Meeting President of Nepal H.E. Ram Baran Yadav

Shri  Tarun Vijay meeting the President of Nepal Shri Ram Baran Yadav at Nepal Embassy reception. They discussed briefly India Nepal relations 

China's fastest train- have a visual tour and think when can we better them!!

Beijing departure station for the fastest trains

India at Raisina: The People were the Heroes

India at Raisina: The People were the Heroes

December 26, 2012 12:18 IST

http://www.rediff.com/news/column/india-at-raisina-the-people-were-the-heroes/20121226.htm

'The youth atop the poles on Raisina Hill need respect and an accommodating attitude. Not lathis and water cannons,' says Tarun Vijay.

Even if the government, scared of the People, has shut down India  Gate and shown a kneejerk reaction, so evident in every failed ruler's life and times, India registered an unprecedented 'no' to this bad governance.

With homage to the policeman who died unfortunately while on duty, we witnessed a stormy silence on the Hill which rules India.

Turning every politician speechless, India had invaded Raisina Hill, its power centre.

Parliament on the right and North Block, South Block and Rashtrapati Bhavan  in their sights, the People surged and climbed atop poles to announce the residual remnants of the British colonial legacy completely meaningless and pale.

Standing there, I felt as if I was amidst the Purabia troops marching from Meerut to Delhi [ Images ] in 1857 after the Mangal Pandey [ Images ] incident.

I have not seen how 1947 was achieved and what mass revolt means. Even the struggle against the Emergency was different, on another level, where the politicians were the heroes.

Raisina Hill's heroes were the People.

Leader-less, without any agenda or manifesto, and without the banner of any organisation.

That exactly was the People's strength that shook State power.

If it was a demonstration by any political organisation, a youth brigade or any reformist movement, the government would have attributed political motives to it and got busy with its business-as-usual charade.

But the People wore the colours of India. They were young, angry and indisciplined.

I was there for two days and saw the hatred for politicians in their eyes.

My son mingled with the crowd, but he went separately.

My wife, in her usual jeans and shirt, turned a student and said if she could have found a stone, she too would have hurled it at North Block.

You may argue that the young have to be calm, reasonable, not take the law into their hands, be sensible, speak logically and talk to the leaders. After all, politicians are the democratically elected representatives of the people and the Constitution empowers them to run the country, and Parliament is supreme.

Whatever the youth demand, death to the rogues and the rule of law, justice and equality can only be achieved by a system, which is US.

Continue arguing and vomiting your intellectually high-sounding phrased sentences -- using difficult, unusual words to weave in a magic of another award-winning essay that may become the cover story of a magazine.

But who cares?

Those who care a damn for their identity and photo ops write India's cover story.

They want justice right there. On the roads.

The roads, Kingsway turned Rajpath, which carried swanky million dollar cars swaying into the citadels of power, were trampled by the muddy chappals and canvas shoes of tri-coloured youngsters challenging the power which had given them the hypocrisies of high- decibel debates, scandals, stinking rich leaders sermonising on the importance of simple living and an India where nothing works on the ground.

Babus in ministries don't reply or even acknowledge your complaints, general hospitals are so heavily crowded and scantiness reigns that no leader, corporate, media heavyweight and bureaucrat would ever go there, leaving the space for the 'other people'.

Buses are unsafe. Trains are dirty, never run on time and rail reservation is one hell of a job.

The worst roads and public transport system are provided to the localities of the poor and low-income group people. The best buses run to Shanti Niketan and South Ex.

For every government job, the unwritten rule is to grease the palms of the presiding officer.

Less than 50 vacancies in the Northeast attract 70,000 applications.

A journalist doing his job in Manipur is shot dead; his final film shot and secure in the cassette goes missing in police custody.

For every First Information Report something special needs to done to 'justify' the 'auctions' of the 'richly rewarding thanas'.

Officers commit suicide for fear of political vendetta, the police is used for personal cosmetics and reforms refused, farmers are ruined and drink pesticides, education is becoming costlier and inaccessible for the poor, stone images gobble up thousands of crores of rupees, society is divided into Hindu-Muslim-Christian extremities to gain votes, and criminals are shielded for political reasons.

What more do you need to have the marble edifice of State power crumble under the shoes of those who do not care for their career, but want a truly democratic and just India?

If it is a family party, five of the kitchen members run it; if it is a non-family party, five of the core committee members run it.

Do we really believe there is inner-party democracy in 'democratic' India?

'Law of nominations' by a few drives Indian democracy.

