Author: Arvind Lavakare
Publication: Rediff
on Net
Date: September 26,
2000
It was preceded by a
standing ovation; it was interspersed with applause -- 21 times by one
count; and at the end of its 20-minute duration, it was accorded another
standing ovation -- of 30 seconds by another count. All that seemed
hyped courtesy because Prime Minister Vajpayee's address to a joint session
of the United States Congress must rank as one of the drabbest speeches
in international political history.
It would be an understatement
to say that Mr Vajpayee missed the bus to a tryst with destiny in Washington
on September 14, 2000. Here was the redoubtable leader of a billion-strong
democracy who was expected to stand tall and plead the cause of his people
before the lawmakers of the world's most powerful nation that has long
denied us our just desserts. Here was the definitive moment for oratory
that could be enshrined in Indo-US relations. And all that our PM's
speechwriters did was to botch it up.
That address lacked a
heart and a mind. It lacked substance and style. It was devoid
of the subtle accompaniments that nibble at the audience's emotions of
the kind that simultaneously evoke a pang of remorse and a resolve to make
amends.
Instead of what he actually
got, the thinking Indian citizen would have preferred his PM's speech to
go somewhat along the following lines.
1. "Mr Speaker,
distinguished members of the Congress, ladies and gentlemen present in
this august House, I must first of all express my deep sense of gratitude
for inviting me to address you. Your kind invitation marks a historic
honour -- not to me but to the one billion people of my country.
It is, I would like to believe, recognition accorded to a civilisation
going back over 4,000 years and in which humanity, not hegemony, was always
the norm. Even after centuries of wars and conquests, after unbelievable
turbulence and turmoil, that trait of humanity guides India 53 years after
gaining freedom without violence and without rancour for the colonialists.
2. "Along with
gratitude, I offer an apology. I am aware that this is the silly
season -- the season of elections in your great democracy. All lawmakers,
present and future, are in the thick of campaigning amidst their constituencies,
and would be averse to hearing an intruder, be he from the orient or from
outer space. I therefore sincerely regret any disturbance that my
visit at this juncture may have caused in your personal schedule.
3. "I too have
had my fill of the heat and dust of election campaigns. Why, between
1996 and 1999, India has had three such general elections entailing an
electorate of over 620 million spread over 538 constituencies. The
saving grace has been that, like in the USA, prime ministers and other
lawmakers get kicked out by the ballot box, not by a jackboot as is becoming
the tradition in India's neighbourhood.
4. "Because of
this silly season, there was a large body of opinion in India that advised
against this visit of mine. But your President's invitation was warm
and, I think, from the bottom of his large heart. And when President
Clinton insists on something, I can hardly refuse him much -- excepting
a signature here and a signature there on some document he always seems
to carry around in his pocket.
5. "And now, let
me, as Americans say, get down to business. I will do that candidly
but, as Abraham Lincoln said in his second inaugural address, "With malice
towards none."
6. "Your corporate
circles are aware that in the last 10 years we have grown at 6.5 per cent
per year; that puts India among the 10 fastest growing economies of the
world. Our aim is to double our per capita income in a decade from
now -- meaning we must grow at nine per cent a year.
7. "That is not
an over-ambitious target considering that important segments of the country's
infrastructure have been opened to private initiative, domestic and foreign.
Multinational accounts, banking and finance companies have happily settled
down in India. Several manufacturing activities like pharmaceuticals,
automobiles and consumer durables already bear prestigious foreign labels.
Your two famous soft drinks have reached our thousands of villages.
The size of our markets is truly gigantic.
8. "I concede that
by American standards our moves to fully liberate man's inherent spirit
of enterprise may appear slow to you. But remember that the mindset
of decades takes time to change. It took years for liberal minded
Americans to bring about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the supplementary
voting rights bill late the following year. That was a decade and
a half after those rights had been enshrined in the Constitution of free
India.
9. "Nevertheless,
I concede that we must appear tardy to you in our economic reforms and
labour laws improvement. And I concede that, as Lewis Carroll advised
in Through the Looking Glass, we must run twice as fast to move ahead.
We are trying to do just that.
10. "This is where
I appeal to the USA to understand us and, without restraint or suspicion,
join hands with us to create a massive demonstration effect as a prelude
to a truly outstanding and mutually beneficial partnership. Such
a partnership can ultimately extend to a large canvas -- business, commerce,
manufacturing, information technology, environment, scientific research,
combat of terrorism world-wide, perpetuation of democratic governments,
cultural advancement, non-proliferation and a more peaceful world.
