Baig, Jinnah's
secretary)."
- & -
"Religion in all this was entirely incidental; Pakistan alone gave him
all that his personality and character demanded. If Mr. Jinnah was
necessary for achieving Pakistan, Pakistan, too was necessary for the
fulfillment of Mr. Jinnah."
- & -
"However, it has to be said, and with great sadness, that despite some
early indications to the contrary, the leaders of the Indian National
Congress, in the period between the outbreak of war in 1939 and the
country's partition in 1947, showed in general, a sad lack of realism,
of foresight, of purpose and of will."
- & -
"As (Maulana Azad) wrote in his memoirs, he had come to the conclusion
that Indian federation should deal with just three subjects: defence,
foreign affairs and communications; thus granting the maximum possible
autonomy to the provinces. According to the Maulana, Gandhi accepted
this suggestion, while Sardar Patel did not."
- & -
"For, along with several other there is one central difficult that
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh face: our 'past' has, in reality never
gone into the 'past', it continues to reinvent itself, constantly
becoming our 'present', thus preventing us from escaping the
imprisonment of memories. To this we have to find an answer, who else
can or will?"

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/PoliticsNation/BJP-has-made-a-fool-of-itself-Lord-Meghnad-Desai/articleshow/4911728.cms

BJP has made a fool of itself: Lord Meghnad Desai

19 Aug 2009, 1845 hrs IST, IANS

NEW DELHI: Lord Meghnad Desai, noted economist and professor emeritus
of the London School of Economics, Wednesday hit out at the BJP for
expelling Jaswant Singh, saying "it was a bad move" and the party had
made a "fool of itself".

"It is a very bad move by the BJP for it shows how intolerant the
party has become," Lord Desai, who was presented the launch of Jaswant
Singh's book, told IANS in the capital.

Singh was expelled from the primary membership of his party for his
interpretation of Mohammed Ali Jinnah's role in the partition the
country in 1947 in his book, "Jinnah- India, Partition and
Independence" barely two days after it was released.

Singh held Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel responsible
for the partition in his book saying Jinnah had been unnecessarily
demonised.

"Jaswant has written a fine book which needs analysing, discussing and
debating. He has raised very interesting questions. It's a pity that
that the BJP has not read the book and has made a fool of itself,"
Lord Desai, who was present at the launch of the book, told IANS.

He said the party had acted in a "pre-determined manner without any
evidence".

"Our minds are closed and we have nothing more to learn. I feel very
sorry for the BJP and I wish that India had a decent opposition
party," Lord Desai said.

Lord Desai said BJP was "not a party of the future".

"It is shocking for young India as BJP had been trying to reinvent
itself to identify with the country's youth," the well-known economist
said.

"One should welcome and encourage politicians to write books. Jaswant
Singh is the only senior politician to have addressed the issue of
partition on the last 50 years after Maulana Azad addressed it in his
book, 'India Wins Freedom'," Desai said.

Lord Desai said "Jaswant Singh had read everything on partition and
the book was detailed and well-documented".

"The book is not dogmatic at all. But why should we be full of
prejudices. May be, the Congress was as responsible for the partition
as the Muslim League. But why should the BJP bother about it. In fact,
Sardar Patel was closely associated with Nehru in the decision to
break India in April 1947. By June, it was all over," he said.

Desai, whose yet-to-be-released new book "Rediscovery of India" also
revisits the partition of India but "from a different perspective",
said "he has more or less gone through the same material as Jaswant
Singh to research his book."

"He has looked at every document and records. We can always have
different ideas, but as a writer one must have the idea to express
them without being discriminated. It happens in America all the time.
People raise controversial issues. Why should people in India be
reluctant to raise questions that can be debated?" Desai said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/237718_BJP-now-a-party-of-no-significance--Kalyan

BJP now a party of no significance: Kalyan

STAFF WRITER 18:39 HRS IST

Agra, Aug 19 (PTI) "BJP is now a party of no significance. Whoever
joins or leaves it does not make much of a difference," said former
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today reacting to Jaswant
Singh's expulsion from the party.

Kalyan Singh is attending Samajwadi Party's special national
conference here as a special invitee.

He had left BJP just before the Lok Sabha elections and won the Etah
Lok Sabha seat as an independent backed by SP.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.thestatesman.net/page.news.php?clid=3&theme=&usrsess=1&id=265057

Jaswant’s incomplete truth

Jaswant Singh, former cabinet minister, has written a book on Mohammed
Ali Jinnah which has become a talking point across India. I have not
read the book. I have heard Jaswant Singh on TV expounding his views
on Jinnah. The main thrust of his work seems to be:

1) Jinnah has been unnecessarily demonised. He was a great man and not
wholly responsible for the Partition of the subcontinent.

2) Pandit Nehru was primarily responsible for the Partition because he
believed in a centralised India which left no space for the Muslims to
protect themselves against Hindu domination.

3) Mahatma Gandhi and other Congress leaders were opposed to the
Partition and would not have allowed it if it were not for Nehru.

The view about Nehru’s role in the Partition is not new. This scribe
wrote about it in a book of just 107 text pages, not over 600 pages,
which was published twenty years ago. Others, such as former ADC to
Lord Mountbatten and later India’s ambassador abroad, Narendra Singh
Sarila, wrote on the subject of the Partition at greater length.
Articulate and intelligent

LET us consider the three main postulates of Jaswant Singh’s views
outlined above.

1) Jinnah was not a “great” man. He was articulate, highly intelligent
and focused. He missed greatness by a wide margin because he willingly
colluded with the British to create a Pakistan about which he had not
even determined boundaries or shape. He mainly fulfilled British goals
while satisfying his own vanity. Independence came first; the
boundaries of the divided nations came later. The British had decided
on Partition to serve their own strategic ends. On 29 March, 1945,
after Viceroy Lord Wavell met Prime Minister Churchill in London he
recorded: “He (Churchill) seems to favour partition of India into
Pakistan, Hindustan and Princestan.”

Sir Martin Gilbert, the British biographer of Winston Churchill
revealed that Churchill had asked Jinnah to dispatch secret letters to
him by addressing them to a lady, Elizabeth Giliat, who had been
Churchill’s secretary. This secret interaction continued for years.
Jinnah’s key decisions between 1940 and 1946, including the demand for
Pakistan in 1940, were taken after getting the nod from Churchill or
Lord Linlithgow and Wavell, both Churchill’s admirers.

Jinnah admitted during the Simla Conference in 1945 that he was
receiving advice from London. In other words, Jinnah was as much the
British puppet on a string as were the top Indian leaders.

2) Yes, Pandit Nehru was primarily responsible for the Partition. This
was not because he was emotionally committed to a centralised India
but because he too was thoroughly programmed by the British since his
school days. His proximity to Lord Mountbatten has been recorded by
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and historian Shashi Joshi among others. Even
before Mountbatten’s arrival in India, Lord Wavell had complained that
Nehru was often informed by Whitehall before he was !

3) Mahatma Gandhi and other Congress leaders may have been unhappy
about the Partition. They did not oppose it. When the resolution to
accept Partition was taken by the Congress on 3 June, 1947, Gandhi
observed his day of silence. He assured Mountbatten on 2 June that he
would not oppose Partition.

It can be nobody’s case that Nehru was so powerful that he could
override Gandhi and the rest. The truth was that Gandhi lacked the
gumption to oppose Partition when it came to the crunch because he
knew that his adversary was not Nehru but Britain. At Mountbatten’s
bidding he could undertake a fast unto death to compel the Indian
government to pay adequate compensation to Pakistan. He made no such
protest when his life’s work of creating a united independent India
was being destroyed. Gandhi’s belated attempt to undo his mistake by
wanting to settle in Pakistan and by demanding the dissolution of the
Congress in his last will and testament was aborted by his death.

Cruel judgments

These judgments may appear cruel. Truth is seldom kind. Any assessment
about the causes that led to the Partition of India would be flawed
unless the central role of the British in creating it and the
compliant role of the Indian and Pakistani leaders in accepting it are
recognised. The most clinching evidence of this is provided by the
recorded views of Christopher Beaumont who was private secretary to
Sir Cyril Radcliffe, chairman of the Indo-Pakistan Boundary
Commission. His private papers were recently released by his son,
Robert Beaumont.

The elder Beaumont wrote in 1947: “The viceroy, Mountbatten, must take
the blame ~ though not the sole blame ~ for the massacres in the
Punjab in which between 500,000 to a million men, women and children
perished… The handover of power was done too quickly.”

Christopher Beaumont was most scathing about how partition affected
Punjab. He wrote: “The Punjab partition was a disaster… Geography,
canals, railways and roads all argued against dismemberment… The
trouble was that Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs were an integrated
population so that it was impossible to make a frontier without
widespread dislocation… Thousands of people died or were uprooted from
their homes in what was in effect a civil war… By the end of 1947
there were virtually no Hindus or Sikhs living in west Punjab ~ now
part of Pakistan ~ and no Muslims in the Indian east… The British
government and Mountbatten must bear a large part of the blame for
this tragedy.”
A few Britons are beginning to confront the truth. Will Indians ever
start doing the same?

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/aug/18/pakistans-jihadi-politics-rooted-in-india/

Pakistan's jihadi politics rooted in India partition
By Sunil Dutta

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

As Pakistan marks the 62nd anniversary of its founding this month, it
remains mired in existential conflicts. Outsiders are often perplexed
at how the Pakistan government can engage in state-sponsored terrorism
and harboring of jihadi militants while claiming partnership with
America in the fight against terrorism.

For those familiar with colonial history of British India, Pakistan’s
emergence as a dangerous and destabilizing force was Pakistan’s
destiny. The seeds were sown in 1940 by those who exploited Islam to
gain political power and eventually secured Pakistan from the British
Empire in 1947.

Formation of Pakistan was neither assured nor certain. Mohammad Ali
Jinnah, the champion of Pakistan, could hardly be called a Muslim in
any sense. Famous for his expensively tailored Savile Row suits,
educated at Lincoln Inn, he was a highly successful and extremely
wealthy lawyer. He ate pork, drank alcohol and could barely speak
Urdu, the language of pride for Indian Muslims.

Similarly, Muslim League’s creators were an amalgamation of royalists
and feudal landlords who were loyal to the British Empire and never
commanded ordinary Muslims’ attention and support. Under their
stewardship, Pakistan was a mere fantasy. In fact, 10 years before
Partition of India and the departure of the British, Muslim League and
Jinnah were on the verge of political extinction.

In 1937, the Muslim League had failed miserably in pre-colonial Indian
provincial elections. The results demonstrated that the party claiming
to represent Muslims did not speak for Muslims — it received 4.8
percent of the Muslim vote even with separate electorates for Muslims
and Hindus instituted by British colonialists.

The Nationalist Congress party, dominated by Hindus but still largely
secular in nature, swept the elections. Jinnah, the supreme leader of
Muslim League, who had started as a rising star in Congress in 1905
with impeccable secular credentials, became marginalized.

For political survival, Jinnah began blatant use of religion to gain
support of Muslim masses with highly incendiary slogans, frightening
the masses that Hindus were going to destroy the Muslims after the
British left India. Jinnah propounded his deceitful theory of Hindus
and Muslims being “two separate nations” that could not live together
and asked for creation of Pakistan, a land for Muslims, by division of
India.

Rift in divided Indian society

His party’s incendiary slogan of “Islam in danger” created a
tremendous rift in divided Indian society; cities and towns burned
with communal violence. The violence was instigated by Muslim League
with tacit support of its national leaders through their paramilitary
League National Guard goons and resulted in massive Hindu retaliation.
Thousands were butchered and tens of thousands made homeless. Once
unleashed, the bloody monster of religious hatred was on its unimpeded
march.

Jinnah’s chauvinistic propaganda and contrived ethnic conflict so
effectively mobilized the Muslim population that, in a short period of
seven years, the Muslim League went from winning less than 5 percent
to more than 75 percent of the Muslim vote in provincial elections of
1945. It took only two more years for the country to be divided on the
basis of religious hatred and massive violence.

Jinnah’s pathological politics resulted in a horrendous bloodbath. The
Partition resulted in one of the most brutal and bloody forced
migrations in history, in which Sikhs and Hindus were chased from
newly created Pakistan and Muslims from India.

The ensuing violence resulted in the massacre of some 2 million
Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs and expulsion of approximately 17 million
people from their homes. The Machiavellian policies of Pakistan are
the legacy of the holocaust accompanying the Partition. We are still
reaping the bitter fruit of poisonous seeds Jinnah and the Muslim
League planted in 1940s. At the dawn of the 21st century, the world
stands on the brink due to two nuclear powers perpetually in conflict.
There have been four major wars between India and Pakistan and the two
nations have come perilously close to nuclear war after Pakistani-
sponsored terrorists attacked the Indian parliament in 2001.

Nascent Pakistan was insecure and fearful of its larger neighbor India
and immediately adopted three basic constructs as her reason for
existence: India as the enemy, Partition as unfinished business, and
search for allies.This misdirected focus resulted in authoritarian,
centralized rule, lack of rapprochement with India and a perpetual
state of militarization and war.

Macchiavellian deals

The never-ending search for allies against India resulted in Pakistani
dictators and autocratic leaders making Machiavellian deals that
further radicalized religious fanatics and later resulted in unholy
alliances with al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Since Pakistan felt it had been shortchanged in Partition (deprived of
Kashmir, a state with a Muslim majority), and it was militarily weak,
it engaged in a war of attrition in Kashmir by supporting jihadi
terrorists through Pakistan military. The shacklehold of Pakistan
military on domestic and foreign policy ensured that peace would
remain elusive between India and Pakistan.

Additionally, Pakistan sought to destabilize and control Afghanistan
utilizing militant Islamists, accepted money from the fundamentalist
Saudi Arabia regime for militant religious schools, developed nuclear
weapons to counter Indian military superiority and sold her services
to the larger military powers with the eventual goal of countering and
destabilizing India. While Pakistan is being riven by the Taliban and
Islamic militants, the ruling elite still consider India as her
primary enemy!

Fundamentalists in the Pakistani military created the Taliban,
supported and harbored al-Qaida, and possibly made nuclear weapon
technology deals with North Korea. Pakistani political vision has been
frozen in 1947 and remains stunted due to Pakistan’s fixation over
Kashmir. As a result, 62 years after her independence, Pakistan stands
as a state perpetually at war with herself and with her own citizens.

Machiavellian policies that used Islamic militants in Afghanistan and
Kashmir have begun their blowback as terrorists blow people up in
Lahore and Islamabad, jihadis train killers to launch attacks in
Mumbai and elsewhere, and the Taliban expands its control and
continues its march within Pakistan. Besides fighting the Taliban in
Swat, the Pakistan military battles nationalists and separatists in
Balochistan and the Northwestern Province. Pakistan continues to
struggle to imagine itself as a nation, to find a coherent self.

Bad situation

As Pakistan celebrated her independence Aug. 14, it is instructional
to focus on U.S. soldiers fighting the Pakistani-trained and sheltered
Taliban in Afghanistan. While our military bombs militants in western
Pakistan and we line the pockets of the Pakistani establishment in
return, the weak government of President Asif Ali Zardari vacillates
between serving its U.S. financers and homegrown jihadi ideologues
obsessed with Kashmir and control of Afghanistan. Nothing good can
come of this.

Pakistan may be hopelessly corrupt, lawless, drug-ridden and
inherently unstable, but it is here to stay. Despite being brainwashed
by their rulers, Pakistani people have time and again rejected Islamic
fundamentalists and remain remarkably open and tolerant. It is time
for their leaders to step out of their insecure cocoons and focus on
development of Pakistan. If the rulers of Pakistan will not detach
themselves from their poisonous origin, we can expect continual wars
by proxies, jihadi politics and perpetual suffering in south Asia for
years to come.

— Sunil Dutta, Ph.D., lives in Agoura.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://twocircles.net/2009aug19/jinnah_jaswant_bhai_bhai.html

"Jinnah Jaswant Bhai Bhai"

Submitted by admin on 19 August 2009 - 7:16pm.
By Shafee Ahmed Ko

“Jinnah-Jaswant, Bhai Bhai” seems to be the new slogan since Jaswant
Singh sings a new song on Mohamed Ali Jinnah, Father of Pakistan
eulogizing him in new political biography, 'Jinnah: India-Partition,
Independence’.

Jaswant Singh, who has served seven terms in Parliament and held
charge of six ministries in BJP-led governments, including finance,
external affairs and defence; a senior leader of BJP and from the
royal family of Rajasthan,. His son Manvendra Singh was a candidate in
the Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan and Jaswant won the battle by
getting elected from Darjeeling. Jaswant Singh is in arrows of rough
shod from different angles especially from his party key group of
cadres especially Hindus such RSS, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena.

On Tuesday 18, the Shiv Sena supremo, in his party organ “Samna” has
come down heavily as “I fail to understand why BJP leaders, who claim
to be patriots and pro-Hindutva, slip on the issue of Jinnah. There
appears to be a rush among BJP leaders to offer flowers to and praise
Barrister Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Some years ago, BJP leader L K Advani
had offered flowers on Jinnah mausoleum and had lauded the founder of
Pakistan as a historic icon. Advani had praised Jinnah who caused the
murders of millions of innocent people in undivided India. How can
such a person become an icon of Indian history? And now a veteran
leader of BJP Jaswant Singh is holding Pandit Nehru instead of Jinnah
responsible for the partition of India.”

Rajnath Singh, the party leader retorted “division of India which led
to a lot of dislocation and destabilisation of millions of people".

"It is too well known we cannot wish away this painful part of our
history," he said.

He also took objection to ridiculing of Sardar Vallabhai Patel by
Jaswant Singh, saying the first Home Minister played a historic role
in unification and consolidation of India amidst serious threats to
its unity and integrity.

"The entire country remains indebted and proud of all the profound
vision, courage and leadership of Patel,"

Advani, senior leader of BJP earned similar political and public ire
when he praised Jinnah as a great secular nationalist. Jaswant Singh’s
postulation are very clear to state that on “Nehru as one of the
principal architects of India’s partition” To fan the fuel of Hindu
enthusiasts, Jaswant further writes “that Jinnah did not win Pakistan,
rather Nehru and Patel conceded Pakistan to Jinnah with help of the
British”

Why after 62 years of partition, Jaswant Singh has seen a new dawn
with an ideology deliberately writing book on Muhammad Ali Jinnah,
when the party has met a debacle in the last parliamentary election
and the BJP is scanning for all sorts of virus scrutinizing state wise
what exactly went wrong. In such process Rajasthan BJP leader in an
interview to Pakistan’s renowned freelance journalist, Anjum Niyaz
amusingly answers as follows:

So why the urgency to write yet one more book on Jinnah, that too 60
years after he founded Pakistan?

“I was unable to convince myself that Mohammad Ali Jinnah was a demon
(as some Indians believe). I was also unable to convince myself of the
ideography of Jinnah as some in Pakistan believe. He was neither. He
was a man of flesh and blood,” says Jaswant Singh who is determined to
demolish the “great many myths surrounding partition in both India and
Pakistan.” Having recently toured Sindh and Balochistan, Jaswant Singh
is still at a great loss (as he was at the time of partition) to
understand the reason for separation when he finds “such unity
socially and culturally” between the two countries even today.

Another reason for his lonely quest to demystify Jinnah in his
forthcoming book “tentatively” entitled Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity to the Quaid-i-Azam of Pakistan – The
Journey is his personal friendship with the Quaid’s daughter Dina
Wadia and her only son Nusli. “I was struck by the fact that both
mother and son continue to stay in India.”

He “hates to admit it,” but until now, no man or woman, in both India
and Pakistan, who has been in public life, has taken on the task of
dissecting the reasons for partition. It’s sadder still that no Indian
has ever “devoted himself to the study or writing of a political
biography of Jinnah.” Jaswant Singh does not claim to be an
“academic.” He has no formal education as he left school at 15 to
enter the army as a cadet where he was commissioned at age 19. “I am
no professor either and feel a bit of a fraud being called a Harvard
Fellow.” Being aware of his many “limitations” he says that as an
author it’s with “great trepidation that I have entered this
territory.”

The time alone will answer what the “game that politicians play”

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://blog.taragana.com/n/jaswant-a-victim-of-party-intrigues-many-think-so-news-analysis-143717/

Jaswant a victim of party intrigues? Many think so (News Analysis)
Ians August 19th, 2009

NEW DELHI - Was Jaswant Singh the victim of high-level intrigue in his
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that used him to deflect attention from
its own shortcomings to avoid debate on the party’s dismal performance
in the general election?

Many in the BJP as well as those who have demonstrated some
intellectual affinity with the party’s ideology and way of thinking on
national issues would like to think so.

They say Jaswant Singh, the former Indian Army major who was expelled
from the party Wednesday, had “committed no crime” with his personal
observations on Pakistan’s founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah in the book he
authored.

The thinking in this circle is that the senior party leadership ran so
scared of an internal debate in the party over the poll debacle that
they were desperate to distract media attention from the so-called
‘chintan baithak’, or introspection session, that began in Shimla
Wednesday.