Can this sham-ism deliver?

We need a dialogue with the People who are not collected in hired buses. The lost connectivity with the masses has to be rejuvenated through the sheer example of sincerity and honesty.

Non-governmental mass organisations, having no political ambitions, have a greater role to play.

Ironically, the so-called non-political mass leaders too have exhibited their ugly political dreams, making the People more disillusioned and angry.

It is the failure of the non-political leaders who have shown a brazen political cleverness at every moment when the aam-aadmi began trusting them, at every level that has further deepened the vacuum of space in the People's faith.

Let a new politician rise, someone who is sincere and fearless, who can walk into the crowds and shake hands with them and initiate a dialogue.

The stone-throwing crowd and the youth atop the poles on Raisina Hill need respect and an accommodating attitude.

Not lathis and water cannons.

Chinese , Western and neighboring media on Narendra Modi's victory

BBC

India elections: BJP's Narendra Modi secures Gujarat win--http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20778816

India speculation over 'national role' for Narendra Modi--http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-20807444

Time

Is Narendra Modi a Step Closer to Being India’s Next Prime Minister?--http://world.time.com/2012/12/20/is-narendra-modi-a-step-closer-to-being-indias-next-prime-minister/

Washington Post(USA)---

(1)India’s Narendra Modi wins 3rd term as state leader, setting stage for prime ministerial bid--http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/state-election-victory-boosts-narendra-modis-national-ambitions/2012/12/20/55ad2108-4aa5-11e2-8758-b64a2997a921_story.html

(2)Hindu nationalist BJP wins elections in western state of Gujarat--http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/hindu-nationalist-bjp-wins-elections-in-western-state-of-gujarat/2012/12/20/d220de0e-4a88-11e2-8758-b64a2997a921_story.html

ABC News (USA)

Hindu Nationalists Win in Western Indian State--http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/hindu-nationalists-win-western-indian-state-18023132#.UNQ34qwS7E4

China Daily (China)

Modi's Gujarat election win stokes PM talk--http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-12/21/content_16038980.htm, http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2012-12/21/content_16038834.htm 

xinhua (China)

India's main opposition BJP wins western state of Gujarat--http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-12/21/c_132055093.htm

Dawn.com (Pakistan)---

India’s Modi heads for landslide win, bolsters PM prospects--http://dawn.com/2012/12/20/indias-modi-heads-for-landslide-win-bolsters-pm-prospects/

The Nation (Pakistan)
Landslide bolsters Modi’s chances of Indian premiership--http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/international/21-Dec-2012/landslide-bolsters-modi-s-chances-of-indian-premiershipReuters--

Reuter (UK)

The rise of Narendra Modi, a double-edged sword for BJP--http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/12/10/india-election-modi-idINDEE8B901720121210

The Guardian (UK)

Gujarat's divisive leader poised to win third term in crucial election---http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/16/gujarat-leader-third-term-election

The Telegraph (UK)

Narendra Modi tipped as India's next prime minister--http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/9758527/Narendra-Modi-tipped-as-Indias-next-prime-minister.html

Arab News (Saudi Arabia)

India’s Modi heads for landslide, bolsters PM prospects--http://www.arabnews.com/india%E2%80%99s-modi-heads-landslide-bolsters-pm-prospects

The Financial Express (Bangladesh)

Hindu nationalists win western Indian state elections--http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/index.php?ref=MjBfMTJfMjFfMTJfMV8xN18xNTM4NDU=

Jerusalem (Israeal) 

India's Modi looks set to win state poll-http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=296679

Singapore

India's Modi looks set to win state poll, may boost PM ambitions--http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/indias-modi-looks-set-win-state-poll-may-boost-pm-ambitions-20121220

Massive mandate for BJP in Gujarat

It grabs 122 seats; rival Congress party likely to win just 56-

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/india/massive-mandate-bjp-gujarat-20121221

Tarun Vijay returns security cover to Home Ministry in support of people at India Gate-full text of letter

Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde ji

The Home Minister

Govt of India

North Block, New Delhi

                                                                                                  22 December 2012

Dear Sir,

At a time when the entire nation, led by brave Delhi people are protesting at India Gate demanding more security for the citizens and praying for the recovery of the unfortunate girl who fell victim to the animals in human form, it will be unbecoming of me if I continue to have the security cover provided by you in the wake of the death threats I had received from the terrorist organization Indian Mujahideen.