Forge that partnership, and I assure you that you will not find us wanting
in putting our heart and soul in making it thrive. It could well
become a partnership paying high dividends in much more than materialistic
measures. One-and-a-half million Indians in America have demonstrated
that already.
11. "President
Clinton's visit to India last March was a milestone in this partnership
of our joint vision. He saw the Taj Mahal and much more. He
saw our people and our efforts at upliftment across the board -- from Nayla
village to the cyber city of Hyderabad. We are indeed grateful to
him for signing that Vision Statement then. This visit of mine is
to put a seal on it -- the eagle seal of the great United States of America.
12. "I wish to
assure you today that we in India admire America for its many attainments
in diverse fields. We admire those achievements because they have
emerged from the vibrant inter-play of individual liberty and collective
wisdom of genuine democratic debate. Yes, we may disagree from time
to time with certain approaches, certain attitudes, but we accept that
even in the best of marriages, the two partners do not always see eye to
eye, do not always prefer the same dessert after dinner. But adjustments
are always made to overcome differences and often the taste buds themselves
undergo a change. As a nation, ladies and gentlemen, we believe in
reconciliation, not in hasty divorces regretted later.
13. "I had promised
candour with President Lincoln's rider of malice towards none. I
crave your indulgence as I proceed to do that.
14. "From times
immemorial, we Indians have been very sensitive by nature. We are
introverts by and large, firmly believing in "live and let live".
And we have tended to live in consciousness, accepting that there is a
third eye up there that watches what we do and also wants us to spot it
if we can. This nature of ours may be on account of the fact that
we are located at the foot of the heavenly Himalayas.
15. "Whatever the
reason, it is in our genes as a nation to take quiet umbrage when slighted
for reasons that we do not perceive as valid. We feel slighted when
what is our just cause is misunderstood, deliberately or otherwise.
We feel slighted when different yardsticks are applied: one for us and
another for someone else. Because we do not react angrily, because
we prefer to believe that truth shall ultimately prevail, our silence is
construed as consent or cowardice or comeuppance.
16. "I would like
to cite a few instances of how our national sentiment has been disturbed
and our energies dissipated by attitudes that simply confound us.
17. "Recall how
we were treated when we took a major step forward in May two years ago
to defend ourselves from evil designs as perceived by us. Hardly
had we gone public on the subject than the whole elite world pounced on
us. We were immediately ostracised and quarantined. Some of
the language used was hardly diplomatese. It was as if we had sent
six million to the gas chambers or sparked off mushrooms over Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. All this calumny came despite the moratorium we quickly
announced and the promise we quickly made of pulling the trigger only in
self-defence. Even after millions of sound bytes of explanation,
we are made to believe that our so-called sin of guarding our national
security cannot be sanctioned away. In contrast, those who smuggle
in nuclear dangers or smuggle them out are let off if not lauded.
18. "Another charge,
hurled often, pertains to religious freedom in India.
19. "I cannot over-emphasise
that one Article of our Constitution guarantees every citizen the free
profession, practice and propagation of religion. Another Article
guarantees the interests of minorities. Yet another empowers the
minorities to establish and administer their educational institutions along
with the right to impart religious instruction. A fiercely independent
judiciary zealously protects each and every such right. What more
then is India expected to do in respect of religious freedom? Should we
also endorse conversions through deceit or monetary inducement or threats?
20. "As for attacks
on minority religion groups, we most certainly condemn them; we do our
utmost to apprehend and punish the guilty as per the law of the land.
But there are two aspects here which I feel the need to amplify.
21. "The first
is really a rhetoric question. Are people of a particular faith expected
to always turn a deaf ear and the other cheek when some other religion
or two periodically proclaims from the roof tops that its practice is the
only way to attain salvation?
22. "The second
and more germane issue is whether any country in the world is free of fanatics.
Churches of one minority community have been known to be burnt down --
you are only too aware of it. But does it mean that the government
is the one that is guilty of the arson? If there are deaths through shoot-outs
in some school classrooms, should the government be vilified for murder
most foul?
23. "Similarly,
if terrorists with AK-47 rifles are gunned down, if their fellow conspirators
are shot by those who guard the national frontiers, are human rights violated?
What of the human rights of innocent people sleeping at home being blown
up by masked men?
24. "Which brings
me to the K-word. For years, India has been lectured on resolving
that K-word. We have been admonished for not resolving what is called
the Kashmir dispute. For years, we believed that experts would study
the relevant history and understand who is guilty and who the innocent
victim. We appear to have been wrong in making that elementary assumption.