“First, they blew up the issue of Vasundhara Raje, the former
Rajasthan chief minister (whom the party leadership wants to quit as
leader of opposition in the state assembly); and now they whipped up
the issue of Jaswant Singh within an hour of the start of the chintan
baithak,” said a party supporter who has written newspaper columns in
praise of the BJP’s views and policies.

“Why couldn’t they have waited for the chintan baithak to be over
before taking up these issues?

“It just goes to say how intellectually challenged these people are
and how they feared facing those who could have questioned them at the
session,” said the supporter, who wished to remain anonymous.

A primary member of the party who did not want to be identified for
fear of reprisal said that Jaswant Singh, like the senior leadership,
had denounced Jinnah’s two-nation theory and like them thought the
partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 was a mistake.

The fact that L.K. Advani went along with the decision surprised many.
But others more familiar with entrenched thinking felt that Advani,
party president Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley and others who were part
of the BJP parliamentary board meeting that took the expulsion
decision were only ensuring that their own positions (their ‘kursis’)
were not threatened by the new dissidents that Jaswant Singh and
people like Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie had come to represent.

That the expulsion came just a day after former president M. Venkaiah
Naidu stated that “no action” was being contemplated against Jaswant
Singh showed that the top leadership was in a hurry to smother the
rising dissent at the party conclave that was to be attended by about
25 top leaders, said the BJP leader.

Yet another pro-BJP analyst rued the role of Advani in the episode
saying he himself had allowed the party to deviate from its stated
position on Gorkhaland when it came out in support of a separate state
before the elections to ensure a victory for Jaswant Singh who was
contesting from Darjeeling for the first time.

“This (separatist) stand cost the BJP several seats in West Bengal,
but Advani then found it more opportune to assure himself of at least
one MP (Jaswant) in support of his leadership, rather than look at the
larger party interests in a state where the Communists were in
retreat,” said the commentator.

This episode may have long-term repercussions for the party in terms
of its support among sections of the middle class, the armed forces
and academic circles for whom Jaswant Singh represented the voice of
the moderate, English-speaking, progressive view in the party that had
helped it to reach a wider constituency beyond its conservative, Hindu
chauvinist, trader base.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.breakingnewsonline.net/2009/08/jashwant-singh-speaks-out-regrets-bjp.html

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://blog.taragana.com/n/jaswant-singhs-expulsion-boon-for-gorkhaland-gjm-143604/

Vote 0 Jaswant Singh’s expulsion boon for Gorkhaland: GJM

Ians August 19th, 2009

SILIGURI - The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) Wednesday termed Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) leader and Darjeeling MP Jaswant Singh’s expulsion
from the party Wednesday as a “boon for the Gorkhaland movement” as
the leader can now “work freely” for the realisation of a separate
state.

“Jaswant Singh is now free of party fetters. This development is a
boon and not a bane for the Gorkhaland movement. He can now use his
immense contacts at the national level for furthering our cause,” GJM
central committee member and publicity secretary Harka Bahadur Chhetri
told IANS.

Jaswant Singh, who has held defence, finance and external affairs
portfolios in the BJP-led governments was expelled for his
controversial book praising Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah,
“Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence”.

The GJM, spearheading the demand for a Gorkhaland out of Darjeleing
and some adjacent areas in West Bengal, ensured Jaswant Singh’s
victory from Darjeeling in the general elections this April-May.

Chhetri said the BJP cannot backtrack on its stand of supporting the
creation of Gorkhaland as the issue figured in the party’s election
manifesto.

“We supported Jaswant Singh only because the BJP nominated him. If the
BJP had named any other candidate we would have gone all out to ensure
his victory also. So, our relations with the BJP will also not be
affected,” Chhetri said.

At the same time the GJM was happy with the progress of talks in the
third round of tripartite talks recently in Delhi.

“The result of this round of tri-partite is positive. We will continue
our negotiations with the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
at the centre.”

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

Muhammad Ali Jinnah- Chronology

GLIMPSES FATHER OF THE NATION,
Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

December 25, 1876: Muhammad Ali Jinnah is born in Karachi.
Father: Jinnah Bhai Poonja
Mother: Mithi Bai
Jinnah Bhai and Mithi Bai get married in 1874.
Sisters of Quaid-e-Azam: Rehmat, Mariam, Fatima and Shirin
Brothers: Ahmed Ali, Banday Ali
1882: Home tutorship begins.
1886: Admitted to Sindh Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi. This high school
to this day displays a bold inscription, "ENTER TO LEARN, GO FORTH TO
SERVE."
1888: To children colleagues playing marbles: "Rise from the dust, so
that our clothes remain unsoiled and our hands clean for the greater
tasks that fall to them."
1886 to 1892: Jinnah becomes an excellent young cricketer and
captains
the neighborhood team. He also becomes an expert horse rider. He
loves
horses for their majestic stance, running with their heads high and
chests prominent.
1890: The 14 year old M.A. Jinnah sees an impressive lawyer wearing a
black gown in a court of law. He tells his father, "Baba! I will
become a barrister."
1892: Frederick Croft, a British businessman and friend of Jinnah
Bhai
Poonja, strongly advises that the brilliant junior Jinnah be sent to
England for education.
1893: The 16 year old Jinnah plays the role of Romeo for the
Shakespeare Drama Company in London.
1894: M.A. Jinnah becomes a Barrister-at-Law at the age of 18. This
stands as an unbroken record to this day (in 2006).
1894: Jinnah starts using his charming, world famous monocle for
reading.
1896: M.A. Jinnah returns to Karachi.
1897 to 1900: Strives to establish his law practice in Bombay.
1900: He is appointed Presidency Magistrate in Bombay. He calls his
younger sister, Fatima, from Karachi to Bombay to complete her
education in a convent.
1902: A rich businessman offers Jinnah Rs. 5,000 to handle his case.
Jinnah answers firmly, "Five hundred rupees per day is my fee, or
find
another lawyer." Jinnah wins the case in 3 days. The affluent
businessman, Haji Abdul Kareem, tries to pay Rs. 5,000 but fails to
convince Jinnah to accept more than Rs. 1,500.
1903: Appointed legal advisor to the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
1904: When a rich Hindu landlord protests at the amount of Jinnah's
high fees, he replies, "You can't travel in a Pullman (luxury class)
with a third-class ticket."
1906: At the age of 30, M.A. Jinnah becomes secretary to the "Grand
Old Man of India", Dada Bhai Naurojee, of the All India Congress.
JOURNEY TO POLITICAL HEIGHTS:
1909: Jinnah is elected to represent in the Legislative Council of
the
British Viceroy to India.
1913: Elected again for the Council in 1913, travels to London with
the great Indian leader, Gopal Krishna Gokhle.
1913: Joins the Muslim League upon returning to India.
1913: For his magnanimity and open-mindedness, Muhammad Ali Jinnah
becomes famous as the ‘Ambassador of Hindu-Muslim Unity’ at the
behest
of prominent Hindu leaders.
1915: Since 1913, Jinnah holds the unique position of being a member
of the All India Muslim League and The Legislative Council of the
British government. He is considered the most respectable citizen of
India at the age of 39.
1916, at age 40: Jinnah is bubbling with confidence, "The word
failure
is unknown to me."
1918: "A neat, charismatic, well-mannered young man, a master of
logic. The most intelligent man I have seen." (Lord Montego
Chelmsford)
1918: Jinnah marries the gorgeous "Flower of Bombay”, Rattan Bai
Dinshaw. The common interest between the 41 year old groom and 18
year
old bride was their fondness of horses. The Parsi Rattan Bai embraces
Islam before marriage.
1919: The only child of M.A. Jinnah is born on Aug15, Dina Jinnah.
1920: Mohandas K. Gandhi renames the working committee of the
Congress, from Home Rule League to the Hindi "Suraaj Sabha." At this
juncture, Jinnah resigns from the Home Rule League. He correctly
picked up the name change as Gandhi’s drift toward serving the Hindu
Cause alone.
1920's: Gandhi promotes Hindu fundamentalism and gains cheap
popularity because of his antics. He threatens, "If Muslims or
Christians slaughter a single cow we will shed rivers of blood in
India!"
1922: When people shower him with extremely honorable titles, Jinnah
asserts, "I have no desire for any position or title. You may simply
call me Jinnah or Mr. Jinnah."
1929: Mrs. Ratti Jinnah's untimely demise due to Typhoid fever in
Bombay. She was only 29.
1931: Saddened by his wife's death, disappointed with the politics of
hatred propagated by Gandhi and the All India Congress, Jinnah moves
to London.
1931: Round Table Conference in London. Chaudhry Rahmat Ali tells
Jinnah that he will not accept crucifixion at the hands of the Hindu
extremists. Allama Sir Muhammad Iqbal present at the conference
convinces M. A. Jinnah that Indian Muslims must have their
independent
homeland.
1931: "If India ever attains freedom, it will be because of
Jinnah." (Gopal Krishna Gokhle)
1933: Allama Iqbal writes to M.A. Jinnah, "Muslims of India are
looking up to you to lead them." Liaquat Ali Khan tells M.A. Jinnah,
"Indian Muslims need and deserve you."
1934: M.A. Jinnah quits his booming law practice in London and
returns
to his beautiful mansion at Mount Pleasant Road, Bombay.
1936: Jinnah establishes the All India Muslim Students Federation.
1937: M.A. Jinnah has breathed a new life into the Muslim League.
May 29, 1937: Allama Iqbal writes to Jinnah, "The only safeguard for
Muslims is to achieve a free homeland for themselves. Don't you think
the time has come for this demand? A great storm is nearing and
Muslims deserve to look up to you to captain their ship."
1937: Jinnah declares, "Even if we have to go through fire and blood
we must march on to freedom, otherwise, we will forever remain poor,
weak, illiterate, and slaves of Hindus.”
Oct 8, 1938, Karachi: “The British have unleashed wolves on the Arabs
in Palestine.”
1938: Bombay, 3 A.M. August 14: A Hindu journalist gently enters the
mansion and asks Jinnah why he was staying awake so late while all
Hindu leaders were sleeping in comfort. Jinnah responds, "I am awake
because my nation is sleeping. They are sleeping because their nation
is awake."
1938: "In India, the only un-purchasable leader is M.A.
Jinnah." (Pakistan’s first Prime Minister to be, Nawabzada Liaquat
Ali
Khan)
1938: Jinnah visits Ilahabad, UP. He rules the hearts and minds of
students. They crowd the Ilahabad railway station in multitudes. The
railway traffic has to be stopped for 2 hours.
May 13, 1939: Muhammad Ali Jinnah orders his fortunes to be
distributed between Aligarh University, UP, Islamia College, Peshawar
and the Sind Madrasah, Karachi.
1940: Jinnah says, "One's whole life can be built around moral
strength, courage, hard work and persistence."
March 23, 1940: Meeting of All India Muslim League at Lahore. The
Lahore Resolution (later on known as the Pakistan Resolution) is
passed.
1940: Everyone starts calling M.A. Jinnah as "Quaid-e-Azam", the
Great
Leader.
1940: Quaid-e-Azam introduces his English newspaper "DAWN" to fight
anti-Muslim propaganda.
1940: Careful with words. "I am willing to see Gandhi but you can't
say that I wish to see him."
1941: When advised to take rest by his loving sister he replies,
"Fatima! Have you ever heard of a general going on vacation while his
army is at war?"
1941: "Pakistan was established when the first Indian accepted Islam
and Hindus called him Untouchable!"
July 26, 1943: A 30 year old tall and stout man, Rafiq Sabir tries to
assassinate Quaid-e-Azam at his office with a dagger. The 67 year old
slender Jinnah calmly grabs his wrist while his driver arrests the
attacker. Jinnah proceeds with his work as if nothing happened. Rafiq
Sabir belonged to the ‘Khaksar Tehrik’ that believed Muslims must
rule
the whole India by way of power.
Dec 18, 1943: "The most important man in Asia is 67, tall, thin and
elegant, with a monocle on a gray silk cord and a stiff white
collar." (Beverly Hill Nichols, in his interview with the great
leader
titled ‘Dialogue With A Giant’)
1944: “Theocracy is the worst form of despotism.”
1945: The Working Committee of the Muslim League requests Quaid-e-
Azam
to accept becoming the life President of the League. Quaid-e-Azam
declines and insists on democratic process with yearly elections.
1945: Jinnah says, "I first decide what is right and proceed to do
it.
The people invariably come around me and the opposition vanishes.
Many
leaders would rather say what people want to hear."
1945, to students: "Do not criticize others when you yourselves have
not yet learned to respect the sanctity of law. I see you have no
lights on your bikes after dusk. --- Education and scholarship must
come first and politics after."
1945: “Unity, Faith, Discipline must be the motto of our nation.”
1945: "I am an old man and I have all the luxuries of life. Why am I
toiling hard? It is for you, for the poor of the nation."
January 1946: Muslim League registers a resounding victory in general
elections.
1946: "No power on earth can prevent (the creation of) Pakistan!"
1946: "There is no tribunal to which we can go. The only tribunal for
us is the Muslim nation."
1946: "Work for the good of the common man." (Addressing the leaders
of Muslim League)
1946 address: M.A. Jinnah addresses students in Deccan, "In Islam,
the
ultimate obedience belongs to God alone. The only way to follow His
Guidance is through the Holy Qur'an. Islam does not preach obedience
to a king, parliament, person or any institution. The Islamic
government means Rule of the Qur'an. And how can you establish the
Rule of the Qur'an without an independent state? In this state,
legislation will take place within the boundaries drawn by the
Qur'an."
1946: Jinnah reaches this conclusion, "All the conferences in the
world cannot reconcile the stark differences between the Hindu and
Muslim ideologies."
1946: "What are our utmost demands? The answer is Pakistan."
1946: "Exceptional inner worth, vitality and endurance with eager
humanity, a simple, winning humor like a child." (The prominent
Indian
intellectual, Miss Sarojini Naidu, the ‘Nightingale of India’, poet
and later, the governor of Uttar Pradesh)
1946: "Democracy is in the blood of Muslims. I'll give you an
example.
Very often, when I go to a mosque, my chauffeur stands side by side
with me."
1947: "His youth was spotless." (Sarojini Naidu)
1947: "M.A. Jinnah is such a smart man. How would he not make
history?
I admire the tremendous personality and his inexorable
determination." (British Field Marshall, Sir Claude Auchinleck)
1947: MAJ says, "I believe in criticizing the government freely and
frankly. But at the same time, it is the duty of every educated
person
to support and help the government when it is doing right."
1947: "Jinnah is the Muslim League. For him, people invariably fall
in
line. No one has any doubt what he means when he speaks. He speaks
what he means and he means what he speaks." (R.G. Casey, Governor of
Bengal)
June 3, 1947: Quaid-e-Azam gives the great news of freedom to the
Indian Muslims. From All India Radio, Delhi he exclaims, "Pakistan
Zindabad!" (Long Live Pakistan!)
July 1947: “In the history of nations, an enemy of today is a friend
of tomorrow.”
August 7, 1947: Jinnah flies from Delhi to Karachi in his beautiful
silver Dakota.
August 7, 1947: “Do you know I never expected to see Pakistan in my
lifetime?” (On reaching Karachi)
Aug. 11, 1947, Addressing the Nation: “You are free; you are free to
go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any
other
place of worship in this state of Pakistan. You may belong to any
religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the
fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of
the state…”
These words were Jinnah’s, but the thought and beliefs were an
inheritance from Prophet Muhammad: “Today I trample under my feet all
the distinctions of caste, color, and nationality.” (Hector Bolitho)
Aug 12, 1947: “Muhammad (the exalted Prophet) was the greatest
lawgiver, statesman and sovereign.”
Aug 13, 1947: "The single-mindedness and persistent integrity of
Muhammad Ali Jinnah gave him the victory over all his
adversaries." (M.K. Gandhi)
August 14,1947: Hindu fundamentalist partly RSS tries to assassinate
Quaid-e-Azam as he is driven to the Government House in Karachi. For
some reason, the bomb thrown on his car fails to explode. Quaid-e-
Azam
declines personal bodyguard.
1948: "It is as important to unlearn as it is to learn."
April15 1948: His health continues to decline. On medical advice,
Jinnah temporarily moves to a scenic place, Ziyarat near Quetta but
he
refuses to stop working.
July 1, 1948: Comes to Karachi for the inauguration ceremony of the
State Bank of Pakistan. He asserts, “The adoption of Western Economic
Theory and practice will not help us in achieving our goal of
creating
a happy and contented people. We must work our destiny in our own
way,
and present to the world an economic system based on the true Islamic
concepts of equality of mankind and social justice.” This was the
last
official engagement of M.A. Jinnah.
Aug. 1948: Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s personal physician Col. Elahi Baksh
said, “Sir! You must have woolen pajamas.” Quaid-e-Azam replied,
“Listen Doctor, whenever you spend money on me. Think twice whether
it
is necessary or not.”
Aug. 1948: My ways are what? - Just common sense.
Aug. 29, 1948: “Now it does not matter whether I live or die. I have
completed my job.”
August 29, 1948, Ziyarat: "I have completed my mission."
Sep 11, 1948: Moves back to Karachi.
Sep11, 1948: 10.20 PM, the great leader breathes his last at the
Government House in Karachi. The entire Pakistan is beclouded in
gloom
within the next hour.
1948: “While the Hindu leadership of India, including Gandhi,
indulged
in tactics simulating mantras, soothsaying and voodoo, Jinnah in
comparison carried on his politics with the selectivity of an expert
surgeon.” (Sir Winston Churchill)
1948: Jinnah was a man without malice. (General Sir Douglas Gracey,
Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan army in 1948)
1949: Jinnah was faultless in both ethics and virtue. (Sarojini
Naidu,
the Nightingale of India).
1949: Jinnah abhorred the "vague, philosophical absurdities" of
Gandhi. (Hector Bolitho, the renowned British author)
1949: "Gandhi was an instrument of power, Jinnah was power," states
the physician, Dr. JAL Patel, who incidentally had treated both
leaders. The doctor adds, "Gandhi was unclothed before his disciples,
Jinnah was clothed before his disciples. That was the difference
between them."
1950: Jinnah used to say, "A spade should be called a spade." And he
always did that. (Historian G.A. Alana)
1950: Gandhi was not happy if he achieved his objective through
logical progression. He appealed to emotions. Muhammad Ali Jinnah was
logical, practical and appealed to reason. (Sir D.B. Cunningham)
1950: Jinnah apart from his integrity, which was frightening, was a
powerful man; when he decided to dominate anyone, an individual or a
multitude, he did. He spoke to Urdu understanding masses in English
but they listened to him, bewitched! (Professor Khalid Bin Saeed, a
noted historian)
1951: To doubt Muhammad Ali Jinnah's sincerity was to question the
law
of his life. (Hector Bolitho, British author)
1951: The profound laurels and long accounts of Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s
achievements in newspapers failed to impress him. (Rizwan Ahmad, a
close associate)
1951: The force of Jinnah's convictions and his inimitable style
struck large audiences into wonder and agreement. (Hector Bolitho)
1951: "O Yes! He had charm. And he was so good looking. Mind you, I
am
sure he was aware of his charm. He knew his strength." (A Parsi lady
who was a contemporary and a neighbor of Jinnah in Bombay,
reminiscing
the old days of the1920s)
1951: Sarojini Naidu, the "Nightingale of India" wrote romantic poems
to Jinnah. As far as Jinnah was concerned, she sang in vain. (Begum
Raana Liaquat Ali Khan)
1951: Jinnah was completely free from extremes of emotions.
(Nawabzada
Liaquat Ali Khan)
1952: Jinnah's eyes were the 'twin lamps of truth'. Only the honest
could look him straight in the eye. (Begum Raana Liaquat Ali Khan)
1955: The word ‘holiday’ was foreign to Jinnah's active mind.
(Younger
sister, Fatima Jinnah)
1970: To the end of his life, he made no effort to court popularity
or
to please the press. (Lord Mountbatten, India’s last British viceroy)

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.timesnow.tv/Expelled-Jaswant-slams-Suvidhavadi-RSS/articleshow/4325211.cms

Expelled Jaswant slams 'Suvidhavadi' RSS
19 Aug 2009, 2116 hrs IST, TIMES NOW

After expulsion, Jaswant Singh breaks his silence, takes on the RSS,
calls the pracharaks 'Suvidhavadi', in an exclusive interview to TIMES
NOW 's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami. Speaking on the RSS, he said the
RSS must also introspect about their own organisation. Singh said
change in the BJP is not for the better. He further said that he would
make public the letter that he had written to the party after the
elections. Speaking on the book, he said it was public knowledge that
he was writing a book on Jinnah.

The Interview:

Arnab: Advani also commented on Jinnah. With reference to this, you
said in the press conference that 'time is different'. What is the
'change of time' that you mentioned.

Jaswant: At that time I protested. The RSS and the party said they
were contemplating. I am not Advaniji. I don't regret and these things
happen in life.

