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My
Country My Life presents L.K. Advani's memoirs in five phases. |
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Phase
One (1927-47) describes Advani’s early life
in Sindh, narrating the heart-rending story of India’s blood-soaked
partition into two separate countries — India and Pakistan —
when Britain’s colonial rule came to an end. He was one of the
millions of people who migrated from Pakistan to India — and
also from India to Pakistan. After giving a fascinating socio-spiritual
history of Sindh, Advani describes his life at home and school in
Karachi (which he |
calls his ‘favourite
city’). He also writes about two transformative influences on
his life: the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a nationalist organization
which he joined as a swayamsevak (volunteer) at the age of
14, and Swami Ranganathananda, head of the Ramakrishna Math in Karachi
and an erudite exponent of the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda whom
Advani first met in Karachi.
Excerpts
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Phase
Two (1947-57) deals with Advani’s life as an
RSS pracharak (organiser) in Rajasthan and as an activist
of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. He says: “This phase gave me my
grounding in public life and politics. It also steeled my resolve
to live a spartan and disciplined life that is dedicated to the ideology
and idealism of my organisation.” An important section in this
phase deals with the mutually respectful relationship between Mahatma
Gandhi and the RSS. Advani |
convincingly
counters the vile propaganda by the Indian Left that the RSS was behind
the assassination of the Mahatma in January 1948.
Excerpts
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Phase
Three (1957-77) deals with Advani’s evolution
as a political leader in New Delhi. 'I was asked,' he writes, 'by
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya, the main ideologue, guide and organiser
of the Jana Sangh, to shift my base to Delhi and work as a political
aide to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who had just been elected to the Lok
Sabha for the first time. It is during these two decades that I gained
advanced experience in political organisation, political strategy
and leadership.' |
A
particularly riveting section in this phase is the description of
the imposition of the draconian Emergency Rule by the then Prime Minister
of India, Indira Gandhi, in June 1975. Along with tens of thousands
of pro-democracy leaders and activists belonging to Opposition parties,
Advani spent nineteen months in jail. This phase describes, at considerable
length, the sad saga of the Emergency and the thrilling tale of the
triumph of democracy. It also demonstrates how the Congress leadership
tried to destroy the basic structure of the Constitution, a wrongdoing
which the party has never honestly debated or apologized for. ‘This
is not surprising,’ Advani writes, ‘since the culture
of dynastic rule in the Congress leaves no scope for introspection
and self-correction on the many blunders committed by the Nehru-Gandhi
family, for which India continues to pay a heavy price. Indeed, dynasticism
is now a part of the “basic structure” of the Congress.’
Excerpts
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Phase
Four (1977-97) is the period when Advani emerged as
an important national leader. It describes his sterling work in Parliament,
and also as the Minister of Information & Broadcasting in the
Janata Government (1977-79), in dismantling the legal edifice of dictatorship
created during the Emergency. It also provides a penetrating account
of the disintegration of the Janata Party and the formation of the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). A particularly engaging |
section of this phase is a narration of the BJP’s active participation
in the movement for the reconstruction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Advani writes: ‘(It) soon snowballed into the largest mass movement
in the history of independent India. The spectacular public response
to my Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya in September-October
1990 far exceeded my own expectations. Just as the struggle against
the Emergency opened my eyes to the Indian people’s unflinching
faith in democracy, the Ayodhya movement opened my eyes to the deep-rooted
influence of religion in the lives of Hindus of all castes and sects
across the country. The Ayodhya movement also brought to the fore
people’s revulsion for pseudo-secularism, as practiced by the
Congress party, communists and some other parties, and projected my
party, the BJP, as a spirited champion of genuine secularism.’
The phase ends with a captivating narration of another important political
campaign in Advani’s life — the Swarna Jayanti Rath Yatra,
which marked the Golden Jubilee of India’s Independence.
Excerpts
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Phase
Five (1997-2007) is a period of major accomplishments
in Advani’s political career. The BJP’s spectacular rise,
since 1989, culminated in the formation, in March 1998, of the first
truly non-Congress coalition government at the Centre under Atal Bihari
Vajpayee’s leadership. After a renewed mandate in 1999, the
government of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) served
the nation with great dedication and |
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distinction for six years. Writes Advani: ‘My own role as
Atalji’s deputy in this government, with the specific charge
of the Home Ministry, was highly gratifying to me. I feel proud
of the NDA government’s various achievements, especially in
the fields of national security and national development. Some of
them, such as the bold decision to make India a nuclear power and
our sincere efforts to normalise relations with Pakistan in spite
of the latter’s betrayal, will have a permanent place in our
country’s history. History will record that India became a
stronger nation, and a more self-confident nation, under Atalji’s
visionary leadership.’
This phase also provides a candid and self-critical assessment
of the unanticipated defeat of the NDA in the May 2004 parliamentary
elections. ‘I have not the slightest doubt,’ Advani
says, ‘that, as in the past, the BJP will bounce back again.’
The highlights of this part of the book are the Vajpayee government’s
determined fight against Pakistan-supported cross-border terrorism
fueled by religious extremism, India’s triumph in the Kargil
War, the Vajpayee-Advani duo’s honest efforts to normalise
relations with Pakistan, the hopes and frustrations at the Agra
Summit between Vajpayee and General Pervez Musharraf, and Advani’s
historic journey to Pakistan in June 2005. About the controversy
generated by this visit, he says, ‘I have no regrets.’
Excerpts
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