538 Part 2 of L.K. Advani's utterances, भाग २ श्री ऎल् के अद्वानी के भाषण భాగం ౨ శ్రీ ఎల్ కే అద్వానీ గారి భాషణలు, వ్రాతలు.

Mr. L.K. Advani is a very Senior leader of BJP, who has dedicated his life to his party. He has also served India very faithfully as its Information & Broadcasting Minister during the 1st Janata Experiment, Home Minister and Dy. Prime Minister, during the 1999-2004 Shining India, BJP Rule of Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Advani is BJP's father figure along with Vajpayee and Murali Manohar Joshi.

World Language English, Latin Script

Whatever I am writing here in this particular blog post is tentative, pending receipt of reactions of readers, and other stakeholders in political blogs.

On the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of Imposition of Internal Emergency in India, Mr. L.K. Advani, in an interview with Indian Express, was reported to have said:

"...India’s political system is still to come to terms with the Emergency and a similar suspension of civil liberties could not be ruled out in the future. ..."

"...At the present point of time, the forces that can crush democracy, notwithstanding the constitutional and legal safeguards, are stronger. ..."

"... I don’t think anything has been done that gives me the assurance that civil liberties will not be suspended or destroyed again. Not at all. ..."

"...Of course, no one can do it easily... But that it cannot happen again — I will not say that. It could be that fundamental liberties are curtailed again. ..."

"... I do not see any sign in our polity that assures me, any outstanding aspect of leadership. A commitment to democracy and to all other aspects related to democracy is lacking. ..."

"...Today, I do not say that the political leadership is not mature. But kamiyon ke karan, vishwas nahin hota (I don’t have faith because of its weaknesses). I don’t have the confidence that it (Emergency) cannot happen again. ..."

"...It happened despite the constitutional safeguards that were in place. “There aren’t enough safeguards in India in 2015. ..."

" ...as it happened in Germany, where Hitler’s rule appears to have inoculated the system against Hitlerian tendencies and because of which today’s Germany is more particular about democratic norms than even perhaps the British. ..."

" ...The aftermath of the Emergency having been an election in which the party that imposed the Emergency lost very badly, would always be a deterrent for future rulers who think of repeating what was done in the 1970s. ..."

"...Media is 'more independent today, but does it have a real commitment to democracy and civil liberties — I don’t know. It is something that must be put to the test. ... And civil society raised hopes, most recently during the Anna mobilisation against corruption, only to disappoint. ..."

" ...Of the various institutions that are to be held responsible for a well functioning democracy in India today, the judiciary is more responsible than the others. ..."

ybrao-a-donkey's humble views वैबीराव एक गधे के विनम्र राय వైబీరావ్ గాడిద వినమ్ర వ్యక్తిగత అభిప్రాయాలు

It is not clear whether Mr. L.K. Advani meant that internal emergencies may again be imposed, if Congress again comes into power. Or did he mean to say that there is a possibiility of imposition of internal emergency, even during BJP's rule?

I have tried to gauge the reactions of netizens on Social Media sites. There seems to be a view among netizens that Mr. Advani's views need not be given much value, as he is speaking/writing with frustration, having been sidelined by the emergence of Mr. Narendra Modi as the supreme leader of Indian Nation.

I have tried to check up at the website of Shri Advani. Surprisingly, I found that there is not much about what he has personally said/written after the 2014 election. For those who wish to have a look at the website of Mr. L.K. Advani, here is the link: Click to go to lkadvani.in . Last published blog on the site was of April 2014 (before General election). There seems to be some calculated silence /deliberate abstinence from writing and reticence.

The presented indication about possibility of an internal emergency as a part of interview with Indian Express, in connection with the 40th anniversary of the Congress imposed 1975 emergency, may either be a slip of tongue as opportunities of interviews become infrequent after a person loses power and is at the mercy of some other person, --- or an outpouring of suppressed feelings for about 13 months or so. (Explanation: After election of Mr. Narendra Modi as PM, and Mr. Ameet Shah as BJP President, Advani was rarely asked to speak on either Govt. platforms, or on party platforms. Media might have approached him very rarely for his interviews and to elicit his views, because he was no longer a person capable of rewarding, or punishing, or accelerating, or obstructing media. Media lives on advertising and paid news. Indian Express.Com may be an exception. )

Whatever Mr. L.K. Advani has recently said about internal emergency like conditions, his views are not direct, they are all veiled. Why? He may still have some last hopes on becoming a RASHTRAPATI. Or that, events may change to his favour.

Though an internal emergency has not been officially declared in 2015 India, some elements similar to 1975 emergency, have already crept in, whether they have been at the behest of the Government , or on volition of the leaders, bureaucrats, instituions, media, people themselves.

During our school days, essay contests used to be held in schools. One of the topics used to be: Is pen mightier or sword mightier? (Or) Pen is mightier than sword. Teachers expected that students would invariably write and try to prove that pen is mightier than sword. In one of such contests, I wrote that money is mightier both than pen and sword. The teacher who evaluated the essay papers called me next day, and counselled me. In spite of brainwashing by my teacher, my view didn't change. Even today I hold the view that money is mightier both than pen and sword.

I believe that it was Advani who said that in 1975 emergency, we kneeled, where it was just sufficient that we slightly bent. In 2015, we are again kneeling, unless we are 100% sure that nobody is seeing us. My readers who want to satisfy themselves on how far we are kneeling, can have look at Door Darsan, or listen to All India Radio. They will know that 1975 days are back again.

If we have to compare the craze for publicity of Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi, and Mr. Narendra Modi, whom we shall vote for? If we have to compare the authoritarian tendencies of Late Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Mr. Narendra Modi, whom shall we vote for?

Trigger for my today's this blog post. An article titled "Jai Jawan" -the Governor General's Files, by Shri S.K. Sinha, Former Vice Chief of Army Staff, former Governor of Assam and Kashmir. This article is worth reading, whether we agree with all that was written by Mr. Sinha in it. Link: Click to go to SK Sinha's article in Deccan Chronicle dated 1.7.2015.

The article is very informative about some of the events connected to apolitical and non-interfering role played by our army in the 1975 emergency period.

We should be grateful to Gen. T.N. Raina, the then Army Chief, for his impartiality and his independent outlook, and above all his unwillingness to intervene or interfere, into affairs of civil governance.

Earlier, in one of my blog posts, I wrote about the instigative speeches made by Messrs. Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L.K. Advani (about which a CD of their speeches in U.P. was in circulation as evidence) which have culminated in the destruction of Babri Masjid in 1992.

Mr. Vajpayee's role in 1942 Quit India Movement is also under shrouds, without adequate investigations.

Notwithstanding both the above, Mr. Vajpayee was conferred Bharat Ratna, and Mr. Advani was conferred Padma Vibhushan. Of course, when compared to many others, who received Bharata Ratnas and Padma Vibhushans, all these years, both Vajpayee and Advani may well deserve these awards. Yet, there is a need to have a detailed CBI investigation into their instigative role in the destruction of Babri Masjid and Vajpayee's role in Quit India Movement. I heard that a case is pending in UP courts filed by a former CPM MP about Mr. Vajpayee in Quit India Movement. That case is to be brought to a logical conclusion, and if Mr. Vajpayee comes out innocent, then he will become a purer gold emerging after facing fires of a goldsmith.

Here is a very important quote from Mr. S.K. Sinha's article.

"...I came across a well-written pamphlet titled “A tale of two democracies”. It discussed how Hitler, the elected Chancellor of the Weimar Republic of Germany, had subverted the Constitution and imposed Emergency. The German generals, being apolitical, did not interfere. Had they intervened, Hitler could be removed and the world saved the great holocaust of the Second World War. It compared Indira Gandhi’s Emergency to Hitler’s Emergency, implying that if Indian generals did not act, India may face a catastrophe. It was a virtual call for intervention by the Army. I immediately informed the government and ensured that no copy of this booklet was allowed to circulate amongst Army personnel. I discovered later that the author of this booklet was L.K. Advani, then in prison in Bangalore. ...."

Full text of Advani's "The Tale of two Democracies" pamphlet quoted by S.K. Sinha is not available for an in depth study. Prima facie, the sentence->

"...It compared Indira Gandhi’s Emergency to Hitler’s Emergency, implying that if Indian generals did not act, India may face a catastrophe. ..."

indicates that Advani wanted Indian General's to intervene, to stop Indira Gandhi's autocratic rule. Fortunately, they have not intervened or interfered.

Howsoever bleak and hopeless the emergency days were, if the pamphlet was genuine, it was very very foolish on the part of Mr. Advani to expect that Army should intervene. When placed in jail, he might have lost his mental balance TEMPORARILY.

I request my readers to study the article of Shri S.K. Sinha, in the Deccan Chronicle link provided above.

Mr. S.K. Sinha is a great, well-decorate former Army high-ranked Official. A donkey like me has no right to doubt his credential. Yet, my restless conscience tells me, that Mr. Sinha's article may not be a total self-less expression of opinion. This is because, he has not written anything, about what is happening in 2015 India.

(To continue सशेष ఇంకా ఉంది.).