Arnab: You stood up for Advani at that time and this time Advani did
not support you in Shimla.

Jaswant: My grandfather told me, never remember the favour that you
have done to others. I cannot say how it is different for Advani and
how it is different for me. I would have been happier if it was not
just a telephonic call from Rajnathji who said that I was expelled.
Somnathji also faced a similar problem. There are some in the Congress
party. They have expelled me and I presume that it is because I have
written a book on Jinnah.

Arnab: People have raised eyebrows about the reason for which you have
been expelled. And, there is a view that it is not the book. Because,
you have spoken about the book for some time, you gave interviews on
the book. If it is book, action would have been taken long back. So,
what happened in the last 24 hours that you were sacked?

Jaswant: I don't know what happened. I don't want to waste time on
reflecting as to what happened.

Arnab: RSS chief told me in an interview about what is happening in
the BJP and it seems BJP was in some kind of nervousness and it seems
the party raised an ideological issue and Jaswant Singh has been made
a fall guy.

Jaswant: It hurts that after working for 30 years in the party I am
made a scapegoat. It is of course diminishing me as a person. It
diminishes the party too.

Arnab: What do you think about your post-poll comment that BJP could
be overpowered by the extremists in the future and this seemed it was
a reference to the RSS? Do you think this sealed the issue?

Jaswant: I don't know. Nothing has been shared with me. In the letter
that I had written, I certainly questioned, 'what is Hindutva?' and
'What are we talking about?' because we are unable to explain what
Hindutva is even to the electorate of the country. I think I should
let the letter now to be made public.

Arnab: You have been writing this book for one or two years now. Were
you told by the BJP to go slow? Were you told that you should not
release the book for some time till at least after the general
elections?

Jaswant: I was there with Advani and Mohan Bhagwat was also there. I
told them that I was working on a book on Jinnah. I told Rajnathji
also. He said that I should not launch it till the state assembly
elections are over and the Lok Sabha elections are over. I told
Rajnathji and also Advaniji that I could not attend Chintan baitak
because I was releasing my book on 17th of August.

Arnab: That’s a frank answer. You are not an RSS man, but you are
aware Mr Singh that RSS has made no secret of its intent to play a
very important role in the restructuring process of the BJP in which
swayamsevak of the RSS will play an active role. What is your view on
that?

Jaswant: I have seen a change in the RSS too. I contested my first
election. The fourth general election was my first election. I had
resigned in November 66 from the army and in February I contested the
election. But I was not Jansangh man but the kind of support I have
from the then Jansanngh and RSS was truly, unbelievably and remarkably
undemanding. In last 30-40 years there is a change in the RSS. The
Jansangh became BJP. I have shared this with Mohan Bhagwatji also. I
have shared this with Advani too.

Arnab: You have been touched by the office being the corrupting
influence. Does that also work for the RSS?

Jaswant: Yes. Because the RSS sangh chalak, the prabahari was in
charge of various states, districts. Of course they are influenced.
There is a phrase In Hindi ‘Suvidhabhogi’. We have become addicted to
convenience. But, certainly the purities of the past must not be
forgotten and the pursuit of the convenience present.

Arnab: From what I’m gathering is not just the BJP which must
introspect and reform but also the RSS.

Jaswant. Indeed. I have said so. The members of the RSS too have to
introspect. I don’t say it in any superior fashion. I’m not a superior
person. But if I left the army and I’m not a pensioner I gave it up
for the purpose of serving my country that I could best that I can. If
the BJP thinks that I am not good enough then fine. It’s their choice.
I accept it. I’m hurt. Truly. Yes. But I won’t question the decision.

Arnab: The BJP that you have been a part of so long, and also the BJP
which was in power under Mr. Vajpayee has had it’s tensions with the
RSS. But you also are aware that Mr Vajpayee held his ground. Many
people have seen your removal as an end of the Vajpayee era of the
BJP. Was that a right thing to do? And should the BJP be asking the
RSS for such active advice and involvement in restructuring the
affairs and improving whatever is wrong with the BJP?

Jaswant: You know seeking advice. I don’t think anything is wrong with
that. There is a linkage between the RSS and some members of the BJP
which is really umbilical because that is where members of the BJP
find their early grounding. Of thought, of behaviour. But, I am not an
RSS man. At the age of 15 I joined the academy to be a soldier. So if
there is anything that is deeply ingrained in me, which is not
unnatural, is of soldier in which sense those who have been with the
RSS, naturally go to each other and consult each other. I am not of
that ink. So in that sense I am an outsider and I don’t know whether
it is proper for them to consult each other. I don’t think it’s
improper. But to be dependent on it because the political organisation
called BJP is also the core of the NDA. Within the BJP set up, a large
number of members are thought to have affiliations with the RSS. Even
the RSS wants to guide the BJP on a more involved manner and that’s
their decision.

Arnab: I must ask you this again, when you say BJP could be
overpowered by extremists in the near future, who are you talking
about?

I don’t think I used the phrase extremists. Ill have to go back to
Delhi. When I go back to Delhi, I will get that letter out. It was a
letter written in Hindi. I am not avoiding the question.

Arnab: Was your worry the RSS?

Jaswant: No. I have only talked about selfishness within the party and
talked certainly about Hindutva that we need a much greater, clearer
definition of it because we have been unable to explain this to
people. I’ll send that letter to you. I didn’t used the word

Arnab: You did not leak that letter you said today. You didn’t even
show that letter to your family. So, was the letter leaked by the
person to whom you sent it?

Jaswant: I don’t want to speculate on that. It wasn’t send to anybody.
I gave it y hand to the members of the core group. Then it was all
withdrawn and I was told it will be discussed in the Chintan baithak.
The issue that you have raised. Well the first thing that happened in
the Chintan Baithak was that I have been told good bye. I don’t know
what has been discussed. Please don’t ask me about that now.

Arnab: Does it disappoint you Mr. Jaswant Singh, but everyone you
worked with so closely, Sushama Swaraj, Arun Jaitely, Narendra Modi,
Naidu, Rajnath Singh, Advani, every one sat together in that room
today and not one person stood fior you. In fact some people said that
if you don’t remove Jaswant Singh then you will end up compromising
the party and disappoint us.

Jaswant: Well, I don’t know how to react. There must be something
wrong with me. If all of have them have collectively felt that by
writing a book on Jinnah I’m now heretical and something very wrong
will happen if I continue to be there, tehn Good luck to them, good
luck to the party that was mine.

Arnab: Mr. L K Advani clarified his position when he was in that
position but he moved out of that crisis. No show cause was given to
you but you still have that option.

Jaswant: But, how do I have an option when I have not asked him not
even told. I was not told why you are being expelled. I did say I wish
you would call me but I received no answer to that frankly.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.answers.com/topic/jinnah-muhammad-ali

Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Who2 Biography: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Political Figure

Born: 25 December 1876
Birthplace: Karachi, India (now Pakistan)
Died: 11 September 1948
Best Known As: Founder of Pakistan
Muhammad Ali Jinnah was a lawyer and politician who fought for the
cause of India's independence from Britain, then moved on to found a
Muslim state in Pakistan in 1947. Jinnah entered politics in India in
1905 and by 1917 his charisma and diplomacy had made him a national
leader and the most visible supporter of Hindu-Muslim unity. His
strong belief in gradual and peaceful change was in contrast to the
civil disobedience strategies of Mohandas Gandhi, and in the '20s
Jinnah broke from the Indian National Congress to focus on an
independent Muslim state. In 1940 he demanded a separate nation in
Pakistan and by 1947 he somehow managed to get it from the British and
India. Through civil wars, a rotten economy and millions of displaced
refugees, Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah ("great leader") pretty much built a
country from scratch.

Jinnah was played by Christopher Lee in the 1998 feature film Jinnah.

Political Biography: Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Top Home > Library > History, Politics & Society > Political
Biographies(b. Karachi, 25 Dec. 1876; d. 11 Sept. 1948) Pakistani;
Governor-General 1947 – 8 The eldest son of a hide merchant, Jinnah
was educated at the Sind Madrassa and Lincoln's Inn, London, where he
qualified as a barrister. The future founder of Pakistan was first
known as the ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity. Indeed Jinnah only
resigned from Congress in 1920 when he became disillusioned with the
violence and communal passions unleashed by Gandhi's Congress-Khilafat
civil disobedience campaigns. The division widened in 1928 when the
Nehru Report rejected Jinnah's "fourteen points" constitutional
proposals.

During 1921 – 35, Jinnah's political career was in the doldrums. He
returned to India in October 1935 after a five-year British exile to
reorganize the Muslim League. It nevertheless lost heavily in the 1937
provincial elections. The Congress ministries' insensitivity to Muslim
demands rescued it from oblivion, although Jinnah's leadership was
equally crucial to its dramatic transformation. From 1940 onwards, he
propounded the two-nation theory justification for Pakistan and
increasingly embodied the aspirations of the Indian Muslim community
which acclaimed him as the Quaid-i-Azam, the great leader. Within the
fractious politics of the Muslim League, he exerted an unquestioned
moral authority which underpinned his formal power as President.
Simultaneously he deployed his forensic skills in the complex
constitutional negotiations with the British and the Congress.

Jinnah's successful claim to be the sole spokesman of Muslim India at
the July 1945 Simla conference greatly strengthened the Pakistan
demand. During 1946 – 7, however, he suffered a series of reversals as
the Muslim League lost its wartime bargaining power. He had to abandon
his strictly constitutional approach to politics, but the resulting
communal riots threatened civil war. Agreement for Partition was
finally reached on 3 June 1947: the Pakistan which emerged was not of
the full six Muslim provinces of Jinnah's dreams, but a moth-eaten
country shorn of West Bengal and East Punjab. Mass migrations and
massacres accompanied the Punjab's partition. The refugee crisis
increased Pakistan's formidable security and administrative problems.

Jinnah, who was both Pakistan's Governor-General and Constituent
Assembly President, assumed much of the burden for laying the state's
foundations. He was by now 70 and appeared frailer and more emaciated
than ever. It remains doubtful however whether if he had lived longer
than September 1948, Pakistan could have avoided its growing crisis of
governability.

Jinnah is still revered as Pakistan's founding father. Islamists
improbably and secularists more soundly have attempted to claim his
mantle. Recent revisionist scholarship, however, has speculated that
Partition was the unintended consequence of his trumpeting the
Pakistan demand as a bargaining counter for power in a united India.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948) was the first governor general of
Pakistan. His great achievement was the organizing of Indian Moslems
to demand a separate state, which culminated in the creation of
Pakistan, the world's largest Islamic state.

Mohammad Ali Jinnah was born in Karachi, probably on Dec. 25, 1876,
although the day is uncertain. His family were merchants and members
of the Khoja sect of Moslems. He went to England in 1892 to study law,
and after his return in 1896 he practiced in Bombay. He joined the
Indian National Congress, giving his support to the moderate faction
led by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, whom he greatly admired. Jinnah was also
a member of the Moslem League, and he worked for greater Hindu-Moslem
unity. He broke with the Congress in 1920 with the advent to
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, whose methods he deplored as
unconstitutional and as based on an appeal to the mob. Jinnah's
attempts to work with the Moslem League were so frustrating, however,
that he concluded its leaders were either "flunkeys of the British or
camp followers of the Congress" and went to England in 1931 to take up
a law practice there.

In 1934 Jinnah was persuaded to return to India by the changes brought
about in the political situation by the proposals for the new
constitution, which resulted in the India Act of 1935. Convinced that
Moslems would become second-rate citizens in a political society
dominated by the votes of the Hindu majority, he succeeded in
revitalizing the Moslem League as an effective political organization
after the elections in 1937, in which the Indian National Congress had
won large majorities.

Jinnah's success was particularly striking as he had few of the
characteristics of a popular politician. A friend described him as
"tall and stately, formal and fastidious, aloof and imperious of
manner," and he had few personal friends. His first wife, a child
bride, had died when he was a student, and his second wife, who was a
Parsi and half his age, separated from him in 1928. She died in 1929.
His only close personal contacts after this seem to have been his
daughter and later his sister, Fatima.

Jinnah's energy, integrity, and relentless logic made him the
spokesman of Indian Moslems, earning him the title Quaid-i-Azam,
"supreme leader." By 1945, when Indian independence was imminent,
neither the British government nor the Indian National Congress could
find a political solution for India without Jinnah's agreement. His
insistence that Hindus and Moslems constituted two separate nations
became the central fact of all discussions, and the partition of India
on Aug. 15, 1947, into India and Pakistan was the fruit of his
argument that Moslems must have their own homeland.

Jinnah was the first governor general of Pakistan, and while the
office in other parts of the British Commonwealth was ceremonial, his
enormous popularity and skill made his authority virtually absolute.
He tackled the many problems facing the new nation with zeal, but he
was already worn out by the long struggles. He died on Sept. 11, 1948,
leaving to his successors the task of consolidating the nation he had
done so much to create.

Further Reading

Jinnah's views are in Jamil-ud-Din Ahmad, ed., Speeches and Writings
of Mr. Jinnah (2 vols., 6th ed. 1960-1964), and S. S. Pirzada, ed.,
Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah's Correspondence (2d rev. ed. 1966). Hector
Bolitho, Jinnah: Creator of Pakistan (1954), provides biographical
details. Jinnah's political role is examined in Khalid B. Sayeed,
Pakistan: The Formative Phase, 1857-1948 (2d ed. 1968).

Additional Sources

Wolpert, Stanley A., Jinnah of Pakistan, New York: Oxford University
Press, 1984.

(click to enlarge)

Mohammed Ali Jinnah. (credit: Courtesy of the Pakistan Embassy,
Washington, D.C.)(born Dec. 25, 1876, Karachi, India — died Sept. 11,
1948, Karachi, Pak.) Indian Muslim politician, founder and first
governor-general of Pakistan (1947 – 48). He was educated in Bombay
(now Mumbai) and London, where he became a lawyer at age 19. After
returning to India, he practiced law and was elected to India's
Imperial Legislative Council in 1910. Committed to home rule for India
and to maintaining Hindu-Muslim unity, he joined the Muslim League in
1913 and worked to ensure its collaboration with the Indian National
Congress. He was opposed to Mohandas K. Gandhi's noncooperation
movement and withdrew from the Congress. In the late 1920s and early
'30s, he was seen as too moderate by some Muslims but too Muslim by
the Congress Party. From 1937, when the Congress Party refused to form
coalition governments with the Muslim League in the provinces, Jinnah
began to work for the partitioning of India and on creating a Muslim
state. Pakistan emerged as an independent country in 1947, and Jinnah
became its first head of state. He died in 1948, revered as the father
of the nation.
For more information on Mohammed Ali Jinnah, visit Britannica.com.

British History: Mohammed Ali Jinnah

Jinnah, Mohammed Ali (1876-1948). Jinnah, ‘the father of Pakistan’,
was born in Karachi and trained as a barrister. Initially, he was
sympathetic to the Indian National Congress and did not join the
Muslim League until 1913. He helped to organize the Lucknow pact
(1916) and the Khilafat movement (1919-22), by which the Muslim League
ran campaigns of anti-British resistance parallel to those of the
Congress. However, he became suspicious that, especially under
Gandhi's leadership, Congress was being taken over by a narrow Hindu
nationalism. In 1934 he became president of the Muslim League and
chaired its 1940 conference at Lahore when the demand for a separate
Pakistan state was first made. In the 1946-7 negotiations, he
stubbornly resisted proposals that India should be granted
independence as a unitary nation state. Pakistan proclaimed its
independence on 15 August 1947 with Jinnah as its first governor-
general.

Columbia Encyclopedia: Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Jinnah, Muhammad Ali (məhäm'əd älē' jĭn'ə) , 1876–1948, founder of
Pakistan, b. Karachi. After his admission to the bar in England, he
returned to India to practice law. Early in his career he was a
fervent supporter of the Indian National Congress and an advocate of
Hindu-Muslim unity. Jinnah was a member of the legislative council of
the viceroy from 1910 to 1919. He joined the Muslim League in 1913 and
was elected its president in 1916 and 1920. He played a major role in
negotiating the so-called Lucknow Pact (1916) between the League and
the Congress, in which the latter conceded that Muslims should have a
separate communal electorate to ensure them adequate legislative
representation. Hindu-Muslim cooperation soon broke down, however, and
the Congress reversed this position. Finally totally disillusioned
with the Congress, Jinnah resigned from in 1930. From 1934 until his
death he headed the Muslim League and guided its struggle for an
independent Pakistan, a state that would include the predominantly
Muslim areas of India. His support of the British during World War II
increased his influence. Jinnah's claim that the Muslim League
represented the Muslims of India was substantiated in 1946, when in
the elections for the Indian constituent assembly, the League won all
the seats assigned to the Muslim electorate. Jinnah's firm stand and
widespread Hindu-Muslim riots forced the Congress to accept
establishment of the separate state of Pakistan, and in Aug., 1947,
India was partitioned. Jinnah was appointed the first governor-general
of the dominion of Pakistan and, although dying of tuberculosis, was
elected president of its constituent assembly.
Bibliography

See H. Bolitho, Jinnah (1954); A. S. Ahmed, Jinnah, Pakistan, and
Islamic Identity (1997); A. von Tunzelmann, Indian Summer: The Secret
History of the End of an Empire (2007).

Mideast & N. Africa Encyclopedia: Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Founder and first governor-general of Pakistan.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah was born in Karachi in 1876 and died in the same
city in 1948, while serving as governor-general of Pakistan.
Originally, Jinnah had stood for a united India, but when Muhammad
Iqbal, the poet-philosopher, articulated the two-nation theory in
1930, Jinnah adopted the theory as his own political ideology. He
helped to achieve the foundation of the state of Pakistan in 1947
through negotiations with the All-India National Congress and the
British government.

Jinnah went to London in 1893, studied law at Lincoln's Inn, and
qualified as a barrister (attorney) on 11 May 1896. He settled in
Bombay, India, actively practicing law through the 1930s. His
political career can be divided into phases. In the first phase, from
1906 to 1937, Jinnah was a member of the National Congress and called
himself "an Indian first, and a Muslim afterwards." He was opposed
initially to the Muslim demand for separate electorates, but in 1926
he shifted his support to the principle of separate electorates that
guaranteed fixed proportional representation for Hindus and Muslims in
legislatures. Despite this shift, Jinnah asserted that Muslims' rights
and interests would be protected in a united India. In the second
phase, from 1937 to 1947, Jinnah's position reversed completely. His
dissatisfaction started with Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi's position at
the London Roundtable Conference (1939) and spread to frustration with
the Muslim League, the British government's communal award based on
the principle of separate electorates, the ultimatum to the Muslim
League to merge with the National Congress in order to participate in
provincial governments in 1937, and the suggestion of majority rule to
the neglect of the Muslims, which probably convinced Jinnah that the
National Congress was determined to establish majority Hindu rule in a
united India.

In the second phase of his career Jinnah endeavored to create a
separate Pakistani state with the approval of the British and the
National Congress. In March 1942 at Lahore the Muslim League adopted
the Pakistan Resolution, which demanded the partitioning of India into
two states. In February 1942 the British government sent to India a
prominent minister, Sir Stafford Cripps, to secure the cooperation of
the Indian leaders for the defense of India. Muslims were assured that
"dissident provinces" would be free to leave an independent and united
India. Cripps's mission failed, but Jinnah saw Pakistan in Cripps's
proposals.

In May 1946 the British sent the cabinet mission to India to negotiate
a constitutional formula for the transfer of power to India. The
cabinet mission plan divided India into three zones: Hindu majority
provinces (present-day India); Muslim provinces in the Northwest
(Pakistan); and Bengal and Assam, where Muslims would have a slim
majority. Provinces could opt out of the plan to form a new federation
after ten years. Jinnah accepted the proposal, and so did the
congress. When the congress president publicly expressed reservations
in implementing the plan, Jinnah rejected the plan, making the state
of Pakistan a reality on 14 August 1947.

Bibliography

Malik, Hafeez. Muslim Nationalism in India and Pakistan. Washington,
DC: Public Affairs Press, 1963.

Mujahid, Sharif al-. Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah: Studies in Interpretation.
Karachi: Quaid-i-Azam Academy, 1981.

Wolpert, Stanley. Jinnah of Pakistan. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1984.

— HAFEEZ MALIK

Wikipedia: Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Top Home > Library > Miscellaneous > WikipediaQuaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah
محمد علی جناح

1st Governor-General of Pakistan
In office
August 15, 1947 – September 11, 1948
Monarch George VI
Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan
Preceded by None; Office created
Earl Mountbatten of Burma (as Viceroy of India)
Succeeded by Sir Khwaja Nazimuddin

Born December 25, 1876 (1876-12-25)
Karachi, Bombay Presidency, British India
Died September 11, 1948 (1948-09-12) (aged 71)
Karachi, Dominion of Pakistan
Political party Indian National Congress (1896-1913)
Muslim League (1913-1948)
Spouse(s) Emibai Jinnah
Maryam Jinnah
Children Dina Jinnah
Profession Lawyer, Statesman
Religion Shia Islam[1][2][3]

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Urdu: Hi-Muhammed_Ali_Jinnah.ogg (help·info)
(Urdu: محمد علی جناح) (December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948), a 20th
century politician and statesman, is generally regarded as the founder
of Pakistan. He served as leader of The Muslim League and Pakistan's
first Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-
Azam (Urdu: قائد اعظم — "Great Leader") and Baba-e-Qaum (بابائے قوم)
("Father of the Nation"). His birthday is a national holiday in
Pakistan.

Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress expounding
ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916 Lucknow Pact
between the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress; he also
became a key leader in the All India Home Rule League. He proposed a
fourteen-point constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political
rights of Muslims in a self-governing India.

Jinnah embraced the goal of creating a separate state for Muslims as
per the Lahore Resolution. The League won most Muslim seats in the
elections of 1946, and Jinnah launched the Direct Action campaign
movement to achieve independence of Pakistan. The strong reaction of
Congress supporters resulted in communal violence from supporters of
both groups across South Asia. The failure of the Congress-League
coalition to govern the country prompted both parties and the British
to agree to independence of Pakistan and India. As the Governor-
General of Pakistan, Jinnah led efforts to rehabilitate millions of
refugees, and to frame national policies on foreign affairs, security
and economic development.

Early life Jinnah in his youth, in traditional dress.Jinnah was born
Mahomedali Jinnahbhai [4] in, some believe, Wazir Mansion,[5] Karachi
District, of lower Sindh. However, this is disputed as old textbooks
mention Jhirk as his place of birth. Sindh had earlier been conquered
by the British and was subsequently grouped with other conquered
territories for administrative reasons to form the Bombay Presidency
of British India. Although his earliest school records state that he
was born on October 20, 1875, Sarojini Naidu, the author of Jinnah's
first biography, gives the date as ”December 25, 1876”. The latter
date is now officially accepted as his birthday.

Jinnah was the eldest of seven children born to Mithibai and
Jinnahbhai Poonja. His father, Jinnahbhai (1857–1901), was a
prosperous Gujarati merchant who had moved to Sindh from Kathiawar,
Gujarat before Jinnah's birth.[5][6] His grandfather was Poonja
Gokuldas Meghji,[7] a Hindu Lohana of the Bhatia caste from Paneli
village in Gondal state in Kathiawar. Jinnah's ancestors were Hindu
Rajput that converted to Islam.[6] Jinnah's family belonged to the
Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam, though Jinnah later converted to
Twelver Shi'a Islam.[3]

The first born Jinnah was soon joined by six siblings, brothers Ahmad
Ali, Bunde Ali, and Rahmat Ali, and sisters Maryam, Fatima and
Shireen. Their mother tongue was Gujarati, however, in time they also
came to speak Kutchi, Sindhi and English.[8] The proper Muslim names
of Mr. Jinnah and his siblings, unlike those of his father and
grandfather, are the consequence of the family's immigration to the
Muslim state of Sindh.

Jinnah was a restless student, he studied at several schools: at the
Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in Karachi; briefly at the Gokal Das Tej
Primary School in Bombay; and finally at the Christian Missionary
Society High School in Karachi,[4] where, at age sixteen, he passed
the matriculation examination of the University of Bombay.[9]

In 1892, Jinnah was offered an apprenticeship at the London office of
Graham's Shipping and Trading Company, a business that had extensive
dealings with Jinnahbhai Poonja's firm in Karachi.[4] However, before
he left for England, at his mother's urging he married his distant
cousin, Emibai Jinnah, who was two years his junior.[4] The marriage
was not to last long as Emibai died a few months later. During his
sojourn in England, his mother too would pass away.[6] In London,
Jinnah soon left the apprenticeship to study law instead, by joining
Lincoln's Inn. The welcome board of the Lincoln's Inn had the names of
the world's all time top ten magistrates. This list was led by the
name of Muhammad, which was the sole reason of Jinnah's joining of
Lincoln's Inn. In three years, at age 19, he became the youngest South
Asian to be called to the bar in England.[6]

Jinnah House in Mumbai, India.During his student years in England,
Jinnah came under the spell of nineteenth-century British liberalism,
much like many other future Indian independence leaders. This
education included exposure to the idea of the democratic nation and
progressive politics. He admired William Gladstone and John Morley,
British Liberal statesmen. An admirer of the Indian political leaders
Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir Pherozeshah Mehta,[10] he worked, with other
Indian students, on the former's successful campaign for to become the
first Indian to hold a seat in the British Parliament. By now, Jinnah
had developed largely constitutionalist views on Indian self-
government, and he condemned both the arrogance of British officials
in India and the discrimination practiced by them against Indians.
This idea of a nation legitimized by democratic principles and
cultural commonalities, however, was antithetical to the genuine
diversity that had generally characterized the subcontinent. As an
important Indian intellectual and political authority, Jinnah would
find his commitment to the Western ideal of the nation-state,
developed during his English education, and the obstacle that was the
reality of heterogeneous Indian society to be difficult to reconcile
during his later political career.

The Western world not only inspired Jinnah in his political life.
England had greatly influenced his personal preferences, particularly
when it came to dress. Jinnah donned Western style clothing and he
pursued the fashion with fervor. It is said he owned over 200 hand-
tailored suits which he wore with heavily starched shirts with
detachable collars. It is also alleged that he never wore the same
silk tie twice.[11]

During the final period of his stay in England, Jinnah came under
considerable pressure to return home when his father's business was
ruined. Settling in Bombay, he became a successful lawyer—gaining
particular fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case".[10]
Jinnah built a house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. His
reputation as a skilled lawyer prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar
Tilak to hire him as defence counsel for his sedition trial in 1905.
Jinnah argued that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom
and self-government in his own country, but Tilak received a rigorous
term of imprisonment test.[10]

When he returned to India his faith in liberalism and evolutionary
politics was confirmed through his close association with three Indian
National Congress stalwarts Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Pherozeshah Mehta
and Surendranath Banerjee. These people had an important influence in
his early life in England and they would influence his later
involvement in Indian politics.[12]

Early political career Muhammad Ali Jinnah, as a young lawyer.In 1896,
Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress, which was the largest
Indian political organisation. Like most of the Congress at the time,
Jinnah did not favour outright independence, considering British
influences on education, law, culture and industry as beneficial to
India. Jinnah became a member on the sixty-member Imperial Legislative
Council. The council had no real power or authority, and included a
large number of un-elected pro-Raj loyalists and Europeans.
Nevertheless, Jinnah was instrumental in the passing of the Child
Marriages Restraint Act, the legitimization of the Muslim waqf
(religious endowments) and was appointed to the Sandhurst committee,
which helped establish the Indian Military Academy at Dehra Dun.[5]
[13] During World War I, Jinnah joined other Indian moderates in
supporting the British war effort, hoping that Indians would be
rewarded with political freedoms.

Jinnah had initially avoided joining the All India Muslim League,
founded in 1906, regarding it as too Muslim oriented. However he
decided to provide leadership to the Muslim minority. Eventually, he
joined the league in 1913 and became the president at the 1916 session
in Lucknow. Jinnah was the architect of the 1916 Lucknow Pact between
the Congress and the League, bringing them together on most issues
regarding self-government and presenting a united front to the
British. Jinnah also played an important role in the founding of the
All India Home Rule League in 1916. Along with political leaders Annie
Besant and Tilak, Jinnah demanded "home rule" for India—the status of
a self-governing dominion in the Empire similar to Canada, New Zealand
and Australia. He headed the League's Bombay Presidency chapter.

In 1918, Jinnah married his second wife Rattanbai Petit ("Ruttie"),
twenty-four years his junior. She was the fashionable young daughter
of his personal friend Sir Dinshaw Petit, of an elite Parsi family of
Mumbai. Unexpectedly there was great opposition to the marriage from
Rattanbai's family and Parsi society, as well as orthodox Muslim
leaders. Rattanbai defied her family and nominally converted to Islam,
adopting (though never using) the name Maryam Jinnah, resulting in a
permanent estrangement from her family and Parsi society. The couple
resided in Mumbai, and frequently travelled across India and Europe.
In 1919 she bore Jinnah his only child, daughter Dina Jinnah.

In 1924 Jinnah reorganized the Muslim League, of which he had been
president since 1919, and devoted the next seven years attempting to
bring about unity among the disparate ranks of Muslims and to develop
a rational formula to effect a Hindu Muslim settlement, which he
considered the pre condition for Indian freedom. He attended several
unity conferences, wrote the Delhi Muslim Proposals in 1927, pleaded
for the incorporation of the basic Muslim demands in the Nehru report,
and formulated the “Fourteen Points” [14]

Fourteen points

Jinnah broke with the Congress in 1920 when the Congress leader,
Mohandas Gandhi, launched a law violating Non-Cooperation Movement
against the British, which a temperamentally law abiding barrister
Jinnah disapproved of. Unlike most Congress leaders, Gandhi did not
wear western-style clothes, did his best to use an Indian language
instead of English, and was deeply rooted to Indian culture. Gandhi's
local style of leadership gained great popularity with the Indian
people. Jinnah criticised Gandhi's support of the Khilafat Movement,
which he saw as an endorsement of religious zealotry.[15] By 1920,
Jinnah resigned from the Congress, with a prophetic warning that
Gandhi's method of mass struggle would lead to divisions between
Hindus and Muslims and within the two communities.[13] Becoming
president of the Muslim League, Jinnah was drawn into a conflict
between a pro-Congress faction and a pro-British faction.

In September 1923, Jinnah was elected as Muslim member for Bombay in
the new Central Legislative Assembly. He showed great gifts as a
parliamentarian, organized many Indian members to work with the Swaraj
Party, and continued to press demands for full responsible government.
He was so active on a wide range of subjects that in 1925 he was
offered a knighthood by Lord Reading when he retired as Viceroy and
Governor General. Jinnah replied: "I prefer to be plain Mr. Jinnah".
[16]

In 1927, Jinnah entered negotiations with Muslim and Hindu leaders on
the issue of a future constitution, during the struggle against the
all-British Simon Commission. The League wanted separate electorates
while the Nehru Report favoured joint electorates. Jinnah personally
opposed separate electorates, but then drafted compromises and put
forth demands that he thought would satisfy both. These became known
as the 14 points of Mr. Jinnah.[17] However, they were rejected by the
Congress and other political parties.

Jinnah's personal life and especially his marriage suffered during
this period due to his political work. Although they worked to save
their marriage by travelling together to Europe when he was appointed
to the Sandhurst committee, the couple separated in 1927. Jinnah was
deeply saddened when Rattanbai died in 1929, after a serious illness.

At the Round Table Conferences in London, Jinnah was disillusioned by
the breakdown of talks.[18] After the failure of the Round Table
Conferences, Jinnah returned to London for a few years. In 1936, he
returned to India to re-organize Muslim League and contest the
elections held under the provisions of the Act of 1935.[19]

Jinnah would receive personal care and support as he became more ill
during this time from his sister Fatima Jinnah. She lived and
travelled with him, as well as becoming a close advisor.[20] She
helped raise his daughter, who was educated in England and India.
Jinnah later became estranged from his daughter, Dina Jinnah, after
she decided to marry Parsi-born Christian businessman, Neville Wadia
(even though he had faced the same issues when he married Rattanbai in
1918). Jinnah continued to correspond cordially with his daughter, but
their personal relationship was strained. Dina continued to live in
India with her family.

Leader of the Muslim League Jinnah with his sister (left) and daughter
Dina (right) in BombayProminent Muslim leaders like the The Aga Khan,
Choudhary Rahmat Ali and Sir Muhammad Iqbal made efforts to convince
Jinnah to return from London (Where he had moved to in 1931 and
planned on permanently relocating in order to practice in the Privy
Council Bar.[21]) to India and take charge of a now-reunited Muslim
League. In 1934 Jinnah returned and began to re-organise the party,
being closely assisted by Liaquat Ali Khan, who would act as his right-
hand man. In the 1937 elections to the Central Legislative Assembly,
the League emerged as a competent party, capturing a significant
number of seats under the Muslim electorate, but lost in the Muslim-
majority Punjab, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province.[22]
Jinnah offered an alliance with the Congress - both bodies would face
the British together, but the Congress had to share power, accept
separate electorates and the League as the representative of India's
Muslims. The latter two terms were unacceptable to the Congress, which
had its own national Muslim leaders and membership and adhered to
secularism. Even as Jinnah held talks with Congress president Rajendra
Prasad,[23] Congress leaders suspected that Jinnah would use his
position as a lever for exaggerated demands and obstruct government,
and demanded that the League merge with the Congress.[24] The talks
failed, and while Jinnah declared the resignation of all Congressmen
from provincial and central offices in 1938 as a "Day of Deliverance"
from Hindu domination,[25] some historians assert that he remained
hopeful for an agreement.[23]

Jinnah delivering a political speech.In a speech to the League in
1930, Sir Muhammad Iqbal mooted an independent state for Muslims in
"northwest India." Choudhary Rahmat Ali published a pamphlet in 1933
advocating a state called "Pakistan". Following the failure to work
with the Congress, Jinnah, who had embraced separate electorates and
the exclusive right of the League to represent Muslims, was converted
to the idea that Muslims needed a separate state to protect their
rights. Jinnah came to believe that Muslims and Hindus were distinct
nations, with unbridgeable differences—a view later known as the Two
Nation Theory.[26] Jinnah declared that a united India would lead to
the marginalization of Muslims, and eventually civil war between
Hindus and Muslims. This change of view may have occurred through his
correspondence with Iqbal, who was close to Jinnah.[27] In the session
in Lahore in 1940, the Pakistan resolution was adopted as the main
goal of the party. The resolution was rejected outright by the
Congress, and criticised by many Muslim leaders like Maulana Abul
Kalam Azad, Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Syed Ab'ul Ala Maududi and the
Jamaat-e-Islami. On July 26, 1943, Jinnah was stabbed and wounded by a
member of the extremist Khaksars in an attempted assassination.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah founded Dawn in 1941, a major newspaper that
helped him propagate the League's point of views. During the mission
of British minister Stafford Cripps, Jinnah demanded parity between
the number of Congress and League ministers, the League's exclusive
right to appoint Muslims and a right for Muslim-majority provinces to
secede, leading to the breakdown of talks. Jinnah supported the
British effort in World War II, and opposed the Quit India movement.
During this period, the League formed provincial governments and
entered the central government. The League's influence increased in
the Punjab after the death of Unionist leader Sikander Hyat Khan in
1942. Gandhi held talks fourteen times with Jinnah in Bombay in 1944,
about a united front—while talks failed, Gandhi's overtures to Jinnah
increased the latter's standing with Muslims.[28]

Founding Pakistan A letter by Jinnah to Winston ChurchillIn the 1946
elections for the Constituent Assembly of India, the Congress won most
of the elected seats, while the League won a large majority of Muslim
electorate seats. The 1946 British Cabinet Mission to India released a
plan on May 16, calling for a united Indian state comprising
considerably autonomous provinces, and called for "groups" of
provinces formed on the basis of religion. A second plan released on
June 16, called for the separation of South Asia along religious
lines, with princely states to choose between accession to the
dominion of their choice or independence. The Congress, fearing
India's fragmentation, criticised the May 16 proposal and rejected the
June 16 plan. Jinnah gave the League's assent to both plans, knowing
that power would go only to the party that had supported a plan. After
much debate and against Gandhi's advice that both plans were divisive,
the Congress accepted the May 16 plan while condemning the grouping
principle.[citation needed] Jinnah decried this acceptance as
"dishonesty", accused the British negotiators of "treachery",[29] and
withdrew the League's approval of both plans. The League boycotted the
assembly, leaving the Congress in charge of the government but denying
it legitimacy in the eyes of many Muslims.

Jinnah gave a precise definition of the term 'Pakistan' in 1941 at
Lahore in which he stated:

Some confusion prevails in the minds of some individuals in regard to
the use of the work 'Pakistan'. This word has become synonymous with
the Lahore resolution owing to the fact that it is a convenient and
compendious method of describing [it].... For this reason the British
and Indian newspapers generally have adopted the word 'Pakistan' to
describe the Moslem demand as embodied in the Lahore resolution.[30]

Jinnah issued a call for all Muslims to launch "Direct Action" on
August 16 to "achieve Pakistan".[31] Strikes and protests were
planned, but violence broke out all over South Asia, especially in
Calcutta and the district of Noakhali in Bengal, and more than 7,000
people were killed in Bihar. Although viceroy Lord Wavell asserted
that there was "no satisfactory evidence to that effect",[32] League
politicians were blamed by the Congress and the media for
orchestrating the violence.[33] Interim Government portfolios were
announced on October 25, 1946.[34] Muslim Leaguers were sworn in on
October 26, 1946.[35] The League entered the interim government, but
Jinnah refrained from accepting office for himself. This was credited
as a major victory for Jinnah, as the League entered government having
rejected both plans, and was allowed to appoint an equal number of
ministers despite being the minority party. The coalition was unable
to work, resulting in a rising feeling within the Congress that
independence of Pakistan was the only way of avoiding political chaos
and possible civil war. The Congress agreed to the division of Punjab
and Bengal along religious lines in late 1946. The new viceroy Lord
Mountbatten of Burma and Indian civil servant V. P. Menon proposed a
plan that would create a Muslim dominion in West Punjab, East Bengal,
Baluchistan and Sindh. After heated and emotional debate, the Congress
approved the plan.[36] The North-West Frontier Province voted to join
Pakistan in a referendum in July 1947. Jinnah asserted in a speech in
Lahore on October 30, 1947 that the League had accepted independence
of Pakistan because "the consequences of any other alternative would
have been too disastrous to imagine." [37]

The independent state of Pakistan, created on August 14, 1947,
represented the outcome of a campaign on the part of the Indian Muslim
community for a Muslim homeland which had been triggered by the
British decision to consider transferring power to the people of India.
[38]

Views on statehood This article is missing citations or needs
footnotes. Please help add inline citations to guard against copyright
violations and factual inaccuracies. (March 2009)
Will of QuaidA controversy has raged in Pakistan about whether Jinnah
wanted Pakistan to be a secular state or an Islamic state. His views
as expressed in his policy speech on 11 August 1947 said:

There is no other solution. Now what shall we do? Now, if we want to
make this great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should
wholly and solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and
especially of the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-
operation, forgetting the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to
succeed. If you change your past and work together in a spirit that
everyone of you, no matter to what community he belongs, no matter
what relations he had with you in the past, no matter what is his
colour, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of this
State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be no
end to the progress you will make. I cannot emphasize it too much. We
should begin to work in that spirit and in course of time all these
angularities of the majority and minority communities, the Hindu
community and the Muslim community, because even as regards Muslims
you have Pathans, Punjabis, Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the
Hindus you have Brahmins, Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis
and so on, will vanish. Indeed if you ask me, this has been the
biggest hindrance in the way of India to attain the freedom and
independence and but for this we would have been free people long long
ago. No power can hold another nation, and specially a nation of 400
million souls in subjection; nobody could have conquered you, and even
if it had happened, nobody could have continued its hold on you for
any length of time, but for this. Therefore, we must learn a lesson
from this. You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you are
free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this
State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed
that has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know,
history shows that in England, conditions, some time ago, were much
worse than those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and
the Protestants persecuted each other. Even now there are some States
in existence where there are discriminations made and bars imposed
against a particular class. Thank God, we are not starting in those
days. We are starting in the days where there is no discrimination, no
distinction between one community and another, no discrimination
between one caste or creed and another. We are starting with this
fundamental principle that we are all citizens and equal citizens of
one State. The people of England in course of time had to face the
realities of the situation and had to discharge the responsibilities
and burdens placed upon them by the government of their country and
they went through that fire step by step. Today, you might say with
justice that Roman Catholics and Protestants do not exist; what exists
now is that every man is a citizen, an equal citizen of Great Britain
and they are all members of the Nation. Now I think we should keep
that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in course of
time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be
Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal
faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of
the State. Jinnah, 11th August 1947 - presiding over the constituent
assembly.

While this was a clear indication that Jinnah wanted a secular state,
he did on occasion refer to Islam and Islamic principles.

Pakistan not only means freedom and independce but the Muslim Ideology
which has to be preserved, which has come to us as a precious gift and
treasure and which, we hope other will share with us[dubious –
discuss] Message to Frontier Muslim Students Federation June 18, 1945.

Furthermore he also pointed out on various occasions that the
country's constitution and its financial setup must be based on
Islamic principles.

The constitution of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the Pakistan
Constituent Assembly. I do not know what the ultimate shape of this
constitution is going to be, but I am sure that it will be of a
democratic type, embodying the essential principle of Islam. Today,
they are as applicable in actual life as they were 1,300 years ago.
Islam and its idealism have taught us democracy. It has taught
equality of man, justice and fairplay to everybody. We are the
inheritors of these glorious traditions and are fully alive to our
responsibilities and obligations as framers of the future constitution
of Pakistan. In any case Pakistan is not going to be a theocratic
State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We have many non-
Muslims --Hindus, Christians, and Parsis --but they are all
Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any
other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of
Pakistan. Broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America
on Pakistan recorded February, 1948.

It has been argued by many people that in this speech Jinnah wanted to
point out that Pakistan would be a secular state as mostly people
think that an Islamic state is a theocratic state. This perception,
however, is wrong and is misinterpreted; the reason is that a true
Islamic state is not a theocratic state, as rightly stated by Jinnah
in his speech. Because in a theocratic state the civil leader is
believed to have a direct personal connection with god, which is
contrary to the principles of an Islamic state.[dubious – discuss]

On the opening ceremony of the state bank of Pakistan Jinnah pointed
out that the financial setup of the state should be based on Islamic
economic system.

We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an
economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood
and social justice. We will thereby be fulfilling our mission as
Muslims and giving to humanity the message of peace which alone can
save it and secure the welfare, happiness and prosperity of mankind.
Speech at the opening ceremony of State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi July
1, 1948

It appears that Jinnah felt the state of Pakistan should stand upon
Islamic tradition in culture, civilization and national identity
rather than on the principles of Islam as a theocratic state.[39]

In 1937, Jinnah further defended his ideology of equality in his
speech to the All-India Muslim League in Lucknow where he stated,
"Settlement can only be achieved between equals."[40] He also had a
rebuttal to Nehru's statement which argued that the only two parties
that mattered in India were the British Raj and INC. Jinnah stated
that the Muslim League was the third and "equal partner" within Indian
politics.[41]

Governor-General Jinnah with Gandhi, 1944.Along with Liaquat Ali Khan
and Abdur Rab Nishtar, Muhammad Ali Jinnah represented the League in
the Division Council to appropriately divide public assets between
India and Pakistan.[42] The assembly members from the provinces that
would comprise Pakistan formed the new state's constituent assembly,
and the Military of British India was divided between Muslim and non-
Muslim units and officers. Indian leaders were angered at Jinnah's
courting the princes of Jodhpur, Bhopal and Indore to accede to
Pakistan - these princely states were not geographically aligned with
Pakistan, and each had a Hindu-majority population.[43]

Jinnah became the first Governor-General of Pakistan and president of
its constituent assembly. Inaugurating the assembly on August 11,
1947, Jinnah spoke of an inclusive and pluralist democracy promising
equal rights for all citizens regardless of religion, caste or creed.
This address is a cause of much debate in Pakistan as, on its basis,
many claim that Jinnah wanted a secular state while supporters of
Islamic Pakistan assert that this speech is being taken out of context
when compared to other speeches by him.

On October 11, 1947, in an address to Civil, Naval, Military and Air
Force Officers of Pakistan Government, Karachi, he said:

We should have a State in which we could live and breathe as free men
and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and
where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play.[44]
On February 21, 1948, in an address to the officers and men of the 5th
Heavy Ack Ack and 6th Light Ack Ack Regiments in Malir, Karachi, he
said:

You have to stand guard over the development and maintenance of
Islamic democracy, Islamic social justice and the equality of manhood
in your own native soil. With faith, discipline and selfless devotion
to duty, there is nothing worthwhile that you cannot achieve.[45]
The office of Governor-General was ceremonial, but Jinnah also assumed
the lead of government. The first months of Pakistan's independence
were absorbed in ending the intense violence that had arisen in the
wake of acrimony between Hindus and Muslims. Jinnah agreed with Indian
leaders to organise a swift and secure exchange of populations in the
Punjab and Bengal. He visited the border regions with Indian leaders
to calm people and encourage peace, and organised large-scale refugee
camps. Despite these efforts, estimates on the death toll vary from
around two hundred thousand, to over a million people.[citation
needed] The estimated number of refugees in both countries exceeds 15
million.[46] The then capital city of Karachi saw an explosive
increase in its population owing to the large encampments of refugees.
Jinnah was personally affected and depressed by the intense violence
of the period.[citation needed]

Jinnah authorised force to achieve the annexation of the princely
state of Kalat and suppress the insurgency in Baluchistan. He
controversially accepted the accession of Junagadh—a Hindu-majority
state with a Muslim ruler located in the Saurashtra peninsula, some
400 kilometres (250 mi) southeast of Pakistan—but this was annulled by
Indian intervention. It is unclear if Jinnah planned or knew of the
tribal invasion from Pakistan into the kingdom of Jammu and Kashmir in
October 1947, but he did send his private secretary Khurshid Ahmed to
observe developments in Kashmir. When informed of Kashmir's accession
to India, Jinnah deemed the accession illegitimate and ordered the
Pakistani army to enter Kashmir.[47] However, Gen. Auchinleck, the
supreme commander of all British officers informed Jinnah that while
India had the right to send troops to Kashmir, which had acceded to
it, Pakistan did not. If Jinnah persisted, Auchinleck would remove all
British officers from both sides. As Pakistan had a greater proportion
of Britons holding senior command, Jinnah cancelled his order, but
protested to the United Nations to intercede.[47]

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Owing to his role in the state's creation, Jinnah was the most popular
and influential politician. He played a pivotal role in protecting the
rights of minorities,[citation needed] establishing colleges, military
institutions and Pakistan's financial policy.[48] In his first visit
to East Pakistan, under the advice of local party leaders, Jinnah
stressed that Urdu alone should be the national language; a policy
that was strongly opposed by the Bengali people of East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh). This opposition grew after he controversially described
Bengali as the language of Hindus.[49][50][dubious – discuss] He also
worked for an agreement with India settling disputes regarding the
division of assets.[citation needed]

Death Tomb of M.A. Jinnah in Karachi, Pakistan The funeral of Jinnah
in 1948.Through the 1940s, Jinnah suffered from tuberculosis; only his
sister and a few others close to him were aware of his condition. In
1948, Jinnah's health began to falter, hindered further by the heavy
workload that had fallen upon him following Pakistan's independence
from British Rule. Attempting to recuperate, he spent many months at
his official retreat in Ziarat, but died on September 11, 1948 (just
over a year after independence) from a combination of tuberculosis and
lung cancer. His funeral was followed by the construction of a massive
mausoleum—Mazar-e-Quaid—in Karachi to honour him; official and
military ceremonies are hosted there on special occasions.

Funeral prayers were led by Allamah Shabbir Ahmad Usmani a renowned
mainstream Muslim (Sunni) scholar and attended by masses from all over
Pakistan, although this funeral was well on record and supported by
pictures as well, yet the Shia minority sources claim in their books
that "at Jinnah's request. Jinnah did have a private Namaz-e-Janaza at
Kharadar which was attended by close relatives and people from the
Shia community.[51]

Dina Wadia remained in India after independence, before ultimately
settling in New York City. Jinnah's grandson, Nusli Wadia, is a
prominent industrialist residing in Mumbai. In the 1963–1964
elections, Jinnah's sister Fatima Jinnah, known as Madar-e-Millat
("Mother of the Nation"), became the presidential candidate of a
coalition of political parties that opposed the rule of President Ayub
Khan, but lost the election.

The Jinnah House in Malabar Hill, Bombay, is in the possession of the
Government of India but the issue of its ownership has been disputed
by the Government of Pakistan.[52] Jinnah had personally requested
Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to preserve the house and that
one day he could return to Mumbai. There are proposals for the house
be offered to the Government of Pakistan to establish a consulate in
the city, as a goodwill gesture, but Dina Wadia has also laid claim to
the property.[52]

Legacy and criticism

‘Few individuals significantly alter the course of history. Fewer
still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited with
creating a nation-state. Mohammad Ali Jinnah did all three.’ - Stanley
Wolpert[53]

An Iranian stamp commemorating the centenary of Mohammad Ali Jinnah,
printed in 1976.In Pakistan, Jinnah is honoured with the official
title Quaid-e-Azam , and he is depicted on all Pakistani rupee notes
of denominations five and higher, and is the namesake of many
Pakistani public institutions. The former Quaid-e-Azam International
Airport, now called the Jinnah International Airport, in Karachi is
Pakistan's busiest. One of the largest streets in the Turkish capital
Ankara — Cinnah Caddesi —is named after him. In Iran, one of the
capital Tehran's most important new highways is also named after him,
while the government released a stamp commemorating the centennial of
Jinnah's birthday. In Chicago, a portion of Devon Avenue was named as
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah Way". The Mazar-e-Quaid, Jinnah's mausoleum, is
among Karachi's most imposing buildings.[citation needed] In media,
Jinnah was portrayed by British actors Richard Lintern (as the young
Jinnah) and Christopher Lee (as the elder Jinnah) in the 1998 film
Jinnah.[54] In Richard Attenborough's film Gandhi, Jinnah was
portrayed by Alyque Padamsee. In the 1986 televised mini-series Lord
Mountbatten: the Last Viceroy, Jinnah was played by Polish actor
Vladek Sheybal.

Some historians like H M Seervai and Ayesha Jalal assert that Jinnah
never wanted partition of India —it was the outcome of the Congress
leaders being unwilling to share power with the Muslim League. It is
asserted that Jinnah only used the Pakistan demand as a method to
mobilise support to obtain significant political rights for Muslims.
[55] Jinnah has gained the admiration of major Indian nationalist
politicians like Lal Krishna Advani—whose comments praising Jinnah
caused an uproar in his own Bharatiya Janata Party.[56] He has also
won praise from former External Affairs Minister of India, Jaswant
Singh, who said "I think we have misunderstood Jinnah because we
needed to create a demon. We needed a demon because in the 20th
century the most telling event in the subcontinent was the partition
of the country".[57]

Some critics allege that Jinnah's courting the princes of Hindu states
and his gambit with Junagadh is proof of ill intentions towards India,
as he was the proponent of the theory that Hindus and Muslims could
not live together, yet being interested in Hindu-majority states.[58]
In his book Patel: A Life, Rajmohan Gandhi asserts that Jinnah sought
to engage the question of Junagadh with an eye on Kashmir—he wanted
India to ask for a plebiscite in Junagadh, knowing thus that the
principle then would have to be applied to Kashmir, where the Muslim-
majority would, he believed, vote for Pakistan.[59]

Apart from cultural legacies, it seems that Mohammad Ali Jinnah left a
legacy as one of the most controversially portrayed figures in
contemporary Asian history. From a Hindu nationalist perspective,
Jinnah tends to be depicted as a cunning and relentless force that
compromised the unity of India to create Pakistan, for a range of
religious, cultural, political, and personal motives. Pakistanis tend
to view Jinnah as a revered founding father, a man that was dedicated
to safeguarding Muslim interests during independence movements in
India, whatever the cost.[60] Despite any of a range of biases, it
almost impossible to argue that, despite motive and manner, there is
any figure during the first half of the twentieth century that had
more of an influence on the formation of modern day Pakistan than
Jinnah.[61]

According to Akbar S. Ahmed, nearly every book about Jinnah outside
Pakistan mentions the fact that he drank alcohol. Several sources
indicate he gave up alcohol near the end of his life.[62]

See also[show]v • d • ePakistan Movement

History Honourable East India Company · Indian Rebellion of 1857 ·
Aligarh Movement · Urdu movement · Partition of Bengal · Lucknow Pact
· Khilafat Movement · Nehru Report · Fourteen Points of Jinnah ·
Allahabad Address · Now or Never pamphlet · Two-Nation Theory · Round
Table Conferences · Lahore Resolution · Indian Muslim nationalism ·
Cabinet Mission · Indian Independence Act · Radcliffe Line · Pakistan
· Objectives Resolution · Independence · Republic Day · Kashmir
Freedom Movement · Pakistani nationalism

Organisations Muslim League · Unionist Muslim League · All India
Muslim Students Federation · Khaksars

Leaders Syed Ahmed Khan · Muhammad Iqbal · Muhammad Ali Jinnah ·
Liaquat Ali Khan · Bahadur Yar Jung · Abdur Rab Nishtar · Fatima
Jinnah · Choudhary Rahmat Ali · Muhammad Ali Jouhar · Shaukat Ali ·
A.K. Fazlul Huq · Sikandar Hayat Khan · Zafar Ali Khan · Khawaja
Nazimuddin · Abdul Qayyum Khan · Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy · Begum
Ra'ana Liaquat Ali Khan · more

Activists Z.A. Suleri · Hameed Nizami · M.A. Zuberi · Altaf Husain ·
Yusuf Khattak · Shaukat Hayat Khan · Muhammad Asad · more

[show]v • d • eMuhammad Ali Jinnah

Pakistan Movement Fourteen Points of Jinnah · Ibrahim Ismail
Chundrigar · Fatima Jinnah · Lucknow Pact · 11th August Speech · Two-
Nation Theory

Personal life Fatima Jinnah · Shireen Jinnah · Emibai Jinnah · Maryam
Jinnah · Wazir Mansion · Jinnah House · Ziarat · Nusli Wadia · Dina
Wadia · Ness Wadia · Neville Wadia

Related topics My Brother · Bagh-e-Jinnah · Jinnah (film) · Cinnah
Caddesi · Mazar-e-Quaid · Quaid-i-Azam House · Secular and Nationalist
Jinnah · Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam · Quaid-i-Azam Academy · Jinnah's
People's Memorial Hall · Jinnah Cap · Governor General House · Quaid-
e-Azam Residency


Learning resources from Wikiversity^ Interview with Vali Nasr

^ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/muslim-law-doesnt-apply-to-jinnah-says-daughter/372877/
^ a b Vali Nasr The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will
Shape the Future (W. W. Norton, 2006), pp. 88-90 ISBN 0-3933-2968-2
^ a b c d Official website, Government of Pakistan. "Early Days: Birth
and Schooling". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/life_quaid01.htm.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ a b c Timeline: Personalities, Story of Pakistan. "Muhammad Ali
Jinnah (1876–1948)". http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P009.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ a b c d Ahmed, Akbar S. 1997. Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity:
The Search for Saladin. London: Routledge. 320 pages. ISBN 0415149665.
page 3.
^ India's Partition: The Story Of Imperialism In Retreat By D. N.
Panigrahi, 2004; Routledge, p. 16
^ Fatimah Jinnah, My Brother, pp. 48–49
^ Jinnah, Mohammed Ali. (2007). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved
March 2, 2007, from : Encyclopædia Britannica Online
^ a b c Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Lawyer: Bombay
(1896–1910)". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/lawyer3.htm. Retrieved
2006-04-20.
^ Almeida, Prakash. Jinnah: Man of destiny. Gyan Books, 2001.
8178350165
^ Encyclopedia of Asian History, Ainslie T. Embree 224
^ a b Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Statesman:
Jinnah's differences with the Congress". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/politician7.htm.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ Robinson Francis, The Cambridge Encyclopidia of India, 205
^ Ayesha Jalal, The Sole Spokesman, pp. 8
^ Wolpert, S., Jinnah of Pakistan (1984) p. 87
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Statesman: Quaid-i-
Azam's Fourteen Points". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/politician11.htm.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Statesman: London
1931". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/politician14.htm. Retrieved
2006-04-20.
^ R.J. Moore, “Jinnah and the Pakistan Demand”, Modern Asian Studies
17, no. 4. (1983), <http://www.jstor.org/stable/312235>, 532
^ Sachchidananda Battacharya, Dictionary of Indian History 495
^ Mr. K. B. Ganapathy, Jinnah in the eye of Advani. Some stray
thoughts [1]
^ Ayesha Jalal, The Sole Spokesman, pp. 27
^ a b Ayesha Jalal, The Sole Spokesman, pp. 14
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 262
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 289
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 292
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Statesman: Allama
Iqbal's Presidential Address at Allahabad 1930".
http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/politician13.htm. Retrieved
2006-04-20.
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 331
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 369
^ Press statement, Statesman, 19 February I941
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life", pp. 372–73
^ Mansergh, "Transfer of Power Papers Volume IX", pp 879
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 376–78
^ "The Assam Tribune", October 26, 1946
^ Nasim Yousaf (2007), Hidden Facts Behind British India's Freedom: A
Scholarly Look into Allama Mashraqi and Quaid-e-Azam's Political
Conflict. ISBN 978-0-9760333-8-7
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Leader: The Plan of
June 3, 1947: page 2". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/leader17_2.htm.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ http://www.quaid.gov.pk/speech11.htm
^ Robinson francis, The cambridge Encyclopedia of India. 207
^ Lewis, B, Ch Pellat, and J Schacht. “Djinah.” The Encyclopedia of
Islam. Vol. II. Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1983: 546.
^ The Tasks Ahead - Speech at a Rally at the University Stadium,
Lahore: October 30, 1947 [2]
^ Bolitho, Jinnah, 113-114.ISBN 019547323X
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 416
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 407–08
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "A call to duty".
http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/speech09.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-07.
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "Selfless devotion to
duty". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/speech24.htm. Retrieved
2007-01-07.
^ "Postcolonial Studies" project, Department of English, Emory
University. "The Partition of India". http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Part.html.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ a b Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 444
^ Official website, Government of Pakistan. "The Governor General: The
Last Year: page 2". http://www.pakistan.gov.pk/Quaid/governor_g2_2.htm.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ R. Upadhyay. "De-Pakistanisation of Bangladesh". Bangladesh Monitor,
South Asia Analysis Group. http://www.southasiaanalysis.org/%5Cpapers22%5Cpaper2199.html.
^ Sufia M. Uddin (2006). Constructing Bangladesh: Religion, Ethnicity,
and Language in an Islamic Nation. UNC Press. pp. 3–16, 120–24. ISBN
0807830216.
^ JinnahShia=KharadarMosque
^ a b Dina seeks Jinnah House�s possession
^ Wolpert, Stanley, Jinnah of Pakistan
^ "Wiltshire - Films & TV", BBC website. "Interview with Christopher
Lee". http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/entertainment/films_and_tv/christopherlee.shtml.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ Seervai, H. M. (2005). Partition of India: Legend and Reality.
Oxford University Press. p. 127. ISBN 019597719X.
^ Online edition, Hindustan Times. "Pakistan expresses shock over
Advani's resignation as BJP chief". Archived from the original on
2005-06-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20050609004505/http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1391007,001300270001.htm.
Retrieved 2006-04-20.
^ Jinnah was a great Indian: Jaswant Singh
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 435
^ Rajmohan Gandhi, Patel: A Life, pp. 435–36
^ Z.H. Zaidi, Edit. Jinnah Papers: Prelude to Pakistan. 1 (Pakistan:
Oxford University Press, 1993), xxv.
^ R.J. Moore, “Jinnah and the Pakistan Demand”, Modern Asian Studies
17, no. 4. (1983), <http://www.jstor.org/stable/312235>, 529
^ Ahmed, Akbar S., Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity, p.200.

References

Ahmed, Akbar S. Jinnah, Pakistan, and Islamic Identity: The Search for
Saladin (1997). ISBN 0-415-14966-5
Ajeet, Javed Secular and Nationalist Jinnah JNU Press Delhi
Asiananda, Jinnah: A Corrective Reading of Indian History, ISBN
81-8305-002-6
Gandhi, Rajmohan, Patel: A Life (1990), Ahmedabad, Navajivan, ASIN:
B0006EYQ0A)
French, Patrick. Liberty or Death: India's Journey to Independence and
Division. Harper Collins, (1997). ISBN 0-00-255771-1
Hardiman, David Peasant Nationalists of Gujarat, ISBN 0-19-561255-8
Jalal, Ayesha (1994). The Sole Spokesman: Jinnah, the Muslim League
and the Demand for Pakistan. Cambridge: CUP. ISBN 0-521-45850-1
Jinnah, Fatima (1987). Quaid-i-Azam Academy My Brother. ISBN
969-413-036-0
Mansergh, Nicholas. Transfer of Power Papers (Volume IX)
Wolpert, Stanley (2002). Jinnah of Pakistan. Oxford: OUP.
^ Dr Allama Daudpota

External links

"Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah". Government of Pakistan Website.
http://www.quaid.gov.pk.
"Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah". The Jinnah Society. http://www.majinnah.com.pk.
"Jinnah: South Asia's greatest ever leader". BBC's Poll for South
Asia's greatest ever leader. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4100961.stm.
"The Father of Pakistan". The Most Influential Asians of the Century
by TIME. http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/jinnah.html.
"Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948)". Story of Pakistan.
http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P009.
"Jinnah's speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan".
pakistani.org. August 11, 1947.
http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/constituent_address_11aug1947.html.
"Jinnah's Thought at a Glance". YesPakistan.com. http://www.yespakistan.com/jinnah/.
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876–1948)". Harappa.com. http://harappa.com/sounds/jinnah.html.
"Pictures of Quaid (Album)". Urdu Point. http://www.urdupoint.com/jinnah/album/.
"South Asia's Clarence Darrow". Chowk. http://www.chowk.com/articles/9441.
"1947 - August". Chronicles Of Pakistan. http://therepublicofrumi.com/47.htm.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://quaid.nazariapak.info/

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (قائد اعظم محمد علی جناح )

"The change in the world is always brought by one man, whom we call
"the leader". Who has the vision and the force not only to make people
dream, but to reach and live that dream. He is intelligent enough to
foresee tomorrow. He is selfless and courageous to the extent of being
ready to sacrifice everything and express truth even if it defames
him. People follow him wherever he takes them. He is the one who
accelerates history and for whom nature proclaims itself. "What a
man"? "Few individuals significantly alter the course of history.
Fewer still modify the map of the world. Hardly anyone can be credited
with creating a nation-state. Muhammad Ali Jinnah did all three.
Hailed as "Great Leader" (Quaid-i-Azam), Muhammad Ali Jinnah virtually
conjured Pakistan into statehood by the force of his indomitable will.
His place of primacy in the world's history looms like a lofty minaret
over the achievements of all his contemporaries. He began his
political career as a leader of India's National Congress and until
after World War I remained India's best ambassador of Hindu-Muslim
unity. Owing to Hindus' bias towards the minority Muslims, he later
launched a freedom movement whose aim was to carve an independent
Muslim state free of all kinds of subjugation. He was an enigmatic
figure and more powerful than any of his contemporary leaders; indeed,
he was one of recent history's most charismatic leaders."

Peep into the Life and Achievements of Quaid-i-Azam
Statements & Sayings of the Quaid-i-Azam
Research & Other Articles
Bibliographical Literature

Leader of the leaders

Images Gallery

Quaid-i-Azam Voice

Brief Life Sketch of Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah Urdu: محمد علی جناح (December 25,
1876 – September 11, 1948), a 20th century politician and statesman,
is generally regarded as the father of the state of Pakistan. He
served as leader of the The Muslim League and served as Pakistan's
first Governor-General. He is officially known in Pakistan as Quaid-e-
Azam (Urdu: قائد اعظم — "Great Leader") and Baba-e-Qaum (بابا قوم)
("Father of the Nation"). His birthday is a national holiday in
Pakistan. Jinnah rose to prominence in the Indian National Congress
expounding ideas of Hindu-Muslim unity and helping shape the 1916
Lucknow Pact with the Muslim League; he also became a key leader in
the All India Home Rule League. He proposed a fourteen-point
constitutional reform plan to safeguard the political rights of
Muslims in a self-governing India. His proposals failed amid the
League's disunity, driving a disillusioned Jinnah to live in London
for many years. Several Muslim leaders persuaded Jinnah to return in
1934 and re-organise the Muslim League. Jinnah embraced the goal of
creating a separate state for Muslims as per the Lahore Resolution.
The League won most Muslim seats in the elections of 1946, and Jinnah
launched the Direct Action campaign movement to achieve independence
of Pakistan. The strong reaction of Congress supporters resulted in
communal violence across South Asia. The failure of the Congress-
League coalition to govern the country prompted both parties and the
British to agree to independence of Pakistan and India. As the
Governor-General of Pakistan, Jinnah led efforts to rehabilitate
millions of refugees, and to frame national policies on foreign
affairs, security and economic development.

Jinnah was born Mahomedali Jinnahbhaiin, some believe, Wazir Mansion,
Karachi District, of lower Sindh. However, this is disputed as old
textbooks mention Jhirk as his place of birth. Sindh had earlier been
conquered by the British and was subsequently grouped with other
conquered territories for administrative reasons to form the Bombay
Presidency of British India. Although his earliest school records
state that he was born on October 20, 1875, Sarojini Naidu, the author
of Jinnah's first biography, gives the date as ”December 25, 1876”.
The latter date is now officially accepted as his birthday. He was not
an observing Muslim, dressed throughout his life in European-style
clothes, and spoke in English more than his mother tongue, Gujarati or
his adopted tongue, Sindhi. Jinnah was the eldest of seven children
born to Mithibai and Jinnahbhai Poonja. His father, Jinnahbhai (1857–
1901), was a prosperous Gujarati merchant who had moved to Sindh from
Kathiawar, Gujarat before Jinnah's birth. His grandfather was Poonja
Gokuldas Meghji, a Bhatia from Paneli village in Gondal state in
Kathiawar. Some sources speculated that Jinnah's ancestors were Hindu
Rajputs that converted to Islam. Jinnah's family belonged to the
Ismaili Khoja branch of Shi'a Islam, though Jinnah later converted to
Twelver Shi'a Islam. The first born Jinnah was soon joined by six
siblings, brothers Ahmad Ali, Bunde Ali, and Rahmat Ali, and sisters
Maryam, Fatima and Shireen. Their mother tongue was Gujarati, however,
in time they also came to speak Kutchi, Sindhi and English The proper
muslim names of Mr. Jinnah and his siblings, unlike those of his
father and grandfather, are the consequence of the family's
immigration to the muslim state of Sindh. The young Jinnah, a restless
student, studied at several schools: at the Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam in
Karachi; briefly at the Gokal Das Tej Primary School in Mumbai; and
finally at the Christian Missionary Society High School in Karachi,
where, at age sixteen, he passed the matriculation examination of the
University of Bombay. The same year, 1892, Jinnah was offered an
apprenticeship at the London office of Graham's Shipping and Trading
Company, a business that had extensive dealings with Jinnahbhai
Poonja's firm in Karachi. However, before he left for England, at his
mother's urging he married his distant cousin, Emibai Jinnah, who was
two years his junior. The marriage was not to last long as Emibai died
a few months later. During his sojourn in England, his mother too
would pass away. In London, Jinnah soon left the apprenticeship to
study law instead, by joining Lincoln's Inn. The welcome board of the
Lincoln's Inn had the names of the world's all time top ten
magistrates. This list was led by the name of Muhammad, which was the
sole reason of Jinnah's joining of Lincoln's Inn. He In three years,
at age 19, he became the youngest Indian to be called to the bar in
England. Around this time, Jinnah also became interested in politics.
An admirer of the Indian political leaders Dadabhai Naoroji and Sir
Pherozeshah Mehta, he worked, with other Indian students, on the
former's successful campaign for a seat in the British Parliament.
Although, by now, Jinnah had developed largely constitutionalist views
on Indian self-government, he nevertheless condemned both the
arrogance of British officials in India and the discrimination
practised by them against Indians. Jinnah House in Mumbai,
India.During the final period of his stay in England, Jinnah came
under considerable pressure when his father's business was ruined.
Settling in Mumbai, he became a successful lawyer—gaining particular
fame for his skilled handling of the "Caucus Case". Jinnah built a
house in Malabar Hill, later known as Jinnah House. His reputation as
a skilled lawyer prompted Indian leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak to hire
him as defence counsel for his sedition trial in 1905. Jinnah argued
that it was not sedition for an Indian to demand freedom and self-
government in his own country, but Tilak received a rigorous term of
imprisonment test.

Early political career

In 1896, Jinnah joined the Indian National Congress, which was the
largest Indian political organisation. Like most of the Congress at
the time, Jinnah did not favour outright independence, considering
British influences on education, law, culture and industry as
beneficial to India. Jinnah became a member on the sixty-member
Imperial Legislative Council. The council had no real power or
authority, and included a large number of un-elected pro-Raj loyalists
and Europeans. Nevertheless, Jinnah was instrumental in the passing of
the Child Marriages Restraint Act, the legitimization of the Muslim
waqf (religious endowments) and was appointed to the Sandhurst
committee, which helped establish the Indian Military Academy at Dehra
Dun. During World War I, Jinnah joined other Indian moderates in
supporting the British war effort, hoping that Indians would be
rewarded with political freedoms. Jinnah had initially avoided joining
the All India Muslim League, founded in 1906, regarding it as too
Muslim oriented. Eventually, he joined the league in 1913 and became
the president at the 1916 session in Lucknow. Jinnah was the architect
of the 1916 Lucknow Pact between the Congress and the League, bringing
them together on most issues regarding self-government and presenting
a united front to the British. Jinnah also played an important role in
the founding of the All India Home Rule League in 1916. Along with
political leaders Annie Besant and Tilak, Jinnah demanded "home rule"
for India—the status of a self-governing dominion in the Empire
similar to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. He headed the League's
Bombay Presidency chapter. In 1918, Jinnah married his second wife
Rattanbai Petit ("Ruttie"), twenty-four years his junior. She was the
fashionable young daughter of his personal friend Sir Dinshaw Petit,
of an elite Parsi family of Mumbai. Unexpectedly there was great
opposition to the marriage from Rattanbai's family and Parsi society,
as well as orthodox Muslim leaders. Rattanbai defied her family and
nominally converted to Islam, adopting (though never using) the name
Maryam Jinnah -resulting in a permanent estrangement from her family
and Parsi society. The couple resided in Mumbai, and frequently
travelled across India and Europe. In 1919 she bore Jinnah his only
child, daughter Dina Jinnah.

Fourteen points

Jinnah's problems with the Congress began with the ascent of Mohandas
Gandhi in 1918, who espoused non-violent civil disobedience and Hindu
values as the best means to obtain Swaraj (independence, or self-rule)
for all South Asians. Jinnah differed, saying that only constitutional
struggle could lead to independence. Unlike most Congress leaders,
Gandhi did not wear western-style clothes, did his best to use an
Indian language instead of English, and was deeply (Hindu) religious.
Gandhi's Hindu style of leadership gained great popularity with the
Indian people. Jinnah criticised Gandhi's support of the Khilafat
Movement, which he saw as an endorsement of religious zealotry.[14] By
1920, Jinnah resigned from the Congress, with prophetic warning that
Gandhi's method of mass struggle would lead to divisions between
Hindus and Muslims and within the two communities. Becoming president
of the Muslim League, Jinnah was drawn into a conflict between a pro-
Congress faction and a pro-British faction. In September 1923, Jinnah
was elected as Muslim member for Bombay in the new Central Legislative
Assembly. He showed great gifts as a parliamentarian, organized many
Indian members to work with the Swaraj Party, and continued to press
demands for full responsible government. He was so active on a wide
range of subjects that in 1925 he was offered a knighthood by Lord
Reading when he retired as Viceroy and Governor General. Jinnah
replied: "I prefer to be plain Mr. Jinnah".[15] In 1927, Jinnah
entered negotiations with Muslim and Hindu leaders on the issue of a
future constitution, during the struggle against the all-British Simon
Commission. The League wanted separate electorates while the Nehru
Report favoured joint electorates. Jinnah personally opposed separate
electorates, but then drafted compromises and put forth demands that
he thought would satisfy both. These became known as the 14 points of
Mr. Jinnah.[16] However, they were rejected by the Congress and other
political parties. Jinnah's personal life and especially his marriage
suffered during this period due to his political work. Although they
worked to save their marriage by travelling together to Europe when he
was appointed to the Sandhurst committee, the couple separated in
1927. Jinnah was deeply saddened when Rattanbai died in 1929, after a
serious illness. At the Round Table Conferences in London, Jinnah was
disillusioned by the breakdown of talks.[17] Frustrated with the
disunity of the Muslim League, he decided to quit politics and
practice law in England. Jinnah would receive personal care and
support through his later life from his sister Fatima Jinnah, who
lived and travelled with him and also became a close advisor. She
helped raise his daughter, who was educated in England and India.
Jinnah later became estranged from his daughter, Dina Jinnah, after
she decided to marry Parsi-born Christian businessman, Neville Wadia
(even though he had faced the same issues when he married Rattanbai in
1918). Jinnah continued to correspond cordially with his daughter, but
their personal relationship was strained. Dina continued to live in
India with her family.

Founding Pakistan

A letter by Jinnah to Winston ChurchillIn the 1946 elections for the
Constituent Assembly of India, the Congress won most of the elected
seats, while the League won a large majority of Muslim electorate
seats. The 1946 British Cabinet Mission to India released a plan on
May 16, calling for a united Indian state comprising considerably
autonomous provinces, and called for "groups" of provinces formed on
the basis of religion. A second plan released on June 16, called for
the separation of South Asia along religious lines, with princely
states to choose between accession to the dominion of their choice or
independence. The Congress, fearing India's fragmentation, criticised
the May 16 proposal and rejected the June 16 plan. Jinnah gave the
League's assent to both plans, knowing that power would go only to the
party that had supported a plan. After much debate and against
Gandhi's advice that both plans were divisive, the Congress accepted
the May 16 plan while condemning the grouping principle.[citation
needed] Jinnah decried this acceptance as "dishonesty", accused the
British negotiators of "treachery",[25] and withdrew the League's
approval of both plans. The League boycotted the assembly, leaving the
Congress in charge of the government but denying it legitimacy in the
eyes of many Muslims. Jinnah issued a call for all Muslims to launch
"Direct Action" on August 16 to "achieve Pakistan".[26] Strikes and
protests were planned, but violence broke out all over South Asia,
especially in Calcutta and the district of Noakhali in Bengal, and
more than 7,000 people were killed in Bihar. Although viceroy Lord
Wavell asserted that there was "no satisfactory evidence to that
effect",[27] League politicians were blamed by the Congress and the
media for orchestrating the violence.[28] Interim Government
portfolios were announced on October 25, 1946.[29] Muslim Leaguers
were sworn in on October 26, 1946.[30] The League entered the interim
government, but Jinnah refrained from accepting office for himself.
This was credited as a major victory for Jinnah, as the League entered
government having rejected both plans, and was allowed to appoint an
equal number of ministers despite being the minority party. The
coalition was unable to work, resulting in a rising feeling within the
Congress that independence of Pakistan was the only way of avoiding
political chaos and possible civil war. The Congress agreed to the
division of Punjab and Bengal along religious lines in late 1946. The
new viceroy Lord Mountbatten and Indian civil servant V. P. Menon
proposed a plan that would create a Muslim dominion in West Punjab,
East Bengal, Baluchistan and Sindh. After heated and emotional debate,
the Congress approved the plan.[31] The North-West Frontier Province
voted to join Pakistan in a referendum in July 1947. Jinnah asserted
in a speech in Lahore on October 30, 1947 that the League had accepted
independence of Pakistan because "the consequences of any other
alternative would have been too disastrous to imagine."

Jinnah's views on statehood

A controversy has raged in Pakistan about whether Jinnah wanted
Pakistan to be a secular state or an Islamic state. His views as
expressed in his policy speech on 11th August 1947 said: There is no
other solution. Now what shall we do? Now, if we want to make this
great State of Pakistan happy and prosperous, we should wholly and
solely concentrate on the well-being of the people, and especially of
the masses and the poor. If you will work in co-operation, forgetting
the past, burying the hatchet, you are bound to succeed. If you change
your past and work together in a spirit that everyone of you, no
matter to what community he belongs, no matter what relations he had
with you in the past, no matter what is his colour, caste or creed, is
first, second and last a citizen of this State with equal rights,
privileges, and obligations, there will be no end to the progress you
will make. I cannot emphasize it too much. We should begin to work in
that spirit and in course of time all these angularities of the
majority and minority communities, the Hindu community and the Muslim
community, because even as regards Muslims you have Pathans, Punjabis,
Shias, Sunnis and so on, and among the Hindus you have Brahmins,
Vashnavas, Khatris, also Bengalis, Madrasis and so on, will vanish.
Indeed if you ask me, this has been the biggest hindrance in the way
of India to attain the freedom and independence and but for this we
would have been free people long long ago. No power can hold another
nation, and specially a nation of 400 million souls in subjection;
nobody could have conquered you, and even if it had happened, nobody
could have continued its hold on you for any length of time, but for
this. Therefore, we must learn a lesson from this. You are free; you
are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or
to any other place or worship in this State of Pakistan. You may
belong to any religion or caste or creed that has nothing to do with
the business of the State. As you know, history shows that in England,
conditions, some time ago, were much worse than those prevailing in
India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants persecuted each
other. Even now there are some States in existence where there are
discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular class.
Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in the
days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one
community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed
and another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we
are all citizens and equal citizens of one State. The people of
England in course of time had to face the realities of the situation
and had to discharge the responsibilities and burdens placed upon them
by the government of their country and they went through that fire
step by step. Today, you might say with justice that Roman Catholics
and Protestants do not exist; what exists now is that every man is a
citizen, an equal citizen of Great Britain and they are all members of
the Nation. Now I think we should keep that in front of us as our
ideal and you will find that in course of time Hindus would cease to
be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious
sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in
the political sense as citizens of the State. Jinnah, 11th August 1947
- presiding over the constituent assembly. While this was a clear
indication that Jinnah wanted a secular state, he did on occasion
refer to Islam and Islamic principles. Pakistan not only means freedom
and independce but the Muslim Ideology which has to be preserved,
which has come to us as a precious gift and treasure and which, we
hope other will share with us[dubious – discuss] Message to Frontier
Muslim Students Federation June 18, 1945. Furthermore he also pointed
out on various occasions that the counties constitution and its
financial setup must be based on Islamic principles. The constitution
of Pakistan has yet to be framed by the Pakistan Constituent Assembly.
I do not know what the ultimate shape of this constitution is going to
be, but I am sure that it will be of a democratic type, embodying the
essential principle of Islam. Today, they are as applicable in actual
life as they were 1,300 years ago. Islam and its idealism have taught
us democracy. It has taught equality of man, justice and fairplay to
everybody. We are the inheritors of these glorious traditions and are
fully alive to our responsibilities and obligations as framers of the
future constitution of Pakistan. In any case Pakistan is not going to
be a theocratic State to be ruled by priests with a divine mission. We
have many non-Muslims --Hindus, Christians, and Parsis --but they are
all Pakistanis. They will enjoy the same rights and privileges as any
other citizens and will play their rightful part in the affairs of
Pakistan. Broadcast talk to the people of the United States of America
on Pakistan recorded February, 1948. It has been argued by many people
that in this speech Jinnah wanted to point out that Pakistan would be
a secular state as mostly people think that an Islamic state is a
theocratic state, this perception is however wrong and is miss
interpreted, the reason is because a true Islamic state is not a
theocratic state ,as rightly stated by Jinnah in his speech. Because
in a theocratic state the civil leader is believed to have a direct
personal connection with god, which is contrary to the principles of
an Islamic state. On the opening ceremony of the state bank of
Pakistan Jinnah pointed out that the financial setup of the state
should be based on Islamic economic system. We must work our destiny
in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on
true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice. We
will thereby be fulfilling our mission as Muslims and giving to
humanity the message of peace which alone can save it and secure the
welfare, happiness and prosperity of mankind. Speech at the opening
ceremony of State Bank of Pakistan, Karachi July 1, 1948 [edit]

Governor-General

Jinnah with Gandhi, 1944.Along with Liaquat Ali Khan and Abdur Rab
Nishtar, Muhammad Ali Jinnah represented the League in the Division
Council to appropriately divide public assets between India and
Pakistan.[32] The assembly members from the provinces that would
comprise Pakistan formed the new state's constituent assembly, and the
Military of British India was divided between Muslim and non-Muslim
units and officers. Indian leaders were angered at Jinnah's courting
the princes of Jodhpur, Bhopal and Indore to accede to Pakistan -
these princely states were not geographically aligned with Pakistan,
and each had a Hindu-majority population.[33] Jinnah became the first
Governor-General of Pakistan and president of its constituent
assembly. Inaugurating the assembly on August 11, 1947, Jinnah spoke
of an inclusive and pluralist democracy promising equal rights for all
citizens regardless of religion, caste or creed. This address is a
cause of much debate in Pakistan as, on its basis, many claim that
Jinnah wanted a secular state while supporters of Islamic Pakistan
assert that this speech is being taken out of context when compared to
other speeches by him. On October 11, 1947, in an address to Civil,
Naval, Military and Air Force Officers of Pakistan Government,
Karachi, he said: We should have a State in which we could live and
breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own
lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice
could find free play.[34] On February 21, 1948, in an address to the
officers and men of the 5th Heavy Ack Ack and 6th Light Ack Ack
Regiments in Malir, Karachi, he said: You have to stand guard over the
development and maintenance of Islamic democracy, Islamic social
justice and the equality of manhood in your own native soil. With
faith, discipline and selfless devotion to duty, there is nothing
worthwhile that you cannot achieve.[35] Jinnah in his final days.The
office of Governor-General was ceremonial, but Jinnah also assumed the
lead of government. The first months of Pakistan's independence were
absorbed in ending the intense violence that had arisen in the wake of
acrimony between Hindus and Muslims. Jinnah agreed with Indian leaders
to organise a swift and secure exchange of populations in the Punjab
and Bengal. He visited the border regions with Indian leaders to calm
people and encourage peace, and organised large-scale refugee camps.
Despite these efforts, estimates on the death toll vary from around
two hundred thousand, to over a million people.[citation needed] The
estimated number of refugees in both countries exceeds 15 million.[36]
The then capital city of Karachi saw an explosive increase in its
population owing to the large encampments of refugees. Jinnah was
personally affected and depressed by the intense violence of the
period.[citation needed] Jinnah authorised force to achieve the
annexation of the princely state of Kalat and suppress the insurgency
in Baluchistan. He controversially accepted the accession of Junagadh—
a Hindu-majority state with a Muslim ruler located in the Saurashtra
peninsula, some 400 kilometres (250 mi) southeast of Pakistan—but this
was annulled by Indian intervention. It is unclear if Jinnah planned
or knew of the tribal invasion from Pakistan into the kingdom of Jammu
and Kashmir in October 1947, but he did send his private secretary
Khurshid Ahmed to observe developments in Kashmir. When informed of
Kashmir's accession to India, Jinnah deemed the accession illegitimate
and ordered the Pakistani army to enter Kashmir.[37] However, Gen.
Auchinleck, the supreme commander of all British officers informed
Jinnah that while India had the right to send troops to Kashmir, which
had acceded to it, Pakistan did not. If Jinnah persisted, Auchinleck
would remove all British officers from both sides. As Pakistan had a
greater proportion of Britons holding senior command, Jinnah cancelled
his order, but protested to the United Nations to intercede.[37] Owing
to his role in the state's creation, Jinnah was the most popular and
influential politician. He played a pivotal role in protecting the
rights of minorities,[citation needed] establishing colleges, military
institutions and Pakistan's financial policy.[38] In his first visit
to East Pakistan, under the advice of local party leaders, Jinnah
stressed that Urdu alone should be the national language; a policy
that was strongly opposed by the Bengali people of East Pakistan (now
Bangladesh). This opposition grew after he controversially described
Bengali as the language of Hindus.[39][40] He also worked for an
agreement with India settling disputes regarding the division of
assets.

Death

Tomb of M.A. Jinnah The funeral of Jinnah in 1948.Through the 1940s,
Jinnah suffered from tuberculosis; only his sister and a few others
close to him were aware of his condition. In 1948, Jinnah's health
began to falter, hindered further by the heavy workload that had
fallen upon him following Pakistan's independence from British Rule.
Attempting to recuperate, he spent many months at his official retreat
in Ziarat, but died on September 11, 1948 (just over a year after
independence) from a combination of tuberculosis and lung cancer. His
funeral was followed by the construction of a massive mausoleum—Mazar-
e-Quaid—in Karachi to honour him; official and military ceremonies are
hosted there on special occasions. Funeral prayers were led by Allamah
Shabbir Ahmad Usmani for the general public, mostly Sunni, at Jinnah's
request. Jinnah did have a private Namaz-e-Janaza at Kharadar which
was attended by close relatives and people from the Shia community.
[41] Dina Wadia remained in India after independence, before
ultimately settling in New York City. Jinnah's grandson, Nusli Wadia,
is a prominent industrialist residing in Mumbai. In the 1963–1964
elections, Jinnah's sister Fatima Jinnah, known as Madar-e-Millat
("Mother of the Nation"), became the presidential candidate of a
coalition of political parties that opposed the rule of President Ayub
Khan, but lost the election. The Jinnah House in Malabar Hill, Bombay,
is in the possession of the Government of India but the issue of its
ownership has been disputed by the Government of Pakistan.[42] Jinnah
had personally requested Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to
preserve the house and that one day he could return to Mumbai. There
are proposals for the house be offered to the Government of Pakistan
to establish a consulate in the city, as a goodwill gesture, but Dina
Wadia has also laid claim to the property.

External links

"Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah". Government of Pakistan Website.
http://www.quaid.gov.pk/.
"Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah". The Jinnah Society. http://www.majinnah.com.pk/.
"The Father of Pakistan". The Most Influential Asians of the Century
by TIME. http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990823/jinnah.html.
"Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876–1948)". Story of Pakistan.
http://www.storyofpakistan.com/person.asp?perid=P009.
"Jinnah's speech to the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan".
pakistani.org. August 11, 1947.
http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/legislation/constituent_address_11aug1947.html.
"Jinnah's Thought at a Glance". YesPakistan.com. http://www.yespakistan.com/jinnah/.
"Mohammed Ali Jinnah (1876–1948)". Harappa.com. http://harappa.com/sounds/jinnah.html.
"Pictures of Quaid (Album)". Urdu Point. http://www.urdupoint.com/jinnah/album/.
"South Asia's Clarence Darrow". Chowk. http://www.chowk.com/articles/9441.
"1947 - August". Chronicles Of Pakistan. http://therepublicofrumi.com/47.htm.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/the-real-story-behind-jaswants-expulsion/367571/

The real story behind Jaswant's expulsion

BS Reporter / New Delhi August 20, 2009, 0:50 IST

His ‘adulation’ of Jinnah was the cause celebre, but differences have
been building up between him and the BJP.

Jaswant Singh, defence, finance and foreign minister in successive
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments and a member of the
Parliamentary Board, the party's highest body, was today stripped of
primary membership of the BJP.

The proximate reason for the expulsion was Singh’s evaluation of
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, considered the father of Pakistan, in a book that
was released earlier this week. The book, described as "adulatory" of
a hate object of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was strongly
criticised by large sections of the BJP.

However, as Jaswant Singh said at a press conference later, it is
unlikely that any top leader has read his book. So, a complex set of
reasons worked against him. One is the role he played in Rajasthan
politics as one of the most vociferous critics of former Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje, who continues to have some support in the
BJP leadership. The other is the letter he wrote to the BJP leadership
after the Lok Sabha elections demanding there be some correlation
between “prize” (puraskar) and parinam (result).

Senior-most BJP leader L K Advani is reported to have commented that
it was ironical that people who lost the Lok Sabha elections, were
sent to the Rajya Sabha and made ministers should be talking about
prize and performance. He was referring to Jaswant Singh’s defeat in
1998 from Chittorgarh at a time when the BJP won 177 Lok Sabha seats,
reaching 250 with the help of allies.

The Chintan Baithak currently on in Shimla was preceded by a meeting
of the BJP Parliamentary Board. In the morning, before the board had
its deliberations, members were clear that some action had to be taken
against Jaswant Singh. One suggestion was that he be dropped from the
board. Accordingly, he was advised to stay away from the meeting.

But when the meeting began, it took barely two minutes for the 10-
member board to endorse his expulsion from the party. Both BJP
President Rajnath Singh and L K Advani conveyed the decision to him on
the telephone, something he referred to later with some bitterness.

That the RSS mooted the move and nobody argued against it suggests the
tightening of the RSS grip on the party, avidly welcomed and
encouraged by Rajnath Singh.

However, if the RSS becomes overtly intrusive in BJP affairs, the
chances are the death knell will sound for the National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) in which actors like Janata Dal United led by Nitish
Kumar are active and vocal.

The veto power of the RSS also has implications for the future of
leaders like LK Advani who was removed from his post of President for
exactly the same sort of remarks about M A Jinnah two years ago.
Today, however, Advani did not attempt to bail out his former
colleague.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090820/main3.htm

Chintan Baithak
Episode eclipses other issues
Faraz Ahmad writes from Shimla

The three-day Chintan Baithak of the BJP opened here today to an
explosive start, with the party putting other important issues on the
backburner and turned its attention to the act of “sacrilege”
committed by Jaswant Singh in praising Mohammad Ali Jinnah and blaming
Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel for the Partition.

The release of the book just two days ago came in handy for the BJP,
especially for L.K. Advani and his camp, to shift the focus from the
need for generational change, need for L.K. Advani to retire and the
incessant infighting raised by RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat yesterday.

There is a visible tussle evident in the BJP/RSS between Advani on the
one hand and Sangh protégés like president Rajnath Singh on the other,
with the Sangh trying to persuade Advani to retire and pave the way
for younger leaders. However, Advani has refused to take the hint and
instead is confident of completingy a five-year term as Leader of
Opposition in Parliament.

Though Rajnath is considered in the rival camp, neither he nor any of
his protégés objected to Advani taking a second term. Instead, it was
first Jaswant, then Yashwant and, lastly, Shourie who questioned the
morality of Advani resuming the LoP role and also appointing his
followers as his deputies in the other posts.

When they raised the issue before and during the last national
executive in Delhi on June 20 and 21, Rajnath Singh sought to defer an
honest reappraisal of the reasons for BJP’s defeat to a Chintan
Baithak. But when the dates and venue for this meet were being
finalised Advani dismissed any necessity to “Rake up the past,” and
instead called for the need to “look at the road ahead.” Discussion on
the electoral debacle, he said, had already been done to death in the
national executive.

On the last day of the Budget session of Parliament, Advani expressed
confidence about continuing as LoP for next five years. Three days
later, RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat met him and again pressed for his
retirement. Advani again denied any such demand on behalf of the
Sangh.

Eventually, Bhagwat was forced to make his wish public in an interview
to a TV news channel. In the normal course this would have been taken
with utmost seriousness by the BJP. From all appearances, Advani is
likely to have his way now, having forced the lone dissenter out of
this meet. Two of the three dissenters, namely Shourie and Yashwant,
were not even invited for this meet. The third is out today.

The Sangh and Rajnath have also been unhappy with BJP legislative
party leader Vasundhara Raje’s refusal to resign her post in Jaipur
ignoring express directives by Rajnath. Yesterday, her supporters
indulged in arson and violence outside the state BJP office, sending a
signal of defiance against the party high command. Insiders are of the
view that action against Jaswant may strengthen Rajnath’s resolve to
act similarly against Vasundhara Raje.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2009/20090820/edit.htm#1

Exit Jaswant Singh
Jinnah-love causes an honour killing

IN hindsight, it would appear that Mr Jaswant Singh’s new-found love
for Jinnah and Muslims was the desperate salvo of a man who knew he
was on the last boat out. Whatever injured innocence he may portray,
he cannot claim that he was not aware that the BJP would throw him out
for eulogising the founding father of Pakistan. After all, Mr L.K.
Advani, too, had to quit as party president following similar remarks.
The conclusion is obvious that Mr Jaswant Singh knew that his days in
the BJP were numbered and he must make adequate retirement plans.
Hence the change of tack on the status of Muslims in India. Mr Jaswant
Singh, Mr Arun Shourie and Mr Yashwant Sinha had come to be considered
dissidents following their criticism that those responsible for
leading the BJP to defeat in the Lok Sabha polls had been rewarded.
Yet, the party sought to delink him from the other two by nominating
him chairman of the prestigious Public Accounts Committee of
Parliament. But his praising the founder of Pakistan in his book,
“Jinnah – India, Partition, Independence”, came as the last straw on
the camel’s back.

The shape of things to come was clear when the entire BJP top brass
kept away from the book release function in Delhi on Monday. The
expulsion order came at the meeting of the Parliamentary Board of the
party during the opening session of the three-day “chintan baithak” of
the top leaders in Shimla. While there are some murmurs among party
men that proper procedure was not followed, these are not going to
grow too loud, considering that Mr Jaswant Singh had already become a
virtual persona non-grata.

He was in the eye of a similar storm when he insinuated in his book,
“A Call to Honour: In Service of Emergent India”, in 2006 that a mole
existed in the prime ministerial office during the tenure of P V
Narasimha Rao, who had leaked information to US sources. But the
abiding legacy of Mr Jaswant Singh, who had held the portfolios of
Finance, Defence and External Affairs under Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee,
is the ignominy of personally escorting terrorists to Kandahar during
the Indian Airlines hijack crisis. Mr Jaswant Singh’s political career—
certainly with the BJP—has come to an end. The BJP action, however,
will help him sell more of his book on Jinnnah.

...and Iam Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/have_you_heard/archive/2009/08/19/the-peterhoff-trial.aspx

The Peterhoff trial
Santosh Joy - Wednesday, August 19, 2009 8:06 PM

The imposing Hotel Peterhoff amid the hills of Shimla town, the venue
of the three-day brainstorming session of BJP has a story of its own
to narrate. It was at this hotel where the trial of Nathuram Godse,
the killer of Mahatma Gandhi, was held in the year 1948. Around 61
years after the main opposition party chose this venue to hold the
‘summary trial’ one of its senior leader Jaswant Singh. His crime- he
wrote a book allegedly against the core ideological viewpoints of the
party.

In Jaswant Singh’s words, he said,”I am hurt and pained.” While Godse
had the privilege of being physically present during his trial,
Singh, the former Finance minister of the country lacked it. He was
conveyed by the party president Rajnath Singh conveyed the unanimous
decision of the party’s apex decision making body Parliamentary Board
on phone.

In the british era, Peterhoff was used as the official residence of
Governor Generals and Viceroys. Post 1947, the grand building was
converted into a High Court. It was the Himachal governor’s residence
before it met with a fire accident in the early 90s.

The building has the distinction of playing host to Dr Bhimrao
Ambedkar, while he was writing the Indian constitution. He spend
considerable days in this vintage house and it is part of the heritage
documents associated with it.

In 2003, the Indian National Congress chose this venue for its
brainstorming session. The introspection for the grand old party in
this picturesque location reaped dividends and the party stormed back
to power in the 2004 Lok Sabha polls.

The Peterhoff, a heritage luxury hotel, operated by Himachal Tourism
Development Corporation today seems to have added yet another page in
its history with the BJP conclave.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate-in/2009/08/19/has-the-bharatiya-janata-party-lost-its-political-plot/

13:01 August 19th, 2009
Has the Bharatiya Janata Party lost its political plot?

By: Rituparna Bhowmik

Tags: Uncategorized, BJP, Chintan Baithak, controversy, India, Jaswant
Singh, Jinnah, Pakistan, politics
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday expelled former finance
minister Jaswant Singh from its primary membership for praising
Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah in a book.

The decision to expel Singh came after the release of his book “Jinnah
- India, Partition, Independence” which the BJP said went against the
party ideology.

As a visibly upset Singh, a founding member of the party, questioned
the decision, the latest controversy to hit the BJP seems to have
brought its internal conflicts out in the open.

Many pressing issues haunt the party as it begins its ‘Chintan
Baithak’ – an annual brainstorming session.

The BJP was drubbed at the 2009 general election and faced a
leadership crisis. Its elderly leaders are perceived as being out of
sync with a young vote base and it has had an ideological falling out
with its Hindu right-wing parent.

The BJP may need to take a hard look at these issues if it hopes to
reinvent itself.

Singh’s book and its fallout have led some liberal thinkers in
politics to question the wisdom of meting out punishment to an
individual for expressing a personal opinion especially since larger
issues like revamping the organizational structure of the party and
its revival need to be addressed.

It is ironical that the controversy over Singh’s expulsion happened on
the day the BJP top brass met in Shimla to chart out its future course
of action after a dismal showing in the general election.

Do you think the expulsion of Singh, a veteran national level leader
with a career spanning three decades, is yet another example of the
BJP losing the political plot? Will it be able to resurrect itself in
time for the next election?

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/2009/08/19/india-pakistan-re-opening-the-wounds-of-partition/

03:13 August 19th, 2009
India, Pakistan : re-opening the wounds of Partition

Was it necessary to divide India and Pakistan ? Was Mohammad Ali
Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, really the obdurate Muslim leader who
forced Partition along religious lines in 1947 or was he pushed into
it by leaders of India’s Congress party, especially first prime
minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

A new book by former Indian foreign minister Jaswant Singh re-opens
that painful, blood-soaked chapter whose price the region is still
paying more than 60 years on.

Singh, a leader of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party,
challenges the widely-held belief in India that it was Jinnah’s
insistence on a separate homeland for Muslims that forced the breakup
of India and the mayhem that accompanied it.

Jinnah, an impeccably secular leader, didn’t start with this, he
argues in the book “Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence.”

What Jinnah said, in the tumultuous years before Britain finally left
the subcontinent, was that he wanted ”space in a reassuring system”
for Muslims so that they didn’t get engulfed in a Hindu-majority
India, Singh says.

A federal structure that would have given Muslims a certain amount of
autonomy, a sort of a Pakistan within India, may well have worked. But
Nehru shot it down, believing in a highly centralised polity ,
influenced as he was by the prevailing Western, European socialist
thought of the time.


“”Consistently he stood in the way of a federal India until 1947 when
it became a partitioned India,” Singh told CNN-IBN in an interview .
If the Congress had accepted a decentralised federal state, then a
“united India was clearly ours to attain,” he says.

Jinnah has too long been demonised by Indian society. “I think we
misunderstood him because we needed to create a demon. We needed a
demon because in the 20th century, the most telling event in the sub-
continent was the Partition of the country.”

Strong words these and especially coming from a leader on the Hindu
right. Not surprisingly, members of his party have distanced
themselves from Singh’s revision of history. The Congress party, of
course, would have none of it , accusing Singh of denigrating the
country’s first prime minister while eulogising Pakistan’s first head
of state.

Pakistan has welcomed Singh’s attempt to review the role of the
“Quaid-i-Azam or Great Leader as Jinnah is known.


The Daily Times in an editorial said the book was an important Indian
revision of a highly demonised Muslim leader and held hope for the
future. if India and Pakistan could agree on their history a bit more,
perhaps that may be the starting point of a more lasting detente ?

[Photographs of Pakistani helicopters flying past a portrait of Jinnah
2)children lay flowers at a portrait of Nehru and 3) former foreign
minister Jaswant Singh)

Post a comment (2) comments so far
August 19th, 2009

9:02 am GMT

Cheap Publicity - Thats what this is all about.
Jaswant doesn’t seems to have enjoyed limelight for a while and this
seems to be a mean time to bask in.
I appreciate his efforts in being loyal to his party where by he
criticize’s the Congress at the expense of changing Jinnah’s
perspectives here. Since he couldn’t take the pressure, he has
retracted back from his book and advised it to be taken as a academic
book without making conclusions. So much for a joke. Creating Pakistan
was a debacle and has been a blunder, couldn’t agree more with the
current migrane.

- Posted by Praveen

August 19th, 2009
11:37 am GMT

This is the first time that the truth is spoken withi the boundaries
of india, and it also exposed inida’s so called secularism approach, a
senior polition is now expelled from his own political party, Bharati
Janata Party (BJP) only for showing the true and positive image of the
founder of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the man of principle and
integrity who, as stated in the subject book realised that Muslims
will be crushed and humilated if they remain under the leadership of
fanatics and hindu extrtemist like Nehru and Ghandi….and that fear
came true in Gujrat, Allahabad and Kashmir.

- Posted by Peace

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4911977.cms

Comment:Purging Jaswant
20 August 2009, 12:00am IST

The ghost of Muhammad Ali Jinnah has come to haunt the BJP once again.
This time, the party has acted with urgency to expel former foreign
affairs minister Jaswant Singh from the party for making a positive
assessment of Jinnah's political career. The BJP leadership may have
thought that quick action against Jaswant, who had criticised the
party strategy after the defeat in Lok Sabha polls, would help the
party to close ranks on the issue and send out a message to potential
dissidents that ideology and party discipline are sacrosanct.

The swift action against Jaswant is in contrast to the long-drawn out
debate that preceded action against LK Advani, the then party
president, when he eulogised Jinnah as a secular politician in
Pakistan in 2005. It took a few weeks of hard negotiation before
Advani agreed to resign as party chief. The sangh parivar had a
difficult time in convincing supporters that it disagreed with
Advani's assessment and the BJP passed a resolution to that effect.
Clearly, it doesn't want to revisit the controversy. Also, Jaswant
went too far for BJP's comfort when he absolved Jinnah of pushing the
Partition agenda and took a critical view of Sardar Patel, lately a
sangh parivar favourite. Unlike Advani, Jaswant is not a mass leader
and his expulsion is unlikely to impact the party in a major way. For
all practical reasons, Jaswant, currently an MP from Darjeeling, was
dispensable.

Apart from the import for the BJP, Jaswant's expulsion also raises
questions about our political culture. At his post-expulsion press
conference, Jaswant made an interesting remark. He wondered if the
party he served for 30 years had to expel him for writing a book.
That's a point for all ideology-driven, cadre-based parties to
consider. How should a party deal with a member who strays from the
party line on a politically sensitive subject? How far can difference
of opinion be accommodated? Should parties allow members to publish
contentious views as individual citizens, as Jaswant argued in his
defence when the BJP leadership disassociated with his views?

Cadre-based political parties, like the BJP and the CPM, tend to close
ranks and crack down on cadres and even senior leaders when they stray
from the party line. Though party leaderships justify such action as
necessary to maintain party discipline, it is driven by a fear of free
debate and change that may follow. Surely, it is not impossible for a
political outfit to function without asking members to always agree
with party views. A reasonable amount of dissent ought to be
acceptable for any political party, especially when they are
functioning in a democratic polity. Otherwise, stagnation and dead
dogma are liable to take hold of it.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/238306_Gujarat-bans-Jaswant-book-on-Jinnahhttp://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4911977.cms

Gujarat bans Jaswant book on Jinnah
STAFF WRITER 22:47 HRS IST

Ahmedabad, Aug 19 (PTI) In a double blow for expelled BJP leader
Jaswant Singh, Gujarat government tonight banned his controversial
book on Jinnah alleging it is an attempt to defame the image of the
country's first Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel by "questioning his
patrioric spirit".

"Jaswant Singh's book questions role of Sardar Patel during the
partition of India as well as his patriotic spirit.

This is an attempt to tarnish the image of Patel who is considered the
architect of modern united India," a statement issued by the state
government said.

"It is a bid to defame Patel by distorting historical facts," it
charged.

"So, the state government has decided to ban the book with immediate
effect for wider public interest," it said.

"As per the ban, there cannot be sale, distribution or publication of
the book in the state," it said.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.ptinews.com/news/238291_Remarks-against-Patel--not-Jinnah--led-to-Jaswant-s-expulsion--BJP

Remarks against Patel, not Jinnah, led to Jaswant's expulsion: BJP

STAFF WRITER 22:25 HRS IST

Shimla/ New Delhi, Aug 19 (PTI) In an apparent attempt to shield
senior party leader L K Advani who had earlier praised M A Jinnah, BJP
today said Jaswant Singh was expelled not for his views on Pakistan
founder but for his "uncharitable" comments against Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel.

BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said "there is a difference" between
Advani's and Jaswant's views on Patel. "It is well-known that Advani
holds Sardar Patel as an iconic figure," he said.

Prasad said Advani had been "misunderstood" on his comments on Jinnah
in 2005. "Advani had quoted Jinnah during his official visit to
Pakistan in 2005 and said that the laws for Hindus and Muslims in
Pakistan would be the same".

Prasad's contention came amid questions whether the party had applied
different yardsticks while dealing with Advani and Jaswant Singh over
praise of Jinnah.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/RSS-must-also-introspect-about-their-organisation-Jaswant/H1-Article1-445021.aspx

RSS must also introspect about their organisation: Jaswant

New Delhi, August 19, 2009

First Published: 21:51 IST(19/8/2009)
Last Updated: 02:03 IST(20/8/2009)

Reacting sharply to BJP's decision of expelling him from the party, ex-
BJP leader Jaswant Singh told a TV channel today that both BJP and
Rashtirya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have been touched by the poison of
office, and that the change in the former is not for the better.
Calling RSS pracharaks as suvidhavadi, Singh also said that RSS should
introspect about their organisation.

Meanwhile, the ripples of fracas in BJP has been felt in Gujarat as
Narendra Modi today banned Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah even as it
expressed its objection to negative references of Sardar Patel in the
book.

Jaswant's book 'Jinnah - India, Partition, Independence' created a
furore in the BJP and led to his expulsion from the party earlier
today.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/Jaswants-expulsion-a-sign-of-BJPs-collapse-Karat/articleshow/4912083.cms

Jaswant's expulsion a 'sign' of BJP's collapse: Karat
PTI 19 August 2009, 08:33pm IST

KANNUR: CPI-M said the expulsion of Jaswant Singh from BJP over the
controversy triggered by his book on Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali
Jinnah was a
"sign of collapse" of the saffron party.

"BJP has now expelled one of its national leaders from the party. This
is a sign of the collapse of the party after its drubbing in the Lok
Sabha polls", CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said at a party
rally here this evening.

With the electorate rejecting BJP's "communal policies", the people
would be increasingly reposing their faith in the Left, he claimed.

In the prevailing circumstances, it was the responsibility of Left
parties to live up to the expectations of the masses, he added.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.deccanherald.com/content/20543/muzzling-dissent.html

Muzzling dissent

'It is a sad commentary on a national party.'

It was not unexpected that the BJP would take action against senior
leader Jaswant Singh for his views on Muhammed Ali Jinnah and the
partition of India, expressed in his biography of the founder of
Pakistan. But the action came fast and soon, even before the party
leadership had, as Jaswant Singh has himself remarked, read the book.
But the views, a gist of which has already been made known, went
against the party’s and the RSS’ view of history. L K Advani had lost
his position as president of the party for an adulatory remark he made
on Jinnah while on a visit to Pakistan in 2005. Jaswant Singh’s
comments went beyond an off-the-cuff remark and were the result of
years of study of the events that led up to the partition of the
country and his assessment of the role of leaders and parties in it.

If Advani was only warned, Jaswant Singh has been summarily expelled
because he is not a ‘mass leader’ who can cause any damage to the
party in retaliation. But his expulsion is a sad commentary on the
style of functioning of a national party. Even if the BJP does not
agree with his point of view, the leadership should have shown the
maturity to allow a person of Jaswant Singh’s intellectual stature to
hold and articulate his stand point on historical events. The
democracy will be poorer if dissent or alternative views are sought to
be muzzled with a sledgehammer action, even without a debate or
discussion at the party forum. Admittedly, Singh had been on a
collision course with the leadership ever since the last Lok Sabha
elections and had even said in public that he did not know what
Hindutva was. He has always been considered a scholarly gentleman,
often uncomfortable in the political company that he had.

The action against Jaswant Singh shows that the party is unable to
disengage itself from an ideology based on a view of the past. Jaswant
Singh’s views are not new, and have been articulated by others. The
debate is likely to continue, but the BJP will not be part of it. For
that matter even the Congress does not accept any deviation from its
version and has condemned Jaswant Singh for his views. It’s ironical
that the BJP’s silencing of a critic has come from Shimla where senior
leaders are assembled for a ‘chintan baithak’ to look at the party’s
future and strategise for it.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://www.onlinenews.com.pk/details.php?id=150435

Banishment of Jaswant Singh exposes so called democratic face of
India

ISLAMABAD: Sectary General Pakistan Muslim league(Q) Mushahid Hussain
Syed said that banishment of jaswant Singh had exposed the actual face
of democratic India in the world adding democracy in India was more
bitter than dictator ship.

Talking to a private TV channel here on Wednesday, Sec General PML(Q)
said that the book written by Jaswant Singh should be published in the
country because it contained the facts about the events happened
during the partition and also about the founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-
Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah .

He held civil society in Pakistan and India was surprised over this
decision of BJP as party could not tolerate the truth about the Quaid-
e-Azam after 62 years as they torched the books and expelled him from
the party .

Mushahid further told that, few years back L .K Advani had visited
Pakistan and he also praised Quaid-E-Azam and was also forced to
resign from the party membership.

He maintained India claimed to be democratic country in the world but
democracy was nowhere seen therein. There was no difference between
democracy and dictatorship in India. This decision has exposed the
democratic face of so called democratic India .

Mushahid Hussain condemned the decision and called upon the
intellectuals in India to condemn it as well . He appreciated the role
of vajpaye government who started peace process between Pakistan and
India . He suggested that intellectuals of both the countries should
read this book as the writer had authored the book with free mind with
laying bare actual facts of partition.

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://news.in.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=3154005

...and I am Sid Harth

[Sid Harth]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/india/BJP-throws-book-at-Jaswant/articleshow/4912422.cms

BJP throws book at Jaswant
TNN 20 August 2009, 03:25am IST

NEW DELHI: Jaswant Singh's expulsion from the BJP may splinter the
ranks of the group of dissidents who had challenged the leadership in
the wake of the Lok Sabha poll debacle, but it is also seen as a
setback for Leader of Opposition L K Advani.

Jaswant's removal will make it difficult for his comrades Arun Shourie
and Yashwant Sinha to continue with their campaign against a whole set
of individuals holding important positions in the party. They are
unlikely to oppose the decision which has the support of the entire
party brass and should go down well with the core.

Sinha had publicly attacked Advani for seeking to re-appraise Jinnah
when the Leader of Opposition did not attack Jawaharlal Nehru or
Vallabhbhai Patel. Shourie is not known to be moderate on such
ideological issues either.

Otherwise too, the unity of the group appeared to be weakening after
Jaswant agreed to head Parliament's Public Account Committee.

But while the dissidents' campaign appeared to be aimed against
Advani, the latter can take little comfort from their current
troubles. For, the action against Jaswant on grounds that he strayed
from party's line on Jinnah, also marked a repudiation of the party
veteran's own re-evaluation of the founder of Pakistan.

Advani paid a price for deviating from the official line on Jinnah
with his presidentship of the party at the instance of RSS and party
leaders, many of whom he had mentored. But rehabilitation came fast
and both RSS and the party came around to support his failed bid for
the prime ministership in the Lok Sabha polls.

Naturally, BJP spokespersons on Wednesday had a tough time allaying
the perception that the party had used a harsher yardstick against
Jaswant. For his part, the expelled leader did not refute the
suggestion that Advani got off rather lightly. When asked about double
standards, he said, "Ask this question to Advani." Replying to another
question, he spoke of what he called the feeling of selectivity in
dealing with dissent and indiscipline.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said Advani's views were different
from Jaswant's.

But the very reminder of the fact that he was also guilty of
blasphemy, if of a milder degree, should create problems for Advani at
a time when he is being asked to step aside for the younger
generation. Those opposed to him are not going to mourn Jaswant's
departure.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4912945.cms

Jaswant's book holds little promise
TNN 20 August 2009, 02:41am IST


JAIPUR: Oops, he did again, say booksellers in the capital about the
now former BJP leader Jaswant Singh, whose book Jinnah: India,
Partition, Independence, ended his 29-year-old association with the
saffron party.

The book has generated a lot of curiosity in political circles and
everyone who is anyone wants to have a copy for himself, even if it
means keeping it in the library, says booksellers in the city. But
when it comes to sales that translates into profits and in turn
gaining a bestseller title, the book doesn't hold much promise in the
Pink City.

"Jinnah is a dead subject for the larger audiences and hence not a
selling proposition. It has an audience in the over 65-year-old
population, which is few in numbers. But with controversy surrounding
it, chances of brisk sales in the early days can't be ruled out," said
Col C S Kapoor (Retd), of Bookwise bookstore, who initially had
ordered just five books of which four have already been sold.

Two days after the launch, it's still a task to manage a copy as the
book hasn't reached the stores yet, but queries have been flowing in.
"We have people coming in and asking for the book, but all we can do
as of now is collect their numbers to inform them when the book
reaches us," says Girdhar Goyal of Crossword bookstore, who is
awaiting the lot of first 50 books to be delivered to him in a couple
of days.

And the controversy hasn't surprised the bookstore owners who are
unanimously of the opinion that politicians and actors go to any
limits before the release of their books to create hype around it.
"It's a worldwide phenomenon and Jaswant Singh is no exception. He did
a similar thing a couple of years ago with his book In Service of
Emergent India: A Call of Honour, but after a brisk business it did
initially the book sales went down and it was a damp squib," says
Mohit Batra of Rajat Book Store. Taking it further, Kapoor says, "The
subject of his last book had war and hijack ---- elements that
enthused even youngsters and hence the sales, but it is not the case
this time around."

Some are of the opinion that Jaswant Singh has mastered the art of
timing in creating a controversy. A book seller not willing to be
named says, "He released his last book when some momentum was
beginning to build up in the Indo-Pak talks, this time too Indo-Pak
issue on talks and security is in the news and here comes the book."

"Last time the hype did help building the initial sales, after selling
first few copies quickly, I could not manage to go beyond 35 books,"
adds Mohit who has placed an order of 10 copies to test the waters.

Well, whatever be the argument, they are keeping their fingers crossed
as far as sales go. "Let us hope the momentum remains and the book
does well," concludes Goyal.

...and I am Sid harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/4912949.cms

Mixed reaction to Jaswant's 'unceremonious' exit
TNN 20 August 2009, 02:48am IST

JAIPUR: His exit and that too unceremoniously was never anticipated,
not even by his political opponents. On Wednesday, when BJP president
Rajnath Singh declared the sacking of their MP from Darjeeling Jaswant
Singh, there was a mixed reaction from the state BJP leaders. While
some were shocked, others saw the writing on the wall for the former
foreign affairs minister after he wrote the pro-Jinnah book which was
released a couple of days ago.

Singh maintained that he doesn't regret his writing and even went to
the extent saying that, "I was the party's Hanuman, but treated like
Ravan." His supporters, though few in number, maintained that the
leader didn't deserve an ungraceful exit from the party he served for
three decades.

Singh managed to garner some support in his bastion Barmer, where some
local leaders by the end of the day mustered strength and came out in
his support. The Barmer district BJP spokesperson Badri Sharda said,
"It is unfortunate that one is shown the door for expressing his
personal views. Nowhere does it mention what he wrote was the party's
view then why expel him from the party."

Supporters like Sharda are few and, while everyone was discussing
Jaswant Singh's exit, nobody wanted to speak about it in the open. The
state BJP played the party's ideology card. When asked if as an
individual Singh was entitled to speak his mind out or not, a senior
party leader said, "Through his book he has objected to the very
ideology of Undivided India' that binds the BJP. Even if his
references to Jinnah can be ignored, targeting respected leader like
Patel cannot be forgiven." He further added, "Looking to his stature
the decision might be harsh but was in accordance to the act."

Backing the party's decision and looking jubilant were supporters of
the leader of Opposition Vasundhara Raje. One from the brigade said,
"This was going to happen sooner or later. In the past five years of
BJP rule, he had created a lot of rift between Raje and the party high
command and that wasn't in the interest of the party. And it's not
just the matter of this book; his acts against the previous state
government weren't less harmful. It's a right decision."

Singh's attempt to bring forth a different image of Jinnah also failed
to gain support from the Muslim community. Abdul Qayyum Akhter,
general secretary, All India Milli Council Rajasthan Chapter, when
asked about Singh's book said, "Well, we don't have to do anything
with Jinnah. He was founder of Pakistan and has no association with
us. Whatever Singh has written makes no difference to us here in
India."

With reactions as varied as this if this was right or not for Jaswant
Singh to write is something for the future to decide, but it certainly
is not a good sign for the party that is facing a torrid time in the
state.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/yesterdays-issues/504194/

Yesterday’s issues
The Indian Express

Posted: Thursday , Aug 20, 2009 at 0226 hrs

Of all the things that the Bharatiya Janata Party could be concerned
about at its chintan baithak, 1000-page works of history would, one
expects, be low on the list. The party has,

after all, lost consecutive general elections. Its leader is unlikely
to spearhead another general election campaign; and it has no
reasonable succession plan in place. One of its largest state units
has openly raised the banner of revolt. Its statements on major issues
— the economy, India’s foreign policy orientation — are guilty of
equivocation and muddle. But fear not, India! Your major opposition
party can unite for as long as it takes to throw out someone who’s
written about Jinnah with a bit of nuance.

The news about Jaswant Singh’s expulsion was a genuine tragedy. Not
just because it is sad to see anyone’s 30-year relationship with an
organisation end with a brusque phone call, or because Jaswant Singh
was one of the few members of the BJP’s second-rung central leadership
that occasionally attempted to articulate a genuinely right-of-centre,
genuinely sweeping, vision for the country. No, it is because it shows
that the BJP is simply unwilling to come to grips with its crisis. In
fact, the party appears, like a headless chicken running round in
circles, to be completely unaware about what the crisis actually is.
It is not a simple question of who is in charge. It is about how the
BJP can look like a party of government again — how it can modernise
itself. Today it looks outdated, antiquated, answering yesterday’s
questions by raising yesterday’s issues. And when an opportunity arose
to come together and delineate a common vision which could be used to
play a constructive role in opposition — and then be run on in the
next campaign — it decided instead to focus on a history book by the
MP from Darjeeling.

Where will politics go, said Singh after he was expelled, if “soch,
vichar and chintan” is devalued, if thoughtfulness is replaced with
Stalinist-style party-line cant?

“Reading, writing and publishing is entering a dark alley,” he added.
These are all valid concerns — though Singh himself cannot be absolved
of guilt in abetting the BJP’s unwillingness to take an intellectual
stand. Where was his principled opposition when the BJP betrayed its
foundational ideology to take an opportunistic stand against the Indo-
US nuclear deal? Then, as now: the BJP will suffer as long as it makes
a big deal of tiny issues, while being lazy, intellectually and
politically, about the big questions of our times.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Day-1--Jinnah--Sardar-top-BJP-agenda/504254

Day 1: Jinnah, Sardar top BJP agenda
Ashwani Sharma , Suman K Jha

Posted: Thursday , Aug 20, 2009 at 0348 hrs

Loh Purush and Chhote Sardar: Two reasons why BJP can’t take
Jaswant’s criticism of Patel
Out of the Parivar

In a move that shifted focus from the Chintan Baithak called to
discuss accounatbility for the election defeat and the ongoing tussle
for power, the BJP today expelled senior leader Jaswant Singh for his
praise of Pakistan founder Mohammed Ali Jinnah in a book which the
party claims sullies the image of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

The BJP top brass, after skipping the release in Delhi of Singh’s book
Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence, gathered in Shimla for a
three-day brainstorming session but their first act this morning was
to expel the former Union Minister who had held key portfolios in the
Vajpayee government.

Jaswant Singh was made to wait in his room at the Oberoi Cecil, not
far from the Baithak venue at the Peterhoff hotel. He was asked by BJP
president Rajnath Singh not to attend the Baithak and later informed
over telephone about his expulsion by the party parliamentary board.

“Kya karein, naseeb mein jab yahi likha tha (What can I do if this was
destined)... I got a call from Rajnath Singh who informed me about the
decision, but that’s hardly the way to treat someone who was once
described as Hanuman to Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Have I suddenly become
Ravan in today’s BJP?” Jaswant Singh told The Indian Express.

“Thirty years of my political life with the BJP and (being expelled)
on this note... saddened me and on the ground for writing a book, that
saddened me even more, immensely more... The day India starts
questioning thought, it starts questioning reading, writing,
publishing, we are entering a very very dark alley,” he said.

But the party parliamentary board was convinced that Jaswant deserved
“every bit of this punitive action”. After Rajnath Singh referred to
the statement he made in Delhi dissociating the party from Jaswant’s
book, the floor was thrown open to others. Murli Manohar Joshi, Vinay
Katiyar and S S Ahluwalia were among those who said that “every
attempt must be made to rid the party of any anti-Sardar Patel
stigma”.

Though not a board member, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who
models himself on Sardar Patel, also spoke, favouring firm action
against Jaswant. He took the lead by getting the book banned in
Gujarat. L K Advani, sources present at the meeting said, offered
“full support” to action against Jaswant because “this blasphemy,
committed by a senior party leader, could have cost the party dear in
the long run, especially from the Congress”.

While sources close to Rajnath claimed he had asked Jaswant to “delay
the launch of the book”, Jaswant confirmed that he had informed the
party president about the August 17 launch of the book and that he had
initially also expressed his inability to attend the conclave since it
was earlier scheduled to start August 17. Jaswant said he had also
sent copies of his book to Advani ahead of the launch.

“It is a warning that those interested in reading or writing or
researching would have no place here. Have they even read the book
before taking this action against me? If you try to throttle this
freedom, it is going to be dangerous for democracy. Expulsion is not
the end of politics. I am saddened by this, but I will neither appeal
against the decision nor ask for its review,” Jaswant Singh said.

Sources, however, said that after some plain-speaking from RSS chief
Mohan Bhagwat yesterday, the controversy over Jaswant’s new book
served the party “just fine”.

“Bhagwat raised a number of uncomfortable questions for the BJP brass.
Also, this conclave was convened essentially to discuss the party’s
loss in elections and issues like accountability in the running of the
party, raised by Jaswant, others like Arun Shourie and Yashwant Sinha.
The conclave will now be remembered more for Jaswant’s expulsion from
the party,” said a senior party leader.

Questions were already being asked “why Jaswant was targeted when
Advani too had made some observations about Jinnah during his Pakistan
visit in 2005... which were not in sync with the party’s views”. Many
BJP leaders countered that “Advani had never questioned Jinnah’s role
in Partition”, that he had never brought “disrepute to Patel”.

Party sources said Jaswant had an inkling of what was in store for him
after Rajnath’s public statement in Delhi and that’s why he checked in
at the Oberoi Cecil and not the Peterhoff where he was supposed to
stay with other leaders.

...and I am Sid Harth

[bademiyansubhanallah]

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C08%5C20%5Cstory_20-8-2009_pg7_37

‘Party leaders yet to read my book’

* Jaswant says his book describes Jinnah’s misdeeds in addition to
praiseworthy actions

By Iftikhar Gilani

NEW DELHI: Expelled Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Jaswant Singh
said on Wednesday that people who had not even read “Jinnah - India,
Partition, Independence”, had cancelled his membership.

An emotional Singh told journalists he had been concerned the book
might set Pakistan on fire and it was unfortunate that it had instead
propelled India into trouble. He said the book described Quaid-e-Azam
Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s misdeeds in addition to his praiseworthy
actions, adding Jinnah was described as the perpetrator of the
Calcutta killings. Describing his expulsion from the BJP as “saddening
and regrettable”, Singh said he would not appeal the decision. He also
made it clear that he did not regret writing the book and stood by
whatever had been written on the “painful period of history”.

Singh said party President Rajnath Singh had called him in the morning
and warned him against attending the brainstorming session. He said he
had sent an advance copy of his book to Advani, adding there was no
reaction of a possible expulsion at the time. The book, he said, was a
personal viewpoint, and had nothing to do with the BJP.

Minor role: Meanwhile, sources said the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh
(RSS) – the patron body of the BJP – had played a role in Singh’s
exit. BJP President Rajnath Singh met RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and
discussed some of the recent acts of “indiscipline” committed by
Jaswant Singh. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar had recently appointed
Singh as chairman of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Lok
Sabha on the BJP’s suggestion. The announcement has already been
posted on the Lok Sabha website and the only way to resolve this
matter is if Singh resigns as chairman of the PAC or from his Lok
Sabha membership.

...and I am Sid Harth