IILM Founder's Day Lecture in memory of Smt. Indira Gandhi-2009
By Dr. Farooq Abdullah
K.V. Rajan: .during the week when the delegation went from one place to another, that was the turning point on the appreciation in Britain at every level all of whom were blissfully ignorant about the problem of terrorism. At that time it was not even fashionable to talk about terrorism as posing a threat to secularism and democracy. For the first time people sat back and took notice and ever since then there has been better and better understanding of Indias honest and transparent attempts to deal with issues democratically.
When Dr Farooq Abdullah became the Chief Minister of J&K, we from London decided to bring in a parliamentary delegation of people who were extremely skeptical about India, fed on a whole lot of propaganda and they were considered totally hardened converts to the point of view that India was totally wrong on Kashmir. We brought them to Kashmir, gave them the opportunity to meet everyone, those who were underground, etc. When they went back they had a press conference at the airport on their arrival because they were so impatient to tell the world about what they have discovered and what the truth was. They made an appeal from the Heathrow airport to the international medium, saying the fact that Pakistan is sending a whole lot of young people to a senseless and terrible end in Kashmir for no conceivable purpose at all. The subject that Dr Farooq Abdullah has chosen today is very appropriate. It is a Peaceful Kashmir and a Prosperous India.
Dr Farooq Abdullah: Ambassador Rajan, ladies and gentlemen. I would have loved to speak in Hindi but probably some of them will not understand. Im grateful to all of you for having me invited here particularly because it is in remembrance of Mrs Indira Gandhi. I have had a strange relationship with Mrs Gandhi. Nothing new. There were ups and downs and that is what politicians go through. But I was a doctor and I was a different man. I thought politics was a gentlemans game. I only realized a bit late that you have to be little rasculous to survive in politics. The problem between the subject is extremely difficult. Responsibility lies on this nation because we are not a small nation. When he was the Ambassador, we had the largest number of members of Parliament who were friends of India because they were convinced that India wants peace not only with its neighbours in with the world itself. While it is developing nuclear technologies and nuclear weapons, they are not for attack. This is just to show other people that we can be hard if need be.
Where did we fail? When you talk about prosperous India, I think you should divide India into two sectionsthe rich India and the poor India. There are places in India which are still very far behind after 60 years. Do not visualize India by Gurgaon, Noida, New Delhi, or cities in Punjab and Haryana or Mumbai or any big towns. Visualize India which actually lives in the village. Even after 60 years they do not have clean drinking water, electricity, and two square meals. Why is it that there is such disparity? I went to Arunachal Pradesh the other day to talk about the renewed energy that I wanted to give to the villagers. It will take a long time to get grid connectivity. So, at least they will have two lights in their home from solar energy and have micro hydel projects in their place or have biogas projects. When I went there and saw their capital, you will not believe. I thought what a shitty place this is. God has given such beauty and how we have destroyed that beauty. My officers feel that if you are posted to such areas, it is a punishment posting. Unless those officials have the commitment which they may not see, we will never be able to change. Today we are thinking of making roads there because the Chinese are on the border.
Sometimes I thank God that Kashmir is in our border so we have roads in Kashmir else they would have been never made. Tragedy lies within us. If you want prosperity, you have to carry this prosperous India not only from these big cities, you have to carry it to the villages. They have politicians, they have budget, what happens to that budget? Is nobody accountable? I have been the Chief Minister for 18 years. I dont understand how the hell they steal money? Prosperity of India should be viewed by the prosperity of the villagers.
Today in Haryana, still they do not allow a girl child to survive. We think a girl is the Lakshmi. I think a father who does not have a girl child is the most unfortunate father. We made medical machines for the good of the people but we use them for wrong purposes. We start finding out what the sex of the child going to be. When the petrol price rises, we all get out. But do we rise and say that we should all unite to fight these people who are doing these crimes? NO. That is where we feel frustrated. Unless young politicians come in and you take the task of running this country, dont expect changes to come. The guidance of the older people have to be taken at times, but you need young who can run. India will only rise when you young will only rise and take the task of building the nation which will be equal for all where there will be no difference whether you are a Hindu or Muslim but just an Indian. How does it hurt me when you say Im a Maharashtrian. You are an India. But it hurts me when you say Biharis cant work here.