I hereby request you to kindly take back the security cover and provide more security and protection to the common citizens who need it more than us. Today instead of using water cannon and lathi charge on the protesting people, it would have been more appropriate if leaders like you too had sat with them and added government’s voice with the peoples’ anguish committing to end the criminal assaults on the citizens. That would have added to the glory and the integrity of the State power. But your government has used violence against the honest and unprotected people.

I am thankful to those dedicated police jawans who had provided me protection all these years.

Even if I die at the hands of the terrorist in the absence of a security cover, I shall still be without any regrets, as the people on the street, who are our real masters, need this protection more than any politician.

With thanks and regards

Sincerely yours

Tarun Vijay

17 Indian sailors face death -Antony assures action

Picture caption-Shri A.K.Antony with Shri Tarun Vijay listening to the woes of the family members of the captured Indian sailors 

17 Indian sailors face death -Antony assures action to free 17 Indians from Somalian Pirates. Tarun Vijay led the delegation of Family members to seek urgent action from Defence Minister.

19^thDecember, New Delhi. Fearing death at the hands of Somalian Pirates for their wards who were captured in March, 2012 in their ship Royal Grace the nervous family members met Defence Minister A.K. Antony today seeking urgent action by the Government.They were taken to share their anguish and hopelessness with Shri Antony by BJP MP and National Spokes person Shri Tarun Vijay.

Shri Vijay told that the Government should not further delay actionto save precious 17 young Indians who belong to the poorest of the poor sectionOne third of them are from Kerala and the rest belong to Bihar, UP, MP, Himachal, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Punjab. The Government has wasted precious 10 months and except from announcing committees and giving assurances nothing has been done to facilitate freedom for the young sailors. Shri Rajesh Gogna, sr advocate Supreme Court and President Human Rights Defence Organisation was also present in the delegation. ( seen in pic second from left)

Shri A. K. Antony was too moved to listen to the grief stricken family members and with moist eyes, he assured them everything possible to be done to save Indians in the captivity of the Somalian Pirates.

President invited to join Nanda Devi Raj Jat yatra:

Protesting against inflation, BJP MP cycles to Parliament

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6GwxrurdRY

In a mark of protest against the UPA's inflationary policies, BJP MP Tarun Vijay cycled to Parliament on the first day of the Winter Session. The Rajya Sabha MP cycled all the way and said that the UPA's anti-populist regime has hit all the households hard.

Tarun Vijay cycling his way to Parliament

Tarun Vijay on Thursday was cycling his way to parliament to protest against the massive price hike

Balasaheb, the roar of the Lion King

Rediff.com  » News » Balasaheb, the roar of the Lion King

November 18, 2012 11:38 IST

'It is difficult to imagine such a phenomenon anywhere else. From being a cartoonist to becoming an agenda personified, outshining everyone else, is the unique distinction that Balasaheb created.'

Tarun Vijay explains why Bal Thackeray [ Images ] was a unique leader.

I met Balasaheb Thackeray years ago when I edited Panchjanya. He was warm, knew exactly the inner details of Hindu family issues and challenges and said 'Unless you change your outlook to Hindu problems, the movement will not progress much.'

I could not have agreed with him more.

He stood as the tallest figure speaking for a Hindu India [ Images ] after Veer Savarkar. His vision for India essentially gave the rightful place to Hindus without compromising with the equal rights and privileges of the non-Hindu minorities. Essentially, his Hindutva meant 'India, First and Always.'

He was unforgiving to traitors, anti-national outfits and shady elements that spoke more for Pakistan than showing concern for Indian sensitivities.

His Hindu-ness and the uncompromising devotion to the rights of the persecuted and the victimised masses made him a hero in the eyes of millions across the country.

While most political leaders cutting across party lines try to maintain a sense of sham political correctness and cosmetically envelop their responses in a secular envelope, Balasaheb roared like a Lion King candidly.

Calling a spade a spade and always keeping the warmth of hospitality intact at Matoshree for everyone, friend or foe, he conquered all that he surveyed winning life-long friendships from the top sirens of the film industry, corporate world, Muslims and political leaders from various streams of ideology.

He was the leader of the masses. And he meant what he said.

That was his strength. Challenge him and you may have regretted it forever.

His persona exuded no artificiality and no compromise. People knew that and hence the aura of respect around him.

The fence sitter leaders trying to compromise on basic issues in search of petty vote gains feared him. They really had to think twice after being lashed through Balasaheb's hard-hitting editorials in Saamna, the Shiv Sena [ Images ] daily newspaper, targeting the shameless compromise on issues that affected Indian security and the social fabric.

He was an enemy of hate attacks on patriots, he would never allow a Pakistani march over Indian sensitivities, he would never care for the so-called Hindu organisations' annoyance if the issue needed a frank and independent response.

He was in his own class, a personified republic of the masses who wanted an unforgiving line of judgment on hateful Islamist attacks on India.

His stand on the Kashmiri Hindu issue, Ayodhya, relations with Pakistan, Maratha Swabhimaan, and sham, often anti-national expressions of secularism bear testimony to this.

He walked his own path.

His undaunted support to Indira Gandhi [ Images ] during the Emergency is a different story altogether. Later, he became a strong votary of Hindutva and never looked back again at the Congress.

His annual Dussehra speech at Shivaji Park was a tradition that almost became a religious ritual when thousands of Shiv Sainiks would listen to his fiery speeches in his inimitable style gunning for the Congress and those whom he thought were anti-national and working against Hindus. With malice towards none, he would spare none.

He supported Ayodhya full steam. He refused to come along with his ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ], on Presidential elections. If it was Maratha pride for Pratibhatai Patil, Pranabda got his vote for being nice and a scholar.

He changed the usual image of the spineless, coward, trader Hindu type, always ready to compromise. He wanted all Indians to be treated equally and no special privileges to be given to anyone on the basis of religion. If you attacked a docile Hindu, the strong response would also be there, and he meant it, proved it.

It was the need of the hour. It is difficult to estimate how many lives he saved by simply becoming a protective shield for the oppressed and the usual targets.

If he believed in some cause, his commitment to it was pure hundred percent. He owned up the Ayodhya action, he congratulated openly those who did it, he never minced words . His candour won him friends even amongst those who opposed him.

He shredded to smithereens the very notion of being politically correct. Correct was what he said and the political drill had to be mended accordingly. He meant that political correctness was an alibi for backdoor compromises and ditching what you always believed in.

For a hardened secularised section he stood as the fundamentalist, an unforgiving and uncompromising leader who built his empire on parochialism and hate for the minorities. That is the usual line of attack against him. He cared a hoot for this. People forget that India has a tribe known as seculars who have an intense hatred for anything Hindu.

Balasaheb rose not only to provide a much needed shield and force for persecuted Hindus under attack from fundamentalist Islamists, but also rekindled a sense of pride amongst the Marathi Manoos. Like a human being, a society and a nation too possess a soul and a body.

In Maharashtra [ Images ], under the influence of Congress-led sham secular policies the quintessential character of the land of the Marathas became diluted and blurred. His movement brought the fragrance of the land to the fore.

The parting of Raj Thackeray [ Images ] definitely jolted him. It was an unexpected blow from within. The earlier inner revolts had never bothered him so much. People felt he still hoped for a solution to retrieve lost ground.

The way Mumbai [ Images ] was brought to a halt during his illness showed his immense popularity, cutting across all fault lines, barriers, sectarian circles and political rivalries.

It is difficult to imagine such a phenomenon anywhere else. From being a cartoonist to becoming an agenda personified, outshining everyone else, is the unique distinction that Balasaheb created. A trailblazer indeed.

Tarun Vijay, MP, is a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and National Spokesperson, Bharatiya Janata Party.

Tarun Vijay

Jansatta Hindi column on the festive season's wishes

file://localhost/Users/tarunvijay/Desktop/Jansatta%20Manauti%20Oct-28.pdf

50 years on, NEVER forget the valour of the Indian soldier!

Rediff.com

October 26, 2012 12:52 IST

'Fifty years down the line, she still remembers her son and feels proud of the fact that he gave up his life for the nation...'

Tarun Vijay salutes the memory of Indian soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in that unequal war of 1962.

Also Read: They fought to the last man for India

Those who keep repeating with political naivete that India [ Images ] was defeated in the 1962 war with China simply insult those soldiers who sacrificed their lives defending the motherland.

They showed incredible brevity and courage and fought till the last man and the last bullet. They did what they were ordered to do. They carried out their orders till the last breath and embraced death with a grace and elan that befits only the warriors of supreme order.

The nation still repeats the lines that Lata Mangeshkar [ Images ] sang in the unforgettable song Mere Watan Ke Logon -- 'When the nation was celebrating Diwali [ Images ], they were playing Holi with their blood.'

Jaswant Singh [ Images ] Rawat was one of them. He was just 17 when he was inducted into the 4 Garhwal Rifles. He was a jawan who was trained for only six months, given a 3o3 single bullet fire gun and sent to Walong in Arunachal Pradesh to defend the nation.

Brigadier R S Rawat described that day's ferocious battle in graphic detail recently at a function to felicitate the veterans of the 1962 war. He spoke about how the Bhullas (it means boys in Garhwali) cut the trees and used their huge trunks to cover bunkers with three layers of wood, how they threw mortars over it and gave the enemy the harshest time before finally succumbing to the unending waves of attack by an adversary who possessed far superior arms, automatic rifles and wore better winter clothing.

Our jawans had ammunition that belonged to the era of the Second World War, as well as inferior guns and clothing which could not resist the spine-chilling icy winds in Chushul and Tawang. Yet they didn't yield.

Those who were well ensconced in their warm, comfortable and secure rooms in Delhi [ Images ] yielded to the enemy and bid a pathetically worded farewell to their men in uniform and the patriotic civilian people.

The men in white caps were defeated in the 1962 war, not the brave men in olive green uniform.

Jaswant Singh Rawat's mother Leela Devi Rawat is 92 years old and lives in Dehradun.

We felicitated her at a graceful function and Uttarakhand [ Images ] Governor Aziz Qureshi got off the dais to touch her feet.

Fifty years down the line, she still remembers her son and feels proud of the fact that he gave up his life for the nation. Living in a small house with her younger son and daughter-in-law today, she vividly recalls the day when her Jaswant went away to join the army.

When the news of his martyrdom reached her, the future had looked impenetrably dark, yet the glory of her son's sacrifice kept the light intact. Jaswant remained a living soldier even after his mortal remains had been consigned to the flames.

The army maintained his room, he got promoted every year and he retired as a major general. His temple in Tejpur reminds everyone about not just the valour of the Indian soldier, but also his immortality.

Such is the level of faith for soldiers' sacrifices in India. Such is this Indian society which believes in martyrdom for the nation in the most unbelievable manner. According to Hindu scripture, a soldier goes to Surya Lok, a heaven made of a thousand suns, after his martyrdom in the line of duty. This explains the Indian family tradition of sending the best child to the armed forces.

The 1962 war shattered the belief in the honesty and sincerity of India's political rulers. A plethora of articles and analyses have been published on how in the 1960s, ordnance factories were manufacturing coffee machines and lipsticks, when we should have been making guns and how Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru [ Images ] was waxing eloquent on the uselessness and meaningless of maintaining a huge army at an enormous cost when India didn't have an enemy.

Even during the war, the Communist parties in India sided with China and Nehru had some of their leaders arrested under charges of sedition. Workers of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh helped the soldiers on the front.

The Nehru government invited the RSS workers to participate in the 1963 Republic Day Parade to honour them. It is ironical that today, the Communist parties seem to have become strange bedfellows with the Nehruvian Congress and the political rulers look at the RSS with hatred.

Let us forget all that and look forward. Do we have that kind of leadership today and will we be able to thwart any other Chinese action against us?

China is fast emerging as our largest trade partner, but it still keeps the border dispute open. Top army officers and defence analysts maintain that China remains the biggest threat to India.

Are we ready to at least equal China's military might? Is there political will across party lines to look into our defence preparedness and have a consensus on securing our borders?

The biggest threat to national security does not come from external aggression, but from within. The corrupt leadership and the lethargic babudom that corrodes the nation's defence and allows the enemy to buy a 'win' is as bad a threat, if not a worse one, to our defence as is the foreign invader.

The 1962 war was the political defeat of foolish governance, but the defence forces did their bit in exemplary fashion.

On the 50th anniversary of that war -- rather the resistance to the Chinese attack -- the most sensible thing would be to salute the indomitable spirit of the Indian soldier and ensure a public debate on our present defence preparedness.

The Chinese must be made to feel that they inflicted a scar on the Indian psyche that is hard to erase They have to understand that unless they show sensitivity towards Indian peoples' feelings, no enduring friendship can be shaped, the increase in the volume of trade partnerships notwithstanding.

The use of force to settle a bilateral dispute is strictly unacceptable in today's world and to ensure that it is respected, India has to grow enormously in military stature. A powerful and formidable military power alone can win long lasting friendships and peace in the region.

Empowering India will be the best tribute to the brave soldiers who laid down their lives to defend their motherland in 1962.

Tarun Vijay is a Bharatiya Janata Party [ Images ] member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttarakhand.