Honourable Shri Advaniji, Pujyaswamiji and friends,  Vanakkam

(Speech in Tamil)

It was indeed a great honour for me, currently residing at Delhi to be invited by Shri Advaniji to participate at this function.  I thank him for extending me this opportunity.

I was born and brought up in Chennai. Since childhood, military and flying attracted me.  I learnt flying at a very young age of 16 at Meenambakkam and a year or later, my fascination pushed me to join the Air Force. In the Air Force, I flew combat aircraft for 40 years.  I was then made the Commander in-chief of the Air Force.  I retired after serving three years in that appointment.

I met Shri Advaniji for the first time when he came to inaugurate HQ South Western Air Command.  Thereafter, my meetings with him were related to national security - whenever I was called for.

Since Shri Advaniji is on the stage and that some of the participants do not follow Tamil, I seek permission to change over to speaking in English at this stage.

(Speech in English)

As I did mention, I first met Shri Advaniji in 1999. My direct contacts with him came during military briefings and at meetings of Cabinet Committee on Security. I recall the years 2001 to 04. This period was probably one of the most intense and challenging for the nation and the government.

Major internal disturbances were terror attack on J&K Assembly on 1 Oct 2001, attack on Parliament on 13 Dec 01, Godhra riots on 27 Feb 02, attack at Kaluchak, 14 May 02 and Operations Parakram that lasted for around 10 months in 2002.

Besides these, in 2003, there was an intense deliberations on Iraq war, on what should India’s posture should be.

The same year, the government analyzed the proposed nuclear doctrine – a very complex issue after which the policy of "No first use" was formally proclaimed. In my official capacity, I was called upon to be present at most of these discussions by the Cabinet Committee on Security.

Shri Advaniji was a member of the Committee. The analysis and debates on every issue were very detailed and some went on for hours. I was most impressed by the way the government, at the highest level debated and discussed. At these meetings, Shri Advaniji always listened most carefully. When he spoke, his articulation was sharp, his queries most pertinent and analysis very surgical. His projection always had an undertone of concern and national pride and a vision of India as an emerging Power. His words reflected confidence, deep knowledge and decades of experience in national and international affairs.

Having read his book, I now better understand his principles and his unique strengths that have been honed through years. His autobiography conveys his values, discipline and a hunger to read and learn which were not acquired accidentally or inborn – but ingrained in him in his teens and nurtured over the years and substantiated by his deep faith and reverence to those great souls of India like Swami Vivekananda, Maharishi Aurobindo, Swamy Ranaganathananda and Mahatma Gandhi. Further more, leaders like Shri Golwalkar, Pandit Deendayal Upadyaya and Jaya Prakash Narayan had great influence on him. It is indeed very difficult to find a committed leader, so humane and humble. We need him and we need hundreds more like him to move our nation towards its rightful goal.

Currently, the nation seems to be on crisis. We seem to have lost faith our political leaders and country’s governance. We have no anchor, our world seems to be full of deceit and corruption and the only value is “money” while “greed” being the driver. There is no one whom we trust. No institution is trustworthy. No public system is dependable. Elections are turning out to be unavoidable expensive rituals, exploiting emotions, religion, cast and creed.

We are losing faith in our Parliament - the temple of our Democracy. Indian Parliament has set a record in history – a record low of just 32 days sitting for business this year. Horrible scenes were enacted in the sanctum sanctorum that was televised world-wide. In my view, every MP is a potential Prime-Minister. India today holds nuclear weapon and the button is in the hands of the Prime Minister. I personally hate to think one of them whom we saw in that TV episode be given such a major responsibility of India as a nuclear power. Every one whom we elect, we must consider him to be a potential leader and fit to take a strategic decision. It is a very serious matter when people lose faith on the very institutions that are expected to protect them and mete out justice. Dissatisfaction is driving people to take law in their own hands. In Delhi, murders in rage have increased by 50% this year.

We are proud of our culture, history, skills and ability. We beat the Australians in cricket; Chandrayaan is heading for the Moon; Our Diaspora is excelling in practically every field. One common denominator we see in all these. Good skills are emerging outside the purview of government and despite the government. Government programs as such are mostly disasters; illustrations are many. In my personal opinion, most of the unrests that we experience today are manifestation of public frustration. Not all of them should be branded anti-national.

Generating employment is not enough. We need to substantially improve productivity. Serious difficulties that we face today are about how to help those educated and unemployable and how to restore failed infrastructure and public support systems while scarce resources are continually being squandered. Many fires are burning in all directions. Fire fighting is not enough. I have my fear. What can good leaders achieve when the mechanism of implementation - the political system, the bureaucracy and government institutions are clogged?

Shri Advani’s autobiography shines light through the prism of recent history of our nation. In fact, I find the book an excellent reference material for people in the South who generally do not get the feel of the happenings at the corners of the country or the power politics at the centre. It illustrates the value of democracy that was nearly lost during Emergency. The book shows that no sacrifice is too small for unity of our nation, and how diversity is an important facet of our democracy.

We are going through critical phase amidst global economic melt down. We need to innovate and create. Those of us representing the fortunate 30% of the population earning more than $2 per day must extend a supporting hand to uplift those who are struggling. It is not charity that I suggest but to enable. We should not wait for the government to find solutions. Each one of us must express our resolve – that “We Shall”; it is not enough to say “We Can…” We Shall demand accountability and We Shall be accountable. We Shall respect public property. We Shall respect law. We Shall respect equality.

There are not many in the country that has the distinction of having served the public cause for six decades. There may be just a few that reflect the values and vision such as those Shri Advani does. There may be even less that exude confidence and determination as Shri Advani. On behalf of all of us here, I wish him good health and success in his mission. India at this juncture needs him and lots more like him in our struggle to reach where this country really deserves among the countries of the world. To quote an extract from the book – Tough time does not last but Tough men do. We would need tough leadership which is equally fair and tolerant.

Jai Hind.