I saw in Arunachal that not a single shop is run by a Arunachali man. He doesnt work. The woman works. She does all the work in the world. The man only drinks the wonderful wine that the wife makes. The shops are so lousy and all the shops are either run by Bengalis or Assamese and the workers are Bangladeshis. For 60 years they have no tax at all. Yet that is backward. Where lies the fault? Prime Minister Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Morarjee, Rajiv Gandhi, and now Manmohan Singh ji went but why is it that things havent moved? The young should go and look and do research. India is not all that bad. India has the glorious side also but the glory gets marred sometimes with these things. We were beggars. We used to beg from America for food. They used to send us the most rotten stuff. But we still had to eat because we were not producing enough. Then came the iron lady. Nehru brought industrial revolution. I remember his speech as a child, that he made when he opened Bhakra Nangal. He said these are our temples for today and tomorrow. Mrs Gandhi on the other hand brought in Green Revolution and that we became a nation that was supplying food to the rest of the world. She was one who took a very tough decision when East Bengal, a part of Pakistan asked for freedom. She took the decision of going out and helping them. Then came a time when the very nation we created to build became one of our enemies.
Mrs Indira Gandhi was very elegant and always fit. She was a very lively woman. She also enjoyed jokes of his secretaries. When I came back from Pakistan, she asked me about my trip. When I said Bhutto sent his love to her, Mrs Gandhi had a broad smile. I said, he also told that the talks will be resumed in August. She asked for her secretary P.N. Dhar to note the month and prepare for the talk. She has the moments of toughness in her and moments of mothers love in her. As far as Kashmir is concerned and particularly Pakistan, it is a very difficult situation. Pakistan will not rest unless some sort of a concession is granted so that their leadership can survive. For 60 years they have been telling Kashmir is their life line. It is extremely difficult for their leadership to suddenly turn around. The only man who had the guts to do so is Bhutto but he was eliminated by the army and the second person was the army general himself who said no plebiscite. But let us find a solution which is workable, which we will accept and people of India will accept and people of J&K will accept.
But we lost two years. In those two years he was knocked off by the judge. Today you have a government that is trotting which does not have much of strength. Over the years the army has built an organization and America is responsible for that. In order to get rid of Russians they funded the organization which was totally a militant organization where Pakistani soldiers trained them, where money was sent in tons, where latest machineries were sent in huge numbers to knock Russia out. I went to America and met the Congressional Committee heads, foreign affair, committee chief and in discussions, he shows me the globe and says, two-third is America. I could not understand what he meant. But when I came back I realized how right he is. Two-thirds of this world is puppets of America. I asked him why they are going for Iraq? Why are they not fighting for other cause like for Palestinians instead? He said, Dr. Abdullah, they have the wealth. As far as Palestine is concerned, we have to save the druce. Therefore, dont talk on this. We first think of America, this was his last words to me. If I ask an Indian, he should say India is first than rest of the world. Thats the India I want to see. I asked Mrs Gandhi why she made SAARC? She said, Europe was becoming one and youll soon see one economy, multiple nations with one path.
I want to see India and its neighbours in the same position, growing together stronger. But only tragedy hit us and that is of Kashmir. SAARC would have been one of the most important things that could ever happen to this region. How do we solve the problem of Kashmir? Is it developmental problem, or a political problem? How do you see it? It is easy to say that Kashmir is ours but how many of you feel in your hearts that it is yours? Because of terrorism you never go there. You are afraid that youll die? Is death written only in Kashmir for a person? Unless it comes in your hearts that it is ours and you meet people and you have contact with them, youll never make feel Kashmir a part of India. I dont blame Pakistan because from day one they went and could not anything at my fathers time because he was too strong.
It is only when I came to power and Mrs Gandhi took the first step of dismissing me from the government. I was not or am a Khalistani nor a Pakistani or an American agent. These labels were struck to me. I bought those labels and said time will show what I am. In my heart it is only India written. But we need to understand the people of the other side also. They have a problem. Their leadership live alone. Their army needs an enemy to survive in power. We are not their enemy but they have to show their enemy is India. They do not realize that it not Hindu India, it is a secular India where every Indian has the same right. But how do you change? They have tasted power. When Rajan went to Nepal, I warned him that Pakistanis are transporting Kashmiris with full weapons to Kathmandu and they are everywhere. It is a Hindu nation and they became more friendly with Pakistan. Kashmir is part of new dimension.
I as Chief Minister tried my best to see that the foreign money that flows could be stopped. To my utter surprise, the government of India could do nothing. That money continues to come to destroy India. Im glad that the government of India has taken a new stand which has to be played very carefully. There are agencies will not want peace because money coming is not accountability. Kashmir has become an area where you can go with empty trunks and come back with full trunks. You think Pakistani army will want peace with India? The real government in Pakistan is the army. Unless the Americans put pressure on the army to behave, peace will never come. Our fate lies in what Manmohan Singh today does because peace is very essential for any development of the nation. Unless we play our game properly and we make our country strong, do not depend on others. It is you that will matter for tomorrows India. We may have failed but we look to you. Probably you may take it out. It is not easy to have peace. Some of the decision you take may be painful but they have to be taken. We politicians must understand that sometimes we have to think of the nation. I have seen the Kargil war myself and how our Air Force fought it. We are not a weak nation. Do not undermine us but we are not a grabbing nation. When Qayyum was in trouble in Maldives during Rajiv Gandhis time, our troops went and as soon as the order was restored, we came back. We could have captured Maldives forever. But we are not a grabbing nation. We never fired a shot and started a war ever. We are always at the receiving end. Therefore, as far as Kashmir is concerned, you should have an understanding between all political parties to coming to a settlement within our constitutional rights.
Finally, I would like to tell you that India has enemies within itself. We have naxalites, Maoists, etc but we have to resolve that we have to live together. We are a diverse nation. I went to Mecca and washed the walls of the mosque and I did not see god in that mosque. God is within you. I want to see India as when I see Rajan I see my God and when he sees in my eyes he sees his god. That is the India I wish to see one day before I dieas one. Remove bitterness. Let us pray and hope that we will have a prosperous India. It will happen. In Arunachal, there are 26 tribes speaking different languages but what is common is, they all speak Hindi and they are all Indians. That hurts you. I pray that one day the same thing will happen in Kashmir and all will understand that our destiny lies with India and that is the only way forward for Kashmir. We want friendship with Pakistan and open the roads for tourists to visit us. It is love you have to build. May god give us the opportunity to see a healthy, prosperous and happy India with Kashmir as the crown of India. Thank you.
Ques: Your family has always been in politics and played a role for the betterment of Kashmir. There is no place where people can go for entertainment. There is no PVR or KFC. Are the people there not entitled of what we get?
Dr Farooq Abdullah: When the Islamic movement started, they burnt all the girls school as they are now doing in Pakistan. Thank god that period is over now. They also tried to shoot girls who wore jeans. The girls fought but they were told to wear burqa. Our people fought that. There was a time during 90s when there was a very primitive Islamic movement when they tried to destroy everything that was modern. Luckily we survived that. I wanted to make a casino in the tourist place to earn revenues for my schools and hospitals. But I had to stop because I lost the election. I forced to open the Broadway cinemas but since it was in the cantonment area, it had to close down. You cannot get recent movies in CDs but you get everything smuggled and get them in lousy prints. There is the Neelam cinema, the only cinema hall. Malls are coming up. Change will happen.