25. "I would request
forbearance therefore as I explain, very briefly, this issue that is now
graphically painted as the "nuclear flashpoint" in South Asia.
26. "The modern
history of Jammu and Kashmir state is one that can be capsulated simply
enough provided one sticks to facts, not to fiction.
27. "The first
fact is that consequent to the partition of India on August 15, 1947, the
princely state of Jammu and Kashmir had the option of being either tenuously
independent or accede to one of the two Dominions created by the British
Parliamentary legislation on Partition.
28. "The monarch
of that State was undecided when hordes of tribesmen from across our north-west
borders invaded his sovereign territory in the last week of October 1947.
Parts of his territory were quickly seized by these invaders armed to the
teeth. Much more trauma occurred. The ruler therefore asked
for India's armed help to drive out the marauders and to restore peace
in his domain. He signed the stipulated Instrument of Accession.
India sent its Army and Air Force to recover what had now legally become
its own territory.
29."A lot of Americans
may be surprised to learn that the accession of the state of Jammu and
Kashmir to India on October 26, 1947 was very similar to the way Texas
was merged with the USA over 155 years ago. Let me elaborate this
point.
30. "Your country's
history tells us that when Mexico separated from the Spanish Empire and
became an independent Republic, Texas was an integral part of it.
31. "Later, Texas
revolted and became an independent entity. In 1844, threatened by
predatory incursions, Texas requested the USA government to annex the State.
The American Congress sanctioned the proposal in a joint resolution in
March 1845. America thereafter sent an Army to defend the western
frontiers of Texas. The government, affected by this military action,
protested that the American action was a violation of its rights.
32. "The US government's
reply to the protest did not consider its action as a violation of any
State's right because Texas was an independent power and owed no territorial
or sovereign allegiance to a third party. Nobody then contended that
the annexation of Texas then was by force or by fraud. Rightly so.
Similarly, Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India in 1947 is above board.
But it was good for the USA, I suppose, that there was no United Nations
in 1845 to mediate as the judge and the jury.
33. "In 1948 however,
India chose to refer the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir to the United Nations
so as to get justice in an atmosphere of peace instead of escalating the
conflict on the ground. Although not so stipulated in law, India
also agreed to let the future of Jammu and Kashmir be decided by the United
Nations through the wishes of the people of the State.
34. "Accordingly,
the UN Security Council approved a detailed road map for resolving the
issue once and for all. The primary condition of that plan was that
those tribesmen and nationals of the country that had entered Jammu and
Kashmir for the purposes of fighting would be withdrawn to where they had
come from. All subsequent paths of the UN plan were to follow only
after that first junction was passed.
35. "That has not
happened till now, more than 50 years after it had been agreed in black
and white before the United Nations. How, then, can we keep our side
of the bargain?
36. "Half a century
is a long time even for a country. Jammu and Kashmir could not expected
to be in a perpetual state of animated suspension. Its people could
not be expected to stand still in history, waiting for the aggressor to
keep his sacred promise.
37. "So the people
of Jammu and Kashmir went ahead to fulfil its long-cherished aspiration
of wanting a constitutional democracy based on the wishes of their representatives
elected through universal adult franchise. Accordingly, such a democratic
Constituent Assembly started deliberations in October 1951.
38. "The stakes
for India were high in that democratic process set in motion. One
of the options before that Assembly was to request the Indian government
to abrogate the Instrument of Accession and cede the state of Jammu and
Kashmir. Instead, in February 1954, the Assembly ratified the accession.
And in 1957 came the State's own separate Constitution as the documented
expression of the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir regarding their
future status.
39. "The most important
element in that Constitution which the world should note is its Section
3. That Section lays down that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is
and shall be an integral part of the Union of India. What is more,
the founding fathers of that Constitution made that assertion incapable
of any amendment at any time in the future.
40. "What then
remains of the K-word? As far as India is concerned, the only dispute now
is how we should be given back what was rightfully ours and remained so
after the wishes of the people concerned were obtained -- not in the heat
of the moment, but through deliberations over five years.
41. "I am sorry
to have laboured over Jammu and Kashmir. But I do believe that the
time has finally come to make people the world over understand its real
story.
42. "As I reach
the end of this address made possible by your graciousness, I once again
offer my country's warm hand for a long friendship based on mutual respect
and on individual sources of heritage and circumstances.
43. "Max Lerner's
America As A Civilisation has become a classic for all times. In
that book he says, "The fact that Americans have an assurance about their
future does not exclude a pride about their past." So it is with India.
More the reason why the USA and India should move ahead as natural allies.
44. "Thank you,
thank you all, once again."
