What is the programme before this Government? Or what are the issues on which we are going to run the nation in the coming days? I really feel that times are grave, we have reached a perilous point in our history. I do not want to be a prophet of doom because I know that because of cultural heritage, civilization and vitality of our people we can overcome all the difficulties with cohesion and hard work. But we have to find the areas of agreement, not areas of confrontation and conflict. This is true for all the countries which are fighting against poverty, squalor, misery and disease. This is true for the whole world and not only for this sub-continent. This is why I say that at this moment we should try to agree to work together on specific issues.
I shall like to keep aside the manifestoes of all the political parties. Today, can't we agree on three, four, five points where we can say that we shall work together in order to retrieve the situation? For that a new political climate has to be created in this country and that political climate can be initiated by understanding each other's problems, each other's aspirations. I want everybody's cooperation, everybody's support. If you want me to express my political philosophy I am not a progressive I am a conservative and as a conservative, I do not change every day. My philosophy is the same as when I was being called a Young Turk. And there is no alternative before this country, because we are a scarce resource society. If the resources are limited, we have to decide how to use our resources. We have to decide what is our asset and what is our strength.Above all there are more than 85 crore people in this country, who have got the strength to bring prosperity and progress to this nation. What has been our fault ? We have not been able to provide opportunity for these people, unfortunate people, who are ready to work hard, to utilise their strength for producing more. How can we do it? In a democratic society we cannot force them to work. We have to create will power. by assuring them that what they produce will not go for the ostentatious living of the chosen few but for meeting their basic needs. we will have to invest in Man Child is the strength of today and hope of tomorrow. Every child who is born has the right to get from the society clean drinking water, necessary calories to develop as a healthy citizen, elementary education and primary health service and when he grows into a citizen, 18 years of age, he should not be discriminated on the basis of caste, creed and religion. If you take these five points as our manifesto, as our destination, as our goal, is there any difference in this House ? But we will have to make many changes in our approach towards the economic problem, towards the social problem. If the country is poor, every section of the society will have to share this poverty. It cannot be that the toiling masses will be called upon to go on making sacrifices. Poverty will have to be shared by those who are the privileged. If the privileged want to cooperate with me, they should learn to make sacrifice in order to make the people, our poorer sections, happier and richer.
I want to assure that I may make any compromise but not on the question of the dignity of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
Minorities all over the world feel apprehensive.I shall ask those who say that there should be no discrimination between the minority and the majority, why did the founders of our Constitution insert minority (safeguards) in our Constitution? Minorities all over the world, whether they are religious minorities or ethnic minorities or linguistic minorities, react in a sharp way because they have apprehension and fear in their minds. If we go by dictionary meaning of what they say, we shall always reach a wrong political decision. We should try to understand their aspiration. We should try to understand their apprehension, we should try to understand that they have a psychology, a psyche in which they feel insecurity, about their prosperity and about their future. It is the responsibility of the nation, it is the responsibility of the State and more so the responsibility of the majority community to see that this fear is alleviated from their mind. This we will have to do.
In the matter of religion everybody is free. Secularism does not mean that we should discard religion. Religion is an instrument of communion between man and God.
We should be proud of our religious heritage in this country. I am a Hindu. I am proud of Rama; I am proud of Krishna; I am proud of the Vedas and of our Aryan civilisation. But equally I am proud of the contribution made by other religions which came to this country. And it is the superiority of the Hindu religion over others (that) we have compassion and tolerance. If this tolerance and compassion go, the Hindu religion will lose its power, its superiority over all other religions.
I am not against building (a) temple (in Ayodhya). It is an emotive issue In the birth place of Rama there should be a temple, magnificent, glorious, as big as we can. But I shall appeal to my friends that in their enthusiasm to build (the) temple, do not try to demolish the mosque... I assure you that I shall cooperate in every way to build the temple. But the only thing is, assure the Muslim community that their pride, their self-respect will not be hurt.
In this house and in the other House many a time I have seen people taking an extreme view. But parliamentary democracy means dialogue, discussion, trying to persuade each other to come to some understanding. This is the essence of parliamentary democracy.
My understanding with Advaniji or BJP is that I consider Advaniji to be a patriot. I do not agree with his thinking about the social and political life of this country. And I shall go on appealing to Mr. Advani and his colleagues and tell them that the country cannot afford to have confrontation, the country cannot indulge in fighting with each other. I am sorry for what happened in Ayodhya. Nobody wants that even a single man should die. I assure you that even if a single man or woman dies in this country, I feel that a son or daughter of Mother India has died.
Death is death, whether (it) comes by the knife of a rioter or by the bullet of the police. There is no difference. I cannot say that death by rioting is wrong and death by police bullet is good. But, sometimes, the State has to perform unpleasant duties. If sometimes (a) decision has to be (taken) in order to protect the lives of thousands, in order to protect millions from going in the street and killing each other, if some action has to be taken it is with regret. But the responsibility is not that of the State, this responsibility should be shared by all those who are concerned. Whoever can contribute to peace, whoever can contribute to understanding I shall go and knock at his door. If the Muslim community agrees to build the temple on the very spot where the mosque is, I shall be too glad. But this should be with common consent. It should be by mutual understanding. It should not be forced on them. I shall appeal, again to the religious leaders of the Muslim community and also of the Hindu community that they should sit together and try to find a solution. Let us not politicise this issue. This is not a political issue. This is a human issue. This is an issue which is going to have its bearing on history for times to come.
In the name of religion please do not kill each other, that is antithesis of religion, that is against religion, whether it is Islam. Hinduism, Christianity or any other religion Traditions should be respected unless and until they come in the way of progress. My friend Prof. Madhu Dandavate was kind enough to refer about my stand taken at the time of (Operation) Blue Star I did not make any big statement. When some pressmen asked me, I just said, I still remember that sentence .It is unfortunate that we had to send (the) army to the Golden Temple and (we had) better withdraw it soon There were comments all over the country. Editorials were written against me. Political leaders came against me heavily and not only Rajivji who subsequently became Prime Minister but even the leaders of my own party condemned me I might have criticised Rajivji and the Congress. He might have criticised me elections at this moment Will bring disaster to this country. In all humility I shall like to say that I want cooperation from everybody. What has happened in Kashmir? When Rajiv Gandhi left. At least 25-30 per cent people were openly associating themselves with India. When our Government came, the first thing I got from the newspapers was that Mr. Jagmohan was going to be appointed as Governor. I wrote a slip to the Home Minister saying: "It will be a disaster, don't do it. I tried to persuade the Home Minister that we have gone all over the world telling that there is an autocratic regime in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, we have got an elected Government. Rigging in the elections was known (to) Mr. Mufti when he became the Home Minister! When he was in the Congress, he never remembered about the rigging. Is it the way to run a nation? I assure you and the whole country that no compromise will be made about the integrity and sovereignty of the nation, whatever the consequences ... The Government of India is not so helpless. And if the Government of India ;is sitting helplessly, there is no right for any of us to remain here, even for a minute. It is not the question of prejudice. It is not the question of challenging anybody. It is the question of discharging our duty ...
... I cannot be a puppet. I have not seen a person who can use me as a puppet ... But .... I am not going to condemn those people who have come to support me, to help me in an hour of crisis, not my crisis, but the crisis of the nation and those who stand up to support me. I am grateful to them and I acknowledge that support ... If occasion comes, I shall go to the doors of my worst critics. But I assure you, whether you are a criticor a supporter, don't try to remove me from the path which I have charted for myself ... To use an Urdu complete ...:
"मेरे कदम के साथ है मँजिल लगी हुई, मँजिल जहाँ नहीं बहाँ मेरे कदम नहीं!"
... I know my destinatin, I know my goal. if I cannot go to the goal, I am not (taking a ) path just for the courtesy of a walker walking all alone. Societies move forward only because of dissent and protest. If dissent and protest (are) not allowed, .... the society will stagnate