Major Gen. Wadhwa: I was posted in Uni sector in the 1971 war. My Indian Brigade Commander at that time was the one born in Karachi and the Pakistani Brigade Commander was the one born in Jalandhar. We used to have staff meeting once a month and the talks were, get the photographs of the Karachi school where I used to study and the Pakistani would say if you get Lovely sweets in that lane of Jalandhar, please get them for me. We used to exchange all these notes and while leaving, hug each other and we went to the extent that my commander said to his Pakistani counterpart that he would fire in the evening and that Pakistani Commander should remove his troops to safety on the other side.
Ques: You mentioned about necessary concessions which one should work upon to have more understanding with Pakistan. Could you perhaps in a nutshell specify your point of view.
Dr Farooq Abdullah: There are certain things I cannot specify. Those will emerge as the talks would go on. We should leave as the talks would build. But there are concessions that India can easily give and there are conditions which Pakistan can easily give. It is the question of meeting of minds. There are ways of building bridges and the Prime Minster is extremely eager as Vajpayee was. It is important for both nations to work for peace because there lies the prosperity of both nations and the people. The Al Qaidas target is not Afghanistan; it is right through the entire area till Morocco. America has to talk to them to bring them on board. You cannot have the government in India or in Pakistan without the faith of the people.
Ques: You are heading a very important ministry of renewable energy. What directions are you planning to give yourself and the other one is that Kashmir is a very important tourist destination but it is environmentally in a total decline. There is so much of garbage all along those mountains. Is anybody doing anything for it?
Dr. Abdullah: As far as renewable energy is concerned, Im using the solar panel to charge my batteries. Almost 40% of India is still in darkness. We are trying to use maximum of solar energy to give every house two lights to start with. The light the village along the street that they walk. At the same time, wherever possible, we are putting micro hydels so that they can light the entire village and have small machines as we installed in a village in Ladakh to do carpentry work; remove husk from barley; and to ground oil from seeds. We are also trying for biomass in many regions in a big way. The rice after it is cut, the left over is collected by the villagers and they earn Rs 2000 per day and that is burnt to produce electricity. I have just inaugurated two in Punjab and they have 29 to be built and 14.5 MW of power was made there.
To improve the environment, we are trying to use ethanol that can be mixed with petroleum product. It started in 2006 with 5% ethanol and in 2007 with 10% ethanol, but that was not done. So, last year it was decided by the government of India to make it a compulsion by these companies to use 5% ethanol this year and 1o% next year. If they dont, the penal causes were so heavy that they would suffer. Wind power is another one that is the major thrust at this time. We are producing nearly 11000 MW of wind power and every year we will add 2000 more. We are trying to generate wind power in Vaisho Devi from the excreta of horses that go there.
We are using lot of panels for water heating through solar power. Dal Lake was dying. It has now got a boost over that have come from Finland costing 4 crore each. These will pull out the weeds from the base. There is a programme to lift the people living in the Dal out of the Dal and settle them around the Dal to work.
As far as the filth is concerned, that is because we must make people aware. How much will the government do> It is the people who have to change. See the hospitals in Srinagar. You will be ashamed that they open the window and eat fruit and throw the skin out. If we the people do not wake up, the government cannot enforce everything. We have to change to clean our house. Unless we realize that the government property is my property, my tax, we cannot develop. You agitate and burn a government bus. Do you ever realize that the bus belongs to me because I paid the tax for that? That is the tragedy. Unless we realize this, it will take a long time for us to change. Thank you.
Concluding Note: It is very difficult to say anything after this presentation. When I was in IIFT, I have heard several times to Omar Abdullah because at that time he was the Minister of Commerce and visited our campus often. Now I understand where from he got his oratory and the passion, obviously from the father. Sir, you said that politics is not for the gentlemen but so long as there are people like you in politics there will always be a future for India. On behalf of our IILM fraternity, I express my sincere thanks to you to be here and deliver the lecture on the memory of Mrs Indira Gandhi on the Founders Day. Thank you.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment